“Sometimes the people whom we’ve only known for a short amount of time have a bigger impact on us than those we’ve known forever” – Unknown.
Admittedly, I was one of those little girls who planned her wedding. Growing up, however, I never envisioned that when it came time to get married that I would end up planning a destination wedding. I grew up on a beautiful island and always thought that I would get married there. However, sometimes love has a different idea.
When I met my now husband and discovered his familial ties to Saint Lucia, we figured it would be a great experience to have a wedding in Saint Lucia and create a vacation for our friends and family; many of whom had never been to Saint Lucia before.
Awesome Caribbean Weddings (“ACW”) was recommended to me by a friend of my husband. Following this recommendation, I called them and shared my vision of what I wanted to create for our wedding day.
Communication with ACW was easy, constant and after the first conversation, I immediately felt that our wedding was entrusted in good hands; little did I know that Michele and her ACW team weren’t just good they were stellar.
After making an initial trip to Saint Lucia, we decided on our ceremony venue (Pigeon Island) and our reception location (the Harbor Club). When we left from the initial trip, we felt we were leaving a friend because Michele truly became someone that my family holds in high esteem.
Following our second visit to Saint Lucia, before the wedding, our vision started to take shape and our wedding became more of a reality; we could not wait to return with our friends and family.
As to be expected we had some planning difficulties, which were beyond our and Michele’s control. Some of the challenges we faced centered on our reception location and details about our reception. Our choice for a reception venue was a leap of faith as it was a new hotel construction and we were the hotel’s first wedding. Michele managed the delays and negotiations remarkably; her experience in these areas was very evident. During our 14 months of planning, Michele kept us regularly informed and truly made sure our wishes were met. Michele handled these particular challenges with such grace and we definitely felt that she was our advocate in our absence.
On our wedding day, everything went flawlessly and we know that was all due to Michele and her extraordinary planning and execution. The vendors that Michele introduced us to and we ultimately selected (Emerson for flowers, Hannah for makeup, Anne for hair, Daniel for photography, Eden for video and Duncan for our welcome party) truly rounded out our dream team.
Our guests had an amazing time and still talk about our wedding. My husband and I still reflect on our wedding day and look at our photos and video regularly as we relive such a magical day.
My husband and I are busy professionals but planning a wedding over 2,000 kilometers away with Michele and ACW was easy and not as stressful as we initially thought it would be.
Michele never tired of our questions (and trust me I had many!) or changes. She captured the vision for our wedding perfectly. Through this process, my husband, parents and I gained a dear friend who we are so thankful played such an important part in the most important day of our lives.
If you are considering using ACW as your planner, stop considering and choose them. Michele and her team will give you first class service resulting in a truly remarkable and memorable wedding for you.
We love you Michele, you have left an indelible mark on our hearts!
Sincerely,
Kimberley D. Caines-Best and Joseph E. Best Jr.
