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Aunt Ruby's is nice however it was really hot. We were counting on the great ocean breeze to keep us cool but there was very little breeze. Given that there was no AC we were hot. Everyone was pretty drunk so no one made a big deal about it. It all depends on the weather that night! Michael Saab is great!!

Hello ladies: I know I have been absent for a while but I have had a lot of catching up to do since we returned. I posted my full review of our wedding earlier but I never got around to posting the pics. Well here they are!! THe link to the website is: http://saab-weddings.smugmug.com/2010-Weddings/Jennifer-Andrew/12125152_iRP5P#862366741_oas9s the password is: JenDreW THese are the pics from our photographer. He was amazing. I highly recommend Michael Saab photgraphy. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I know that there are a lot of pics but you will get to see it all. Our ceremony was at the lazy river and the reception was Aunt Ruby's Happy Planning

Quote: Originally Posted by lmuze Congratulations and thanks for the review. Can't wait to see pictures. Do you know how big the tables were? I want to bring my own tableclothes. I know they sit 8 for round tables. We had round tables that fit 10 people. I had one table of 12 people and they had to combine a few square table for that one. I could not break that table up.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jules23 Great review! Thanx for the posting. Did you communicate with grandegarden before your trip or not untill you got there? I always read about people emailing pictures of what they want. Also, what did you do after the reception? Cant wait for pictures! We spoke ahead of time and I sent them pictures of what I liked. They also had a lot of pictures on their website. Will send pics as soon as I can!!

Ok here goes. I am now back from the honeymoon and I want to put it all together. Overall it was a great experience!!! This may be a little long, I apologize in advance. We arrived on Thursday which was 3 days before the wedding. Check in was no problem. Nicole had a bottle of wine and fruit waiting in our room. We met with Nicole on Friday. She had all of the notes from our prior meetings and conversations which were very reassuring. One issue that we had to deal with was that we went from expecting 40-50 people to having 87 people so we had to change the venue from the gazebo to the lazy river. We agreed to have the ceremony at the lazy river and the reception at Aunt Ruby’s. I met with the florist from grandegarden on Friday. I picked out orchids as the main flower and found out 2 days before the wedding that secondary to the drought in Jamaica there was not going to be enough orchids. This kind of freaked me out but they did a great job!! We had to move the site of the rehearsal dinner from the Mar Nostrum to the gourmet restaurant secondary to the size. The rehearsal dinner went over without a hitch. The food was great. We also had a meet and greet in the music bar beforehand that went great. Andrew and I were so excited and our guests were having a blast. On the big day I woke up at the crack of dawn (of course) because I was so excited. I had my hair done in the spa and was a little disappointed. My hair did not turn out as the picture I showed the stylist but my girlfriend fixed it the best she could. It the spa’s defense I have extremely curly hair and I don’t think that girl in the spa was prepared. This made me 30 minutes late for the wedding. The ceremony at the lazy river was great. The minister was great and kept the crowd entertained. We kind of felt like superstars as it felt like the entire resort was focused on us!! Andrew and I missed most of the cocktail hour because we were taking pictures but everyone said it was great. The reception was at Aunt Ruby’s. While the venue and the whole outdoor theme was nice I must tell you lady’s it was HOTTTTTT. We were counting on the ocean breeze as it is right on the ocean but there was no ocean breeze on that night. Everyone made the beast of it anyway and we had a blast. The liquor was flowing and the music was pumping which made it all fine!! With 87 people we had very little room for a dance floor on the side that the tables were on. We had our first dances and the speeches there then moved over to the other side for the party. Aside from the heat I will have to say that everything went great!! The food was good although I did not eat very much. VENDORS: Photographer: Michael Saab Photography LOVED, LOVED, LOVED. The photos are out of this world. I have 700 of them and I have to sort through them. As soon as I do I will post them. His photo journalistic approach was unbelievable. He got us the pictures as well is such a timely fashion. I can’t recommend them enough. He and his wife make a great team. Florist GrandeGardenthey did a great job. I wish that I had a bit more of a heads up on the orchid situation but they pulled it together. They were a little expensive but I was happy with the job they did. DJ He played good music but we had some technical difficulties with the equipment. Ensure that they test equipment ahead of time Nicole Although she is not quite a vendor I want to say something brief about her. She is really good at what she does. She is very overworked which makes it hard for her to respond to us while we are overseas. I found her on the property every night at 11 or 12am. She will definitely hook it up while you are there. I would only worry about things that are more difficult to get in advance. For example I really wanted a chocolate fountain but I could not pull it off because the vendor was out of town and needed more notice. She really did a great job. We gave her a nice tip at the end as well for all her hard work and she deserved it. I promise to post the pictures as soon as I can. If you have any questions do not hesitate to ask.

