Nikadawn

Welcome to the forum! I know exactly how you feel. I started with NO idea whatsoever of where we would book our wedding. My fiancee and I made a list of absolute must-haves for our location, set a budget for both the wedding and what we thought our VIP guests could afford. We then took that list to a travel agent and polled a few friends who'd travelled the Carribean more than once. That got us down to list of 8 resorts. It was a glowing review on Tripadvisor from another couple that helped us make our final decision. In the end you'll go with your gut. Good luck!

You're right, they only ship in the U.S. That being said I'm only a 40 min. drive from Ogdensburg, New York where they will ship to the UPS store there for no charge. I figure if I keep my order under $200 Then even if I have to pay duty it will only be around $20. Still way cheaper then the quote the florist in Jamaica gave me ($425!).

Good friends of ours gt married at the Azul Sensatori in PDC and loved it there so much that they bought a time share! It's a beautiful resort and I've heard the WC's are awesome.

TaraHutchJewellery. All of her stuff is one of a kind, it's cool knowing noone else will ever have the same thing.

And to think I almost spent $40 on decorated flip flops! Can't wait to try this idea myself.

The turtles are super cute! Nice job.

Sandals is waaaay overpriced. You have to love that they have ongoing promotions claiming to be 65% off when it's still twice what you'd pay to go to a comparable resort. We're going to the Iberostar Rose Hall which is right near the airport in Montego Bag, it's in the mid-price-range. The Gran Bahia and the Riu are both your best bang for your buck resorts when it comes to their wedding packages. Especially if it's just going to be the two of you, it make sense to go for a place where your wedding can be free.

I plan to buy "real touch" flowers in order to make my own bouquets/boutonnieres. I've found two websites to order them from and was just wondering if any of you ladies have ordered them successfully or have tips on where it's best to buy them from. www.save-on-crafts.com seems to offer great prices, there is better selection on www.realtouch-flowers.com but no prices and you have to send them a bunch of personal information just to get a quote. I tried angelasaccents as well but their website says they are booked for orders until next spring and my wedding is in Janauary.

I thought I would never use a TA but couldn't even get past the resort selection process without mine. I actually found her through this forum. I went to the group for brides from my area and asked around who had great TA's. I emailed the 3 closest to my area and the first one to respond was awesome. She doesn't plan the wedding for you by any means, but it's nice to have someone to pass on all the travel info to your guests. You don't need people pestering you 24/7 while you try to plan your wedding, a great TA can field everybody's questions regarding travel for you.

Will do! Now for a more serious question... Do you think we can get marshmallows into Jamaica for our bonfire?

In regards to the DJ, I have been piecing together onfo based on recent reviews by brides from both the Beach and the Suites and here's what I've figured out: There are multiple DJ's employed by the resort and at least one of them works at both locations. This makes sense as there would have to be more than one if there are weddings going on at both resorts at the same time. One very happy recent bride said that she got the same DJ at her wedding at the beach as the one working the Disco at the Suites the following night. She was thrilled with him, however didn't mention his name so it could very well have been the same DJ that some ppl thought was terrible. It's all subjective I guess. I also read another review that stated the DJ played weird music, didn't play the song/cd's they brought with them for him to play, and played the same song twice in a row more than once. It seems to be a bit of a gamble either way. I'm going to chance the resort DJ and bring music with me just in case.

Wow! I'm jealous of how much time you have, lol. Why am I so impatient!!?

Oh and I forgot to mention, it's a very kid-friendly resort

I would strongly recommend the Gran Bahia in Ocho Rios. We were there for a wedding in February and that couple did if super inexpensively. Their wedding ceremony, cake ,champagne, bouquet, were all free for having a certain number of rooms booked by guests (not very many, I think there were less than 30 of us kids included), their daughter was free as a bonus they earned, and instead of a reception they just went to the disco for the night. The trick for them was to ask their travel agent to book them with a tour company that offered lots of perks and incentives (I think they used Sunwing) so they got discounts and upgrades for every 3 rooms booked with their wedding group.

Just order my wedding day earrings! Unusual yes - but that's what I was going for. They highlight both my signature colour and my connection to India.

Yikes! Are you looking at high-end boutique resorts only? Our basic wedding package at the Iberostar is $2100 and we are expecting about another 1500 in add-ons for our group of 25-30. If you are on a serious budget there are even resorts in Jamaica that offer free weddings. Check out the Gran Bahia and the Riu. Good luck!

Ya ditto for Dominican, the brutal heat of the summer is breaking around then which is nice but it rains approx. 75% of the time and HARD. You'd have better luck bumping it up a month to July (it's really hot but not as much rain) or wait til October.

Better late than never, lol. Welcome!

Thanks for bringing this up! With all the excitment of dress shopping I forgot all about the legal stuff! And I'm a month before you, guess I'd better get a move on.

One thing that helped us decide on a location was when we realized that you can make almost any place work for your budget if you are willing to make compromises. If you have your heart set on a more exotic location that costs alot to fly to then you might have to settle for only a 3 day visit. If you want a longer trip then you might have to sacrifice going the ever popular all-inclusive route and rent a large cottage or bungalow with a group of people and make your own food. For us great food and service was most important so we chose a resort chain that is known for both and picked from among their locations. Make a list of your "must haves" and stick to them, you'll find the right place.

Lol, thanks! I never thought I'd pick a short dress. My fiancee doesn't know, I can't wait to see his face when I come down the aisle.

I'm having the opposite problem! I only have a MOH and one bridesmaid. They are my two best friends by a long shot, I never even thought of anyone else to ask. The bridesmaid is so worried about money these days that she has hinted that she may even have to back out of the wedding. I've even cosidered helping her out by paying for her dress (not that I'm swimming in cash these days either) I just have to find a way to do without the MOH finding out, I can't afford to buy both of their dresses and I know she can afford it no problem. It's just that I won't have any family there so I'd find it even harder if one of my two best frinds weren't there.

No wardrobe changes for me! Wearing mine for ceremony/dinner/bonfire/disco. I've heard girls say that they changed but were sad to take off their dress cause they loved it so much and it feels like you hardly got it on before you have to take it off already. That being said if you've found two dresses you love.......

So in looking through my info it would appear that the only option to have music on the beach during the bonfire is to hire the DJ. Is that the same conclusion everyone else came to? I recall a past post from someone saying they wanted to do their own music via an ipod for their dinner/reception but they were told that only a dj would be permitted to operate the sound system. It's alot of money for only 90 min of music but it seems to be the only way. Anybody have other suggestions? We just want to dance and party on the beach abit before having our cake and heading to the disco for the night. I would bring my own ipod player but I'm afraid it won't be loud enough to hear if it's really windy.

Thanks! And welcome! This forum is the perfect place to get all of that wedding, wedding, wedding chatter out of your system so you don't drive your friends, coworkers and fiancee nuts, lol.