Jan 23, 2007

Bula Lori,
Happy New year to you. What can I say, It was perfect! We were in paradise.
On our wedding day it did not rain and it was the first night we had a sunset. The only thing that went wrong was...We gave them our video camera and had a few practice sessions. And during the ceremony they had not pressed the Record button. So I only have pictures from 1/35 mm camera. One guest took a short video from his camera and pictures and gave me the memory stick. That was real nice. He was also getting married there 2 days after us. We video taped their wedding for them. We were each others witnesses. Made new friends. Tony and I took our own pics with a remote control and tripod. They came out real nice. If you look hard enough you can see the remote but who cares. We were so happy we chose Qamea Resort. We met both owner's. Your're right, he is really nice. He came a day after we got married. He upgraded us the last night to the honeymoon bure. That was so nice of him. We enjoyed the last night with our new friends in the jacuzzi. The goodbye was so sad, we did not want to go. We will be back for sure!

The fiji people are so nice/wonderful. So were the guests. No worries!

We were lucky enough to go to a christmas party at the village on Naigani island. Got to try Turtle, it was different. Seen Meke dance on both islands. Lots of kayaking. Snorkeling was like the movie "Finding Nemo". The best ever!

On our 2nd week we were lucky.. everyone checked out when we checked in. So we were all alone on that island. Only one other couple was there with us. When we checked out there were at least 20 people checking in. Very lucky I tell you, Not as colorful but still beautiful. We had a mango tree in our backyard we picked every morning. Wow.

Thank you very much for helping us choose this special place. Everything you planned worked out perfectly for us.

F. Di Girolamo
Colonia, New Jersey
Happy Qamea wedding

September 20, 2006

Bula, Sue!

The resort is absolutely beautiful, and as you know, the Fijian staff are fantastic!! We formed quick bonds with several of the Fijian people and loved the culture, the village-- everything Fijian. I firmly believe experiences are largely what you make of it and we had a wonderful time as a whole.

Thank you for informing us about the Taveuni Island Resort! Eunice, Anne, Thomas, Joe and many others-- including the dogs, Belle & Tag, made for an incredibly pleasant experience. The wedding far exceeded our expectations! The meke songe & dance and the kava ceremony-- are MUST DO's for the weddings.

Anyway, we'll be in touch soon to book the Hawaii ticket. I'd be happy to diccuss anything further with you. Thanks for your email and again, thank you for guiding us to Taveuni Island- we fell in love with the Fijian people and the island.

With Kind Regards,
C. DeMoss Sharp
Glendale, California
Taveuni Weddingmoon

September 04, 2006

Bula Sue,

We can't thank you enough.  We had a great trip.  Rosie's Travel took great care of us, as did the hotel.  The whole trip went off without a hitch. 

Arrived on time in Nadi.  Rosie's greeted us, verified all our travel documents and then drove us to the Outrigger.  We walked up to the check-in counter and said that we wanted to check in and they said "certainly, not a problem".  That really made it nice.  We got all unpacked and then met the bride & groom for breakfast.

Can't say enough nice things about the hotel, the gardens, the hotel staff, the food.....everything was wonderful.  The rehearsal dinner was wonderful.  Both Luisa and Pruvena were very helpful and proposed a special menu for us, even though we were holding the dinner in the main restaurant.  It turned out perfect!!!!!

The wedding itself was held at the Myola Plantation.  What a beautiful spot!!!  We were very impressed with them and their service.  Beautiful wedding, wonderful reception!!!!!!

With the event behind us, Rosie's got us to the airport by 7:30pm.  There was a bit of a wait at the airline check-in but no wait at security.  We boarded the plane and got the upper level exit seats, Row 21 although we did have a gentleman in the row with us.  The flight over was only about half full but the flight coming back looked pretty full. 

By the way, the weather was very pleasant (low to mid 70's every day), actually cooler even with the humidity, than the 80 degree weather we've been having in San Diego.  The only down side was that wind was howling the day we arrived and it never let up...but it really didn't matter unless you were out on the beach.  The pool area and the gardens offered a lot of protection.   

