rydm

Mastistyle & Un-bride, have a wonderful wedding!!! I'm sure it will be beautiful!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by sunkissedleah Dear Rydm... My fiance and are are marrying at the villas in June 2010. We are paying for our wedding party and immediate family so we have reserved the two 5 bedrooms and the 4 bedroom. Thanks SOOOOO much for the heads up on not doing all-inclusive at the villas. We are also staying for 5 days and the all inclusive option alone would be almost $18k if not more considering we plan on having almost 70 people at the reception since my fiance is jamaican. You said that you paid a total of $4k for your guests daily meals, tips and reception dinner for 33 guests. Quick question(s)..... *did you guests eat breakfast, lunch and dinner there daily? *did you have a wide variety of food to choose from? and if so did you have to provide them with menu before hand or were they quite flexible? *you mention that you brought some of your own liquor, they didn't have a problem with you bringing your own? I read in an earlier post that Miriam told someone that offsite drinks were not allowed. Thanks in advance for your reply:) Hi Sunkissedleah! Congratulations! I’m veryyy sorry for the late reply. I’ve been a little busy these past two weeks but…I’m back now to help you guys with any questions you may have :-). Not doing AI will definitely help you save a LOT! Especially when you’re paying for your guests. Below are the answers to your questions. If you have more, please feel free to ask! ***did your guests eat breakfast, lunch and dinner there daily? Yes, all of them ate there…three times a day + snacks P.S. – Out of 20 guests, 4 were kids (Ages 2, 5, 7 & 11) ***did you have a wide variety of food to choose from? and if so did you have to provide them with menu before hand or were they quite flexible? When you get there, they will ask you the times you want to have the three meals served. I think we did 10am for breakfast, 2pm for lunch, and 7pm for dinner. And…after each meal, they will ask you what you would like to have for the next meal. They have menus for all breakfast, lunch, and dinner but they can also make ANYTHING you want as long as the ingredients are available in Jamaica :-). They’re extremely flexible! We never used their menus nor did we provide our own. We just told our chef, Mark, to cook whatever are his most favorite Jamaican cuisines. So…he cooked whatever he wanted the entire time. And boy, was he amazing! Every single dish was super delicious!!! Five-star quality with five-star service at a five-star resort :-). ***you mention that you brought some of your own liquor, they didn't have a problem with you bringing your own? I read in an earlier post that Miriam told someone that offsite drinks were not allowed. MDCliffs doesn’t allow it but if you’re staying at MDVillas, you can bring your own liquor. I actually remember asking Kim (Chicago office) if it was okay and she said it was completely fine. Just know that if you’re taking the liquor with you from the US, Jamaican customs only permits 2 litters per person, at least back in August 09. But please verify this with either Jamaican embassy or customs (Jamaica Customs Department) to see if this rule hasn’t changed. These days…airports & customs change their rules every minute. Happy planning :-)

Quote: Originally Posted by cali2010 Dear Rydm: Thank you so much for taking the time to provide answers to all of my many (many) questions! You don't know how much your responses have put me at ease! I already have a few more questions for you...lol! I will try to limit myself though! I really appreciate the suggestion about the rehearsal dinner at the cliffs. That option wasn't presented to me, so I feel like I may not be asking the right questions or maybe I am just not thinking outside the box! I am really worried about going over budget because I feel like I am not really setting anything in stone - there are so many options and I get overwhelmed. Did you find that it all just comes together at the end? Also, how did you settle your wedding related expenses - like, were you able to put it all on a credit card or did you have to pay cash to each individual vendor? The budget/expense part really worries me because I am afraid that I don't have a true grasp on how much I am really going to spend. Also, did you have a dance floor? LOL...another decision I am trying to make! Congrats to all the other MDV and MDC brides! I can't wait to hear more about your planning adventures! NegrilBrideToo - how exciting! We are both May brides! :-) To Big3N09 - I am catching up and read your post that you linked here. I just wanted to let you know that I think you are very brave to follow your heart! Please know that you can always vent here - it seems like everyone is very supportive, no matter what! Best wishes to you! Cali2010 - you’re very welcome! I’m sooooo sorry for taking forever to get back to you! I’ve been a little busy these past couple of weeks but things are back to normal now :-). Below are the answers to your questions. Please don’t limit yourself…. feel free to ask any questions you have! Really! I’m very happy to help!! ***I really appreciate the suggestion about the rehearsal dinner at the cliffs. That option wasn't presented to me, so I feel like I may not be asking the right questions or maybe I am just not thinking outside the box! They don’t advertise this option. I had to call and ask them if they could do it for me. I got the idea from Claudette, a former bride on this board. She didn’t do AI but during her stay, the resort planned a special AI dinner for her and her guests for $30/person. So I called and asked if they could do the same thing for my rehearsal/welcome dinner, which they were every happy to arrange. ***I am really worried about going over budget because I feel like I am not really setting anything in stone - there are so many options and I get overwhelmed. Did you find that it all just comes together at the end? It really comes together at the end. Also, what I did was keep track of every single expense on excel. It’ll help you see where you are with your budget. Shoot me an email and I can send you the spreadsheet I used for my wedding. My e-mail is [email protected] ***Also, how did you settle your wedding related expenses - like, were you able to put it all on a credit card or did you have to pay cash to each individual vendor? The budget/expense part really worries me because I am afraid that I don't have a true grasp on how much I am really going to spend. Except for the videographer, we paid all venders through the resort with a credit card. We just thought it would be safer and easer to make one big payment rather than deal with different vendors with different due dates. ***Also, did you have a dance floor? LOL...another decision I am trying to make! We didn’t have a dance floor. Honestly, you don’t really need one. Most of us wore our shoes the entire time and the sand didn’t bother us at all. Besides, I found the dance floor to be very costly…. I think they were asking $400 for it.

