JayKay

We never had any kids at our wedding although we were prepared for a few to come. I didn't want kids at my wedding because I didn't want people to focus on crying miserable children instead of the wedding ceremony. That said, we were going to allow kids to the reception as it was pretty casual and layed back and only formally involved a dinner (We made our own fun later in the night at the pool side bar and disco). If any children would have come we would have asked that they find a babysitter, or at the resort we were at there was a kids club where they could drop off their kids for a few hours and then go pick them up after the ceremony. Maybe this is an option at your resort?

I would bring it up with your TA. Let her know that you were comparing her prices verse other prices and that you found it for much cheaper. Print our the pages that have the cheaper price and take them to her. Maybe she doesn't even realize the prices she quoted you are higher then other prices. Often they will try to match the cheaper prices to get your business. After we had booked for our vacation I found a cheaper price online and let my TA know. She lowered our price to match the cheaper price found online. It's worth asking.

I am really sorry to hear of the diagnosis for your father. It's never easy when someone is sick, especially your father. If your dad is anything like my dad, he would never miss the opportunity to see his little girl walk down the aisle and marry to man of her dreams, no matter the situation or how he is feeling. I hope everything works out for you and no matter what enjoy your vacation and cherish all the amazing memories that will be made on your wedding and trip.

I'm not to familiar with wires. Have you thought about trying a different form of payment. We paid our deposit and final balance through paypal. That way if something happens you get everything back that you paid.

We had the semi private reception dinner at the Grill. We were in the restaurant for almost 3 hours. They don't rush your dinner so you have lots of time for visiting and chatting. We left after our dinner was done and we cut our cake and ate our cake. I'm not sure if there is a time limit they allow you to stay in the restaurant for or not. It didn't feel at all like we were eating with a room full of strangers. At the Grill we were off to one side of the restaurant against the windows and there was no one even close to us. Yes, you don't have your own private room, but we always felt like it was fairly private. Also, because we were there in early January the resort wasn't to full capacity so the Grill wasn't very full. I think if you go during peak time to restaurants might have more people in them. You do get to choose your menu. You can choose one option for each category: Soup, salad, main course, and dessert. We didn't use any of our own table decor except for our own chair ties which they transferred from the ceremony to the dinner. I'm sure you can use your own decor if you want though. We didn't have table favors as we included them in our OOT bags.

It took a little over two months to receive our marriage certificate. If you get legally married in the states then you can't get legally married in Jamaica and vice versa.

I love this dress!

We never took our decorations or cake with us when we left the restraunt. We picked up our wedding decorations the next day and everything was there. They also put the remainder of our cake in our room and we never asked.

Congrats on finding your dream dress!! And don't worry that you know everything, you can now plan the wedding of your dreams. Not all proposals/engagments are fairy tales and unique.

Great story! And your ring is beautiful!!

Your photos are stunning! Congrats!

Beautiful photos! Congrats!

We purchased our canvas totes from cheaptotes.com They were really super cheap but yet decent quality. The shipping was a bit expensive, but I was okay with paying it because the totes were so cheap. Originally Posted by Melissa Bain Hello! I'm in the early process of all my planning, but I've also started on my OOT bags. I'm also making about 20 bags! So far, my best find was my tumblers from Dollarama. Clear double walled platic with screw top lid and the straw that doesn't fall out.... $2 ea. My mom bought the exact same cup from a Shoppers for $8. It might be only $6, but I'm giving everyone (2 cups per bag) a cup. It adds up so fast! I'm still working on my logo, but I will be getting vinyl stickers to put on the cups. My MIL works in a medical office, so I'm relying on her to get my tylenol samples and tums. I also bought some mini first-aid kits from Dollarama for $1.25 and Sudoku & Crossword books from Doller Tree for $1.25. Haven't figured out where to get my canvas totes yet. :S

We did ask people to be in our bridal party before they booked the trip. We went out our STDs about a year in advance and also included little cards asking if they would be in our wedding party. We also spoke to each one of them and explained that we would love for them to join us but we understood if it wasn't possible. We had two people we asked that were unable to come, due to financial situation and pregnancy, which is understandable. I think if you just explain to them that you would love for them to join you but if not its understood they will not feel so obligated to come. We also chose to help out our wedding party by paying for their attire and other costs associated with the wedding day (attire, jewelry, shoes, makeup, hair, ect.)

I used a checklist similar to this, but geared more towards a destination wedding, and it was super helpful to make sure things were getting done when they needed to be done. I'm sure this will help many brides on here!

I think those colors will look fabulous and elegant, yet fun together! Would love to see pics after your wedding!

The link takes you to just the website homepage. I think it depends what the feel of your wedding is and what look you are trying to acheive will depend on what suit you should get. If you are going more casual you will want something more casual. If you want your wedding to be more formal you will need a more formal looking suit.

My mom was with me when I purchased my dress. I couldn't imagine her not seeing it before my wedding day. She was with me when I had alterations to make sure it looked good. She also had to fix a few beads that came loose during transport to Jamaica for my wedding. I think it would be nice for your mom to see the dress before hand. That way if you need to she can help you with accessories.

I didn't wear a garter. We weren't doing the bouquet/garter toss so I didn't have one. Might have been nice to have one to catch all the sweat running down my legs! ha

I wanted a coffee table book, but once my photographer told me he charges 500 dollars for one I decided I would just make my own. I ended up making a book with all our vacation books (from blurb.com) and one with all our wedding photos (from mypublisher.com). I signed up for emails for both sites and they send you codes in the emails every so often for deals. I found both were fairly easy to work with. I played around with both for awhile and overall I am pleased with both books, however, I think blurb is a little easier to work with and more customizable then mypublisher. However, I went with mypublisher for the wedding photo book as they offer higher quality paper and cover options. That being said, my good friend is a professional photographer and she always uses blurb to make her coffee table books for clients. I think just play around with both and check out the pros and cons of each to decide which you prefer.

Glad to hear you had an amazing wedding! Next would be AllieH Jaykay's BLUE Starfish Who? When? Where? From? Jaykay January 9-16, 2012 Runaway Bay, Jamaica Alberta, Canada Laurelyn March 10-18, 2012 Veradero, Cuba BC, Canada canadiangirl April 11-18, 2012 Montego Bay, Jamaica Ontario, Canada Jwed12 June 20-28, 2012 Montego Bay, Jamaica Towson, MD palacebridex2 July 11-18, 2012 Riviera Maya Rochester, NY deesanders33 August 8-18, 2012 Punta Cana, DR Houston, TX AllieH November 2-10, 2012 Riviera Maya Fort Worth, TX asiamarie1 December 10-23, 2012 Vegas/Cabo, Mexico Glens Falls, NY 

Thanks! I hope these instructions are useful for someone!

Sorry I can't answer your question. We had the semi private reception as there was only 18 of us.

I think it probably takes about a minute. I was walking so fast though, my parents told me to slow down!

I also have mild acne and was so worried about it for my wedding. Honestly, I can say once I got to the warm humid weather my face had never been better. All my acne went right away. And try not to stress about anything, which will make your acne worse. And don't worry, makeup artists will be able to perfect your face no matter how much acne.