I may be able to answer a few of these as I have just wrapped up making my selections for my Beaches Ocho Rios wedding. With the Beautiful Beginnings theme, mostly everything is white. There are a lot of things that you can buy a la carte. For example, I am getting an island paradise take without the centerpiece for $100. I purchased the conch shell as my center pieces. The napkins, menu cards, etc. can be done in any color for no extra charge. i can't answer your photography question as my future sister in law is a photographer :-) As far as cost, my room for 8 nights is actually more than the wedding! So far my changes, including a 2 hr dinner with open bar, as well as hair and make up, the Bridal Bliss package, an extra cake tier, is about $3500. hope this helps.