take a wife that refuses to change her last name and a compromising husband, combine their names and you get, vui, which in vietnamese literally translates to happy. here's to a happy future and a happy family! :P
we got married again, on 7.7.7. why such a popular date? well, it was sort of our anniversary. on 7.8.96, he got the nerve to call me and confess his feelings. seven years later, we eloped. eleven years later, we said our vows again in a catholic church in front of friends and family.
it was such an amazing and heartfelt day. the best part of the day other than being married again was seeing our church and reception room filled with all our family and old friends. we felt so blessed to be surrounded by such beautiful people that had shaped us into who we are today. our second wedding was truly for our loved ones.
here's a link to our slide show that our primary photographer ruettgers photography made for us. (wedding slide show)
all pics below are from ruettgers photography unless otherwise noted. here's a few teasers until I get my digital negatives. click to enlarge picture if needed.
here's a link to our slide show of all the wedding details that sarah from sarah k. chen photography (mrs. pootiekins) made for us. (wedding details slide show) pictures below denoted as SKC photos are taken by sarah.
if you need to contact me, you can email me at quirkster777@gmail.com.
GETTING BEAUTIFIED
SEEING EACH OTHER PRIOR TO THE CEREMONY
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a man in waiting
since we broke many traditions already, we decided to break yet another and see each other prior to the ceremony. since i knew i would become anxious prior to the ceremony, seeing him helps relax me and reminds me what's most important. when he first saw me her just said, "heeeey" and proceeded to kiss me and failed to comment on my dress. i think he was just happy to see me after sharing a hotel room with two guys. i had to prompt him and asked, "like my dress?" men.
PORTRAITS
these ladies need a shout out for all their help on the big day. they were toting around a bag filled with goodies consisting of hairspray, bobby pins and deodorant. not only that, they had to get up before the crack of dawn to get their hair and makeup done in time for the formal shots prior to the ceremony.
our photographer heesyun said to do something fun and i thought puckering up would be cute. i couldn't be more wrong.
aren't you sick of seeing enough pics of me yet? well, too bad, i don't look this nice in real life.
"hmm, you got married but you don't look any different", is what my flower girl said to me the following day.
my junior bridesmaid. ::sigh:: they grow up too fast. i wished i had more formal pics of her but i didn't want to make her get up so early in the morning. she's still a growing girl.
CEREMONY
my ring boy that took his job very seriously.
notice how happy my parents look. i think they're happy because they're finally marrying off their difficult daughter, who vowed never to marry, and had been living in sin for the past two years.
i feel so lucky to become a part of such a loving family. i think my mil was in tears for most of the ceremony.
RECEPTION
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the entrance to our reception
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the foyer
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since our cocktail hour took place in the courtyard in july, we provided fans in case it became exceptionally warm.
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building our love nest
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our place card table and diy manzinita centerpiece.
the courtyard where cocktails and hor d'oeurves were served with bossa nova playing in the background.
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the gate that enclosed the courtyard with our floral initials hanging
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cocktail table floral arrangements. below each centerpiece stated the significance of the flowers in our dating history. i gave him a sunflower to remind him of our first summer together and he gave me a red rose on our first date. i think i get sappier the older i get.
our grand entrance down the staircase in the courtyard where we said our thank you speeches.
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the arch with hanging green and pink orchids behind our sweetheart table
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vietnamese poems that fil wrote, placed on primarily Vietnamese speaking tables (family). one of the poems was about his son growing up and another about bringing his wife home after being newly married. the families loved them.
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excerpts of letters that he wrote me during our five years apart during college and graduate school placed on tables of mostly english speakers (our friends). we have boxes of old letters from each other that we value more than anything. it was during our time apart and the things he would say in these letters that made me fall in love with him. one of our friends said she actually teared up while reading these letter quotes. sap city.
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tea and coffee, mini strawberry ice cream sandwiches, along with chocolate covered strawberries injected with liquor were used to lure guests to stay longer. vietnamese guests are notorious for leaving immediately after the meal is served.
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our candy apple favors that our guests loved! several of our friends busted them open and ate them before the salad was served! they smelled like nutty caramely goodness.
MORE PORTRAITS
BEACHY PORTRAITS
after all the planning and details, you would think I would remember to get prettier flip flips to wear for our beach pics.
nope, just wore by black reefs.
