Our Aruba Wedding

You may already know that we chose to have our reception on the pool deck, with dinner on the lawn. Its really hard to get a good picture of the pool deck. Its much larger than it looks. Here are a few:

Here I am walking from the La Vista Restaurant to the pool. This day they happened to be setting up a tent on the lawn for a corporate event (that wasn’t the tent we used). While this photo really just looks like a crowded mess, you get an idea of how big the pool deck is. Looking center to right, you see rows and rows of chairs. Continue on and there is the tent on the lawn and beyond that is the beach which you can’t really see.

I’m still standing on La Vista’s patio, now looking toward the hotel. As you can see, there is plenty of room on this section of the deck too. You could maybe have dinner tables here or a ‘lounge’ and the party space / dance floor on the rear deck shown in the first photo.

Another side deck / rear deck shot. And these photos show you one of my complaints about the Marriott. They put WAY too many chairs around it. It just look crowded – not nearly as inviting as it could be. They would be better off if they removed 30-40% of those chairs and brought more out as they needed them. We never saw even 20% of the chairs in use.

Here is the view from our room on our wedding day! They’ve started setting up our canopy on the lawn and started to clear the pool deck so they can set up the bar and dance floor. One of the things that makes Aruba Marriott’s pool deck great is that it is lush and green. And the pool lights up at night.

I’m standing back by the pool. This is the ‘view’.  Not as much water as you see from the patio / terrace site, but we’re only going to be here after the sun goes down! And load up the grass with tiki torches and you have instant ‘island ambiance’.

Another photo trying to show the depth of the pool deck.

Turning to the right just a little, there’s the pool! Swim up bar is to my right, lawn and beach are to my left.

And here is our wedding setup starting to come together! Canopy is on its way up. To the right you see the white and rattan chairs making it way to our ‘lounge space’. Where you see the long tables to the left of the dance floor is where the bar will be, along with some cocktail tables. Toward the bottom of the photo where you see the row of brown lounge chairs closer to the dance floor is where our DJ will set up and on its way still is plenty of lighting. And our ‘Four Corners’ Buffet is going to take up nearly the whole lawn space on the other side of the canopy. Its quite the impressive spread with one station dedicated just to the deserts. (Following are a couple of my favorite pics.)

Its really tough to visualize the space before you get there. Supposedly there is some ‘event management’ software they have that will sketch out a layout for you, but they do not have the pool deck available in it. When we first met with them I was under the impression we were going to see some sort of CAD drawing or something that would show us our set-up but now I understand its nothing like that. If you have one of these drawings you’d be willing to share, I’d really appreciate it. I have yet to see one. Still, when it comes down to it, you meet with your wedding planner(s) and ‘walk the space’. They’ll give you recommendations of what they think works the best, yet are willing to do pretty much whatever you want.

As far as our set-up / layout, there is one thing we would do different. We surprised our guests with the sliced cake and an ice cream sundae station halfway through the night. They set it up on the other side of the tent where the food had been set up. Well the music was so good that people didn’t want to step away! While some enjoyed the cake and ice cream, I think it would have been enjoyed much more if we had brought it out closer to the dance floor, or maybe better yet, next to the bar.

So, the best advice I can give is to try to not stress out too much about where exactly everything will be. You’ll get there, walk the space, and will know what ‘feels right’.

Hello hello! I know this post is long overdue and hope it will be still be helpful to someone. I’ve finally found our personal photos from our wedding trip to Aruba. I have lots of photos to share and it will take a while to go through them, but here are a few. I’ve chatted with a couple of brides that are struggling to decide which reception site to choose at the Aruba Marriott. The leading contenders for most are the Patio / Terrace and the Pool Deck. (They also use the lawn, the sandy area by the volleyball nets and have the “Atrium Terrace” which is just outside the lobby bar.)

A lot of these photos will seem redundant, but you never know what small detail might catch someone’s eye.

Here I am standing on La Vista Restaurant’s patio, looking out toward the beach. Between the sand and the patio is the terrace / patio that is used for receptions.

I’ve taken a step down onto the patio, and turned to my right to take a picture of the patio itself. To the right is a little low greenery to separate La Vista’s patio from this one. I really wished they had done something to ‘dress up’ the patio. Like maybe some nice potted plants to make it a little lush and more inviting.

Now I’m turned back toward the beach again. To my left is the walkway that takes you to the hotel and the pool. To my right is more of the terrace.

Now I’ve turned 180º and am looking back at La Vista, where I just came from.