Hey guys!!! Well we did it!! We are still in Jamaica on our honeymoon in negril but all in all everything went great!! I will post a full review as soon as I get back. Everyone had a blast and Andrew and I were so happy on our day! Will sent pics as well

Quote: Originally Posted by NegrilLB Hi everyone! I'm back from our wedding and honeymoon and in the process of writing a detailed review. It may take me a little while because it's going to be long and I need to upload the pictures, but I'll try and have it within the week. In a nutshell, we had an absolutely fabulous time and so did our guests. The things that were most important to us actually exceeded our expectations (and they were pretty high to begin with). We truly feel that we could not have chosen a better place to have our wedding. CONGRATS!!!! I am so happy that it went well. Makes me feel better. My wedding is one week away and I can't reach Nicole at all!!!! I just want to seal some last minute details but I am realizing htat I may just have to wait until I get there. We have 85 people confirmed. Did you guys get married on the lazy river or the beach? Can't wait to see your pics!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by NegrilLB Thanks for sharing the review! I didn't know that they had a free shuttle to Margaritaville, so that's good to know. I didn't even think about the wristband on the wedding day...will definitely not want to be wearing it in all the pictures. Sorry i have been a little MIA work has been crazy!!!!!! Congradulations on the big day. I can't wait to hear all about it!!! 112 wow that is big. I'm sure nicole is gonna do a kick ass job. I know that alot of people have had a hard time getting her on the phone but I think that this is her worst month. When andrew and i met her in January she seemed really attentive to the wedding happening on site. Best of luck!! Can't wait to hear all about it. Jen

Thanks for the review!!!! Congradulations. I'm really glad that you had a good time. Quote: Originally Posted by JamaicaorBust2010 Here's the link to my review: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...-suites-54854/ Sorry - no pictures, I can't upload them from my work computer

I agree a few days before the wedding is not a good time for surprises!!!!!! I will call the grandeGarden today. When I call JA I use skype on my computer and it is pretty reasonable. I can't seem to get nicole any other way. Quote: Originally Posted by NegrilLB Thanks for the tip on GrandeGarden - I didn't know that they were an option. Flowers and decorations are the one part that I haven't been able to get much details on as far as what is offered and the prices. I e-mailed Tai Flora and got a response for 3 items, but there wasn't much detail. Basically they said a vase of tulips was $140, a small rose arrangement was $65, and a small cylinder with rose petals and a floating candle was $10. Those flower arrangement prices seemed high to me, but then again I really don't have anything to compare it to. I e-mailed Flower Studio a while ago and got no response. Has anyone had any better luck? I'm thinking of calling but haven't gotten around to it...and calling JA is so expensive. I know that when you get to the resort for the wedding that you pick out your flowers and decorations then, but I don't want any surprises with the prices, lol. If it's super-expensive I'll probably bring more of my own decorations down with me.

Can't wait to hear your review!! I hope your trip went well. Andrew and I are flying out on Jan 21st and will be back on the 25th. Nicole has not done much in the way of planning with me so I am hoping that this trip will nail down a lot of the details. Did you meet anyone from Floral Studio? 28 booked so far!! I was starting to get concerned because everyone waited until the deadline to book. Quote: Originally Posted by asheeki Thanks for getting back to me on Tai flora, I spoke to Kimoya and she told me about Grandegarden because their florist cannot do some of these arrangements that Grandegarden and Tai Flora can do and doesn't have some of the props. Tai Flora is great but I hear they have a tendency to be late, Kimoya directed me to the Grande garden website which is great!! and I contacted a natalie that works with them and she is also very personable apparently they do flowers for Hilton but will go to any hotel to do flowers because. Visit their site guys well this is my last posting until Monday when I get back from Jamaica, I will be meeting with them as well as other vendors and I am looking at other hotels too. Have anyone viewed the photographer Michael Chens website, he is just as good as Saab and Sungold and gave me better pricing, very humorous person. Bye got to do last minute packing.

