ccunningham

Hey ladies, My TTD at Dunn's with Michael at ROR was the first one he had ever done. We had "saved" an hour and a half from our wedding package to devote to the TTD, but since it was his first time shooting a TTD there, he kept us there for over three hours for no extra charge. He did not seemed concerned with time at all----he was much more concerned about getting great pics. I would say you need two hours, but it also depends on if you want pics from the bottom of the falls and the top. Almost every single Dunn's picture that I loved was from the very top of the falls (see the first two). The bottom picture was shot near the bottom of the falls, but could have been replicated higher up and saved us a lot of hiking. If you want to see more pics, check out my review. I also included an excerpt I had written in my post about Michael. http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t31909 BIGGEST POSITIVE: Michael!! I had heard mixed reviews of Michael, the resort photog, and wasn’t expecting much to be honest, but he blew us away! He was so understanding with the rain that began at the end of the ceremony and even stopped the clock for us to see if it would clear (it didn’t). Luckily, the next day, we had arranged a TTD session at Dunn’s and it was BEAUTIFUL! We also got to take some beach pics first since our wedding day was so stormy. He did a fantastic job and was soooo nice. He said it was his first TTD at Dunn’s, as he had always thought it would be too crowded, but we went at 9:30 a.m. and didn’t see a soul until about 11 as we were finishing up (don’t pick a cruise ship day!). He said he was very happy with how it turned out and would perhaps start advertising.

Here's what I wrote about our transfer in my review--NIGHTMARE!! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t31909 Our transfer was included with our package and was through Tourwise Limited. It was AWFUL!! They must contract out to local drivers, as the van they packed us in did not have their logo. My husband and I had to sit in the super hot van (it was 90 degrees and humid out) at the airport with one other couple for about ten minutes until other people came to fill the van. By the time they crammed nine of us in there, the luggage was so high, it was stacked to the ceiling and you couldn’t see out. My dress literally was scrunched into a corner. The tiny little A/C vent in the front did nothing to cool us in the back. I started to feel claustrophobic and began to feel very sick. We made two stops on the way which made me very mad. I was actually crying at the first stop when I got out due to the heat and closed quarters—I didn’t think I could pull myself together to get back in that awful thing. My clothes were soaked through with sweat. The couple that was in the front graciously gave us their seats so that I could sit by the vent. By the time the driver stopped the second time, we all just wanted to get to the hotel, and most of us just stayed in the van. The driver obviously gets a kickback for taking us to his friend’s chicken hut for a $4 bottle of Red Stripe. The return trip was a bigger van with the Tourwise logo and was much better, but still dirty.

I was really nervous about using Michael, as I had heard both good and bad things. The samples he sent me in his emails in the months prior to my wedding were not very encouraging. HOWEVER, I think he does much better work than the pics he sent me---perhaps they were from a long time ago? To see some pics he took at our wedding and read my thoughts on Michael, check out my review: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t31909. The pics from my TTD at Dunn's are my favorite part of the whole trip!

If it's for any service surrounding the wedding (hair, nails, etc.), I would DEFINITELY book before you go. They were very crowded when I was there, and I still got in a half hour late. The number of girls they have working is also dependent on how many reservations they have, I would guess. If it's for something like a massage that you're flexible about during your vacation, you could wait to book that, although I tried to do that on location and couldn't find a time that worked well.

We only saw Red Stripe and Red Stripe Light. As a fellow Wisconsinite, I know how important beer is, but our group seemed to adjust to and enjoy the Red Stripe :-)))

I wore the same dress, and I agree--it was MUCH cleaner afterwards. The waterfall basically power washed the dress! I just got my back from the cleaners and it looks great!

Mine was probably one of the reviews you read that talked about the rainy weather! ( http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t31909) In retrospect, I wish I had chosen 11 so that I could have had some nice sunny beach pictures with my groom and all of our guests, but hindsight is 20/20. Weather is so unpredictable. Here is a link which discusses the chances of rain at various times of the day during each month, but who is to say that what's "average" will actually happen. Rainfall in Jamaica We RAN from our ceremony to seek shelter. We were right inside Mammee Bay. Unfortunately, our "shelter" was soon flooding as you can see in the picture below, and we were all huddled in a corner. I did read one bride, however, that had her ceremony in Mammee Bay and loved it so much that she thought it should always be offered as a location. I'm guessing she didn't have as much rain as we did! Here's my two cents---if you think that you would be happy enough having your wedding in Mammee Bay at 4 if it does rain, then I'd say stick to your 4:00 with the knowledge that it might be inside. If however, you'd be extremely disappointed to not be on the beach or have sun, I would do the 11. That way, you have more time to delay and delay if necessary, whereas at 4:00, if it starts to storm, it doesn't always clear so quickly if at all.

Quote: Originally Posted by ErikDaGenErik i am in love with your TTD pics at Dunn's River! My FI and i were in Ocho Rios past February and our highlight was Dunns River. you are sooo lucky to have amazing pics there in your fab wedding gown. is that a Rivini? it looks a lot similar to the Rivini gown i've seen. Nope, it's a David's Bridal. Thanks!!

Thank you! I keep asking myself if I'd do ROR if I had it to do all over again. You can have rain anywhere, but you don't have Dunn's River Falls anywhere. Our TTD pictures are my most treasured possessions right now. I blew a couple up and have them huge on my wall. Every time I look at them, I am so happy!

