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They played for the entire cocktail hour (and a half, since my husband I were late getting back after our photo shoot). The contract says the price for the steel drum band is $350 or so, but when we got there they offered us a lower price without us even asking. Apparently, the corporate office tries to offer a "local" music group, and steel drums aren't technically Jamaican. They said that since most people associate steel drum bands with Jamaica, and prefer them over the Jamaican trio they offer, they give a discount for the steel drum band for the cocktail hour.

I didn't add on an hour, and the reception was incredibly short! We didn't even have father/daughter and mother/son dances or a bouquet toss and still people barely had any time to dance! On the upside, going to the club after was really fun. We gave all the guests little glow stick bracelets so you could see who was with the wedding all around the club. I don't remember how much the extra hour costs, sorry.

I used Misha Earle and she was fantastic!! It took her some time to get the pictures up, but it was definitely worth the wait! One thing you should know: if you decide to use the hotel photographer that comes with the Ultimate package, they pretty much force you to go on a 30 minute photo shoot with them immediately after the ceremony. We had a 4:00pm ceremony, so if we had waited until after the cocktail hour to do group shots it would have been too dark. We ended up doing a first look picture, then all the group shots, then went to the ceremony, then went on a photo shoot with the hotel photographer, and then a photo shoot with Misha, and then finally made it to the reception. I would recommend that if you plan to hire your own photographer, don't use the hotel's photographer at all.

When I met with the coordinators for the pre-wedding meeting, they offered the steel drum band for $150. They said that all Secrets resorts try to offer a local music option, and since steel drums aren't strictly Jamaican, they offer a Jamaican trio instead. But since people tend to think of steel drums when they think of Jamaica, they have started offering that as well.

I got married at the beachfront casita in October (the day after Sandy hit!). There is only sand, and it is in the public area. It wasn't a problem - people were very respectful and I hardly noticed that there was anyone else around. We chose to have the reception in their ballroom, so we had the cocktail hour on the patio right outside the ballroom. We loved it, but you also have the choice of having the cocktail hour and reception on the beach, as shown in some of the pictures.

This isn't a lot of help for the previous brides who posted on here, but I am getting married in Jamaica in a few weeks and I found a local mehndi artist to do mehndi for me and my guests. Let me know if anyone wants any more information!

Great idea!

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.

I'm getting both mothers bathrobes similar to the ones I'm getting the bridesmaids, because they have both helped out a lot with planning. My FI is getting both fathers small 25 cigar humidors as a thank you for paying for a lot of the wedding. We will also get our parents photo albums once we get the pictures back.