The most memorable and romantic moment of Katie and Robert’s St. Lucia honeymoon was the boat trip they took around the island. Ti Kaye Village Resort, where they stayed, arranged the outing for them.

There were a few other couples on board with them, which Katie says, “made the trip a lot of fun.” The crew served up wine, cheese and some appetizers as they sailed past the Pitons, St. Lucia’s famous peaks.

After watching the beautiful sunset, Captain Glen let Robert take the wheel and steer the boat for a while. Looks like everyone had a blast.

A huge thank you to Katie and Robert for sharing their beautiful trip with us. And a very happy congrats to these two, who are celebrating their anniversary this month.

Katie and Robert loved Ti Kaye Village Resort in St. Lucia, where they stayed on their May honeymoon. Katie found the resort through her online research and loved the remote location of the accommodations.

She says it was “kind of a hike to get there” though not literally on foot. The resort’s van picked them up at the airport and they traveled along some very bumpy, rustic roads to arrive at the destination. But Katie and Robert where thrilled with their choice and were welcomed with complimentary cocktails upon arrival.

Katie describes the resort as “pretty small” which means they avoided hustle and bustle and go to focus on relaxation. The highlight of the whole stay was their room. The private porch had spectacular views and a private pool. She says, “It was great to hang out on our own hammock and have privacy in our very own pool.”

There was even a private outdoor shower. Another highlight was the couple’s massage they had on the balcony one afternoon.

The bed was strewn with flowers when they first arrived… a small touch that the honeymooners loved.
The resort has a larger shared pool which Katie and Robert also used. Access down to the beach was just steps away as well. She says, “Every day we had to decide do we wanna go to the pool or the beach today”

For meals, they ate most dinners at the resort’s waterfront restaurant (above) which features seafood and other fresh selections and a “sundress casual” dress code. There is an option for a meal package, though Katie and Robert opted to keep things simple. Most mornings they ordered in a room-service fruit plate for breakfast, grabbed a sandwich at the pool or lunch or had some snacks they’d brought from home, and then splurged on an a la carte dinner.

Katie says the resort was so “amazing” that they’d love to go back someday. And their first stop would be to grab a tropical cocktail under the paper lanterns at Ti Kaye’s on-site bar.

We’re not really sure what’s cuter, Katie and Robert Haines’ photos from their St. Lucia honeymoon or the story of how they met. She tells us it was at the Jacksonville, Florida, ad agency where they both work. She had a crush on him that very first day on the job, but it would take them almost a year to really start to chat. But once they made a connection, the sparks flew and eight months later, they were walking down the aisle in Jacksonville. As Katie says, “When it’s right, it’s right! We just knew.”

She says, “We had talked about Hawaii, but it was just so expensive, both the airfare and the lodging. We knew we wanted a warm, tropical beach vacation. And we didn’t need to sightsee or do a whole lot.” But she was also adamant of staying away from what she calls “the honeymoon mill of all-inclusive resorts.”

Katie turned to the internet for help and kept noticing Ti Kaye Village Resort (above) in St. Lucia pop up. There were so many great reviews, that at first she thought, “ this sounds too good to be true.” Some more research online and a glance at the resort’s website and Katie and Robert were saying, “This is perfect for us!”

These two describe their May trip as “romantic, relaxing and indulgent.” They had a good mix of chilling out and getting out to explore the island. Check back all this week to read about their experiences at Ti Kaye and around St. Lucia.

For destination wedding couple Carla and Tad, it was all the little romantic touches at the Bucuti Beach Resort in Aruba that made their trip so memorable. Carla says, “Breakfast was included in our package and was excellent way to start the morning. Upon arrival we had a champagne toast. In our room was a welcome/congratulation basket, including chocolates, champagne, cheese and other various gifts.” Their ground room floor was just a few feet from the ocean, with a spectacular view. 

They thought the beach front location was perfect and found the staff friendly and helpful. Carla says it was “well worth the money.”

She adds, “We would recommend this honeymoon to others because, the food was excellent, the sunsets gorgeous, the beach was very peaceful. The Bucuti staff goes above and beyond to make your stay the best it can be.” 

A huge thank you to Carla and Tad for sharing their story and photos. They’re a stunning couple who look like they had a perfect intimate wedding in the Caribbean. Carla says, “It was to date the best vacation experience we have had. We can’t wait to go back.” I hope for them that they make an anniversary trip soon!

Carla and Tad didn’t jump back on the plane to Oklahoma immediately after their gorgeous April beach front wedding. They took a few long days for honeymoon romance and relaxation. Carla says, “We spent a majority of our time relaxing on the beautiful Bucuti Resort beach. We took walks down the beach and watched the sunset most evenings.”

