siyoung1005

Thanks everyone for all your well wishes, regards and messages of Luck, please can you all pray for good weather, as at the moment our day is the only day next week forecast for thunder, lightning and rain Simon PS will provide reviews and pictures when back

Hi Tinky, I know we have PM each other over the last few months a couple of times, we are using Ari for some of our wedding items next week, flowers, bouqettes, cake, hair and make up etc etc and she really has been great, she is super responsive, very reasurring and much better than the onsite WC at RPTB, in our opinion anyway, but to give teh WC at RIU her dues she is being really great at the moment and we are meeting her on Monday. Ari though seems great, we are also using Sun Gold for the photos, which we hope are going to be awesome. Might even see you at RPTB on Wednesday we are the only wedding that day 4pm. In the thunder and rain.....please pray for the weather forecast to change. Simon and Alex.

Hello all, hope you are all well. Only 7 days before we start our trip starting in southern spain, then to the UK, then over to Jamaica for our wedding in 12 days, then from Jamaica to Nassau for honeymoon, back to Jamaica for our flight to the UK then finally home to Spain on the 10th December. So not long to go at all, any tips or advice on the final days we are getting married at the Riu Palace Tropical Bay in Negril, at 4pm on the 25th Nov. Its been a slog, stressful, emotional and sometimes extremly upsetting but whats done is done and i think finally everything will be perfect. We will post pics and reviews when we are back. All the best Simon and Alexandra

Hi ToryWedd, Our wedding date is fast approaching, 25th November 2009 at 4pm at RPTB, we havent shipped any items to the resort in advance, but we have ordered bouqettes, a cake and some smaller items from an external wedding company who have been great, we have the Royal package for 50ppl, we only have 24 guests but it was compulsory to upgrade and we had an extra charge for it, I guess the decision between Gazebo or Beach depends on your group size, I have been advised that the Gazebo would be for a Smaller Party maybe 10-20 guests, if there are more then its apparently difficult for people to see and hear whats going on. We are planning on the beach location, we are able to choose a spot thats private and secluded from areas on the beach. We have the Royal Package and its being held in teh Steak House area betwenn 630 and 830 following that we have a cocktail hour on the beach. I must advise that we have found the WC at RPTB less than helpful, we understand that they deal with 100's of weddings a year, but most of our small requests we made that were not part of teh package, they couldnt provide or they could but at amazingly high prices 4-500 dollars for a cake and 150-250 for a tropical bouqette as the ones included in the Royal package did not have the correct colours or style. this is just 1 example! We leave in about 38 days for the wedding, hoping that everything falls into place nicely when we get there. I can provide more infor for you on our return of how everything went. Simon and Alexandra

Speak to Ari at Negril Jamaica Weddings.com Ari has had to step in and help Alexandra and I get everything we really wanted for our wedding as the resort Wedding Co-ordinator has been and is currently less than helpful or accomodating with minimal requests. On the other hand although we are only using Ari for small items, floral decorations, cake and hair and make up, she has been a real breath of fresh air and very helpful even though we are only using her for small items, we wished we had gone through her for everything else.

Hello all, Only 49 days to go before Alexandra and I get married and Riu Palace Troipcal bay and maybe its just us, but i can say its been like banging our heads against a brick wall for the majority of the last few months, but we are finally getting there and the jigsaw is fitting together, although we have had to use extarnals in order to get exactly what we want, offerings from the resort WC's has been limited, which is a bit of a shame and caused us massive stresses, but all we be alright on the night. A question i had was does anyone know if there is a CASINO near by? I had an idea for favours and a little bit of light entertainment, we were going to get a number of 2.00USD chips and place them in organza bags for our guests along with a card, poker, roulette, slot machine etc etc and go to a casino for the night and see if anyone gets lucky. Does anyone know if there is anything like this nearby to RPTB. Hope everyone elses plans are going a lot smoother than ours are. Best Regarss Simon and Alexandra

Hi Tinky, Sorry if we are hijacking this thread slightly. I take it 2009 not 2008, we are in resort from the 21st - 29th Nov 2009 before heading off to the Bahamas, maybe we will be there some of time and the same time. Say hello if we can! Alex found a make up artist called Loni Jones and has booked her to do her makeup and the bridesmaids too, i dont have her contact details but i know alex has her on facebook so you could search i will ask Alex for an email address or something and let you know. Thanks Simon Quote: Originally Posted by xxxxTinkyxxxx Congratulations, glad you had a great time. I'm also getting married at RPTB on the 1st December 2008 !! Siyoung1005 can I ask which make up artist you are using ? Tink

