Sjay

Courtney, just reading your response re: timing and I realized I wasn't specific enough in my answer to Erin2100... (so thank you!) @Erin2100 - I'm not sure where you're from, but Iberostar requests 3 days in advance, and for Canadians such as myself, we need to be in Jamaica for 24hrs (any day, not limited to M-F). Sorry if I caused any confusion! Sarah

We're planning for those exact days too - I think that should be sufficient as you can meet with the WC the Fri or Sat to make any last arrangements/changes.

Hello, and welcome!

Hi JayKay - have you posted your wedding pics and I've somehow just missed them...? Don't mean to pressure you, I'm just anxious to see more of Merrick's work before we make a final decision on a photog!

Thanks Abby!

Congratulations! Your dress is so beautiful and so FUN and you look just fantastic in it! Looking forward to seeing your photos...

Thank you so much for sharing. Everything looked so beautiful! I'm in the process of finding a photographer so I will definitely have to look up Sandy. A couple of questions too if you don't mind. I love the scattered rose petals on the aisle - did your florist provide or did you bring artificial from home? I also love the candles you have attached to the huppa. Was there a trick to keeping them lit? I keep hearing that beach ceremonies are so windy! I think there was something else...but I'm blanking now, lol. I'll write again if I remember. Thanks! Sarah

JayKay - congratulations! I just read your review, and I'm so sorry to hear about the drama you had to put up with, but good for you for focussing on the positives. You look so beautiful and happy in your photos. What a lovely ceremony spot. I love the turquoise too! It was thanks you to I found out about Merrick, and after looking around the last couple of weeks, we're seriously considering hiring him. I can't wait to see his photos of your day. Congrats again to you and your husband! Sarah

Thanks everyone! Made some progress this weekend with our photographer search and invitation design. I'm on the fence about a videographer - on one hand I don't know I want to spend the extra money, but on the other, I'm sure the day will go by in a flash and it might be nice to have some video of it, especially the ceremony. Thoughts?

Hi Alicia, and welcome! I was in your exact position back in October. I wanted to have a really good sense of what the cost would be for my guests before committing to a resort, however as you've already heard, rates only come out about a year ahead of time. It was through this site that I happened across a 'role call' for the Iberostar resorts in Jamaica (which we'd narrowed down to be our first choice) and I was suprised to see a number of brides already had their ceremony date booked, some 1.5+ yrs out! We weren't picky about our ceremony date but we had a 3 wk window in which we wanted to travel. I contacted the resort WC directly to get a sense of what dates were available in our 3 wk window, and found out there were only 3 days left! Needless to say, we moved quickly to book a date with the hotel. There wasn't any cost to do so, just some paperwork and a lot of back and forth with the WC (they're on island time, so be prepared for things to happen slowly). It was nervewracking as it took over 2 wks to finally get confirmation of our preferred date. I would highly encourage you to narrow down your resort choices and get in touch with the WC's to find out date availability, especially if you have your heart set on a particular date and/or resort. Get that booked and then you can work on your STD's and a little later, look at rates. Good luck! Sarah

I came across a post from you today and just checked out your planning thread and wanted to say thanks for sharing! I'm just starting to plan and feel a bit lost and overwhelmed but you've given me some good ideas. (And I may have questions for you a bit later ). Photos are of huge importance to me so I just checked out Merrick's site and was very impressed - I've contacted him now so fingers crossed! Your big day is a week away now...congratulations! I hope you'll share some photos! All the best, Sarah

I realize there won't be much specific to a DW, but I'm looking for stationary and decor ideas, and I'll likely check out the fashion show too. I haven't even thought about our AHR yet...probably won't even plan that until post-wedding.

I am! Probably Sunday but still figuring it out. When are you going?

Thanks for the hello! Where in Jamaica are you getting married? We're 11 mos away as of today - Iberostar Rose Hall Suites, near MoBay. May I ask which photog you hired? I've seen a few names come up frequently in the reviews, but the reviews tend to be mixed...

Hi there! Just wanted to say hi as our weddings are just days apart and perhaps our trip dates will overlap too..? How goes the planning?

Starrysim, If this is just a sample, I can only imagine what the rest of the photos look like! So beautiful! I will have to look into Marcia, err, her assistant. Thanks for sharing!

Hi, and congrats on the upcoming wedding! I found your thread b/c I'm currently searching for an experienced DW TA in Toronto and I wanted to ask who you ended up finding and would you recommend? Thanks!

Wow, I've never seen such thing - beautiful!

