LadyD

Hi Biasha, There are Jewish people in Jamaica! I'm sure you can find someone local in Jamaica. I found this thread: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...eddings-45356/ But you can also email the hotel to see if they know someone or contact a local wedding planner in Jamaica for assistance! Hope this helps D

Quote: Originally Posted by JesseLyn10 Whoever said that a DW is stress free lied! lol! We sent out 130 invitations, approx. 175 people were invited, and have a total of 51 booked so far. Here are the biggest stresses that we (really me, my FI is so laid back) incurred. 1. Slow to book. We couldn't book until the flight schedule came out in February which left us only days in turn around time for invitations. I know that some agents can book way in advance but a good friend of mine is an agent and this is the way they do it. So be it. We sent out the invitations (cards & pockets website - amazing job!). 2 weeks later, the flight sold out and no one had booked. My agent scrambled to find us an alternative and we ended up pushing the wedding back 14 days. We called every one of our guests and told them that they had to book ASAP or risk missing out again. Bottom line, with a large group, you can't control when they will book. This was (and is) the most stressful thing. 2. Price. We have a package that with every 16 people there is a group discount. For some, this isn't good enough and they wanted a cheaper price and different flight dates (we offered 3 different departure dates) etc. As a result, there are guests that booked through other agencies, I have no idea what they paid, but I also don't know if they get the transportation from the airport to the resort (an hour away) etc. and it's stressful because we feel (again, me not my FI) partly responsible for everyone getting to the resort safely. We leave in 13 days and 4 more people booked last week, makes for a good party but my agent has no idea of the actual numbers because they aren't all booking through her. 3. RSVPS - we've gotten less than 50 rsvp cars back. Some think that because it's a DW they don't have to reply. 4. Whishy-washy folk. Right now I have 3 guests that still want to book but want to book last-minute...or maybe they won't. Our group is at the maximum count for the restaurant we really want to eat at for our reception and if these last-minute bookers show up, I think we'll have to upgrade to the private venue, which is fine but I want to have all my ducks in a row before we get there and not be scrambling for a venue at the last minute. I won't really know the total number of guests until we get to Jamaica which makes it hard to plan a wedding that includes everyone in seating etc. We are paying for extra ceremony chairs just in case but I don't know what to do about dinner. Good luck planning! I had the same issues with the above. Travel Agent Vs No Travel Agent Because I knew the price was going to be too high for some of our guests, in our invitation, we said if you want to book with our travel agent, here is the price and dates. If you prefer to book on your own, rsvp with your travel dates and times. We decided we would forgo the extra discounts/free tickets to save ourselves the hassle. We sent our invites out in November. I believe the majority of our guests booked in March and April. I had people call me the day before I left for JA to say there were not coming! Wasn't too impressed but whatever. RSVP Only received 30% of rsvp's back, most people called or responded thru our website instead. Advice for future brides: use email or phone number as rsvp. save on the postage. Organized Events I thought I had to plan a series of events on a daily basis. I organized a day trip to Ochi and a rehearsal dinner at my Uncle's! For the rest of the week...small groups naturally formed and people did their own thing. Don't stress too much on what everyone else is doing. They're fine! Make friends with a driver and negoiate your group rates. Some will offer to be your driver for the week. We made friends with the shuttle bus driver to Margurittaville - because our group would take up a full bus - he would arrange special pickup times for us! Dinner Reservations If you are staying on a resort, it may be difficult to schedule all guests an a la carte restaurant. Book on the first day and see what you can do. We tried to reserve small groups for all 3 restaurants but by the middle and end of the week - guests didn't want to follow a schedule and did their own thing. Wedding Day Events Schedule your day and time accordingly. We had a church wedding and a offsite reception afterwards. This meant longer receiving lines, more times alloted for photos, serving etc. Arranging transportation was a big <expensive> thing but if you are staying on the resort you should be okay. Have Fun Everyone that came down to Jamaica had a BLAST! Find time to relax and enjoy!! It will be worth ALL the stress in in the end!! D

Quote: Originally Posted by jonesr1979 Hi all, I think this would be a question for someone who has already been married at the resort or has family on the island. If i have alot of people coming from off the resort and they have paid the daily rate would we only still be charged the $18 per person extra for the dinner or would they charge us more ?!?!?!? Thanks ladies! Hi JonesR, The rate would be $75 day pass + $18 per person. You can have the family member call the hotel themselves and see if they can get a "local" rate day pass instead. Hope this helps. D

As long as your tour bus doesn't run thru this particular ghetto in Kingston, you should be fine. Not all of Kingston is bad...just certain areas.

Hey All, Literally just got back home from a wonderful wedding week in Jamaica. Need to pack and get ready for the honeymoon. Having a destination wedding was the BEST decision ever. We ALL had the TIME OF OUR LIVES!!! The wedding day was simply perfect! Will post pics soon! People are already asking when are we all getting together again!!! Chic Events Jamaica did a great great job - could not have pulled off the wedding without her. The church ceremony was beautiful, the offsite reception at the Grandiosa, while a little hot - was fantastic as well. Misha was also great to work with! The Iberostar Rose Hall is a fabalous place - you can't be dissapointed! Will have full review to post shortly. Thanks to everyone in the forum for their great ideas! It was simply the best week ever!!! Will post pics soon!!! D

Sounds like she had a great wedding!! What program did she use to broadcast the feed back home?

Quote: Originally Posted by PALZ Misha Earle is phenominal! We just worked with Misha at our April 1, 2010 wedding at Villas Sur Mer, Negril and although we haven't seen the results yet i am so confident in her skills I'm willing to endorse her now! We asked her to shoot mainly black and white and candid with only minimal posed shots and some color. Our only reminder that she was there was when her flash went off at just the right moment and we realized she had caught yet another fabulous moment. She used 2 cameras to ensure a quick response in the right format at the right moment. You need only to look at her previous work to know that this woman is ranked high in her field. Her expertise in all genres of photography ensure that she captures your setting and details with as much expertise as in her shots of people - posed or candid. I highly recommend her and ladies, not enough can be said about the value of good work, if you must cut a budget do it somewhere else not in the photographer - go with Misha and you'll be comfortable, relaxed and no doubt very pleased with your decision. All the best to everyone! I'm glad everything went well!! I am going to using her in a couple weeks for my wedding! I'm very excited!!

Shuzzy - LOVING the Alfred Angelo - very sexy!

Great List Shannon!

Great Websites!!!!

Mine was quite simple- very creative Tammy!

r the tea light still avail?

I just started this work out today. With a little less than 2 months to go, I need to turn it up a notch. The level 1 workout seemed failry easy even though I was sweating quite a bit. A few hours later, and i'm starting to feel a little sore. Will try to do everything....hoping to loose the last 10 pounds!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Reya I am planning to do a sort of Scrapbook guest book as there won't be THAT many people at my DW. What I am planning on doing is making up a sheet of cardstock (or 2 per family with questions) The questions will be like Where did you travel from? How do you know the Bride and Groom? Advice for the Newlyweds. Memories of this day. Favorite memory of the bride or groom. I got the idea from someone, i e-mailed her after i saw her pictures online SOMEWHERE! I will leave the spaces for the pictures, take the cardstock with me to Jamaica and when i get BACK i will fill in the pictures. Wedding Twins...YAY!!!

indychic which ebay seller did you order from? I went to B&J Trading - they only had about 8 large starfish left...a bit dusty and dirty actually, so I didn't buy any? NJ, how many do you have left?