Planning a wedding in Ibiza

First post here...

Some really interesting and informative posts here in this thread. We went over to the island to do exactly the same as a lot of you guys. I am going to be completely honest with my opinion and my girlfriends opinion of what is on offer on the island.

Firstly Eat Ibiza - Very friendly food looked amazing but we never tried it but I have been assured a 100 times that its great - I have no doubts about that. What I cant understand is the forums desire to get married it Paissa de Bernat. Ironically we set off thinking this would be the place for us, but for us the pricepoint was terrible even in slightly off season. Granted if you are sharing the cost between guests then the price becomes more appealing, but we didn’t really want to do that even though we ourselves are on a limited budget. That’s just the price – OK the location of PDB is really nice, but there is the outside noise to think about and interior didn’t look great. On the positive side the outside did look fantastic. But it would have to be for the amount there were charging. This and Eat Ibiza to us didn’t really add up – It was getting more and more expensive.

We went to Can Gall next and we were misled by the owner. We visited and he tried to make out that the party that were there actually had a wedding there the previous day. This wasn’t the case the party were purely staying there for the accommodation and having the wedding elsewhere. Not impressed, nor were we impressed with the value that the agrotourism places offered not just Can Gall. (Sorry)

We went up to Hacienda - Great place – probably the best place to actually ‘get married’ with the amphitheatre style view, but we weren’t that impressed with the reception place afterwards (you couldn’t do outside which amongst the guests which to us was the best bit) Also they never got back to us when we emailed them numerous times on different email addresses - Perhaps they didnt want our custom.

Finally we went to Amante and were blown away. Firstly Zetas manner and David’s\Food Selection\Value for money on food and drink\Exclusive Rights to the Whole Place\Rain Cover\Music till 2AM no restrictions. This actually worked out cheaper than doing the villa idea that we were so set on. I know there are a lot of brides and grooms here that have chosen Amante and I am not surprised in the slightest.

This is a purely (hopefully) balanced post on what we found. Best of luck to all of the couples on here. Hope you have a great wedding!

Again, you are obviously welcome to your own opinion, but for those brides still to get married at PDB I think it's the most amazing place so don't be put off! I think the interior is lovely, yes it's rustic Ibiza, but then it's a really old building so what would you expect?! The outside is so gorgeous that the inside is almost overshadowed, but I still think it's lovely. As for Eat Ibiza, they aren't the cheapest option, nor do they try to be. However they are absolutely fantastic wedding caterers, and wedding planners.

Sorry if that comes across as a bit defensive, but do you know what, I am defensive over my wedding as it was fabulous!

I wish you well in your planning, we went to Amante for dinner alone before the madness started and it was lovely so I'm sure you'll have a great day.

I'm really surprised by this, we absolutely loved Can Gall, it is so gorgeous. We couldn't afford it, so agree it's not the most affordable option when planning a wedding.

We liked Can Gall too, but I dont like being mislead - and I was or should I say we were. Nothing wrong with the location but I didnt see any real value in booking there.

As you say its completely opinion based - I am 100% convinced Eat Ibiza are excellent, but I actually think doing it with a villa\caterers is more time consuming than getting one venue who can pretty much do everything and it can cost more - absolute no-brainer for us.

We've booked now but I would love to have heard how a wedding at the Hacienda went - It looked absolutely superb.

Best of luck to all.

Yes..we viewed Elixir at the end of May, the view is amazing and it has a gateway with a path directly down to the beach (which is really quiet and secluded) the interior is lovely and there's plenty of space. The 150 Euro offer is per head and although it seems a lot all the other exclusive use venues have a big 'hire fee' on top of there per head prices (Amante, Caps Des Falco, etc) which averages at about 3500 Euros per day! So the offer at Elixir is really good value for a venue of the same standard - if not better in my opinion.

Also viewed Can Gall (amazing but didn't want to tie guests down to a particular hotel) Can Talias, Amante, Pura Vida, venue is probably the hardest decision with an ibiza wedding as their is some real special ones!

With regards to accomodation - we have hired a villa and done a wedding website for all our guests to help them decide. We have 2 young children so a villa is best for them we felt. We've suggested local hotels etc but remember ibiza is tiny (28 miles long and 15 miles long!) so it doesn't matter too much where people stay in relation to your venue. No where is more than an hour MAX away!