HONEYMOON
here's a link to our slideshow of our relaxing honeymoon in anguilla. (honeymoon pictures).
there's not much to do in anguilla other than relax on the beaches, get a massage, snorkel, and eat at many of the outstanding restuarants. we anticipated that we would be very tired and lazy post wedding that laying around on a beach with a book, sleeping, and perhaps some snokeling seemed like the perfect getaway. we just wanted to be alone in paradise and anguilla was perfect for us.
the cuisinart resort. they have a hydroponic garden on the premises where they grow their own produce. in our rooms, we were treated with a bowl of fresh organic hydroponic cherry tomatoes. we were pleasantly surprised with the quality of food. in fact, the food was amazing. we never ate so well.
enjoying our view.
a friend we made during our stay. he seemed to take a liking to us and slept under my chair for most of the day.
ENGAGEMENT PICTURES
because we didn't post them in our planning bio, here's a couple of our e-pic favorites from ruettgers photography.
we took our pictures at the figueroa hotel, walt disney concert hall, and in front of the moca in downtown los angeles.
REVIEWS:
contact info can be obtained by clicking on link
if a vendor has no website, contact info is provided below
grand newport plaza (reception) highly recommended
when we first stepped foot on the premises, we were immediately greeted and ushered for a detailed tour. then one of the site coordinators sat down with us to go over how much things cost and wrote up a draft of a contract to give us an idea of how much a whole reception would cost, which was of great help since we were still very new to the planning process and had absolutely no idea how much things cost.
from our first impression, the grand newport plaza was all about service and food, which was of utmost importance to us. we wanted a beautiful outdoor area for cocktails and an indoor reception area that could accommodate a small vietnamese village of 250-300 people. I exaggerate :P. we were very impressed with the surroundings, the tour, the food, the service. we had chrissy as our site coordinator and she was excellent in answering my numerous emails and phone calls. she was professional, organized, and friendly.
on the day of, the staff was excellent. everything was set up to my specifications with the help of chrissy and my doc, brigitte. the courtyard was a perfect backdrop for our cocktail hour. however, i later found out that chrissy (whom i have corresponded with for the past year) was not the day of coordinator but crystal was. chrissy did the set up and crystal stayed the rest of the reception. needless to say, i was a bit worried but crystal did great. After cocktail hour, the staff saved 2 plates of hor d'ouerves for us to munch on and made sure we had time to eat lunch. they even prepared a basket of goodies to for us to bring home. since we had a lunch reception, lunch went smoothly and the guests went nuts over the mini strawberry ice cream sandwiches and the chocolate covered strawberries injected with liquor.
i provide an ethnic dish (vietnamese spring rolls) to be served during cocktail hour but only 1 of 3 trays that i brought in was served. we paid good money for the spring rolls and wanted all of them to be served. we felt that there weren’t enough servers during cocktail hour, but then again that could be just the nature of how tray served hor d'ouerves are served -- some people get served right away and others need to chase down a bite to eat. needless to say, some of my guests had a plenty to eat and some went starving during cocktail hour. perhaps a buffet style serving of hor d'ouerves would have been better for a 250+ wedding. also, I was planning on changing into a traditional vietnamese wedding dress and had the items in the bridal suite. however, i was never notified that i had the suite only until 3 pm. after discussing with me, we agreed to move everything out of the suite and just leave the dress for me to change into. however, everything was moved including my bra and shoes that was meant to be worn with my vietnamese wedding dress. in the end, i decided to forego the wardrobe change. i loved my wedding dress too much to take it off.
all in all, we had an overall great experience with the grand newport plaza. they were helpful throughout the planning process and the service on the day of was excellent, despite the 2 negatives that I discussed above. our guests were very impressed with the service and food.