Now I’m standing near the middle of the terrace. La Vista is on my left, pool straight ahead and beach to the right. You can kind of see the walkway that guests will use but they will not walk through your space. However you will have people eating dinner next to you on La Vista’s patio.

This is just my ‘postcard shot’ that I included for fun. On this morning there happened to be rain rolling in. There were some really cool clouds and waves at the beach – something you don’t usually see here.

I’m standing now at the edge of the terrace looking at what had been our wedding site. The like to set you up just to the left of that ‘boat rental’ palapa.

I’m sitting and having my breakfast at La Vista. You can’t really see the reception patio because it is two steps down. But, you see there isn’t really that much to separate you from diners. And there really isn’t that much of a ‘view’. Its more than a view than you get off the pool deck, but does it really matter once the sun goes down? We had our ceremony, then guests enjoyed a sunset cocktail hour on the beach before joining us at the reception site. By that time it was dark, so for us, seeing the water from the dinner table was suddenly not important.

Another photo of the ‘wedding site’ between the two sets of palapas. Really, its a lot better than it looks. There is plenty of open space up there.

I mentioned in our previous post that one of the things we LOVED about our wedding photos and our photographers, was that they captured how young and adventurous we FEEL. The pics are fresh and funky. Here are a couple of our favorites from the wedding day itself. We have plenty of photos that aren’t loaded with attitude and featuring sunglasses, but they seem to be our favorites! (Thanks for indulging me!)

How cool is this!?! This totally says “Married in Aruba!”

My sister-in-law described this photo the best: “Mission Accomplished!”

Somehow we really don’t care about ’sunset photos’, but love this one!

And I just LOVE these shots — the “Moody Guy Shots”. Maybe this
one would  be better titled “Mission Accomplished”. He’ll probably say
more like “I’m in charge now” but we both know better. =)

Hello, hello! I know I haven’t posted in a while. Things have been crazy busy now that the wedding is done and it’s time to get back to everything at home that we neglected during the planning. We are still on a high after our wedding and were SO EXCITED last week when we were notified our wedding photo proofs are ready.

The day after the wedding we chose to do a “Trash the Dress” shoot. I remember the first time I heard the term Trash the Dress. I was mortified! Why on earth would someone trash their wedding dress? Why would they destroy something so special? Well the more I read I started to realized that “Trash the Dress” isn’t always what it sounds… The dress may not get trashed at all. Sometimes what’s called Trash the Dress is really just a ‘post-wedding’ photo shoot. Often these are done in an unconventional location. I have TTD links I’ve posted here in other posts. Sometimes you see an unconventional location like the couple sitting cross legged in the middle of a street. Other times you see a backdrop or setting that is often in stark contrast to the delicate beauty of a wedding dress. Graffiti walls, “ruins”, among cacti, riding bicycles (or even banana tubes!) and of course, getting in the water!

The more I looked at these photos, the more I started to love the idea. In these sessions, the couple is often much more relaxed and having fun! Gone are the pressures and distractions. Suddenly its time for the two of you to ‘play’ and really get some unique photographs. Suddenly I ‘had to have’ these pictures. Luckily, my husband also loved the idea!

After spending what’s often countless hours looking for the dress and thousands of dollars to buy her, its still hard to imagine ‘trashing’ her. Shortly before the wedding I purchased a simple white cotton strapless eyelet sundress that I was thinking I would probably use for the shoot. Even I couldn’t imagine subjecting my Romona to dirt and bricks and water.

We made it through the wedding and had our TTD shoot lined up for the next afternoon. I so loved my dress that I realized I wasn’t done making some amazing memories with her. I packed up the dress and the veil and we stopped by to pick up the photographers. We asked the hotel concierge for directions to the “Gold Mill Ruins”. Well we should have been more specific and asked for the Bushiribana Gold Mill Ruins. This is the location of some of the dramatic post-wedding photos you may have seen; large rock walls and the sea crashing in the background.

Instead we were sent to the Balashi Gold Mill Ruins. These were not at all what we expected. Not the drama of Bushiribana. We were conflicted – make the most of it, or go in search of the intended location? We decided to make the most of it and are so glad we did. We totally had the place to ourselves and still got some gorgeous photos…. Photos you probably won’t see anywhere else! That’s what’s great about having a brilliant photographer – they can make any location ‘the location’.

So I put on ‘the dress’… Romona, and we got started. I went to climb up in the window and realized it was going to be a challenge. The dress really could get damaged. I knew I was ready and up I went! It was a rush. A nook or cranny we wouldn’t have given a second glace to inspired the photographers. We had an idea the photos were going to be cool, but really had no idea just how much we were going to love them! And even better!?! We had time to hit the beach and do sunset in the water!

