jk1101

If you go on their site and look at the wedding of Leslie and Jay, their wedding was at Iberostar. If you go to their blog, and check the archived months it's an easy way of searching for ROR. PS - you're better off emailing Paula/Damian directly, rather than via this board - [email protected] [email protected]

Quote: Originally Posted by bahiabride2010 Gorgeous! Love the song and what a beautiful bride you made! Thank you - the song is called "Best Days" by Matt White. We saw him about 3 days after we got engaged...just this guy playing the guitar and singing at a show at the Stone Pony - we felt like he was singing right to us - I tear up every time I hear it!

I actually talked to my photographer in Jamaica the other day. She said it's been rainy there, but it is their rainy season. Generally it would rain for a couple of hours and then stop and the sun came out. this is a site that has web cam to the resort we stayed at - you can keep an eye on it and see if it's raining a lot. hope this helps! Palladium Addict: Web Cams | Palladium Addict | The Original Fan Site of the Grand Palladium Resorts, Hotels & Spas | Mexico Mayan Riviera Puerto Vallarta Dominican Republic Jamaica Montego Bay Brazil

Ladies, I finally posted my review - so sorry for the delay - here is the link: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...-review-59917/ Also here is the link to all of my pictures and my slideshow: http://pictage.com/829817 Sir Jim and Lady Michele at The Lady Hamilton Resort. HOME

The Resort – A The resort itself is beautiful and gigantic-1800 rooms. I really didn’t see any difference between the Lady Hamilton and Jamaica side at all. There were kids on both sides. The Lady Hamilton side has the Beach Front suites – the Jamaica side might too but I didn’t look for them. We got there at 1pm but our rooms weren’t ready – if you are going to be there before 3pm be prepared for this as check in time is 3 - they gave us drinks and a place to put our bags – locking up my dress – we were able to get into our bags to change into shorts and walk around, get food and find some friends. View of the lobby Tip #1 for GPLH Brides – Have a meeting place for your guests – we had one by the pool for during the day and one in the lobby at night. Someone would get towels to save some of the lounges by the pools…the ones on the sides of the pool don’t get as crowded as the ones in the front/beach facing. When our rooms were ready they sent a golf cart to take us and our bags. I was extremely dismayed to find out that A) my BFFs were on the other side of the resort my mom &dad were on the 3rd floor of a building with no elevator – they were able to switch my parents but not my friends. Tip #2 for GPLH Brides – Make sure your TA knows if anyone is handicapped or needs a 1st floor room – there are no elevators in any of the villas – only 2 in the main buildings. There is a lot of walking. The golf carts usually come when you call for them. Rooms – Our room was beautiful – king size bed – Jacuzzi tub in the middle – what I didn’t love was that the toilet was in kind of a stall – with a partial door – so if you are private about bathroom activities, as we are, it’s a little uncomfortable. We ran the water when we were in there to make it less “noisyâ€. We never got a robe or slippers – some of our guests did – sometimes we had towels, sometimes they replaced them, the maid tended to come later…if you leave notes and cash you will get more done. The mini bar has soda, red stripe and water. They refill that daily. There’s also a coffee maker in the room – the coffee is delicious. The night we got there we had a fruit plate delivered to our room with a note welcoming us. The really nice thing was on our wedding night, we came back to a room filled with flower petals, saying I love you on the bed, and a petal filled bubble bath in the tub with champagne. Loved that. Room placement – we were in villa 39 – it was the 2nd to farthest from the main building on the Lady Hamilton side, but very close to Poseidon restaurant (where our reception was) and the beach that had snorkeling and catamarans, so we didn’t mind. Food - A Food was probably the best thing this resort has to offer. All of the buffets were excellent and the food was really tasty. We ate in every ala carte restaurant except Bhogali – they were all fantastic – beautiful presentation – everything was tasty. I would suggest making reservations in advance – you have to make them before 2pm that day – but you can make them for the entire time you’re there in one day. The Sports Bar is almost always open and has burgers, fries, nachos, and it’s probably got the best AC in the whole place. There’s a Jerk Hut on the beach making paella and jerk chicken that was really good too but be prepared to wait in line sometimes. The Wedding Wedding Coordinator – C I don’t know if it was me or Phyllicia but I thought I was having a private reception with music and it turns out we weren’t. Make sure you have everything written down and I would suggest talking to Nina over Phyllicia. She got things done for us and seemed more organized. Tip #3 for GPLH Brides – Make sure you understand your package in full – Blue Lagoon has private receptions – Poseidon is a dinner restaurant – my reception was not private and we couldn’t play music but it ended up being awesome anyway!!! The ceremony on the beach was absolutely perfect, although they forgot to tell the official that we wanted a non religious ceremony, so he mentioned God, and then Jesus Christ…we were a little shocked (I stopped him when he wanted me to place the ring on his finger in the name of, as I was raised Jewish…couldn’t do it) but all in all, it was exactly how I’d been picturing it in my mind walking down the aisle to FI to the right song. The cocktail hour on the beach was also awesome – totally worth the extra money and the food was so good – everyone was raving about it. the Cake was delicious – It was supposed to be one layer chocolate one layer vanilla – it ended up being both layers chocolate – we used one that night and they gave us the rest to take to our room. We kept it in the refrigerator and ate it for the next few days. I didn’t bring anything to decorate it – they put plastic flowers on it and I think it looked fine. I brought candles and place cards for the reception that they set up perfectly. All in all, it was an amazing trip and the resort was beautiful. I think what people have to remember is that this is Jamaica, not the US. They do things slowly there, and while it may seem lackadaisical to us, it’s just their way – they do get things done – it’s just island time. Photographer – Sungold – Paula and Damian I did a ton of research on photographers and spent more on that than almost anything else – it was that important to me. When I saw Paula and Damian’s work, I knew I had to have them. When I emailed them about pricing, Paula told me she’d been talking to someone about my date, but they honored a “first come first booked†code on their website, so I went and booked asap. Paula met me in the spa while my mom and I were getting our hair done. She could tell how stressed out I was and got me to relax – she and Damian are so sweet and so easy to get along with – they made having our pictures taken fun. They even got my (now) husband to smile and relax, which isn’t easy – he had a habit of putting his chin up. They took tons of pictures before, during and after the ceremony, and came back the next day to do a TTD session at a local beach and shop. It took a bit longer than I would have liked to get my pictures back, but they sure were worth it. To see them go here http://pictage.com/829817 And my slideshow came out amazing as well. Sir Jim and Lady Michele at The Lady Hamilton Resort. HOME

