JUSTUSTWO

Congrats on your engagement & welcome to the forum. You may be overwhelmed now but you'll be just fine! Everyone here is so helpful that you'll also find yourself quite addicted to BDW so prepare yourself now! LOL

Quote: Originally Posted by chicklet Did anyone have troubles with the rose petals blowing away? I wanted to do my aisle with them (and purchase them here in canada) but I am scared they won't stay in place. It is a bit windy on the beach so some of them will blow away but not all of them. If you plan to bring alot then you'll be fine.

April, first, I'm sorry to hear about your father. That alone must be hard to deal with. I don't have too many words of wisdom except to tell you to follow your heart. If YOUR dream is to marry in Mexico & your FI wants the same thing, then go with that. This is your wedding, not your MIL's. You have to do what you guys want. Trying to make other people happy while sacrificing your own wants is not going to work. As you have already seen, since you've changed the date & location before, you can't make everyone happy. No matter where you have your wedding, there will be people that want to attend but won't. Since that is the case, you may as well do what you two want to do. You say that your FI's family believes that you are the one making all of the decisions. Has your FI said anything to them? Do they know that he wants the wedding in Mexico too? I suggest having him sit down with his family & let them know that he is taking part in the planning & the decisions and that getting married in Mexico is what he wants! All in all, don't let their guilt trips get to you anymore. You are not the bad guy & you shouldn't feel like it.

Quote: Originally Posted by ginalynn Thank you!!! Can I ask what ceremony and package you chose? Sure! In the beginning I chose the Royal Package. But, after deciding to bring my own flowers, I realized that I wouldn't need most of the stuff in that package. We had also already booked a Suite, so we knew we wouldn't need a room upgrade. So I changed to the Free Package. With that, I just upgraded my ceremony decorations, like the arch, standing floral arrangements, & the chair covers. That was pretty much it. I also went with the religious ceremony.

Thanks for this info Morgan!

Quote: Originally Posted by ginalynn One more question...what is the difference between the religious, legal and symbolic ceremonies? We are thinking of getting married in the states before we go and just not telling anyone. Does the symbolic wedding state that it is just a symbolic wedding for the guests because I really would want them to think of it as our actual wedding, just like we will. The religious ceremony is performed by a minister. Actually, here is the description from the Riu's website: What are the differences between Civil, Religious and Renewal of Vows? Jamaica: Civil and Religious ceremonies are performed by a Minister. Both are legally recognized. If the ceremony is Civil the Minister will not mention God. Renewal of vows are also performed by a Minister but they do not have legal bearing. *Please notice that in Jamaica we do not perform Catholic ceremonies.

Quote: Originally Posted by ginalynn 1) If you book say the free package, can you upgrade later if you need/want to? Or, if you book a higher tier package, can you downgrade at a later point? Is there a specific timeframe in which you must confirm the actual package, not just date? 2) The free package does not appear to include a dinner reception. For those of you who have had the free package and guests, what have you done. We will likely have somewhere between 8-15 guests. Thanks for your help!! 1) Any package that you book can be changed at anytime. When you meet with Chandlyn to discuss your ceremony, you can let her know the package that you want to go with. 2) The free package does include a reception. You can have the semi-private free reception or you can have the private reception at an additional cost.

Congratulations!!! Hope you're having the day of your dreams!

I too agree with everyone! With 6 months to go, I wouldn't worry at all. My hubby can't remember what I wore last Wednesday!!! So there's no way your FI will remember that dress 6 months from now. He'll probably even think that you have on a different dress than the one he saw in the picture. Also, remember, there's nothing like the "real thing"!!! That picture that he briefly saw WILL NOT COMPARE to when he see's you walking down the aisle, in your dress!

Quote: Originally Posted by laidbackbride Thanks Andrea. That was my question- What does semi-private mean? Can't see private being worth $2000 extra. Hopefully some other Jamaica brides can shed some light on that. I was thinking a buffet style dinner on the beach or by the pool, music for the entire reception. You are right about variety of music, so maybe an iPOD would be best. Guess I will need to find out about that set up. Thanks again. Semi-private means that the restaurant that you have your reception in, is open to the general public, during your reception. The difference is that you & your guests will be seated in a private section of the restaurant, which is kinda away from the other guests. I had my reception at Mammee Bay & I felt like it was totally private. My group didn't even pay attention to the other people eating there while we were there. You have assigned wait staff so you definitely get attention. In terms of a reception on the beach, I think that goes for about $50 per person, depending on your menu. Chandlyn can probably give you the pricing for that if you ask. The set-up for that is beautiful & there are BDW brides have also gone with that option. Look at some ROR wedding reviews & you will see their pictures & thoughts. For music you can definitely use your Ipod setup during the reception & probably on the beach as well.

Check J.Crew - Cashmere, Sweaters, Women's Clothing & Wedding Dresses, Children's Clothing, Men's Clothing & More. They usually have a nice selection of sun dresses and they're having a great final sale now! Good luck.

These look great! Your guests will never know that they were DIY.

Jany! Nice to see another Jamaica bride! Make sure you check out the Jamaica part of the forum. Lots of helpful info! Wow and your wedding is next month too! How's it going so far?

Abbie, you've sooo got me wanting to get on a plane & go to AZ like this weekend even though hubby would probably protest once he heard about the heat! I've always wanted to go & its on my list of places to visit. I can't wait to hear about your trip & see all the pics!