st. vincent de paul catholic church (ceremony) highly recommended
we chose st. vincent de paul because of its beautiful modern architecture but also because of the beautiful lighting, which turned out great in our photos. the cantor, michael has an absolutely amazing operatic voice. when he sang for us during our first meeting to go over music selection for the wedding, we couldn't really speak since we couldn't get our jaws off the ground. the guests even asked where i hired him, but luckily he comes with the site. the coordinator, maria, is a sweetheart and helped coordinate the ceremony rehearsal. she was not pushy at all like other church coordinators. however, i wished that there was some discussion regarding who is to hold the microphone to ensure the acoustics were optimal during our vows. our priest (a family friend) tried to get the alter boy to hold the microphone but the alter boy had no idea what to do, so the best man had to reach over and hold the microphone. this resulted in a blocked view for the videographer and some guests that were sitting in the back couldn't hear very well.
also, there was a florist from another wedding trying to set up prior to our wedding and father jerome karcher took his stand and refused to let this florist set up. thank god! i can't imagine how confused i would be if i walked down the aisle to decorations that was for some other wedding!
all in all, i loved our church and would still have our ceremony there even though not everything went perfectly with the microphone. of note, st. vincent de paul will allow you to get married there if you are not parishioners with a hefty fee and there are restrictions regarding photography and videography.
ruettgers photography (primary photographer) highly recommended
when i first met heesyun and paul, they seemed so laid back that i automatically knew that we would get along. i'm a bit high strung and easily stressed, so i'm naturally drawn to relaxed and mellow personalities. during our e-pic shoot, we were both nervous and stiff and had no idea how to pose and worried that our pictures would show it. however, heesyun was so patient and great at posing us, making us feel at ease that our pictures turned out awesome!
on the day of, heesyun and paul showed up on time at 7 am. i am so glad that i decided to have heesyun take my getting ready shots and paul getting shots of him getting ready because they're some of my favorites. prior to the wedding, i gave heesyun this crazy, exhaustive must-take photo list being the anal retentive person that i am and in the end i felt that i didn't want to restrict heesyun and paul creatively so I told heesyun to just go with her instincts. in the end, i think heesyun and paul did a great job and they actually tried to adhere to my crazy must-take list and did a fantastic job. the pictures came out amazing. the more I look at them, the more I love them.
the only thing i wished we had was more family portraits, which was entirely out of the hands of heesyun and paul. i told both of our extended families to stay behind after the ceremony, but there was some misunderstanding amongst the family members.
all in all, i loved working with heesyun and paul and would recommend them to anyone and everybody.
sarah k. chen photography (detail picture photographer) highly recommend
sarah was just starting to get into wedding photography around the time we were getting married. she was a previous knottie (mrs. pootiekins) that has impeccable taste. i admired just about everything she did. i even copied her floral letters. when I found out that she was trying to get some photos for her portfolio, i emailed her to see if she would be able to take some detail pictures of the diy projects that i worked so hard on. i knew she had a great eye and that it would translate well into her pictures. as you can tell, she did a great job. she's still relatively new to the wedding photography biz so if you're looking for an uber talented and affordable photographer or a second shooter for your wedding, she's the gal for you!
jeremy dayton (videographer) recommend
jeremy was such a pleasure to work with throughout the planning process. he was excellent at returning my emails rather quickly. he was very accommodating in terms of trying to create package that fit into our budget. on the day of, jeremy arrived on time at the ceremony site. after the incident with the microphone which resulted in a blocked view for jeremy, he went out of his way and actually had our priest get re-dressed in his garb after the ceremony to reenact our vows, which cut into our picture time. you could tell that jeremy felt bad and worked extremely hard to generically capture what was missed during our ceremony. in hindsight, i should have just told him not to worry about it and that it was beyond his control. during the reception, jeremy did pull us aside just to do a few things for the video. so he's a more hands on and less of a "behind the scenes" type of videographer. we liked out final video. there were a few things that we wanted to change, namely the choice of music for the reception (we chose a song that later we felt was too fast paced), cutting out our vows (we cringe when we hear our own voices), and correct the harsh lighting on some of the images. Unfortunately we waited 3 weeks after receiving the final product before letting jeremy know our concerns that he had already removed our file from his system. in the end, we still like our video and if we voiced our concerns earlier jeremy would have been able to make the changes we requested. of note, jeremy wrote a letter with the final video letting us know that he wanted to hear our comments and concerns and also followed up with an email stating that he was worried since he hadn't heard from us. again, i would like to reiterate that we totally lagged on responding to jeremy, and if we had done so sooner he would have been able to do the changes we requested.
