futuremrsp

We've been married for almost 2 weeks! We got back last Thursday and we love Jamaica! Congrats Jamaica brides! User Name: futuremrsp Name: Sarah and Tom Location: Sandals Grande Ocho Rios Wedding Date: April 2nd, 2009 We were there from Mar. 30 to Apr. 9th in JA: 7/8/09 - 7/15/09

Hey Everyone! We are back from our 10-day Wedding and Honeymoon at SGOR! We had an amazing time! I am so happy we went with Sandals for the wedding and for this extended vacation; we had such a positive experience. I am in the process of writing my review, but it is lengthy, lol, so I will need a bit of time to finish. In the meantime, I thought I would post my pictures for anyone who is interested. I found it a bit difficult to post pictures directly to the thread, so I hope it is okay that I posted Facebook links. You don't need to have a Facebook account to view the pics. Just copy and paste the links below into a new browser window. Let me know if there is any problem viewing the links or if this is a forum no-no. I just hope that sharing my photos can help anyone getting married at a Sandals or SGOR specifically. This first album is some of the pics that the Sandals photographer took of our ceremony, reception, and then around the grounds and the watersports beach. Our ceremony took place at the Reef Terrace Gazebo location, and we were scheduled for 4:00pm, but it ran a little late (I asked the planner if we could have a civil ceremony, as a Christian ceremony is standard, and they had to call him in especially for our wedding; he called to say he was stuck in traffic, lol). I think we were only about 15 minutes behind, though, but it worked out nicely because we got to enjoy more of the sunset in our pictures. We are pretty easy going lol, and it was only my hubby and I present at the ceremony. Sarah Photos - Wedding: Here's a lil' peek! | Facebook The second album is our Trash The Dress pics, which I am so thrilled with. I got the idea from this forum, and not many people in my area have heard of the TTD movement. I have to say THANKS SO MUCH to the girls on this forum as this was one of the most fun parts of our wedding experience, and family and friends are loving them. My husband is an amateur photographer and he took them with a Canon 40D. When he was in the photos with me, he used a remote control. I know they are not totally professional and he's still photoshopping some of them, but I am so proud of his work and we really loved working together on it. Sarah Photos - Trash the Dress | Facebook I really hope these can be of help and let me know if you have any questions. My detailed review is soon to come!! Official Mrs. P, lol

Thanks so much for all the pics and feedback! We are leaving a week tomorrow...I don't even know how I will get through this week!!

Thanks everyone!! Kerry you must be so excited to leave too! It's been a long winter here so we're especially happy to get there! I'm definitely feeling calm and ready to marry Tom; no problems there, lol, but as far as preparations to get there, I feel like I'm going to forget something really important! I have to rack my brains and make a good checklist for us. There's still a lot to do, but the big stuff is out of the way: the my dress should be finished in the next few days, his pants need hemming, and we need to get our luggage sorted out. We'll probably be packing for days lol. But we got the tickets and I guess if we forget anything we'll just have to go with the flow: as long as we have each other, lol, (corny, I know!) Thanks for listening, ladies...this ranting has actually helped with my list! lol Sarah

Nina told me I couldn't book ahead...it all had to be done onsite

Writing because I'm so excited to go!! Thanks to everyone on the forum for the help and advice! Will anyone be at SGOR when we are? (March 30th-April 9th)

That's so fun! And gutsy! Congrats and best of luck...you'll have a blast in Vegas.

Congratulations! This is the fun part...picking the destination and the resort...best of luck!

Welcome! I know how you feel...mine's April 2nd!! I wish I had found the forum sooner, but glad I'm here now, lol. Enjoy!

Welcome! You'll like it here

Congrats! It's so exciting and the time before will go so fast! I heard Whitehouse is just gorgeous...amazing beach, calm atmosphere. Yay!

My TA had told us we couldn't get a set price on anything more than a year in advance, because of the airlines, promotions, etc. (we then decided to move our wedding up a year, and booked only 5 months in advance!! But it's only the two of us going). We got the 60% discount at Sandals, and are in the 3rd room category (pretty low on the totem pole, lol). It was about $3500 U.S. (a little over $4000 CAN) for the 2 of us. That discount was only for Sandals Grande Ocho Rios. (I think it's still on, but not sure when you have to book by). So yes, about $2000pp.

LOLOLOLOL SO funny...Thank you!!

Anna did you do the river tubing through Sandals? I didn't see it on my list and it sounds like fun!

thanks for the great suggestions! We are staying at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios. We were thinking the kayak tour might be fun; has anyone done it? It doesn't say which company does it, but it's the one in the Sandals list.