Sorry for the extra long post, anyone considering EAT I cannot rate them enough. Vickki is so helpful and has been in ibiza for years so knows all the best suppliers etc.

x

Does anyone have any cost info on Pura Vida? I have emailed them with no response - just want a rough idea on any packages they offer etc.

Thanks

I was keen to use Eat Ibiza combined with an agroturismo place like Can Talais or Can Gall, or one of the villas, but we decided it was just to expensive to hire the entire venue for 3 or more nights. We didn't want people to feel pressured into staying at the wedding venue - I was also quite surprised by the cost per night of Can Talaias and Can Gall. Disappointing as they are both lovely venues.

We also decided on Amante in the end - it just seems easier to do a one day venue and let people stay wherever they want. I wonder why the agroturismo places won't do a one day hire? They'd make plenty of money.

To all those who have booked weddings at on the day locations ie. . elixir, amante, pura vida etc etc, was there any negotiation or haggling or were you just expected to pay the price quoted?

Getting worried about our budget!! x

We designed our own menu at Pura Vida, so price did go down. Generally we did pay the asking price though, I'm not a haggler!

AMANTE BRIDES:

has anyone contacted Zeta the last couple of weeks? I've only emailed her once this year. Since my wedding is the last of the season I thought i'd just leave it till nearer the time to start annoying her!

But I emailed almost 2 weeks ago with my wedding sheet, asking for her to get back to me with a remaining balance because i want to pay it just now. She didnt reply though, and I sent it again on Tuesday and still no reply! I also wanted to work out with her what time the wedding will start, so I can tell my hair and makeup people.

Dx

I heard from her this week so she is about x

How annoying! Suppose I'll just have to wait for her to get back to me then!

Thanks! x

Hi

I haven't been in touch with Zeta recently but I'd be interested to know what she says about you paying the balance now....I think your wedding is the week after mine, in Oct? I didn't know this was an option - it's a good idea though, especially as the exchange rate is good at the moment.

Can you let me know what she says?

Thanks!

Yeah its the 16th. I asked her when I was over and booked and she said you can pay whenever you want. So if she'd just get back to me...that would be great lol!

Dx

Db3000, maybe try emailing David? I emailed him and he got straight back to me a few weeks ago.

AMANTE BRIDES:

Who is taking rain cover? Zeta got back to me today. I really want to have dinner on the beach because we're having the BBQ option. I know october can be rainy, but I really didn't want to take rain cover. They introduced that after we had booked the wedding. It seems crazy to me to spend 450 on the off chance it rains. Cos you dont want it to rain...but at the same time I couldn't stomach knowing i've thrown away 450 if it doesnt! lol. Anyway, shes strongly recommended we take the rain cover.

dx

I'm going to take it. I completely agree that I'll feel gutted if it's not needed but I guess that's what insurance is about..... Don't want to spend all this money and then get rained on! x

Yeah i'll probably end up taking it aswell. I was planning on having the evening platters you can have, at about 11pm. But i'll probably need to take that off to use that money for the rain now

Dx

Yeah it's quite an additional cost... I'm doing canopies and meal and then people can just eat the cut up wedding cake while dancing till home time! x

Im not doing canopies, and we're having a cheesecake wedding cake served as our dessert with the meal.

I wouldn't have bothered with the evening food but some guests (ie, mother in law) would be horrified if there was no evening 'buffet' at a wedding!

dx

We are....our wedding is on the 13th October. It does seem like a crazy amount of money but we're worried about the ceremony if it rains....can't really move that inside! Most of the people I've spoken to who live there tell me that it probably won't rain in October - but they do all say 'probably'.

By the way DB......are you freaking out yet?! Less that 3 months to go for me - eeekk!! Still need to lose half a stone, get dress altered, buy suit for groom, playlist, place settings, about a million other 'small' things. Yikes. 2 small gripes - WHY don't people RSVP?! I'm chasing about 1/2 of our invite list....and WHY can't people organise themselves and book flights/hotels/cars like they would if they were going on holiday? I feel like a travel agent!

Ok, rant over

Eh yeah, mainly over money and my weight but still! I have to loose like a stone i've put on since last year, so my dress isnt getting altered till september lol. Im not even too bothered about it for the wedding dress, its the thought of all my friends and family seeing me in a bikini!!

