ROR Wedding Review - Jan 22/09**Long***pics by Michael**

Hi All,

I have been a slacker and am just getting around to writing my review. I figured that this site gave me soo much info to prepare for my special day that I needed to give back and help future ROR brides.

My biggest advice to any ROR bride is to go in with the no problem attitude. Don't sweat the small stuff because if you do it will ruin a special day and with all the planning you do for it ..what good is that? Having family and friends there to share it with you is all you really need!!

Large shout out to the wonderful ladies I met from bdw ...lopez87 (karina) christenew (christene)...it was great to meet you ladies. You're great!! Karina..how was the shot?? *lol*

Here comes my review ladies (beware it might be long). I will post my link to my pics at the end. Enjoy!!!

Travel Agent

I used a lady based out of Chatham, Ontario who works from her house. I cannot say enough great things about her. She was there whenever I needed her and knows her stuff. She is still presently working on issues with skyservice for me. This lady goes above and beyond and without her, my day wouldn't have been the day it was. Thanks Linda!! You were great to work with.

Pre-Jamaica

We chose to stay the night in Toronto as we had a very early flight. This was a good choice on our part. We stayed at Courtyard Mariott and had a small party in my mom's hotel room the night before. Getting up at 4 am to catch the shuttle to the airport was a bit rough but we made it.

Skyservice

What can I say about these jokers? This was the absolute worse flight I have ever taken in my life. We had a list of complaints a mile long that we are having our travel agent address. Here are a few things we were unsatisfied with to give you an idea..baggage (you are only allowed 20kg several of our guests were charged hundreds of dollars to get their bags there..do not go over!!), delays (we had a three hour delay on the way and a five hour delay for my famiily coming home), rude service and a very full flight. Ladies, I would strongly recommend against flying with these guys. If anyone would like more info, feel free to pm me.

Riu Check in

I was quite impressed with check in at the Riu. There was a large amount of people crowding the lobby but check in was fast and efficient. You line up and get your wrist band and then off to the next setup for your safe lock and room keys. You then are required to go to the front desk to get a piece of paper to fill out your info. They had a rum punch and everyone was quite polite.

We did have issues with my MOH's room but the front desk had it fixed up and Dexter at the front desk walked up with us to her room to make sure things were up to snuff. I found that exceptional.

Rooms and cleaning staff

The rooms were absolutely gorgeous and extremely clean. Our's (3404) had a wonderful view of the pool and the ocean as well. There was a bit of a musty smell upon arrival but we had brought a glade plugin that quickly took care of that. Our maid was absolutely great. We had left valuables out on several occasions and had no problems. We had fresh towels whenever we threw them in the tub. Our maid was extremely friendly as well..I had a couple different conversations with her and we usually left her a tip every other day. The day of the wedding she had the room decorated quite beautifully with an arrangement of towels on the bed and rose petals everywhere. We even had flowers lining our bathtub! Totally awesome and very romantic.

Food

After being there for two weeks, we were quite sick of the food. We had large cravings for the food here in Canada. We found the buffet was better for breakfast than dinner. Please watch it when you are eating meat, one night I had pork that was red. The a la carts I found all good especially the steakhouse (we went there four times). We didn't have an issue getting reservations but we usually had to take a late slot (9:30) as we didn't get down to the desk till around 10am to book.

Staff

We made friends with many of the staff there and received very good service.

We had many favourite bartenders at the pool bar and dunn's bar that always managed to keep us entertained somehow. Kudos to all these guys cause they were super fun!! We even had one at the Dunn's bar bring us a taste of home on our last night ..(burger king from ocho rios), now that service is above and beyond forsure!! Kudos to O'Neill. The people truly do make the resort what it is.

Chandlyn/Nikki

I found these two girls very organized. I had my meeting with Chandlyn three days after I had arrived, she had everything in order and assured me everything was going to be ok (a bit nervous). I found her to be an absolute sweetheart. Both are very hard working and do what they can to make your day special. I believe they are overworked at times and really do need a bigger crew.

