LisaJoy

My dad and his wife and her two sons stayed at Iberostar. When we stopped by to pick them up for an excursion, I was not impressed at all with their resort. There is an actual drug house "shack" on the beach. Crazy! I was not impressed with the pool/beach area compared to Secrets. Secrets Wild Orchid was SO ROMANTIC, very private, clean, neutral colors, tropical, very nice grounds. I loved it!! Iberostar is a Spanish building, style. The only thing Secrets is adult only. People with kids could stay next door at Sunsets. I must say, as a bride/groom it was VEYRY VERY nice to not have any children running around.

Thank you @Bridetobe2014!! @pz1101 - I don't think you will be disappointed. After seeing other resort when we drove by, Secrets is BY FAR the nicest and most private resort in my opinion. Even my step brothers who stayed at Iberostar said Secrets looked nicer. Iberostar actually (and I am not kidding) had a drug house "shack" on the beach next to the resort. Classy! If you have any questions, please let me know.

SECRETS WILD ORCHID WEDDING - 7/1/13 (hopefully some helpful tips) Fresh off the plane from Jamaica with many flight delays back to SFO. My heart goes out to the two teenage girls lost in the crash at SFO. 1. It was nice to experience the Romantic Private Candlelight Dinner on the beach the night prior to our wedding. We choose the 6:45pm start time to catch sunset and avoid people hanging out on the beach. The earlier start times were not so private. Definitely take advantage of this dinner for all you Secrets brides. Our server LENWORTH (Lenny) was awesome. 2. So so so glad I brought bug spray for the mosquitos. I would have been dinner for the mosquitos every night as they love my sweet blood. :/ 3. Expecting the normal 10 minute rains, it rained for a solid two hours (hard downpour) right up until our 4:00pm wedding. The wedding crew moved my husband inside the ballroom while I was still getting ready. Thank goodness he and I (and our photographer) were on the same page. I was willing to walk in sprinkles in order to use the gazebo. We didn't pay for Jamaica, wait a year only to be married in some ballroom. Though we had to insist many times, we were relocated 15 minutes after our start time. Though our wedding was 45 minutes delayed, it was well worth the stinkin' humidity and hot sunshine that followed. Sweat and all....we had a perfect wedding. 4. A must see romantic and chill show is SHYAM MOSES on Sunday nights in the Outdoor Theatre at 7 or 8pm. We danced to such romantic music. Get up and dance even if you are the only couple out there. We did!!! 5. Going into our meeting with the wedding coordinator, two days prior to our wedding, I was a little clueless to the wedding day process. Had I not done research and asked a lot of questions prior to arriving in Jamaica, I didn't feel very "guided" by the wedding department. Thank you to all the former Secrets Brides who paved a smooth road for me!!!! Everything turned out perfectly. 6. I negotiated with the cost of flowers. Secrets uses Tai Flora as their flower vendor. I looked at their options, asked for a quote, then opted to remove several types of flowers to lower the cost. I mean, who wants to pay $300 for a bouquet you use for 20 minutes? After it was all said and done, I negotiated an even lower rate of $185 for my bouquet. LOVED IT!!! It was beautiful and I saved money. Win win!! 7. Keep your wedding decor simple. There is no need to go crazy and spend a lot of money. Not to mention the cost and stress of getting it all there! 8. MAKE SURE YOU TELL THE WEDDING COORDINATOR to NOT hang your dress out in the open once pressed!!!! Though I was pre-warned by another bride and made sure to state it needed to be put in the closet in the garment bag, my entire day was almost ruined. My husband and I were walking out the door when they arrived with our pressed attire. They had my dress in a CLEAR trashbag then proceeded to walk to the bed frame to hang it in all its glory!! I almost had a fit! I yelled at my husband to close his eyes and quickly instructed them to shove it in the closet. Ay yi yi!!! Oh, and my husband's garment bag was never returned to us. 9. Ask for JOAN if you get a massage at the SPA. She was amazing!!! And jump in the Ice Bath....it was awesome. 10. We choose the Bourdeau Restaurant (french) for our reception dinner. Saved the money on a $2,499 or $2,999 reception and ate a wonderful free dinner in a romantic air conditioned restaurant. Talk to the restaurant manager, in advance, to save a table. 11. Take lots of $1.00s for tips. We were there 10 days and ran out of the (50) $1.00s we brought. The staff does an amazing job. You are going to want to take care of them back. 12. Last thing, prior to your check out day, review your bill. I found a couple errors on ours. You can charge everything to your room. After so many days, you start to forget what you bought. 13. Use Jamaica Limited Tours for any excursions. We used Island Routes and found it to be very disorganized. Received the same feedback from others. Jamaica Tours is actually located on site for easy sign up on excursions. http://www.jamaicatoursltd.com/ All future weddings coming up....ENJOY your moment!!!!