Hey Girl! I'm sooo sorry to hear about this!!! I haven't logged on here for a while so I’m just finding out. I hope you're doing well and staying strong!!! I read everyone's reply and they gave some good advises. You did the right thing so continue to be strong! Best of luck!!!!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by negrilbridetoo Rydm, thanks so very much for all of the invaluable information you have provided!! I really appreciate it. Another question, who did your hair and makeup? Were you pleased? You mentioned you paid extra for the rehearsal dinner at MDC, was this the non-all inclusive package? Thanks again! You’re very welcome, negrilbridetoo! I’m glad I could help! ***who did your hair and makeup? Were you pleased? I forgot his name but it's the one the resort recommends. They said he's the best in the area but that wasn't the case for my guests. I understand the weather is very humid there and if you have hair that gets affected by it, the moister will cause it to lose the style it has been set into…..but…not before you go outside. Five of my guests got their hair done and by the time he was finished, the style didn’t look right at all. Thankfully, they brought their curling irons so they had to go back and fix it again. Although I didn’t have high expectations, somehow mine turned out to be beautiful (until the humidity got to it). And my makeup was also good. But, I’ve done hair modeling for salons & magazines and I've seen my hair at its best...and his work didn't come anywhere close to that. Don't get me wrong, he's extremely nice, polite and has a positive attitude but I don't recommend his work. ***You mentioned you paid extra for the rehearsal dinner at MDC, was this the non-all inclusive package? We didn’t do all-inclusive and because we stayed at MDV, we had to pay an extra $30 per person for the rehearsal dinner at MDC. If you’re staying at MDV, I highly recommend not doing AI. You’ll save so much. We stayed for five days and our overall cost was only $4,000. This covered everything for 20 guests staying onsite including the recommeded10% tip for both of the 5 bedroom villas, some liquor, the wedding reception dinner for 33 guests as well as the good buy barbeque for about 25 guests. If we had done AI, the cost would’ve been $125 x 5 days x 20 people = $12,500 and it doesn’t even cover your outside guests for the reception diner and the good buy barbeque (if you’re having one). We tried not to use their liquor though. We brought some with us and also went out and bought some from the nearby supermarket. But overall, we saved about $8,500 by not doing AI.

Quote: Originally Posted by gbyrd Wow!! I am so excited for everyone, congrats Rydm. My wedding is at the moon dance cliffs on August 21, 2010 but we are all staying at the villas, and then honeymooning for a couple days at the cliffs. I can't wait to read everyone's reviews. It would be nice to do the welcome dinner at the cliffs but I think I am going to make it one of the surprises on the wedding day. I am also wondering whether to do the DJ or the Band. Any suggestions? Hi gbyrd! Thanks a lot for your best wishes! Congratulations to you as well on your up coming wedding! Hope planning is coming along great! I’m sure having the wedding at the cliffs will be one nice surprise for your guests. The view there is spectacular!!! My husband and I are already planning on going back for our first anniversary :-). They actually offered us 30% off if we return within a year. We got married on August 15th so we’ll be there a week before your wedding :-). We hired Front Page band for our reception. They’re REALLY good!!! Claudette, a fellow bride on this message board, used DJ Paul/Sound Illusion for her reception and recommends him very much. I guess it depends on your preference. We wanted a live band…more specifically…a reggae band. My husband has Jamaican roots and I was born in Ethiopia…so, we both grew up listening to reggae or reggae influenced music all our lives. In addition, we chose the reggae band because they play live for the first three hours and for the forth hour, they let you use their equipment to play anything from a CD or an ipod. So, with them, you get the best of both worlds :-). However, the DJ may be a better route if you’re not into reggae music that much. Hope this helps! If you have additional questions, you know where to find me :-). Happy Planning!!! ~Rebecca