Pre-Wedding, I was so on top of everything! Once we came home, and then with the AHR, and everything else we've had going on, I apologize for the lateness of this. Travel Agent – Destinationweddings.com – TA Sally F- – There is a thread devoted to the inconsistencies of this company, as they contract out to different TAs. My review is based on my experience with my TA – She went from being slightly ditzy to stressfully upsetting to me – I am sorry I used the company and her. Just some of the issues: She referred to my wedding (Michele & Jim) as the wedding of Tiffany and Jamal to my BFFs…they sent me the email…when I called her on it, she said she didn’t do it. She told me that she ONLY did destination weddings, yet she told my mom she worked a lot with adult communities (55 and over) and Senior Centers….really? Are the 55+ communities hosting a lot of DWs these days? She also mentioned that she sent another couple to my resort for Easter…I asked her…for their wedding, and she said “no, just for a vacationâ€â€¦don’t tell me you only do DWs if you don’t. My friend was emailing her from one email account and she would not reply to that email, but type in the wrong email address to respond, which resulted in multiple missed emails….this happened with several people. I blocked 12 rooms…I assumed that everyone’s rooms would be at least in the vicinity of each other. My 2 BFFs and my aunt and uncle were on the other side of the resort as everyone else. My 2BFFs sharing a room had one King sized bed DHs Aunt and cousin, mother and daughter also had one king size bed Our friend who traveled with her aunt – same thing. They all asked for 2 beds when speaking with the TA. The resort was completely sold out, so they couldn’t switch rooms once there – everyone dealt with it fine – but the TA is really a joke to many of my guests. So basically - Do Not Use them! Air Jamaica – B+ We were very happy to have a direct flight, and to go out of Philly was a little further for us, but less difficult than Newark Airport. They had a place to hang my gown and FI’s suit on the way there, but not on the way back – luckily my mom took my dress home and FI didn’t mind if his suit got wrinkled since it needs to be cleaned anyway. We didn’t get treated any differently because we were getting married – I had a Bride Hat on, but we had our parents with us so we all sat together. On the trip back there was NO MOVIE – definite thumbs down on a 3 hour flight. JTL Tours –B As far as getting us back and forth to the resort and airport, they were fine. What I couldn’t figure out is if we HAD to use them to go our tours – we did ziplining that we signed up through them, but then they kind of screwed us on the Dunns River, so we did that through another tour company. ZipLining A+++++ Canopy Tours - Zipline Adventure Tours - Montego Bay, Jamaica so much fun – the tour guides were friendly and informative – they double checked all of the connections to the line – I was a little nervous but it was great. Totally recommend. Me Ziplining Dunns River - D From Grand Palladium it’s a 3 hour bus ride EACH WAY – our bus had no speedometer and no Tachometer – a bit scary! We did not think it was worth the hour and a half of climbing with a crowd - we are both adventurous people but it wasn’t that fun. I think if you’re in Ocho Rios it wouldn’t be bad, but too far from Lucea/Montego Bay MORE TO COME

