Thanks so much for letting me come on here and add my experiences as well!  I personally have utilized this website so much and hope some ideas I have you all will be able to use as well.

A little about us… we are from NYC and have decided to have our wedding in Aruba (obviously)!  We got engaged this past August and due to a great deal of research, including a trip last November, we decided to do May because of the weather.  Of course there is not guarantee of perfect weather, we all know Aruba give you the least chance of rain and of course humidity… which for any of you curly haired bride, you understand what no/low humidity means for you on your wedding day! J

We are planning a Saturday wedding on Renaissance Island.  We have approximately 100 guests coming- I say approximately because what you will all soon learn is that some people just don’t feel the need to rsvp.  Our rsvp date was March 15^th and we are still trying to track down about 10 couples that haven’t let us know yet! Stressful…check! Lol.

We are also holding events every night starting on Thursday…. We are holding a poolside welcome party at the Marriott- the pool is amazing!  The entire hotel has undergone $55 million renovation in the past year and is just top notch.  Marriott is actually where our guests as well as us are staying.  Friday, we are still in negotiations with Papiamento for a rehearsal dinner. If you haven’t been there, go….. the food is great, but the atmosphere is what makes this place a must-go-to-eat restaurant on your trip to Aruba. 

Our wedding day of course is on Renaissance Island….it is just beautiful!  You can be as loud as you want all night with no restrictions. (If you read up on the blog, there are sound restrictions on the main strip, where music MUST be turned off by 11pm).   Our wedding coordinator, Juney, is the best! He responds to emails asap and just knows how to make you feel like there is nothing to worry about…which is important especially for a bride like myself!! 

We have also late in the process decided to hire a wedding planner- Edwina…. I can’t even begin to tell you up to this point what an asset she is to us!  My fiancé and I both agree she brings the best customer service to the table you will ever be able to get!!  She put aside the entire 4 day weekend for us and helped us with everything planning wise down to picking us up and dropping us off at the airport!!  She has an impeccable taste for details.   You may be asking why we hired her… when we have a coordinator at Ren Island?  Plain and simple we have 100 guests and 4 days of events and multiple levels of transporting these guests around (remember we are staying at the Marriott and having our wedding at Ren Island), as well as gift bags, and just having someone that has a local perspective.  Her assistant, Shannon has been priceless as well.  He is around the same age as us (31 J )  and has given us such an insider look at the island to let us know what is out there to know, and  the ins and outs of what to do while the everyone is here!

So that is my story for now- we are about 8 weeks out and I have lots to do!

Feel free to shoot me questions as I have a lot of advice to add! 

Enjoy your wedding planning….this is the last time it will be all about you and your fiancé!!! It will have stress (believe me) but it will be fun too!!!

Bon Bini!