Indigo

Quote: Originally Posted by CanadianBride84 I was going over the info for the free package, and it mentions a meal for the wedding group, does that mean like my wedding party only, or does that mean everyone who came as my guest? I did try and do a search, but I found way to many posts about free packages, but if there is already a post on this, please direct me to it, I would appreciate it. Thanks a lot. The reception dinner in the free package includes dinner for everyone (bridal party and wedding guests). HTH.

Quote: Originally Posted by NJ_bride Hi Ladies! Just wanted to check in cause I don't know how much i will get on here before I leave. Congrats to everyone who gets married before I get back! I can't believe it's here! Today I'm panicking, last day at work before I leave. OMG, I'M GETTING MARRIED!!!! The next couple of days should be a blur, Macy's Parade in NYC tomomrow, shopping Friday, hair and a friend's 30th Bday dinner Saturday, Sunday laundry, pack, and last minute stuff. Monday, nails, waxing and go to NYC flight leaves 7:30am on Tuesday! That sounds like my itinerary. Today was my last day at work, we will be leaving town for a few days to visit family for Thanksgiving. I will have to try to get a little more shopping in on Black Friday while out of town. I am going to try to post planning pics on Monday or Tuesday. ....yes, time is really flying...but I am uber excited now!!

WOW!!! Beautiful...pictures, dress, bride. You guys look like you were having tons of fun taking pics with Michael. We are using him as well...I hope he brings that same creativity to our wedding. Thank you for your review.

Welcome back!!

Quote: Originally Posted by ToBeMitchell Where is the cocktail hour held and is it only an hour? Since we will be the last wedding of the day, we will be requesting to have our cocktail hour on the beach by the gazebo. I believe it is an hour or so...

Free dinner for me as well with a rum punch/champagne cocktail between the ceremony and dinner.

Quote: Originally Posted by montegobay09 That's awesome to know Indigo! Thanks!! I thought I'd update my progress with the florist. I was sent the brochure for the florist by a fellow BDW bride which made the item# thing make more sense...but before I had time to send another email to them I received a reply to my original inquiry telling me the prices of the bouquets I inquired about! So I guess they do eventually reply and it seems like right now they're on the ball so if you need to get in touch with them, now may be a good time to do it! Will do. I will send another email and call. Hopefully, I will receive a response.

What would I do without BDW. I hadn't really given much thought about how I would transport my dress. Thank you Tina and Justustwo.

Quote: Originally Posted by Kelly C If it makes you feel better I gained 30 pounds in 2yrs since I meet my hubby. Yout not alone. Just hang in there. My trainer said to write down everything you put in your mouth. That will hold you accountable. Good Luck. I agree with Kelly...accountability is the key. It has helped me tremendously.

Quote: Originally Posted by montegobay09 I just found out that there are no closets available to hang my gown in the plane. Does anyone have confirmation from Riu Montego Bay for whether or not they have a steamer available. I thoght I remembered someone telling me that they do but I can't seem to find it to reassure me. Steamer at RMB?? Cost?? I inquired about steamer service and was told that RMB does not offer it. Chantelle gave me the number to the laundry service that is 2 minutes away. She said they do not drop off or pick up. I will inquire with the laundry service regarding steamer service. I am hoping that I won't need it. My seamstress will be steaming my dress before my final fitting/pick up which is 2 days before we leave. Also, Chantelle faxed me RMB daily and nightly programs. She also told me it may change;however, I don't think it will change drastically within the next 2 - 3 weeks. RIU Activities.xls

Quote: Originally Posted by montegobay09 What a great idea. I wondered when we were going to do the first dance. You'll have to let me know how that works out. Is your wedding at 4:00 and your reception at 6:30?? Thats what mine is so I'll be looking for how that works out!! Thanks! I might go with fake flowers as well, I was just waiting to see what the prices would be. How far in advance did you have to order them? Yes. Our ceremony is at 4:00 and the dinner is at 6:30. I will let you know how things worked out. I ordered my natural touch flowers from 1888flowermall and saveoncrafts. I am a DIY bride. I have a couple of pics (brides bouquet, BM bouquet, etc) I am using as my inspiration. I pray everything comes out looking nice. RIUMBBride711: The website for RMB florist is Tai Flora Services Ltd. - Jamaica's Full Service Florists

