albellis

My wedding is booked at the Iberostar Rose Hall Beach. I have been working with a TA who will be booking the reservations through FunJet. She is asking for 50% when the reservation is made, and the remaining 50% is due about 60 days prior to our wedding. I have also heard from the IRHB that the charges for the wedding are due when we check out of the resort. I would recommend talking to another TA.

Does anyone know how the tables are set for the reception at Uncle Tony's? I have seen some pictures that are a U-Shaped set up... Is that the standard, or will they set up rounds if requested?

Hi Kassi, I asked the WC at the Beach when she will start to work on the details for my wedding, and she said they typically begin planning 2 months prior to the wedding. I figure I will keep a list of any questions I have and get them addressed at that time, unless there is something I need answered sooner to make some decisions.

Hi Laura, I have my wedding booked with the Beach. The agreement states: "This package is only for Iberostar Rose Hall Beach guests. The couple and at least 90% of their guests have to be Iberostar guest, (Staying at any of the three properties in Jamaica) of which at least 80% at the Rosehall Beach" The package includes 8 people, and each additional person will be $18. If a guest is staying at the Suites or Grand, they are considered a guest of the hotel and only that $18 fee would apply (if you have more than 8 people).

The agreement I have with the Beach states that anyone attending the wedding events above the 8 people allowed is charged $18/person. There is not an additional charge on top of that for guests from the Grand or Suites to come over to the Beach, after all it is included in their stay (the Grand guests can visit any of the 3 Iberostar resorts, the Suites guests can visit the Beach, but the Beach guests can't visit the other 2 properties). When I was deciding between the Beach and the Suites, it came down to cost. When I was pricing a week's stay, it was almost $1,000 more for me and FI to stay at the Suites than the Beach. I figured I could use that money for something else wedding related. And I wanted to keep it affordable for our guests and was trying to find a place that was under $1,500 for a week's stay.

I like the 30 day shred. I just started it this week on Monday and have already lost 4 lbs. I am also tracking what I eat, so I am sure it is a combination of the two. I have a pair of jeans that were just a bit too tight to wear before, but I am wearing them today! For me, I wasn't doing really any kind of exercise before, other than taking the dog for walks, so this video seems to help ease me into things and it isn't too hard that I want to just give up right away. I am looking forward to moving on to the next two levels to change things up a bit, and eventually adding in some other videos for a variety. I say give it a shot, it certainly can't hurt anything You may end up moving right to the second or third levels if you have already been using the Power90, but it is a good workout for just under a half hour.

Bride81 - here is the magnet that I sent. I ordered them through VistaPrint and got a great deal.

I included a pre-RSVP and sent a letter as well. In the letter, I explained that we were sending a tentative RSVP to help with our planning and we understood that their plans may change. I said a formal RSVP would be sent along with our Invitations. If you are interested, I can post pictures of what I sent (magnet, pre-RSVP postcard, letter).

We are also planning to head down on the 24th, and will either leave the following Wednesday or Thursday. I can't wait to book it and have the travel finalized

I am trying to watch the calories I eat, and have been using the MyFitnessPal app. I am not really cutting things out or only eating certain things, rather I am trying to make healthier choices, increase the amount of fruit and vegetables I eat, and watch portions. If I really want pizza, I will have only one piece versus four. If I deny everything that I have a craving for, then I am sure I will fail and go right back to eating whatever I want whenever I want. I have also started to work out in the morning before getting ready for work. My FI starts work earlier than I do and his alarm goes off about a half hour before I would normally get up. Instead of dozing for that half hour, now I get up and pop in my workout video. I just started doing Jillian's 30 Day Shred which I really like so. I'm only on level 1 but it's a start for someone like me who has only been walking the dog for exercise.

I just started this DVD on Monday, so I'm not sure about level 2 or 3, but geez, this makes me realize just how out of shape I am! I am hoping that if I stick with level 1 for 10 days I will be ready to move to level 2 and try to finish up the program in 30 days. I have been eating better this year and definitely think that adding the additional exercise into the mix has helped. I have been stable at my weight for about 2 months now, granted, I wasn't watching what I was eating as well as I could have been, but after 2 days of using this video I am down 2 lbs I am hoping that using this video, along with some of Jillian's other ones that I have heard good things about, I will continue to loose the weight and be closer to my goal by the time I get married!

Hi Finleya! I see we have the same wedding date When are you going to be in Jamaica? Maybe I'll see you at the airport

I agree with what the other ladies are saying... if you have the STDs ready now, go ahead and send them. I sent mine out last month for our April 2013 wedding. I wanted to give everyone plenty of time to save and plan for the trip. I included a magnet so they can keep it on their fridge and won't worry about losing a piece of paper. I included a link to our wedding website, so I had to make sure that was completed before sending the STDs, which honestly took more time than designing & preparing the STDs.

I also have an April 2013 wedding and I looked at the prices for traveling in April 2012 to get an idea of what it will cost. My TA is booking everything through FunJet (flight & hotel) and we will be able to get discounts and promos with their group travel program. So with that, no, we can't book the entire package yet because flights are not out until this summer. I am still not sure how many people we will have coming with us, so I didn't want to block too many rooms. I am thinking it will be around 20 people (10 rooms). I may have gone another route and blocked the rooms in advance if I was having a larger wedding.

Hi Jenny, I did the STDs myself. I ordered the postcards and magnets from VistaPrint ($65 which included 100 magnets & 100 postcards), the paper and envelopes from paperandmore.com ($57 for 100 envelopes, 100 sheets of paper, and the pape cutting to the appropriate size), and spent $6 on the stamp and ink for the flower on the envelope (stamp from Etsy and ink from Michaels). So it came out to about $1.28 per STD not including the postage. I am planning to do my invites myself and will probably order the paper from paperandmore.com as well.

I included one to add a litte more detail about our wedding. I also included a pre-RSVP card so we could get an idea of head count for planning purposes, so I mentioned that in the letter as well - I wanted to explain that it was an informal RSVP and they would still receive the formal RSVP with the formal invite. Here is the one I sent if you wanted an example

I've read posts saying that people weren't getting very good response when doing a pre-RSVP, so that had me a little concerned. I sent just over 60 save the dates out, and have gotten 17 RSVP cards back so far. People still have time to respond (we asked for returns by April 14) so I am hoping we'll still have more coming in. There are still about 20 couples out there that I have no clue on their thoughts about going (mostly my FI family and friends). Even if we get a response from half the people, that would be good for me!

Thanks vbbbtk! It's good to know I don't need to find a bracelet to hide it under

I see a lot of pictures of brides that got married at the Iberostar that aren't wearing a wristband. Does this resort not require them, or have the brides worked something out where they can remove theirs for the wedding day and get a new one afterwards? I just don't want a big colored band on my wrist in all the photos.

Great photos! Thanks for sharing Were there any issues with other guests being too close to your site on the beach during the ceremony? I would love to get married on the beach, but am concerned that we will end up with pictures of some guy in a speedo in the background What time was your ceremony? I wonder if it is closer to 5pm then people would be off the beach getting ready for dinner.

Hi Aimee, I searched "heart island" on the canstockphoto.com website. There is a fee to download their pictures, but I knew I wanted a few images for our wedding items so I didn't mind paying. I think it was around $25 to order about 10 pictures. I can email you the photo if you would like, just send me your email address in a private message.