Our Aruba Wedding

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.)

Here is a write-up and photos of a beautiful ‘real wedding’ on Renaissance Island in Aruba. Though we decided Ren Island wasn’t for us, this posting shows just how beautiful it can be. I can totally identify with this bride who describes Aruba lacking in vendor options. In particular, before reading her write-up I can tell her photographer was not from Aruba. They even went to the extent of bringing their own priest with them. Since Aruba works hard to promote itself as a wedding destination, you would expect more options. While they do have some wonderful people, the wedding industry does not seem nearly as well developed at places like Cabo and Hawaii.

Since Aruba has a reputation for being expensive I had a feeling I would be able to find all the glam and latest / greatest wedding decor available but instead often find myself feeling like they are about 10 years behind. Still, patience and creativity will pay off. And of course so will a substantial budget — I’d be willing to bet this couple’s budget was a bit higher than most. We created a budget based on initial proposals from the hotels and have exceeded it by more than 50%.

Expectation: We love the idea of having our wedding on a private island. We weren’t crazy of photos we’ve seen of set-ups but hope we’ll like it better in person. We did like the idea of the privacy and the fact that we could be as loud as we want.

Finally – the fifth (and last) appointment of the day – going to see the Renaissance Island. We’re told we would see a wedding set-up and get to walk around the island. When researching the private island I found posts from those who LOVED the island and wouldn’t dream of having a wedding anywhere else. Then there were others that found the island lacking in charm – even describing it as ‘cheesy’. There were complaints of mosquitos, airplanes flying overhead and the boat ride over to the island.

We took the boat from the Marina hotel over to the island along with a few of the vendors that were going to be working the wedding. A manager from the Marina hotel joined us and was really helpful since at first there was a misunderstanding with the boat arrangement. I had wondered how you get over to the island by boat without your hair getting all messed up. While the boat is mostly open, there is a sheltered area where the bride could sit (she’d have to sit backwards at the very front). I had also heard accounts that said the ride to the island takes 17 minutes. I forgot to time it but was certain it took less than 17 minutes – felt like 10 to me. So – the whole boat ride which had me a little apprehensive was totally fine… a non-issue in our book.

The island itself was cuter than I expected. Not really paradise but nice. There are lots of palms for shade and the lagoon areas for swimming looked nice. Also, the ‘peninsulas’ with lounge chairs on them looked like a cool place to hang out during the day.

The manager first took us to the right of the dock to show us the beach where the ceremony was set up. It wasn’t bad. Not a very big area but big enough. If I remember right during the day this is the adult only “Flamingo Beach”. We didn’t love it or hate it. Then he took us to the other beach 50-100 yards away (the family friendly “Iguana Beach”). Again – not bad and they were in the process of setting up. He took us beyond that beach to show us more of the island where they have a fitness center which was ‘kind of’ cool. While we were there we watched a plane take off and never noted it being noisy so we were sure we wouldn’t be bothered by planes overhead.

Then we went back to look closer at the reception area. I could see how some people would love this set-up. Dinner with your feet in the sand and having all that privacy and being able to make as much noise as you want. Still, it didn’t sit right with me. Maybe it was just a little too informal because it felt more ‘beach barbecue’ than dream wedding. The decorations were unappealing to us, though we do have to respect that the couples taste was different than ours (and budget may be more limited). Also, just my personal preference, but I didn’t want to be in the sand for a whole night. They do have a concrete slab / dance floor under the sand in front of where the band was set up so you could at least be on solid ground for dancing. It was maybe 10-12″ square.

Overall I didn’t think the set-up and location was bad – it just wasn’t ‘us’. It felt a little more ‘nice picnic at the park’ than chic event. It would take a lot of decorating for us to be interested in this location. And as for mosquitoes – I normally have a terrible time with mosquitoes – I get bitten up like crazy, but didn’t while we were there. Of course the reviews did say they come out at dusk so we were an hour early. And we did take note of the 6 brand new cans of bug repellent sitting out on the bar.

Conclusion: Great idea but not us at all. We want something a little classier.

Expectation: We were expecting the Marina to be more hip but again, weren’t excited by the room decor viewed on their website.

We were enjoying our visit at the Westin SO MUCH that we were running late for our Renaissance appointment. The wedding planner was still gracious and said “No Problem” because we were on “Aruba Time”. We felt we already knew the Ocean Suites side of the hotel well enough so limited this appointment to seeing some rooms on the “Marina” (adults only) side.

