MrsHamblett2012

I know..It consumes your life!! I took a break on planning this summer but now I am back at it! We are doing the free package as well! The minister costs $360. So basically the wedding package is not "free" Also the free wedding package is only for 10 people...So everyone that you have over 10 it costs $10.50 per person and that will cover the champagne toast and the cake for the additional people...So yes they give you a "free" wedding package but there are little expenses here and there. The marriage certificate comes with the package but it does take a while to get. They will mail it to you in I think like 4-8 weeks. We are not doing the cocktail hour either...I dont think we have enough people to actually have a "cocktail hour" I think what we will do is make a little "agenda" for everyone...and we will choose a bar and have the "cocktail hour" there so everyone can be together and have everyone meet for dinner at 630. I am not going with the free bouquet either...i have gotten some prices from Tia Floral...I wanted simple flowers so I was thinking on white cala lillies for me and my girls. Tia Floral quoted me $160 for my bouquet and $75 for each bridemaids bouquet...I am going to look into the Real Silk flowers and see how they compare...These fake flowers look so real and you get to keep them forever...So Im still debating on that. We are having our reception dinner at the place where the "free" one take place. I dont care to have a private reception its just not that important for me and its like $55 per person./...So we will have a semi-private dinner at the steak house. I think when you do it at the steak house its the normal menu so you dont really get to pick what you eat but im not positive about that either. The DJ decision is hard for me too...i think if i do end up choosing to rent the disco i will not pay money for a DJ...I think i woudl just hook and ipod or play a CD on the speakers...I really cant see paying a DJ to play our music after we have just paid money to rent out the disco...but we are still debating. You could also have a party on the beach but that costs money...they would bring in fire dancers and things like that for additional cost. Other people have not done anything and just decided to hang out on the beach or to hang out at one of the bars...I mean we still might do that...I just want it to be a little different from the other nights that we are there hanging out on the beach or the bars. I guess the disco opens to the public at 11pm so you would only have it to yourself from 9-11 is the time i think they rent it out. But if there is a wedding going on the same day you have to rent it fast because someone else might take it....which im scared of too...We decide last minute we want to rent the disco and we cant. We havent decide on photography either..i have written some emails to PhotoShop which is right at the resort. His name is Michael and from what I can see its pretty expensive...I thought about bringing someone but it would be more expensive for them to fly down and stay...other people use photographers that are notpart of the resort which you can do but you have to pay that fee for bringing them there...so we are still undecided about that too.

I would say the most popular that I see the most is Gran Bahia, RIU Ochos Rios, Rose Hall and Iberostar...Those are the ones that I see the most. I chose the RIU Montego Bay because it was close to the airport for my guests and it was affordable! I'm not getting married until 5/11/2012, so I cannot give you any insight from personal experience!

This is awesome!! You have given me some great ideas on items/places and prices...Thank you!

Thank you! Ive also been thinking about steel drum music but its expensive to have for one hour!! I'll def check into this site!

Tropic Lover - I'm getting married on 5/11/12 as well except in Jamaica!!

Jwed - Let me know what they say! I would love to have these at RMB! Quote: Originally Posted by Jwed12 Please post if you hear back about Jamaica! I asked my wedding coordinator, but I haven't heard anything back yet.

Welcome Emmalou! I'm getting married at the RMB on 5/11/2012! I have never been there so its hard to for to picture everything as well...I have read A LOT of things on this website and got some great ideas! What I am thinking in my head is that you have the ceremony at whatever time you choose and then go right into taking pictures. You can either spend money on a cocktail hour or you can just send your guests to one of the bars on the resort and drink for free....The reception dinner starts at 630 and I dont think that the WC will introduce you as a couple...from what I have read the bride and groom have one of their guests do it. And i am reading that a lot of people do their first dance when they rent out the disco so i dont know about the first dance if you dont rent out the disco. I am unsure if i am doing the DJ/disco...I might rent the disco and not the DJ and we will play our own music...I just keep thinking..what will everyone do if we dont have the DJ? I know that everyone can hang out and drink for free but then i think it will feel like every other night we are there...and i want it to feel a little different...So i dont know what to do! Are you going with the free flowers or choosing a different bouquet? I really really really wanna do TTD too! The picutres are so pretty! For our decor i think we are going with a starfish/shell/sea type of theme...I have a picture in my head although I havent actually decided on what I am going to do...But my bridesmaid dresses are a turquoise/aqua color so i think the theme would go well..Tell me more of your ideas!!

I was thinking about having a lot of star fish at my wedding! They are so pretty if you do the right thing with them..Thank you for all of the great ideas!!

Looks great!! I'm still debating whether I want to do fake flowers or real ones...Fake ones seem so much cheaper!

Melissa & Cagney May 11, 2012 RIU Montego Bay <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Looks great! You have some good ideas..I didnt think about putting snacks in there but I am sure everyone loved it. Did the chocolate melt in your luggage?

I just saw these on the bachelorette too and they are sooo amazing! I would love love love to do this!

Hey there! I know its been a while since anyone has posted on this forum, but i wanted to check and see if you were still planning on getting married at the RIU Mo Bay? I am getting married there on May 11, 2012. How's planning going for you?

Hey Jwed12, the planning is going good! I actually took the summer off from planning to relax so I havent been on the site in a while...But now I'm back at it! We have booked our rooms through our travel agent...Our group rates we're for every 10th person the 11th person was free...I dont know about any other group rates. We had to book by 8/15 to get the rates that she quoted me last May. Now I am starting to think about flowers & photography...It's just so hard because a lot of stuff you dont have to do until you get down there...What are your colors? Quote: Originally Posted by Jwed12 Hey ladies, how's the planning going??? Do you guys know how the group rates work with the Riu? I was told that in order to get the discount, your entire group has to book together and for the same amount of time. If any of you have info on this, it would be much appreciated!

