Featured on Destination Wedding’s Blog on October 29, 2008

http://blog.destinationweddings.com/blog/?Tag=Belize+weddings

Karen and Gary came to Belize in search of a relaxing vacation with chances to adventure.  Somewhere to tie the knot and honeymoon all in one.   Somewhere incredible, magical, and romantic.   Somewhere called Belize…

Gary and Karen enjoyed a full week on the island before saying “I Do” five miles north at Los Encantos Villa Del Sol.  The newlyweds are considering taking a trip to the Mayan ruins and Cave tubing before returning to the states later this week.

The stunning couple exchanged vows with just the two of them at the end of the beautifully decorated pier.   They also included the Belize butterfly release into their own beautiful ceremony they selected.  After making their wishes they released the graceful butterflies over the sea.  Within minutes of beginning their first dance the couple was full of joy when their favorite boat captain drove by the pier.  Karen and Gary took their first dance right in the boat on the Caribbean Sea!  After their champagne toast the couple dined on the veranda of their luxurious and cozy villa overlooking the ocean with dinner prepared by a personal chef and wedding cake!

The evening was full of fun and romance.

One of the island’s most intimate weddings yet!  Congratulations Karen and Gary!

Villa Del Sol

Testimonials

November 08, 2008      Los Encantos Beach Villa Del Sol

Keli,

You did a wonderful job Keli and both Gary and I want to thank you. Everything turned out to be just as we expected it to be and we were very pleased. Thank you for all of your hard work and effort.  We just finished dinner and are stuffed.  Oh my God, Rachael can cook. We are so full and have to wait for cake now!!!   We just ate so much.

Let me know when the pictures are up, the photographer said something about having a website she was putting them on. She does great work from what I have seen thus far.

Thanks again for a wonderful wedding, you did great!!! It was perfect for us and we were so glad Genie showed up for our first dance on the boat.

Karen (and Gary) Mielcare

October 10, 2008 La Perla Del Caribe

keli,

September 28, 2008  Royal Caribbean Resort

Hi Keli,

How are you?  Sean and I wanted to thank you and Ari once again for doing a wonderful job with our wedding. We really enjoyed the Band, location, priest and espesially David, Laura, and Tucker.  We just had our welcome home party and we got to share all the pics with family and friends. Hope to hear from you soon.

Shelley and Sean

May 09, 2008  Casa Tortuga Beach Villa

Hi Keli!

Now that we’ve had a chance to catch our breathes - I wanted to send you a big thank you for all you have done for us. Everyone is raving about the wedding and about the great time they all had. Looking back at the photos makes me very nostalgic for Belize and the time that we had - it was all AMAZING! It all feels like a dream… thank you for making it all come true!

Please do keep in touch and let us know when you are next in the States - it would be great to see you.

All the best,
Amanda and Robard

July 10, 2008 Capricorn Resort

Keli,

We are still amazed at what a beautiful and memorable day we had!  Everything was incredible and Capricorn was outstanding!  You were right!  We look forward to our photographs.  Thank you again for all of your hard work.

Amanda

May 17, 2008  White Sands Cove Resort

Hi Keli!

Sorry it’s taken us so long to get back to you. We arrived home last week and since then we have been slowing adjusting to reality….needless to say it’s been hard.

Anyway, Curt and I wanted to thank you again for all your help in planning the wedding. It was absolutely perfect!

Everything was perfect, the flowers, the arch, the ceremony, the resort, the beach, the reception, the cake, etc. Curt and I and our family and friends had so much fun! There were many compliments to you on how wonderful the wedding was and how great of a job you did (I just wanted to pass that along). Everyone loved Belize and many of our friends and family (Curt and I included) are already talking about their next trip.

As for the honeymoon, well that was perfect too, a little rainy at times, but it didn’t matter. Costa Rica is beautiful! We went ziplining, relaxed in the hot springs at Arenal, got messages, went kayaking, walked on the beach, laid by the pool, ate too much, etc. I definitely recommend a visit there, however, as beautiful as it is, Belize is still my favorite place!

When Curt and I started talking about having our wedding in Belize, I didn’t think we could pull it off. I don’t think we could have if it weren’t for you. We honestly can’t thank you enough for all you have done. This is one wedding I don’t think ANYONE will forget. Thanks for the memories!

Curt and Lori

P.S. Next time we are in Belize we will be sure to give you a call!

May 3, 2008  White Sands Cove Resort

Keli,

Thank you SO MUCH for everything! I’m sorry we forgot to call before we left White Sands, it totally slipped our minds and by the time we remembered, it was too late.

