Jacki7896

LADIES.... everything was BEYOND perfect. Trust Kerry. She gets it done. The resort is amazing. All of my guests said it was the best wedding and best vacation they have ever had. We took over the entire resort, and they still knew everyone's name. They created events for us that catered to our guests' interests. The food was amazing. The drinks were too delicous. I will write a more detailed review later, but every vendor, every staff member, Kerry, the Richards...... everything. PERFECT. My guests said they feel bad for the next person who gets married because no one will be able to top a wedding at Moon Dance Cliffs.

Not silly at all. We booked all of the rooms on the property... so we are "taking over" the resort.

Laura, I haven't had my wedding yet... .Two weeks! But here is what I am doing music wise: Thursday-- welcome cocktails/games with the mento band. Friday-- rehearsal dinner, just an Ipod playlist. Saturday-- steel pan band for ceremony/cocktail hour; Sound Illusion DJ for reception. I will let you know how everything goes when I get back from the wedding. RIck's Cafe is close to MDC, and yes, it is the one with the cliff jumping. The beach is also just a short shuttle away. When we went for our site visit, they dropped us off at the Margaritaville beach area. It was very nice. WE dont plan to make Ricks or the beach an official event, because we have people coming in on random days and times, but we are telling people they are a "must do" on their own time while they are there (we are providing the info in a welcome letter). Hopefully I will have some better insight once I return from the wedding!

I have done everything through Kerry. We will see how it goes!

One month, one month! I cannot believe it!!! HMM-- I bought some of my lanterns from the the Buy/Sell forum on this website, and then I also bought some more lanterns from http://www.jadetime.com/. The JadeTime ones are much nicer, and they were dirt cheap. Like $1-$2 each. They kill you with the shipping, but I guess that is how they make their money. I bought the lights for the lanterns from Luna Bazaar. I hope to be able to resell them after my wedding to recoup some of those costs, so I will let you know in case you are interested in the portable LED lights for the lanterns. I dont know what to tell you about DJ Kevan, although I have always heard amazing reviews on him. We are using Sound Illusion through Kerry, and I have had ZERO contact with him. I emailed her last week asking her whether she was giving him our play lists, etc., or whether I needed to be doing it, but I havent heard back from Kerry either. I know she is sometimes slow to respond, but now that we are within 30 days I was hoping she would speed up her response time. Island time is so hard for us Americans I suppose!

Well I am glad my seamstress is not the only one who isn't the nicest to her customers. Kat, I hope your last fitting goes well! Michcraw, I went in for my FIRST fitting (yes, I procrasinated....), and I was told I would have my dress by Nov 30 at the latest, with 2 more fittings in there. So hopefully your seamstress is just as fast (but nicer!) Also, I just need to vent for one moment ladies. I get married on a Saturday. We are coming back that Monday, and had planned to take our honeymoon elsewhere over the Christmas holiday. So my boss asked me when I was back, and I was truthful and told him late Monday night. He scheduled me on a huge work trip that Tuesday- Friday in Fargo, ND. So I will go straight from Jamaica to Fargo, with an extra suitcase full of work stuff and suits. I am so pissed. If I spend my wedding day preparing for depositions while my hair is getting done, I am just going to come unglued. ARGH! Alright, done complaining. Thank you for listening/reading to me vent.

Fitting went okay..... my tailor (who was highly recommended to me) was kind of a b*tch. She did not make me feel that good about myself. So I left the appointment determined to work out every single day. Back fat and arm jiggle beware!

Dress fitting tonight! never did lose those last 10 lbs, so fingers crossed...... otherwise, it will be a month of celery for me!

Thanks LaraJo! That is good to know!

Glad to hear about the mento band! We also hired them to play before the welcome dinner, which I thought was going to be a bit of "who knows if it will work" thing, but soooo great that they are great! I only have them for an hour before dinner. Should we do longer?

Oh, and we are using the M lady for the cake. We met with her and tasted her cake. It was delicious. I agree that Nodia's work LOOKS better, but we are doing a very simple cake and so I figured it was easy to go with the M lady since she was the one we were able to meet with face to face. We are paying $300 for a cake for 40 people.

