The wedding gazebo in the hotel garden comes as standard, while tying the knot on the beach is so last season. Here are a few hotels that offer somewhere different for the happy couples to say ‘I do’.
Exchanging vows with the sand between your toes and the waves lapping just a few feet away is…….. so passé.
A beach wedding at sunset is no longer the only type of foreign wedding on the Caribbean menu. More hotels are working harder to get their slice of the lucrative wedding pie by introducing ever more unusual and quirky locations for couples wanting a wedding with a difference.
SuperClubs sales and marketing manager, Europe Annabelle Marshall said: “The most popular location for guests to marry is on our beautiful M/Y Zein yacht at the Grand Lido Negril Resort, Jamaica. The horse and carriage at Breezes Runaway, Jamaica, always proves popular for wedding photographs and Starfish Trelawny in Jamaica, has seen a dramatic increase in second marriages, where children are very much included in the fun.”
We pick out five hotels that offer more unconventional wedding venues.
In a monastery
Those in the know eschew the mile of white sand at the One & Only Ocean Club in the Bahamas and say ‘I do’ in the French Cloisters, a 12th century French Monastery overlooking Nassau Harbour, with cobblestone paths, ancient columns, an open-air gazebo and marble statues.
Sample price: Sunset Faraway Holidays offers seven nights from £1,480 per adult, room only, including direct British Airways flights. Wedding packages start from a whopping £3,890.
A sugar mill
Sitting in the grounds of Almond Beach Village in Barbados is a picturesque 18th century sugar mill. The ruined site is very atmospheric and surrounded by colourful, tropical gardens, making it an ideal backdrop for wedding photos.
Sample price: Virgin Holidays offers seven nights, all-inclusive from £1,059 per person, including transfers and scheduled flights with Virgin Atlantic. Free weddings are offered to couples staying for a minimum of seven-nights.
By a waterfall
Couples who tie the knot at the pretty beachfront Anse Chastanet resort in St Lucia have lots of locations to choose from in the 600-acre grounds. However, the most unusual option is a ceremony at a nearby waterfall. The dramatic Diamond Falls are a 20-minute drive away and couples say ‘I do’ beneath an arch of bougainvillea and bamboo with the waterfall behind. Champagne on ice and complimentary wedding cake make the perfect finishing touch. Some couples have even been known to wade into the water after the ceremony.
Sample price: Harlequin Worldwide offers 14 nights at Anse Chastenet from £1,561 per person. This includes accommodation with breakfast, flights and transfers. Wedding packages cost from £495.
A haunted mansion
or newlyweds looking to inject a little extra magic into their wedding day, the five-star Ritz-Carlton Golf & Spa Resort in Jamaica can exclusively arrange weddings at the elegant and, allegedly, haunted Rose Hall Great House. Set in the Rose Hall Estate in hills close to Montego Bay, the mansion, which can hold up to 200 guests, is surrounded by expansive green lawns, gardens and a private pond. Inside it has a huge dining area with lots of antiques and polished wooden floors. The White Witch, who is said to reside there, is occasionally spotted by eager tourists but has yet to make an appearance at a wedding ceremony.
Sample price: Kuoni offers seven nights room-only from £1,030 per person based on two people sharing. This includes flights with Air Jamaica from Heathrow, transfers and use of airport lounge in the UK.
In the mountains
If you’re looking for somewhere off the beaten track, then the tropical paradise of Ottley’s Plantation Inn, St Kitts, is ideal. Set high in the hills, this stunning manor house is surrounded by swaying palm trees, lush hibiscus and bougainvillaea. Ceremonies take place in a romantic garden set in the remains of the plantation’s sugar mill, by the pool or on the hotel’s wraparound veranda.
Sample price: ITC Classics offers seven nights, room only in a standard room, flying British Airways, from £1,387 per person based on two sharing. A wedding package is from £660.
On a boat
Celeb-loving couples can follow in the footsteps of film star Grace Kelly and marry on the M/Y Zein yacht at Grand Lido Negril Resort in Jamaica. The sleek boat was Princess Grace’s wedding pressie from Prince Rainer. Now modern day bride’s and groom’s can choose to tie the knot moored just off the beautiful beach or can sail along the Caribbean coastline at sunset.