You were awesome and we’re so happy with how beautiful evrything was! It was truely the best day ever and you really made it special for us. We can’t thank you enough. I just hope that other people realize how great you are at your job and how much you put into everything.

Thanks again and please stay in touch!

Jen & Mike

May 22, 2008  Altan-Ha Mayan Ruins, Belize

Keli!

Wow…. What a day! Everything was perfect. Thank you so much. You are truly blessed with a special talent.

I was looking through all my stuff and I don’t think I got that participation certificate from the minister….did you snag a copy? I am anxiously awaiting the CD! I would also like to sing your praises to anyone who is considering a belizean wedding and in search of a planner, please consider me when potential brides are looking for the best!

The movers come tomorrow and I am swamped with boxes, so much to do! I do want to extend a welcome to San Diego if you’re ever in the need of a tropical vacation away from your tropical vacation spot. We’d love to have you, your labrador and a guest!

Always a pleasure.

Dani

May 9, 2008  White Sands Cove Resort

Keli,

Thank you again for a wonderful wedding!!!…and thank you for the bottle of wine at dinner!!! You were great! We were so happy with our wedding and impressed with all of your correspondences and the arrangements.

Thank you again,

Dan & Shanin Kenney

November 10, 2007  Tranquility Bay Resort

Keli,

Thanks for a beautiful, memorable, amazing wedding trip and ceremony. We were lucky to have you there, you will be recommended over and over and over again. We couldn’t have done it without you.

I will also send you pictures after Naomi has mastered them, and hers and robs contact info. I have seen some previews and they are beautiful!

Thanks again,

Meghan and Mike!!!!

February 21, 2008  La Perla Del Caribe Beach Villas

Dear Keli,

John and I have only been home for 4 days and we are already talking about when we can return to Ambergris Caye, Belize! It was definitely our best vacation ever…. and my wedding was LITERALLY a page out of a fairy tale!

Everyone agrees that you should win some kind of award for the your amazing talent as a wedding planner! I loved my “special water” and fan programs! John’s t-shirt was sooo funny and i LOVE the “mother of the bride” and “father of the bride” baseball hats! Sari made our stay at La Perla Del Caribe so special. If we ever have a beach house we want it to look just like Villa Pearl at La Perla!

I am sooo obsessed with my photos! (i seriously love myself in 55 and 39) hahaha! my flowers are PERFECTION!!!!….even better than what i imagined!!!

Thanks again! It was definitely the best day of my life!!!!

XOXO, shari

February 14, 2008  Belize Yacht Club

Dear Keli,

The whole entire trip was amazing. I am back at work now and just following up with emails. Thanks again for everything. It was such a great time, I don’t even know what to say. There is no way I could have had that kind of party up here!!! The only way to have that much fun was to get away and you helped with that big time, thanks so much. I have the marriage certificate from Mom & Dad and have already started the process of changing my name. That is really weird by the way… exciting but weird. I have had to practice writing my new last name so many times… I am really slow at signing it right now but I am sure I will get faster in time.

Lena S c h u l t z e

October 24, 2007 Palm House Beach Villa

AWESOME JOB KELI.

Thank you so much for all of your help and making this day possible. It was amazing. I will start consolidating pictures when i get home, and include you on distribution lists. hopefully i will see you tonight at the holloween party. And I will see you sooner than later here in belize!!

-Leon

March 8, 2007  Belizean Shores Resort

Dear Keli,

Just wanted to say thank you! It was a very special day! Never could I have imagined that getting married could be so easy and stress-free! I could not have planned it better myself! The weather was amazing and the sun was shining all day! After the ceremony, we had the most beautiful sunset! It was absolutely perfect! Blanca was an absolute doll! She was great! The flowers were also beautiful and we look forward to getting our pictures developed! After the ceremony, Clayton and I walked down the beach and had our wedding dinner at Capricorn! I highly recommend it! It was the most romantic location! Thank you Keli for everything!!!!

Allison and Clayton!

June 10, 2007 Captain Morgans Resort

Awesome wedding Keli!  Our ceremony was beautiful and just what we had hoped for.  We had so much fun in the pool after the wedding!   See you next time in Belize.

Wes and Wendy

June 6, 2007  White Sands Cove Resort

Dear Keli,

We are in Portland visiting family right now. All went well and we were very happy. The wedding was beautiful and you and Blanca did an excellent job on everything. Marilyn and Michelle were great to work with at the hotel. The trellis was beautiful, and they took some really great pictures.

Thank you.

Take care, Kelly

July 7, 2007  Blue Reef

Hello!

Well, I FINALLY had time to put together albums of the pictures from the wedding. I am very sorry for the delay — suffice it to say that I have been insanely busy at work since we returned from Belize, and I am just now surfacing for air.

