Carina

Hi Ladies, Well, I think I have my computer issues worked out and figured out how to get my pictures on here. Anyway, here is a quick review of the Iberostar Rose Hall Beach. The resort was beautiful, we booked the best room and hoped to get upgraded to the Presidential Suite, I think there are 2 or 4, but apparently they just varnished the floor so couldn’t do it. We arrived on the Saturday and had a rehearsal dinner on Monday night at the Japanese restaurant as some of our guests didn’t arrive until Monday. We all sat around the grill and had a great time. We got married on Wednesday and I chose 3:30 to get married so that it wasn’t too early. Everyone hung out at the beach, then my maid of honour and I and our mothers went to the salon which is at the Iberostar Rose Hall Grand. For the life of me I cannot remember the manager’s name, but she is a beautiful lady, inside & out. We actually had a manicure and pedicure the day before and at that time checked our appointments for the next day – good thing – they only had me booked for a hair updo, but I had requested hair & makeup for both myself and my maid of honour. Anyway, the manager rectified that by calling in extra people. They drive you back and forth from the spa in a golf cart, but on the day of the wedding, the manager brought her extra large car to drive all four of us so that the wind from the golf cart would not mess up our hair! The bookings were originally made by Sandy from the IRHB, so, I suggest you all doublecheck your appointments with the spa directly once you arrive. I notice a lot of you seem to be trying to find someone to make a cake. We had the cake that was part of the package and it was delicious. They make it according to how many guests there are – we had 29. So, to me, trying to find someone on the island to supply one just seems to defeat the purpose of a destination wedding when the cake the resort provides is great! Also, the pictures I have posted were taken by the resort photographer at Digipix. We advised that we wanted to upgrade to 24 with a CD but on the day of, my husband and his best man spoke to the photographer and asked him to take as many pictures as possible and to give them to us on a CD and they’d throw him some extra on the side. So, in addition to the hotel package – we also have a CD (and a spare) with close to 500 pictures which we had by the next morning. For the flowers I just went with what was provided, but picked the alternate tropical. I did ask for the multi coloured palm leaves wrapping the stems and didn’t get them, but no big deal. I think the flowers were beautiful and also ordered a bouquet for my maid of honour, and a wrist corsage for both of our mothers, with boutonnieres for the groom, best man, and the groom’s father. I didn’t order any extra flowers for the pews or for the arch, just took their standard which they then added to the dinner table after – even though I don’t think they matched my decor! I included pictures of the dinner set up at Uncle Tony`s as I could not get Sandy to tell me the length or set up no matter how many different ways I asked. Anyway, we had 29 people and that was the set up – except that they originally had space between the three different tables, but my cousins made them move them together! I brought the decorations for the table, all they had was the white table cloth, cutlery and glassware. I brought the brown and teal runners, the shells, tea lights and holders, and starfish in addition to the starfish bottled stoppers. The one major suggestion I have for anyone getting married here is to rent the restaurant. Sandy kept telling me that you had to have 40 people to do this and we only had 29, however, there was someone on the next night with 28 that did it! Further, on the night of our wedding, another wedding party was ushered into the restaurant just as we were finishing. Their ad says one wedding per day – so it was a bit of a surprise – but apparently, when I spoke to the manager – he said that we didn`t book private so they figured it would be okay and that party was married offsite and only having their dinner there. The other issue is that there are not really any bars or discos to go to after dinner. There is a disco next door but it doesn`t get going until later and is for a younger crowd, so it may not be appropriate for all of your relatives. There is a karaoke bar, but not really where you want to be on your wedding night. I would suggest either renting the beach restaurant and having a band play afterwards with an open bar, or having a cocktail party with DJ or band set up on the terrace. As for the wedding itself, everything went smoothly as far as I was concerned, although my fiancé was sweating it out!! It had started to rain so they pulled the chairs inside off the terrace where we originally planned on having the ceremony to see if it would dry up, but it didn`t so they set up in the lobby instead. This ended up better in my opinion, as even though we were inside in the air conditioning, it was still hot, so imagine being outside! And, the marble looked great in the photos in my opinion! While waiting for everything to be re-arranged, I was in my room with my MOH and mother having room service (advice – don`t have the veggie sandwich – onions! My husband didn`t appreciate it) and champagne and OJ! The wedding consultant`s assistant, Crystal, waited with us and then when they were ready, brought us down and instructed us. I also had a CD playing before, during, and after the ceremony – all wedding songs done on the steel drums! As you can see from the pictures, the weather cleared up even before the ceremony started. I would recommend around 3:30 for the ceremony so that even with delays, you will have time for pictures before the sun sets, which is around 6 pm or so in May. You can see from some of the pictures on the pier that the sun is going down, however, the pictures taken on the beach with the pier in the background were taken after that and it seems brighter! The best advice I can give is to try to arrange everything you want, but don`t stress too much. You will meet with the wedding coordinator once in Jamaica, and honestly, I think that is probably the most important meeting as she didn`t seem to recall any of the prior requests I had made. For example, I enquired about the prices of different flowers by e-mail using the specific reference numbers on Tai Flora`s website, and once there she told me it was too late I should have enquired before!! And she also told me on the day of that the flowers ordered for my hair wouldn`t be there in time for my hair appointment but in time for the wedding. The salon called over and pressured her and the flowers arrived in 15 minutes! Overall, everything was amazing and we shared an incredible week with our friends and family!! Oh yeah, some of you asked about the cost, we did pay an additional $18 per person over 6 or 8, no extra grat added to the bill, but we did tip the staff, particularly the waiter who kept running up to the main bar to get mixed drinks! Iberostar Rose Hall Beach Wedding - a set on Flickr If this link doesn`t work, let me know your e-mail and I`ll e-mail the picture! Carina

