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

[TA Maureen]

I'm so excited someone else is having their reception there. It was the absolute best decision we made regarding the wedding. The food was delicious. Everyone raved about it. The restaurant itself was the perfect setting for a Jamaican wedding. It felt more jamaican and less like I was trying to have a traditional American wedding in Jamaica. The view from the terrace is great. Eva is an absolute doll to work with. She responds to emails so quickly and she ahd everything set up the way we wanted it. She even emailed me a floor plan ahead of time. She got us a Reggae band to play for 2 hours and they were awesome. They played low key music while we were eating. The singer had an amazing voice. I think they were called magic touch but you can ask Eva and she would know for sure. Ijust got the reception pics back from our photographer so I will post them asap. Eva also took care of getting our cake from Future bakery and it was delicious. She also ordered our centerpieces for us from Ocho Rios flowers and they were perfect!

[AlmostMrsForbes]

That is great! I'm so excited. I've gotten a very good feeling from Eva.

I'm so glad we made the decision to have the reception off site. All of our guests are traveling so far - I really think it will be nice to get them off the resort for a little while and treat them to something different.

I'm going to look into the regae band - sounds really fun.

Hope you had a great Thanksgiving, and that you are relaxing and enjoying married life!

[TA Maureen]

I am enjoying married life and we had a great Thanksgiving together. Thanks! I hope yours was great as well. I agree with you that when you have guests traveling that far it is nice to treat them to something different from the food they are eating every day at the resort and get them out for a little bit. How many guests are you having? Are you doing the open bar or running a tab? Did you decide on your menu? Are you still having the ceremony at Riu? That's waht we did. Did you get transportation for your guests to Evita's? We used Lee's and they were great! What time are you having your ceremony and reception?

Sorry for all the questions. We had such a great experience at Evita's. I'm just so excited for you.

[Mich]

I'm glad that she offered this too because I was going crazy. If I had known about this site and realized that Evita's was even an option, I probably would have chosen them instead.
I do have a plan B but really praying that I won't have to use it.
I didn't even think about the steps, so thanks. So many things to think about and so difficult when your so far away. All your info has helped out ALOT!!!!!

[AlmostMrsForbes]

I'm glad you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm sure it was nice to relax after all the wedding stuff. We had a really good one, as well - although lots of traveling.

So far, we have about 30 guests confirmed, although that could jump in the coming months - way more than I thought! I guess we are going to have an open bar, and are working on the menu. I'm having a hard time cutting it down. We have to offer a steak option because my dad and my brothers are kind of meat and potato guys - but I don't want to limit it and not offer people all the delicious jamaican/italian food.

So, I think we've decided to offer 3 appetizers (shrimp, conch, and mozzarella) - Eva said they could set it up like stations so that people could enjoy during cocktail hour. Then, we'll limit the salad options and offer all of the dinners. I will still plan to make my own menus, though.

How was the wedding cake that they got for you? Did you give them any input on what you wanted?

We are still having our wedding @ the Riu. We're going to do the Beach Gazebo location. The ceremony will be at 2, and then the reception at Evita's will start around 5:30 or so. I'm also planning to hire an off-site photographer from Jamaica (Brian Design - Photography & Website Design by Brian Nejedly - Ocho Rios, Jamaica) - so I still have to work that out.

Eva hooked us up with travel arrangements ... I'm assuming it's Lee's. I think we're going to use them (based on your glowing rec) for our trip to the resort, as well as for my brother and sister-in-law (since they'll be traveling with an infant).

Sorry so long ... I'm becoming completely obsessed with this place!

[twinkletoes]

Mo - Awesome Awesome review!

I have a few questions for you I hope you dont mind answering. Here goes:

1. I saw you chose the Royal Wedding Package. (Included is a candlelight dinner and cake) Since you had your reception off-site, did you negotiate the package price or substitute in place of those things?