A few minutes away was Eagle Beach. We parked by the Bucuti and got in the water there. (Remember, there are no private beaches in Aruba.) There were very few people around. Our photographer told us to just take a stroll down the beach and back. We had fun goofing around. And they warned us — the ‘getting in the water’ part goes really quick. So how did we do it? Well we started walking… he said go ahead and walk in the water a little bit. Just maybe our feet. Then he had me lay on the sand, head toward the beach, feet toward the water. The idea was I’d be laying there and the waves would come up and envelope me. Swallow me up. I thought this would be a succession of building waves, but instead we got one big wave right off the bat! And he got the pic!!! What a surreal feeling…

After officially getting drenched, then we went ahead and went into the water to play. It was hilarious. Its amazing how heavy a wet wedding dress gets! And the waves were strong. They kept knocking me over. And the photogs had ideas of these shots they wanted – him lifting me up or carrying me out of the water… yeah, right! Took a LOT of tries with the water knocking me over again and again and him adjusting to the fact that I now weighed 20 or 30 pounds more than he is used to. It was an absolute blast.

So why trash ‘the’ dress instead of the sundress? A dress I love so much? A dress I worked so hard to find and pay for? It’s hard to explain. Part of it was wanting those photos. I’ve never felt as beautiful as I did in that dress. Part of it is saying goodbye to ‘the bride’, the single woman. Part of it was an outlet for some of the frustrations I experience during planning…

Our photographers warned us the dress was going to be smelly. We got back to the hotel and let her air out on the balcony the next three days. When I went to collected it, what a sight! Why didn’t I feel a tinge of regret, I don’t know. I’m very sentimental about the dress and just grinned as I thought about the fun we had together. My husband was the one that actually insisted we get it dry cleaned and even ‘preserved’. It was embarrassing to bring it to the cleaners. There was all kinds of sand and even driftwood in the underskirt. He sent it out and it did take longer than normal to get back. I’m still dying to open ‘the box’ and survey the damage, but the dry cleaner insists it came clean! Seriously!?! He said if it didn’t you’d see the ’sorry…’ sticker, tag, indicating there were stains they couldn’t get out. Clean? Really? I actually had a couple of photographers tell me that many of the dresses come clean just fine. Still, you have to be prepared for it to not come clean.

Now she’ll be boxed up til our 10th year anniversary when we’ll open it back up. Our joke is that if I can fit into it on our 10th anniversary I’ll get diamonds! What does he get if I don’t? I guess he gets to save a lot of money! Or maybe by then he’ll decide he gets a sports car if I don’t. Its all in fun…

In the end, these turned out to be our favorite photos! I feel really lucky that I have a husband that was willing to entertain what to many seems like such a crazy idea. And we were so lucky to have such gifted photographers that captured how young and adventurous we feel!

Oh and those photographers, no, they are not in Aruba. Though I tried and tried, I just couldn’t seem to find any that compared. Sometimes you just ‘know’. You see photos that take your breath away and know you won’t settle for less. My advice – never settle with your wedding photos!

Instead of wedding favors (giving our guests a trinket with our name on it), we decided to treat them to a sailing / snorkeling excursion on Friday, the day before the wedding. After much deliberation, we decided to privately charter Mi Dushi. (Linked here is a post that can tell you more about why we chose Mi Dushi.)

We decided to schedule our sail from 3:30-6:30pm. We knew the sun was supposed to set around 6:15, so we wanted to give our guests a little bit of a ‘sunset sail‘ on the way in. The biggest downside was that Mi Dushi leaves from the DePalm pier down by the Westin, which is probably a 25-30 minute walk (or 5 minute cab ride). Since many of our guests are older (and it was 90º!), we asked those that wanted to take a cab to meet us in the lobby at 2:30. We started running late because we were waiting on the fruit and cheese that the La Vista Restaurant was supposed to have packaged up for us (left over from our welcome party the night before). A little before 3pm, we started loading guests into cabs and sending them on their way. Cab ride fares are fixed – I believe we paid $6 per cab to get to DePalm Pier. (Available to us were nice Toyota truck cabs that could take 5 people each – maybe they were Land Cruisers?) Finally we got into the last cab only to have OUR cab driver drop us at the WRONG pier! He got us about halfway there and we walked the rest of the way down. At least we were the ones needing to walk, not our older guests. We just laughed it off.