Michael just charged us his hourly rate, but I wouldn't be surprised if he starts charging an excursion fee. I had booked him for 1.5 hours at Dunn's, but it being his first time there, he went for an additional hour for free. He really wanted to get some good shots to advertise with I guess. He took about 350 photos in 2.5 hours. Add that to the 400 he took of the wedding and we had over 750 photos to go through. It took us about 3.5 hours the day after in the photoshop. We narrowed it down to the 70 that we bought on a CD. You will also get ALL of the photos in low-res on a CD in case you ever want to order more, you can just email him the number and you can purchase them in high-res. divadivine25---Sorry to make you doubt your choice! I know all of the brides on here want a perfect day, or at least near perfect and mine was far from that. I keep trying to be positive, but even as time passes, I have many regrets. The weather really was the main culprit, however. I truly believe that if we had beautiful weather, then all of the other issues would seem minor. If you don't go during the rainy season, which I hear Oct/Nov is the worst, then you won't have many of the issues I did. CDC4207---Here are a few more pics at your request :-) I love this first one-- how it's seen through the eyes of my 7 year old niece!

I was married on 10/31/08 at ROR. I already posted my review (http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t31909), but thought some brides might find the following photos interesting, so I decided to do a separate post specifically addressing the beach gazebo. We had chosen the beach gazebo, as we had seen other brides' photos and thought it was beautiful. However, when we arrived, we were disappointed to see how tattered it looked. Perhaps the stormy weather during our stay has also negatively affected my view, but even on the sunny days, I thought it looked drab. The stairs are totally chipped and there are rusty spots. It looks very weathered, but nothing a good coat of paint couldn't fix. We decided that we'd rather use the lawn gazebo, as we were quite disappointed, but Chandlyn said that it was already booked for a rehearsal. That was OK, as we still liked the idea of the sand beneath our feet, so we said the beach gazebo was fine. If you notice in the photos, we had many uninvited guests, and I don't mean fellow RIU guests. These people sit at the edge of the resort and sell drugs or other wares. They approached us various times to buy ganja as we went to check out the gazebo and as we went to watch other weddings. In fact, our wedding guests told us that DURING our cermeony, they watched a deal go down. Not exactly what I had pictured for our wedding! It makes me sad that our guests had to be distracted by that during our vows. You may luck out and maybe only one or two will be standing around, but of the three other weddings we watched, there was always someone standing there. They don't come any closer, as that is the property line, but it's still disturbing. Yes, Michael can photoshop them out, but I can't erase them from my memories! I just thought some of you might like to know when choosing the beach or the lawn gazebo. Also, the earlier ceremonies didn't seem to have as many of them standing around.

You order your flowers through Tai Floral. I asked Chandlyn and she just gave me their email and told me to contact them. Then, when you sit down with Chandlyn the day or two before your wedding, she has the receipt from Tai Floral and you pay her one total payment for all wedding expenses (steel drum, judge, flowers). The only person you pay separately is Michael. You won't even see your bouquet until about 10 minutes prior to the ceremony, by the way. Nekeisha came to my room with it about 10 minutes prior to our start time while Chandlyn went down to pin the flowers on the groom and parents.

bpayne---I noticed you're getting married at the RIU Negril. I was married at ROR, but did get the hair trial done. For me, it was totally worth it, as I didn't really know what I wanted and it put my mind at ease. It is sooo expensive there by the time you get everything done (trial, hair, nails and I had my hair done for my TTD session). I discuss it at length on my review: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t31909 One word of advice, allow enough time! I got in almost a half hour late--Jamaican time! Needless to say, my nerves were going crazy sitting in the waiting room that whole time. Luckily, I had allowed enough time and it turned out well. There are lots of reviews on here about ROR's Renova Spa. I remember a few girls saying the makeup brushes and makeup looked old and used...

Also, just a word of caution to brides who are not preparing their own vows/ceremony----My husband and I actually used a stopwatch to time three different weddings before ours. They were FOUR minutes. It seemed very anti-climactic to us to prepare for your wedding for months and have all of your guests travel that far for a four minute ceremony. I would definitely recommend adding a sand ceremony or something to make it longer. Ours was 15-20 minutes. We wrote it start to finish and included a hand ceremony and a sand ceremony. We had Erril Grant perform our ceremony. We had asked for a civil ceremony. He did OK, but he stumbled a few times and goofed up our order which made me mad since all he had to do was read it. It was the only time we saw this judge/minister at the resort. All other ceremonies were performed by a different man---I think Mr. Sheldon. We had the option of meeting with the judge first, but it would have cost another $50.

Thanks ladies!! Regarding pricing---it's the first time Michael has ever done a TTD at Dunn's. He said he always thought it would be too crowded, but after going with us early in the morning on a non-cruise day, he said it has changed his mind. We booked him for 1.5 hours on that day through his standard pricing guide (which was I think $80 for every hour). However, as his first TTd at Dunn's, he went way over our time limit and didn't charge us. We were there for about 2.25 hours (that includes drive time). He said he might even start to advertise it a little bit, so I'm thinking he wanted to make sure he got some good shots to advertise with. He really seemed like he was having a good time. I wouldn't be surprised if it gets so popular that he would start charging an excursion fee or something. It'd be great business for him. I talk more about Michael in my 10/31/08 ROR review in the Jamaica thread if you're interested.