Quote: Originally Posted by negrilbridetoo Hi Cali2010 and Rydm Rydm, Congratulations and welcome back!! It sounds like you had an AMAZING time. You have made me even more excited about my day next year. Who did you use for a cake baker? Did you do any off site excursions with your guests? Cali2010 I too am getting married at MDV in May and you asked some great questions. Hi negrilbridetoo! Thanks so much for your best wishes!!! We had an excellent time!!! I’m sure yours is also gonna be as beautiful as you imagined it to be! I hope planning is going well for you! Please see the answers to your questions below: *** Who did you use for a cake baker? I used Margaret. She’s awesome and so easy to work with. She responded all of my million questions on a timely manner and her price was very reasonable. If you decide to go with her, please deal with her directly. The resort says $350 as a minimum price for a wedding cake but by dealing with her directly, I was able to negotiate and get mine for a cheaper price. *** Did you do any off site excursions with your guests? We didn’t do any excursions. My husband and I really wanted to but we were there only for 5 days (Thursday to Monday) and didn’t have enough time for it. Unless you’re there for a longer period, I’m not sure if you’re gonna have enough time to fit it in. I’m gonna break down our schedule to show how fairly crowded the five days were. On Thursday, our flight got there at 11:30AM. We were expecting to be at the resort by 1:30PM, however, US Airways lost my carryon bag, the one that had every accessory for the wedding (jewelries, shoes, ring pillow, tiara, makeup…etc)…. long story but it was found in the end…so because of that, we didn’t get to the resort until 5PM. On Friday, we had a meeting with Oneika to discuss the final details, then my makeup and hair consultation, and finally the welcome/rehearsal dinner. We did the rehearsal on Saturday morning because Oneika run out of time on Friday getting things ready for the welcome/rehearsal dinner. On Saturday, rehearsal in the morning…. then manicure, pedicure, makeup, & hair…then I started getting ready for the ceremony & reception. We had TTD on Sunday morning and a goodbye barbeque for all of our guests in the afternoon. On Monday, we all left around noon. So I guess, it depends on what events you have planned and how long you’re staying there. Don’t plan anything major on the day of your arrival and departure, as things may not go according to schedule. For us, it didn’t so we were very happy we budgeted time for some possible delays and baggage losses. If you have any more questions, please feel free to shoot. I’ll be very happy to answer them :-) :-) Happy Planning!!! ~Rebecca

