soonCB

CourtandMatt- Thanks for the warm Welcome. Is your TA able to help you deal with vendors and such or is it strictly regarding the resort and travel? We are spending quite a bit of money working with the wedding planner, but so far it has been worth it escpecially since we are doing the ceremony and reception off resort? Is everone doing resort weddings? If not, how did you choose where to go off resort? Shay4966- What a great idea to have people RSVP before hand! I wish I would have thought about that. We have talked to most of the people before hand and determined who will most likely come. We plan on only having approximately 20 people at our wedding.

Hi Everyone, I am also having a bit of a dilemma in regards to the Bridal Shower. We originally did not want one, but my mother is pretty set on having one. The dilemma is that my FI's immediate family is moving to Australia at the end of June and they have not even confirmed whether they are coming to the wedding or not due to the costs to get to Jamaica from Australia (this a whole other frustration). So I am wondering if it is WAY too early to do the bridal shower in June (which would be 9 months before the wedding) so that they could be involved before they leave? I am really struggling with the decision because their availability is VERY limited and I am afraid my family and friends may complain that the shower is too far away from the wedding. What do you guys' think? Should we just continue with a June shower or hold out until closer to the wedding which would mean his family would not be able to make it and possible won't be at the wedding either? My FI has no other family in Manitoba which is why I considered having the shower in June.

Better pic of my dress. I wasn't even looking for dresses when I found it!

Hey Everyone, I love all the talk about Pinterest! I did exactly what you guys' were saying in regards to making a board of what kind of shots you like, I did this for our engagement pics and it worked out great! We have set a budget of $12000 for our off resort wedding in Jamaica. We hired a wedding planner and told her everything we want to include in this price and she said she could do it ( we shall see, I kinda expect it to be over). Other than the actual ceremony and reception costs we have asked her to include our travel costs (myself, my FH, and our daughter) and her costs for planning the wedding. This leaves about $6000 for the actual wedding ( the planner's fee is $2000 and I suspect it will be at least 4000 for our travel and accomodations). I am happy to see that everyone is around the same budget range as we are. This is something that I worry about. I also thought that a destination wedding would cost a lot less then at home, but from people I talk to here it seems that with travel and accomodations it is costing us about the same. Has anyone else realised this aswell for your locations?

Wow! I have never heard of that before. I bet that will really enhance the vacation feel of your trip too

Wow! I have never heard of that before. I bet that will really enhance the vacation feel of your trip too

Kristy28, Do you mind sharing the price per person that you booked? We are either going to go with Riu Negril or Riu Ocho Rios, both look great! Who are you working with as you wedding planner? Just on resort or an outside planner?

Airica26- What do you mean they have a resort credit promotion of $1500. I am very confused. Great to see that there are lots of girls from Wpg. Hopefully the weather will be like a normal winter next year so that it really feels like a winter get away. Not complaining though! +22 tomorrow! that's insane!

Here is my dress. Kinda hard to see, but it has flowers on the strap and applique inth skirt. I had my heart set on a short dress and this was the first one I found

I am also new to the forum and have found it very helpful so far! We are also from Winnipeg, but we are getting married in Jamaica. Trying to narrow things down between Negril and Ocho Rios. We are doing an off resort weddin and waitng for some quotes to come in. Is anyone else doing off resort? Is anyone using a wedding planner? Amandanjordan- the prices we have been gettinf for Jamaica have been between $1800 and $2400pp all inclusive. It all depends on the resort.

I am undecided about whether we should do OOT bags or reception gifts. I am a little worried about having to pack everything to go with us. How did you guys' decide on whether or not to do OOT bags? ( I know there is probably a thread about it already). That's really awesome that you all have started things so early.I am undecided about whether we should do OOT bags or reception gifts. I am a little worried about having to pack everything to go with us. How did you guys' decide on whether or not to do OOT bags? ( I know there is probably a thread about it already). That's really awesome that you all have started things so early. CourtandMatt- Are you doing a resort wedding? Is you TA able to work with you in regards to vendors as well? We are using a wedding planner/TA and she has been super great so far. The reason we went with her is because we are doing an off resort wedding. I am kinda wondering now if a good TA would have been able to do everything else we needed. Originally Posted by CourtandMatt Shay4966 - I just sent out most of my Save the Dates for my May 2013 wedding! I am so happy that now people can feel more secure with the date. Elissae - Good idea to skip the cost of Save the Dates! My FI and I didn't want to do Save the Dates, we found it to be a cost that was not necessary especially since we are sending invites so far in advance, but his mom wanted them and so she paid for them, which was very welcome. soonCB - CONGRATS and welcome to the site!! I am also getting married in Jamaica so yay to Jamaica! With regard to wedding planners - my TA acts as a wedding planner. Have you found a TA yet because you should make sure your TA does destination weddings mrsrepp - Thank goodness you found that out now. It is a national holiday with two days off so many people head to the beach and prices will go up! May is a great time!!

We are waiting on quotes back from our wedding planner. We will be booking the group rate by next Wednesday . We will probably be booking with Riu as it seems to be the most budget friendly . That's awesome that you are able to do a site visit before hand. We are unable to do this and will be depending on pictures to decide on the offsite ceremony venue. Have you chosen a wedding date yet?

We are waiting on quotes back from our wedding planner. We will be booking the group rate by next Wednesday . We will probably be booking with Riu as it seems to be the most budget friendly . That's awesome that you are able to do a site visit before hand. We are unable to do this and will be depending on pictures to decide on the offsite ceremony venue. Have you chosen a wedding date yet?

These look so amazing! Did you use a template or just paper and scissors type thing?

Hey Everyone! We are planning our wedding for February 2013 in Jamaica. We are doing an off resort wedding, so we are hoping to narrow down a venue soon. Is anyone else using a wedding planner for their wedding? We decided to go this route because of the off resort ceremony. I am like many of you and although we have a wedding planner, I want to start doing some of the fun smaller detail stuff. I have found this website very helpful and definately keeps the excitement up. Are you guys doing oot bags and reception favors?

HI DaniScales2b, I am also getting married in Jamaica. Although we are not using the same resort, we have a wedding planner/travel agent and she has been able to get us some group quotes for next year. She also said that Sunquest will do one time price matches if prices go down before the wedding date! This was really reassuring for me.

I think you did an AMAZING JOB on these. The circle "passport stamp" on the back will make them perfect. Good job

I Love your invites! They turned out great! I absolutely LOVE how the front looks like a real passport. We are doing passport invites as well and hoping to tweat the Canadian emblem a bit so that it looks like a real passport like yours. I am also a little torn about how early to send out invites. The sooner the better?

Hello Everyone! I am new to this website, but have found it very very helpful already! We are planning on getting married in February 2013 in Jamaica. We are still deciding on the resort as I am doing an off resort wedding. This also why I did not post where in Jamaica. We will likely be at the Riu Ocho Rios in Jamaica. We are using a wedding planner to arrange our big day, but I am getting anxious to do some of the "fun stuff". The save the dates just went out this past weekend! Is anyone else planning on doing an off resort wedding or using a wedding planner (I admit, I did not go through all the previous posts) Happy planning!