Quote:Originally Posted by SWOK secrets wild orchid montego bay december 2013 purple & turquoise photog: misha earle dress: mori lee I just got back from my July 1st wedding at Wild Orchids. You and @muneera0302 will love it!!!

Quote:Originally Posted by MRSTTOBE What do you ladies think about bringing a photographer in from where you live as opposed to hiring a local one? the really good local ones seem pretty expensive. I would stick with a local one. We use Rounald from WPA Jamaica. Our resort charged a $300 vendor fee so keep that cost in mind. Bringing your own would cost flight and hotel. A local photographer already knows the best locations or shots from prior experience. Best of luck to you!!

@Melissa14 - you don't need anything. Save yourself the money and enjoy what nature has to offer. I just got back from my wedding in Jamaica. I am SO GLAD we went simple and save the money.

I was just wondering the same question: bustle or no bustle? I just paid $435 to shorten the hemline and add a French bustle to my dress. Getting married in the gazebo and will take pictures on sand. I guess I'll carry the train until I walk down the "aisle."

You can definitely do it in $8k. TOTAL $13,309 Dress - Maggie Sottero $1500 Resort - 10 days $5200 Airline - $1600 Photography - $1200 Flowers - $150 Misc - rings, clothing, gifts, alterations I didn't care to go all out on DIY projects which look beautiful, but tend to spen a lot more unnecessary money. We have a total of 8 guests plus us. I wanted it to be a small intimate event. Destination wedding is the way to go with a limited budget. For sure!! Good luck, have fun planning and CONGRATS!!

TOTAL $13,309 Dress - Maggie Sottero $1500 Resort - 10 days $5200 Airline - $1600 Photography - $1200 Flowers - $150 Misc - rings, clothing, gifts, alterations I didn't care to go all out on DIY projects which look beautiful, but tend to spen a lot more unnecessary money.

Holy crap!! That presidential suite is GORGEOUS!!!!!!!!

This is good stuff to read. I'm keeping my July 1st 2013 wedding in Jamaica simple and inexpensive. After reading all these DIY postings and seeing such beautiful outcomes had me thinking am I shorting myself by not going all out. I think what it really comes down to is you and your partner that day. Reading your posts made me realize I am going the correct route. Thank you!! So excited July is right around the corner!!!!!!!!!!!!

We are renting a sound system at Secrets Wild Orchid in Jamaica. The wedding dept is operating the CD we will provide. I was also thinking what if i used an Iphone. I'm thinking if you rent the sound system, they operate. If you bring your own speaker, you would operate it. I'm sure someone from the wedding dept would do it if asked, maybe with an additional charge?

Congratulations!! I got engaged 2/14/12 and immediately started looking up every single resort website in Jamaica. Read all the pros and cons on Trip Advisor and finally decided on Secrets Wild Orchid because of its newness and privacy. My wedding is 7/1/13. The wedding team at the hotel contacted me May 1st to find out my ideas for the wedding. Seriously, there is no stress in this. I had already been figuring out my colors, bridesmaids, weddings songs, etc throughout the year so now it was all coming together. There are many brides that go all out and create Save the Dates, Invitations, Luggage Tags for guests, Wedding Itineraries, Gifts, and so on. I choose to keep it simple and save that money for me and my future husband to spend on our honeymoon doing fun things. You cna look under Wedding Planner forum to see what other brides have done. Hopefully this helps! Now get started. That's the fun part.

I agree...I cannot view 98% of them.

http://girardphotography.com/ Sebastian is a great photographer. He recently moved from Florida to the heart of San Francisco. Great guy, an honest man.

Lisa & Rafael July 1, 2013 Secrets Wild Orchid White/Beige Rounald (WPA Jamaica) - Photographer

Kristen...congrats!! I saw your pics on WPA Jamaica website. We have Rounald (WPA) for our July 1st wedding. So excited!! Where did you get your bouquet from? SWO quoted me $315/38 for the bouquet and boutinnere (sp) based on sample photos I sent. They are insanely expensive!! I hate carnations and daisies so definitely want an upgrade of sort. Don't want to pay the $300 vendor fee. Any recommendations. Oh, I emailed you on facebook. You probably thought it was a weirdo. It was me. lol -LISA

I was recently quoted $315 for a bouquet based of sample pictures I sent over. Curious how much you paid for your orange roses?

How much did you pay for your bridal bouquet? They quoted me $315 on some sample bouquets I emailed over. Ridiculous price in my opinion but I cannot stand carnations or daisies. Your purple bouquet was nice. Job well done on your planning and they way your wedding turned out. CONGRATS Ashley and Joseph.