Quote: Originally Posted by cali2010 Hi Rebecca! I am still really new to this message board and had previously posted on the Moon Dance Villas thread, but this one seems to get more responses. Thank you so much for sharing your review of MDV. I am so happy that you had such a great experience! I am getting married at MDV in May and am a little nervous because I really haven't had much contact with Oneika. I have so many questions! I hope you don't mind! Did you plan any of the wedding when you got to MDV? Or was it all pretty much finalized before you arrived? Was it extra to have the rehearsal dinner at MDC? Also, how did the transportation work? All of our guests will be staying at MDV. Did you request any of the tiki torches, etc. or did they just do it for you? How much was the fire dancer? Did you have him perform at the wedding or the rehearsal dinner? I am so worried because I feel like I haven't really done any "planning", but it sounds like Oneika took good care of you and your group. I would love to hear more about your planning process! I feel like I am so behind! Hopefully you can share your pictures when you receive them! :-) Cali2010 - Please don't worry. Any questions you have, throw them all. I am here to help! I know exactly how you're feeling because I was in that same position once. In the early stage of my planning, Oneika wasn't as responsive as I expected her to be. She did reply my email in a week or two but I found that process to be so slow.... That’s when this forum came in handy. By communicating with past & future brides, I had most of my basic questions answered. But now after going through the whole process, I understand why things were that slow towards the beginning of the planning. Oneika tries to prioritize her assignments and tries to give her time to those who need it the most at the time. When my wedding had about a month left, Oneika assured me that most of her focus would be on my wedding. And she kept her word. She was available every single time I tried to reach her. The closer your wedding gets, the more available she becomes. I understand how frustrating it is if you're someone like me who tries to be done with everything way in advance. But, please keep in mind that in the end, everything will be excellent! Now to your questions :-) ***Did you plan any of the wedding when you got to MDV? Or was it all pretty much finalized before you arrived? It was pretty much finalized before we got there. The only thing I did was giving Oneika every thing I brought for the wedding. We also had a meeting with her to go over all the details. ***Was it extra to have the rehearsal dinner at MDC? We paid $30 per person. It includes two drinks (fruit punch & rum punch), salad, three entrees of your choice, rice & peas, steamed vegetables, and dessert. I had Oneika get us two cases of assorted sodas. I forgot how much the cost was but it was way less than $50. For anyone who wanted to order liquor, they set up a cash bar. ***Also, how did the transportation work? All of our guests will be staying at MDV. For transportation, they had shuttles for us. Going to the welcome/rehearsal dinner was complementary but we were charged $2 per person for the ride back, which was completely fair. ***Did you request any of the tiki torches, etc. or did they just do it for you? I mentioned to Oneika over the phone prior to our arrival to Jamaica but she had already planned on doing it anyway. ***How much was the fire dancer? The fee was $250. ***Did you have him perform at the wedding or the rehearsal dinner? This one has a little story to it:-). We almost missed out on having the fire dancer perform at our reception. Oneika and I talked about the details three or four months prior to the wedding. The only thing left was diction on the performance date. However, we never made a reservation because my husband and I were so undecided on whether to have him perform at the rehearsal or the reception. On Thursday, when we got to Jamaica, we asked Oneika if we could get back to her with our answer by Friday morning. She said no problem but guess what? We forgot to do so. We were distracted by the excitement and everything else that was going on, we didn’t realize we forgot to give Oneika the go to hire him. On Saturday, shortly after the reception started, we were like…Oops!!! We immediately called Oneika and asked her if there is anyway she could make it happen. Initially, she had her doubts, as he was never informed about our reception. But half way to the event, there he was putting on an outstanding show! Thanks to Oneika and thanks to him. Our guests were just blown away by his performance and we were so glad he was able to perform with such a short notice!!! Please don’t hesitate to post if you have additional questions. I’m here to help so feel free to ask me more questions :-))))

Hi Ladies! We’re back from our honeymoon :-) and I’m a married woman now.....wooohooo!!!! LOL! How are you all doing? I miss you guys very much!!! I hope everything is going well for you guys! Don’t worry, everything will be beautiful!!!!!!! We did the ceremony at the MDV (that’s where we stayed too) and the welcome dinner at the MDC. EVERYONE went above and beyond to meet all our needs! Words can’t explain how beautiful everything turned out. These people truly care about your needs and will do anything they can to make you happy! Not sure how many of you are working with Oneika but OMG…she is just AMAZING! I don’t even know where to begin but all our guests said this is the best wedding/vacation they’ve ever been to. I get teary eyed when I think of the ceremony and how BEAUTIFUL everything was. Like I said, words can’t describe it!!!! I wish I had my pictures to show you but they’re not ready yet. All I’m gonna say is that you are in good hands!!!! Everything will be great!!!! Few suggestions…… Fire Dancer If you can fit it in your budget, please consider hiring one! You will not be disappointed!!! We kept it secret from our guests and it was just a nice surprise! He was so much fun to watch and amazingly talented!!!!!!!!!! Welcome/Rehearsal Dinner I was considering Rockhouse and Pushcart restaurants but I am SO SO SO glad I chose to do it at the MDC!!! Those of you doing the wedding at the Villas, the Cliffs would be an excellent chose for welcome/rehearsal dinner. Those of you doing the wedding at the Cliffs, I still recommend doing the welcome/rehearsal dinner there unless you mind the fact that both the wedding & the welcome/rehearsal are taking place at the same resort. This place has views that are just out of this world!!!!! The sunset was the best any of our guests or I have seen!!!! The only reason we didn’t do the wedding and reception there was because we wanted it to be right on the beach. But I’m telling you…..that’s one beautiful resort with amazing views! Everyone at the MDC was soooo nice! The food was delicious! They didn’t charge us for the decorations, chairs, tables….etc. The theme I picked was Jamaican so they used different colors for the tablecloths and napkins, which gave it so much color. The event was set up on the cliff’s edge, on the deck of Annie’s restaurant, where they usually do the wedding receptions. It was a privet event so we had the whole area to ourselves, which was a plus! They had candles on the tables and tiki torches everywhere. With the sound of the waves and some smooth reggae songs, it was just so romantic!!!! Uh…I just want to go back!!!! The only bummer was the rain. It rained right before they served dessert. However, they immediately moved us to one of the Villas. I don’t even know when they set it up but plan B was ready and set to go. So the event continued in one of the villas and everyone had an awesome time! TTD Shoots Please please do this! It’s sooo much fun and you’ll have amazing pictures!!! I haven’t seen mine yet except for the few our photographer showed us on her camera but I just can’t wait to see them all! Our photographer suggested we rent a jet ski, which was an awesome idea!!! We cruised around with the wind blowing my veil before I trashed my beautiful dress. We had a lot of fun! My dress turned out to be completely fine! As Claudette suggested, I took a shower with my gown on after the shoots :-) :-). It was just soo funny! Don’t forget to take some pictures if you decide to do this. It’s all part of the fun! I could go on and on about the wedding, reception…etc. but it’s just better to show you the pictures (when they’re ready) as “a picture is worth a thousand words”. In the mean time, please feel free to ask me any questions! I would LOVE to help in anyway I could :-). Happy Planning! One love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ~Rebecca

