Agape Gems

Quote: Originally Posted by almost_engaged Did you do a TTD session? Didn't see mention of it but I thought that I would ask. YES! We did! I'm dying to see the photos. We didn't go as sexy as I was hoping b/c we had an audience- both mothers and lots of random beach goers who were taking their own pics. I'm probably posted all over someones myspace page already. Quote: Originally Posted by starryeyedbride2b Had to make one more comment...I'm not really into dresses with much decor on them, but I keep looking at your dress! It is very pretty and it looked perfect on you! Almost makes me wish I had considered something like that! Thanks! This was the 1st dress I tried on and I knew it was the 1. Quote: Originally Posted by JamaicaBride062108 It looked perfect! I'm so glad you had such a great time! You'll have to send me directions for your orchid strands, I'm going to "borrow" your idea! The orchid strands were really easy to make, just very time consuming. You need the type of silk flowers where the center part pops out. They sell them at Hobby Lobby. I also found some at Walmart but they didn't have orchids. You just pop out the center, string the flower onto fishing line, then push the center back into place. That locks the fishing wire into the center of the flower. I put 10 orchids on each strand, and each strand was about 9 feet long. when I finished them I slid all the flowers to the end of string, then wrapped the string around my hand to make a circle and used a binder clip to hold the string in place so that they wouldn't get tangled up. Sorta like how you wrap-up christmas lights. One tip- pull out the center of each flower as you need it. I pulled them all out and just assumed that they were all the same size- not so, some of the center peices are bigger than others. I had a ton left over since they only hung about 15 of the 48 that i made but i never got them back. Maybe chandlyn still has them.... I can't take credit for this idea though. I got the idea and instructions from another BDW bride and I'm so sorry that I can't remember who you are but THANKS! Quote: Originally Posted by starryeyedbride2b Question: What store did you buy your flowers from? Are they actually silk, or are they real/true touch? Someone else asked already, but does your mom do arrangements for other people? Flowers are one of my biggest issues right now... The hanging flowers were silk, the hair flowers were real touch, and my bouquet was a combination of both. Yes, she does! If anyone is interested her email address is [email protected] If you have an idea of what type of flowers you want and what colors, or even better if you a pic of something you like she can most likely accommodate. She is waaaaay more creative than I am Quote: Originally Posted by LadyP fantastic. Everything looked great. We have the same sand photo album How did it work for you. Was the picture already in the frame? again Beautiful. Thanks, I attached the pic ahead of time to the second pane of glass and we poured the sand between the 3rd and 4th pane. This way I can change the picture anytime I want without touching the sand. I put clear packing tape over the openings that i didn't want sand in and it worked great. Only thing is about 4 days after the wedding i noticed some of the sand on one side looked lower and I realized it was slowly leaking out of one corner. So I poured the sand out and I'm going to put hot glue on the sides of the glass and then slide them back into place and we will repour the sand. I'm not that sentimental so it didn't bother me to pour it out and I had plenty of extra sand to redo it. Also, you may want to explain to the FI how to pour the sand if you want a specific design. Quote: Originally Posted by Shenmaat Welcome back and congrats! I do have tons of questions also Did you do your makeup yourself? I love your dress where did you get it? How many guests did you have and how were the tables at Mamee Bay setup? Congrats again! Makeup- BM did my makeup. We went to MAC counter and she watched and we bought some of the stuff they used and then she jut replicated what they did. I wish I had worn a lipstick with more color b/c the sun made it look like I didn't have any on- oh well Dress- Got it from New Natalies in Atlanta but it's by Mary's Bridal. Also comes in white with silver beading. Only $599 Had 25 guests. Mammee was set as one long table. With a "T" at the end where TK and I sat and our moms. Quote: Originally Posted by md_ocr Thanks so much for posting your review!!! Now, for even MORE questions.......lol Did you use the videographer on the resort? You mentioned that it was pretty hard to hear your wows because you weren't mic'd. Is there an additional charge to have a mic during your ceremony? Did the steel band take requests? was there rum punch or champagne served following your wedding? Do you have any reception pics? What other music did the disco play? thanks again for the pond gazebo pics!!! Didn't use the videographer- long story that I will post tomorrow about all the drama I encountered re:photoshop. I had 1 guest who had a video camera with them so i just asked him to video for me. I haven't watched it yet, but I didn't care all that much about the video, i really just got it for family that couldn't be there. Not sure about the mic. I thought that was standard practice so i didn't even think about it until we were standing there. When our room got upgraded we got a suite that overlooked the beach gazebo so I watched lots of weddings the next week and most of them had mic's and i could hear them on my balcony. I didn't make any requests, too busy taking pics but i'm sure they do. Everyone in Jamaica is accommodating. Nothing like being in the US! There was rum punch- free, and the 2 bottles of champaign that are free can be served whereever you request. I had them at Mammee bay. No recep pics yet, but i will post them as soon as I get some. DJ played all the standard stuff- electric slide, cha cha slide, cupid shuffle (but I asked for that to get everyone out on the dance floor) then he played a mix of old school jams and current radio stuff. He took requests and was really nice. He did the bouquet toss and garter toss when we requested it.

