bsullivan2

We were just there last month. We are waiting to get some of the other pictures that we ordered. Michael is sending them to us by email. This could be an option for you. We are not having him print them. We decided that we could do that here and that there would be less of a chance for something to go wrong. We are also planning on getting more pictures from him and I think that we can have him send them through email too. As long as you are not having him print them, there is really no reason to have him ship anything. I hope this helps! Good Luck! Brandie

They do not. I did not need to have my dress steamed, but I think you have a few options. I think someone on here had Chandlyn take the dress in town to have it steamed. The other option is to hang it in the bathroom and turn the shower on really hot. I hope that helps. Brandie

Congrats MRS.!!!! I was married there on Saturday the 20th of June. and you are right, Nikki was great! I think that I saw you the night of your wedding at the entertainment. DH and I noticed you guys at the bar and then they announced that you were married! I am glad that you had a great time! I can't wait to see pictures! Brandie

This was my wedding dress! I am so in love with it! It was perfect for a beach wedding! I am sure that someone will buy this dress. It is beautiful!

We did use the vows from the resort. The minister did a really good job. We did a sand ceremony and brought the wording we wanted the minister to read. He did a great job. When you meet with Chandlyn just give her the copy of your ceremony and she will pass it along to the minister and he will review it before the actual wedding.