Boarding the boat is supposed to be at 3:15. They load everyone onto a ferry shuttle that takes you out to the ship which is anchored further out. We liked the crew the moment we met them! They did a great job in reading our group – they knew how to get the party started. They were fun without being ‘in our faces’. The bar is a premium open bar which includes local beer, premium liquor and a couple specialty drinks like the Aruba Ariba (yum)! As soon as our guests were situated they introduced themselves, told us what to expect and then started taking drink orders!

As we are on our way to our first stop, the Antilla Shipwreck, they start passing out gear which included disposable mouthpieces. I was surprised that probably 70% of our group actually got in the water! (Also, all but 3 of our guests joined us on the excursion – those three weren’t feeling well that day.) One of our concerns when weighing Mi Dushi against Jolly Pirates was that JP takes you to three snorkeling spots and Mi Dushi, only two. I have to say that I was GLAD we did only two. I don’t know how we would have worked in three. I think it would have felt too rushed. We chose the Antilla Shipwreck and one ’shallow reef’ spot.

After everyone got back on board after snorkeling the Antilla, it was time to ramp the party up a bit! People were having a blast and the drinks started flowing. Needless to say, not nearly as many people snorkeled at the second spot because now they were in party mode. We had people standing on the roof of the cabin and dancing and having SO much fun. And, at the second snorkeling spot, out comes the ROPE SWING! It sounds kind of cheesy – who’s really going to get excited about a rope swing?!? Well people just LOVE that thing. It was going non-stop from the time they brought it out til it was time to leave. And for even more fun, you could swing ‘piggy-back’ on the captain who would do flips. I’m not sure if the ladies were interested in those flips or wrapping around his hot bod, but they sure had fun!

While Mi Dushi might not be the sexiest boat on the water (she’s seems a little worn), she and her crew make you feel at home. She’s not as big as Jolly Pirates but holds up to 60 people. Our group of nearly 40 felt perfect – everyone had plenty of room, but you didn’t feel ‘lost’ as you might have on a larger boat. We liked the cozy feel.

Since we privately chartered Mi Dushi, the crew tailored the snacks for our group as we had vegetarians on board. I had read reviews that the snacks were pretty bad so I kind of warned people the food might not be great. They brought out trays of little chicken drummies that our guests snatched right up, and my dad actually liked the ‘Dutch sausage’ that even I wouldn’t try. They also had mini fruit and cheese kabobs that were nice and fresh. And of course we had the extra fruit, veggies, cheese and dip from La Vista that was worth the delay. And I had brought along the individual packs of Oreos that I had forgotten to put in the welcome bags. So we snacked and headed back, enjoying the gorgeous sunset! We had gotten a later start than planned and the crew was gracious enough to extend our time, though we knew they didn’t have to. We got the feeling that they were having as much fun with us as we were with them.

We made it back, took the ferry again to the pier and for many the party was just getting started! There was live music playing at the pier that was calling out to me but we had to get the kids back. The guests kind of scattered from there, most walking back, hitting whatever bar caught their attention.

My husband and I had this grand plan where we would grab some dinner, but then he would go back to the room with his two boys (his boys were staying in a room adjoining his parents) and I would go back to our suite. He’d have that night to spend quality time with them and wouldn’t see me again until the wedding (or at least our pre-ceremony photos). Well, the kids were just exhausted after doing so much snorkeling and the rope swing, so we realized they were going to pretty much pass out after getting some food!

We were on such a high after the excursion that we decided we didn’t want to split up – we wanted to spend that night together. We were SO HAPPY with the decision to have the excursion and were glad we were in a position where we could pay for it. For us it was great to have that opportunity to spend time with them, away from the hotel, phones, wedding planners, meetings… For them, it was an opportunity to cut loose and have fun without having to spend a penny. We were also lucky that no one got seasick, overly drunk or had a bad experience in the water. While I don’t remember hearing the snorkeling was that great (I didn’t get in the water), no one seemed to mind – it was really just a fantastic event all around.

Hosting the sailing excursion and choosing Mi Dushi is without a doubt, one of the BEST decisions we made and was worth every dollar!

A couple of great real wedding reviews have just been posted to the Aruba.com forum!

• Renaissance Island, October 2009 – Though this  couple brought their own photographer from North Carolina, the bride raves about working with Juney. They also decided to do the civil ceremony at home in NYC – like us they considered that ceremony a ‘formality’.
• Aruba Marriott, November 2009 – Serena raves about several of the same people we did: Desireé (of course! she’s awesome), DJ Mark Benson, Tico the Steel Pan, Dufy (sp?) the bartender, the Marriott’s food! (they had filet mignon & lobster), Bully the Taxi Driver, and Reverend Gibson. She also bride raves about her hair and make-up experience with Knipoog: www.knipoogaruba.com, 297-583-0221. Sure wish I would have known about them! (Here is her Knipoog review.) And she loved her photographer, Victor Winklaar – (I’ve mentioned before when it comes to island photographers, I’ve felt Victor’s work is the best. The photo, right, is uploaded to the post on the forum and links back to that original review.)