Again, we can't thank you enough for a smooth journey.

Vinaka!!!!!!!! 
C. & R. Pearson   
San Diego, California
Fiji Wedding Celebration

June 21, 2006

Hello Mimi...
Just wanted to touch base with you and say Thank you for everything you did. The island you sent us to for our wedding was great! Taveuni Island Resort was wonderful and beautiful. We loved the people that worked there and with our 10 day stay, got to know them well. They are great folks. We did go island hopping and was able to view some of the other resorts. I feel we had the best one! Thank you! (Pictures)

Well, I hope you have a wonderful day.
K.& D. Butcher
Texas
Fabulous Fiji Vacation

March 31, 2006

Bula Mark,
Thank you for all of your efforts. I will send you a much more detailed report on how great things went for us, but I am rather slammed at work for some reason!

Thank you again for everything and making this a perfect Weddingmoon to Qamea!

Vinaka!
C. Needham
Texas
Romantic Qamea Wedding

Bula Lori,

Sorry that I haven’t dropped you a line sooner – life gets busy when you aren’t in paradise anymore! Thank you for your kind wishes! Our experience surpassed our dreams!!! We cherished each perfect moment as it unfolded, & will be thankful for the memories for the rest of our lives! Our wedding day felt like a wonderful, magical ride!

When I first contacted you, I knew where I wanted to go – (Namale – one of the best decisions of my life), but as I said before, you made the planning process fun, giving me tidbits of things to look forward to; you also helped with details like travel insurance and you saved us money. By the way, Rob says it was the best money he ever spent! Lori, everything was perfect – we wouldn’t change a thing.

Like Danielle said to me, Namale is something that has to be experienced, and I know you have. For anyone reading this considering Namale Resort & Spa as the setting for their wedding, honeymoon or trip of a lifetime, Rob & I say BOOK NOW!!! At Namale, your hopes for a special time will be transformed into a fragrant, joyful reality that feels like a sweet, perfect dream. I would be sitting at the computer writing all day if I tried to convey all the sights, special touches, experiences & people that made our time so special, but I will touch on a few.

Our bure was Totoka, and it was our decadent home base!! It was amazing, perfect; complete with a personalized, carved wooden nameplate hanging on the door to welcome us. Totoka is beside one of the pools & hot tubs at the resort, and with so few guests it became an extension of our bure (our pool & hot tub ) And flowers, flowers, flowers everywhere!!! Flowers on the bed, and petals spelling out a welcome or forming a heart – and when we walked in the door on our wedding night, they had spelled out JUST MARRIED along with a huge heart with flower petals on the beautiful hardwood floor!! Can you imagine!

How does breakfast at waterfall in the rainforest sound? Horseback ride to the top of a mountain? Picnics of lobster tails, and dinners on private, torch lit decks overlooking the ocean … at Namale, experiences like this are only the beginning. One of our favorite memories is meeting some of the wonderful children of Naidi village after we went to church on Sunday.

And the wedding day, OH the wedding day!!! A wonderful, magical ride is what it felt like J What everyone at Namale created for our wedding day went way above & beyond what any bride and groom could dream of. The people who live and work at Namale aren’t ‘staff’, they were like family who were eager and excited to share in the joy and make everything special and perfect … and it was, VINAKA it was!!!

About an hour before our ceremony was to begin, Rob was whisked away to the ‘dream house’, where I learned later he went swimming and had his last beer as a free man! This hour before my wedding that was about to pass was incredibly special and I will treasure it always; it set the magical, joyful tone for everything that was about to unfold! Danielle (one of the managers of the resort along with her fiancé Mark) and Lori (the spa manager) arrived with fresh flowers to do my hair and to help me get ready. Then we hear a sweet ‘hello!’, and it’s Kristi our ‘neighbor’ from the bure next to us (she and her love, Kirby, were pronounced man and wife at Namale a few days before). She has brought me a wedding gift of a beautiful negligee and stays to help create and share in the beautiful atmosphere of anticipation and happiness. Then, my bridal bouquet is presented. Well, I’ll leave this description to the picture! What I want to convey, is that hour before my wedding that I spent with Danielle, Lori and Kristi as they helped me get ready was so real and full of love. These were not services provided (need proof: there was no charge for doing my hair or my amazing bridal bouquet) this was family and friends!!! I am forever thankful!