I finally have a chance to post my review! First, I wanted to say thank you to everyone on this forum! You have been a huge help throughout this whole process! I do not know what I would have done had I not found BDW! And I am sorry that this is so long! We left Thursday June 18th from Cincinnati. Delta- A They were great. We had no problems on the way down there or on the way back. I was able to carry my dress on and the flight attendants placed it in the first class closets. They were very nice about it! We were supposed to leave at 8:35 am but there was a delay of about 10- 15 minutes. Not too big of a deal. We had to transfer planes in Atlanta. We only had about an hour to get to our next plane. I was a bit nervous b/c I have never been to Atlanta and I have only heard bad stories about that airport since it is so big. Of course we arrived at the end of terminal B and had to run to terminal E : ) It was fun! On the way home, we did not have any problems. It was just a long day of traveling since we left the resort at 9 am and did not get to our house until 1:30am! Blah! Jamaica Tours- A Our TA booked our transportation to and from the airport when she made our resort reservations. It was easy to find at the airport and the buses were air conditioned and comfortable. The bus driver was nice and funny. He started to talk about Jamaica and the history behind what we were seeing, but after 30 min he stopped talking. I knew that it was going to be a long ride to the resort. So that did not bother me. I was a bit taken back when we stopped for our “rest stop.†I am not sure what I was expecting, but I guess the little shop with the huge marijuana plant is just a little taste of the Jamaican culture! RIU- A+ I do not think that we could have picked a more perfect resort for us! We arrived at 4 pm and it looks just like the pictures that everyone has been posting! While checking in we were given rum punch! It was great and just what I needed after the long day! The whole resort was always clean and the staff was great! Everyone was friendly and There were about 10 of us checking in at the same time. For some reason DH and I were in the back and were the last to check in. Everyone in our group was getting upgraded. I am not sure why, but almost all of them got upgraded to Junior Suites. I was excited but at the same time getting annoyed! We booked a junior suite and I wanted to be upgraded! Not to sound too crazy, but it was OUR wedding and honeymoon! I kept saying that there better be enough upgrades for us! Right before we go to check in DH told me that he wanted to surprise me when we got to the room, but b/c of what was going on he had to tell me. He called our TA months ago and upgraded us to the King suite. I think that is what it is called. They were trying to book the suites with the whirlpools on the balconies but the resort was completely booked for those rooms. It was an awesome surprise! But when we got to the desk, the lady said, “I’ve got good news for you! You have been upgraded.†DH was excited and asked if it was the balcony whirlpool suites. The lady replied no that it was the King suite. And DH told her that he had already booked that suite and that it was not really an up grade. She looked at him like she was confused. We just signed for the room, took the keys and went off to our room. We had room 2305. AMAZING! We had a corner room so our balcony wrapped around our room. We had three sliding glass doors to our balcony! It was great. The front of the balcony faced the ocean and the side was a view of the pool. We were on the side closest to the Jerk Hut and Scuba Caribe. I was blown away! It was such a great room and it had an amazing view. I will post pictures from the room. Oh, we had regular keys for our room. We were not blessed with the key cards, thank goodness! Some of our guests had the key cards. But only one room ever had problems with it and I think that it was because the two girls who were rooming together came in on different days. Food- B This was not too important to me. I knew that I was not going to go hungry all week. I have also stayed at all inclusive resorts before and the food has never been anything to write home about. St. Anns is the main buffet. We ate there often. Breakfast was great. They had a large selection. The Jerk Hut on the beach is the best! We had that the first full day we were there and I think we ate there just about every day after that! I did not care too much for the gourmet places. The food was good, but I ordered fish. I cannot remember what kind it was. But as I was eating it, I kept getting small bones in my mouth. I let it go like two times, but after the third time, I just stopped eating it. We ate at Mammee Bay a couple of times. Dinner was great. It was the best that I had while I was there. Lunch was the same as the Plantation. We stayed by the Plantation and the pool on that side of the resort the whole time. The little Italian place was good too. We never got around to eating at the Japanese or the Asian places. Nikki- A+ Chandlyn was on vacation while we were there. We had her assistant Nikki. She is wonderful and so cute. We wanted a very simple wedding so we did not add many extras. We reserved the steel drum band. The only song requests that we made was for them to play Cannon in D when I walked down the aisle and to play One Love when we walked down. We used the white tulle with the birds of paradise. I got the daisy bouquet. That was all that we had to set up and Nikki did everything that we asked. We did have a sand ceremony picture frame that she set up for us and she gave the minister the reading for it. We also told her that we wanted DH’s sister to do a reading. She relayed that to the minister and he called her up by name. Ceremony/ Pictures- A+ It was beautiful! More than I imagined! We had great weather, not too hot and a nice breeze. The breeze made it a bit difficult for me as I kept tripping over my dress as we were walking from my room down to the beach! Our ceremony was supposed to start at 4. I was a bit late b/c I had Michael come up to the room 15 minutes before the ceremony to take some pictures and we went a bit over the 15 minutes! Oh well! Nikki was up there on time and brought my flowers and my MOH’s flowers. We walked down to the beach and by the pool to go down to the beach. I was concerned b/c the area by the pool was all wet and the bottom of my dress was getting wet, but I got over it very quickly! I was in Jamaica and getting married! The minister was awesome! Our ceremony was the religious version. We had DH’s sister do a Bible reading and then at the end we did a sand ceremony. After the ceremony we had a toast on the beach and danced to the steel drum band. It is funny b/c I was so excited about the steel drum band and I honestly cannot remember hearing them the whole time! My uncle recorded the whole thing and said that he got them on there and they sounded great! I still have not watched the video yet! We were lucky and had Michael for our photographer! He is awesome! If anyone has any doubts about him, do not worry! He is great to work with. Our pictures turned our amazing! Dinner- A We had dinner at Mammee Bay. It was great. Our server was Steven. We had 28 people in our group and he had it all under control. The food was good and the service was awesome! Or cake was pretty. It was just the free one. It was alright. I think desserts in the States are just sweeter than they are down there. It was still a nice dinner! We did not do any reception after. There was a beach party that night. We all changed and watched for a little bit. But we mostly sat around by the stage and had a few drinks. DH and I were pretty tired from the whole day. I was so nervous the whole day and that just drains you! Excursion- A+ Our TA booked an excursion for our group on Monday after the wedding. We went through Lee’s Tours. They are amazing to work with Norma met our group on Sunday to collect our payments and to give us the information we would need. Monday morning we went down to Scuba Caribe and got on a catamaran at 10 am. It was just our group on the boat for the whole trip. They took us right in front of the Sandal’s next door. We snorkeled on the reef for about an hour. I had never experienced this. It was too cool. From there we took the catamaran to Dunn’s River Falls. This was probably the coolest thing we did. The falls are so beautiful! The water is fresh from the mountains and it was cold! It was a hot day so the cold water felt great! But you do need to hold on to your bathing suits while standing by the falls. We were taking a picture and I almost lost my bottoms! After we hiked the falls we got back on the catamaran for a booze cruise! It was so much fun. The music was turned up, Red Stripe and Rum drinks were flowing and everyone was having the time of their lives! My older aunts… late 60’s, were dancing with the tour guides! It was so comical! When we got past the reef, the ocean water was so blue! It was so beautiful and breath taking! The catamaran took us to Margaritaville. We took our stuff to the bus for Lee’s Tours and then ate at Margaritaville. We had so much fun on the water slide. We were going down in groups. DH and his friends pushed the limits when they went down with 10 of them in a train! It was funny! The life guard said to them that they owed him $10. Our nephew said to him, “What happens in Jamaica stays in Jamaica!†The life guard laughed and said “no problem mon!†From there we did some shopping and then made it back to the resort about 7 pm. It was a great day! The best place that we liked for shopping was where we called “across the border.†It was just past the resort on the side with the beach gazebo. There are a couple of vendors who have shops over there. They had the coolest things and for great prices. They were always willing to negotiate with you. They are very trusting people too! We went down there and found some things that we wanted to buy but we had to go back to the room to get some more money. Two of the vendors just gave us the stuff that we wanted to buy and said for us to just bring down the money later! Of course we brought back the money, but we were surprised at this practice! Over all we had a great experience! We cannot wait to go back! It was a perfect wedding and honeymoon. I promise I will have pictures posted soon! If you have any questions let me know!

