We're OFFICIALLY BOOKED! I'm a Sandals Grande Ocho Rios, Jamaica Bride!

Hello there, my fellow Sandals Brides!

It's official as of yesterday afternoon...my fiance and I, my parents, and my sister and a good friend have all booked our trips to Sandals Grande Ocho Rios, Jamaica for our May 2010 wedding -- and I'm thrilled that people are booked and we haven't even sent out invitations yet! Actually, since I am trying to be as cautious in my planning as possible, I didn't want to get anything created with dates on them (invitations, monograms, etc.) until the trip was locked in, so NOW I will have my work cut out for me!

There was a little hiccup in the booking: My regular TA Bobbi at AAA Travel (the travel division of the national motorist assistance company) was unable to make it to my appointment yesterday due to a family emergency, and although there was a little bit of confusion (since we had to finalize plans with one of her well-intentioned co-workers because I had my heart set on getting this thing booked by the end of May), everything worked out for the best!

John and I will we doing the following for our WeddingMoon:

Dates of Stay: May 11 - 15, Sandals Grande Ocho Rios

Room: Honeymoon Penthouse Oceanfront Concierge Room (Riviera Side of the resort)

Wedding Date, Time and Location: May 14, 2010, 2:00 pm, Roman Gazebo (Manor Side of the Resort)

Here is a pic. in case anyone doesn't know what the Roman Gazebo looks like -- I absolutely LOVE how unique and dramatic it is!

Then after our guests depart on 5/15, he and I are going to stay in Jamaica for a few more days for a "Mini Moon" as I call it, or a short honeymoon just the two of us:

Dates of Stay: May 15 - 18, Sandals Royal Caribbean (located in Montego Bay)

Room: Royal Honeymoon Luxury Beachfront Concierge Room

I COULDN'T BE MORE EXCITED, GIRLS, AND I JUST WANTED TO PASS ALONG THE GOOD NEWS!

Congratulations to everyone else who has already booked and for those who will be booking in the near future -- it's an amazing sense of relief! And, now we're one step closer to becoming man and wife!

what an AWESOME location!!!!!!!!!!! congrats!! you must be SO excited!

THANKS, LADIES! We are so psyched that now it's not just something we are "talking about" -- it's actually going to happen for real!

And JamaicaBride09: you better BELIEVE that I am going to ask you a zillion questions after your wedding at SGOR this November, sister! I'm gonna want to know what you thought was hot (and what, if anything, was not!), which restaurants were better than others, how it was to deal with the onsite coordinators, how your reception and photography went....and I'll be positively dying to see PICTURES of everything! CAN'T WAIT FOR YOUR REVIEW!!

Oh, and what location did you decide on again for your ceremony? Was it the Reef Terrace? That spot is super gorgeous, too! I love the water in the background of the photos I've seen so far...we want to get a few done there if possible!

Can't wait -- thanks for the support, chicas!

Jamaicabride09- I will be in Ocho Rios the same week! We are getting married at Dunn's River on the 14th!

IslandBride317- How did u get to pick where u r getting married already? I thought we had to wait until we get there?

Congratulations!!! That is sooo exciting!

I think it's great that you are having a minimoon at a different hotel! You guys are going to have a great week!

I'm going to the Sandals Dunns River next week, and I'm going to check out the SOR and the RIU to finally make up my mind to which hotel I'm going to have my wedding!

Congrats again! )

Congrats. I just booked today at Dreams Tulum and it's a huge sense of relief.

JamaciaBride 2010, SAFE TRAVELS and good luck making your decision! Please let me know what you think of SGOR, even if that's not where you decide to have your wedding, will you! Thanks in advance

Butterfly, you've made an excellent choice with Dreams Tulum...such an elegant, sophisticated resort! CONGRATS and big sighs of relief all around!

And avb1983: Ok, so technically, only my date and time are locked in at this point, but since Sandals only performs one wedding per hour max anywhere on the resort, then you will have your choice of the locations they show you when you arrive, and you officially confirm exact location then. I'm pretty sure no matter WHAT else they show me, I've got my heart set on that pretty reddish-pink gazebo above!

And to answer your question, I saw the Roman Gazebo as a ceremony location option on 2 different websites: Sandals site itself, and our very own BDW! Actually, the picture above is from the Sandals website within "Testimonials" - if you look at the very top of the homepage, you will see it - and then select "Wedding" from one of the drop down menu called "All the Categories". There you will see a variety of photos previous brides have posted, and you may get lucky and find one from Sandals Dunn's River (I just checked the site and I didn't see any reviews with pics from SDR as of yet, though -- sorry).

And right here on BDW, I was again lucky to find a previous post from another SGOR bride called "SGOR ceremony sites", which showed like 5 or so ceremony location pictures. If you're still have trouble finding what you are looking for, perhaps your could ask your TA to see if the wedding coordinator at SDR could be so kind as to pass along a few shots of locations, so you can get an idea of where you're interested in having it.

And don't forget: TA Jennifer is the Sandals and Couples resort Specialist on BDW - maybe PM her and see if she has any pics she can send you. She's great, and really knows her stuff!

Hope that helps, even if only a little bit! If not, just go with your heart when you get there and go on your site tour...or maybe even JamaicaBride2010 can take some pics when she goes for her hotel visits at the actual places next week?! If you say "Pretty Please!" maybe she'll see what she can do for ya!