need help please

We just began looking at Sandals weddings and was hoping someone could help me with a few questions or direct me to where we may find the answers.

We were planning on getting married here in the US before we had our actual "wedding" away, so I was thinking we could just do the renewal of vows ceremony. But then on Sandals website, it says you needs a copy of your marriage certificate before scheduling your renewal of vows ceremony. We are planning on getting married here a few weeks before our destination wedding. I am not even sure we would have our marriage certificate back before we left for our destination wedding.

Is there away around this? I would like to schedule everything in advance and let people know the actual day we would be having our ceremony in case people decide they don't want to stay as long as the rest of us.

A few other questions that maybe people could help out with since I'm new to this:

1. If you have a renewal of vows ceremony, can you add extras such as photography, reception, etc?

2. Is Breezes cheaper that Sandals?

3. Since sandals is a couples resort, what happens if guests aren't married or with someone? can same sex friends share rooms? how does that work?

4. Is there a certain Sandals hotel that is "cheaper" then the rest of them?

Sorry I have so many questions, but my parents just got back from a Sandals vacation and they LOVED it, so it made us really interested in Sandals resorts!

Not sure how much I can help, we are getting married at Sandals Negril. They are a bit higher than other resorts but it seems like you get more and we have heard they are very nice resorts.

Since it is a couples resort so that is how they charge their rooms, based on two ppl staying and one person in a room has to pay the same amount. I never looked into same sex friends staying there since we have a very small number of ppl coming along.

We do have some guests going single and a child. They are staying at Beaches Negril a few minutes away.

We are also using a wedding planner outside of the resort and getting married off resort. All the extras at Sandals started adding up and this way it will be more personalized for us.

I am getting married at Beaches Turks and Caicos and have stayed at several Sandals resorts and there is no requirement that you have to be a couple to stay there. The times I stayed at Sandals I came across singles who traveled in groups (ie girls getaway vacation) and they seemed to be having a great vacation. I actually booked a room for someone who is single and it is not an issue (the rate is a little higher than having two people in a room and splitting the cost). I do not think that Sandals cares what peoples preferences are as long as they are a paying guest.

Welcome to the forum!

It's highly unlikly that you will get the certificate back that soon- plus the package is quite a bit different than doing legal wedding ceremony in jamaica ( it also cost more!) .

Yes you can add extras to the vow renewal package!

Breezes is cheaper than Sandals- however it is not an apples to apples comparision- the two are very different resorts an offer very different experiences! sandals is a true adult resort while Breezes can range from 14 or 16 on up.

We can get permission from the general manager for a single to stay in the room as long as they are associated with the wedding and two ppl of teh same sex can share a room- there are only king beds at the resort and they do not have rollaways. Most of the ppl I work with that share a room just place pillows between them and call it good!

There are certain Sandals that are less expensive- but you really want to look at the overall experience that you want as each Sandals has a different "personality"!

Sandals is a fantastic option and they do an amazing job on the weddings!

thank you everyone for your input and advice! you have helped A LOT!!! It seems like all of the resorts are gorgeous and have their own ambiance. I can't wait to read everyone's wedding reviews, and hopefully that will also help in making our decision. lol thank you again for all of your help!

I am getting married at Sandals Negril and we have 2 singles coming, the MOH and the BM. They are going to share a room just to save on costs even though they have only just met each other! We considered Beaches for them, as it is right next to the Sandals, but then they would only be allowed one day pass to join us for the wedding, and the other 4 days they are in Jamaica, they would have to stay on the Beaches property, or we would have to meet them off the resorts. We wanted both of them to enjoy time with us through the week, not just the day of the wedding, so they opted to share a room, as friends, at Sandals. Sandals Negril would have let them have their own rooms, but they didn't want to pay double occupancy.

Hope this helps

Actually Sandals tends to be a little less expensive than Beaches! The operating costs for Beaches is higher as they have all the additional kids programs and such!

I guess it depends on which resort you choose, but it is very easy to get married in Jamaica - just as easy as getting married in the US. I had no trouble with the social security office, bank, etc. using my Jamaican marriage certificate.

I know the process is more involved in Mexico and so pther places.

If you decide to go with JA, then you really don't need to be married before hand.