pamelas21

Hey Polly, I emailed her and asked if we would have to pay the vendor fee for make up and hair....let's see what she says - keep you posted! Hey Bridetobe771! I emailed Laura and asked her about this....I think we would all like to know! Keep you posted!

Hey Polly! You said you booked Rashel right? So are you paying a vendor fee to have her come in?

Honestly I emailed a few TA's that I found off here AND that were recommend to me by friends/family but they were either unresponsive or price quoted was too high! I found sunwing to be quick which is what I needed! And to allow $150 deposit per person until September when final payment is due - my wedding is in November - worked perfect for my Fi and I. PLUS they gave me the best price!

Yes she does because Rashel Edwards is booked for my day and I'm 6 months away! I just emailed Pretty Faces! I've read great things about Peter so fingers crossed! Hope to hear from her soon and hope she's available! Good luck! Pam

Hi ladies! I just contacted Rashel Edwards for my November 18, 2014 wedding and she's unavailable! GAH I'm so sad! Any other suggestions?!?!?! Thanks in advance! Pam

Crap Rashel Edwards is booked for my day! Man I'm getting close! Gotta start locking ppl in! 6 months to go!

Hey Future Brides! I would most recommend going through the actual airline ladies! Like sunwing for example! I went through Sunwing and they offered me the BEST rates! I tried absolute wedsite, destinationweddings.com and luxe destination weddings but I honestly found them very shady! There were so many mixed reviews I couldn't bring myself to book through ANY OF them! And I got quotes from iTravel and Redtag but these companies are resellers NOT direct like sunwing so they were charging more - I guess to make a profit..... So I emailed Sunwing directly and got $1,478 total per person for 7 nights for my November 18, 2014 wedding! Good luck ladies! Pam

I first heard about them at a Toronto Bridal Show....their booth at the show and on paper look sooooo good that I instantly thought: these people are going to help me plan my wedding! BUT...... I started to read up on them AND emailing with them and soon realized THEY ARE AN UNPROFESSIONAL business!! I would email and it would take two weeks before I got a response...not a good first sign...I finally got a response from the owner who told me she was on vacation....yeah right! on vacation with no out of office or anyone around to answer your messages!?! I'm so sorry to read you've had a bad experience with them..... Hopefully other brides on here from the Toronto area will see your post and NOT go with them! Take care and good luck! Pam

Thanks @@CherJK!! Oh my gosh you’re so good with finding photos :D

@@CherJK Oh my gosh thanks for sharing that link! I hadn't seen it yet! So happy we're all gathering more and more photos and info on this place!! I honestly don't know where her reception was located - my guess would be one of the a la cartes.....I'm going to email Laura and ask her! I guess you could say everything is important to me! LOL I'm a virgo - total flipping perfectionist! BUT at the same time I REALLY dislike how much weddings cost! It's crazy how much photography, videography, etc cost! Getting married on the beach with our toes in the sand...just like we met...that's most important to me! <3 At the end of the day though, little things don't matter! I'm sure all of us will not regret choosing the Royalton! Unfortunately, I don't have any photos with a wedding set up yet - hopefully as they have more weddings we'll be able to see more.... You're lucky - your weddings not till April! I'll be sure to give you EVERY detail you need when I return from my wedding in November <3

I'm getting married at the Royalton White Sands in Montego Bay on November 18, 2014! I didn't know anything about destination weddings either! Email the resort your questions! And you'll find a wealth of info on here too! Good luck! Happy planning!

Congrats! And thanks for posting all that you did! We all appreciate it!