We wanted to thank each of you again for everything you and your staff did to make our wedding absolutely PERFECT! You thought of every detail so we didn’t have to — and that was better than we could even imagine!! We can’t possibly thank you enough!

The following link is an album of pictures from the trip (hanging out, poker nights, snorkeling & diving, cave tubing, Mayan ruins, dinners. This link is an album of pictures from the wedding day:

Please let me know if you want any of these pictures to include on your website, and I can send them to you on a CD (we also have a ton more pictures on CD — what we uploaded was only a subset). Also, if you have pictures and don’t mind sharing, we’d love to see them.

Hope all is well — and we hope to see you again very soon. Take care.

Jaime

Trip Review from Ambergris Caye website

We arrived San Pedro in the evening, checked in our hotel at Royal Caribbean, and headed to town for dinner at a great local place. I can’t remember the names of all the places we ate but the food was great everywhere but one place! We were so tired but somehow made it to pack in quite a few drinks our first night which made it hard to get up our first day. The next afternoon we met our wedding coordinator to fill out paperwork. She took us to lunch and we had a great time. Later we went snorkling, it was amazing! Shark Ray Alley was so cool! The next three day we relaxed and just walked around and were beach bums! It was perfect, we hardly did a thing! We found the people of Belize to be very friendly and kind people.

The wedding- It was raining all morning! By the afternoon the sun came out and rain stopped. We ran into Kelly, our coordinator, in the afternoon and she gave us a ride on her golf cart back to Royal Caribbean. My husband (well fiance at the time) decided last minute he did want more wines so we had her pick some up and on her way back to the resort hubbie realizes he forgot his wedding shirt! So 45 minutes before the ceremony he asks her to run to town and pick out a black button down size large and bring it back. What pressure! She made it, found one, and we were thrilled. The ceremony was just the two of us, the minister, and our witnesses were coorinator and a girl brought for us. Both lovely people. The ceremony was beautiful! The minister did a beautiful ceremony and our coodinator included a heart shaped sand jar for us to fill with sand during the ceremony and take back for memories. It was perfect. The entire day could not have been more perfect and we couldn’t have done it without the help. We asked them to stay for our champagne toast and hangout with us a bit, it was fun to have our “maid of honor” and second witness at our ceremony. We watched the sunset then headed to town for dinner. We are big fans of El Patio so we ate there.

The next day we continued beach bumming and the day after went to the mainland. We stayed at Five Sisters and it was beautiful. Their staff was excellent. We found food to be best at Blancaneax Lodge. This was out honeymoon and where we did all our tours. Cave tubbing was amazing! We went ziplining which was fantastic. The ruins were incredible at Xunintunich.

We are so excited to return to Belize, I think for our first anniversary we might go back. Thanks to all those that made our time perfect, we couldn’t have done it without all the arrangements which were made for us.

Jaime

March 10, 2007 San Pedro Town Wedding

Hi Keli,

Thank you for meeting with such short notice to assist us with our paperwork! We had no idea before getting to San Pedro what needed to be done. We couldn’t have gotten it done without your services. Sorry we contacted you the day we needed to submit it but again we had no clue what needed to be done.

Shelley

January 22, 2007 Pelican Reef Resort

Hi Keli,

thanks for following up. Everything went very well. Would you please double check the address you have for us before you send the paperwork. I appreciate all of your correspondences before arriving in Belize and checking in with us during our stay and upon our return. Over all it was a very good experience, thank you, and we hope to return to lovely Belize.

Rhoda and Shawn

November 25, 2006  Casa Redondo Beach Villa

Dear Keli,

Thank you for so very much for our beautiful wedding! We were so pleased with all of your prompt responses while planning from the abroad. It made the experience much less stressful and easier. Together you both did a wonderful job on all of the arrangements. Both of us as well as all of our guests were so happy with the entire week.

Perhaps one day we will see you as we hope to return to Belize one day!

Shauna and Tom

January 15, 2007 Royal Caribbean Resort

Thanks Kelly:

The wedding couldn’t have been more perfect. Thanks again for EVERYTHING, we couldn’t have done it without you. We just got home…now I have to prepare myself for the barrage, and explaining why no one was invited!

You’re the best!

Lee Ann and Brit

Say “I DO” above the ocean overlooking the world’s second largest barrier reef!  This truly tropical ceremony included Caribbean guitarists walking the bride down her wedding aisle pier, saying “I DO” under the pier palapa, and a refreshing “Belize Rum Punch” toast on the beach!   Congratulations Magdalene and Guiseppe!  We look forward to seeing you when you return to Belize!

Ceremonies on the pier are ideal for parties under 15.

Photos by Jenni Sharp