Hey everyone! I have been lurking for a while, but I registered to try to lessen some fears about the scrim at the Wedding Pavilion. I had my Escape wedding there last Tuesday (12/6) and it was an amazing experience! Yes, the scrim is there, yes, the scrim is kinda ugly in person, but it is blocking a much uglier scene on the beach. While it seems that the construction is farther away, it is RIGHT next to the pavilion on the beach that it starts to look rather gross. I am very surprised that there is enough room between the WP and the GF to add the villas, to be honest!
So yes, that is the bad news. The good news follows!
1) The other side of the bridge overlooks the Polynesian resort and beach, and it is so gorgeous that I was staring at that and not at the scrim!
2) The planners (I had Tanis, and she was awesome) are doing the best they can with a bad situation - from what I can tell there was nothing they could do about it and they aren't necessarily in a position to tell much about what's going on. Although I certainly understand that brides would want to be notified about those kinds of aesthetic changes, I do not envy the planners' position.
3) Tanis did reassure me that the photographers use Photoshop to smooth out the scrim's picture and that the pictures look very good after this is done. Our photographer, Ty, didn't take any pictures specifically in front of the scrim, and you can request that the photographer do or do not take specific photos. There are plenty of beautiful spots around the pavilion for photos, don't worry!
4) Once you are inside the pavilion, you can't see or hear any construction. At least, we couldn't! And we got married at 2:30 on a Tuesday, and there was definitely stuff happening. Tanis was very willing to move my cake-cutting from the GF terrace to an indoor location because they were told there might be noise (trucks backing up, etc) but I turned that down because it was beautiful out, I love the terrace, and I wouldn't let some trucks ruin my day! Turns out if there was noise, I didn't notice. We had a violinist playing and everyone had a great time. Nobody noticed the construction, either with noise or visuals.
5) Most important: it's your wedding day! I was worried about the construction taking me out of that mindset, but it didn't. I was so focused on being nervous right before

and on marrying my best friend that I didn't even notice, except as more of a passing glance. Please don't worry, fellow brides! You will have a great time, don't stress about the construction, your photos will be gorgeous, your guests will have fun (buy them extra booze after to make up for it if you feel inclined!

), and at the end of the day you'll be married!!!
I hope this has helped some of you guys feel better, trust me, when I saw that scrim I was like "***! I am getting married NEXT TUESDAY!!!", but it was totally fine the day of and I didn't even care. It's all about love, folks! Get your great pictures, focus on the positives, don't let stress get you down. And congrats on your weddings!