we loved working with Jeremy and our only regrets was not responding to him sooner after we had received our final video. we would still recommend him to other brides.
kim chi flowers (flowers and chair covers) highly recommend
out of the five florists that i interviewed, she was the one that gave me the best price. i was a bit worried that she wouldn't be able to execute my vision (although i didn't really have one until towards the wedding day) considering the majority of her clientele had very different taste that i. i think kim chi tends to work well with brides that know exactly what they want in order to properly give a price quote. i had countless meetings with her regarding the many different visions i had for the floral arrangements and she's very honest regarding what she is capable and not capable of. she's great at telling you how you can get the most bang for your buck and if she feels you don't really need it, she'll tell you so. you can tell that she has enough business that she's not interested in trying to get you to spend more money. of note, she does more than one wedding a day but she has a large staff that helps her. doing multiple weddings allows her to give you competitive pricing.
on the day of, the flowers arrived on time and everything was set up to my specifications. i loooooved my flowers. i loved loved almost everything. she even threw in an extra ring pillow covered in green pom poms since she knew i loved them so much, a beautiful lush centerpiece for the guestbook table, and 2 different white orchids for my hair since the gardenias that I requested were all wilted. the only thing I didn't really love was that my bouquet looked slightly wilted but i think i was overly critical since the flowers looked nice in the pictures. also, it seemed as if the sashes weren't tied on tight enough on the chairs because when the guests sat down, some of the sashes started to sag. she was also slightly late in returning to the reception site to pick up her chair covers after the reception. other than those complaints, i loved how our flowers turned out and how our reception room looked. i especially loved our arch behind the sweetheart table with hanging orchids and pomander balls. i enjoyed working with kim chi and would wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone.
save the date event planning recommend
i wasn't planning on hiring a doc considering our reception site is known to have coordinators that are very on top of things but i wanted someone to help me with other issues outside the reception. brigitte would correspond with me through email to see where i was in terms of planning. she was able to meet with me and my vendors the week prior to the wedding. she was also available for phone meetings days leading up to the wedding. on the day of, she worried about everything. she called me the morning of to make sure that the flowers and limousine arrived on time. she was at the ceremony to make sure everything went smoothly along with the church coordinator. she made sure everything was set up to my specifications at the reception site with the aid of the fantastic reception site staff (crystal and chrissy). she made sure i was moving along with the timeline. anything that went wrong she took care of it. my florist was late returning to pick up the chair covers and brigitte just rolled up her sleeves and started to take off the chair covers herself. the only thing i wished i had done was asked brigitte to come to the hotel i was getting ready at. it was a bit hectic during the morning and it would have been great to have someone around to make sure we were on our timeline and that everyone had what they needed. but I'm sure that if i asked brigitte to be there for me at the hotel, she would have done it. also, in hindsight, i wished i had let brigitte do all the timelines and lists, but i took the initiative since i'm so anal retentive. if i had let her do this, this would have relieved some stress for me the week prior. all in all, i think brigitte did a fantastic job and she did make me feel reassured that things would go smoothly. our wedding wouldn't have been as successful and without major mishaps if it wasn't for brigitte and the fantastic staff at the grand newport plaza.
eric mosqueda with socal dj highly recommend
eric was great! he was able to meet with me a week prior to the wedding at the reception site to go over the logistics of sound and setup. he kept us on the ball in terms of making sure he had our play list, do not play list, and list of names. he even called us 2 days prior to make sure he had the correct pronunciations of the vietnamese names. we also told eric to feel free to add music that he felt fit in with our play list which primarily consisted of indie rock/alternative that was soft enough for a wedding. i know it sounds tough/weird, but he did a great job considering he has different music taste. every time one of the songs played that we loved, we would look over and see eric looking at us to see our reactions, and we would just flash him a smile with a thumbs up and he'll flash back his smile and we'd laugh. there were no issues regarding set up and the sound quality in the outdoor courtyard as well as the reception room was perfect. he only made the announcements specified and there was absolutely no "cheesiness" or "obnoxiousness" in his announcements.
final touch bakery highly recommend
i had the pleasure of working with the owner, stephanie. she's also the owner of s restaurant where we had our rehearsal dinner. she did a great job in making our cake and it turned out exactly how we wanted. although we only had a bite or two of the cake, it tasted like summer goodness with assorted berries and bavarian cream. there were some guests that actually moved to different tables to get a second slice. yup, that's probably my family. of note, the price is very affordable at $2-$2.50 per slice.