Ellipse, have toooonnnnns of fun!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by YoursTruly This includes the Tulle and the gazebo decoration. If you want the email from keneika, provide your email addy and I will send along with other stuff if you'd like. Thank you YoursTruly. We decided to use real/natural touch flowers. Thus far, we have spent $250 on flowers (bouquet, BM bouquet, bouts, gazebo flower deco) and tulle. We have dedicated one suitcase for wedding stuff (flowers, gazebo deco, sand ceremony kit, etc). Hopefully, we won't have any trouble with RMB putting up our deco. Quote: Originally Posted by montegobay09 Hello RMB ladies!! I was feeling like I didn't know enough info about everything and as much as I appreciate all the info that the ROR brides have, I didn't want to assume that everything would go the same way at RMB so after Indigo posted her info I sent quite a few emails and here's what I learned... (if you want any of the documents that I mention just pm me with your email and I'll send them to you...if it gets to be too much I'll try posting them here). WC at RMB I used the contact email address that we all have [email protected] and the person who replied to me was Chantelle Hemans who is now my WC at RMB. She seems to be on the ball and responded to my first email withing 24 hrs. Since then we have been emailing back and forth about booking the reception. She has emailed me now 3 times within the last 48 hrs. so she seems to be pretty easy to get a hold of! She sent me a ton of price lists for private beach party reception, conference room reception, etc. as well as price lists for the salon. She is super helpful! private receptions - I loved the idea of the beach BBQ dinner but it looks like they chard $20 pp for set up as well as $40 pp for the menu...a little too much for food that you've already paid for with the AI price! Photographer I contacted Michael ( [email protected] ) who is the resort's photographer who you do need to contact to book him for your wedding! (like Indigo said, outside photographers are not allowed in) In the same day he responded to my email with a price list and tons of samples of weddings he's done in Jamaica. I like his photos!! Now I need to fill out a form with my wedding day specifics and what package I would like to order..this is to confirm that he is booked for my wedding. He's also very easy to get a hold of. Florist I contacted the resort's florist because I really want white calla lillies and I've heard they have to order them in way ahead of time since their not easy to get. I wanted to make sure it wasn't too expensive...if so I will probably go with fake flowers. No one has contacted me from this store since I emailed over a week ago...I'll let you know if I hear anything! Excursions As I already mentioned in a prior post, my trip is booked with Sunquest and I was able to get a list of excursions in MoBay...when they leave and what days they are available. Our Sunquest person said that if we 12 people who wanted to book we could arrange for that ahead of time. I think that we'll hold off on that though...I'd hate to ask people to commit to spending more money before we even get there!! I think that's about all I have right now. If anyone has anything to add that would be amazing. I know we have two brides leaving in the next few weeks so I'm sure we'll have a lot more info when they get back! RMB12/4/08 and Indigo we're counting on you for very detailed wedding reviews about ceremony decorations, reception decor, extra costs...and lotsof pics!! I hope you have an amazing trip and that you enjoy every second of it! Don't stress about the wedding...just have a blast! Like you, we still haven't heard from TaiFlora. I received an email requesting that I send the number to the floral arrangements I like on the website but never received any prices and it has been weeks. So, we decided to go with real/natural touch flowers. We really want to minimize the stress factor so worrying about the types of flowers that will be available and gazebo deco was eliminated with the real/natural touch choice. Michael sent a ton of pictures to me as well (there has to be over 200 in the 6 emails he sent). I think his work is nice. I returned the Picture Confirmation form. He seems to be very accommodating. We are considering his video service as well. I am still waiting for Chantelle to get back to me on the daily activities at RMB so that I can put that in our Pre-Travel Handbook. I will share the info she gives as soon as I hear back from her. You are right, she does respond within 24 hours. I think Keneika was only the temporary WC because I haven't heard from her for awhile. All of the emails that I or my FI has sent lately have been responded to by Chantelle. I inquired about the Officiating Minister's name because I would like to put it in our Programs; but Chantelle was unable to provide the name because she says they use different Minister's and she doesn't know which one it will be for us; however, she said that I could send over the wording I would like him to say for different parts of the Program and she will share it with him as soon as she knows who it will be. I will be sending her our complete program next week. Since we are the last wedding of the day and there will be a 1.5 - 2 hour wait before the dinner; we are arranging to have a table set up with rum punch or sparkling wine and we will do our toast/speeches and possibly first dance by the beach. We are hoping this will give guest something to do while pictures are being taken by Michael. We are hoping that Michael's Assistant could interview each guest for the video at this time as well. We want people to stay busy and hopefully this works.