Hi Pam and everyone else =) Hey Polly! Haven’t talked to you in a while! I added all my responses in red! <3 I really put the planning to the back burner but should start more working at it again. I did too – the wedding planner told me we wouldn’t start planning until June for my November 18th, 2014 wedding BUT this issue with may date changing changed everything! Now I’ve told her I want to start planning now and getting things more organized and she says that’s fine. Again our wedding will be this year December as mentioned before. YAY Congrats! I think Pam we are kinda have a similar vision as to what we want. I also have more than 20ppl...35 so far? Wow, 35 – that’s awesome! I am also thinking of beach reception, so my understanding is that is cost 300 to set up the beach reception, probably more for decor? Yup, ladies please note it WAS $10 per person for beach or poolside reception set up! But that’s been changed! It’s now $300 for set up total which is great – I save some money! Yup décor is definitely extra! I havn't really looked at what the Al la carte entails. We’re hosting our rehearsal dinner at the Italian a la carte! I wanted the steakhouse but it’s too small for my group! Did you receive any other pics or brochures from them? Polly, I’ll email you everything I have again so you have everything that’s new! And I just want to ask everyone about photography. - in the package; there is a 1hour photographer included but probably not going to use it for the rest of the day I'm just wondering what you guys think about this. My aunt and uncle does wedding photography for family and church friends...they are not professional per se... they don't have samples or anything like that. I have asked them to help me for the videography but they said they will bring all their equipment and they even said that they have this underwater cam and can do shots there too... But somehow I am having some second thought? They have paid their deposits and my Fi and I are planning on paying for the rest of their trip. On one end we are saving some $$ because a professional photographer will cost at least 3-4grand plus the 450vendor fee? =( Any thoughts girls? I would say go with your heart! I will be honest, my fiancé’s aunt is a photographer BUT she does landscapes! She did my engagement party and I just have to be honest and say I wasn’t happy! ….sorry if that’s bad She offered to do the wedding as well and this time I respectfully declined! Photos are 2nd most important to me! <3 I would suggest looking around and getting quotes for sure! Go with your gut! So far I’ve gotten quotes from: Stacey Clarke Merrick Cousley Visual Embrace Marcia E Roberts Brian Nejedly Saab Weddings I’m waiting on a quote from Dwayne Watkins and then Fi and I will decide! It’s honestly very hard to decide – at least for me – probably because it’s so BEYOND important for me! <3 Is anyone going to have the ceremony at the beach gazebo? did anyone talk about decorations there yet? I’m getting married on the beach (not gazebo) so we’re renting a Chuppah/canopy…..the Royalton works with Tai Flora - here’s the link: http://www.taiflora.com/index.php And also, is anyone having a legal ceremony there? as oppose to the other one I forgot the name We’re having a legal ceremony! YAY! I immigrated to Canada so I’m going to have to get my birth certificate notarized and then translated from Spanish into English I think! I have to look into this! Sorry this seems to be a very long post. Don’t even worry about it – that’s what we’re here for – to help each other! Again happy planning everyone. I heard Chasity Artistry Rashel Edwards is pretty good for hair and make-up.. u can find her on FB My co worker used her and I booked her as well You booked Rashel Edwards for BOTH hair and makeup? Be warned! I read on that policies and procedures document that as of this moment the Royalton is ONLY allowing Photographers and Videographers as outside vendors. Everything else HAS to be their preferred vendor! Did you confirm with Laura (wedding planner) that you can bring Rashel Edwards in? Let me know! Wishing you all the best Polly! Keep us posted with your plans and good luck! Pam

Gah! Ladies, I’m JUST hearing about this skylight patio which is insane! And it’s my first time seeing this document (Royalton Event Policies & Procedures) that Dimps has graciously shared with me! Thanks Dimps! Turns out the Skylight patio is the only COMPLETELY private area to host a ceremony. Note that’s it’s 7 floors, 42 steps up, no elevator….Either way my fiancé and I are getting married on the beach but I thought it best to note it for other brides interested! If any of you want to see the doc, please let me or Dimps know – we’d be happy to email it! I’ve also posted it here as an attachment. I want to thank all of you for keeping this thread going and for posting helpful stuff, etc. YOU GUYS ROCK! Wishing you all a beautiful wedding day! <3 Pam

Emailed Dean Clarke but he's unavailable on my day! Just waiting on one more quote now and then we'll decide!

Well said CherJK! I haven't looked into Dean Clarke - I will now! <3 Hi Dimps! Semi-private means at one of their a la cartes....they'll give you a semi private section of one of the restaurants depending on how many people you have. Note that the wedding packages are only up to 20 people - after that you have to pay extra per person. My fiance and I are having a private beach ceremony and reception so the wedding packages aren't applicable to us! What's this skylight patio and how come I haven't heard about it?!?! Would love to know more if you can share! Thanks! Pam

I would definitely get some quotes Bridetobe771! It doesn't hurt and trust me you'll prob save some money! We're getting married at 4:30 on the beach, reception on the beach as well until 11pm and I'm really hoping to do lanterns at the end of the night so I want the photographer and videographer to capture everything! Good luck with planning! Pam Oh forgot about your question! No haven't looked into it yet! I will do so soon though! If you get anything please let us know - I'm sure all of us would appreciate the info! <3

