An Update!

Thank you to all my clients and those who posted on my blog for your well wishes. My surgery did go very well and after a month of discomfort, I think I'm finally better! One of the reasons why I also moved up the sinus surgery was to prep myself for scuba diving this summer. My husband became certified during our honeymoon and I could not participate due to my various ear and nose issues, and I was jealous! While my husband went off to dive with "Gem" (anyone else thinking of Along Came Polly?) I lounged on the beautiful beach of St. Lucia and read about 4,099,913 books.

So let's talk about St. Lucia. It's becoming a very popular honeymoon destination for various reasons. One of my couples honeymoon-ed there a few months ago, and other couples have been thinking of honeymoon-ing there. So, here's a review on why it's one of the greatest honeymoon spots!

First, it's affordable. More affordable than other beaches in the Caribbean (although Punta Cana may be even cheaper). Flight time is about 8 hours, and usually requires only 1 transfer. Also, the water is safe to drink in St. Lucia. Up until last year, most of St. Lucia was not extremely commercialized, making it very desireable for couples wanting a more private, less resort-like vacation.

For all these reasons, we chose St. Lucia. St. Lucia, like many other Caribbean islands, are more affordable between the months of July and December (Hurricane Season), and April through June has great weather with decent rates. December through April is considered their peak season, with prime rates.

We chose Tikaye Village after reading numerous reviews off of Trip Advisor. As much as Sandals offer luxury and convenience, we knew we wanted a private cottage with our own plunge pool so we can escape other people whenever we wanted. Normally, we are very outgoing, but after a week of wedding related activities with all our beloved friends and family, we just wanted to enjoy being a newly-wed couple.

Tikaye Village was perfect for us in many ways. St. Lucia is very mountainous, so many resorts are located on the mountain and they offer shuttle service to the beach. We wanted to be able to walk down to the beach without being constrainted to shuttle times. Tikaye was able to provide that. Their beach was a hike down the mountain (about 8 minutes) but it beat riding a bus!

A view from the bar down to the beach area.

The view of the beach from top of the stairs!

Tikaye also offered gourmet food throughout the day and a great wine selection.

The menu changed daily.

A bottle of wine we've been searching for about 2 years, and we found it in St. Lucia!

We had our own little cottage with a plunge pool, with an outdoor shower, and that pretty much sealed the deal for us!

The mosquito netting around the bed had a dual usage of creating ambiance to the room and also keeping buggies away, although we didn't really have much a mosquito problem.

Our outdoor shower, loved it!


The best thing in the world after a hike up from the beach!


The view from our deck.

The porch.

We stayed in "Inosan."

Aside from lounging on the beach, snorkeling, scuba diving, and napping (the sun makes me tired), we also went out to support the local fishing industry on Friday nights for their weekly Fish Fry. Participating families sell cooked fish in their traditional stews, steamed, or fried, with accompanying St. Lucian beer.

Conch stew with Shandy Beer (ginger beer = not my favorite)

Red Snapper steamed over a grill.

We also took time to do some sight-seeing of the rainforest, mineral spas, volcanoes, and also did some horse back riding on the beach (not as luxurious as it sounds!).

It was by far one of our favorite vacations ever, and we look forward to returning on our 5th anniversary. Hopefully by then, the island will not be innundated with huge resorts, or at least, we hope TiKaye will still remain. Their friendliness and impeccable service truly made this vacation one of our most memorable ones.

However, now that I was gearing up to prepare myself for scuba-diving, it looks like we have to wait until next year since we just found our new home! We are moving out of Northern Liberties and to Mt. Airy area, so we will still be in Philadelphia County, but away from the hustle and bustle of the city that we both love so much. It was a compromise, but we finally found the perfect home for us and our future puppies. So no scuba or beach this summer, instead, I will be busy with weddings and settling into our new home!

I am truly looking forward to this wedding season! It's going to be a very busy year! I am currently looking for 1 or 2 interns to work with me this year. If you are interested, please email me for more information.

Thanks everyone for reading. Happy Planning!

*All photos taken by Christina Hill