Sample price: Tropical Places offers seven nights all-inclusive at the five-star Grand Lido Negril Resort from £1,299 per person. Wedding packages aboard the yacht cost £429 moored or £859 for the cruise.
Island paradise
What could be more glam than getting married on a private island? Young Island, just five minutes off the coast of St Vincent in the Grenadines has lots of venue options, including beach, hillside gazebo and stone jetty with panoramic seaviews for sunset ceremonies. If that’s not enough, it was also the recent retreat for the stars of Pirates of the Caribbean during filming – Johnny Depp stayed in cottage six.
Sample price: Caribtours offers seven nights from £1,431 per person including full-board accommodation, flights and transfers. The wedding package is from £745 and includes a candlelit dinner.
Romantic rainforest
Ladera in St Lucia offers amazing views of the famous Pitons (see top of page) and is set in the heart of hundreds of rolling acres of tropical rainforest. Couples can exchange vows among the exotic flora and fauna at sunset and then retire to their open-sided bedroom to drink in the views, as well as champagne, from the luxury of their (four-poster) bed on their wedding night.
Sample price: ITC Classics offers seven nights room only in a one-bedroom suite with plunge pool, flying British Airways, from £1,257 per person based on two sharing. A wedding package is from £665.
In an English Church
The new Raffles Resort Canouan Island in St Vincent and the Grenadines has its very own 12th century Anglican church in which Raffles residents can hold their wedding ceremony. Brought to the island stone by stone from England at the end of the last century, it has been lovingly restored and can be found in the centre of the resort. The church now features beautiful murals and stained glass windows.
Sample price: Elegant Resorts offers seven nights from £1,555 per person. This is based on two people sharing on a room-only basis and includes return flights and transfers. Wedding packages on request via the hotel.
Celebrity watch
Supermodel Cindy Crawford and millionaire bar owner Rande Gerber knew just the place to head to to tie the knot and spend their honeymoon – the stunning One and Only Ocean Club Bahamas on the aptly named Paradise Island.
Singer Louise and footballer Jamie Redknapp exchanged vows on a luxury yacht moored in the harbour of Bermuda’s capital , Hamilton. The couple then stayed at the Elbow Beach Resort in one of the five Royal Suites. The beach itself is a beautiful expanse of pink sand – the singer liked it so much she even named her next album Elbow Beach.
TV presenter Melanie Sykes and actor Daniel Caltagirone had a secret wedding on the beautiful island of Mustique where they chose to stay at the Cotton House, an elegant plantation-style hotel with just 20 rooms and suites, where the likes of film star Keanu Reeves has stayed.
Super model Claudia Schiffer and film producer hubby Matthew Vaughan headed to the exclusive Sandy Lane Resort in Barbados for their honeymoon, while Friends actress Courtney Cox and film star David Arquette chose up-market getaway Cap Juluca on the island of Anguilla for their romantic honeymoon. The resort is so secluded there aren’t even any room keys.
PLUS!
Naked nuptials
For a totally natural wedding, and we mean natural, how about a nude ceremony? Naked nuptials can be enjoyed at all three Hedonism resorts, part of SuperClubs, in Jamaica. For exhibitionists, the world’s largest naked group wedding ceremony is taking place at Hedonism III in Runaway Bay on June 23 2004. Other wacky weddings at the resorts have included a trapeze ceremony and reception on a giant sand castle!
Sample price: SuperClubs offers seven nights all-inclusive accommodation from £1,126 per person, including return flights. The ceremony is free for couples staying three days or more.
Underwater wonder
For aqua adventure lovers there is no better choice than an underwater wedding in the US Virgin Islands. Couples get to exchange vows amid a coral reef just off the island of St John, which is a world-renowned area for scuba-diving. Sample price: Hayes & Jarvis offers seven nights at the Westin Resort, St John, from £709 including accommodation and flights. Underwater weddings can to be booked directly though Tropic Tours (001 340 774 1855) and include a seaweed and coral wedding bouquet, diving lessons for inexperienced divers, the wedding ceremony, a photographer and videographer.