sweetluna

I haven't gotten married at the ROR yet but I have been on the forum for a while now and have come across a few discussions about this. You get some flowers at the ceremony but I've never heard of them decorating the dinner area/reception area. They might provide some typical tea lights, like they use throughout the restaurant area. The cake is plain. I think if you are looking for any added details you have to bring your own or pay for them when you get down there. I would consider it a clean slate and you can decorate it depending on how simple or elaborate as you see fit. Good Luck!

Yeah, I emailed Chandlyn about what they do if it rains and she said they find an indoor location for it. Marie, I can't believe it's coming up so fast for you!! I hope you have a fantastic day and I can't wait to read your review when you return. Good Luck!!!

That's awesome, thanks!! Do you have pictures?

There is some great advice here on this post. I agree it's important to be honest with your dad (or as my neice calls her dad -Father-man because he wasn't around either) and let him know that you're going going with a lot of the traditional parts of the wedding. Your mom gets the honor of walking down the aisle but can your dad do a reading? or have another part in the ceremony? Having him involved might ease any hurt feelings he may have. I also agree with MNH about the father/daughter dance. See how you feel when you get there. From the tone in your post, you don't sound all that comfortable with this virtual stranger. Dancing allows him to get into your personal space and you might not be feelin' it at the time. Nothing says you HAVE to do a father/daughter dance. This day is about you feeling great, not guilty or having to set your feeling aside to make sure your dad feels great.

Pewter is very popular in New Brunswick. Most of our guests come from across the country so we're planning on having a Christmas decoration (our wedding is close enough to Christmas) in the shape of a starfish made in Pewter with a ribbon in our colours. They will be engraved in the back with our wedding date & location. It will serve as a little reminder of both Jamaica and (with the Pewter) New Brunswick. We can get them for $6/each and with only 10-15 people, it's a reasonable price.

Yeah, there is so much information out there on why each couple chose the resort they did, my best suggestion is to sit down with your groom and determine what is important to you. Do you want to stay at an all-inclusive? Kids or no kids resort? Beach, Garden, or Ruins ceremony location? I say, determine what you want, talk to a travel agent, then review this forum for ideas. There are some great choices on here but each couple had to decide what they wanted first.

I have been looking for something like this too. I've put two posts up on this forum and still haven't had a reply. I don't think it's as popular in Jamaica but my WC is looking into it for me and will be sending me some contact names. At the very least, we'd like to find someone who will play classical music on a keyboard.

I think you can really have some fun with this. When your girls walk down, do they HAVE to stand behind you?? How about this... picture the groom standing at the end of the aisle waiting for you. Your BM walks down, gives the groom a hug and kiss on the cheek (a sign of acceptance) and then moves over to "your" side of the front. The next girl walks down and gives the groom a hug & cheek kiss then goes to his side of the front. Your MOH walks down and gives the groom a hug & cheek kiss than goes to stand beside the other BM on your side. This way you have your MOH beside you and each BM on either side of you & your groom. Of course, this is only one idea, overall my suggestion is to have fun & be creative. Your guests won't be expecting it and may find it rather interesting because it will be different from other weddings they have been to. Have a DW really gives you the freedom to make the wedding yours without expectations of past traditions. I wish you all the best!!

We're spending the night together but then I'm kicking him out of the room the next morning so I can get ready. I will definitely need my sleep the night before and I don't get a good sleep when he's not there. Plus, I know we will both be feeling stressed so by being together it will keep things a little more normal for us. We've lived together for 3 years.

