montegobay09

I'm going with the free package at RMB and I don't think I'm getting any upgrades. I considered getting a higher package at first and then realized that if I want some of those things when I get there, I'll pay for just those things that I want.

I'm doing chocolate brown and sky blue/turquoise with some white and ivory accents

I registered at the Bay, Zellers and Homesense. They're all part of the same registry. It worked out well for us. We had the same concerns...things were just too expensive. But we found many items for like $40-$60 which we thought were more appropriate. Good luck!

I'm thinking of doing the same thing. I'll have to start really thinking about it after next week but I'll definately keep this thread in mind. I'll let you know what I do too.

We are using eWedding.com and we love it! It's awesome for organization and very user friendly.

Quote: Originally Posted by tylersgirl We are staying in the same hotel for our honeymoon. I guess it will just be called our weddingmoon. We plan on going somewhere fabulous for our 1 year anniversary though-without the family! We're doing the same! Staying with our family and friends for our weddingmoon and then a great trip in a year's time.

I started packing last Saturday...all my summer clothes, bikinis and hats are in the suitcase. We leave on Saturday and I have Friday off so I will pack everything else on Friday...Hopefully I can fit everything I want into my carry on bag!! I do think some April brides have returned! One bride that got married at RMB (same resort as me) on Saturday is back already and is working on her review!! So exciting since the resort just opened and we don't have very many reviews on here yet! I was super busy at work until today so now I know I will be completely useless!!!! Only 2 days of work left though! Good luck to all you fellow April Brides!! Can't wait to hear from y'all when you're back! Make sure to post lots of pics!

I'm so glad to hear from you. I might not get to read your review before I leave (on Saturday) but I can't wait to read it at some point! I'm so happy that you had a great time!! Congratulations!....and remember to post tons of pics!

Quote: Originally Posted by merocket59 Everything looks so nice! Love the Jr bridesmaid dance idea!! And def wear the other sandals later, they are really cute! Congrats and the weight loss and have fun showing it off at the wedding and on the beach! Thanks...I think I will use the turquoise sandals as my dancing shoes. I want some pics with them too I think. It was actually FI's idea...I guess he's got an eye. Quote: Originally Posted by ACA Amy Congrats!!! Everything looks great! I am also doing the polaroid camera idea, but didn't realize how expensive the film was! Where did you find the film The film wasn't too bad for me... I used to work for a photographer who also owns a shop where he sells all kinds of camera stuff. He got the film for me for a very good price. He'd probably give you a good price too if you contacted him. I didn't look where you were from before i started typing this so maybe the shipping wouldn't be worth it but you could give it a try. His name is Bob Martin and his business is called Bob Martin Photographic. The phone number to the shop here in Nova Scotia is (902) 625-3975 his email is [email protected] He's known for giving great deal so it probably can't hurt to try!

Such a great planning thread! congrats on your 1 year anniversary and getting this all done!!! Your dress is beautiful!!

Here is the policy that I got from our airline CARRY-ON LUGGAGE: CanJet will permit each passenger to carry onboard, (1) standard item of carry-on luggage not exceeding 21 cm x 40 cm x 54 cm (8" x 16" x 21") in size and (1) personal item not exceeding 16 cm x 33 cm x 43 cm (6" x 13" x 17"). Maximum weight for each individual item shall not exceed 10kg (22 pounds). Items to be counted include: Any kind of bag or suitcase, briefcases, laptop computers (bags), diaper bags, camera cases that may contain items such as spare lenses and film in addition to the camera, cartons, boxes and other similar items. Items not to be counted include: Cameras, coats, diplomatic or consular bags, purses 10" x 12" x 8" or less, receptacles containing human remains, strollers, child restraint systems, containers carrying life-sustaining items, live vital organs, crutches, canes, walkers and other similar items. CanJet sizing units, which are 21 cm x 40 cm x 54 cm in dimension, shall be located at check-in counters located at each airport. Any heavy items and duty free bottles shall be placed under the passenger's seat. Front row and bulkhead passenger luggage shall be stowed for take-off, landing, and during turbulence in an overhead compartment. Carry-on luggage, which cannot be stowed in the approved manner, will be removed from the cabin and loaded in the designated cargo hold.

Wish I hadn't missed the offer!

what a great deal!

Quote: Originally Posted by Danyelle Congrats and thanks so much for sharing!! Can I ask a random/boring question? - When you sent your docs beforehand, do u send orginals? and if copies are sent do you get them back when you arrive at the resort or is it theirs to keep? Thanks. I think I can answer that for ya... We sent the actual notarized copies of our birth certificates and passports. We just sent them regular mail so they didn't arrive on time. When I talked to Chantelle later and told her that we had scanned them before mailing them she said that those scanned copies would be fine for now because all she needs 30 days before the wedding is the information on the documents. She said that when she talked to the minister he told her that the scanned copies were fine and that we should arrive in Jamaica with original copies of the notarized documents so that he could use them to complete our marriage license. I hope that makes sense...basically you can send a copy of the notarized docs first but they do keep the notarized documents in Jamaica once you get there.

Quote: Originally Posted by Trice http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t38922 How could we have left that one out?!! Yes, Trice's review is great too!!! Can't wait!

