jh17

Our reception starts at 6pm and we asked the DJ to start at 7pm (we didn't want to pay $300 just for music during the meal so we are just going to use our ipod for the first hour) so I think our will go like this: 6pm-intro wedding party/bride and groom begin serving dinner right away (or soon after we are seated) speeches between courses cake cutting first dance, father/bride, mother/groom dances dancing into the night!!

Quote: Originally Posted by JennyLynnLong140 Girls you have nothing to worry about with this resort. I was there for 2 weeks and loved every minute of it. Yes pool tiles were missing and yes I did cut my foot, BUT it did not ruin my week or my wedding! We got married at 3pm and it was HOT, so if you have a big dress like I did I suggest getting married a little later. We got married at the Gazebo and it was beautiful, the view and the set up. There are also shaded areas up there for your guests to cool off. The judge was amazing and so funny and kept the whole mood light. One complaint is that we asked for a Civil ceremony and we had some God references in the readings but we let it go. Make sure you tell Jascynthia which one you want and make sure she lets the judge/Minister know. The music was played through our ipod and was very good sound and they use a microphone so all the guests could here no problem. did Champagne toast after and then a group shot and then family pics on site. We used Stacey Clarke and she was amazing!! I wouldn’t suggest using the hotel photographer as I saw him with a couple other weddings and he didn’t seem that great to me. Just add Stacey as a guest and pretend she is a friend from home and you’ll have no issues, then just tell the WC you don’t need the hotel photographer! We did the rest of our photos on the beach and in the lobby on the grand staircase all great locations. We then had our reception in the Blue Lagoon and it was set up so nice. We had a U shaped head table because I had 18 ppl in our wedding party and the other 6 tables were rectangle which I was unhappy about seeing I was told they would be round. BUT they were draped with white linens and the flowers used at the Gazebo were brought over for the head table and parents table and then we used the 9 bridesmaids bouquets for the rest and it all looked really nice. I made place cards and brought them down and gave the WC a seating chart and they managed to get it right! The cake table had flowers as well and the cake was gorgeous and actually delicious and was Vanilla. We did not get the DJ, we had 2 MC’s and our IPOD and they gave us a wireless mic and speaker, very easy to use and sound was great. The dance floor was in the hub to the left of us were we danced till 10pm and then went to party with the reggae band upstairs which were AMAZING! All in all the day was great, yes our wedding was delayed 45min, yes God was referenced and yes my tables were square but it didn’t matter. Just make sure when Jascynthia sets your meeting that its actually with her, b/c the first time I met I got her assistant who was useless and I had a total melt down and met with Jascynthia the next day. She managed to get most things right but she isn’t the nicest of people. We think they really need to hire someone with a little more passion for weddings! Anyways here is a link to our friends photos he took, I don’t have my professional ones in yet but this will give you a good idea of what it will look like! Picasa Web Albums - Paul - James and Jen... If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask! oh and the food was amazing!!! Jen  Hi Jen, When you added the photographer as a guest did you pay the extra $30 for them (as in the extra per person charge over the 8 included in the package)? I am trying to decide whether I should book a meal, etc. for my photographer as if he is a guest (he is a local photographer but we have a room booked for him for the night of the wedding). thanks! Jane

Hello everyone, Was anyone else told you had to pay for a bigger cake if you had more than the 8 people included in your package? I have the tropical package and Jascynthia told me that the extra $30/person (over the first 8 people) was to cover extra cake, wine for toasting, chairs, etc. When I just spoke to Julian she told me there was an extra charge for a bigger cake but she was going to waive the charge because of what Jascynthia had told me......

Thanks for letting us know! This is one thing that is still on my list to buy!

My MC is my brother-we are giving him an engraved business card holder (similar to the groomsmen gifts)

I am looking for opinions-we have written our own ceremony (we are not using the standard one provided by the minister) so were planning on tipping the minister a little extra because he will be using our cermony script. Should my FI give him the tip before the ceremony and say something like "this is just an extra thank you for using our script" or should we tip him after? The reason I want to tip before is to ensure he uses our script or close to it. I didn't like the standard ceremony they had provided which is why we have written our own. any thoughts?