I just received an email from a bride that is considering a Spring 2010 Renaissance Island wedding. Since my experience with Renaissance Island is limited, does anyone out there have any advice or photos you’d like to share with her?

I was able to point her to this Renaissance Wedding Review, and this link to our site visit write-ups, but expect there may be followers with better Ren Island information to share. Have you had or are you planning a Ren Island wedding? Or if you looked into Ren Island and ruled it out, can you tell us why? You can reply as a comment to this post or send me an email. (While posting a comment does require an email address, your email address will not be public.) Either way your privacy will be protected unless you’d like me to pass along your email to her since you two may have plenty to talk about!

In short, we ruled Ren Island out because 1) I am paranoid about mosquitos (though I don’t know how big of a problem this is or if its a problem at all), 2) I didn’t want to be in the sand all night – I needed solid ground for my Jimmy Choos! 3) We didn’t want to stay at their hotels which we felt were dated. 4) I wanted nice clean bathrooms available as well as the ability to be able to sneak back to my room.

That said we definitely recognized what we saw as advantages to a Renaissance Island wedding, number 1) being PRIVACY! Luckily we weren’t bothered by the ‘tourists in the background’ but we’re surprised at how many there were given we were at the northernmost resort on Palm Beach and it was off-season! The music and set-up also drew spectators. Many pictures of us saying our vows have a spectator floating on a raft in the background (luckily I have much experience with Photoshop!). Really I felt kind of flattered by the attention and was able to laugh off the speedos that seemed to be trying to get into our wedding photos. 2) We felt the catering prices were among the most reasonable. And since the Marriott and Renaissance are owned by the same company, I would expect their food is probably really good since the Marriott’s was outstanding! 3) The downtown location is close to more affordable restaurants and plenty of nightlife (though we did feel like that nightlife would best be enjoyed by a ‘younger crowd’) 4) Just the idea of being able to invite everyone to your wedding on a ‘private island’ sounds so romantic and glamorous and will be a ‘once in a lifetime’ experience! Heck – you’re probably heard the superstar Timbaland got married there! (His song, The Way I Are, happens to be one of my favorites!)

I’ve really enjoyed sharing our experiences here on this blog. I continue to receive questions which I still delight in answering. It makes me feel good to think others might be helped by what we went through while planning our Aruba wedding. So, I’d like to dedicate a category of this blog to Questions and Answers. That may mean that you might find your question and answer posted here (in addition to the direct response to your email), though I will of course protect your privacy (your name, wedding date, etc). Of course there will be questions I will be unable to answer, so if you are a local or someone with more extensive knowledge of Aruba and would be willing to field some questions, please let me know. I’d like to have a few trusted, objective sources that can answer questions and share tips that I can not. Emails can be sent to: info@ourarubawedding.com.

Please note that I’m not looking for vendors that want to self-promote. It is of utmost important to protect the integrity of the blog. In many cases I think some of the most valuable information can come from vendors and welcome your tips, though in most cases I do not intend to publish vendor email addresses or websites unless I see something I think really stands out and warrants sharing. Thank you for understanding.

I know its been a little bit since I posted, but now that the wedding is a couple of weeks behind us, I’m ready to put together a short review with my overall impressions. There are also other reviews I intend to get to like the sailing excursion, the welcome bag photos and contents, and trash the dress shoot. And of course I’m planning to share photos, though want to figure out how to do so while respecting my guests’ privacy.

Welcome Party: We started our ‘Wedding Weekend’ with a Welcome Party at the Marriott’s La Vista Restaurant. We arranged this for Thursday evening, the day most of our guests arrived in Aruba. Eveline and her staff at La Vista did a fantastic job! She was willing to do so much to accommodate our group and next thing we knew La Vista felt like a home away from home. She let us take over the bar and lounge and they prepared some fantastic food and drinks! Since we were only able to pay for a limited amount, we were glad that our guests also had the option to order off of their menu. Here you can find the full La Vista Review»

Sailing / Snorkeling Excursion: On Friday we privately chartered Mi Dushi for a sailing / snorkeling excursion for our guests. We decided this would be our gift to our guests instead of wedding favors. (Does anyone really want a trinket with our name on it anyway?) I have yet to write a full review (sorry), but will say that this excursion was one of the best decisions we made! Aside from a couple of people that weren’t feeling well, our entire group participated. All from our 3 year old to those in their 80s had a day to remember! And it was nice for us to finally get to spend some time with them where we couldn’t ‘work’ on anything except enjoying our guests.

