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Having been to St. John 4 times in the last 10 years I like to think I'm somewhat familiar with the ins and outs of the island with respect to the new condos. Never have had a wedding unless you call a court house a wedding and a boat ride for the reception, it is time for a chance to make up for that and plan our 25Th Anniversary. I do have a few villas in mind at this point. But have no idea on who to contact regarding the chaplain/minister, cake maker, flowers, and anything else I might be missing for a vow renewal. We are still looking into a 20 minute helicopter ride sometime while there. Can anyone who has planned out a vow renewal give me some advice if this will be easy to plan from a distance or should we scrap it and just have a quiet vacation? It is going to be just us 2 or maybe 4 but no more, so wont be a big thing. If we get a nice enough villa could we do the re-vow there and have dinner catered in? Just a off the wall thought. Any experience or advise would be great. Thanks in advance. P.S. I should mention in will be a end of June time.
First, I am a wedding planner in the states!
I would contact Ann Mare Porter. She is wonderful and she can guide you through the whole process. Since you are not having a full on wedding, she is your best bet for on island knowledge. She is a minister that will perform your ceremony and help you with suggestions on who to call and book for the other things you want/need. It is very easy to do, so don't shy away from it.
Just a few suggestions to make perfect and pain free:
If you do not want to spend a ton of money, spend it smartly. I would HIGHLY recommend getting a professional photographer to capture your renewal. You will cherish those pictures for years.
Flowers? If you don't want to spend money on flowers, you can easy pick some Bouganviela (I am sure I spelled that wrong) and tie them together with some ribbon you bring from home.
Private Chef? That is the way to go, if you ask me. I recommend Mathayom and I am sure that you can get them to make a small cake too.
Have an Ipod? Download a playlist of your favorite songs from then and now and have it playing before and after the renewal
Send me a PM if you have any other questions! Happy to help should you need it!
We celebrated my daughters wedding on St John in December. It was just the immediate family (8) in attendance. They were married by a Justice of the Peace in Minnesota and we celebrated the event in St. John. We rented the Ixora villa - spendy but what the heck she didn't want a fancy wedding so we put the money toward the villa. We had flowers provided by:
Passion Flower
Wedding flower design and courteous consultation
Susan Pratt
PO Box 37
St John, VI 00831
We also had a chef and a waitress come to the Villa and prepare and serve our dinner (with a wedding cake). Contact info:
Weddings by KatiLady, Inc. 5000-Estate Enighed, PMB #100 St. John, USVI 00830 340.693.8500
We were very pleased with both services. It was certainly a memorable time. Ixora also made for a very special place to take pictures (we did that ourselves).
Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions. I will make note of everything I can get. I have so many more questions that I will need to ask tomorrow.I'm getting so excited.
I knew I would come up with another question. I was thinking since this is a wedding re-vow why not just stay at the villa and have the water and pool as a back drop to say. I can get ready there, stay there and have a meal catered in. Now my question is does anyone local or visitor have a recommendation on a villa with gorgeous views with a pool? There will maybe be 4 people at most staying at this villa.
There are a ton of villas that would fit the bill! What is your budget and what time of year?
The budget will be around $1500.00 give or take but I'm guessing for a pool and a good view it will probably be closer to $2000.00 (just guessing) and we will be coming in the 3rd week of June. Is that a bad time of year?
That is a tight budget for a pool and a nice view, especially with 4 people. Let me see what I can find
June is a great time.
We came back 10 years ago for our 15th Anniversary in late June and it was just beautiful. I don't think I remember it even raining. Or even hot and sticky. If it was I think I just stayed in the pool or water. So I think June is a perfect time actually. And I've learned even if it does rain go for a ride, shop or still hit the pool. The last Villa we stayed at did have a small dip pool in Chocolate Hole but had a view of a electric pole. Or some pole sticking up. Don't really want that in the pics this time around. lol
Hello.
My husband and I got married on St. John almost 7 years ago. We were married on Cinnamon Bay. Had an amazing man marry us. His name is Stuart Scott, He's from STT but he traveled over to STJ. We used Tony Semeca as a photographer and had a videoagrapher as well. I can get both of their contact info if you are interested. Stuart was amazing, he exceeded all our expectations.
I would HIGHLY recommend staying at Astral Ridge on STJ. It's an out of this world amazing villa in Coral Bay. The main house accommodates 2 people but they also have a second villa that can be part of the main house. It's two separate villas but have a walkway that would link the two together. The bride and groom could rent the main house and the other 2 could rent the upper house. Both places are fully stocked and completely separate but you can hang together on the pool deck. There's a pool and hot tub and the views are out of this world. We had wedding pictures taken on the deck that have incredible flowers, plants and the Caribbean ocean as a back drop. We've rented the main house by ourselves and didn't even know there where other renters. If the villa agency rents it separate the upper villa has no access to your pool and hot tub, but if you rent both places you can share the space (which we've done in the past w/ family). The villa is amazing. Our trip this upcoming January will be our 8th year renting from them.
Coral Bay is the "quiet end" of the island but there are plenty of restaurants and bars that are minutes away.
You could rent the villa. Have your vows renewed at the villa and then have someone come and caterer your celebration. I would also recommend having a private message therapist who would come to the villa and do a couples message on the patio while you and your loved one takes in the amazing view.
If you want further info let me know and I can help out w/ any other info you may want.
I can't say enough great things about the villa and the ladies who do the bookings and maintain the property. It is out of this world.
Whatever you decide I hope you have an amazing time.
Jill
Hi Jill, And thank you very much on all your wonderful helpful information. Sounds like you had a memorable time. I know you really enjoyed your time in the villa in Coral Bay but we are really hoping to get a villa in Cruz Bay and or Great Cruz Bay. But am really leaning towards having a chef come in and make us dinner at the pool and hopefully can do us a small cake as well. We will be eating a few meals in Coral Bay while we adventure out that way and hike around. But with all our options my head is kinda spinning. I'am making notes as I go along and really do alot of homework. Do you have any pics you could possibly share? I would love to see some. Thanks so much again..
