Planning a wedding in Ibiza

i honestly think that Ibiza Wedding don't have any competition for big budget weddings like that.

Maybe. They are well known and they probably do care about their reputation more than Cardamom.

We met with Kerry from Ibiza Weddings and were not impressed. She seemed a bit arrogant and kept talking over us. She scribbled down some approximate prices and when we asked to keep that piece of paper she refused and said she'd email us something more organised instead, but we heard nothing back. She ordered a coffee and then left without even offering to pay for it. It's a minor detail, but we noticed as an unusual thing to do when pitching for clients. She said she takes 5k for the wedding planning which sounded steep but in retrospect maybe not so bad! But then, who is to say they don't play the same games with the bill?

This is all based on one meeting and a first impression, nothing more.

Viccki from Eat Ibiza gave a more professional first impression. She could have been a better choice. She studied law so she might have a better sense of right and wrong than some others! Again, just based on a couple of meetings. I'll let others give the reviews on these guys.

We did meet some awesome vendors though that were really fun to work with and did a great and honest job.

i would be surprised, as they pretty much refuse to ask the clients for more money once decisions have been made. i have had to take a hit on several occasions to keep the client happy. obviously that's not good for the suppliers but it shows that they have the clients best interests at heart.

eat do a huge number of weddings (they usually say that they do 50+ a year) so they have to keep all their weddings pretty similar and be strict with finish times etc. they are a good choice if you would pick them as the caterer anyway and their brownies are really nice!! be good to have some feedback from some of her previous brides if there are any about??

i have two or three weddings with eat this year so i should be able to give some up to date feedback soon....

ana lui does a lot of weddings and works with all the planners so she's a great person to ask about suppliers and venues etc. it's obviously well worth getting feedback from previous brides too if you are considering a particular planner or venue.

hope this all helps.

happy planning girls!!

:-)

i literally just had my aussie friend on the phone in a flap about the sound for her wedding, which is this saturday in ibiza. she hasn't bought the dress yet either but isn't worried about that in the slightest - can't see many other brides buying their dress on the day though!!

Hi, im in the same postion getting married in ibiza 2013. Recieved a quote of ana loui and it is very very expensive for what the package is. Please would you mind sending me the pdf for gypsywestwood. I have sent them an email but they have not got back to me. thank you

Hi am planning a wedding at the hacienda but waiting on a response from them please could you send me the prices that your clients paid very much appreciated.

i'm actually DJing at the hacienda now - will check if i get chance.......

The best way to do it, I think, is find the nicest possible hotel or restaurant that already has as much as possible. furniture, sound system, lighting, deco, etc. If you have to rent every little thing then it is going to cost a fortune, and you end up making more sacrifices. For 40k you should have an AWESOME wedding, if done right. We had 80 people. For timings, we started at 3pm, dinner/speeches at 6pm, party till late. felt like a mad rush but worked ok. tell your bridal party to keep the speeches short!

The most expensive way to do a wedding is to pick a location that has absolutely nothing, like an empty beach or piece of land, and bring everything in. Then the wedding planners are going to have a great time with you!

I agree with you on that one. When we first booked Amante I freaked out at the cost per head, but when we met with wedding planners and started looking at villas/agroturismo places we realised that Amante is actually a pretty good deal - not just money-wise but for your mental health, too! They have almost everything there so all you need to worry about is the small details - flowers and photographer etc. You don't need a wedding planner and it's all very straightforward.

I loved the idea of combining Eat or another wedding caterer with an agroturismo place like Can Talais, but the costs just kept piling up - especially as you usually have to rent every room in the hotel for a minimum number of nights. It just seemed like one cost after another, and the planners I met seemed to live on another planet to us (2500 euros for flowers?! umm....no thanks!)

Anyway that's just my opinion - if you have the time and the money then I think a wedding planner is probably fine. We have a small budget (less than 14K) and we've been really happy with what we've been able to get direct with a restaurant/beach club so far.

I agree with you on that one. When we first booked Amante I freaked out at the cost per head, but when we met with wedding planners and started looking at villas/agroturismo places we realised that Amante is actually a pretty good deal - not just money-wise but for your mental health, too! They have almost everything there so all you need to worry about is the small details - flowers and photographer etc. You don't need a wedding planner and it's all very straightforward.