Love your pics. Everything was beautiful! I like the bracelet you wore, very nice!

Quote: Originally Posted by msasfraz For any of the past Riu brides, did any of you use a microphone for ceremony music and/or minister readings/vows? If so, is this something Chandalyn provided or did you bring along... Also where is the music set up if not suing the steel drum band?... trying to use a cd player w/ music pump thru IPOD.... We didn't use a microphone for anything. If you're using Photoshop for video, your FI will be wired with a mic, as my hubby was. The minister was loud enough that my entire group was able to hear him. When my girlfriend read the sand ceremony, everyone heard her too. If you want a mic, just let Chandlyn know. Not sure if there is a fee for that, but I thought someone mentioned that before. If you're not using the steel drum band, the music will be on a small table which is next to your ceremony set up. She will cue the music.

Quote: Originally Posted by carly I haven't worn an adidas since shelltops in highschool Did you just say SHELLTOPS Girl, you took me back!!! Sigh....I remember those days!!! Now I feel OLD!!! LOL...

Very cute Alyssa! They came out great. I wish you would've started this before my wedding cuz then I would've stolen the idea from you! LOL

Quote: Originally Posted by bsullivan2 For all the past ROR brides, did you have problems checking into your rooms if you arrived at the resort early? I ask because we are about to purchase our plane tickets and my FI wants to leave as early as possible since we have a long plane trip and then a long drive from the airport to the resort. The tickets we have been looking at would have us arriving in Jamaica between 10:30 and 11:00 am. With the alomst two hour ride to the resort, that would have us checking in around 2 or 2:30. Did many of you have troubles checking in early or did you have to wait a long time before you could check in? Thanks ladies!! Brandie I think we got there around that time & we didn't have any problems with check in. Our room was ready. I don't know this for sure, but along with the time you arrive, your day of arrival may also determine how check in is. Maybe some days are "busier" than others. So just keep that in mind. I will tell you this though, once you get there & walk into that lobby & see the view, you won't be thinking about any check-in problems. LOL!

Quote: Originally Posted by msasfraz I was thinking it would be a cute idea to do tshirts for all my guests w/ the same logo as my OOT bag... do you ladies think this is too much? I already have the following in the bag: first aid kit water bottle hand sanitizer condoms wet wipes bug spray candle notepad 2 mini liquor bottles per bag sunscreen still need: snacks [candy to go in cellephone bag inside water bottle, crackers, granola bars] meds [tylenol and immodium] lip balm Please provide your thoughts.... Just an FYI, I went to Staples (which I never would have thought of) and got the meds. I got 2 boxes of Tylenol & Immodium. The boxes had individual packets of the meds. So if you haven't gotten those things yet, check Staples. I also checked BJ's/Costco. I see that you already got the hand sanitizier but Staples had that too. Instead of the mini bottles of Purell, I got Purell wipes. I had to think of packing all this stuff & figured that the wipes worked better than the mini bottles. We also did tshirts but wound up forgetting them at home. I ordered a free shirt from Vistaprint, which had our logo on it. It came out okay but after doing the OOT bags ourselves, we realized we could also do the tshirts with the iron on transfers, so thats what we did. But guests really did like them!

Quote: Originally Posted by msasfraz girlie this is AWESOME!!! I would not have had nearly this amount of info... good job!! This has actually check something totally off my list... just gotta update some things but THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!! No problem at all! I pretty much borrowed some info from other brides (Thanks TA Maureen ) & then made the rest my own!

Quote: Originally Posted by msasfraz thanks ladies... does anyone have a copy of their brochure they can post for idea purposes.... Sure, here ya go. Mine is a compilation of different versions & info that I got here from other BDW brides. I really couldn't have done it without them! my_jamaica_travel_booklet.doc

Quote: Originally Posted by divadivine25 Thanks! My biggest challenges are booking the location and finding a photographer, any suggestions are welcome! Congrats & Welcome Monique! Make sure you check out the Jamaica part of the forum. There are alot of Jamaica brides & brides to be. You will find many reviews there that will help you pick the perfect location! Happy planning!

Quote: Originally Posted by RiuBride2b I know this photography situation is getting a little bit hectic at Riu. I spoke to Michael today who was a complete gentlemen and questioned him about this incident that occurred with Robin. He was completely unaware and had no idea what I was speaking of. He also informed me that it could not have been anyone from the photoshop that approached Robin because the Photoshop was closed and they are not there on Sundays. I don't want Riu Ocho Rios to lose business because of an incident that may have occurred. The resort is a beautiful location for any occassion and the wedding coordinator is a wonderful person to work with. Michael went on to further state that although he does not like other photographers on the resort because it takes business away from him, he has no control over other photographers being there. He also stated that he has to pay rent to be there and he is nothing but a vendor at the resort. Like I said he was a complete gentleman about the whole conversation. He told me that I should speak with management at Riu and he gave me the hotel number to contact. I will keep everyone updated on this situation (if anyone cares to know). So Riu management just escorted Robin off the premises cuz they felt like it Yeah, ok! For some reason I just don't believe that. Who else would complain about her being there, as a photographer, but Michael or someone else at Photoshop?? We all of have plenty of emails that state that outside photographers are allowed, yet, this happened. I just don't get it! Make sure you keep us updated. Also, I'm glad to know that this did not ruin your wedding day!