Hi Ladies, Well, I think I have my computer issues worked out and figured out how to get my pictures on here. Anyway, here is a quick review of the Iberostar Rose Hall Beach. The resort was beautiful, we booked the best room and hoped to get upgraded to the Presidential Suite, I think there are 2 or 4, but apparently they just varnished the floor so couldn’t do it. We arrived on the Saturday and had a rehearsal dinner on Monday night at the Japanese restaurant as some of our guests didn’t arrive until Monday. We were all seated around the grill and had a great time. We got married on Wednesday and I chose 3:30 to get married so that it wasn’t too early. Everyone hung out at the beach, then my maid of honour and I and our mothers went to the salon which is at the Iberostar Rose Hall Grand. For the life of me I cannot remember the manager’s name, but she is a beautiful lady, inside & out. We actually had a manicure and pedicure the day before and at that time checked our appointments for the next day – good thing – they only had me booked for a hair updo, but I had requested hair & makeup for both myself and my maid of honour. Anyway, the manager rectified that by calling in extra people. They drive you back and forth from the spa in a golf cart, but on the day of the wedding, the manager brought her extra large car to drive all four of us so that the wind from the golf cart would not mess up our hair! The bookings were originally made by Sandy from the IRHB, so, I suggest you all doublecheck your appointments with the spa directly once you arrive. I notice a lot of you seem to be trying to find someone to make a cake. We had the cake that was part of the package and it was delicious. They make it according to how many guests there are – we had 29. So, to me, trying to find someone on the island to supply one just seems to defeat the purpose of a destination wedding when the cake the resort provides is great! Also, the pictures I have posted were taken by the resort photographer at Digipix. We advised that we wanted to upgrade to 24 with a CD but on the day of, my husband and his best man spoke to the photographer and asked him to take as many pictures as possible and to give them to us on a CD and they’d throw him some extra on the side. So, in addition to the hotel package – we also have a CD (and a spare) with close to 500 pictures which we had by the next morning. For the flowers I just went with what was provided, but picked the alternate tropical. I did ask for the multi coloured palm leaves wrapping the stems and didn’t get them, but no big deal. I think the flowers were beautiful and also ordered a bouquet for my maid of honour, and a wrist corsage for both of our mothers, with boutonnieres for the groom, best man, and the groom’s father. I didn’t order any extra flowers for the pews or for the arch, just took their standard which they then added to the dinner table after – even though I don’t think they matched my decor! I included pictures of the dinner set up at Uncle Tony`s as I could not get Sandy to tell me the length or set up no matter how many different ways I asked. Anyway, we had 29 people and that was the set up – except that they originally had space between the three different tables, but my cousins made them move them together! I brought the decorations for the table, all they had was the white table cloth, cutlery and glassware. I brought the brown and teal runners, the shells, tea lights and holders, and starfish in addition to the starfish bottled stoppers. The one major suggestion I have for anyone getting married here is to rent the restaurant. Sandy kept telling me that you had to have 40 people to do this and we only had 29, however, there was someone on the next night with 28 that did it! Further, on the night of our wedding, another wedding party was ushered into the restaurant just as we were finishing. Their ad says one wedding per day – so it was a bit of a surprise – but apparently, when I spoke to the manager – he said that we didn`t book private so they figured it would be okay and that party was married offsite and only having their dinner there. The other issue is that there are not really any bars or discos to go to after dinner. There is a disco next door but it doesn`t get going until later and is for a younger crowd, so it may not be appropriate for all of your relatives. There is a karaoke bar, but not really where you want to be on your wedding night. I would suggest either renting the beach restaurant and having a band play afterwards with an open bar, or having a cocktail party with DJ or band set up on the terrace. As for the wedding itself, everything went smoothly as far as I was concerned, although my fiancé was sweating it out!! It had started to rain so they pulled the chairs inside off the terrace where we originally planned on having the ceremony to see if it would dry up, but it didn`t so they set up in the lobby instead. This ended up better in my opinion, as even though we were inside in the air conditioning, it was still hot, so imagine being outside! And, the marble looked great in the photos in my opinion! While waiting for everything to be re-arranged, I was in my room with my MOH and mother having room service (advice – don`t have the veggie sandwich – onions! My husband didn`t appreciate it) and champagne and OJ! The wedding consultant`s assistant, Crystal, waited with us and then when they were ready, brought us down and instructed us. I also had a CD playing before, during, and after the ceremony – all wedding songs done on the steel drums! As you can see from the pictures, the weather cleared up even before the ceremony started. I would recommend around 3:30 for the ceremony so that even with delays, you will have time for pictures before the sun sets, which is around 6 pm or so in May. You can see from some of the pictures on the pier that the sun is going down, however, the pictures taken on the beach with the pier in the background were taken after that and it seems brighter! The best advice I can give is to try to arrange everything you want, but don`t stress too much. You will meet with the wedding coordinator once in Jamaica, and honestly, I think that is probably the most important meeting as she didn`t seem to recall any of the prior requests I had made. For example, I enquired about the prices of different flowers by e-mail using the specific reference numbers on Tai Flora`s website, and once there she told me it was too late I should have enquired before!! And she also told me on the day of that the flowers ordered for my hair wouldn`t be there in time for my hair appointment but in time for the wedding. The salon called over and pressured her and the flowers arrived in 15 minutes! Overall, everything was amazing and we shared an incredible week with our friends and family!! Iberostar Rose Hall Beach Wedding - a set on Flickr If this link doesn`t work, let me know your e-mail and I`ll e-mail the picture! Carina