I loved the idea of combining Eat or another wedding caterer with an agroturismo place like Can Talais, but the costs just kept piling up - especially as you usually have to rent every room in the hotel for a minimum number of nights. It just seemed like one cost after another, and the planners I met seemed to live on another planet to us (2500 euros for flowers?! umm....no thanks!)

Anyway that's just my opinion - if you have the time and the money then I think a wedding planner is probably fine. We have a small budget (less than 14K) and we've been really happy with what we've been able to get direct with a restaurant/beach club so far.

Hey everyone! Hope all your planning is going well. I have one question to satisfy a wee niggle I have at the moment..

Anyone that is using Sam & Johnny Hocking's services... what are they exactly and how much are you paying? If you'd rather pm then that's fine.

xx

Hi Kirsty!

We are using Sam and Johnny to organise the church service in Ibiza, so she basically acts as a liaison for the priest, and will sort anything out that goes wrong. She will tell you all the legalities, all the forms you need to fill in, everything you need to do, so it just takes the responsibility and worry off your shoulders. She'll organise any appointments with the priest you need to have/rehearsals etc, and she'll be on hand throughout the day to help out with anything. She's charging us 1,100 euros, but this includes all the payments that need to be made to the church, and if you want her to look after the music for the ceremony, this is included in the price too. We're having her sort the music, so Johnny will play the organ and she will sing. In the evening, we're having Johnny DJ the reception, which is a further 600 euro.

Hope this helps!

Jenny x

hi kerry,

i've just heard back from the bride and she paid €200 per head including flowers, decoration, wine, cava, and 3hrs of open bar after the meal which i think is very good value for a top end venue like that.

hope this helps....

brian

Congratulations!

Congratulation!

Hope Tam had a great day yesterday! I seen a wee mention of her on my facebook feed from Floral Dreams this morning!

Debs x

Hi Everyone,

We're getting married at Cas Mila June next year, finally feels like its getting closer now were in June! So have decided today to get some plans in motion!

We had the idea of getting a villa and staying with some of our good friends while there, but now the list keeps growing of people who do want to stay in the Villa, it seems like its going to be impossible, what are you doing with accomodation for yourselves and your guests?

My family will all stay together in a hotel, and more then likely my parters will too ( a different hotel though) But not sure what to recommend to our friends?

Anyone have any tips or advice how to organise this?

Thanks

x

Hi is anybody having a blessing in a church on Ibiza - we're looking at St Augustin & then a do in a restaurant after with dancing back at our villa after. I am not sure what the procedure is with having a blessing in the church. We're not religious but thought it would be easier as you have chairs etc already there, as opposed to having to hire them in. Also it is meant to be really pretty.

Looking forward to hearing from anybody.

thanx

Hi Johanna

The churches are so pretty! We're having the full ceremony in the church of San Carlos, but I don't think it's possible to just have a blessing. I may be wrong, someone else may be able to offer more advice.

Jenny x

The people to ask are Sam & jonny hocking, they help couples organise catholic ceremonies and Anglican blessings in the churches, or at least I think they do. If you google them there is info on their website, I met them whilst our there and they're lovely people.

There are things that you check in the Google for all the things that you need to do for your wedding.

Im back and Im a MRS!!!!

One week on and besides a small case of post holiday wedding planning blues I am still buzzing on the amazingness of our wedding! I will do a full report soon but just have to say getting married in Ibiza is the BEST thing we ever could have done!

We had the brightest bluest Ibizan sky over us and it could not have been more perfect!

I would totally recommend all our suppliers on the day

Smack – made me feel and look beautiful! Corina and Sara are probably the most talented pair ever!

Sam Hocking - Bumpy ride at the start but it all came together at the end and the service was wonderful. Sam’s voice is out of this world!

Floral Dreams – blew me away with their designs. I cried like a baby when I saw how amazing my bouquet was. They took my comments, suggestions, ideas and inspiration to make designs that were not only beautiful but really captured our theme, the feel of the venue and the impact we wanted to create! Give them a try they are brand new but really talented and lovely!

Brian – Ace DJ, dancefloor was never empty!

Tiff Aldred – her on the day help and support was so useful! She really was brilliant at dressing the venue, making sure everything ran to plan and every detail was perfected. Knowing she was there and doing such a great job let me totally let go and have an amazing time

Cardamon Cakes – D'lish cake and great service!

The best of the best though has to go to Amante!