Quote: Originally Posted by danalauren22 The only consolation I can offer is that we spent 90% of our time in the ocean. We would head over to the pool in the late afternoon, but honestly the beach is nice and I preferred it. I would request to have a private or semi-private reception at the Posideon Resturant, its the one that overlooks the beach. Or if at all possible, no kitchen so may not be, to have the reception at the Spa which is beautiful. Thank you-that makes me feel alot better! It is difficult to picture (because I have never been to the resort) how much of an impact it is really going to have. I keep reminding myself that there is nothing I can do about it so we will make the most of it and I am sure everything will be great! Plus it could be much worse! We have been able to move our reception to the Posideon and luckily we are keeping the same menu we had planned for the Blue Lagoon (originally they had sent me a new menu but our guests have already choosen their entrees. I didn't really want to replace what we had offered with curried goat.....). Still dealing with the tour operators and the refund (apparently the hotel gives the money back to the tour operator but it is up to the tour operator to refund that to the customer and sometimes they just keep the money....) but hopefully everything else will run smoothly!! Thanks again-this forum has been a huge help to me!!

Thanks guys! This has been really stressful-I have spent the past two days trying to sort things out with my TA and the WC. They have moved my reception to the Posiedon but then sent me completely different menus (when all of my guests have already chosen their entrees). Still haven't quite figured that one out yet. We can't seem to get a straight answer about the refund they are giving due to the disruption. One tour company said the hotel is giving 15% of the hotel cost, while another says they are not refunding anything. I would never have booked the resort if I had known these renos were taking place. I am sure everything will work out fine-I just feel terrible that my guests have paid all this money and will be travelling this far and not be able to use all of the facilities. Hopefully it won't be too noisy or too much of a distraction. I keep reminding myself it could be worse!! The good news is that all of you future brides won't have to worry about broken tiles I would suggest anyone that hasn't already done so to confirm all of your wedding details with the new coordinators. When all of these issues came up we had Julian cofirm ours and some things were incorrect (for example, the menu, she didn't know we had rented the DJ, etc.). These were things we had organized through Jascynthia.

awesome-thanks for letting us know!!

I feel your pain! 39 days until the wedding and even less until we leave! Just found out that the main pool at my resort is going to be closed the entire time we are there for retiling and now I read on my tour operator's website that the place I have booked for my reception is also going to close for renovations.... a little stressed out about this! All my guests are booked through different tour operators and some are receiving refunds because of the pool closure while some are being told they aren't receiving anything....I did not expect to have to deal with this so late in the game. hope everything goes smoothly for you!

and to make things worse I just looked at the AC vacations website and it shows that the Blue Lagoon (which we have booked for our reception) is going to be closed for renovations..... this is pretty stressful when there is only 39 days until the big day.

thank you so much for the suggestions!!

Just want to say thanks to everyone for the suggestions! We registered with Bed, Bath and Beyond this weekend and the registry is awesome!! Very easy to do online and when people go to purchase an item they actually see what they are buying (as opposed to sears where is it an abbreivated title which makes it difficult to even know what the item is!). The West Edmonton store just opened, so we stopped by to check it out and they were very helpful! thanks again!

So I just received some really bad news-the main pool at my resort is going to be closed the entire time we are there for repairs!!! Our reception is booked in a restaurant that overlooks the pool (which will now be a construction site) and some of my guests are being told they are receiving a small refund from the resort due to the disruption while others are being told they receive nothing!!!! Very stressful!! I am not bothered about the pool for myself or my FI but I have 28 other people to consider. This is the only pool that has a swim up bar. I would not have booked this resort for my wedding (or expected other people to come here) if I had known the pool would be closed. I have people coming from Canada, Scotland and the US so we are all booked through different tour company's which makes it even more difficult because we are all receiving different information. I just keep reminding myself in six months I will look back at this and laugh..... (i hope!)

Ahhh!!! I just found out the main pool will be closed for the whole time my guests and I are at the resort.... Not good news. I hope my guests aren't too disappointed. My brother had received an email saying the resort is giving them a 15% refund because of it so now I have to make sure everyone gets money back because we all booked through different tour operators.... I guess it could be worse but I was really looking forward to the swim up bar.