RMB - May 11, 2012!

Good Ideas Ladies! I am doing the same kind of thing (not until summer of 2012 after our May 2012 wedding) but we are going to do a pig roast and it will be a Luau! Everyone wearing lays, apple in the pigs mouth, tiki torches...ect ect...I have a picture in my head and hoping it comes out just like that!! I am wondering if peopple did save the dates for their AHR?

Congrats! And best of luck deciding where you want to get married!! The reason I chose the RIU is because of how affordable it was for my guests. My TA is also working on good deals and from what i've seen so far they are VERY reasonable! I also chose the RIU chains because of their wedding package. Instead of giving you a wedding package that costs a lot they give you the option of having a free wedding package and adding on the things that you would like. This is the reason why I chose the RIU. I was looking into all of the RIU resorts in Jamaica and the reason I chose Montego Bay is because of how close it was to the airport. We are traveling with someone in a wheelchair and I thought it would be best if we were close to the airport so we wouldn't have to do much traveling! Hope this helps and welcome to the forum! i am excited to see what everyone thinks about all the different resorts and to see everyone's planning!

TiaFlora seems ok so far. They have send me a little bit of information. I just asked for pricing and haven't gotten it yet. But they have some beautiful creations! I think I am going to bring those silk rose petals to do the isle with. No sense in them doing it, when I can easily bring that down! I also am going to create my own centerpieces. I dont know if I will have any actual flower arrangements. But I saw someone else have like an isle runner down the whole length of the table with starfish and candles and shells and it was really pretty! So I will have to see wht I can come up with! I just had my first little speed bumb though!! :-( I am only brining about guests and they are all really close to me so i ran the month of May by everyone and everyone said it was fne! So i booked my wedding for May 4th! Come to find out the best man's mother is getting married in Vermont on May 5th and he forgot! So we just changed our date yesterday to May 11th so my fiances best man could be there! So everything is good now we have a new date but I thought I was going to have a heart attack!! haha

Thanks for sharing! What resort did you stay at? If there is one thing that we MUST do what would it be?! :-)

Thank you! I am from Vermont! The planning is coming ok. At first it was very confusing but then i found this website and it brought everything to another level!! I have gotten so many ideas from here and I am so exctied to keep planning!

I am in the process of confirming right now, so it looks good for 5/4/2012!! We will def have to meet once the time comes. I am sure this next year will fly by!! I should check out destinationweddings.com. My travel agent has been just ok at best. She's local but she takes forever to respond and it took her a month to even get me any kind of pricing. So I dont know what I am going to do. I think we will have right around 20 guests. Give or take a couple. I am not sure about the beach or gazebo. My first initial reaction was to go with the beach. I heard it was really windy on the beach though. Either way whatever we choose it is going to be BEAUTIFUL! I am choosing the free wedding package and then adding on the things that I want. I also want a photographer. Who are you using? Arely sent me information about the resort photographer Micheal. I have heard mixed reviews about it. Some peopple loved him and some people hated his work. Are you going to do any extra flowers? I would like my bridesmaids to have flowers but Im not sure which company I would want to use or go through the resort. There are so many decisions to make!!

Hi Melino! Welcome to the forum! My wedding is *hopefully* 5/4/2012. I am still in the process of confirming! I chose the RIU Montego Bay for many reason. 1.It is affordable for my guests 2. It was built in 2008, so its practically brand new. 3. Ive seen people on this forum talk about how they like RMB OVER ROR - Which is where you see a lot of brides go. 4. Its only a mile and a half from the airport. 5. I have searched and searched for pictures and they all look beautiful!! 6. They offer a free wedding package where you can add things to. Most other resorts dont do that. So those reason along with others is why I finally chose RMB. I hope that helps. I am using a travel agent but not for the wedding part. The travel agent is going to help with booking our rooms and flights. For the wedding I contacted the resort directly and they were pretty fast with letting me know if my chosen date and time was available. Hope this helps!

Jwed12 - I am working with a travel agent and from what I can see reading A LOT of different things for different resorts on this forum it is not uncommon for the wedding planner to be bad at communicating. I notice a lot of people say that they worked with a WC atfirst and thent he WC didnt contact them until like a couple months before the wedding. So I guess that is what I am expecting. I have only heard great things about this resort so I am going to plan it here based on that and see what happens! I think the thing you have to remember is that your in Jamaica! There might be a couple bumps along the road but just being there is going to be a great experience in itself!! I dont think we qualify for the private reception because we only have 20 people. So I guess what we will do is just do the reception that comes with the freee package at one of the restaurants. You are able to decorate the table yourself so I already have an idea of what I would want. I am thinking of using TiaFlora for my flowers because I've seen pictures of the free bouquet and Im not a huge fan. I also am thinking about using the steel drum band for the ceremony because ive seen a lot of people say that the steel drum band is the best thing they got that was extra. So maybe that. Also I want a professional photographer so I might just use the one that comes with the resort..I dont know ive seen mixed reviews. Have you thought about using any of these extras? There is so much to plan and decisions to make! It is a shame that the WC's arent better about corresponding with brides. This is a stressful time! But I think that if we use this forum to post everything we get from the WC's we can help each other!

User Name:Mrshamblett2012 Names: Melissa & Cagney Wedding date: May 4, 2012 Resort: RIU Montego Bay

I am planning my wedding for RMB May 2012 and I cant get enough of this site either!!