loann to (bridesmaids, mother of groom makeup) highly recommend
seeing loann at five in the morning was like a ray of sunshine. she's so bubbly, sweet, and full of energy. i loved how she did my bridesmaids and mil's makeup. each of my bridesmaids wanted a slight change and she was more than happy to accommodate them. she is very affordable, professional, and easy to get along with.
pauline (bride's hair and makeup, and bridesmaids, mother of bride, mother of groom, and flower girl hair)
recommend with reservations
le brian hair salon 15631 brookhurst street westminster, ca 92683 phone: (714) 775-4590
email me for a review at quirkster777@gmail.com.
limousine (http://www.ulclimos.com/) do not recommend
email me for my review at quirkster777@gmail.com.
serendipity design (table Numbers, vietnamese poems, old letter sayings) highly recommend
stacia (aka lovehimsomuch) designed and printed my menu, table numbers, vietnamese poems, and letter quotes that were placed on each table. initially in the planning process, i planned to design and print everything myself but time and my sanity was at stake. stacia did a great job.
diy invitation paper and envelopes and thank you card envelopes (www.envelopemall.com) highly recommend
i purchased star dream paper, star dream pochette, carnival paper and envelopes for my invitations and craft envelopes for my thank you cards. i receive all products within a timely manner. the price is cheap and the quality is great.
invitation graphics (www.istockphoto.com) highly recommend
high quality images created by graphic designers that can cost at most several dollars depending on the design. i have purchased several images that were used in various wedding projects including wedding invitations, programs, labels for gifts, signs, and thank you cards. the image at the top of this bio was purchased from istockphoto.com. it's an affordable way to get beautiful and professional artsy designs/illustrations without paying the price for hiring a private graphic designer.
s vietnamese fine dining restaurant (rehearsal dinner) highly recommend
because we were having american fare for our wedding, we wanted to have our ethnic cuisine, vietnamese food, for our rehearsal dinner. s restaurant is now one of our favorite restaurants. my aunt is friends with the owner, stephanie, a professional chef originally trained in napa, california. excellent vietnamese food with some european influence with great service and beautiful atmosphere. of note, my family are the pickiest eaters i know and they were thoroughly impressed. originally we wanted to rent out the private room but the cost per person ended up being too much so we opted to just dine in the main dining room with the other patrons. on the day of, stephanie surprised us by seating us in the private room and decorating it with flowers and candles. for appetizers we had multiple servings of the best vietnamese traditional egg rolls ever, followed by crispy asparagus salad with dried shrimp and fish sauce, and savory duck salad. dinner was served family style which consisted of two different types of sea bass, one with black bean sauce and another in this light curry sauce, lobster pasta, and lamb chops (for the meat eaters mainly my father, grandfather and uncles). for dessert, we had final touch bakery, also owned by stephanie, make a chocolate mousse cake which tasted like a little bit like heaven. at the end of dinner, my little cousin who served as my junior bridesmaid played the titanic song on the grand piano in the restaurant as a surprise for us. i'm not a big fan of the song but it was very cute nonetheless. if i had a smaller guest count, i would have seriously considered having my wedding here.
wedding alterations by mahtab recommend
you can tell that mahtab is a seasoned seamstress with extensive history in the wedding dress alterations business. in fact, i believe she use to make wedding dresses. i didn't really shop around to get quotes of how much it would cost to alter my specific gown, but after purchasing my dress online, i didn't want to take any more chances with going with a cheaper seamstress that may not have been as experienced as mahtab. so i can't really comment if mahtab provides competitive pricing but from what i heard from other brides, the amount i paid for alterations for my beaded gown was reasonable. mahtab altered my dress to fit like a glove, added cups so i didn't have to wear a bra, and created a french bustle that i loved. she was sweet, quick to answer my emails (although reaching her by phone is fastest), and professional.
