Key West Brides! (and those in the know) - coordinator suggestions?

[scottishflower]

Hi All,

 

I'm getting married Feb 2006 on Key West in conjunction with our RCCL cruise, and I need help!

 

We'll be there only for a short time, (7am - 2pm) and I want a short wedding ceremony, maybe 15 min long max, and I need to accomodate my 30 guests that are sailing with us. We'll do the reception on board so not too many frills are required for the ceremony in port.

 

That said, I don't think I want to hire Royal Romance because I'm a control freak and need access to all information and updates in a timely fashion (and the negative comments on their performance in that regard scares me). That said, I still want a coordinator of some kind, so that I do not need to deal with any issues on my wedding day other than looking beautiful (ha ha).

 

So does anyone have suggestions for a coordinator that lets me be all over the specifics, I can hire some vendors myself, like the Trolly, maybe photog and musician, depending...), doesn't mind that I want it simple (i.e. good time/cost value, inexpensive given I need an hour on a Tues morning), yet memorable, and then takes over when I get off the ship? (not too demanding, am I?)

 

That was more long winded than I intended, so my thanks to all for reading!

 

Heather :)

 

p.s. Fort Zach is raising site prices soon, and significantly! Any other good suggestions? How's Smathers around 10am on a Tues? Or do I bag the beach and do a Hemmingway thing? Southernmost House? Urgh! Decisions, decisions!

[dcdiva]

scottishflower -

 

got married on the Jewel while in port at Key West, and it was lovely. I used Royal Romance and had few problems. There were a few key things that they provided that I couldn't have gotten elsewhere. First, I had 56 sailing guests, so getting everyone off the ship to an onshore site and then back by our 2 pm departure was too much to deal with. So RR arranged the wedding onboard.

 

The ceremony and reception took place in the Safari Club which was perfect for our group. Since we were in port, the ship was practically empty so it felt wonderfully private. We opted for a lunch, but just cake and champagne would have worked nicely as well.

 

Next, the minister they arranged was just fabulous. I can't say enough about her. Although we only met her an hour or so before the ceremony, she made it incredibly personal.

 

Our day in Key West was also formal night, so everyone came dressed in thier wedding clothes for dinner which made it like a second reception. It all worked out great.

 

My one recommendation about RR is that if you do decide to go with them, follow up on everything. They have issues, but they also have good points. On the day of my wedding, they made sure I had nothing to worry about.

 

If you'd like to see some photos from my onboard wedding, here is a link...

 

http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=oy4pb0z.6i8y4ahv&x=0&y=-juhyjf

[Aloyicus]

What ship and dates are you getting married? I am also getting married in Feb on RCCL which ports in Key West. Just Curious,sorry I have no good imput.:p

[carlyw77]

I got married in Key West, though I was not on a cruise. We used Fantasea Weddings and they did a spectacular job. I was very pleased and I heard form many of my guests that it was the most memorable wedding they had been to. We used Kirk at Fantasea Weddings. I must warn you that thier shop is scary and he likes to dress in pirate garb. I wanted a classic (mostly traditional) and they pulled it off.

 

The Southernmost House would be beautiful! Best of luck plannning!

[scottishflower]

Thanks for the responses so far; much appreciated!

 

As far as the date, Feb 27 embarkation, Feb 28 wedding.

 

About Fantasea Weddings, I've heard from one other person that they're good, but they haven't returned my email (the phone calls are the next step, but I'm narrowing down my choices via email right now).

 

Any other feedback or suggestions are very welcome.

 

Thanks again!

 

Heather

[carlyw77]

Yes, sorry... I should have mentioned that. They are for some reason very bad at emails, but great on the phone.

[stephp6]

I am getting married on the RC Empress of the Seas in 3 weeks! yikes!

I just heard from my Royal Romance coordinator Janet Wright (FAB!) and I got the time and location I requested! Ceremony onboard since we are also in KW from 7 - 2pm - too stressful to plan something off the ship.

Janet is wonderful! I worked everything with her. Hopefully the day of will be as successful as the planning!

 

I booked a separate lunch not through RR. My travel agent booked a lunch with the dining room. The lunch will be after we sail so you can't have the non-sailing guests at the lunch. I have 72 people cruising with us and only 4 non-sailing so I had to go with it.

[Flower76]

We're having a Key West wedding off of a Carnival cruise in November! :)

 

We went through 3 coordinators before finding the one we are actually working with. We are working with Stephanie Happ at Swept Away (http://www.besweptaway.com). She's been really fast (rare in Key West), responsive, interested in us, and extremely capable. I got in touch with her on a Friday (during a heavy wedding season), she emailed me back the same day, called the next day, and had a contract to us by Tuesday. She can also be hired to do day-of coordination only, which might be more what you're thinking of.

 

PS. Kirk from Fantasea Weddings (as another poster mentioned) left the company.

[scottishflower]

We're having a Key West wedding off of a Carnival cruise in November! :)

 

We went through 3 coordinators before finding the one we are actually working with. We are working with Stephanie Happ at Swept Away (http://www.besweptaway.com). She's been really fast (rare in Key West), responsive, interested in us, and extremely capable. I got in touch with her on a Friday (during a heavy wedding season), she emailed me back the same day, called the next day, and had a contract to us by Tuesday. She can also be hired to do day-of coordination only, which might be more what you're thinking of.

 

PS. Kirk from Fantasea Weddings (as another poster mentioned) left the company.

 

Thanks Flower76 - I heard good things about Stephanie at another board and she was responsive to my initial "feel out" set of emails I sent, so she's a good possibility. Question: are you coordinating the vendors yourself, or is she negotiating/hiring your vendors for you? Have you decided on details, like venue and the frills? Thanks again!

 

Heather

[Flower76]

Thanks Flower76 - I heard good things about Stephanie at another board and she was responsive to my initial "feel out" set of emails I sent, so she's a good possibility. Question: are you coordinating the vendors yourself, or is she negotiating/hiring your vendors for you? Have you decided on details, like venue and the frills? Thanks again!

 

Heather

 

Heather -

 

Happy to help. :)

 

I am using Stephanie for everything. For full coordination including vendors, she charges either a flat rate of $800 or percentage of the total cost of the wedding (5-10%, I've forgotten which), whichever is higher. For day-of coordination only, she charges the $800 flat rate. Because we're trying to do things as cheaply as possible, our total wedding cost would result in being charged $800 for either method (full service or day-of only). So we just did the full service thing.

 

Are you also posting over on the Yahoo! group for Key West weddings (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/keywestdestinationweddings/?yguid=146496215)? If so, you might get this info twice. :) Also, the Destination Wedding board on the Knot can be really helpful (http://www.theknot.com/kl_mbmain2ktopics.html?Object=CLOCAL207&market=207&keyword=GETAWAY%20WEDDINGS). My bio over there has a lot of my details included. My user name is the same as it is here.

 

We're having the ceremony and reception at Duval Beach Club (http://www.kellyskeywest.com/kellysbeachclub-main.html). For food, we will serve a continental-style breakfast with sparkling cider for toasts. I'm in the middle of attempting to make our own flowers to bring with us. We have hired Kelston Chaves for a photographer (http://www.kelstonchaves.com/pages/5/index.htm), Publix for the cake (http://www.publix.com/custom/wedding/CakeDetail.do?categoryId=3&cakeId=5), and the Conch Train for transportation (http://www.conchtourtrain.com/).

 

Good luck!

Mary

[scottishflower]

Thanks Mary, and, yep same Heather - I'll respond back over at the Yahoo board :)