Jacki7896

My undestanding is the shuttle is free for all-inclusive stays. In my booking email, it states that transportation is included as part of the all-inclusive package. When I was there for my site visit, Kerry said Front Page was good, but for younger crowds a DJ is better. Just FYI. So we are skipping Front Page. HOWEVER, I do believe somewhere earlier on some thread people were raving about Front Page...

So Jealous you got Saab! I sooo wanted to book him but he is so pricey... but you are right, he most definitely takes amazing pics. You are very lucky!

Heidi, the restaurant/bars do close at 11 pm, but that just means the staff goes home then. The villas are stucked with alcohol, and Kerry just told us that people should put in late night food orders around 10-10:30 if they think they are going to get hungry in the middle of the night. But again, the villas have snacks in them as well. When we did our site visit, we just stayed in a normal room, but at the wedding we will be in the Poincina villa.... and we had our big partiers book in the 4 or 5 bedroom villas so they would be guaranteed alcohol post 11 pm. I didnt notice meals at any set time periods when we were there at our site visit. The sports bar seemed to serve food pretty much the whole day. We booked our photographer early because we were told they book quickly. As for the florist/baker/band, we did that when we were there for our site visit in March for our December wedding. I do not think it was needed that early, but we just went ahead and did it while we were there. It is a beautiful resort. You are going to be amazed!

You all probably know this, but there is also a "Review" thread on dw.com I am using them, and had a terrible experience with my first TA. Complaints to managers went nowhere.... but after my FI finally got pushy with them, they switched us over to another agent, Camille, who has been great. But with so many bad reviews about dw.com, it appears it is not worth the risk of "hoping" you get assigned a good TA because it seems the bad TAs far outnumber the good. The problem with the whole thing is that the managers don't really care about your complaints, and customer service is not a priority. In any regards, good luck to those of you stuck with dw.com..... like me, I hope you have at least been transferred to a good agent. Like I said, I have been very pleased with Camille, our new TA. But the first TA.... Ugh. Read my review on the "review" thread if you want details.

All December 2011 brides! Welcome!

I am just doing the steel pan band for ceremony/cocktail... I think ours is $250/hour. I am switching to a DJ for dinner/reception, which I believe is $1000 for 3 hours.

We booked a steel band for our ceremony music; not sure which one, just whatever the hotel recommended. If your hotel does not have a specific recommended or preferred band, let me know and I can our coordinator!

For booking the whole resort, we get the Pinciana Villa for free for 5 nights, and then the of course the free 5 course wedding reception, free paperwork/coordinator services, $100 credit for flowers. We used a travel agent, but to do so again I would work directly with the resort. The owner of the resort called me when I independently booked my site visit and gave me a really good rate for the weekend, so I think working with them directly you may get better deals. But 5 nights free all-inclusive in a resort that has some of the best food I have ever eaten was sweet enough of a deal for me. I am MORE than satisfied with my choice. SO EXCITED! Also, for those that were wondering about flowers... I know Floral Fantasies website leaves a lot to be desired, but meeting them in person was amazing. I had a picture in my mind of what I wanted, but could never really find the exact picture and was not able to really articulate the specifics, but through my stumbling around the florist was able to recreate EXACTLY what I wanted. She was super nice. So no fret there. Again, I cannot stop gushing about how on top of it Kerry was and how amazing the staff was. From my site visit alone, I know our wedding is going to be perfect and I have absolutely no worries whatsoever!

Marlena... August sounds like a good time to send invites. I did a site visit this past weekend and got most of my stuff booked (florist, cake, music, etc.). It is just a relief. Plus the FI is super happy to not have to look at centerpiece ideas anymore.... For those of you getting married in Negril, the Floral Fantasies woman was AMAZING. Their website leaves a lot to be desired, but having met with her in person-- she is great. She took the vision I had in my head that I was not really able to articulate and made it a reality. Super happy, so I highly recommend them for those getting married in Negril.