Quote: Originally Posted by taylorwd YEEEEEEA love your pictures!! Your bouquet is gorgeous! I love the sunset pictures. I must say, you have seemed awfully patient waiting this long to get them. I don't think I would have been as calm as you! Thank you - i wouldn't say i've been patient - i sent a few emails to the photographer...apparently the internet connections in Jamaica make it difficult to upload the pictures to Pictage - they're still missing some of my TTD session - i sent her another note today. I was checking the site daily, even though I knew i'd get an email when they were up! i'm so happy they are finally here!!!! I totally understand the missing feeling like a bride - I'm kind of glad it's over, but it was such a great feeling. Now we're known as "the newlyweds" so that's kind of nice too, though. Jenna - we had a date night last night too - DH surprised me and took me to the city (that's New York City for us) and we went to some jazz clubs and had some Thai food. it was HOT but so nice to just go out and enjoy ourselves.

Hi guys - i know it's been forever I finally got my pictures! Here is the link to Pictage http://www.pictage.com/829817 And here is the link to the blog with our slideshow HOME The photographer is missing some of the TTD pics on Pictage - you can only see them in the slideshow.

HOME We're the first one Michele & Jim

Long branch to Oak Ridge? Those are 2 big extremes! We're going to BBQs Saturday and Sunday and then having people over on Monday. I'm so happy to be having a 3 day weekend!

Here is the link to the thread with all the Grand Palladium info; http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...-brides-33471/ I just got married there in April. If you send me a pm I will definitely give you any info I can - 10 months is plenty of time to plan.

Hi everyone - I haven't been on much - I miss you all - i haven't gone back through all the posts but it looks like AHRs are happening all over the place - mine is Saturday - I'm not as excited as I feel like I should be. hopefully i'll get there. Mel - we're doing a slideshow of photos from the wedding too - and DH is bringing a PA system so we will DEFINITELY have music! i think i'm the only one who hasn't gotten their pro pics... I emailed my photographer yesterday.

OMG funny and sad.

Very exciting - I didn't love last season so I'm glad they've changed it up a bit!

Your hotel will have tons of tours available - I went Zip-lining in Jamaica - my place was closer Montego Bay, which is actually pretty far from Ochos Rios, but it was amazing! Canopy Tours - Zipline Adventure Tours - Montego Bay, Jamaica

All of the April brides are back now right? Yay!!!! We are all married now!

What I would do again: 1-Destination Wedding all the way - everyone had a great time! 2-Not have a bridal party! My friends wore what they wanted, were comfortable, and were still there for me. 3-BIG CUPS IN THE OOT BAGS-The hit of the bag and a must have at an AI resort with "drinkers'. Everyone loved them, and mine were glow in the dark! 4-Hair done at the spa 4 hours in advance. I cannot do my hair anyway but one way - I wanted it more "done" and the girl did a great job. 5-Spend so much time on BDW - I LOVE THIS SITE and all of the helpful women here 6-Tried ziplining - what a rush. 7-Splurge on the photographer - The house photographer's pictures were not good, and although i'm still waiting for the pro pics, the teaser I got was amazing. What I wouldn't do: 1-Not pay enough attention to the wedding coordinator - I thought I was having a private reception with music - I wasn't. We still had a beautiful wedding but I was very annoyed with her. 2-Not let my FI help a little more. He probably would have been better with some of these things. 3-used a different TA - DestinationWedding.com -TA Sally was horrendous. I'm so sorry I didn't use one of the BDW TAs. 4-Dunns River - it was so far from our resort and just kind of a let down.

