darairene

Hey ladies, To answer your question Bradley's Girl -- you don't have to do anything special to have your brother preside over the ceremony. Just bring your birth cert and other required documents as you normally would and you'll still sign the legal documents with the Jamaican minister. He just won't perform the ceremony. TD -- our reception was completely private. We had the whole Plantation restaurant from 4pm to 11pm. Scott-Pierre -- I think we paid 2,000 for Michael Chen. It might have been more. Sorry...if you want precise costs, let me know and I'll dig deeper and send them. He was worth every penny. He really put in the time and effort to get amazing pictures. And then he spent extra time afterwards to touch-up photos, correct color stuff, etc. Hope this helps!

You will love it there and your guests will have an amazing time! I had a ball and can't stop thinking about all the fun that was had. Welcome!

Thanks everybody for the congratulations!! New brides, you will you love the RIU Ocho Rios!!

Hey Tasha! I have seen Grand Bahia Principe and it looks beautiful. I haven't seen the inside, but if it looks anything like the outside, I'm sure it's gorgeous. I will tell you that my husband and I have very discriminating tastes and RIU Ocho Rios lived up to our expectations. There's nothing we would change and our guests had the time of their lives. Please feel free to email me anytime if you have questions. Have a great time planning! Dara

Hey, I wasn't comfortable using our resort's photographer either so we hired Michael Chen of Michael Chen photography and he was awesome. His website is: Jamaica Wedding Photographer-Michael Chen. I was pleased with the amount of time he spent with us on the day of wedding and he took the time to retouch pictures. The quality was equivalent to one here in the states. Let me know if you need more information. My email is: [email protected].

Hey everybody, Thanks so much for your congratulations and compliments!! I feel like you all are family! To answer some questions: 1. The bridesmaids dresses were from Watters & Watters and the color is "cabernet." My girls picked out that dress and were happy with it. They all say they will wear them again and I liked that they fit every body shape. 2. Here's the break-out for my flowers: Bouq#58 Deluxe with bear grass /Burgundy ribbon - $291.00 Mango Calla Bout -$25.00 each Add. Bout. Burgundy - $20.00 each Bridesmaid bouq -$120.00 each Burgundy wrist corsages - $25.00 each Center Pieces (Image #242 add orange casa lily & burgundy orchids) - $120.00 each Head Table center piece - $90.00 each napkins & blooms - $7.00 each 3. Here's Selena's information: Selena Wong, Cakes [email protected] (876)924-2105 Thanks again! Dara

Hey Ladies! I know how much the wedding reviews helped me when I was wedding planning so it only seemed fair to share my experience with my fellow ROR brides. I will be completely honest and hopefully give you some good tips/words of advice. Overall, I had the time of my life and wouldn't change anything. Some background: my husband is actually Jamaican, our guest list was 75 strong combining those who traveled and those who were from Jamaica, we were married November 1, 2008 at 4pm, we planned five days worth of events from Wednesday to Sunday, and while there were some things that didn't exactly go as planned, I'm happy I chose RIU Ocho Rios. And going in, I was terrified. The day of the wedding started out calm. The sun was shining. My wedding party and I had a quick rehearsal down at the gazeebo by the lagoon where we were intending to have our wedding. After the rehearsal, which went well, I had a quick brunch and then headed to the spa for a massage. I would recommend this for every bride. It was relaxing and the ladies were incredibly nice. I had a friend agree to style my hair so I can't comment on their salon services. Chandlyn had our flowers delivered about an hour before the ceremony. A cool thing was that she also upgraded Tomme and I to a suite the day of our wedding...you should totally ask her to do that for you. The suite turned out to be an amazing last minute solution to a ton of ladies who needed the room to spread out and get ready. I had six bridesmaids, three or four girlfriends, my mom, my aunt, and our flowergirl in the room and there was a enough room to spare. Around two, I knew that the weather wasn't going to hold up and so we quickly made the call to move the ceremony indoors to the Plantation. By 4pm it wasn't storming, but it was definitely wet and icky. It worked out fine, though it wasn't the weather I imagined, I was completely at peace with the day and it was sweet to have two gentlemen with huge outdoor umbrellas escort me and then all of the bridesmaids to the Plantation. I actually really enjoyed the way they set up the Plantation. It actually looked as if we had intended to get married there and that it wasn't a back up. Our violinist was a no show, but Chandlyn had back up music that worked fine. We brought our own pastor and she did a phenomenal job. Afterwards we still had to have a Jamaican pastor sign our official documents. The photos were long, but I suppose a necessary evil. We hired the steel band to play music for our guests while we took pictures. There was rum punch provided for them. In hindsight, we should have ordered hors d'oevres for them as we took so long taking the pictures. However our pictures came out amazing, rain and all. The reception was also at the Plantation, lower level (wedding was on the higher level) and it was the funnest reception I have ever been to. The DJ was great. We had our friend do the MCing and that turned out wonderful. The food was good. The decorations were amazing. Our cake also amazing. Below is a list of all my vendors and a link to our slide show. Email me at [email protected] if you have more questions beyond what I have provided here. Vendor List: Flowers - Tai Flora: They were okay. We paid a lot and didn't get a lot of what we asked for. Our centerpieces were nice, but not identical to what we picked out. My bouquet was nice and the bridemaids were also nice, but they forgot the extra boutonnieres for the ushers, fathers, and grandfathers. I give them a B. Tai Flora Services Ltd. - Jamaica's Full Service Florists Cake - Selena Wong Cakes: We hired Selena Wong who I would recommend by far. Our cake was fabulously decorated and tasted amazing. I give her an A+. Home Photography - Michael Chen Photography: We hired Michael Chen Photography and he was amazing. We love our photos and he captured everything we wanted him to capture. We give hime an A. Jamaica Wedding Photographer-Michael Chen Favors - Chocolate Dreams: We didn't have the space to bring our own favors and it was also important to us to support Jamaican-owned businesses. Chocolate Dreams provided four elegant chocolate truffles in gold boxes with our names inscribed in deep red - one of our wedding colors. They were at each table setting. We definitely recommend them. || Chocolate Dreams || Things to Keep in mind: 1. If you're getting married in October/November 2009 prepare for rain and rehearse at the Plantation just in case. This time is the rainy season in Jamaica. I didn't know that...nor did my husband apparently and he's from there . 2. If you can take some pictures before the ceremony that'll prevent spending too much time away from guests after the ceremony is done. 3. Don't skimp on the DJ, the music was what made our reception really fun. 4. Decide ahead of time the arrangement you want for your reception and make sure Chandlyn and the DJ are aware of that. 5. Have fun and don't let anything put a damper on your mood. Getting married at a beautiful resort in Jamaica will make your wedding special and memorable no matter what. Okay sorry for the long post! And before I forget here's a link to our slideshow: Derek and Dara Take good care, Dara P.S. We honeymooned at Goldeneye Resort in nearby Oracabessa. AMAZING!!!