WEDDING DAY

Getting Ready: The wedding day started with my hair and make-up appointment at the Mandara Spa. I hate to say that hair and make-up ended up being one of my bigger challenges nearly putting me in tears twice. I had trials on both Thursday and Friday, neither of which went well or gave me much confidence. Saturday morning I was pleasantly surprised when my hair turned out awesome and held beautifully throughout the day. (Doesn’t look too exciting in photos but you have to understand that I have baby fine pin straight hair you can do almost nothing with.) Make-up didn’t turn out as well, but luckily I had a photographer that assured me that anything I would do myself would improve it. I brushed off a lot of the cheek color and re-worked the eyes a bit. I will say that the base they applied (I believe it was Bare Escentuals Mineral Make-up) held up beautifully throughout the day. Read full Mandara Spa review»

The Ceremony: The weather was gorgeous even though the famous Aruba wind seemed to have left us that afternoon. It was sunny and hot! Must have been at least 90º. Desiree collected the guests into the lobby and then walked them out when we were about ready to start. I walked down the aisle to beautifully played steel pan music. Reverend Gibson officiated and it was a really nice ceremony followed by the ’sand ceremony’ which is Aruba’s version of a unity candle. The decor was minimalistic – simple clean white folding chairs and a bamboo and white fabric arch provided by Edwina Werleman of E2 Events and Celebrations. Marriott’s had done a beautiful job grooming a path for the aisle (my husband was especially impressed!), and we lined the aisle with simple palms. I’m glad we didn’t spend a bunch of money on flowers – in my opinion they weren’t needed and might have just created clutter. Here are link for: full Ceremony Review», Reivew: Reverend Robert Gibson», Review for Edwina Werlemen and E2 Events & Celebrations»

Cocktail Hour: Following the ceremony was a cocktail sunset hour on the beach with some fruit and cheese provided and more steel pan music. I’m assuming this went well – we were busy with photos and went upstairs to change into our ‘reception clothes’. If I hear any specific feedback I’ll be sure to share. I have yet to ‘debrief my friends’… I’ll get the real scoop from them next time I meet them for drinks.

Reception / Dinner: After changing, we came down to the poolside reception. We were a little late because we took a few moment for an impromptu photo shoot in the entry to the hotel – hey – when your photographers are inspired you just go with it! Desiree had our guest seating at waiting. Edwina had set up the gorgeous canopy that helped give us intimacy created whimsy. The canopy combined with the contemporary nickel lanterns complimented the island theme beautifully. We were introduced, did our first dance, cut the cake and then joined our guests for dinner. The food was Unbelievable! I’ve never had food like that at a wedding and am still disappointed there were items I didn’t get to try. From rave reviews of the Indian food that is not on their catering menu to people who ‘don’t eat fish’ that went back for two helping of the red snapper, the food was an overwhelming success! Other than that first bite, we didn’t get to eat any cake but it was decorated beautifully and late at night we had arranged for a ’surprise ice cream sundae station’. Read the full Aruba Marriott Reception review»

Mark Benson of Elite Productions did a fantastic job with the lighting. At first I really wasn’t too excited about the lighting aside from wanting some indirect lighting instead of floodlights. I didn’t like the idea of colored lighting because so often I think its tacky and felt the lighting was really expensive. Now, when I look at the photos I really see what a difference that lighting made! I wouldn’t have expected the colored lighting to be done so well and to be so beautiful. Here is a full review of Mark Benson’s Elite Productions»

Mark Benson also provided the DJ which happened to be DJ Randolph. Though I had some reservations at first, I couldn’t have been happier! He did a fantastic job aside from the fact that whichever of the two introduced us as husband and wife pronounced our last name wrong! I had been warned that happens a lot… Read the full review of Cool Pro DJs, Mark Benson & DJ Randolph»

Farewell Brunch: On Sunday we had planned to have a farewell brunch at La Vista again. Most of our guests had breakfast included in their room package so this was a cheap way for us to offer another function. I’m kind of glad to say that there wasn’t much of a turn out. While we would have loved to spend more time with them, we were glad they were out having fun! We had a few joiners and many others that just stopped by to say “Hi / Goodbye”. It ended up working out really well as we got to dine with a couple that missed the sailing excursion and it so happened they were the only two that didn’t stay with us at the Marriott. (This person has a condo in Aruba and he was the one that insisted we consider it as our destination!) And by the way – Champagne mimosas are included as part of the La Vista brunch but they don’t seem to advertise that! Luckily my husband had found out about that. =) Food again at La Vista was great, though I have to admit we were a bit distracted, wishing we had the food from the night before! We wanted that Indian food again.