2. How much did you have to pay for your trial updo?

3. Did the minister read the sand ceremony or someone else?

4. After the ceremony and pics, did you and your hubby arrive separately to Evita's or with your guests? How long was the wait in between after the ceremony and arriving at Evita's? (For you and your guests) And did someone announce you when you arrived at the restaurant?

5. From your pics it looks like Evita's has inside and outside seating. Did you guys only sit on the inside?

6. I saw you did a TTD session. Is it safe to assume you did this after your reception?

7. Oh, did the resort have the beach party while you were there? If so, what day was it?

Ok, I think I've asked enough questions for one day. Thanks!

[meandpaul]

Originally Posted by carlymcmullen

Mo, can you go to Beaches Boscobel and then come back and right as detailed a review?

I would be so confident with the Riu after reading that!

I agree with Carly - well, at least you (Carly) go to Beaches before me so hopefully I can get a great review like that

[carly]

Oh, that pressure is on!

[TA Maureen]

Originally Posted by twinkletoes

Mo - Awesome Awesome review!

I have a few questions for you I hope you dont mind answering. Here goes:

1. I saw you chose the Royal Wedding Package. (Included is a candlelight dinner and cake) Since you had your reception off-site, did you negotiate the package price or substitute in place of those things? I just got extra champagne in place of those things and had it at the rehearsal dinner at Mammee Bay the night before.

2. How much did you have to pay for your trial updo?$40.00

3. Did the minister read the sand ceremony or someone else?Minister I gave what I wrote for the sand ceremony to Chandlyn ahead of time and she gave it to the minister.
4. After the ceremony and pics, did you and your hubby arrive separately to Evita's or with your guests? Immediately following the ceremony we asked everyone to stick around for pictures on the beach. That took about an hour. We had rum punch served and the steel band was still playing.
How long was the wait in between after the ceremony and arriving at Evita's? My husband, daughter, and I rode in a van to Evita's. My guests were in two buses and another van for the family that had the baby with them. My bridesmaids stayed and made sure everyone got on the buses and we went ahead. And did someone announce you when you arrived at the restaurant? We greeted everyone as they got off the bus and entered Evita's. It was like an unplanned receiving line and it worked out well.
5. From your pics it looks like Evita's has inside and outside seating. Did you guys only sit on the inside? All guests were seated inside. Head table was on the terrace facing in at our guests with Ocho Rios, the sea, and a cruise ship in the background behind us.
6. I saw you did a TTD session. Is it safe to assume you did this after your reception? I actually did not really do a TTD session. I wanted to but my Mom bought my dress for me and she did not want me to so I did not plan and book a TTD session. However, while we were at Evita's I mentioned wanting to jump in the pool when we got back to the resort. Everyone said I should do it and my Mom got into the idea for some reason. I guess because she saw even her friends were into the idea and that my big day was coming to the end so the dress had served its purpose. Our photographer, Michael from the resort was like that's a great idea. He was done shooting the reception and heading back to the resort and he said to come get him at photoshop when we got back. Well we stayed behind at Evita's to take care of the bill and our guests went ahead. When we got back everyone was in the lobby clapping as we walked in. Michael was there and we all walked to the pool and everyone was taking pics as we jumped in the pool. Then we swam to the swim up bar and did a shot. Then I said we should hit the beach and off we went. All of our guests followed snapping pics and we ran into the sea. When we got out I said to Tim we went this far we might as well go all the way so I threw him on the sand and jumped on top of him and we started rolling around in front of everyone even my poor father, but it was only for a minute to get a few good pictures.
7. Oh, did the resort have the beach party while you were there? If so, what day was it? The beach party was scheduled for Sat. night while we were there, but both Sat. nights we were there it got cancelled due to weather so we never actually got to go to it.
iOk, I think I've asked enough questions for one day. Thanks!

I hope I answered all of your questions. Let me know if you have any more. I will try to post some better pics of the set up at Evita's and the impromptu TTD. It was so much fun!