bryanandchar

Thanks ladies!! My Mom told me that you want to have an uneven number of flowers in your bouquet (he loves me...he loves me not...he loves me!!) I ordered too many flowers because I didn't know what size they would turn out to be, plus once you put them together they get a little squished. I think how many would actually depend on the actual flower. What I did was I picked the ones that I really wanted then bought clearance flowers for fillers.

It was quick and only ~$20 from what I can remember. Definately cheaper than buying flowers!

Aw, thanks!

You get a temporary certificate that you sign on the day to take home, and it took 8 weeks exactly to get our official certificate. It was shipped by DHL.

Yes, they said it was great!

Meggers - your pictures are soooo pretty! I love the one where you can see your hubby in the reflection of your sunglasses and the close up one of your lips! Sexy pics!!

I got the bridesmaid dresses from Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop/thejerseymaid?ref=seller_info They are an awesome fabric and the girls loved them!

Thanks so much ladies! You're so sweet!!

Hi ladies! For some reason, I haven't been able to post any comments lately - I've been wanting to tell you all that everyone's pictures are ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! I think April brides took DWs to another level:) And exciting news for me - we finally got ours back from our photographers, that felt like the longest wait ever!! I've posted the slideshow that they made us in another thread (hopefully the link works): http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/73708/our-wedding-and-ttd-slideshow-ror-april-2011#post_1611202

Hi ladies! I know how much I've enjoyed looking at everyone's pictures from their weddings so I couldn't wait to share ours! And we've finally gotten our pictures back from our photographers! We were so lucky that they came with us to Jamaica! They are so incredibly talented!! Our wedding was April 5, 2011 at the ROR, and the TTD pictures were taken at several locations around Ocho Rios the next day. We had such a fun time!! Having a professional photographer was definately one of the largest chunks of our budget, but it was worth every penny!!! One of the best decisions we made:) Here's the link to the slideshow: http://www.asiseeitphotography.ca/onlineshows/charlene_brian.html

Quote:Originally Posted by bryanandchar Â

Quote:Originally Posted by tris Some of my PRO pics are up ! The slideshow has more pics in it as well . Our photog continues to blow my mind. http://sugarandsoulphotographyblog.com/blog/2011/05/09/trista-kai-married-in-jamaica-destination-wedding-photography/

OK, I don't know why my text didn't show up! Basically, I agree that you shouldn't change resorts. For the week of our wedding we were so busy with wedding stuff that we didn't have much time to visit with our guests, so we cherished all the time we could have with them afterwards. Plus, if you want alone-time, I'm sure your group will understand:)

Quote:Originally Posted by fmichelle Kitty, we changed resorts for our "honeymoon" due to some of DH's family staying longer than we would have liked and we regretted it terribly. Part of the problem was that Excellence was soooo amazing to us (but of course you already know how awesome Excellence is) and the Majestic Elegance was absolutely terrible. They never got the memo that is was our honeymoon and they made us feel like we were a burden to them from the moment we arrived until the moment we left. They even tried to downgrade us since they had overbooked! I'm not sure whether we got such amazing service at Excellence because it's always that amazing or because we had our wedding there and had booked a bunch of rooms. Either way, we shouldn't have left. To be honest though, the packing and unpacking wasn't such a big deal (although we had an extra round of it because we switched rooms at the second resort after the first night--another whole story, you can read the review on the Majestic Elegance review here), the main issue was how much worse the resort was. It probably won't totally feel like a honeymoon if you have that many people staying with you because you'll still see them around and probably have meals with them, but if they're close friends and perhaps you don't get to see them that often, you may really cherish that time with them because up until the wedding there was so much to take care of (meeting people for arrivals almost every day), wedding planning meeting and rehearsal with the coordinator, TTD the day after, etc.) Just weigh your options and make sure you stay at an as nice, if not nicer, resort if you change. And enjoy every moment, it goes by WAY too fast!! Â

Lisa - that video was AMAZING!! What an amazing keepsake!

We had the steel drum band - they play for ~30 mins while everyone is getting seated (which unfortunately you don't get to hear as the bride), and then for 15-20 mins after the ceremony. Everyone LOVED it, I wish I could have heard more. I think it was well worth the money. We had the free wedding and the free dinner so we felt that was an upgrade that we wanted to do. Here's a picture of them:

Everyone's pictures are so great! I'm so envious of you that have your pictures back already!! I think it will be 3-4 more weeks until we get ours...I'm so anxious to see them! Please post more of all of your pictures! I love looking at them!