I have to sort an ipod since we arent having a dj. Zeta got back to me today, my emails had been going into her junk folder. I'd eventually facebooked them last night to ask her to reply! What time is your wedding starting? We just agreed today on the guests arriving at 2.30pm for welcome drinks, and ceremony at 3.

We invited 55 people to Ibiza. I sent save the dates last year so yeah, i did know certain people hadn't booked and hadn't mentioned coming. I sent proper invites last month with an RSVP date. You know how many people replied? 4!!! Lots of my fiance's friends he said have casually mentioned in the pub to him before that they arent coming. Eh, reply to my invite they cost me money!! But im over it now....lol.

I'm also having a party for 150 people with a band etc the week after we're back, so im trying to get invites and rsvp's back for that!

Debsx

I'm with you on everything you're both saying!! Plus organising a second "do" makes it harder! Our UK civil wedding the week before is turning into more work than I'd expected!!! What are you guys doing for table numbers/names at amante? There's always loads of little things left to sort! Also either of you having nightmares about tripping down the stairs on your way in lol x

Hmm, well, glad to hear it's not just me who is getting stressed to bits over the RSVPs! I must be old school but I think it's pretty rude not to reply, then just tell a friend of a friend of a friend that they're not planning to come! What's that all about?! Oh well - deep breath.

We're doing at 3pm welcome drink and a 3.30pm ceremony - yes, I am a bit worried about tanking it down the stairs. I'm actually wearing my wedding shoes in the office all this week so I can break them in and get used to the massive heel so hopefully it will be alright. We're just having one long table inside the restaurant, on the 2nd level, so I don't have to worry about table numbers....just place settings. I'm just going to keep it simple for the place settings I think. I'll have to enlist someone's help to go and decorate the venue the morning of the wedding and it will probably be a bloke (all the ladies will be getting ready), so the easier the better. When we visited in May there was a dad and 2 uncles putting up bunting for a wedding later that day, it was pretty funny - the bride had given them 3 pages of instructions!

I picked up my dress yesterday - I LOVE it! Need to be altered a bit of course but I'm really excited now!

I've been trying to source white wooden words (dream,love etc) for my tables instead of numbers. I only have 4 tables. I'm wearing wedges so I hopefully wont fall, but the steps are quite steep if I remember right! So who knows lol.

Are you having a dj? Or just your own music? If you are having your own music, are you paying for the louder sound system?

debsx

That's a good idea re wooden words We're having a DJ. And I love the idea of the blokes and their 3 page instructions! LOL x

Hello Ibiza Brides.

We've just come back from our wedding in Pura Vida. Feels like it was all a dream now! So much planning & organising and it's over so quickly!

So just a quick message to all you lucky folk still in the planning stages. Enjoy every minute & good luck!!

xx

Ps if anyone wants any info let me know.

Congratulations! I'm getting married in Pura Vida in 6 weeks today! So excited! Did everything go to plan? How many of you were there? Would love to see some more pics, you look beautiful!

Jx

Debs, have you tried Etsy?

http://www.etsy.com/search?q=wooden%20words%20white&view_type=gallery&ship_to=ZZ&min=0&max=0&includes%5B%5D=tags

We're doing our own music - we've paid for the sound system. I think we'll actually play the music from a laptop though, it will be a lot easier to use than an ipod on the night. I've had good fun doing the playlist so far - I asked everyone to give me 3 songs they'd like to dance to on the RSVP card...maybe you can send out some emails to get requests, it will help you build your list? I don't mind sharing my playlist when it's finished, if you like?!

By the way, Welshemie, you look gorgeous! Lovely photos, congrats x

Ooh thanks i'll have a look for the words on there!

God, i'd actually never even thought of using the laptop, and the stupid thing is we were gonna have to buy an ipod to use!! if you could share your playlist nearer the time that would be great! I dont really think our wedding is going to have much dancing. I imagine it more chilled out, but I hope nobody is bored lol.

I've had a very productive day. I got a (almost) final quote from Zeta, and im going to transfer the payment tomorrow! The only thing im not paying just now is rain cover, I'll have to see where i can get that money from nearer the time! I also finalised my cake, and i'm paying that this week aswell. We're on such a tight budget that I'm going to really feel better when the money is gone from my account and we have at least the basics paid!

x

Gorgeous pictures welshemie

My fiance flew out to Ibiza today to work, so he is going to have a quick look at a few venues as I can't get out there at the moment, I am SO jealous!