I was just at the ROR for our wedding on June 20. The chuppa was set up right next to the beach gazebo when we were there. We were the only wedding on the beach that day and it was at 4pm. The sun was out and it was beautiful! I did not have a chance to see the wedding or weddings that used the chuppa. But it still looked nice. Once I get around to posting my review and pictures you can see where it is located. Brandie

We just got back from our ROR Wedding and honeymoon late lastnight. We had some errands that we had to get done today. I promise I will have my review up in the next day or two. We have some great pictures too that I will try to post!

Thank you ladies for your responses. I have talked to my TA about it too. She is doing some research, but I think that I will just go through Lee's Tours. I talked to FI and I think we will do the catamaran to the Falls and then on a different day we will take Lee's Tours to Margaritaville. I have heard that Margaritaville is expensive. How expensive? What should I expect? I am trying to get the money in order that we are taking with us for excursions. Thanks for the information ladies! You guys are great!

I have searched through other posts and I am not finding the information that I need. I am looking for a tour group that offers catamaran cruises, but one that will take our group to the Falls and then to Margaritaville. Many of the tour groups offer the snorkeling with the trip to the Falls but no one in our group really want to snorkel. Can and past or future brides help me with this info? Thanks! Brandie

We are not doing invitations for Jamaica. We had sent out STDs last year and most people responded to those. We did not want to spend more money on invitations when just about everyone who is going has already booked their trip and they have all the info that they really need from our wedding website. We did make invitations for our AHR that is in August. We are planning to send them out right before we leave for Jamaica.

The point of a DW.... less stress!!!! That is pretty funny! I thought that at first too. Once we got into the heart of the planning and talked to family and friends, my stress level went through the roof! I have been having issues on both sides of the family about having a DW. Both of our families are very conservative and traditional, but we are not! I have not been paying much attention to the negative comments out there. But if they actually approach me and ask why we are having a DW, I have no problem explaining that this is OUR wedding and this is what WE wanted. For the most part everyone is supporting the DW, but you can always feel the tension when we are talking about it. My sister and FI's sister-in-law are having a bridal shower for me. It is kind of funny b/c we are having it at my house. It made more sense b/c I live an hour north of FI's family and 1 hour south of my family. We decided it would be easier to meet in the middle. I feel a little weird to be having it at my house. My sister is my only bridesmaid. I have been having her help with invitations, and some of the OOT bags. I am planning on getting her something different as a gift. Still need to find that though, I am falling a little behind on my timeline I need to kick it into gear.... 2 months!

We have finally decided on our menu! (Well, part of it!) We are going with a BBQ pulled pork and turkey. We just had a tasting on Friday and it was great! We are still undecided on the sides we want to have. FI would like to have cold sides since it is going to be in August, but I think we should have one hot and one cold side. We still have plenty of time to figure this out. But who knew it would be so hard!?! Our reception is going to be more informal, so the BBQ idea worked best for us.

We are getting married in June at ROR. We reserved our rooms with a deposit last March and waited quite a while to get our airfare. Our TA contacted us with a great rate late last fall. We could have waited longer, but everything that has been out so far has been more than what we ended up paying. On another note, in Feb. this year, our room rates dropped quite a bit. I think we saved $200. Our TA re-booked everyone in our group at the lower rate. I would talk to your TA and get their opinion. I would not book too early. You might end up paying more by doing so. Good luck!