Trash the Dress: After seeing off our families at the airport, we hit the road for a trash the dress shoot which was so much fun! When I get to my post of “The Best things we did and things we could have done without”, the post wedding shoot will definitely be on the BEST things list! It was fun to put the gown on and spend time in unconventional settings. We went to some ruins and then went an ‘got her wet’ at Eagle Beach! Unfortunately it could be 4-6 more weeks before I see the photos.

For our wedding dinner we chose the Marriott’s “International Four Corners Buffet“, the corners being the “Asian Wok”, “Mexican Fiesta”, “Caribbean Warmth” and “Middle Eastern Oasis”. We liked the idea of offering different types of food and loved that they would be willing to swap out one of the corners for Indian food. We chose to swap the Middle Eastern Oasis for the Indian food. They do not have any Indian food on their catering menu but told us they sometimes do Indian weddings and can cook it when they need to. We were a bit skeptical but figured at least there would be three other ‘corners’ if it didn’t turn out great. Ordering something not on the menu seemed like we would be asking for trouble.

Our menu would have Indian, Asian, Mexican and Caribbean. Then a week or two before the wedding, I’m taking another look and realizing there will be several people I know that may not eat any of the food on the menu! (There aren’t many adventurous eaters in my family.) So, at practically the last minute, we asked if we can swap one more corner for what we expected would be a boring but safe “American Corner”. They were very accommodating giving us two entrees, three salads, mashed potatoes and two deserts! (I think they were generous with the American Corner because the Indian corner would be all vegetarian and relatively inexpensive for them to prepare.)

We didn’t get to taste any of the food before the reception so we were just hoping for the best. Does anyone expect great food at a wedding reception anyway? We’ve had few (if any) remarkable meals at receptions, but were expecting the Marriott catering would be above average. We thought it might even be “good” (the menu sounded really different and pretty good). We weren’t prepared for the food to be outstanding! I just left a couple of friends who are still talking about the food saying it was among the best meals they’ve ever had!

My husband and I started with the Indian food and were blown away! It was so good! He had emailed them the list of what he would like to see on the menu and they did a fantastic job. We were afraid they would be too conservative on the spices but they packed some heat into it! We had a couple of people tell us it was some of the best Indian food they had ever had. We both also had some of the red snapper and plantains from the Caribbean Warmth and again – oh my god - so good. We have a 13 year old that ‘doesn’t like fish’ who went back for two servings! And those plantains are amazing. I can’t even describe them but had two helpings!

The “American Corner” ended up being anything but boring as it featured a Beef Tenderloin Carving Station with Chimichurri and Bernaise sauces. I have one guest in particular who’s favorite food is beef tenderloin but he’s super fussy about how it’s prepared and isn’t shy about telling you if its not right. Well I visited with him tonight and he was going on and on about that tenderloin! And this guy – another person that ‘doesn’t eat fish’ actually tried and raved about the red snapper too!

The Four Corners Buffet is surprisingly well priced for the amount of food you get. (I believe it was $60 per person as of October 2009.) Each ‘corner’ comes with salads and / or appetizers, an entree, at least one side and one or more deserts. There is so much food its almost embarrassing. The deserts alone were an impressive display that I wish I had a picture of – all kinds of cute little desert ‘bites’ and ’shots’. The only bad part is that I have yet to talk to anyone that really even got to the deserts because they were so stuffed by the food! As you can see in the picture, there are 6 tables of food set-up. The next morning when my husband and I woke up we were both just wishing we could get our leftovers! I believe the chef’s name is “Francisco” but I’ll have to check on that. (By the way – the lighting is one of our touches – I don’t believe the buffet comes with the lighting under the tables. This lighting was something my husband wanted. I thought might be kind of tacky, but I ended up loving it!)