Hi Ladies!!! Claudette is having a problem logging in to this site. I'm not sure if you're experiencing the same thing but it's been running VERY slow lately. But she asked me to tell you guys if you have a specific question, please send her a private message. MissBlade - I was wondering the same thing. Not sure if there is any difference...but...we're doing it in Jamaica because we wanted the date to be the same as the ceremony date. Mastistyle - Thanks again for the song list. It's very helpful! My wedding is just around the corner - 8/15/2009 :-))))))))))))). Oh....I reviewed your list and it looks good. I don’t think you’re leaving anything off. Neha - I know the resort suggests 10% but that's only for the employees on site. Not sure if it includes the wedding planner. Ceremony music - I’m hiring Front Page Band....Oneika said I can use their speakers to play the ceremony music. Centerpieces - I might end up using Floral Fantasies. I know...it's expensive…but it's one less thing to worry about if I don't bring it with me. Christy - Try e-mailing Kim ([email protected]). I've e-mailed her in the past and she usually gets back to me on the same day. Big3n09 – Cute picture! Happy Planning ) ~Rebecca

Quote: Originally Posted by big3n09 Thanks rdym for the advice. If you don't mind me asking why do you want 2 photographers? I am going to check out all the options you have suggested and thanks again. My FI & I both believe it takes more than one photographer to tell a complete wedding story. We want our day fully documented so having a 2nd photographer definitely maximizes the coverage. The 1st photographer can't be two places at once….so the 2nd shooter will definitely see something that the 1st one completely missed. Also, when one does the formal portraits the other could focus on the photojournalism. In addition, when my FI & I take more pics after the formal portraits, the 2nd shooter will stay with the guests to document the cocktail hour. I just think you get so much with two photographers and the difference in cost is definitely worth it…..and….it’s usually not big if not nothing.

Quote: Originally Posted by big3n09 For the those of you that have already booked DJ/Band what was required to book them a deposit or anything? I want to book the music and photographer first then the rest should be easy. Hi Big3n09! Hope you're dong well. Our photographer is Christine Schaeffer at Digital Photography. Her Web site is amazingweddings.net. We're taking her as well as her assistant with us from Maryland and they're covering our entire weekend in JA. Her work is excellent and her price is reasonable. She did give us a break since we're also using her for our reception in Virginia. You can view her work online but I recommend you see it in person if you have time. The print and album qualities are one of the best I’ve seen. She took our engagement pics few weeks ago. She's so fun to work with. She kept us smiling all the time. She is wonderful. We really look forward to working with her on our wedding weekend in JA as well as the reception in VA. Before we booked Christine, we talked to Scott, another great photographer! His Web site is Nyla Photography, destination wedding photographer, New York wedding. He did a wedding at MDC in April of this year. The pictures are amazing...they're posted on his blog @ - Journal. Check them out (They're towards the bottom of the page). Of all the photographers we have talked to, Scott has by far the BEST customer service. He's sooo nice! He answered all of our questions in great detail by attaching pictures and giving examples. We didn't go with him as we were looking for two photographers....and his price for that was a little bit over our budget since we have a tight budget. But even after we informed him we weren't going with him, he offered his help to answer any questions we’ll have while looking for another photographer. We took him up on his offer and asked him a lot of questions. He gave us great tips and advises and warned us about some of the things we need to be cautious about when hiring a photographer. He has also started doing videography recently. His style is very unique. He has a different Web site for that, which is www.nylastudios.com. Another good photographer that we talked to was Shane Carpenter Shane Carpenter Wedding Photography. He takes good pictures and also has good customer service. He wasn't in our price range as well but was willing to help with any questions we might have in the future. Our band is Front Page band. We reserved them through Moon Dance and there is no deposit requirement. We’ll be paying Moon Dance along with the rest of the wedding costs before we arrive or when we arrive in JA. I hope this helps! Let me know if you have any questions.