I am having a few problems with this subject as well. My MOH, my sister, is planning my shower. We have all decided to only have one shower. It is kind of weird as to how it is being set up. We are having it at my house. My family and friends live an hour north of me and his family lives an hour south. So I am right in the middle. Anyways, here is my problem. We only sent out STDs for the actual wedding in Jamaica. The shower is in May and we are going to Jamaica in June. We are having AHR in August. I am sending out invitations to the AHR reception in June. But should I still have my MOH invite people who did not get a STD for the wedding but are going to receive an invitation to the AHR? I hope this makes sense

Also, I am wondering how we can get the low resolution pictures. I have looked through many posts, and it seems like some of you have picked a package that includes like 30-50 high resolution pictures and then you get a couple hundred on a a CD in low resolution. I have read through the price list and either I am completly missing the low resolution portion or it is just not in there. Any help is greatly appreciated!!! You ladies are so great, I do not know what I would have done with out you!

I wanted to bump this thread. I seem to be in the same situation. FI and I were discussing photo options yesterday and were having a hard time with how much Michael is going to cost. Photos are important to us, but we are not willing to spend an inflated amount of money for them. Because not only do we have to pay for the CD but we will have to pay to have them printed once we return home! We are having troubles deciding on how many photos we would like to have. Can any past brides give me an idea of what is a good number to have on CD. Is 30 pictures enough or should I look at having more?

When FI and I went to Cancun, we tipped everyone even though it was already included. For our wedding I plan on tipping everyone too. I work in the service industry and I know what it is like. In my travel packet, I have suggested to my guests that they should bring money to tip. I stated that it is not required but a couple of dollars here and there would be a good idea.

This may seem silly, but I have been reading that we should bring a magnet for the balcony doors at ROR to keep the air on. I recently bought small round magnets from Michaels and I was planning on putting those in the OOT bags. Does the magnet have to be a large one or can it be small? I know this may be a no brainer, but I want to make sure that I am giving my guests things that they can use!

Hey Ladies! FI has been out of town since the end of Jan. and even though I miss him so much, I must say that I have been getting so much stuff done. I have forgone asking him his opinion on things! I know he should have a say, but it is just on stuff like invites and programs. He has never seemed interested in those things! I have my program fans designed, I just need to print them, cut them out and put together We are only sending out invites for the AHR, and those are almost done I picked up my dress yesterday and ordered a veil MOH has her dress Putting together ceremony decorations 24 people have booked (still waiting on some of FI friends) Looking at cakes today for AHR Reception hall is booked Caterer for AHR booked DJ for AHR booked Still waiting for FI to decide on his clothes for Jamaica wedding.... this is a little frustrating! I told him that he could pick out his outfit, Best man and my Dad's.... after he emailed me a picture of a bright blue shirt, I think that I may have spoke too soon!!!

Where are you ladies looking at for the grooms attire? FI would like to wear linen pants and like a Cuban shirt. I have bookmarked a few pages and he says that he is not quite sure he likes these places. I have been trying to make him decide on something. I have a feeling that he is going to wait until May to pick something out!

This is like the number one question I am getting from my guests! Nevermind the cost of the trip, they want to know what beer will be there!

We have decided to just do invitations for the AHR. I sent out STDs already and about a month and a half before we leave for Jamaica, I am going to send out a news letter that includes a packing list and information for the resort. I was thinking about sending invites for both the Jamaica wedding and the AHR but it was going to cost too much. And people who are going to JAmaica have basically already booked their trips, so I did not see the need to send them an invite.

I love Emmet Otter! I have not watched that movie in so long! I remember watching it as a child! But my all time favorites are Lampoon Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story! Last Christmas my sister bought me the Christmas Story ornament from Hallmark. It is the leg lamp and when you open up the crate, you see the lamp and it plays some of the lines from that scene in the movie! It is great! "FRA-GILE... it must be Italian!" I love it! Brandie

Maybe you can compromise with your mom. You can have a very low key and casual reception back at home. And talk to her about perhaps splitting the cost. You can always find a place to rent that will be reasonable, or see if you can have it at a friend or family member's house.