Robin is so great! I can't wait to see the rest. And the one in the window is a beautiful shot. You guys look so happy together

Thanks for all the compliments ladies! I promise to answer all your questions tonight. Gotta run for now.

Be sure to get the handwritten copy from the minister. He is suppose to give it to the groom before you walk down the aisle but he forgot to give us ours and it took chandlyn 3 days to track it down for us.

This is downstairs at the plantation- i think someone asked for this pic Pond gazebo: dinner and dessert at Tushima

ROR Review Where to begin? This is REALLY LONG. Sorry! I’ll start with the hair: So I took 3 pictures with me to the salon on Thursday morning for my 30min hair trial. 2 ½ hours later I left the salon freaking out. Audry was my stylist and she was really sweet, but totally at a loss at how to do my hair. I told her my hair needed to be roller set with lots of setting lotion- which she did but when she took the rollers out she combed out the curls! You can guess what that left me looking like- a big poofy mess. So she tried using the curling iron but as soon as I walked outside the wind and humidity turned my hair into a birds nest- Yolanda saw me… she can tell you what a mess it was. But, on the wedding day I just told Audry to do something up that she could make look nice and would stay all day and she did a great job. My hair was still perfect the next day- I even went to Dunns River with it. One of my BMs is Asian and has really long hair and she had them curl her hair into big curls and wore it pulled half up and it looked really pretty. Audry also put in my veil and hair flowers for me. When I was in the salon for my trail she left me under the dryer to go to one of the brides rooms to touch up her hair right before the ceremony and to put in her veil. I thought that was really nice of her. Overall I think the girls in the salon are very good at what they do, but if you are concerned about your hair I would definitely get a trial done. This pic was after the 1st attempt at my hair- I had no words Flowers- Tai Flora finally emailed me prices for the flowers I liked a week AFTER my wedding! So I ended up doing silk flowers for everything which in the long run saved me several hundred dollars. I took 48 strands of hanging flowers and you can tell in the pictures they did not hang even half of them. They also hung them across the front of the gazebo instead across the back and sides as I requested. I was a little annoyed at first but it really wasn’t a big deal. The only odd part was that the minister ended up standing behind me- where my MOH should be standing b/c the flowers were hanging where he should have been standing. I gave chandlyn 2000 silk rose petals to scatter on the aisle and she had everyone walk in, then she scattered the petals, then motioned for me to walk. On a side bar- if you are environmentally conscious you should not do this! No one p thpicked ue rose petals after the ceremony. And she also scattered them on the tables at Mammee Bay and I saw random petals blowing all over the resort the next few days. But it made for beautiful pics! Chandlyn- the hardest lady in the world to catch up with but very organized and takes care of everything. We never got our “gift” from the RIU and when I asked her about it she had them send us a bottle of champaign, along with a coffee mug, ash tray, and some funky pen holder thing. Welcome Party- we asked everyone to meet us at the lobby bar at 8pm for cocktails and that’s where we gave out the OOT bags. We took our Bose ipod docking station to have some music but didn’t end up needing it b/c the lobby is really loud at night and the lobby bar, entertainment stage, Dunns River bar and 1 other bar are all in the same area so there is already music playing. We only hung out in the lobby for about 20 minutes then we all headed to St Anns for dinner. 1 waitress was really nice and put enough tables together for all 25 of us to sit together so we gave her a nice tip. I think Chandlyn would have made reservations for us there but it wasn’t planned in advance. Restaurants- We really liked the Japanese place- Tushima- and ate there twice. We made reservations for Mammee Bay one night but when we got there they told us we were not on the list. The asian place was good too- Mandalay- its buffet style. We never ate at Sir Richard to Sir John b/c the menu didn’t look good to me but other people really liked it. St. Anns is the main buffet but it VERY hit or miss. Some nights we all left full, other nights we went and got pizza and nachos after dinner. We went to a place in Ocho Rios one night called the the Jerk Center and it was delicious. But be ware- if you order fish here is comes with the head still on. The jerk on the beach is for sure the best food at the entire resort. The line is always long but be sure to try it at least once. Ceremony- I gave the minister exactly what I wanted him to say and he did great. No one knew I had given him everything. All the ladies cried during the hand ceremony. TK nor minister had a microphone so it was a little hard for people to hear some parts b/c the wind was blowing. Steel band was great, we even bought their CD. DJ at Disco was good, but in hind site we should have given him a play list. I could have done without hearing Push it real good! But we had a great time. Renting the disco was a last minute decision but I’m glad we did it. Only thing I would change would be to not have lunch reception. Since our ceremony was at 11am we decided to have the reception at mammee bay at 12:30. So I ended up having a hamburger! Which I really didn’t care about but, I wish all my guests would have gotten a chance to have dinner there b/c the dinner is really good. Lots of my guests couldn’t get reservations so they never got to eat there. But I would do it all over again in a second!