I love your picture!! You are a beautiful bride! I am super excited about ROR and Chandlyn deserves a huge bonus and an assistant for all that she does. ROR is really is one of the best resorts in Jamaica and a great value too.

One word: AMAZING. A little background. My fiance is Jamaican and was asked to be in his aunt's wedding, so we went to Jamaica for the wedding. While there we couldn't resist taking a day trip to ROR for a sneak preview and we even spent the night there. (We ended up treating the bride/groom to a night at ROR for their honeymoon--they were our ride to Ocho Rios from Kingston). Anyways, I was super nervous about if I would like ROR even though the feedback on here has always been encouraging. Seeing it for myself I am super confident that ROR is an excellent place to get married. It is beautiful, the beach is great, and the service was EXCELLENT. Derek and I did get a meeting with Chandlyn and she actually arranged for us to also have a meeting with Marcia from Tai Flowers and the RIU Food/Beverage guy. We felt really guilty for asking these very busy people to meet with us with our wedding not being until November, but they were all very accomodating and answered every question happily. The food manager even arranged a "cocktail" tasting b/c we expressed interest in a signature drink. Very fun. I won't blab on, but wanted to share my positive experience. If you have questions at all feel free to ask away. My experience is of course as a "Pre-Bride" but I'd be happy to provide more detail anyway... Dara

Thanks CaliaA07 -- did she stick around the whole time including during the reception? You didn't feel the need to bring in outside help? I'm hoping I don't have to go that direction b/c I like the idea of someone on the property coordinating everything.

That's a great idea -- I haven't tried calling her recently. I do want to be patient. I can only imagine how busy she is and she doesn't seem to have help?

Hi All, I'm going to visit ROR in two weeks, the week of Valentines Day. It just so happens that my Fiance Derek who is Jamaican, has an aunt getting married in Kingston. I thought i might as well pay ROR a visit since I'll be on the Island. Well -- I'd like to meet with Chandlyn while I'm there to ask a couple of questions and get acquainted with the property. We're having about 150 guests...enough said. Here's the thing: Chandlyn has barely responded to any of my emails trying to set up an appointment. I feel like I'm always chasing her and I know she's busy, but I've heard great things about other WCs at other resorts. I'm feeling a bit frustrated. Can anyone tell me how weddings have gone with Chandlyn coordinating the entire thing? Are brides typically happy with her assistance? Does she just do the bare minimum? Is she there the whole time? Should I hire someone else to help me? (Yes I'm screaming) Sigghhh...I was thinking I might try to meet with florists, photographers, etc. while there as a back up in case Chandlyn is a no show. I've heard great things about her on this forum, so any feedback is much appreciated I'll keep you posted on how things go! Dara

Thanks everyone -- I'm much more calmed down. I was just so thrown by all those snotty TA remarks b/c there are so many ROR brides on this forum -- we can't all be crazy to have picked getting married there!!

Hello Everybody! I was just on Trip Advisor and now I am a little concerned by all the bad reviews of ROR -- and there seemed to be quite a few. Have any of you been to ROR for a test run? Some of the common comnplaints were bees, bad food, and poor service. Derek and I were in Negril over the summer at another all-inclusive and we had a ball. However, I could see where people could have complained even at that one about bees, bad food, and poor service. My personal feeling is that a trip is what you make of it, but I'm having anxiety nonetheless... Any thoughts? Any comments from recent ROR brides would be SOOOO appreciated! Dara

Thanks Mo!! I just finished reading your post on your ROR experience. THANKS -- such a blessing... Mammee is not an option I don't think. Tomme and I have too many people coming. Hopefully that might change over the next few months