Mo's Riu Ocho Rios Wedding Review (5 pages long in MS Word!)

[RiuBride2b]

Thanks for the long and beautiful review. I am so glad everything went so good. This info that you have given us is very useful and I am also glad to hear that Chandlyn can be so accommodating. I saw your pictures and they were beautiful as well. I love the gazebo decorations and all of your flowers.

Again, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[destaney22]

Thanks Mo the review was awesome but I have more ? now!!!!! Maybe you could help or maybe someone else knows these answers too! I am deciding between Breezes in runaway bay or The Riu OR? I am leaning toward ROR. I guess after reading the review it seems that I will actually end up spending way more money then I hoped for.
What did the Royal wedding set up consist of? Did you feel that you needed to add on to the set up?
The flowers....well I really didnt want to spend too much for them. What does the bouquet look like that come with the package? Are there many choices or do you recommend adding on to it?
How much was it to add the rum punch and the steel band?
Photos....Do you pick your photographer?
What was the wedding cake like?
Did you add lots of extras to your reception? What are your choices in restaurants?
Can you send or post some pictures??
How much did you spend on the fans?

Thank you so much in advance! If anyone has any input please let me know I am just starting this whole process and I am totally confused!!!!!

[Heidi]

I can take a stab at some of these questions you have! Look at our other Riu Ocho Rios threads...there are a TON of your answers on those!

What did the Royal wedding set up consist of?
Wedding Packages by Destination. Honeymoon Holidays. Weddings by Riu - you can get ALL of the details about the different packages at this site

The flowers....well I really didnt want to spend too much for them. What does the bouquet look like that come with the package? Are there many choices or do you recommend adding on to it?
Flowers, Photographer Riu OR - read through this thread!

How much was it to add the rum punch and the steel band?
Again, it's all on Wedding Packages by Destination. Honeymoon Holidays. Weddings by Riu
Steel drum band is $250/hr

Photos....Do you pick your photographer?
Flowers, Photographer Riu OR - again, look in this thread.

What are your choices in restaurants?
If you want the free semi-private dinner, you have to have under 50 guests and it will be in the Mammee Bay Steak House. If you have more than 50, you have to pay a couple thousand (don't know how much exactly!!!) to rent out the Plantation restaurant. Then you'd have a private dinner.

Can you send or post some pictures??
Look through our other threads; TONS of pics in there!

[TA Maureen]

Originally Posted by DLyteful

Hey Mo!

Thanks so much! I've been waiting and waiting to hear about your wedding day and experience. I’m so glad your day turned out just as you wanted. I was becoming kinda worried when you hadn’t heard from Chandlyn. But I forgot you were in the place of “no problem mon”. I’ve heard to speak with Otis at the front desk before, so I’m going to try to speak with him when asking for my room upgrade. How much DIY did you end up bringing with you? It sounds like you bought a lot of things in Jamaica as gifts to your guests (which is a wonderful idea).

I cant wait to hear your next review about your overall experience. THANKS SO MUCH MO!

Oh, I have a question about the beach bar Seagrape. Ok, I’m thinking of having my reception (after dinner) there, any suggestions? When you have time (I know your busy, just getting back and your classes) can you post some pictures of your welcome party there? If I’m going to do my reception there what do you think I will need to dress things up?

I was going to bring DIY centerpieces for the reception but decided against it and just ordered floral centerpieces through Ocho Rios Flowers for $20.00 each. We also bought the rum there as wedding favors and we tied our place cards to them. Our tables were named after Jamaican rum cocktails. I made the signs on the computer and put them in a 5x7 frame to put on the tables. We bought the fans in jamaica instead of bringing them from here. So what we brought with us were our actual OOT bags, travel mugs, individual tylenol and meds like that, palm tree pens, travel candles, all of which were put in the OOT bags. This took up one large suitcase. We also had candles to decorate the rehearsal dinner table and cocktail tables at the welcome party. Other things that were brought from home included our sand ceremony set, cake serving set, and toasting glasses. I'm glad we decided to get a lot of stuff once we were there because we had a ton of other crap to bring. Oh and by the way the OFF towelettes that i searched for weren't really necessary. I never got bit by a bug or heard anyone complain about them.

I will post some pics of the welcome party as soon as my sister sends me her pics. She took a lot of them there. Like I said I was not impressed with Seagrape at first but when they moved tables and chairs down there and we hung our banner and added candles to the tables it looked great and we had so much fun there.