Congradulations!!!!! I am so happy to hear that you are back and things went well. I am sorry to hear about the candles incident. I would have been upset too but it seems like you had a great attititude and handled it well!! I was surprised to hear that you were happy with the photographer. I am anxious to see your pictures because based on the horrible reviews I was going to hire SAAB photography. I have not put a deposit yet so I may consider using the hotels photographer after your review. Question on the flowers: I thought that TiaFlora was the florist for the hotel. Is that the florist you were talking about or is there another option? Do you mind if I ask how much you had to pay to dress up the lazyriver? Congrats Again!!!! Quote: Originally Posted by edSweety Hey guys i wrote my review on Iberostar Rose Hall Suites here is the link I hope it works http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...wedding-53621/

Quote: Originally Posted by lmuze I visited Iberostar Rose Hall Suites in September where I met with Nicole and was so glad I chose this resort. I loved it. Anyway, I forgot to post pictures. Here are the pictures of Iberostar Rose Hall Suites plus a few of Iberostar Grand Hotel Rose Hall. IRHS/IGHRH - a set on Flickr Thanks for posting the photos. They are pretty. I noticed that nobody was in the ocean. Is it rocky? I am hoping that my guests start ot book soon. So far only have theee booked Are you guys sending out reminders? I don't want to be too pushy but I am afraid that our deposit will be lost if people don't start booking soon.

Your photos are great!! Thanks for sharing. I confirmed SAAB photgraphy. He is a realyl nice guy and I think he will do a great job. Andrew and I are still planning a trip for January so I will try to catch a wedding while I am there.

I can't believe that May is 6 months away!!! I have had to take a break from the whole wedding thing because work has been crazy. Do you guys know anything about SAAB photography? They are based out of montego bay and the online pics look great. I wanted to know if anyone has used them and what their thoughts were. Thanks

Hello!!!!! I am alose getting merried in may 2010!!!! I will be going ther in January (hopefully) if all goes well to check it out and make arrangements. If you need me to do anything while I am there let me know!!! As far as the ipod situation goe I think that you can just pause it for breaks. I will also try to put them on some sort of shuffle. Happy planning!!! Quote: Originally Posted by magz88 Hi I am getting married in may 2010. I will not be able to visit the site before then. Does anyone have pictures of the resort from visiting or from their wedding? A couple other questions i had were...if you hook up an ipod for the dj to use, how would you break to do things like cut the cake or first dance with mother/father? Usually the dj is in charge of all of that, will they know to do those kinds of things? Do we have to tell them certain times when we want to do this stuff? Thanks for your help!

I agree it does not make sense at all!!!! If worse gets to worse call the resort and ask for Nicole. She is usually there by 11:00am. She will get back to you. SOmetimes you have to be a little on top of her but she will get back in touch. Don't book anything until she confirms your date becasue they only have one wedding per day. I also called Nicole and spoke to her about the ipod issue. She said that the dj equipment can connect to an ipod but they have to make sure that they have the appropriate cord. I aksed if that means we can speak to the DJ ahead of time and she said that would be fine. Hope this helps!!!! Jen Quote: Originally Posted by NegrilLB Danielle, that definitely doesn't make sense! I had my date reserved months before I booked my room, and I still haven't booked my flight yet. I e-mailed the resort and they let me know if my date was available and sent me some forms to fill out and send back. Try e-mailing them again, maybe they over-looked the first e-mail.

I hope that my statement did not introduce any negativitiy to this site especially because it is so helpful to all of us. I was trying to say that if you are looking to have a full wedding ie private reception, DJ, open bar etc you will not find that anywhere. I looked at the riu palace in negril. I actually travelled there and met with the representative. Their free wedding does not include a private reception. In addition it has a limit on the number of guests. Moreover, if there is another wedding on your day you can not bring a DJ whether or not you are willing to pay for it. THe riu in Ocho Rios has a conference room so they are willing to give you more privacy. I fully researched the riu and they are great as long as you just go along with whatever they have preset. If you want to change or customize anything you have to pay for it and it is really hard to get their onsite people to be flexible. I hope that I have not offended anyone. Quote: Originally Posted by BachataBride Ouch.... But just to let you know, I had 20 people attend my wedding and again FREE. I had enough cake for everyone, enough champagne to go around...I was lacking nothing. Anyway, that's enough of this - that's not what this forum is about.

Taylorbride: I am so sorry to hear that you are having a hard time. As far as the cost of the wedding goes I know that it kind of stinks that you have to pay for it. What I will say is at least they are upfront and open about it. Take my advice--> I have been looking at destination weddings since september 2008....THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE DESTINATION WEDDING...THEY ALL GET YOU IN THE END....AT LEAST IRHS IS UPFRONT ABOUT THEIR COSTS AND YOU DON'T GET SURPRISED AT THE END. If your travel agent is suggesting that you can have a free wedding in the carribbean I suggest that you fire him or her becasue they are giving you very bad advice. In long run it is still a lot cheaper than getting married in the US. There are some resorts that have cheaper packages but they are cheaper resorts that are not as nice. You can try to talk to Nicole but my experience with dealing with many wedding planners at these large resorts is that it can be difficult to get them to break protocol but you can try. As far as the beaches closing is concerned I became alarmed that they would forget about the one wedding per day policy at the suites to accomodate brides from the beachs. I have been in touch with nicole and asked her this directly but she averted answering my question. She just said that by the time my wedding comes around (May, 2010) it should be re-opened. After saying that she also would not commit to when it would reopen. She said that she would keep me posted. For those of you planning a wedding sooner I think that you should call them and make them commit one way or another so that there are no surprises. Looking forward to getting down to the plannning; hearing you guys talk about cakes and flowers is getting me all excited!!!!!!!!!!!!! Jen

