VIP Wedding Planners Trip to Barbados

I must share how honored and privileged I feel to have been 1 out of 5 wedding planners nationwide to have been selected to visit the absolutely gorgeous island of Barbados. At first, I must admit, I thought it was another hoax. I mean come on, how often do you get to travel completely for FREE to a land of paradise?

The purpose of this trip was to see the island firsthand in order to be able to sell it as a magnificent destination wedding location. We were taken to the best restaurants and locations on the Island and experienced a true royal treatment.

Most of the pictures you will see are in the order of which each location was visited.

Day 1 Wednesday May 13, 2009
Well, I honestly did not believe it until I was on the plane! On Wednesday May 13 at 9:45am, my plane took off from MIA destination Bridgetown Barbados! Upon my arrival I was greeted by a Barbados Tourism authority representative and gathered with my FAM group. We were then escorted to our fabulous hotel (Colony Club hotel http://www.colonyclubhotel.com/) Once we all settled in, we were then take to the Coral Reef spa for some R & R! For dinner, we were taken to the Fairmont hotel where we met with the Catherine, the catering manager. Catherine was wonderful and answered all of our questions without any hesitation.

Day 2, Thursday May 14, 2009
Our day required an early wake up call as we headed to the famous Sandy Lane resort for a 5 star breakfast buffet. From specialty made omelets to fresh fruit smoothies our palates were going wild! We then toured the amazing properties and were then taken to the Country Club Golf course. This is where Tiger Woods got married. The view is so amazing and serene it makes you want to stay there and enjoy nature all day long! We then moved along and visited several properties on Sandy Lane. These multi-million dollar privately owned homes are rented out for private events. It is surprisingly affordable and some homes even come with a personal butler and chef!!!!! (http://www.aaaltman.com/).

After we visited the properties, we were taken to Lonestar restaurant. The view here is breathtaking (as in most places we visited) and we were fortunate enough to meet Corrie Scott a local socialite that enchanted us with her graciousness and surprised us all with a personalized piece of art! We then moved along to visit the other properties owned by Elegant hotels (http://www.eleganthotels.com/) and headed back to our hotel for a quick shower! In the evening we had cocktails at the Cliff restaurant. This location is absolutely amazing!!!!!! In order to properly appreciate it, it is only opened for dinner and private events. It is surrounded by gas torches which give this property the ambiance you immediately feel by just entering the door. It is independently owned and very highly recognized all over the world. You can find more information at http://www.thecliff.com/. After some really yummy appetizers and champagne, we were taken to Daphnes for a very formal dinner. Here we had the opportunity to meet some very important people from the Island. Among them was Emma from Events Unusual, the event planner that worked closed with Sandy Lane in planning Tiger Woods wedding. We had a fabulous dinner with excellent company!

Day 3, Friday, May 15, 2009
We had an early drive to the East coast. We visited the pristine resort called The Crane. This is a resort in which once you check in, there is absolutely no reason for you to leave (until it's time to head back home of course). Here we were presented with a panel of very interesting people. We met a local photographer, employees of the magistrate and Avril from the BTA. We were able to ask may questions on civil weddings, local vendors and how they operate on a daily basis. They were kind enough to set up a mock up wedding so that we could experience what a wedding at their resort would look like!

Once our time at The Crane was up, we were taken to other areas in the island that were of interest. Among these, was an abandoned house once owned by Harry Smith. This house was once amazing and must have been a very secluded area to live in. One of the cool spots we were taken to was Bathsheba. Surfers come from all over the world to surf these waves! For lunch we were taken to the astonishing, Hunte's Gardens. This location almost resembled a natural dollhouse. We were greeted by the owner, Mr. Hunte and taken to his "green house" for a catered lunch. We then toured the property and enjoyed some delicious English tea. After lunch we toured St. Nicholas Abbey. This is a rum distillery that was built in 1660 and located in the northern parish of St. Peter and owned by architect, Larry Warren.

After a very long day of long distance driving and sightseeing, we then headed back to our hotel for a quick shower and prep for dinner at the Tides. The tides offers a wonderful array of seafood in a very romantic and quaint setting!

Day 4, Saturday May 16, 2009
Our day began early as we headed to St. James Parish Church. Here we were able to experience a wedding about to take place. It was decorated with orange fabric and a beautiful display of pew decorations. We then visited Fisherpond House. This home is owned by Mr. John Chandler (the Preston Bailey of Barbados). We were warmly greeted by John's wife, Rain Chandler. She gave us a tour of the estate and shared wonderful stories of all the celebrities that have visited her home. Among them are Prince Harry, Prince William, and Tony Blair just to name a few! After a cup of rum punch we then said our goodbyes and moved on to downtown Bridgetown. We did some shopping and went to visit the ONLY Synagogue in Barbados. After learning about it's history we then went to have lunch at Champers. An absolutely beautiful restaurant with the ocean as it's backyard. Voted number 1 in the 2009 Barbados guide.

After about a 40 minutes drive back to the hotel, we had the afternoon to our leisure. I actually relaxed by the ocean and had a seaside massage! In the evening we then headed over to a very casual dinner at Groots! That was definitely a great "local" experience. This restaurant reminded me so much of Key West! We actually got to write on the walls like back in my middle school days!!!!! After multiple rum punches and hours of laughter, we headed back to our hotel and called it a night!

Last day in Barbados, May 17, 2009
We actually got to "sleep in" and had breakfast in our hotel. We had to pack our goodies and head out to the airport. Before we began our 40 minute drive to the airport, we stopped at Cove Spring. This is were Mariah Carey recently got married to Nick Cannon. This private property is absolutely breathtaking. It is known for hosting spectacular weddings and has a guest list which includes Oprah Winfrey and Simon Cowell.

As we all rode in very quietly (and saddened to leave) in the bus, I had a vision of what my first wedding here in Barbados would be like. I envisioned bringing to life a little girl's dream of a picture perfect beach side wedding to the man of her dreams in a picture perfect place!

Thank you so much for allowing me to share this wonderful experience with you all and I look forward to returning to Barbados in the very near future, hopefully with one of you!