Thank you Ladies, I will be fine. I am a Spiritual person so her death made me seeking Him more for understanding. Each day gets better eventhough I still burst in tears from time to time. Quote: Originally Posted by YoursTruly Indigo, As stated prior--I wish you and hubby to be all the best and keep your fam in my prayers! Thanks for the information--verythoughtful of you. I also wanted to add that as far as decos are concerned for the RIU to add the Tulle, it is $280 additional. Is the $280 just for the tulle or does it include tulle and gazebo flower decorations?

Time seems to be flying now. We have nearly 3 weeks before we leave for Montego Bay. In finalizing the wedding we have come into a couple of setbacks that I wanted to share with other RMB brides: 1.RMB informed me that we could not hire an outside photographer. Outside photographers are not allowed on RMB property. This was quite disappointing because I was referred to a local Jamaican photographer who had great prices; but we won’t be able to use their services because RMB doesn’t allow it. Ladies, please let me know if you are told something different. 2.I received an email from Renova Spa with packages and prices. Prices aren’t too bad. However, a tax rate of 16.5% seems sort of high. I have attached it below. Renova requests that you make your appointment before you arrive. For any reservations you make via email with your Renova Rep, your guests will receive a 5% discount and you will obtain a 10% RIU wedding discount. They can only have 2 hair appointments at one time. Once they receive your online reservation they will send you a Paypal money request for 50% down. 3.To have a private dinner you have to pay to rent the conference room, catering charges per person and meal charges per person. So, we ruled this option out. It didn’t make sense to us to pay a per person charge for a meal at an all inclusive resort. 4.They do not offer sashes in the color burnt orange. I have inquired if they have sashes in the orange family. But, we think red would be best. Our colors are ivory/red/burnt orange. The MOH will have on apple red and the sash on my dress will be apple red (once the seamstress puts it on). 5.DJ with sound system is $350 per hour. I will clarify this when we arrive. I personally think $350 per hours is high. At this point, we feel we won’t need a DJ since our wedding is late in the afternoon. 6.The free package does not include tulle. It includes available flowers from the garden and they make an arch using coconut leaves. The WC has confirmed that they will set up the gazebo with the tulle and flowers I bring. I still have tons of stuff to do. We were going to cancel the wedding due to the death of my youngest sister but my mom insisted that we keep our date. So, I have gotten really behind on getting things together. FI has helped a lot but there are still a ton of things to do. HTH. JAMAICA.pdf JAMAICA - pack weddings.pdf JAMAICA - packages.pdf Treatment Description - BAH + JAM.pdf

Quote: Originally Posted by cdc0427 Indigo, I am very sorry to hear of the loss of your sister. I'm sure you may be still numb of the loss. As I read everyone's comments, I was thinking of what my advise to you would be. Because I've never lost a sibling, I could not put myself in your shoes. However, I am a funeral director who deals with death all the time. My suggestions are that you take the next few weeks and give yourself some time to relax and deal with your sisters death the way you desire. Basically, just give yourself some time without any stress. How much more do you have to do for your wedding? Don't think that you have to do it by yourself. I'm sure you have friends that will assist you and if minor things don't get done, it will be quite alright. Indigo, you are grieving, what you are feeling is completely understandable. but I do believe you should go ahead with the wedding. It will be good for you and your family to take that break. Just recently, I've seen in memory candles that you can personalize for your sister. I love the idea of having a moment of silence for her. Maybe while that moment of silence is taking place, you can be lighting the candle for her and playing a specific song in her honor. I'll be thinking about other ideas you can do as well. -Cachet Thank you Cachet. Do you know where I can purchase personalized memory candles?