We had our wedding on the beach at 3pm - we paid the steel drum band to play which was awesome, then we had dinner at the plantation at 6:30pm - 8:30pm, then we had rented the disco from 9-11pm. Oh! And my bridesmaids and I got our hair and makeup done at the Renova Spa - they are SO GOOD too!! Of course not everything went perfectly - it started pouring rain at 2:30 on the day of the wedding, the 1 of 2 times it rained over the two weeks I was there. So we pushed the wedding to 3:30 to see if the rain would clear up, which it did and we had a beautiful full rainbow behind us during the ceremony. The dinner started a little late - we had a pretty big group of 47 people, so not everyone was even served by 8:30 when we were supposed to be done, but we just took our time, and then had speeches and then everyone made their way to the disco. At the disco, everyone from our group didn't arrive until around 10pm so we only had an hour, but we still had a TON of fun. Since it was a Tuesday, the disco wasn't open late and we had to leave, any other day it's open to the public until 2am and everyone can go in there and party. We tried to pay off the DJ to stay later for us but he didn't go for it. Then at 11pm we all went out to the plaza bar and had more drinks and danced out there and people eventually started to head home to bed. BUT, the little things that didn't go to plan were things that I had no control over and despite it all I wouldn't have changed a thing - it was a beautiful day, there were 4 weddings that day and there was another group in the plaza with us at the end of the night, I didn't even see the other two. I remember feeling anxious before going, because it was all unknown, but honestly everything will be SO beautiful! They do so many weddings there and are so professional! I didn't give them enough credit before going there, they honestly exceeded my expectations!! You will not be dissapointed!!

Hi again ladies! So a couple of girls asked if there ws anything I wished I knew before going so I've made up a little list: 1 - There is AWESOME snorkeling just off the beach, just a short swim. Definately take your own snorkel and mask, you can rent them there for a $25 deposit, but only for 30 mins at a time. We snorkeled every day, so having our own was great 2 - There is a dive shop right on the resort: ScubaCaribe. They are PADI certified and were very professional. We got our open water certification there, and went on a couple extra dives too. They go 2x per day at 8:30 and 12:30, so if you're into scuba diving it is so super convenient and fun! 3 - Take lots of $1 US bills and $5 US bills with you for tipping - everyone wants a tip! We took a lot and still ran out and getting change is not easy. Also - the cash machine on site ran out of money several times, so getting cash was a pain. Just take lots with you and keep it locked up. 4 - We made mugs for all of our guests and it was the best thing we did - it kept everyone's drinks cold all day long and you didn't have to go for a refill every 2 sips! Everyone loved them!! 5 - The coffee in Jamaica is awesome, but expensive to buy on the resort - you can get it way cheaper in town if you barter at the shops. 6 - If you want to bring home alcohol - buy it at the airport, it's the cheapest spot I saw and probably the easiest. I bought 2 bottles of rum in town, they were originally asking $28 each, I got them for $14 each, but at the airport they were $13 each. There is lots of shopping at the airport too once you get through security - the line ups are aweful though! 7 - the RIU hotel is not directly in the city of Ocho Rios - it is about a 5 min cab ride, not really walking distance, and the only other hotel next to it is The Palace. We had friends stay at the Sandals and we thought it would be walking distance between the two hotels but they were very far apart. It was misleading when we booked. 8 - for a lot of the tours, you can hire a cab driver to take you where you want to go for cheaper, or just to explore around town or go shopping. They will drop you off where you want and then you just get the store to call them and they'll come back and get you, or they will wait for you, for about only $10 per person. 9 - lastly - the Jerk Chicken hut on the beach is AWESOME - don't wait to eat there, you'll want to eat there more than once! It is such a beautiful place - you will all love it!! I wish I could go back.

I think that's right for the fees, their prices change a lot though, so once you get an answer from Keisha, keep your e-mail with your rates. There's also the Plantation which is semi-private, and the look is similar to the steakhouse, they'll have a spot for you somewhere and it's all pretty much the same....your location probably won't be set until closer to your date unless you want to pay for the pool reception or beach reception which is first come first serve and that's $65 per person. It's all very nice, so you really don't need to worry about getting "the best" spot.

If your wedding is so far away, you won't have much luck getting any responses from them until actually closer to the wedding. I didn't get much input until about a month before we left. They are very very very busy people, they handle up to 4-5 weddings in a day plus all the inquiries from people trying to book and ask questions. Ask if you can have the free wedding package - it's only $250 or something like that, and that would confirm you a reception, then you just need to pay if you want to upgrade the reception location or details....they'll probably give you a ceremony time also, but you don't need to use it if you're going off site.

Oh, and we had our dance at the disco, we didn't meet with the DJ but took a CD we just gave to him to play from for our first songs. He played the rest, it was fun. The guys there work weddings all the time, they know what to do and to announce things. I wouldn't worry about it!

Hi ladies! I just got back from my wedding so if anyone has questions you can feel free to message me and I can try to help or send you pics. I will try to put a review together sometime soon. The white chairs are free, they charge $3 per chair sash, I brought my own, it was way cheaper to buy them. I didn't do ho'ur derves, but I saw another wedding that did, they set up a little food station on the beach for everyone. At ours they handed out champagne to everyone after the ceremony. There are 3-4 shops at the hotel that sell all sorts of beachy stuff. And I wouldn't worry about not finding your guests, in the evenings the entertainment is pretty central so it's easy to find people.

Hi ladies, We used studiosuits and I'm super happy with our results. We ordered 3 suits - in English beige, they took about 2-3 weeks to arrive, and we got e-mails from them confirming some of the measurements as some of the guys are really tall! Once we got them, 2 of them needed to be let out a little in the jacket (tight around the shoulders and around the waist), but there was tons of extra fabric to do this, also we needed the pants taken in on one suit a little. In total we paid $100 for alterations for everything. Totally worth it. Here's a picture of the guys:

That's so cool! I know, they are so great - we had a great time with them and I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures!! Their work is amazing!! We were really lucky that they could come with us!!