I think it's outdated to think of asking for money as "tacky". Although I do agree that it has to be done with some grace, I believe we're moving into a society that is readily doing away with old traditions. Let's face it, anyone who is anyone knows to bring a gift to a wedding. So why not acknowledge it?? I'm not throwing a wedding for the gifts/money and given that my FI and I have been together for 5 years, the people who matter in my life understand that. I think it's tacky to invite people to your wedding who are not actively involved in your life because that IS a gift grab. So I only invited those who are important to my FI and me. As for how we did things, I used my wedding website and acknowledged that we know it is customary for gifts to be given at a wedding. However, those who were joining us in Jamaica all we wanted was their presence because of the cost associated with travel. For those who were staying back and joining us for the reception, we suggested gift cards and provided a list of stores available in our city. (The reception is being held in a different province because that's where my family is from and I don't have the luggage space to return with kettles, pots & pans, etc... my FI and I have lived together for 3 years & have our own home so we're all set) Basically, I agree with some of the other posters, as a gift giver I want to KNOW what the couple could use because I HATE to waste my money on something they are going to return or have sit in a closet not being used. Today more & more couples are living together before getting married so cash or gift cards are the way to go.

awesome! Thanks for the link. I'm soo close to being able to open attachments, I can't wait! This link is a huge help, I'll be printing the map for my guests. Yeah!!

Quote: Originally Posted by OchoRiosBride2010 hi there sweetluna...we are gettin married at the ROR within a few days of eachother, just wondering how ur planning is coming along...im at a stand still right now, waiting till closer tot he date to contact the wedding coordinator to ask some more concrete questions about price and reception options...do u know if u will be having the semi private reception or if you will be doing a private one? hope to hear from you, hope we can bounce some thoughts off eachother, im starting to feel a little lost lol.....which makes me nervous Hey there OchoRiosBride2010! When are you getting married? Planning is at a semi-stand still. I have 2 hold ups 1) Fiance keeps thinking we have LOTS of time so he hasn't done anything on his "to do" list. I'm in nagging mode because, although there 7 months until the wedding day, we still have to get the documentation in order and he needs to buy his attire during the spring/summer season. He won't have any luck if he waits until September! LOL 2) Waiting on people to confirm. I'm getting a lot of lip-service and very few putting down cold, hard cash. I've told them "Until you put the deposit down I won't consider you coming" It's been rough because people just don't get it. Other than that the planning seems to be going well. We're going to have the semi-private dinner because we are determined to keep our costs down. We're doing a destination wedding because we don't want the traditional church, pictures, hall wedding. As for your question about the semi private dinner, yes you have the cake but from what other brides have said in other forums, there is no room for first dance. The restaurant has other wedding parties and guests so you can't play music and they don't have room for traditional reception. Some brides did have speeches done at the semi-private but you're yelling over other restaurant chatter. It works for some brides though, so it is an option. We're having the ceremony at the Garden Gazebo and, after dinner, having a private reception (if we have enough people) at the Seagrape on the beach. I thought it would be nice to dance under the stars. How about you? Do you know where you're having the ceremony?

JanineA - that's great information - a little late for me but hopefully some other brides will be able to take advantage of that. Thanks for sharing!

done!! great questions! Good luck. Please update us on how your project is going. It would be interesting to get learn about the responses.

Quote: Originally Posted by skadow I went to try on dresses for the first time last Saturday...I thought I was going to feel all pritty and like a princess. But instead I felt over weight, with bad hair and ugly tattoos...Even tho I am not over weight and I love my tattoo's lol.. I think it was because I went to a specailty store where they have 1 dress in one size. Nothing was ment for my body.. When i left I was thinking that I finally understand why people get married in Jeans. I looked a lot better in the clothing I arrived in. Ohh I can soo relate!!!! I went with a friend who is also getting married and she is much smaller than me and EVERY dress she tried on was too small and she was feeling awful and I was feeling awful because I knew my turn was coming. I put it off for weeks but finally went in and the first couple of dresses made me so depressed that I almost gave up. Thankfully I kept going and finally got to "the one". I went back 2 more times before committing to it but got the dress I wanted. We'll see if I still want it in Sept when my order comes in. This is a great topic but I'm going to take everyone's advice and go in to the fitting with make-up & updo. I want to still love my dress when I try it on again.

congrats! You've come to the right place to get tons of ideas and advice.

good advice to keep in mind. I love vacation!!