I'm not sure if I'm posting in the right place, but I was wondering if anyone who has already gone could recommend their favourite excursions in the Ocho Rios area. I want to have an idea of what is fun before we go. Last time, in the Dominican, we booked 3 excursions and only 1 out of 3 ended up being enjoyable! I don't want that to happen on our Honeymoon, so I'd appreciate any input! We're generally up for anything. We are definitely doing Dunn's River Fall's, but I'd like to try 1 or 2 more as we are staying 10 days. We are staying at SGOR. Thanks! Sarah

"Going to California" By Led Zeppelin. It has beautiful acoustic guitar and mandoline parts...so it sounds calm and beachy. It's supposed to be about Joni Mitchell, lol, but we just both love the song and the lyrics work pretty well too. Spent my days with a woman unkind, Smoked my stuff and drank all my wine. Made up my mind to make a new start, Going to california with an aching in my heart. Someone told me theres a girl out there With love in her eyes and flowers in her hair. Took my chances on a big jet plane, Never let them tell you that theyre all the same. The sea was red and the sky was grey, Wondered how tomorrow could ever follow today. The mountains and the canyons started to tremble and shake As the children of the sun began to awake. To find a queen without a king; They say she plays guitar and cries and sings. La la la la Ride a white mare in the footsteps of dawn Tryin to find a woman whos never, never, never been born. Standing on a hill in my mountain of dreams, Telling myself its not as hard, hard, hard as it seems.

Quote: Originally Posted by 2bebridejamaica Hi girls, As a past Beaches bride now I can tell you a little bit bout the recent concern on having to purchase before hand... YOU do NOT have to purchase a thing till you get down to your resort. The WC in Miami... the ones that you speak to... just are pushing sales. When you get the resort it is much much much different. You will be able to see pictures and speak with your real WC for your wedding. I do not understand why they use the Miami sales office and call them WC because all they did was ask me everytime I called if I wanted to purchase my packages then. I didn't buy anything from my Miami chick... but this ... reserving our cocktail hr after the wedding and our dinner reservation. Then later my spa services of hair and makeup trails and my BMS stuff ... I waited for everything and you meet with the WC the day after you arrive and it all can be done in an hr. ABSOLUTELY no worries!!! Things i purchased in Jamaica - all my flowers for ceremony/reception, photo/video package.. the middle one "tropical ??" my sashes/covers and upgrades for the cermony, and bought private beach dinners for jays parents and his sister and her husband as they were married in Jamaica at a different resort years ago. (now these were really nice and totally worth the money). Thanks...this is good to know! I've been purchasing things ahead of time (candelight dinner, hair appointment, etc.) and my coordinator has been pretty good. However, yesterday she sent me the same e-mail she had sent me a few months ago, asking me to start planning and what I'd like to purchase!! I was like, "ummmm, we already did this" and had a mini-panic that maybe she had lost my information. I'm sure she has a huge number of people she's selling to and maybe forgets who she's already dealt with, lol, but I find this quite impersonal. This is my wedding! (Bridezilla or no Bridezilla, lol) I will do as you're saying and wait until I speak with my on-site coordinator; I'm sure the service is better face-to-face! 39 days until we leave! I can't believe it! Thanks for the advice! Sarah

Will they let you take bottles of wine back to your room?? Lol silly question, but someone told me this happened to them. I just can't believe we won't have a minibar in our room!

Hey JKauf. I e-mailed my wedding coordinator to ask about that and she sent me a catalogue and price list of flower upgrades right away. Someone also posted those exact files in another thread, but I can't remember where lol (new to the forum). They ranged from about $80-$200, but look much better than the free ones. (of course!) Anjeec...i'm sure TAJennifer will give you lots more info, but just from what I've heard, Negril is gorgeous...beautiful sunsets, amazing beaches, more secluded and romantic. We wanted to go there but couldn't pass up the great deal at SGOR. My brother and his wife stayed at MoBay and they both really enjoyed it; my brother enjoyed it more because he likes action...there's a lot of activity during the day and a great beach. They had a room near the piano bar and couldn't sleep so well because people were having a blast late...that sounds great to me, but if you like it quieter I think Negril is better. Also, I've heard that you can hear the planes overhead all day at the beach at MoBay, since that's where the airport is. I liked the sound of the fun at MoBay, but didn't want the sound of airplanes during my wedding ceremony! I'm pretty sure Negril is more expensive... Good luck!

Thanks for all the great info, TA Jennifer, and all the other brides. 60 more days until our wedding at SGOR!! I can't believe how time is flying. Just the two of us are going to be attending our wedding, so we're going to have the free reception. The first dance and cake will give us a chuckle since it'll be just us! But we booked a candlelight dinner on the beach for afterward so that should be a nice way to spend the evening TA Jennifer, we are staying in a Riviera Deluxe Room in the Bamboo Grove Building at SGOR. Are these generally good rooms? We definitely wanted to be on the Riviera side to be part of the action. I'm starting to feel jealous of the concierge idea...lol As you said, it would be really relaxing to have room service and 24 munchies and a mini-bar, especially as it IS our honeymoon! Maybe I'll have to consider upgrading... Thanks again!

Hello! Thanks a lot for doing this! We will be there not long after you...March 30th-April 9th. I would also love to see a beach wedding set-up, if possible. The pier looks lovely too; I know I won't be able to decide until we get there, but the only thing I haven't seen a picture of is the beach set-up. Jamaica Bride's suggestions were great...ditto! Thanks again and have a great time!

I'm not sure if the time of day affects it at all...you may wanna try it out before the wedding and see if the sand is hot? I'm planning to go barefoot, because I'm just about as tall as my FI...but I've got white flip-flops just in case

Thanks as always! I'm gonna do research on the restaurants (I like good food!) and plan out a couple of the really good ones! (Tom's spontaneous but I like a plan lol) Maybe I'll see if I can reserve at Dunn's River the first or second day...we're staying 10 days so maybe we'd get one near the end! Thanks for the directions to the private pool too!