It all depends on how much photography you want...and if you like the resort photographer.... I'm looking for all day coverage from 2pm to 11pm and I thought the royalton prices were VERY high! So I shopped around and guess what outside photographers are cheaper AND some of them cover the $450 vendor fee! My fiancé and I got several quotes, now we just have to decide but we're definitely not going with the resort photographer! Hope this helps! Pam

I’ve been wondering the same thing! I’m currently looking! I’m booking Elite Media for the videography…but I’m stumped on a photographer! It’s hard to pick! So far I’ve gotten quotes from: Stacey Clarke Merrick Cousley Visual Embrace Marcia E. Roberts Brian Nejedly Saab Weddings I’m being very indecisive! Which is not good! A bride on here wrote some tips for other brides and she said to stick to your decision once you’ve made it! Otherwise you’re biting your nails going back and forth wondering if you made the right choice! GAH! And I’m doing the opposite! Ladies, let us know who you’ve booked and why! We’d love to know! Pam

Hi! Just sent you everything! Are you getting married THIS july? I'm having 51 guests plus Fi and I it's 53 total so I'm doing a full wedding! I'm just starting to work with the wedding planner on the details - not sure if the packages are for me seeing as I have more than 20 people. Plus I'm having a private beach wedding so I think I'm going to go the ala carte route! Keep everyone posted on your plans! I'll share - every one share! Would love to read what other brides are doing! Take care! Pam

Hey ladies! I'm from Toronto....I would definitely recommend waiting until you're closer to your date! We're getting married November 2014 and we originally got quotes in August 2013 - more than a year before BUT thought the prices were extremely HIGH! Basically they don't know how much fuel is going to go up so they take prices out of a book! At least that's what I heard. My fiance and I then got quotes a year before in November 2013 and they were STILL high.... We waited until February 2014 to book the group rate and it's gone so well! I have 51 people (53 plus Fi and I) with deposits in with Sunwing - final payment is due in September! Another thing that helped us is Sunwing was having a tax sale at the beginning of 2014 so we paid $265 tax instead of $425 for Jamaica! Doesn't seem like a lot but it really makes the difference from $1,500 OR $1,800. My fiance and I really didn't want to go over $1,500 because we wanted as many ppl to come as possible! Our guests got a great deal! $1,478 for 7 nights at the Royalton White Sands! Good luck planning ladies! Pam

Just emailed it! Good luck with planning! --------------------------------------------------------------- Hello brides to be! So I thought I would post what recently happened to my wedding date at the Royalton White Sands! Because it’s recently been changed! We were originally scheduled for Monday, November 17th ceremony and reception on the beach MONTHS AGO! Contract signed, deposit in, STD’s sent out, website up and everything! BUT….. My fiancé was reading reviews on TA and he saw that the Royalton had a beach party on Mondays…. He mentioned it to me and I was like “ No way, they’ll probably move it to Tuesday if they have a wedding on the beach on Monday like ours…” I dismissed and dismissed it – he kept bugging me to confirm with the wedding planner so FINALLY I did….and guess what?! They don’t move it! At first she suggested we move it to pool side BUT Chris and I met on the beach literally in Cuba! And he proposed in Punta Cana….we love the Caribbean and we want to get married with our feet in the sand just as we met! <3 I freaked out at first! Chris too! So the wedding planner offered another option! On one side of the beach will be the beach party and on the other side of the beach our ceremony and reception…. At first we considered it but then I remembered that the beach at the Royalton is only 85 yards across! Now ladies I don’t know what distance that is LOL so my fiancé showed me! He was like from here to that house! LOL and it wasn’t far at all….. Anyways, I’m writing a novel! To keep it short! We’ve now moved our date to Tuesday, November 18th, 2014. SUCKS! But what can you do….. Guess just wanted to post on here NOT to book your wedding on a Monday if you want it on the beach! Good luck ladies! Xoxoxox Pam

I'm from Markham but I just bought a house with my fiance in Brampton! We have 51 guests booked in with deposits with Sunwing for November 2014! So excited for you! How many people are you expecting? Pam

Hi Bridetobe771! Congrats on your date! Are you from Canada? I loved the Royalton for the same reasons...I'm getting married there in November this year! So excited! <3

Hi FutureMrsGlover! OMG you do NOT look 46!! ) I'm happy to hear you're happy and that your parents understand! I can't tell you how lucky you are to be able to go and do a site visit! Keep me posted! Pam