Registry Info

I know you're all dying to buy Korinne and me presents.  Some of our married friends might object to this, given the average of maybe two years it has taken for us to buy wedding gifts.  But I think we're pretty much caught up, so we feel ok to give you our wedding registry information.  For traditional wedding gift items (e.g., housewares...um, I can't think of any other examples), we are registered at Willams Sonoma and Pottery Barn.  Presumably you can go to the registry portions of their websites and search for our names.  I'm assuming their websites are as follows:

http://www.williamssonoma.com/

http://www.potterybarn.com/

Since we live in a typical New York City apartment, we don't have room for a lot of stuff that we won't ever use, so we kept it to the essentials (i.e., upgrading from whatever Ikea nonsense we've had for the last several years).  As such, we have decided to use one of these newfangled honeymoon gift websites, on which you can go to the website and gift us things like dinners, massages, snorkeling trips, etc.  This seems more fun anyway.  Here's the link for our Honeyfund list, with options for the remainder of our Caribbean adventure:

http://www.honeyfund.com/wedding/korinneanddj

We thank you all in advance for the kind gifts.  And apologize if you didn't get a gift from us until you already had your third kid.

Attire Recommendations

GUEST BLOGGER ALERT!

Sorry, I know that's lame.  We're such bloggers, right?  Anyway, Korinne is the best person to describe what you should wear to the Friday evening welcome drinks and the wedding ceremony/reception.  Without further ado, I will turn it over to my lovely future wife:

Attire Recommendations

Lots of questions on what to wear to the wedding, so here goes… We’ve decided to skip all the vague dress code references like beach chic and resort wear and be a bit more straightforward for everyone.

For the welcome reception on Friday evening, women could wear sundresses or pants and a top. The Friday reception will not be on the beach so any shoes work – heels, strappy sandals or flats. Men could wear khaki or linen pants and a polo or button down shirt, either short or long sleeved. For shoes, we recommend loafers, boat shoes or something similar, instead of flip-flops.

For the most part, the same attire is recommended for the wedding on Saturday. Women could wear sundresses; however, we will be on the beach so wear a flat sandal instead of heels. For men, the same attire worn to the welcome reception works for the wedding, but a sandal or flip-flop is fine to wear. No jacket or tie needs to be worn to either event.

The temperature is in the mid-70s in the evenings, but there is always an ocean breeze. You won’t be chilly at night, but you also won’t be warm in a long sleeved shirt or pants.

If you have any other questions on type of clothes to pack, feel free to email Korinne (kkubena@gmail.com) who has much more insight on this topic.

Vague Scheduling Information

Some of you have inquired about what the schedule will look like for the wedding weekend.  My general recommendation is to try to arrive Thursday and leave Monday.  Obviously, this depends on your ability to get out of work or child-rearing responsibilities.  But here are some very vague thoughts about what will be on the slate:

Thursday night:  Outing to Sandy Ground, where there are various bars and general merriment
Friday:  Some kind of Anguilla/beach/boat related event during the day; welcome cocktail reception in the evening
Saturday:  Probably not much if anything planned during the day; wedding ceremony and reception will begin in the early evening
Sunday:  Dunno exactly, but I imagine anyone still around will get together in some way

Happy New Year...Make Your Reservations ASAP

Hello everyone, welcome to 2010.  Korinne and I have been corresponding with many of you regarding hotel accomodations, and as such, rooms are filling up.  Carimar and Cap Juluca are apparently both sold out, so your options are now Viceroy and Paradise Cove.  As described before, both are good options depending on what you are looking to do.

My recommendation is to make your hotel reservations as soon as possible.  We have rooms blocked at both of the remaining available places, but if things start to fill up there...well, I don't know what happens then.  Just make your plans.  Thank you for your assistance in this matter.

Viceroy Photos

As previously mentioned, Korinne and I toured Viceroy.  We have a number of rooms blocked off here, and I would highly recommend it as an option - could be an alternative to Cap Juluca or if you had planned one of the larger rooms or rooms with views at Frangipani (booo).  The pricing here will never again be like the offer that we have here, because the hotel just opened today and they are trying to fill up a new hotel in a bad hotel market.  They don't yet have the return guests that keep coming back (yet).

It's a more modern place with a South Beach or LA feel, as opposed to a "right on the beach" place like Cap Juluca.  There are more pools, they are all very cool looking, and there is a bit more focus on the pools here than at CJ - I've actually never seen anyone at the pool at CJ.  There's no need because of the beach there.  But, the beach at Viceroy is still great, and they were finishing their beach club which is actually at the end of Meads Bay, all the way at the opposite end as Carimar.  The hotel spans from the end of Meads Bay, much of it sits on a cliff, over to Barnes Bay.  The big villas are on the ledge above the beach at Barnes Bay. 

We are thinking about having our welcome cocktail event at Viceroy (the other option is CJ), because the space is unbelievable, and the bar area would be great for hanging out post-event (and pre- whatever other nonsense goes on later that night).  Here are some photos for your perusal:

Below is a view from one of the suites.  This is the Meads Bay side, and the beach club is right on the other side of the buildings in the middle of the photo.  The building on the right has the oceanview rooms that are available at the price on the list, and there are less expensive ones right behind that.  Obviously you're steps from the beach, plus this pool has cabanas and full service.  The spa is apparently down there too, though it wasn't finished when we were there.

This is a view of Barnes Bay from the area outside the main house, just down from the bar and restaurant area.  The buildings you see on the bluff are the crazy 4- and 6-bedroom villas, which apparently have almost all been sold.  You can rent these if you want, but it will cost you!  The beach is open to anyone, as they all are.  We've never been down on Barnes Bay beach, so can't tell you how it is.  I imagine it's as good as all the others there.

Turn to your left from the above point, and you'll see the bar area just past the infinity pool.  The entrance to the main house is on the left.

Here's the bar area from closer to the main house, facing the area where the above pictures were taken.

Hotel Notes

Korinne and I returned, sadly, from Anguilla last Sunday, but I'm just getting around to posting a few items.  I just downloaded all the photos onto my computer, so I'll be putting up some good ones.  Most importantly, we toured the Viceroy, which as I noted in my email, is a great hotel.  Different feel than Cap Juluca (and Malliouhana and CuisinArt), but very nice and the pricing we got seems very attractive - moreso now that I've seen it.

A couple notes as you make your reservations:

If you want the room/hotel of your choice, you should probably think about booking soon.  I know that Cap Juluca is filling up and only has a few rooms left.  Viceroy still has a bunch of rooms blocked off for us, and they are one of the only hotels that has rooms w/ two queen beds (in case you're rooming w/ someone).  I think Paradise Cove has plenty left, and Carimar (as previously noted) is just about filled up.