cantwaittobemrs

Congrats! So great to hear everything went well!!!

Welcome home and Congrats!!!

Yay I have been waiting for you to get back! I actually saw you at the ROR! I didn't think we would be able to see any of the weddings on Saturday because our plane was supposed to leave at 4:30 which would mean we would be leaving the hotel at noon. But our plane got delayed (to 9:30 at first then midnight), so we got to stay later! We were at the lobby bar playing cards when you and all of your party came up dancing and having a great time! You looked so beautiful, and so happy, and everyone was having such a great time!! Congrats!!! And even though you can tell how happy you are in the pics, in person, you just glowed!! Congrats again!

There is a charge for the bar because there isn't a bartender there normally at this time. I did the free package, so no help on that, and the private reception can be at the Seagrape, Pool, or Plantation... Not sure about the pool as I never saw it set up, but I know the other 2 you have room to dance.

I really liked Michael and the job he did, and honestly we brought cash for him on purpose because paying a 5% fee was crazy to me. In fact, we didn't use credit cards down there for anything because when I called them to see if there were fees, it ranged anywhere from 3-6% for using it out of the country. Yes carrying cash might be riskier, but now-a-days, I would rather have a set amount of cash stolen from me then my credit card! When I first saw this thread I knew it was going to turn out badly for Michael, but the way I see it, the man spends 6 out of 7 days of the week working from 9 am to 10 pm. I'm sure he doesn't have a lot of patience for the problems he was having with the credit cards... And think of this... several gas stations in the US are now not taking credit cards for gas because the charges aren't being covered for by the money they make on gas... so this doesn't seem as absurd to me... Sorry for the long rant!

Only 13 people so I wouldn't worry about it. My TA did tell me the cake didn't change sizes no matter what package though (I laughed as well when I saw 40 people then cake for 10).

We used mugs, and they really were great with keeping the drinks cold. I think if we would have just used cups, no one would have used them. Plus having the mugs in the pool helped keep the pool water out. I found some plain black mugs for a dollar at family dollar and wound up going to 3 of them around town to gather all I needed. Then I just used a silver sharpie to write their names on them.... very cheap yet effective!

They were little edible pearls that they put on themselves... I thought they would be really hard, but they weren't hard at all. And I wouldn't worry about 1 layer, thats what they told me, but I got 2... I think its pretty much whatever they decide to do that day haha!

This is a pic of our cake. Originally in our meeting I asked if it was going to be 2 tier because if it was I wanted one white, one chocolate, but she said since there was only 13 of us, it would only be one. I was happy when I saw this one come out though.

I just booked him for the extra hour, I am so glad we did, otherwise we wouldn't have gotten any of the pics of the 2 of us!

Here is the link to the other thread http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t23240

Well, I know originally we chose it for several reasons. First we weren't sure if we would have any children coming with us, second we knew we wanted Jamaica, and third because we checked comments on several hotels and weighed our options. We loved that the Riu was large enough that when we wanted time to ourselves we could easily do so (several of our guests and my in-laws stayed the entire time we were there). The Riu is generally known for great service as well, so this also helped. They do have several wedding packages that help, but we really chose there because of the hotel as several places have wedding packages now. Hope this helps. (And by the way, we LOVED it there, the only other place we went by on the way into Ocho Rios that looked comparable was the Gran Bahima sp?)

Michael took the pictures. He did a wonderful job, and really meshed well with everyone there. We were very pleased with him, the only thing we didn't like was that we were on a tight budget and couldn't get as many as we wanted to!

Since we didn't get the free bouquet Nikki changed it out to be a free bag of rose petals for the aisle... This is what one bag looked like.

Yes we used Michael, he was wonderful. I was a bit apprehensive at first... but he took some great pictures and was really great with my guests! Everyone loved him and his personality really fit in with our group (sarcastic haha)!

Pics are up in the wedding picture forum!!!! Check them out!

Here are the pictures that we chose from the photo shop... My review is in the making, but we decided to be crazy and buy a new home and move in the 2 weeks we are home before out AHR, so I am not making any promises as to when they will be up! Image hosting, free photo sharing & video sharing at Photobucket

We all had bug spray on us, and it didn't seem to work for the fleas, but you know bugs, they all seem to find the one spot you might have missed! While we were there we couldn't find anything that kept them away... We had a few people bring bug spray, so we used that, but none of tried the cheap brand of bug spray at the hotel shops since it was $10.

I'm not sure if you left yet, but we just got back this morning. Everyday down there it said rain in the forcast, while there were some days it was more overcast than others, it rained 3 days total rain was probably about an hour. It looked like it was going to rain for our wedding, everyone kept trying to rush it, but it never came in. So I wouldn't worry about it too much. Sometimes it rains over the mountains or over the ocean without ever coming into where the hotel is. Its kinda cool!

I didn't see any poolside receptions while we were there. There were 2 at the Seagrape though. I think it would be a blast to have one there, but one word of warning, and I am not sure if it has to do with the time of year, but there are a TON of sand fleas. We got bit up the entire time we were there. Saturday at the Beach party we were all down there and people were bit up from their toes to their faces. One girl with us had, I am not exaggerating, 30 flea bites on the back of one leg. My MIL got 4 bites on her cheeks by her eyes. Even during our wedding we saw them all jumping around. It was pretty disgusting!

We did both... my dad went out and bought a really nice video camera right before we left, but we also got the video from the videographer done since we want to show parts of the video at our AHR. We thought my dad might be mad he bought the camera then went with the videographer anyhow... but let me tell you, when he saw what the videographer did, then got home and listened to his own version... he said it was well worth the money to have someone do it. All you can hear on his version is the wind, where as in the professionals one, there is no wind sound at all because the minister and my husband had microphones. In my opinion it was well worth it just so we can show it at our AHR (we plan on being introduced right after hearing our vows!)

Hey everyone! We just got back at about 8am this morning from our wedding at the ROR! I am working at downloading the pictures now, then will start on my review (not sure if that part will be done today though as we only got 3 hours of sleep in the past 36 hours or so) but the pics should be posted soon!

Your dress is so beautiful! And you look great in it! Isn't it a great feeling to LOVE your dress?!?! Congrats!!

I am so glad I checked mine... since nothing had been bought off of one and the other was empty... we wound up registering for a lot more on the one that was empty since we figured it must be easier for everyone.

I leave Friday morning and if I see it I will be sure to take a pic for you!