I went tanning first but I used Neutrogena SPF 80 - Spray on and i seriously resprayed myself every hour. I think that's why I didn't get burnt at all. We took everyone's leftover sunscreen as they left because we needed so much of it. You really need to be vigilant with reapplying - my husband got so burnt the first day there that he was peeling and itchy by midweek. I'm not sure that the 80 was any better than the 45 that I switched to mid-week - as long as you keep applying and get in the shade if you feel the "burn" you should be ok. Good Luck!

Quote: Originally Posted by taylorwd Ours is "swimsuit required" casual! We rented a party boat and are taking everyone out on the lake to go swimming. That sounds like so much fun!

Our AHR is not formal but not casual - it's a lunch - but in a restaurant in a hotel/wedding place. We are wearing our wedding clothes but i think men would wear button down shirts and pants and girls cute dresses or pants...This was all my mom's idea - not ours. It's May 22. If we were going to do it ourselves we would have done it in our yard - very casual. Jenna, I think you have to join shutterfly to see them - I got a membership request from Tracy. The guy I work with is fine today - he's just one of those who acts first and thinks later. I love making the money here - I need to pay off my credit card from the wedding stuff but really, I kind of wish I had the summer off again!

Quote: Originally Posted by ebredhawk i am having SO much fun looking at everyone's pictures!! everything for everyone just looks gorgeous and perfect! it's making me impatient for mine! of course, she has to edit about 2000 pictures, so i'm willing to wait! I don't have my pro pictures either and I'm DYING - everyone keeps asking me too... I do have a link with a few more pictures on shutterfly though http://michelejimjamaica.shutterfly.com/pictures/200 I still haven't finished my wedding review. i'm slightly overwhelmed. We're going to Virginia next weekend on the motorcycle - Thursday - Sunday The weekend after is our AHR I need highlights for my hair I started a new diet with a new dr - STARVING!!! i haven't made it to the gym more than 2x a week since we're home I have to do the placecards and seating arrangements for the AHR My stupid email got a virus and sent crazy links to everyone in my contact list...including the guy i work with, who i think was offended that he got a link for black market Cialis....i had to explain to him about the virus.... Sigh.... I wouldn't mind a few days off....

Quote: Originally Posted by beachymombride I am helping my daughter plan her wedding and we used DW. One word useless!! My daughter's only stress during this entire planning was dealing with the DW agent her email response were short boarderline rude. When you wrote to her you felt you were bothering her. No detail response or no response at all. I wished I read or found this site before we used them. We are going to write a complaint letter but my daughter wants to wait until after the wedding. I would not recommend them. I feel if you don't buy the travel insurance the service drops to the bottom of the earth. I would just go with a local TA or try to find another DW TA with good reviews. that sucks - I hope she still has a beautiful wedding - I actually sent a letter to the 'manager" as well as to the president of DW.com a few weeks after my wedding - they have been very nice so far - it was important to me that they know who was representing them - my TA is very nice, just not very bright, and not a good TA compared to what I've heard about other TAs. Luckily, my wedding was AMAZING, but my DW.com TA was atrocious.

Sephora is great = you look AWESOME!!!

great job Michelle!!!! LOVE your dress!