Hi Claudette! Congratulations!!! Your pictures are amazing and I am very happy that every thing went well for you! You look stunning and your dress is beautiful! I read your reviews and the answers to everyone’s questions. Thank you for taking the time to help us!!! I also have questions….most of them are about costs. Please don’t stress about answering them all in one post as they are a lot and could take you long (sorry about that). I’m putting together a list of songs for our reception in Virginia and was wondering if can see the list you created for your wedding. It will help me a lot as I’m sure there are a lot of great songs I forgot to include. I reserved The Front Page band for our reception at MDV….I don’t think they come with MC…..I was thinking of considering Oliver based on your review. By any chance, do you know what his cost is if hired with out DJ Paul? I like the lighting package idea. I never even thought about it until you mentioned it. I’m certain it made a difference. I wonder if the band offers it. I’ll have to check with Oneika. Your cake looks soo pretty! Who did it? How much did it cost you and for how many people did you order it? Did you have to pay extra for the flower decorations? Your TTD pics are amazing and the cave looks awesome! You mentioned the elderly woman, the owner of the property, charges more if she sees you in your wedding gown. How much more does she charge? Did you change your dress after you entered the property or before? It’s probably better if I change after entering the property to avoid traveling in my wedding dress since MDV is about 6 or 7 miles away from the MDC. BTW, how long did it take for your dress to dry after your TTD shoot? We’re doing our TTD on Sunday and have to be going back home the next day (Monday afternoon) to get ready for our reception in VA. Hopefully, I don’t have to pack it while it’s not too dry :-). For the rehearsal dinner, did the Rockhouse restaurant have an outside sitting area or was it inside? How much did it cost you per guest? Can you please send me a copy of the menu? [email protected]. We’re also thinking of going with the fire dancer. How much did you pay for him? Not sure if we should reserve him for the rehearsal dinner or the reception. From your pics, it looks like he was a lot fun to watch. I loved your decorations. I still haven’t decided on what I’m going with. Just wondering…how much the two flower arrangements at the gazebo cost you? Your bouquet is also pretty! Was that completely covered by Moon Dance? I saw you holding one on your TTD pics as well. That must be one of your BM’s, right? Or did you order two? BTW, did you use the spa at MDC? If so, how did you like it? I made reservations for my hair & makeup. Hopefully they’re good. Since you didn’t do AI, how much did you pay per guest for the reception dinner? Can you please send me the menu if you have a copy of it? They don’t have a restaurant at Moon Dance Villas…so...we would have to create a menu on our own. MDC’s price may be different but at least it would give me a good idea of how much we should expect to spend per guest. Did the menu include the fruit displays, deserts, chocolate fountain…etc I saw on your pics (It looks great BTW) or was that extra? Thank you soooo much for all your help again!!!! Wish you and your husband a great life and a happy future together!!!!!!

Hi Taovandel, Thanks a lot for stopping by to check on us. So nice to hear from you! I'm very happy for you and wish you all the best!!! I'm sure you're wedding will be as beautiful as you imagined it to be! Can't wait to hear about it and see some pics :-). Claudette's wedding was a week ago. She's probably on her honeymoon now. I'm sure she'll contact us soon to let us know how it turned out. Mine is 75 days away. Can't believe how fast time is flying. We're having a big reception in Virginia two weeks after our wedding so I’m spending a lot of my time in planning for that now. Hope all else is well with you. Enjoy every minute of your Big Day! Again, wish you all the best!!!

big3n09 - I think you should start planning and reserving vendors as soon as you can. Sometimes vendors get booked far in advance. If you start early, you’ll have a greater chance of finding most vendors available on your date.