I was just going to add you Crystal! You beat me to it! Ladies, I completely recommend www.bettersweetweddingdesigns.com Crystal gives great service, quick shipping and my flowers are beautiful! Thanks Crystal!

FI bought 3 different shirts for our trip from Island Importer, one of which he is wearing for our wedding and they are very good quality. Actually, he had to get the sides taken in (big shoulders) and the seamstress commented on the good quality of the shirt.

I think I'd like it with the second one...more contrast

Neither of us has ever been to Jamaica so we're going on blind faith, our TA's opinion (which couldn't count for a whole lot since our resort didn't open until 1 month after we booked!), and trip advisor. I'm not worried about it in the least. I think it will make the DW all the better because we'll just go with the flow instead of being wrapped up in planning. Don't worry about it if a site visit isn't in your budget....I think this is the norm!

OMG I AM SOOOOOO EXCITED NOW!!!!!!!! haha, I had this fluttery feeling in my stomach/heart before but now that I read your post I can't even breathe normally cause I just want to scream with excitement!! (FI's sleeping though so I don't think he'd appreciate that!!) I can't believe that I meet you in less than 1 week....that's CRAZY!!!! Have a blast and enjoy every minute of your journey! I'll see you on Saturday!!! YIPPEEEE!

Wow, now that I read it all it doesn't seem all that long! Enjoy!

Centerpieces I’m not traveling with any decorations and I’m sure we will be totally happy with the decor at the resort...the ocean itself will be enough for me! However, for our AHR we will have very simple centerpieces on each table. I have two or three different ones so each table will be similar, but different. Here is some of the stuff for my DIY centerpieces AND LAST BUT CERTAINLY NOT LEAST!!!! (the most exciting..especially with all my new clothes that I would've loved to post on here too!)Weight loss I had to add this at the end here because it was a huge part of my planning process. I am so happy to say that I have lost 23 lbs and have maintained that for 2 months now. I couldn’t have done it without fellow BDW bride edssbride09. Our daily emails kept each other focused on the prize. Thanks so much C!! (These pants used to be too small for me!) And that's it! I hope this is helpful to someone on here! Please let me know what you think and let me know if there's anything I can add to help some more. If you have any questions...as away!!! Montego Bay...HERE WE COME!!!!

Welcome bags I really didn’t think I’d put the time and effort into any extras for my DW but the motivated and ambitious brides on here were an inspiration and I decided to put together some welcome bags for our guests. Bags from Party supplies, crafts, party decorations, toys: Oriental Trading 2 mini bottles of Purel 2 mocha tealights 1 package of matches 2 mini tubes of SPF 50 sunscreen 2 pairs of flip flops!! From Party Flops (Here’s my thread about these http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t36092 ) 1 welcome letter (template borrowed/stolen from BDW brides) 1 invitation (free from Suquest) to our beach wedding ceremony and reception (pic) All of our guests will also be getting a thermal mug (to keep their drinks cold!) upon arrival at the airport! Attendant’s gifts Our bridesmaid gifts are a brown pashima as well as their sandals for the wedding. I’m also including a gift certificate from LaSenza and I’ve paid for them to get their hair and makeup done. My junior bridesmaid is getting a headband and necklace as well as a pair of our personalized flipflops since she won’t be in Jamaica with us to get them. Our groomsmen gifts are these awesome frames FI ordered from Unique Groomsmen Gifts From GroomStop They are really nice and he even had the option to add his own wording to the frame to personalize them. Guest books We didn’t like the idea of the typical guest book. To us, it seems silly to have a book of names. We decided that for Jamaica we’d do a photo album. Guests will receive a 4x6 piece of cardstock and they can leave us a message on that card. We will then incorporate that card/message into our photo album of candid photos of our wedding day. We’re just using a regular photo album for that. For our AHR we wanted something similar but more detailed since we won’t be spending the whole week with everyone. We bought a scrapbook and a TON of pages. I have asked two of my former students to be in charge of taking pictures (polarioid) of everyone as they arrive at the reception. We will have a table set up with scrap booking materials and our guests will be asked to leave us a message, tell us a story, or just sign their name to their page. Some of our supplies for the table (some of our supplies) Here is what is written on the cards we will leave around the room to remind guests to do their page. (with different font and looking very creative of course) Guest Book Instructions ❀ While your Polaroid photo is developing you can start to decorate your own page. It can be as fancy or as simple as you want it to be. When you’re done you can leave it in the basket! Make sure to leave a note for the bride and groom and most importantly don’t forget to sign your name to your page! Here are the instructions we are leaving for the girls organizing the guest book Our Guest Book Jenny and Jenna One of you needs to be in charge of taking the photos. And the other can explain things to people and show them how to do their page. Hints... ❀ Encourage people arriving in groups (couples or families) to get their pictures done together and to a combined scrapbook page. We don’t have enough photos for everyone to get and individual picture. ❀ When you look through the lense make sure that the peoples’ heads aren’t in the center of the picture. Put the heads closer to the top of the frame so that you get more of the person in the picture. ❀ Make sure to tell people before you take the picture that they only get one chance to they should be ready for you to take the picture. ❀ Count to 3 before taking the picture so that everyone knows to be ready. After the picture is taken... ❀ You can give them the blank (developing) picture and point them towards the scrapbook table. ❀Simply tell people to leave the bride and groom a special message, advice, or even tell a about an experience they had with the bride and/or groom. Thank-you so much for you help! Suggestions card for those who are creatively challenged Suggestions for your page ❀ Leave a message for the bride and groom. ❀ Do you have artistic ability? Decorate your page with a drawing for us. ❀ Tell about how you met the bride and/or groom. ❀ Write about an experience you had with the bride and/or groom. DONâ€T FORGET TO SIGN YOUR NAME(S) TO THE PAGE! only one more page...I promise!!!....