Got my pro pics!!! Robin DePaula password: tk2008 I'm back!! And I must say that I had the best 10 days of my entire life. TK and I sat in the airport trying to figure out how we could "lose" our passports and get stuck in Jamaica for a little longer. But anyway, here are a few pics that Robin posted in her blog today. I will have more to post tomorrow, but hopefully these will calm ya'll down!! More pics:http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...3bsnEQ&notag=1 BM doing my makeup walking down the aisle reading vows and crying sand ceremony 1st kiss Scroll down for my review! More pics:http://share.shutterfly.com/action/w...3bsnEQ&notag=1

Quote: Originally Posted by allaboutodd twelve piece - What kind of music did they play? And YES, please send me their contact information for the flowers PLEASE?? Your bouquet was gorgeous and I really am leaning towards silk flowers especially for my hair. im glad i started this thread too because you guys have already been so helpful as far as providing me with quotes. twelve piece, although you're now married PLEASE don't leave the forum. i feel like you may be able to help me a lot as far as getting this thing under a wrapped budget. im excited but worried as far as this whole budget crisis and money spending thing goes. The band played a lot of Bob Marley songs, but I'm sure they take requests! Everyone in Jamaica is extremely accommodating. Flowers- [email protected] Don't stress about the budget too much- you can have your dream day on any budget. Our budget was 6k and we ended up spending closer to 8k- but that includes EVERYTHING. Dresses(me and BMS), rings, 10 days in Jamaica, gifts, tips, excursions, OOT bags, professional photography ....... you just have to decide whats the most important

We took our wireless Bose IPOD docking station. It has great sound, but costs about $400. The only "sound system" I saw was a boom box they use for recorded music on the beach.

Quote: Originally Posted by ~*petals*~ If anybody has any suggestions for a Negril-area TTD location, please post 'em too! :-) The sun sets on the beach in Negril so I don't think you can get any better than that!

We did our TTD right on the beach- with quite an audience which i was a little annoyed by b/c we didn't get the sexy pics that I wanted. Both moms and several other guests insisted on watching... But even though i bought a cheap dress to trash i ended up using my real dress and it was fine. My dress had tons of beading and lace and i soaked in the bathtub that night and then hung it to dry. I only saw one bead hanging off and that could of been from anything during the day. Once it dried you couldn't even tell it had gotten wet. The fabric felt a little sandy still but the drycleaners assured me today that it would be fine after they cleaned it.

Quote: Originally Posted by DLyteful WOW, it held up thru climing the falls....That works Did your hair frizz as soon as you stepped of the plain? I'm not sure how my hair is going to act and I think my texture is kinda close to yours. Yep! I had to put twice as much mousse in my hair to keep looking semi-normal. I ended up wearing a ponytail most of the time.

Quote: Originally Posted by DLyteful That saves a ton of money... although dancing on the beach sounds so fun.... Twelve piece how was the weather after 8pm on the beach? Oh, and how did you end up wearing your hair and did it hold up? (I was gonna try to hold off on the questions after your review, but I just couldnt stop myself). It gets a little chilly on the beach at night b/c of the wind. The first 7 days we were there the weather was perfect, so even though the wind was strong at night I still just wore a tank top or sun dress. The next 3 days were a different story- the temp dropped and it rained, actually stormed one night and even during the day I was wearing my jacket. Oh the hair.... well my hair trial was a disaster but the day of worked out fine. I actually never saw the back of my hair once it was finished b/c I was in such a hurry but she put SOOOOO much spritz and so many hairpins in it that the next day it had not moved at all. I even climbed Dunns river and it was still in place.

The Jamaica sun is nothing like the sun we get here!! I have not had a sunburn since i was in 6th grade and my mom dropped me off at a camp in the Birmingham Alabama wilderness and I was all kinds of burnt last week, along with lots of my brown skin guests. Our wedding was at 11am- which is the time of day where there is no shade at the beach gazebo- and I realized on my walk down to the beach i forgot sunblock, and i paid for it later. I took a Neutrogena spf 70 face lotion and it worked great when i remembered to use it. I also had a banana boat spray sun block that worked well and wasn't sticky.

