Nikadawn

I'd say the photographer is up to you, it's not expected for independant ones but if you felt they earned it then go for it. We tipped the WC's. Kimoya and Vanassa were phenomenal and I saw them working their butts off every day of the week. I tipped $60 to the 2 of them (I went to their office the day after the wedding, there is usually one of them there each morning until 1pm)

If they don't have any questions or issues with the final details they won't email. Don't worry, they read everything you send, they're just SWAMPED with weddings every day right now and tend to only reply to direct questions. When I arrived they reviewed every one of my requests with me in person anyway.

That's fine, we arrived on Sunday afternoon and got married on Wednesday. They just want to make sure you have time to meet with them AND do your rehearsal. Just make sure you don't book any all day excursions before the wedding so you can get all that done.

That's exactly what I want to do! We can recreate a little bit of the Jamaican feel this way. I was thinking I would pick up a half dozen small (like 5feet tall) potted palm trees and wrap them in white lights for decoration. And make sure the caterers you hire have a good recipe for jerk chicken! I think we'll have a bar well stocked with Red Stripe beer too. Now all I need is to find a steel drum band to play for us. You don't hear alot of steel drums in Ottawa......

We were hoping to do it but the internet connection doesn't reach past the main lobby. I'm told it might be possible from an iphone if you're willing to pay roaming fees for the connection.

Lol, they put up signs saying not to swim early in the evening as that is when they pour the chemicals in but later at night it just says "swim at your own risk" cause there's no lifeguards. We swam almost every night before bed. It was awesome cause only one night did anybody else go swimming so it was like we had a huge private pool the rest of the week.

Gorgeous pictures girls! Waiting on my pro pics as well. We just have a handful that we got free from the resort photographer of the ceremony. Our only drama was the Mother of the Groom getting severely ill the morning of the wedding and having to pay ALL of our available cash to pay for the doctor to come and put her on an I.V. for a few hours so she'd have the strength to attend at least the ceremony. Luckily we had a great group of friends who spotted us for the rest of the week. The rest of the week went perfectly and I'm almost teary eyed thinking of how grateful I am to the phenomenal WC's at our resort, they were fantastic.

Thanks girls! To answer a few questions: The dress is by Rivini, I never planned to go short but I saw this one in a fashion show on the morning news to advertise a trunk show and was obsessed with it instantly. My flowers are actually fake. I really wanted Plumeria (Frangipani) in my bouquet and since they mainly grow them in Hawaii it would cost a fortune to get them through Tai Flora. For my bouquet, 2 bridesmaids bouquets, 3 bouts and a handful of loose ones for the cake and my hair they quoted me around $620. I found a lady with a website in California who specializes in "Real Touch" frangipani and other tropical flowers. For all the flowers AND insured shipping it cost $270! www.plumeriasweddingflowerboutique.com I HIGHLY recommend her, she's fantastic, as long as you have a plan to get your flowers to Jamaica, that was a bit tricky lol. Oh and for the bride who asked about the disco... we went twice and I was comfortable both times. I got pretty into the dancing on my wedding night and got a little sweaty but not dripping or anything. It only starting feeling a bit warm when it got crowded early (like 1am) in the morning at which point we left to go for a swim anyway.

I'm baaaaaaaaack! Wow did the week blow by soooo fast. I will get started on my review tomorrow so I'll just sum it up for now by saying that I have ZERO regrets in my choice of resorts. I never met Silvia, the WC at the Beach with whom I did most of my emailing pre-wedding, however I spent alot of time with Kymora and Vanessa and they were both fantastic. They went above and beyond and those girls work their butts off! Here's my 12 freebies from the resort photographer, hopefully I'll have the rest of my pics in a day or two....

Flying out in the wee hours of the morning so this is my farewell. Can't wait to tell you all about it when I get back!

Plane takes off in 13 hours, busy doing toenails and catching some zzz's til then so next you ladies hear from me I'll be a Missus. Good luck to those of you who'll be gone when I get back!

Happy legal wedding day!

Quick chuckle for your morning ladies: So I've been using a home bleaching kit for my teeth and in order to not ruin the results I decided this morning to start drinking my coffee through a straw. FYI: delivering a shot of scalding hot fluid directly to the back of your throat might make you convulsively spit your latte all over your table at Starbucks shocking the mother with three children beside you and offending the barrista who made it

Leaving on Sunday and officially started to pack this morning. I normally pride myself on being a very light packer but this trip I seem to find myself frequently saying "What the hell. it's for my wedding trip" to items I would never consider bringing. And now my FI is suddenly concerned with having to pay for going over on luggage weight. I just assumed it was a given from the word go lol.

Lol, I was wondering if you might catch up on this thread. I didn't ask you about it cause I was afraid it might come across bitchy and I would dream in a million years of suggesting you move your wedding reception or anything like that. Like I said, I just didn't want mix ups as I'm always way too polite to tell anyone that something was done wrong. You can definitely get in on the dance party