The level of service we received from all the staff and the attention to detail given to every action and every section of our wedding was amazing. Beyond the beauty of the venue (which blew everyone away) every guest commented on the excellent staff attention, outstanding food, and the continual stream of delicious mojitos (we had their mojito drinks reception and expected that it might be cut off at a certain point this was not the case the drinks flowed!) They really did make sure that the whole day was absolutely perfect. We only saw a small part of the amount of work that Zeta puts into every wedding that she runs and to be half way through their mega stream of 13 weddings in a row and still feel as though we were the only wedding they were running was outstanding! They have recently built a new bar on the downstairs deck and it is amazing!

Thank you everyone for your help in the planning!

Lots of love from an incredibly happy Mrs!

I dont have Ana's pics yet but here's a little taste of the day - Ive tried about 100 times to make these smaller but they just wont go

Hi Johanna Augustin is BEAUTIFUL! I'd take the suggestion to ask Sam but I think the answer is no as in Spain church weddings are legal (and strict) so I can imagine they would have a blessing. We had a huge stress with our paperwork and would have not been able to have a service without having had either a legal UK ceremony, still with all the religious paperwork, or if we had all the legal and religious papers.

x

Ohh congratulations Tam! Glad to hear you were happy with all the suppliers. Im also reassured to hear you say Amante made such an effort when they have a stream of weddings all at once. I think mine is possibly the last of the season, so hopefully they wont be sick of weddings by then!

I love your bouquet, I that's what i like aswell just sort of wildflowers tied together and not overly fussy.

You look amazing, and totally Ibizan! I hope Ana Lui puts your album on her facebook lol.

D

x

Thanks for the DJ recommendation Tam, you really were a fantastic bride :-)

I love the way you personalised your day so much - I see a lot of weddings at Amante and they are all very similar so it was nice to see something different.

It seemed like you really got the most out of having Floral Dreams and Tiff there and I didn't even see the first half of the day!!

Congratulations again tam, the day looked fab and you looked just amazing.

It has made me so excited for mine now, this time in 2 weeks I'll be enjoying a spa day at atzaro with my bm's and my mum. Whoop!

Hi thanks for your response - did you mean No, they would not do a blessing....we are looking at getting married in the Uk first in order to get the marriage certificate then it will just be a blessing in Ibiza. Just trying to find a suitable venue for the ceremony really. We are quite happy just to go a local restaurant after for food then back to the villa for a bit of dancing.

I look forward to receiving any idea's re venue. Many thanks xx

Hi Johanna,

No - you cannot use a church for a non-wedding. It has to be a religious ceremony with strict regulations. Most couples have a blessing here on Ibiza after doing the legal paperwork in the UK.

You can have a blessing ceremony in many many places on Ibiza - always best to hold the ceremony at the venue (restaurant) as they will have facilities to do this, which will include chairs etc.

There are literally hundred of places to choose from, the most popular - (on the internet!) are listed on here, but there are many many more. Many professional places who will be more than willing to help organize your special day. I always recomend coming to Ibiza for a short break and looking at places for yourself, you will find the more reasonable places that way, - and of course your own 'dream place' - as it is different for everyone!!

Enjoy the planning,

Eileen xxx

www.ibizcakes.com

find me on facebook: ibizacakes

Thanks Eileen. That's great as I was getting conflicting info re a blessing at the church. We have just returned from Ibiza & got engaged. Originally thought we would have the blessing at Can Luna the villa we stayed at but I don't think there will be enough space - beautiful as it is. We are definately looking at coming back for a re-visit to have a look about (any excuse really) ... thanks for your help though.

Kind regards x

Congratulations IbizaLovin - you looked gorgeous, the photos are fab!! I'm glad everything went well for you, it makes me even more excited about my own Amante wedding!! I love looking at other peoples wedding photos..

lots of people have their blessings at beauty spots here too, but obviously you will need to consider transport and decoration etc. if you go down that route.........

Wow, Tam you look so stunning! And the venue looks amazing, weather, flowers... So excited for mine now, only 78 days! Hope Ana puts the pics on Facebook so we can all see! Congratulations again x

Hi Brian you give some great advice on here and I just wanted your thoughts on Pura Vidal? I'm coming to the island next week to have a look round for my wedding hopefully next year. I'd originally looked at Amante but their dates are booking fast and with potentially 50-60 people it may over stretch our budget.

Any Pura Vida brides put there?? ........

Laura