Quote: Originally Posted by caribbeanLover Michele this is for you. So DH and I are talking about another vacation, don't know when, just looking.. so I decided to go look at reviews for the Grand Palladium in Jamaica (since we loved the one in PC so much) this is what I found, did you feel any of this?!?! (from Tripadvisor) We just returned from the Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Jamaica. We stayed from April 21-28, 2010. We went for our wedding and had 19 guest that also joined us. Below are all the problems we encountered and some tips.... -could not get into the spa to get my hair done for the wedding. -wedding planner could not even hook me up to get my hair done or offer free flowers for my hair. I booked my spa appointments online about 2 months in advance as was recommended. i'm going to guess this chick did not - my girlfriend did get a facial the day of the wedding without booking in advance - who knows? -the wedding was at noon, no one showed up to pick me up for the wedding until 12:25, so I was 1/2 hour late to my own wedding-rediculous. We were all picked up on time - if you called for the carts sometimes they came and sometimes we waited - they are definitely on island time there...lol -house keeping didn't even have our room clean by the time the ceremony was done, so we came back to a dirty room after we were married. they were not up on the room cleaning thing although on our wedding day they cleaned it while we were out and we came back to a bubble bath with rose petals and rose petals on the bed spelling out I <3 you with champagne and fruit. They didn't replace towels all the time...the place has 1800 rooms - I imagine it's tough to keep up with these things -we stayed in a honeymoon suite (which is the most expensive room), and they cleaned our room last everyday (around 4-6pm). -poor service all around -the concierge or the shops on the resort never had change like $1's, $5's. So take plenty of change for tips etc. I was prepared with TONS of singles - my MIL had to get change a few times - you needed to go to the front desk to get it, not the shops -make sure you take a large insulated mug for drinks, they only serve drinks in small cups and it can take a while to get a drink. My Giant 42oz cup was the biggest hit of my OOT bag - so glad i did that - the drinks were tiny and yes you had to wait but really, you're on vacation, RELAX, walk to the next bar if you have to, there were like 13 of them -we had to wait 3 hours at the airport before we even left to go to the resort. which of course they never told us that we were waiting on other flights to arrive. we landed at 1:30pm and got to the resort at 5pm. the trip to the resort is under 1 hour.that's not really the resort's fault, is it? -some of our party complained of stinky pillows. -the airconditioning on the whole resort is terrible including our room. the men have to wear long pants to go to the restaurants (not the buffets), so they were constantly sweating during dinner. yes, the AC wasn't very good in some of the rooms or the restaurants - i'm usually cold so for me it was great - a bit hot for the men wearing pants - my parents room was very cold - people were taking the covers off the thermostats to mess with them but it wasn't boiling hot - -good luck getting a ride from your room in the golf carts half of the time. i couldn't tell you how many times we called for a ride when we were dressed up, and no one ever showed up. -don't bother paying for the snorkeling trip for $16/person. the reef they take you to is kind of dead. just put a deposit down for the snorkel and mask and snorkel off of the beaches, it is way better and free. Agreed - we snorkled every day -the bus trip to Negril was fun, but the shopping they take you to is a complete tourist trap and there are no good deals except the blue mountain coffee which was $16. on the resort it was around $30. -don't worry about getting jamaican currency, everyone takes US dollars. -good luck getting a drink for breakfast, most of the time we were finished eating before anyone got to us to ask us for a drink. -if you want jerk chicken at the resort, be prepaired to wait about an hour unless you get there before they open. it's not that great anyway. they made it constantly from 12-4pm - you have to wait when they make it but it was very good -it seems that things are getting more dangerous because when we left we got a local newspaper at the airport and the headline read.... 522 murders in the last 117 days. That's on the whole island, not just around grand palladium Look at a map - it's actually very big -the resort was very safe. -they give you 2 free red stripes/day, so if you don't drink them leave a note in your fridge for them to leave the 2 free ones anyway. In your room fridge - it's free from every bar all day, just not in the bottle -if you want lobster, it is $30 each at any of the restaurants, but it is tasty. REALLY?? I didn't know that -the honeymoon suite is pretty nice with an outside shower, and a huge jacuzzi tub. we had a porch with an ocean view that was beautiful. -in general we had a great time with our friends and the resort itself is beautiful. for spending extra money and getting married, we had the worst service than the rest of our party. -don't expect anything from the casino. it is not even a casino, just slots. Yes that kind of sucked People like to complain. I could have complained about lots of stuff but really, the place was gorgeous and I GOT MARRIED!!!!! The food was delicious and I pretty much had a buzz on every day all day. People go there expecting US (or Canadian) 5 Star service and they have to remember, you are on an ISLAND that is almost like a 3rd world country in places. When you drive through parts of jamaica, DR and Mexico, they are POOR, dirt poor - and there attention to detail and their sense of urgency is just different than ours. People need to re-effing LAX and stop being so dramatic. I stopped reading trip advisor a while ago for my resort too Tara. I do check it for other places - we're going to Virginia next weekend so I do like to see if EVERY report is bad, it's a sign, and now Expedia and other sites have ratings too - you can't get away from it. But this chica should have made her hair appointment in advance...they tell you to. Ok, I'm done.