Heidi- OMG! Everything looks amazing, and I must say you had nothing to worry about with your hair, it looks so pretty! Congrats and enjoy your newlywedness!

Quote: Originally Posted by Neema29 Hi Twelve-piece, Welcome back!!!!I never had a chance to catch up with you before you left(did not have access to forum yet)...but I looked at your pictures you posted for your pre-wedding planning. Everything was beautiful. I really wanted to know how did you make those suspended flowers? I want to do domething like that for the bamboo arch which I am planning on using for my wedding beach ceremony. Congratulations and I can't wait for you to post your pics and review!!!! Thanks!! The hanging flowers were really easy to make, but very time consuming. I bought the flowers from Hobby Lobby and they were the kind where the flower can be popped off of the stem and then the center part of the flower can be pulled out. If you go look in the flower section this will make sense. So i pulled all the flowers off and popped out the center, then I used fishing line to string the flower then put the center piece back in place. Does that make sense? If you have a habby lobby near you they have these 50% almost every other week.

if you skip the boat ride and just drive to Dunns river it's only about a 5 minute ride there from the RIU.

Quote: Originally Posted by IrieBride08 Welcome back Twelve-Piece! Can't wait to hear all about your wedding trip. Congratulations!!! Thanks!! One of my BMs is sending me pics from my wedding that her FI took on Wednesday so i'll post my review then, but let me know if you have questions now. I had the best time ever. I wish i was still there!!!!!!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Lizz I'm pretty sure I got that amount from past brides. I just went on the RIU website and it says that it is $350 for the free wedding package for 2008: Wedding Packages by Destination. Honeymoon Holidays. Weddings by Riu I paid $350 last week, totally worth it!

Quote: Originally Posted by allaboutodd We are definitely trying to do something on the same budget as you. Some of the brides have easily spent 20k on a destination wedding and my whole plan was to do destination to save money and allow everyone to travel elsewhere. Where did you get your bouquets from? What kind of reception did you have? And how many people came to your wedding? Thanks so much, I don't know why I didn't utilize this forum earlier. My mom and her friend do silk flowers and they did it for me. I just showed them pics of stuff I liked and they made it in silk from real touch flowers. Here is the bouquet they made for me: If you're interested in silk, PM me and I'll give you their contact info. I had the free reception at Mammee Bay, the free cake, and the 2 free bottles of champaign for the toast. We had 25 people total and there was plenty of everything. Chandlyn told me that each bottle would pour 7 glasses, but i just the waiter not to fill everyones glass all the way to the top. I think it was only like $10 for additional bottles, but a lot our guests aren't champaign drinkers anyway so i didn't see the point. We rented the disco for 2 hours, which was last minute decision and was worth the money. We had a really good time. Quote: Originally Posted by md_ocr Sorry to hijack............. OMG 12 piece!!!! You're BACK!!! Ive been waiting for you! Can't wait to read your review and see pics! I'm going to hold my questions for later, cause you know i have a bunch!! I'm back! And it was the BEST TIME I've ever had in my entire life! I promise to post my review and pics as soon as possible!

Tai Flora emailed me back, a week after my wedding with flower prices. I ended up doing silk flowers and I'm glad I went that route b/c the free bouquet that I got from them, which i planned to use as my toss bouquet, showed up right at 11am- my scheduled wedding time.

If you choose to the rent the disco you don't have to pay for the open bar, the $250 includes the bartender and DJ.

I just got back this weekend from my wedding, here is what i spent: $250 for ceremony/minister $350 steel drum band 1hour $250 rent the disco for 2 hours- this included open bar and dj $120ish for hair (trial and day-of) I brought my own bouquet and ceremony decorations, there was no charge for these to be hung and I brought my own photog. The florist emailed me this weekend (a week after my wedding) with price qoutes for the bouquets that I liked and they were all $180-$250, matching bout $40 each, and hair orchids $15 each. The bouquets are the ones in my siggy below. I will be posting my review with details either tonight or tomorrow, but feel free to PM me if you have specific questions.

Thanks for weighing in ladies! I still don't have a clear winner- guess i'll see what the stylist at the salon say Thursday. I love all 3!

If I haven't responded to your question, I promise I will when I get back! Its been a crazy day. I got a call from one of my guests who is on the same flight as us tomorrow and she tells me that Air Jamaica called her this morning and said our flight was canceled!! So after i calmed down i called our TA, and sure enough our flight has been canceled! She was able to get us on a Delta flight tomorrow afternoon- thank God- but Air Jamaica never called me or FI. Thank goodness one of our guests is going on the same flight, otherwise we would have been at the airport tomorrow morning at 5am with no flight and i would have been hysterical. So anyway- be sure to confirm your flight!!!!!!!