OH MY GOODNESS. For those of you having any second thoughts or worries, do NOT fret. We just returned from our site visit. Everything was absolutely perfect. Kerry had appointments set up with every vendor we requested, and they were all very accommodating. All of the staff knew we were doing a resort takeover wedding in December, and they offered us tons of suggestions on what they had seen work best at weddings.... We left so very happy.... And by the way, the FOOD IS UNREAL! So so so so delicious. So as they said to our every request "no problem, whatever you want" is exactly what you will get--- a stress free wedding of your dreams!

Quick question for the December brides.... I already sent my Save the Dates, with information about booking the hotel etc. My question is when to send the actual invitations. Any thoughts?

One week until my site visit! SO EXCITED!

Thanks for the advice! I was thinking about doing the mento band or reggae band for the rehearsal dinner.... glad to know others are doing that as well. I cannot wait!

Did any of you have the rehearsal dinner on-site? If so, what did you do? How did you make it differant from the wedding reception? Thanks!

I have my site visit in 2 weeks! I am so excited !!!!! I will try to take lots of pictures and send you all any information I receive from Kerry.

MariaV... OH MY GOD. You have got to be kidding me. HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE???? Oh I am so sorry for you!

Have any of you decided on centerpieces, or what types of flowers to use? Any thoughts on what flowers are native to Jamaica? I am trying to keep my flower budget low so I can spend more on food/music. Ideas and inspiration are much appreciated!

Marlena, I did ask 2 people to be bridesmaids, I am keeping my wedding party very small. The matron of honor already told me she wouldn't order her dress for awhile because she wanted to make sure she wasn't pregnant. A lot of my close friends have called recently to say they cannot make it because they are pregnant, so I guess it is good I did not plan on a larger wedding party. It is definitely a concern! I got engaged in August 2010, so I decided I had to at some point start asking people to be in the wedding party otherwise it just seemed weird. But I think you definitely have time to wait to see what happens over the next few months.

thanks! We are still debating!

Love it!

I have never been to DR... I have heard it is amazing. Our thoughts are as follows for excursions... People arrive Thursday, we have some sort of welcome cocktail reception, but no real dinner or anything since people will be coming as differant times. I know a lot of my friends will want to hit the bars/clubs on Thursday night as well, so I didnt want to plan anything too structered for them. For Friday, I was debating organizing a zip line tour... I did it in Costa Rica a few years back and it was a lot of fun. Friday night we would do the rehearsal dinner, and then Saturday wedding at 4:30 pm, and a farewell brunch on Sunday. I dont want to take up too much of people's vacation time, so I figured one excursion was enough... I am hoping during my site visit I can gather a bunch of information on other things to do, and then provide that info to people either before we leave or in the OTT bags. That way people can plan what they like. I have never been to Negril, so I am just hoping I learn a lot this March to help make everything easier!

Linds, I "accidently" found my dress last weekend as well! We mailed out our STDs this weekend. We already have 30 people booked (close friends/family), and I am hoping with the STD we get the last 30 or so booked. We gambled and booked the entire resort (it only holds 66 people), and I just hope that the gamble was worth it and we get all the rooms filled. I feel like not knowing a headcount holds up the rest of the planning, because it affects my budget so much. Other then the STD and buying the dress, I just waste a lot of time internet surfing. No other real decisions made yet. We are doing a site visit in early March, so I am hoping once I see the place I will be inspired and have some creative genius. Ha! Happy planning everyone! Jacki

Lua-- That is good to know! I thought our super long engagement was silly, but I guess a procrastinator like me needs lots of months to waste.

We are Dec 10, 2011 at Moon Dance Cliffs in Negril. CANNOT WAIT! Hard to believe I still have so far to go!

All good ideas. I was stressing about what to put in the OTT and where to buy them. I am going for a site visit March 4-6 and meeting with Floral Fantasies then... I will ask about their prices/delivery for some of these items.