Rings My wedding band was easy to order and looks great. FI’s on the other hand has been a battle!! We found a ring that he loved but it was stainless steel and he preferred to have one made just like it, but in gold. We ordered it from the same place we got mine since we had good service and the price was reasonable. To make a long story short, it took forever to come in and then wasn’t the right one so with only 6 weeks left we ordered the stainless steel one. I went back 2 days later and secretly ordered the same ring but in gold. I was promised that it would look identical to the stainless steel one. I surprised FI with his gold ring and he was so excited and happy that he didn’t have to “settle†for the stainless steel one! Hair At first I wanted my hair down because it is somewhat wavy, especially in the summer/humidity. After I considered the wind though I decided on an updo. What I really want is a low french twist with all the ends tucked in, but I want it kind of loose so that you can tell that my hair is wavy. Hopefully it will work out. These are the only pics I could come up with for inspiration. Loose like this but in a french twist my hair flowers that I might use... Makeup Here are my makeup inspiration pics...I want natural since I don’t wear makeup. They might have a challenge though since I’m recovering from 2nd degree burns on my face and neck...hopefully the can cover the scars!! If not, they’re part of me so it’s ok! Flowers I couldn’t get in touch with the florist for my resort (they didn’t respond to emails) so I took it upon myself to order my bouquet from Bitter Sweet Wedding Designs . I was referred to her by edssbride09 and I’m so happy with them. They really look real which was a huge issue for me cause I really am not a fan of fake flowers but if I wanted my white calla lilies I had to make the sacrifice! inspiration pic my flowers (I’m going to wait till I’m in Jamaica to put them together in my bouquet.) We will get the bridesmaids’ bouquets from the resort’s florist. I’m hoping for something like this We’re getting married on the west end beach on the resort which is a more private part of the beach. This isn't the right pic but the chairs set up in the setup close to the water there will be exactly the same as on the west end of the beach We chose to have our reception dinner at the Mahoe Bay restaurant on our resort. Our ceremony is at 4:00pm and we will do our first dance just after the ceremony, get some pictures taken (by Michael from Photoshop) and then our dinner is at 6:30. Mahoe Bay Steakhouse reception setup still more...

Wedding Attire (inspirtation pic from knottie bride) We bought FI’s shirt from Beach Wedding Attire: Drawstring Linen Pants, Cotton & Linen Shirts, Shorts - Island Importer and I love it!! (so does he!) We finally found a pair of white pants (very hard to find) on ebay and we bought his thong sandals from there too. My bridesmaids will be wearing turquoise/aqua dresses picked out by them. They live at different ends of the country so I just let them find any knee length turquoise dress that they’ll hopefully be able to wear again. I sent them the pic of FI’s shirt for an idea of the color and then I gave them a few pics of dresses I found online. Here’s one that my sister (MOH) picked from ebay and it looks great! (sandals bor BMs and MOH pics posted with BM gift) We asked our groomsmen to wear a pair of beige pants and we bought them these shirts to wear for the wedding. We love that they’re casual and that they will wear them again! Junior Bridesmaid is 11 years old (she’s my cousing and God daughter) and is terrified of flying so we’ve included her in our AHR and have found a very special way of including her in the celebration. She will be *interupting* our reinactment of our first dance and saying “you call that dancing? I’ll show you dancing!” and then she will proceed to show us her talent. She is an amazing dancer and she’s just so excited about the whole thing. She especially loves that no one else knows about this except for my mom and her mom. Here is the dress she has bought and is so cute in it!! The BRIDE! I knew I wanted something simple and light...practical I guess you could say. The wedding dresses I tried on just had too much extra material in the skirt or were too pooffy or had too much detail. I’m so not the bridal type but I finally found the one! It’s a bridesmaid’s dress that I ordered in white!! Super inexpesive that way!! Like we all say...don't mind the hair!! and I'm not wearing my sandals in this one...but I still love it!!!! So comfy! Shoes I bought on ebay my necklace I did buy a beatuiful turquoise teardrop necklace and Mom's letting me borrow her beautiful braclet for my wedding day and my sister is letting me wear her earings...if you can't tell I like to borrow!! I have a pretty simple style, if you can call it style! I will also have a turquoise pashima - not sure if I’ll need it but I’ll use it for pictures! I have also considered wearing these turquoise sandals for pics and for the evening...not sure yet. Maybe you could give me your opinions and let me know?!! still more....