The Marina hotel does have a much nicer lobby. Open air, more furniture and space, great looking bar and opens to a pool that is just off the lobby. The lobby and pool are on the second floor over-looking the street. To the right of the pool is a canopied area that has over-sized lounges. While some reviews complained about the size of the pool (that it is small), we thought it was adequate for this hotel. How many people do you see in the pool at an adults only resort anyway? This side is definitely a lot more hip. (Nowhere near “Miami Beach cool” but not bad). The pool / bar area looked like it could be a lot of fun…. for a younger crowd that is… I think I could have had fun staying here 10 years ago when I was a 20-something and more interested in the party and less interested in comfort.

He showed us a couple of rooms that were again, ‘ok’. Again, the ‘new renovation’ does seem to fall a little short and the rooms seemed a little dark to us. I don’t remember any of the rooms we saw having a balcony and the cool hip vibe from downstairs does not make its way up here.

We were pretty sure we weren’t going to want to invite our guests to stay here either but were still going to return later in the evening to visit the private island and see a wedding set-up in progress. On another note, we did think their shopping mall was pretty nice and were also pleasantly surprised by their casino. It seemed bright and clean and I don’t remember it being smokey.

Now, off to the Hyatt Regency for meeting number 3!

Conclusion: This place had probably the best ‘party scene’ of all the locations we visited if that’s what you are looking for. Their rooms were also the least expensive of all the resorts we visited. It seems like a place I might have loved 10 years ago, but now I need something a little more sophisticated.

Expectation: To be honest, I was not expecting to like this hotel. We’re kind of ‘hotel snobs’. Though ‘newly renovated’, when looking at photos on their site the room decor still looked dated. We were interested in a Renaissance Private Island wedding though and thought guests might like the suites.

For our site visit we booked one night at the Renaissance Ocean Suites. There are actually two hotels – the “Marina” (adult only) hotel and the family friendly Ocean Suites. Since we expect most people to stay on the “suites” side we decide to spend Friday night there.

During our initial research the Renaissance was the front runner. There catering is a little more affordable than the high-rise hotels and they have the Renaissance Private Island which you can have to yourself for your wedding and reception. While the hotel is older, they advertise it as being ‘newly renovated’ and it also seems to have more affordable rooms. We liked the idea of the downtown location where guests would easily be able to walk to shopping, dining and other entertainment. My biggest hang-up going in was that in the pictures I saw on the website, the rooms still looked a bit dated (in particular the sleeper sofas).

Walking into the hotel was a little disappointing in that the lobby is bland. The limited decor looked cheap to me. I love hotels with a “Wow” lobby where I can see myself hanging out with a cocktail before or after an activity. The lobby is open air but plain.

You can walk straight through the lobby to the pool area which I have to say makes up for the lobby! I think the Ocean Suites has one of the best pools we saw. It’s a winding free-form pool with a couple of bars including a swim-up bar. They had some nice music playing by the bars but away from them you could also find quiet. The sandy ‘lagoon’ area was also nicer than we expected and we kind of liked the idea of kids playing in a sheltered area vs in the wide open sea.

We were given a nice room at the end of the hall with an ocean view. We appreciated the view from the respectable balcony. Some of the ‘new renovation’ is clear. Much of the furniture is new, they have upgraded the beds / bedding, beds were comfy and bathroom has at least been face-lifted. They also had robes available, something I love!

On the downside, ‘kitchen area’ is more of a wet bar with a microwave, the blue and yellow decor still feels dated (we like fresh and modern), sofa was uncomfortable to sit on, TVs were old and bulky. And the deal breaker — the bedroom has no windows! Our suite ran front to back – living area, behind that space divided into a ‘galley / hallway’ style ‘kitchen area’ and bathroom, and finally in the back, the bedroom. When we are traveling in a beautiful tropical place we want to be woken by the sunshine streaming in. We don’t want to lose time in a pitch black room. Of course others may see that as a positive. Beyond that, the hotel overall still seemed dated with its brass railings and dark ugly carpet in the hallways.

So, after checking in (very late) we couldn’t get back out of the hotel fast enough. We were pleased to find great sushi very close by. We sat outdoors and had fun ‘people-watching’. Then we walked over to the shopping area and were please to find a nice mix of upscale and more modest shops and boutiques. Finally we checked out a club which was kind of fun. Still, we were pretty certain we weren’t going to invite our guests to stay at the Renaissance Ocean Suites and were really glad we weren’t planning to spend both nights there.

Conclusion: Renaissance Ocean Suites has a great pool and nice location close to shopping and nightclubs, however even though ‘newly renovated’ the hotel still feels old.