A ceremony at the Wedding Lawn by the beach at the Sheraton Fiji
My First Contact with The Sheraton, Westin & Sheraton Villas - Denarau Island Fiji
My first ever job out of high school was as a Dive guide based out of what was then - ‘The Sheraton Royal’ which later became the The Westin Denarau Island Resort & Spa, Fiji. I would spend my days diving around the Mamanuca Islands, ferrying jet skies between The Westin and The Sheraton Fiji Resort, being the extra weight on the banana boat when there weren’t enough guests to keep it in the water, sifting through the silt in front of the Sheraton inch by inch in zero visibility looking for lost anchors, stopping crazy tourists from chasing after sharks out on snorkelling trips (yes, I know, WTH) and carrying hundreds of air tanks between the dive shop and the compressor on the other side of the resort (I miss the forearms of my youth!).
Eight years later in April 2010 I shot my first Honeymoon session at The Westin and it wouldn’t take long before I was shooting weddings at The Westin & Sheraton 3-4 times a week. I have lost count of the number of weddings I’ve shot there, I’m pretty sure I’ve been over every inch of the three sister properties - Sheraton Fiji, The Westin & Sheraton Villas.
A bridal party posing in-front of the Sheraton Fiji’s Wedding Chapel at Sunset
What can I say about the Sheraton properties?
The Sheraton & Westin have multiple venues on site and with the combined properties giving you tons of options for a ceremony you are spoilt for choice! The chapel on the Beach is great and I always make the most of the deck out front. For ceremonies taking place earlier on in the day the white deck reflects light back up to fill in those harsh shadows, of course expect to squint on a bright day (don’t worry I have a trick that helps for that with the only downside partial blindness but oh well it’s the photo that matters). Also it is the only wet weather option I would choose if it were my decision to make and I wanted to keep it out of the ballroom.
Looking out to Nadi Bay from the deck of the Sheraton’s wedding chapel.
There are multiple options when it comes to non-chapel ceremonies, the most popular probably being “The Wedding Lawn” between the Vai Restaurant & Bar and the Chapel which is is a raised little spot just above the beach, with great grass and yes this matters, they look after the lawn really well and its it seems well irrigated which is great if there’s been an earlier shower. The lawn will comfortably hold up to 50 seated guests with plenty of space for the “dudes” those guys who for some reason never want to sit down at the ceremony.
More to be added soon …