They did a little exploring outside the resort, “We took an all island tour and visited the local landmarks. We really enjoyed seeing the island. We also shopped at the local open air market. Which was a great place to buy souvenirs. Downtown had some great shopping as well.”

A few evenings they took one of the local shuttle buses from Eagle Beach where the resort is located to nearby Palm Beach, which has a lot of the bigger hotels and tons of shops and dining options.

She adds, “We had a great sunset meal at a downtown restaurant called Pelican’s Nest on Pelican Pier. Our table was on the water. We watched the fish surface looking for food. It was a great experience and the seafood was amazing.”

They also loved Pizza Bob’s right near Bucuti Beach Resort. She says, “It was a great little pizza shack located within walking distance of the Bucuti. They had great pizza and was a great place to have a cocktail. Some nights they even had live music.”

Immediately following their beach ceremony, Carla and Tad’s romantic destination wedding continued with an intimate dinner for two on Bucuti Beach Resort’s oceanfront.

Carla says the evening was perfect, “We danced on the beach with music from a private saxophonist. And enjoyed a beautiful romantic private sunset dinner.”

The resort will cater a reception tailored for each wedding they host. Waiters serve meals to guests at tables set up in the sand. They can easily accommodate a reception for 30 guests. Though most often their destination weddings are just the happy couple themselves, enjoying champagne and their first meal as a married couple.

There’s really no question for Carla and Tad about the best part of their trip to Bucuti Beach Resort in Aruba. She says, “Our most romantic moment was our wedding ceremony held on the beach at sunset.”

The staff of the resort helps to coordinate all the wedding details, including arranging for the ceremony officiant. Carla adds that they “loved the beautiful, peaceful setting” and thought Bucuti had the “perfect beach front location.”

I love how happy they look exchanging rings. Check back tomorrow to see the sweet reception they had immediately following the ceremony.

When Tad & Carla Bohlen decided to tie the knot in an intimate destination wedding, they started to do a lot of research. He’s a director of manufacturing and she’s a personal trainer
 in Owasso, OK. At first they considered Antigua and Mexico for their beach wedding. But after what Carla calls “extensive research on island weddings,” they discovered Bucuti Beach Resort on Eagle Beach in Aruba.

This small resort – with 140 guest rooms – is a couples-only destination that caters to romantic travel and on-site weddings. They’ve been consistently rated one of the Caribbean’s most romantic spots by bridal magazines and site like TripAdvisor. Their on-site wedding coordinator Nashette Wouters helps couples plan all of the details of their wedding.

Carla and Tad absolutely loved their sunset ceremony and the stay at Bucuti. The gorgeous destination and the attentive staff helped create a memorable trip. Carla says that Nashette, “made every detail of our wedding perfect. She went above and beyond our expectations.”

We’ll wrap up this week’s review of Bucuti Beach Resort in Aruba with a peak into some of their best outdoor spots. One of the cutest little details that the resort staff told me about was the photos they take for guests on their beautiful beach. They had seen so many guests trying to take pictures of themselves that they now offer to set up a time during check-in to meet the couple on the beach – sunset is popular – to snap a few images of the happy couples together.

Because the resort wanted to dedicate as much of their property to the beach as possible (they’ve got one of the biggest areas of white sand along Eagle Beach) so they kept their pool small. Ample beds and lounge chairs line patio. Just a few steps away are the pool and the bar.

The Sand Bar is the resort’s open-air spot for cocktails. The outdoor tables are also a great spot for meals from The Pirate’s Nest restaurant. My visit to Bucuti was wrapping up just as happy hour was starting (great timing, I know) so my tour guide Nashette Wouters invited me to stay for a drink.

The incredibly charming bartender whipped me up something delicious with pineapple, strawberries and rum. (My job was to swirl the glass while he poured.) Many, many thanks to Nashette and the rest of the staff for showing me around this gorgeous, couples-only resort.

Stay tuned next week when we meet a real life couple – Carla and Tad – who share their own wedding and honeymoon experience at Bucuti.

As I mentioned earlier this week, Bucuti Beach Resort’s on-site wedding coordinator Nashette Wouters does an amazing job at helping couples pull together the perfect romantic destination wedding. She works with local vendors to get a perfect cake – or cup cakes – for the intimate receptions.

Above are images of bouquets and boutineers from real weddings held at Bucuti. In addition, Nashette always gives her couples the option to mix in Aruban wedding traditions to their ceremony or reception. This could mean adding local foods to the dinner menu, dancing the first dance to a traditional Aruba waltz played by a classical trio, or serving a traditional Aruban groom’s cake (small bite of fruit cake soaked in rum).

Some couples come to Aruba for a destination wedding with no guests. Just bride, groom and the sunset. Those couples usually follow their ceremony with photos and then a quiet, romantic dinner for two in the sand. Other couples come with up to 50 guests and are treated to a reception at tables on the beach with waiter service all evening.