Like the deserts, I also didn’t hear much on the cake – many people were just too full. They did a beautiful job with the decorating of the cake and we did get that one bite we fed each other when we cut it. The bottom tier was white cake with strawberry filling, the midde was chocolate with chocolate filling and the top tier was carrot cake with cream cheese filling. We had a bite of the bottom tier (white / strawberry) which was ‘ok’. I remember thinking it was a little dry and typical of many wedding cakes I’ve had. Someone did tell me the chocolate tier was really good and I never got around to trying the carrot cake which is what I really wanted. We also had way more cake than we needed so they were going to box up slices of left-over cake for the guests to take with them (would you believe they don’t charge for that?). Well they forgot about that and we also forgot. We had just talked about it but it was never listed in the “BEO” (banquet event order). Three days later we mentioned we wished we had tried the cake and they told us they still had the cake if we wanted it – that they always take the extra cake and put it in the freezer. We said no thanks, but now I do wish we had them get us a couple of pieces so I could know how good the other tiers were. I also wish we had thought to have a slice of each tier sent to our room to enjoy later (though they did have a really tasty surprise waiting for us in the room). 

Cocktail Hour and Drinks: We were so glad we kept the cocktail hour simple offering only drinks and some fruit and cheese. Initially we had planned on also passing three chilled hors d’oeuvres and had considered the crab claw display. At that time we had no idea how generous the buffet would be. We had scaled back purely for budget reasons. We also limited the cocktail hour bar to two ’signature cocktails’, beer, wine and non-alcoholic beverages to control cost and to help keep the party from getting too ‘colorful’ too early. I also hadn’t gotten around to picking out those signature cocktails so the Marriott improvised choosing one orange signature cocktail and one pink – our wedding colors.

The bar at the poolside for dinner and dancing was a full premium bar. And by the way – I’ve also received great comments from the guests about the staff – they loved the bartender and said the servers did a fantastic job, even cheering the the guests on when they were on the dance floor.

Reception Menu: Below is our menu. I’ve put an * by and bolded our favorite items, though hate to say that there are so many courses we didn’t even get to try (like the Mexican food) and most of the salads! I had printed menus which I mounted to bright pink card stock and had given these to the wedding planner. They coordinated with the rest of our materials, featuring the same pink and orange paisley border. The were placed at each guest seat and would help get the guests’ appetites going while they waited for us to make it to the reception (and do our dance, and cut the cake). 

There is only one thing we would change knowing what we know now. We had the dancing poolside, the buffet set-up on the lawn and the dinner tent in between. Two hours into dancing we wanted to surprise our guests with an ice cream sundae station which would have been perfect because it was so hot! Only thing is they set it up over where the rest of the buffet set-up was. We discussed this in the meeting and all thought that was the most logical place for it. Well, DJ Randolph was just doing too good a job rockin’ the party that people didn’t want to leave the dance floor, my husband and I included! At that point I would have loved an ice cream sundae but couldn’t tear myself away. So, if we were to do it again, the surprise ice cream sundae station would still come out at 9:30pm but it would be placed next to the bar! There, I know it would have been ravaged!

Buffet Menu: Below is our menu. I’ve put an * by and bolded our favorite items, though hate to say that there are so many courses we didn’t even get to try (like the Mexican food) and most of the salads! I had printed menus which I mounted to bright pink card stock and had given these to the wedding planner. They coordinated with the rest of our materials, featuring the same pink and orange paisley border. The were placed at each guest seat and would help get the guests’ appetites going while they waited for us to make it to the reception (and do our dance, and cut the cake).

International Four Corners Buffet

A taste of around the World

The American Corner
Potato Salad, Pineapple Cole Slaw Pasta Salad tossed with ranch dressing
USDA Beef Tenderloin* with chimichurri & sauce bernaice
Fried Chicken with Mashed Potato
Chocolate cake bites
Apple pie bites

Caribbean Warmth
Sweet potato & plantain salad with local basil & chili* (this was so good!)
Seafood ceviche marinated in fresh lime with sweet potato & crisp corn
Grilled fresh red snapper* served mango & papaya relish on fragrant couscous & salsa verde Caribbean fried plantains*
Avocado crème Brule with a Key lime & apple salsa
Freshly brewed coffee & specialty teas

Mexican Fiesta
Marinated Jicamica salad with cilantro & roast corn 
Avocado & shrimp ancho chili dressing
Sliced marinated chicken fajitas with sautéed peppers & onions
Soft flour tortillas
Traditional Mexican Toppings Bar Including Shredded Lettuce, Diced Tomatoes, Black Olives, Sour Cream, Shredded Cheese, Fresh Homemade Salsa, & Guacamole
Chocolate jalapeño tort with caramelized banana crisp

Indian Buffet
Appetizer: Pakoras*
Dal Makhani* (Lentil made in rich butter sauce)
Mattar Paneer (Peas and Cottage cheese curry)
Accompanied by Nans (plain and garlic) & Pulao Rice
Gulab Jamun
Freshly brewed coffee & specialty teas