We wanted some place beautiful that was cost-effective and easy. I didn't want to go through translation services or require blood work. Our TA suggested JA and I'm really looking forward to it. It's only 7 months away as of today!!

Great, thanks for the advice. I'm really picky about make-up and hadn't read any reviews on that yet so I appreciate the heads up. Marie, I like your idea about getting some of that stuff done before we go on the trip. I might just get my hair done and maybe manicure for me & my girls. Thanks!!

great question! I didn't even think about that. Good to know though, we have a few elderly guests.

Welcome and congrats!! Deciding on locations is fun & sometimes a little nerve-racking. Don't be surprised that when you make a decision you come back to doubt your reasons for choosing said location. My FI discussed what was important to us and talked with a few TA's and indicated what was a MUST vs. Nice to Have vs. Stay Away From. The TA we decided on really listened and offered a few suggestions. We took the suggestions and researched each and talked with some close family. We made our decision to choose RIU Ocho Rios in Jamaica because of these factors: It was an all-inclusive, I didn't need to translate anything, it allowed kids, and it was affordable for most of our guests. We were very logical & well-informed when we made the decision but for the first 2 months afterward, I was doubting myself big time! But then I figured that I had made the decision and it was one last thing I really had to think about. I have so many other fun things to plan that I don't need to go back and rehash about a decision I've already made, I can move forward. Now, 4 months after deciding on this location and putting down the deposit, I'm confident with my decision and I'm having a good planning the other things. (that is until I read a bad review on Tripadvisor then I get freaked out a little, LOL) Good luck!!

I wanted a later time so ideally I wanted a 4pm wedding so our guests didn't have to wait too long between the ceremony and dinner however the date took the priority for us. We decided on Nov 12th because it is a special day for us. The latest app't available was 2pm so that's the time we took.

Quote: Originally Posted by angelov321 Girl I undertsand what you mean!! People always wait for the last minute just to get the best deal. But really, how much of a difference will the airfare be? I had my TA set up a group booking on a flight giving people an opportunity to put a deposit down now and pay it off later. You may want to check into that. If you need X amount of people to book the group flight, that might give people more incentive to book now. That's the most frustrating of all!! I did have it arranged for a great group rate with my TA but a bunch decided they wanted to go with their own TA because they felt they could get a better deal (which they didn't!) and the other bunch said they want to wait to see if they can get a seat sale. So we lost our group rate and now we have to pay almost $100.00 more per person. Which in the grand scheme of things, isn't bad, but every penny counts, right? I've just given up on the whole lot of them. I've given everyone the deadline of August. A few have booked but everyone is on their own now. I don't need the stress and right now, I'm just looking forward to spending a week in Jamaica with the love of my life and one of those days we'll throw a wedding on with whoever wants to join us.

Quote: Originally Posted by tigger Hi ladies! I'm getting married November 10th at Sandals Grande Antigua. Its great to see so many other November brides! So far I have booked the resort, got my dress and jewelery. Ohhh!! I have been to that resort and it was GORGEOUS!!!! Great choice. I saw a wedding there - mind you it was small, less than 5 guests, but it was so elegant and I didn't even know the couple but I was so happy for them. The ceremony looked so intimate and personal. It's been at least 5 years since I've been to the resort but I'd go back for sure! I even looked into it for my wedding but the cost would have been too high for our guests. The costs were so worth it, though, it's such a beautiful place. Antigua is amazing too. If you get a chance, Half Moon Bay is a great place to go snorkeling.

I know steel drum band is common for weddings in Jamaica but I'm wondering if anyone has used or knows of any musicians in Jamaica who play live classical music? We would really love to have this for our ceremony, my FI is really into classical music (he plays a lot on the piano) and I gave him music as one of his tasks for the wedding planning. He's getting discouraged because he thinks his only option for classical music is to play it on CD. I thought I would reach out to fellow brides on this forum to see if anyone can direct me to who I can talk to? I will be emailing my WC on Monday but thought I'd get a head start here.. Thanks!!