[DLyteful]

Originally Posted by MoBride

I was going to bring DIY centerpieces for the reception but decided against it and just ordered floral centerpieces through Ocho Rios Flowers for $20.00 each. We also bought the rum there as wedding favors and we tied our place cards to them. Our tables were named after Jamaican rum cocktails. I made the signs on the computer and put them in a 5x7 frame to put on the tables. We bought the fans in jamaica instead of bringing them from here. So what we brought with us were our actual OOT bags, travel mugs, individual tylenol and meds like that, palm tree pens, travel candles, all of which were put in the OOT bags. This took up one large suitcase. We also had candles to decorate the rehearsal dinner table and cocktail tables at the welcome party. Other things that were brought from home included our sand ceremony set, cake serving set, and toasting glasses. I'm glad we decided to get a lot of stuff once we were there because we had a ton of other crap to bring. Oh and by the way the OFF towelettes that i searched for weren't really necessary. I never got bit by a bug or heard anyone complain about them.

I will post some pics of the welcome party as soon as my sister sends me her pics. She took a lot of them there. Like I said I was not impressed with Seagrape at first but when they moved tables and chairs down there and we hung our banner and added candles to the tables it looked great and we had so much fun there.

Thanks for all of the info Mo!!!

[Mich]

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this very thorough review.
It has helped a great deal and I will definitely not be having the dancing part at the disco. I'm still considering doing the whole reception by the pool.
Did you ever see it set up for a wedding?

[TA Maureen]

I didn't even think or know that they could set up a reception by the pool. Both restaurants where they have receptions; Mammee Bay(semi-private) and the Plantation (private for $250.00 an hour) are open air restaurants that overlook the pool and beach. The pool area doesn't really have any open space. I guess if they removed all of the loungers it could work. Did Chandlyn say that you could have your reception there? That would be a unique and fun option!

Also I wasn't trying to discourage anyone from renting the disco. It is dark but it looks like a disco and that's what some people want for the dancing portion of their reception. I'm sure it would be tons of fun. We did have fun when we went. I just wanted to tell everyone what it looked like and that it only has bar stools. Also wanted to encourage anyone that was considering renting the beach bar as we had tons of fun there and if you're going all the way to Jamaica to have a beach wedding why not have a beach party too?

Originally Posted by Mich

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this very thorough review.
It has helped a great deal and I will definitely not be having the dancing part at the disco. I'm still considering doing the whole reception by the pool.
Did you ever see it set up for a wedding?

[Mich]

When I tried to book the Plantation she told me it was already booked. I wanted to have it at a private area, so she gave me the option of having it by the pool or at Seagrapes. They are both $50/pp which includes (set up, food, drinks). The good thing for me too, is that I can have both the dinner and the danicing at the same place (which is why I initially wanted the Plantation). I won't know until I get there and able to look at both places but I'm glad you saw Seagrapes and liked it.

In terms of the disco, I'm sure it will be perfect for many people, but I have quite a few older folks coming and stools just wouldn't work for them.

[TA Maureen]

Originally Posted by Mich

When I tried to book the Plantation she told me it was already booked. I wanted to have it at a private area, so she gave me the option of having it by the pool or at Seagrapes. They are both $50/pp which includes (set up, food, drinks). The good thing for me too, is that I can have both the dinner and the danicing at the same place (which is why I initially wanted the Plantation). I won't know until I get there and able to look at both places but I'm glad you saw Seagrapes and liked it.

In terms of the disco, I'm sure it will be perfect for many people, but I have quite a few older folks coming and stools just wouldn't work for them.

Yeah I understand that's why I mentioned that it's all bar stools. I'm glad Chandlyn offered to set up a reception by the pool for you. When I booked I was simply told there was no private function space available. When I asked for other ideas and even offered to pay anything necessary to have a private reception I was offered nothing. That is why we ended up having our reception off the resort at Evita's. In the end, there was no other weddings the day of mine so I probably could have had my reception anywhere on the resort but I was never told that all the other weddings cancelled. It was for the best because Evita's was awesome. The food was absolutely delicious. Everybody raved about it.

Anyway, if you have older people in your group the pool area might be best because you have to walk down stairs to get to Seagrape plus most of your tables and chairs would be set up in the sand then you would probably have your dancing on the little patio area. That's what I would imagine anyway. I would also check with Chandlyn to make sure she has a contingency plan in case it rains.

[AlmostMrsForbes]

Hi, Mo

Thanks for the great review - I can almost picture everything. It sounded beautiful, and your pics were gorgeous.

You mentioned that Evita's was good. I'm having my reception there on May 19th - and Eva has been wonderful so far. In the end, is there anything you would have changed or would have liked to know before hand about Evita's? Everything with that part of the planning is going so easily ... it seems almost too good to be true.

Congrats, again!