Thanking you dancingdolphin for bumping this. I lost my youngest sister less than a month ago and I would like to have a memorial for her at the wedding. I changed the words slightly and may put it in the program. I will continue to look at other past BDW bride ideas.

I would like to thank everyone for your words of love and condolences. I am happy that I found this site during my wedding planning because all of you ladies are such wonderful people. It is the abundance of love that my family has received from family and friends (like yourselves) that is helping us get through. I don't expect life to return to normal for awhile. I take one day at a time. As for my wedding in December...my mom told me "I better not cancel it". She sees it as an opportunity to celebrate "what's good in life". My FI feels we should move forward as well. He has taken over the planning phase because I really haven’t been in the mood to call vendors or order items. He actually picked up the phone and called Keneika (RMB WC) to find out what needs to be done and what had been accomplished already. The wedding party will be very small (probably less than 15) because my sister did not have insurance when she passed so the family pulled our financial resources together to bury my sister with love. My mom still wants us to move forward with it though. I had mentioned webcam-ing the wedding months ago…my mom brought the subject back up. And, my FI will look into webcam-ing the ceremony for family that can not attend. As suggested by some of you wonderful ladies, I have been thinking about setting up a memorial for my sister, my FI mom and my dad at the wedding. I will do a search and look at some of the ideas that past BDW brides have done. Again, thank you soooo much. Indigo

Quote: Originally Posted by roo66 Oh my god, im feeling your pain having lost my younger and only sister when she was 13.Can i ask what happened?Forget the wedding at the moment and just wait and see how you feel in a month or so.We always say the person would want us to carry on .Only you know what your sister would of wanted for you both dont put any pressure on yourselves to make decisions. Im sure your just waking up each morning and wondering how you are going to get through this.Let me tell you you will.Life wont ever be the same again thats for sure.I have one other piece of advice remember her and smilexxxxxx im so sorry you are having to go through this.huge hugs n squezzes maria xxx.Give your parents a big hug from me too.xxxx im sorry We really don't know how she died which is causing more pain. We got a call from the hospital stating that she had passed. We did not get a chance to say goodbye at all. An autopsy was done and the pathologist said she had pulmonary fibrosis. He doesn't know how and why she had it and it is going to take a month or so to get specific information. My heart is really heavy right now and I all the joy and excitement that comes with planning and organizing my wedding has gone.

Hello Ladies, On tuesday (9/30) my youngest sister died unexpectedly. My family and I are in such a shock that it is becoming hard for me to function. I don't even look forward to our ceremony in Jamaica in nearly 2 months. I had so much planned for the wedding and I just want to cancel it all.

The RMB Wedding Dates is now a sticky...yayyyyyy!!!!!!

Thank you Jessyg20. I checked out their website (Angel chair cover rentals) and they also rent chair covers and sashes. We will probably have less than 40 people in attendance at our DW and the total cost using Angel should be less than $130 as opposed to the $520+ RMB will charge us.

Good question. I haven't asked. But, based on the ROR threads, I don't think rehearsals are protocol at RIU. I'm having a small wedding so I intend on having a Welcome Dinner and go to the ceremony site with the bridal party so we could all be familiar with the area. I'll send Keneika an email and see what she suggests.

Quote: Originally Posted by CanadianBride84 I am November 18, 2009 at RMB, I can't wait! Another RMB Bride to Be.... CanadianBride 84!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Lilpaisley Did she say if that the free set up or an upgraded one? I think that has to be an upgraded one (when compared to ROR ones) It is the decoration for the Caprice Package.