Hello All, I just returned from my wedding at Iberostar Rose Hall Beach. I'll do a review tonight and post some pictures so you can see the pier and other locations. We had our dinner at Uncle Tony's but I think it is Aunt Emma's for those at the Suites. You should all keep in mind that the sun is down by 7 pm so make sure you take pictures before your ceremony. We had ours at around 4 pm and after pictures, just had time for a drink and freshening up before dinner at 7 pm.

Hello All, I just got back from Iberostar Rose Hall Beach on Saturday. I will try to post some pictures tonight of all the locations at the hotel. Everything was beautiful, so don't worry!! Carina

Hey Irishfrog ... where'd you get that name?? Yes, you must be getting excited!! I am leaving 2 weeks after you and getting married 2 weeks after you!! I asked Sandy to send me more info and she sent me a kind of questionnaire called "Wedding Details" that basically asks where you want to have the ceremony, what upgrades you would like. But my understanding is that you can basically arrange all of that once you are there. I am not really going to do too much extra except having a bar set up during dinner. I am bringing decorations of my own to decorate the tables with. How did you hear about the photographer? Is he located in Jamaica and does he have a website? I would definitely consider using him as the packages the hotel outlines are over-priced. I'm going for my first fitting this Saturday too!! Good luck!

There is some information, but not a lot. Search the forums, or if you click on my profile, you can see the other threads I have posted on that are about the Iberostar. I am getting married at the Iberostar Rose Hall Beach (hotel, not suites or grand) on May 20, 2009! Hope that helps!

For all of the Canadian brides, I just made an enquiry about whether there would be duty charges if I ordered these starfish wine stoppers and customer service advised that they pay all of the associated duties! My Dream Wedding: Starfish Wine Stopper

Thanks Casey, I see you are getting married 4 days before me!! I will be on my way to Jamaica while you are getting married!

The picture of the place setting may not have worked ... try this ... sorry, new to this!! http://www.australiaentertains.com.a...day-mosaic.jpg

Wow, this is a great site!! I too am really in love with starfish ... now more than ever!! On one favors site I found out that they are a symbol of renewal, regeneration, and symmetry! Here is a picture (on the left) of a place setting I am going to try to do. Is everyone transporting everything with them?? I am not sure how that is going to work! Here is my wedding invitation. The starfish and blue backing were glued onto the main piece and the envelopes were the same color of blue. They're not as fancy as some I've seen on here, but the price was very good - they were made by a local scrapbooker within 5 days!! i-do-day-mosaic.zip Wedding Invitation.pdf

Thanks! Yes, we need more Canadians as some of the ideas I have found are from the brides in the States, so, not really of use to us up here!!

Hi Dodds?? Thanks so much for your review! I am booked for May 20, 2009 at the IBRHB. I had a few more questions if you don't mind!! You mentioned red candles on the tables at the reception. Were these included or did you add them on? Were you able to pick your color? And, did you ever light them during the reception? Were there any other extras for the reception other than the flowers that you could choose? From the information I have found regarding Uncle Tony's Steakhouse, the bar consists of only beer, wine, pop, coffee, and tea. If cocktails are desired, there is an extra charge to set up a bar, did you do this or was this available? Many of my guests drink alcohol as opposed to beer/wine. So far we have 25 booked including my FI and me! Thanks for your help! Carina

Hello Ladies, I'm getting married at Iberostar Rose Hall Beach on May 20, 2009. I noticed Jenn's date is in May also - what week will you be there Jenn? There are some previous posts from others, but really, there is not much info available about weddings at this resort. As everyone seems to say, don't worry it will all work out. Looking forward to sharing any info I find! Carina

Hello Everyone, This is is Carina and I am getting married to my fiance Josh at the Rose Hall Beach Hotel in Montego Bay, Jamaica on May 20, 2009!! Look forward to sharing info with those already married at that location or planning on it!