rk bridal (wedding dress) highly recommend
i found my dress (allure 8388) at belle bridal in redondo beach. although i didn't purchase my dress there, i loved the service and their dress selection. instead, i called all the local salons that were authorized allure salons to get a quote of the dress i wanted. i received a quote from one salon in pasadena that was 40% less than the retail price at belle bridal. so i went to rk bridals website where they promise to beat the price by 5%. since i would still have to pay for shipping if i purchased at the salon in at a local salon, i decided to purchase from rk bridal with the 5% discount. also, i reasoned that if there were any problems to arise, my future sister in law who lived one block from rk bridals in manhattan and would be able to raise hell if anything would go wrong. all in all, the ordering process was painless and very easy. however, you have to be assertive and persistent in terms of making sure they receive your order via fax and make sure everything is correct in terms of ordering (manufacturer, style, color, size). they don't call you and may fail to email you to let you know they received your order. also they don't notify you when your dress has arrived and is enroute to your address, you just have to monitor you credit card (they will bill the remaining amount you owe once your dress arrives). all in all, the correct dress, the correct color, and the correct size was ordered and the dress arrived in pristine conditions without any problems. based on my experience, i would recommend them for brides that are trying to save money on their dress.
elegant bridal & tuxedo (bridesmaid dresses) recommend
15639 Brookhurst St Westminster, CA 92683 Phone: (714) 90-4477
i feel that when someone aggrees to be a part of the wedding party, they are doing you a favor by incurring a several responsibilities such as attending all wedding related festivities, and perhaps throwing showers, bacherorette parties, engagement parties, not to mention having to deal with your bridezilla tendencies. beacause of this, i wanted to purchase their dresses and pay for their makeup and hair to show them my gratitude. after scouring downtown la, sales at nordstroms, j. crew, ann taylor, and loehmans, i found my bridesmaid dresses at elegant bridal and tuxedo. of note, this store is vietnamese owned and is catered to the vietnamese population so don't expect great service or quality fabrics. in fact, you will find some fugly dresses but fortunately my girls liked these dresses enough and the price was right (cheap) and alterations were included. also there is an option for girls to rent dresses for much cheaper but they have limited sizes (mostly for skinny types).
candy apple favors (cal-snacks) highly recommended
i purchased my candy apple favors from cal snacks located in el monte. the drive was a far but worth it. the apples are a bit smaller than the ones you are used to seeing at the candy stores, but they are yummy nonetheless and surprisingly very affordable. while we were wrapping the apples, it was so difficult to resist eating one since they filled the room with the aroma of caramel and nuts. the guests loved them and there was not one apple left behind at the reception. each candy apple favor cost less than a dollar including the plastic wrapping, ribbon, and tag.
guestbook (my publisher) highly recommended
their program was easy to use, the print quality was nice, and the paper was decent enough for guests to write on. remember to use archival pens on the paper to ensure that the ink doesn't fade with time. also try to make sure that the ink won't smudge.
ribbons and plastic bags for candy apples (fabric barn) highly recommended
located in long beach. this is a haven for people that are in search of a variety ribbons. if you purchase in bulk, you tend to save more money. i purchased all my ribbons here and i also the plastic bags used to wrap our candy apple favors here. they other things such as favor boxes, fabric, lace, balloons, etc. you just have to check it out yourself.
white parasols and white fans (oriental trading company) highly recommended
cheap and fast. i liked the quality of the parasols but the quality of the white fans was not that great and there was some splintering on the wood.
cuisineart resort in anguilla (honeymoon) highly recommended
nam did a great job with planning our honeymoon. i loved our stay at the cuisineart. the suites were large and had a great view of the beach. it was so soothing to fall asleep to the peaceful sounds of the waves crashing. the food was spectacular, the grounds were manicured, the service impeccable, and the beach empty and serene with someone to prepare your umbrella, cover your chairs with plush towels, provide cold water, and mango sorbets and biscotti in the afternoon. we felt that we had the complete beach to ourselves. anguilla is the prefect place to escape it all. if you're happy with just relaxing without an itinerary, beautiful aqua beaches that are empty, and four star dining, than anguilla is the place for you. of note, we wend during off season which contributed to the beaches being empty.
ku hotel in anguilla do not recommend
email me for my review at quirkster777@gmail.com.


























