Argh, I just typed out a big long thing and then my computer froze and I lost it! AHH! We will see if I can recapture. Yes, I was SOOO happy to get resort takeover. I felt like a salesperson trying to get those last few rooms booked, but so relieved when it was done. That was my biggest stressor. As for planning, the best thing I did was do a site visit. Kerry had arranged for us to meet with the vendors, so we knocked out a lot of the planning early. The second best thing I did was promise my FI that once we made a decision on something, I would not stress about it anymore and try to go back and change it. I am not doing really anything over the top, so I did not have a lot of details to worry about. I did spend a lot of time on the welcome bags and welcome letter, so I am glad I got those done early and put some time into them. As for the tent, I booked before the tent became mandatory. If you can avoid the tent, I suggest you do so. Part of Annie's is covered (not where your tables will be, those are on the deck), but my understanding the "dance floor" is under the covered, but open air, portion of Annie's. Can you use your decorations there? I am bringing paper lanterns and lights, and plan to put them there as well as in the big tree on the deck. I will let you know if I think of anything else....but in the mean time if any summer/fall brides have pictures or tidbits of wisdom to share, it would be very much appreciated!

Productive weekend for me and the FI. Seating charts DONE! OTT Bags DONE! I am actually quite happy with the OTT bags. I meant to take pictures as I was putting them together, but got too busy. In case any of you need ideas, here is what I did for the bags: Coozie: normal wedding type stuff on the front, and then "to have, to hold, to keep your beers cold" on the back. In a smaller bag labeled "in good times and in bad": we have playing cards, mints, (and will put in tiny rum bottles once we get there), and shout wipes. In a smaller bag labeled "in sickness and in health": we have advil, pepto bismal tablets, band-aids, and sunscreen In an evelope labeled "for richer or poorer": we have scratch-off lottery tickets. Then I am going to have a central "emergency kit" that has more sunscreen, aloe, bug spray, bobby pins, safety pins, wine wipes, double-sided tape, etc. that everyone can use if needed. It is getting so real now.....

Aww, thanks! You are right. Who cares about 10 lbs. I would be cranky and hungry the whole 2 months, which is no good for anyone. I suck at crafts and projects and anything creative. However, do you have a Mac? I just bought the "Pages" (like Microsoft Word) program, and it basically made my programs for me because they already have tons of templates. If you don't have a Mac, check out vistaprint.com. They may have some templates you can just use without too much skill. I totally understand, though.... its things like programs and welcome letters that have given me the most stress!

Doing my OTT bags this weekend. And then trying to tackle the seating chart for the reception. I have still avoided trying my dress on in the hopes I will lose 10 more lbs.... but I need to get realistic and just get the dress to the tailor. Argh! Thankfully its just a simple dress, off the rack that fit when I bought it, just need to get it hemmed. I was just dreaming of being able to have it taken in because of my amazing weight loss. Oh well. Life just got in the way I suppose. Other than that, just finishing up other DIY details. I think I have all the major stuff done. So crazy we only have 2 months left! I was engaged for 18 months so it feels surreal that the big day is actually finally getting close!

I am using one of the Sungold Associates, Rounald Samuals. My resort wedding coordinator said he was super fun and a staff favorite.

Hey all! No activity on this threat in awhile. How did the summer weddings go? Any new reviews or advice for future brides?

That makes me feel better about my dress fitting.... I have not had one yet and I was worried I was too late. I am trying to shed a few more lbs before I go in for my dress fitting. My dress is really simple, bascially just a normal dress that is white (I bought it off the rack, and it fit fine at the time, just a little long). But I guess I have to start calling seamstresses to see about appointments and how long they need. That last 10 lbs may never come off. Oh well. Other than procrasinating the dress fitting, I have been doing well. Menus done, everything for OTT bags bought (just need to put them together), and all ceremony type details and decor done. Just need to get a travel info brouchure put together for the guests, got those OTT bags put together, get the seating charts done (we have 4 guests that keep saying they are coming, but have not yet booked so we are waiting on them), and then I want to have some playlists set up for the welcome happy hour and the rehearsal dinner. I am sure there are a million other things that I am forgetting about, but at least for today this list doesn't seem too daunting with 2 months left. I am usually a procrasinator, so this

Here is a pic I took with my cell phone. Not the best quality pic, I apologize.

I had a 10 week deadline for birth certificates. So you should definitely check on that !

I bought these lanterns from another bride on here, who said they were never used. I also have never used them, just decided to go with a darker green. I have six lanterns in the 10 inch diameter, and four lanterns in the 14 inch diameter. $12 for all of them plus shipping.

Bondgirl! Thanks SO MUCH for that idea. Genius!

Invitations out, and starting to get responses. So far no surprises. I have been slowly but surely picking up table runners, paper lanterns, etc. for decorations. The resort was pretty easy in picking flowers, DJ, other music options and entertainment.... so we had all of that done really early. Now it is just: (1) picking menus; (2) deciding on excursions; (3) figuring out what to do for a welcome event; (4) welcome letter/ guest "face" book; and (5) a thousand other details I am likely forgetting. I have this grand idea for the guest "face" book that I will have photos and descriptions of all the guests so that they get a chance to know each other and how everyone is connected to us. BUt I have a feeling I will run out time/energy to do this.