Hi slgscot, we were quoted $400.00USD for per hour for the steel band, other bands we were quoted on was a reggae band at $750.00USD per hour and a Mento Band at $250.00USD per hour, this documentation was provided to us from RIU. Hope this helps, We cannot confirm the steel band booking until 2 months before hand, so i guess that figure maybe subject to change in another months time. Simon

Great stuff many congratulations on your wedding, looks fantastic, we are getting married at RPTB on the 25th November 2009 and have lots of information, advice and experiences from other people, which have been great in the majority and some not so great. In response to the above Keneika is no longer working with RIU, the new WC is Ann Marie, all of the arrangements are being made at the moment via email, between now and our wedding date it is the key time frames for making the arrangements with the WC so i would say you can ask questions and you will get a reply but for making any secure bookings this will be in some cases 3 months in advance and in other just weeks or days. We have rented the chair covers for a beach ceremony we are taking our own chair shashes to go round them and tie and bows. We have the Royal Wedding Package, my W2B is in the process of making all of the floral arrangements, colours, types and styles with Ann Marie now. You can order extra flowers for guests and bridal party at a cost. We also looked at the cost of having a private reception on the beach but the cost was not justifiable for ust 24 guests, for any semi private reception over 10 guests it is held in the Steakhouse, which is as states a semi private but you can decporate the tables and the area, and i think most people with common sense that see a wedding party will not sit in the middle of it. you have 2 hours of time, 630-830 or 830-1030 for the receptions, we are having ours at 630 time slot, then following this we are hoping to have a cocktail hour on the beach in a private area with tiki torches and a steel band for one our for first dance, toasts, and we have a limbo beach game also Yes we are brining in external vendors, specifically for the wedding photography from Sun Gold Photography and a make up artist they are allowed but there is a fee of 100USD. We are decorating the area for the Semi Private reception we are brining our our things like table sashes and lanterns for the tables, i think its your own decision but personalising it may make it feel a bit more special and private, you can rent the steak house our privatly but there is a charge of approx 1200 dollars, and you cannot book this until you arrive in resort, you cant book it in advance, we thought about this too. The nightclub so i am told is in the RIU ClubHotel, and is about 15 minute walk down the beach, have heard very little about this. Anyway, i hope this gives you some answers to your questions, clearly people that have been through their wedding will no more than me, but i can tell you more after November 25th. Best Regards Simon and Alexandra

Hi Sara, Many Congrats and welcome, im new here also. Alexandra and I are getting married at RIU Tropical Bay in November 2009, we are coming from Spain (but from the UK). So far everything seems to be going well from the planning point of view and we have a lady called Keneika on hand in resort that is answering our questions and helping us with arrangements. We cannot confirm anything for 2 more months but they do have 2 or 3 weddings per day at differnet time slots, ours is at 4pm and the last of the day, as we wanted Sunset pictures etc. We have the Royal Wedding Package arranged, the cake (external), the photographer (external vendor) all arranged already in advance. There are some reviews on here that you can read through, I will let you know how things go with arrangements and will do a review after the event. Best of Luck Simon

Quote: Originally Posted by Sloan Simon -- feel free to check out my RPTB review. We had a good time at our reception. The service was great (from what I remember of it - lol) We only had 9 guests with us, so it was semi-private. There was another bridal party at the Steakhouse that night, but they weren't too close by and I dont honestly remember seeing them during our dinner. Keneika would decorate the tables for you Im sure, if you brought extra decorations with you. We didn't have any extras. The tables were set up how they would be for any normal night. We were fine with it. Hi Sloan, Can you send me a link to your review, i cannot seem to navigate to your review using the link you have on your signature, i dont have access to that, I think its because i havent been a member for long enough. What did you do with your guests following on from the dinner you had? Did you head to a bar or various bars? Thanks Simon

Quote: Originally Posted by Sloan Im really of no help, except that the steakhouse is right beside the pool. Not a clue about the dance floor. You'd have to email Keneika on that one! The beach reception did look pretty chic though! Hi Sloan, Can you give me a some information on how your Steakhouse dinner turned out, we have approx 20 guests and we are going to have it here, we will deceide if possible when we arrive if it is possible to have it exclusivly, did you have it all to yourself or did you have it Semi Private? did they decorate tables etc for you? do yo you have any pictures of it? Thanks in advance Simon Young

Hello Everyone, Been trying to find some advice and do some research so hoping this is the place to be: We are Simon Young and Alexandra Rackham from the UK (but living in Spain) We are getting married on the 25th November 2009 at 4pm Riu Tropical Bay Negril Jamaica is the destination for it and we have approx 20 guests booked up to come. 132 days to go