BVI Wedding 2020 / mini trip-review 2019

So...this may become a mini trip-review, but only as background to a request for info from any of the many very well-informed members of this forum, whose input I hugely value!

In May this year, after a few weeks on the water my wife Celia and I picked up a ball at Marina Cay. I then took the RIB over to Trellis, tied up and wandered up to the airport to meet our very good friends Tom & Liv. Liv fresh from 6 weeks in the jungles of Central America on her elective (just qualified as a medical doctor) and Tom fresh from England. Neither had ever set foot on a boat before!

We made it back to the boat (Sunsail 47 mono) safely and without incident, Celia had the painkillers ready as we arrived! Once our guests were settled in we headed ashore for a great dinner and a great many drinks at MC.

The following morning, early, we got ready to drop the ball. Bad news! Chart-plotter and GPS both dead...not my first rodeo so spent an hour doing what I could...but no good. Knowing what was planned for the day...this was bad news!!!

I've done the channel through to Monkey Point maybe 50 times and light overhead was good, so grabbed the paper chart, my personal handheld GPS and fired up the Mk I eyeball. All good.

Once through the 'fun' bit, I handed the helm to Liv and with some instruction she did a superb job of sailing us down the coast to Sandy Cay. Always good to get people who are new to sailing behind the wheel right away...it both debunks some of the 'mystery' and 'fear' of sailing and also instills that sense of joy, freedom and control that made us all fall in love with sailing somewhere along the way!

Arrived at Sandy Cay, nobody else around. Picked up a ball. Then explained to our guests (a total lie...but for good reasons and well rehearsed!) That we couldn't take the RIB into the beach due to the swell, so I would have to drop them off in the shallows and then Celia and I would swim in once I had taken the RIB back to the yacht.

Dropped them off in the shallows (Tom with my waterproof case which supposedly contained my camera)...and retreated to the yacht.

Tom then, with the entire stunningly beautiful island at his disposal, sun overhead, azure and turquoise water as a backdrop, dropped to one knee, produced a dazzling ring from my 'camera case' and proposed to a totally unsuspecting Liv!

And...she said YES!!!! (Lucky hey?! Otherwise one of them would have been headed back to Trellis bay!!!)

At which point, Celia and I whizzed ashore in the RIB with a bottle of chilled Krug in the ships bucket filled with ice and 4 Soggy-Dollar cups! Champagne has never tasted so good as at 9am on a deserted island with our newly engaged friends!!! Anyone who says fine champagne has to be drunk from crystal glasses? You are just plain wrong!!!

Anyway...all this preamble brings me to today when they both dropped by our house in England to tell us that they REALLY want to get married in the BVI. Next year!!!

So I guess, we must have done something right!!!

So! Can anyone give us any advice?! Celia and I will again have a Sunsail 47 mono for 4 weeks. Mid May to Mid June. Our guests Tom and Liv will join us for a week during this time. We will pick them up from Trellis.

They ideally want to get married on Sandy Cay. Second choice is Anegada...

Liv likes the idea of having the night before the actual marriage perhaps at a resort...with a heli-pad, so she can fly into the wedding the next day!

So...I'm thinking, pick them up from Trellis (moored at MC), next day head round to Road Town (in the yacht), go and do the paperwork bit and then head to Norman, the Bight once done. Next day, back to Scrub, drop Liv and Tom off for a night at Scrub, before heading straight down to GH JVD or Diamond Cay. Next day...pick up the celebrant from GH and head to Sandy Cay...Tom and Liv arrive by chopper...wedding occurs! Then all back to GH, drop off celebrant and then the four of us round to White Bay to properly celebrate!

Looking for any advice / experiences of weddings in BVi.

Experience of helicopter charter in BVI.

Does Scrub have a heli-pad?

Also looking for a photographer. Ideally with a drone!

Any other locations that we should think about? The couple are pretty set on Sandy Cay / Anegada...but...

Thanks!

Heather Anderson can sort your friends' wedding for them from start to finish, and using a planner will take out loads of the logistical headaches.

https://www.bvi-weddings.com/?fbclid=IwAR3ntkaA3EXCjUk7XZD-QTCb-vuzd2hsTjJtPgynUJsRpmYewfYlOZ4oAnw

I think the main deal with Sandy Cay would be that you'd have to get a Registrar out there to perform the ceremony, and as you obviously know it actually can be tricky to access in a swell, and also can get super busy sometimes. But I'd talk to Heather, she's done tons and tons of BVI beach weddings.

Thank you Tortolian! Good advice!

I would talk to Mary and Dennis at "The Sugar Mill"..they have some lovely weddings here ( I am sitting in the bar right now )...They even hire The Elmtones to play at a recent wedding..hard to top that..Sandy Cay is right there in sight from Apple Bay..maybe have a boat pick you up and zoom you over for a champagne toast afterwards!

Thanks Manpot.

Thanks also to all the direct-messages.

...lots of great advice.

From the info so far...we're wondering about Anegada being a good shout. Sail over day before, enjoy the island as we always do...then leave bride + my wife to stay at Anegada Beach Club? Overnight (Any thoughts?). Next day groom + me + celebrant make our way to one of the windward beaches...bride + my wife arrive...wedding...etc

And, if chopper idea works (I've spoken to Caribbean Buzz and they have given the thumbs up) then heli arrives after ceremony and takes the newly weds on a great tour of the BVI whilst they soak up the moment...then returns them...followed by an afternoon with the always superb Bel and Ann at Cow Wreck!

And just to clarify, wedding will be the happy-couple, plus my wife and I as witnesses. There will not be any other guests, family or friends there.

It sounds like...Sandy Cay may present a number of challenges...not necessarily insurmountable but certainly adding complexity to what is supposed to be a simple, chilled and pared back wedding that is ALL about two people and nobody and nothing else!

Please keep the great advice coming!

We might crash, anyone else?

I'll be sure to post a date and venue once they have it all sorted! Why not!

In...my college kids crashed one at Cow Wreck in May...

Crashing sounds good! We’re already planning the first week of June, and could adjust to be at cow wreck... Do you have an officiant? On second thought, not sure I could officiate outside the U.S., it if the times add up, I’ll be pleased to bring my bride, daughter,son-in-Law and stand a round in honor of the celebrating couple! A grand adventure in the making. We celebrated our 30th at Cow wreck.