What are sky lanterns?? I'm intrigued!

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone. I've good news - I heard back from the WC this morning and we've got a date and a place: December 3, 2012 at the Iberostar Rose Hall Suites! Let the planning begin!

Hello all! Finally got our confirmation - 12.3.12 at the Suites! 2011 Brides all married!!! 2012 Brides 1.9.2012 – daizyduke – Suites 1.18.2012 - RyGuysBride - Suites 1.18.2012 - nikadawn - Beach 2.2.2012 – shanas (Shana & Brian) – Beach 2.11.2012 - bmaxam12 - Suites 2.17.2012 - butyfuldreamer - Suites 2.22.2012 - X-Tina - Suites 2.24.2012 – hayjk – Suites 2.26.2012 – bjcs21 – Suites 3.19.2012-Saskbride2012 (Kari&Sean) = Suites 4.18.2012 – cGd41812 – Suites 4.27.2012 - Jamaica2012 - Beach 5.12.2012- photolvr77- Suites 5.14.2012 - poddoc - Beach 5.25.2012 - MissHoneyBee - Grand 5.30.2012 – MoBayBride2B – Suites 6.8.2012 – sunshine2413 (Shannon & Maurell) - Grand 6.9.2012 - Sj4680 (Susan & Kyle) - Grand 6.10.2012 - Leah 22 - Grand 6.22.2012 – dcrow55 – Suites 6.23.2012 - fungirl97 - Suites 7.1.2012 – JADE28 (Charene & Kevin) – Suites 7.7.2012 – JamaicaSukie – Suites 7.13.2012 - tdotey (Tomi & Kevin) - Beach 7.22.2012 – IslandBride201x (Kim & Eric) – Suites 7.22.2012 – MrsDesz – Beach 7.23.2012 – IslandBride12 - Suites 7.30.2012 - noreenp79 - Suites 8.24.2012 – Kadijah – Suites 10.7.2012 - mcolon722 - Suites 11.11.2012- meeshamillz - Beach 11.11.2012 – futuremrsclark (Megan & Nick) – Suites 12.3.2012 - Sjay (Sarah & Nelson) - Suites 2013 Brides 6.5.2013- amybutz89- Suites 6.2.2013 - Lillove81 - Suites Married!!!! 6.30.2011 – mrsdeloatch2be – Suites 7.13.2011 – daisymable – Suites 8.28.2011 - MrsWashington11 9.8.2011 - QTPie11 - Suites 9.9.2011 – Islandgirl910 – Suites 9.10.2011 – toiinlove – Grand 10.8.2011 – futuremrstgun – Beach 10.30.2012 – nolabride78 (Stacy & Raymond) 11.6.2011 – pmwoodard1978 (Paula & xx) – Beach 11.6.2011 - ErinDoc (Erin & Bryan) - Suites 11.11.2011 – mrsgreene2011 (Jeanine & Reuben) – Suites 11.14.2011 - Sn2bMrsMarshall (Eric & Sheena) - Beach 11.16.2011 – starrysim – Beach 11.20.2011 - lianac (Liana & Jeff) - Suites 11.24.2011 – Bride2be – Suites 12.3.2011- DeAngelis2be (Christine & Joseph)- Grand 12.5.2011 - Marlena (Marlena & Brian) Beach 12.6.2011 – Kimberli1211 (Kim & Coleman) – Suites

Congratulations Paula - beautiful photos! Your dress and makeup were perfect! I hope it was the day it you had dreamed of. I've seen Marcia's name a fair bit on this forum - I'm definitely considering hiring her...although I've lots of time yet. Sarah

Guess what? I got my confirmation this morning! December 3, 2012 at the Suites! It's finally starting to feel real, lol. We've got a wedding website started so I'm going to have building it out now. BTW, there's an Iberostar Roll Call discussion here you can add yourself to - it's for all three of the Iberostar Jamaica hotels. It's cool in that it helps you identify who else has married on the property so you can check out their planning threads, reviews, etc. You can also find out who's getting married on/around the same date you are - it seems girls get to know each other here and then have the chance to meet each other in Jamaica! Here's the link: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/70055/iberostar-rose-hall-and-suites-roll-call/110 Good luck with getting started on planning - I'm sure we'll talk again soon! Sarah

Thanks! Very helpful. I believe the Suites steakhouse is Aunt Ruby's. I think it's going to take some work to get him into a suit at all, but really, if my dress ends up being more casual, he might just skip the jacket altogether.

Yay! Congratulations!