We were married on the Walu deck, and I will never forget the look of love in Rob’s eyes. The way they decorated was breathtaking – red ginger and palms and flower petals! When I watch the video and hear the Fijian choir singing hymns it still gives me chills! (Danielle took the incredible pictures of the ceremony with our camera and Lori captured the choir and me walking down the aisle on video with our camera. Vinaka Vaka Levu!!! (We had the photographer as well, but I haven’t got those developed yet). Danielle was one of our witnesses along with Lino, a great guy from the resort with a wonderful spirit. Three couples that we had become friendly with at the resort took time to come and share in our special day!

We had Kokoda (a traditional Fijian dish for special occasions) as the appetizer for our wedding dinner. I was actually able to replicate the dish here in Calgary, Alberta, Canada – I made it to celebrate our 1 month wedding anniversary just the other day (corny, I know, but aren’t newlyweds supposed to get away with that sort of thing? We did the occasion up Namale style, i.e. lots of flowers!!!!

Well, Lori I better quit now!
I hope you are well, and let me know about your trip and the wedding at Namale that you attended!

A very happy & thankful,
Mr. and Mrs. Rob J. (Alberta, Canada)

June 16 , 2005

Bula,
First Id like to thank Cindy for planning such a wonderful wedding/honeymoon destination for us. We couldn't have picked a more perfect, intimate, romantic place to be. We had not one problem traveling to and from. Rosies was great. Matamanoa is just awesome, what a beautiful island. I would recommend Matamanoa to anyone, especially weddingmooners. The staff were some of the nicest people we have ever met. We made sure we went to the village to see where most of them lived.

Our bure was great. When we checked in we had #7 and we had requested a higher bure # because of the sunsets and the staff moved us immediately. I would definitely recommend a higher number bure we had # 20 and it was perfect. The most incredible sunsets we have ever seen. Peter the wedding coordinator was wonderful. He got together with us the second we arrived to the island to go over our wedding plans. We had the most amazing wedding on the beach. The day of our wedding the weather was great, but very windy. We actually moved our wedding time up because the afternoons the wind picks up so, but that day it was windy all day. Our weather wasn't the greatest the week we went, we had some very cloudy days the last day it rained all day. But we were happy to be there and the staff made the best of every day for us all. The service was incredible. Thank you for helping us plan exactly what we have dreamed of. We already know we want to go to Tahiti next year.

Thanks again,
Tara & Sean M. (Pheonix, AZ)

August 10, 2004

Hello and thanks for writing to ask about our experience in Fiji. We had a fantastic time. The people there are so friendly, we didn't want to leave (especially on Tokoriki!). I would like to especially thank Sue for doing such a fantastic job in figuring out what the perfect itinerary would be. She paid close attention to little details, which really paid off for us. We stayed at the Outrigger on the Lagoon on the Coral Coast for the first 3 days. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't great (overcast and cool), but we used that to our advantage by taking day trips to Nadi and Suva. That gave us a chance to meet some wonderful people and see the mainland.

Going to Tokoriki was a blast... traveling by helicopter was definitely the way to go. Immediately upon landing on Tokoriki, we felt like we were among friends. We were greeted by the staff with a nice cold drink and a welcome song. After being there for just a couple of days, practically everyone on the staff knew us by name. The wedding was the pièce de ré·sis·tance. The wedding coordinator did an excellent job of organizing everything and even helped me get ready before the wedding. Getting married on the beach at sunset was a once in a lifetime experience that we will cherish forever. And the Tokoriki Resort saying of arriving a visitor but leaving as a friend is so true.

We hope to get back there again someday, perhaps to renew our vows.

Sincerely,
Joni H. (San Diego, California)

May 12 , 2004

Bula Joanne,