As my wedding is in October (and coming up fast!)-I thought I would check if any future brides want any particular feedback or would like any area of the resort checked out for their wedding. I have never been to the Palladium before so of course it makes it a little difficult when you are trying to plan your big day. Friends of mine had stayed at the Palladium in February and I was kicking myself for not asking them to check a few things out for me to help make my planning a little easier! Anyways, message me if you think of anything-I would be happy to help out a fellow bride! Jane

Thank you all for posting this thread. I am going through this as well with my bridesmaids and feel better knowing that I am not alone! I had originally asked my 3 best friends to stand with me (understanding that one of them has never travelled so I didn't expect that to change with her so she probably wouldn't be coming and one would come no matter what). The last one kept saying how much she wanted to go but she expected her unversity grad to be the day after the wedding and after she slaved for her masters degree she didn't want to miss the grad-which I can totally understand. She said if it wasn't for that she would go for sure becuase money wasn't an issue (her words exactly). So for months I checked her university website and when the calendar was finally posted I called her very excited b/c the grad was actually the week after. I thought she would come for sure because of what she had told me about the grad being the only issue. She then says that she doesn't know if she can afford it but if the trip gets under $1500 then she will go. The trip dropped to $1300 and then she said she doesn't know how to get time off work (she is entering the school system and doesn't know how time off works). She hasn't made any effort to ask or find out how to take the time off and the wedding is less than 2 months away. I am so frustrated about the whole situation-not because she isn't coming but beacuse of the line of excuses. She just got engaged a month ago and asked me to stand in her wedding which I immediately said yes to (we live in differenct provinces so all said and done it will cost me the same if not more to travel for her wedding as it would have cost her to come to Jamaica). I guess you find out those who would really do anything for you and those who want to know how it will affect them first. anyways, thank you for allowing me to vent!!

We got a really good deal on the room on expedia and we worked out a deal so we split the cost between us and the photographer (it is being deducted from our final payment). For me, it was better to book the room so I am not worried about the photographer having issues getting in-I will have enough to think about that day! Plus we are doing a TTD session the day after the wedding so it works out that way as well. I think if you book Paula and Damian they check themselves in (they were booked on my wedding day so I am using one of their associates). Paula is very helpful so I am sure if you call her she will be able to suggest the best way for you to go (you don't want to pay for a room if you don't have to). Hope that helps!

thank you-these are definitely going to help me write mine!

Quote: Originally Posted by lisarussell66 Hi Jersey Kitten I am actually getting married April 2010 as well at the GP Lady Hamilton!!! I was just reading the post about Sun gold were thinking of booking them but Paula and Damian are booked for our day April 28th so we will need to use there associates. Are you worried about the resort and how were are not suppose to use the local photographer's. Just wondering how you feel about this as Paula told me they know everyone its a small town so we may get charged from the resort. Just wondering if you have heard anything on what would happen? Is True Colors that bad do you know? Thanks Lisa Hi Lisa, I am getting married at the Palladium in October and have booked one of Sungold's associates (RS). I have booked the photographer a room at the resort so he will be a guest of the hotel (I don't think they can do much about that because the room in paid for). Paula told me that would be the best route to go. She also said she doesn't think we will have any issues because they have done a few weddings there already. Not sure about you but I know I have not read or signed anything from the resort saything that I cannot use an outside photographer. I am not planning on telling them as the photographer will be a guest of the hotel. Have you looked at True Colors website? I don't think their pictures are that bad but the photos are really important to me so I wanted to go with a photographers whose pictures I really love. Plus I didn't want to be limited by the number of pictures taken (True Colors packages go by number of pictures instead of hours). Hope that helps. I will let you know how things work out with the photographer and the resort. Jane

How are the October Brides doing? Almost there!! I still have quite a few things left to do but luckily they are minor (downloading songs, welcome letter for OOT bags, etc.). I am getting excited!!

Can anyone recommend a company for transfers from the airport to the resort? Some of my guests are arriving a few days before us and do not have a transfer included in their package. I wanted to email them with contact information for a transfer to the resort in case they needed it. They have a 10hr flight from Scotland so I don’t want them having any troubles getting to the resort after they arrive at the airport! Thanks! Jane

great-I will check these out. I saw that they are opening a Bed, Bath and Beyond at West Edmonton Mall-I am assuming it is opening soon because the sign is up. Thanks for all the suggestions!!

The rates for my trip in October went down considerably as well. Unfortunately myself and most of my guests had already paid in full so the only benefit is for those people who waited until last minute to book! A little frustrating and I feel really bad about the guest who paid full price but I guess that is the chance you take when you are planning a wedding.....