Hey guys: I have been so busy lately that I haven't had time to log into the forum. So much has happened!!!!!!! I am really surprised to hear that the beaches is closing. This is a little concerning. I really hope that they don't try to squeeze more than one wedding per day to accomodate the brides from beaches. I am going to call them today. What is TDD photos? Someone made reference to it in an earlier email but I have no idea what that means. I also bought my dress and i am really excited about it!! I have to start thinking about what I am going to bring as a welcome pack for my guest. WIll keep you all posted after my conversation with the wedding planners at suites.

CONGRADULATIONS!!!!!!! I am so happy for you. GLad to hear that it went well. Looking forward to getting your review! For now enjoy the honeymoon!!!!!!! Jennifer Quote: Originally Posted by volleygriff CONGRATS!!! and im so excited to read your review and see pics!!!! Hope you are having GREAT time!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by volleygriff By the way, has anyone booked rooms and flights or anything yet- im trying to figure out a ballpark estimate of how much my guest will be looking at to pay. Congradulations on booking. I'm sure you feel a big sense of relief after making that decision. I am booked for May 2, 2010. You will love this blog. THere is a lot of great info!! As far as the order of things go I am planning to have the ceremony on the lazy river followed by an outdoor cocktail hour then dinner and reception at the steak house. I am planning a private reception at the steakhouse with dinner, DJ, dancing, open bar etc. THey should have sent you their wedding packages with all the upgrades. The basic wedding package does not include the cocktail hour and the reception. Take a look at it when you get a chance. It will help you figure out what you want and don't want. HOw many guess are you planning on? The reviews seem very favorable on the time and attention that the wedding team places on each event. As far as travel goes I am working with an agent. She negotiated a group rate for my guest with the hotel and she will be handling the booking for my guess. THe rates I got are $570.00 for 3 nights, 950 for 5 nights, and 1330 for seven nights. THese are all inclusive packages but do not include airfare. SHe is very professional and responsive. She will organize everyone's travel and keep you posted on the progress. She will also allow people to make payment plans which I think is a big plus. Her name is Rimma. Her email address is [email protected]. Best of luck and welcome!!! Jen

Quote: Originally Posted by breeze616 Hello Ladies! Just wanted to introduce myself.. I've been poking around this forum for awhile now and I am waiting for confirmation of my wedding date at either the Iberostar Rose Hall Suites or the Iberostar Rose Hall Beach for December 2010 (still lots of time). Looking forward to many more posts btwn now and then!! Welcome to the thread!!!! I love it too! You will get a lot of helpful information on this thread. I wanted to let all of you know about a site that I found over the weekend. It is a site that will host a wedding website for you for free!!! It also has templates to help you set is all up. I think it is a great way to keep everyone informed up until the day of the wedding. You can even have an RSVP section which I have not set up yet but if your having a shower or bach party u can use it to track who is coming and send out invites. The templates are fine. If you are a huge techie than you may find them a bit boring but I think that is serves the purpose!!! The address is FREE Wedding Websites | MomentVille Andrew and I's site is Our Wedding Website | Welcome | JenDandAndrewP check it out!!

Which travel agent are you using? My travel agent got a similar rate but it did not include airfare. QUOTE=Chelymo;864816]NegrilLB: I would recommend you definitely talk to a TA, mine quoted me $1260/pp double occupancy for 7 nights which includes air from Miami and $713/pp double occupancy for 3 nights again including air these rates are for last week of April 2010.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tashi OOh Yes they are on Island time down there so they will respond but not right away. I have a travel agent thats helping me a whole lot she got me great deals for my guest if your interested let me know. She works out of miami and she's Jamaican so she knows how to negotiate with them. As far as the center pieces, the coordinator told me we have to get our own center pieces but they will set everything up for us. I was thinking of just geting glass bowls with water and puting 1 pretty pink flower in it with clear rocks at the bottom. I know someone that lives 5 minutes from the resort so I was planning to ship it to them Hello my name is jennifer I am getting married at the iberostar rose hall suites may 1, 2010. can you give me the name of your agent who booked yourtrip? My agent has been working on getting better rates but she has not gotten very far. THanks, Jen