Renova

These ladies work hard too. They did an excellent job on my hair and my MOH's (who has very long hair). I had my make up done as well and they went above and beyond there taking care of my eyebrows free of charge. The makeup was sooo natural and she managed to make my eyes just pop..very happy with the job she did. I tipped her $8. TThe only small complaint I had here was the amount of time it took (3 hours) which gave me 45 minutes till ceremony. Give yourself lots of time ladies.

The Wedding

My day was everything I had hoped for. There were a few blunders (hair took 3 hours and flowers came as we were walking to ceremony) but it was no problem. The minister did a great job and everyone really enjoyed themselves. The rain held off for me which I was greatful for. I throughly enjoyed being a bride - the staff treated me like a princess, my family and friends were wonderful, my groom blew me away the whole day and everyone had a great time!! That's what its all about!! Ya mon!

Plantation

Dinner was great and very private forsure. We had requested the bottom level as my grandmother is 84. They graned that request for us with no problem! Our tables were set with our 32 favours in place like we had asked.

Our menu was the one from the Mammee Bay which was really good. We had our soup and salad served to us while the rest of the table went to buffet to get theirs. Meals were served to everyone.Our cake arrived shortly after dinner with my precious moments topper on top..absolutely great! The only thing I did not like here is the service was slow. We were done our meal before the end of our table had gotten theirs.

Photoshop

We had a video (video was great and I am glad I got it..I cry everytime I watch it) made and photo's taken by the photo shop. Michael takes wonderful pictures. He was amazing to work with. He even went to the trouble to drive us to Ocho Rios to go to the bank so we could get cash (we added 50 pictures on cd). We had issue at the end as our pictures were not ready for us on the night before we left at 8pm. We ended up getting a bit upset with them as we just wanted our pictures and they had two weeks to prepare them. I truly believe he has too much on his plate and needs help keeping everything on the up and up.

Excursions and things to do

There is many things to do around the resort. Talk to King David down on the beach as he offers many tours. We took the Dunn's River tour that included drinks and snorkelling as well (that cost 55 per person). We absolutely loved Dunn's. It is soo beautiful. We took a sunset cruise as well and it was nice. If you take a ride into town, there is lots of shopping and stuff to buy. I enjoyed going to Ocho Rios but I would only spend a couple hours. It can get to be a bit much after a bit.

I wish all future brides all the best and hope this review has helped you out. I thank all the ladies that listened and talked with me over the past year(specially the SWO ladies..you know who you are) -without everyone's advice I think I would of went crazy! This is a great site with soo much information.

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask as I am always willing to help out.

Here is my link to my pictures in which Michael from the photoshop took.

Wedding Pictures pictures by slipp33 - Photobucket

Cheers!!

Angela

Wow! What a review! I feel so much more at ease viewing the pictures that Michael took. He truly captured some beautiful moments for your special day. I love the pictures of you and your husband on the beach by the palm tree. My wedding is in less than 2 weeks, and reading your review made me realize I need to stop stressing every little detail. It is what it is! Congrats, and the best to you and your husband on your special journey.

Best wishes,

Diana

Great review. Congratulations! I loved your hair.

Great review. Congratulations! I loved your hair.

Great review, thanks for your honesty!! Your pics turned out great and your hair and makeup look exquisite. Big congrats to you...MRS.!!!

Great review Ang! Looooove the pics....looks like you guys had a blast! Congrats again

ps. The drinks were downed in 0.2 seconds...nuff said! lol I actually requested the same to be sent to you but they gave them to me instead...I took a whif and they smelled like sour milk so I chucked them! Sorry lady

Congratulations! your review is great, and you looked beautiful on your photos.

Just one thing - if your flowers arrived as you were about to walk down the isle, how do your guests get theirs?

Thanks

Great review! I agree that you have to have "no problem" type of attitude..some things are beyond our control.

Love the pics..you make a gorgeous bride..love the colours you chose too!!

P.S. We have the same dress...it's gorgeous!!

Congratulations Angela, your review makes me feel a lot happier & we have the same attitude, as long as we come home married, everything else will be fine. Did you have a full suite & was it upgraded when you arrived?

Hope your enjoying your new married life!

Sarah x

Fantastic review and photos. You have put my mind at rest regarding Michael. How much did the video cost if you don't mind me asking ? x