cora4600

@@novbride16 They will provide you with enough tables to seat all your guests, so I wouldn't worry about that.

We used FedEx without an issue, so I would recommend that. They used DSL to send our marriage license to us after the wedding, so if you have them in your area, you can always try them as well.

@@KG1990 Honestly, don't let the WC's push you into a ballroom if you don't really want to. They kept trying to do that to me, and I was adamant that we stay outside and I'm ssssoooo glad we did. The weather was perfect, a little hot, but all the guest knew that going in, and we provided some sunshades for those that needed it. The bugs AT the resort were never an issue. We did have one couple stay their first night by the airport due to a mix up in their flights, and they came to the resort with over a hundred bites on them each!!! Apparently they went out for dinner and just got attacked. We were at SWO for 12 days and we never got a single bug bite. Hope that helps!

@@JamaicaNicole They didn't charge us for the set up of the bonfire tables, and they just provided the shoe racks (I didn't even know about them until I saw them coming back down the aisle! ha!). They did charge the $50 setup fee for the day of, but considering all they did, that was the biggest bargain of the whole weekend! @@JoannaBanana Thank you! The dress was comfy and light, my main two requirements, ha!

Ok I did find a few more pics that might help.... funny how you don't realize that you don't have any pics of the details until you are trying to find them! Ha! Shoe racks....

Nicole- We just did the bonfire. We had about 85 people there for the wedding, and I didn't feel like paying for booze again that night when everyone was already paying the all inclusive price. It was still nice though. The WC's set up cocktail tables and a bigger table for everyone's Welcome Bags. Honestly it was just a good place for everyone to converge and meet before the wedding since we had people from all walks of life that had not met yet. Honestly I'm also not sure the smores would be worth bringing. The fire was off to the side (I'm assuming as a safely precaution) so we really weren't close enough to even roast marshmallows. (I looked for photos but I don't really have any of the set-up since it was so dark, sorry!)

Thanks! We had WPA do our photography and Rounald was great! That's so weird! We only had to pay the $200 for the upgrade for the band. I wonder what package you are getting? For a couple of the things I waited until we got there, since I kinda wanted to get a feel for what things looked like, but for everything else, I had let them know prior to arrival. About a month prior they sent my a "Banquet Invoice" and it detailed the total cost of everything that that was super helpful. Good I'm glad they helped! I had to scour the interwebs to learn stuff about Secrets Montego Bay, so I was right there with you, it was so frustrating! So please let me know if you have any other questions! I will also add that as much as I was frustrated about the lack of communication leading up to the wedding from the Coordinators, I can honestly tell you that they know what they are doing. The whole weekend (we did a welcome bonfire the night before) went off without a hitch, and she did things, or set thing up (like a shoe rack for all the guest since it was on the beach) that I would have never thought about. So as hard is this will be to accept.... trust them. I had the best time, with zero stress the day of. Everything went perfectly, and the resort and location were everything I hoped they would be.

The tables are 72" and seat 10 people. I think we had 8-9 at each to give a little more room

So I just looked and they did charge us the $380. I think maybe what I was thinking of is we had two photographers so they only charged us for the one and I had budgeted for two. So at least it was something.

So we used an outside photographer as well and I know we paid the vendor fee, but I honestly want to say that they didn't charge us for the day passes. I'd have to go home tonight and look at our final invoice to be sure, but I think it was just the $300 for the vendor fee. Also I didn't tell them about the flowers until we got there, and Helen was delivering them only, so I was able to talk them down to $100 for a vendor fee, so that worked in my favor.

We paid for just the reception, since we upgraded to the Steel Drum Band for the cocktail hour.... that was also worth the $200.

@@JamaicaNicole The Jambox is similar to the Pill, so personally I would just go with that. It was definitely loud enough, but honestly it's going to be the farthest thing from your mind at that point, so I'd say save your money. The DJ however is a MUST! Secrets picked the DJ. It was DJ Blu and I cannot express how much I loved this DJ. Hands down the BEST wedding DJ I have ever heard at ANY wedding. Seriously. My friends are STILL talking about him. Absolutely worth the $150/per hour. Do it, and you won't regret it. @@JamaicaNicole The flowers were a different story. I was SUPER picky about those and didn't trust the wedding coordinators to convey exactly what I was looking for. Sooo, I hired Helen G events to do our bouquets, paid the stupid vendor fee, and it was still cheaper then going through the resort. She did exactly what I asked, and they came out perfect. I couldn't stop staring at them. I wanted to take them home to Oregon! http://www.helengevents.com/

@@JamaicaNicole The food was actually really good. I mean it's still all inclusive food, so it wasn't gourmet dining, but definitely better then some of the restaurants we ate while we were there. In fact people are still raving about the mushroom soup that was served. I don't particularly like mushroom soup, but my husband does, do I picked it solely off that fact, but apparently it was the best some people have had. Who would have known?! So if you have the option, do the mushroom soup!

@@JamaicaNicole We did neither. I refused to pay $200 for 20 mins, when a DJ was $150 for a full hour. We just brought our Jambox and had a friend play music for us, easy peasy. What I didn't know until I got up to the alter was they had mic'ed my husband so the guests could hear us. It was either that or the video peeps. Either way, it wasn't something I paid for, and a nice surprise.

@@JamaicaNicole No Problem! I totally understand, I was in your shoes too. There is almost nothing out there about Secrets weddings, so I was so lost! I'm such a planner and it drove me crazy! We got married November 8, 2014. Weather was PERFECT! It was hot but we had a nice breeze, and it didn't rain on us. I will say that it almost always rained everyday we were there between 2pm and 4pm, so I was worried, but lucky for us, it skipped that day.

@@JamaicaNicole I got the Ultimate Package. BUT I upgraded our chairs. Personally I didn't like the white covers, so I paid extra for those. If you do not upgrade to specific chairs, the white covers are included. The cake was not upgraded, we just brought our own wedding topper and they did the rest. I will also say that it was honestly some of the best cake I have had at a wedding! I was so sad that I didn't have more! They also saved the top tier for us to order for room service but we completely forgot. Still bummed! Ha! We rented the tent on the beach. We had the 2pm time slot and I was worried about the heat with no shade. It was honestly really reasonable compared to all the other price gauging they do. It was $1,000 for the whole night and was their largest tent. I paid Secrets, but they rent them through a third party, so they only need about 72 hours notice to set up. They put the black lamps up. I didn't request them or pay extra for them, so I'm assuming they are included in all the packages for beach weddings.

Hey Guys, I always meant to write a review of my wedding but just never got around to it. So instead I thought I'd offer a couple pics (some are iPhone pics, so ignore the quality) and a video a friend made for us while we were there, and see if anyone had any questions that I could answer. Video: Let me know if you have any questions! We had the best time and I would HIGHLY recommend this location to anyone! -Cora

DJ Blu was hands down the BEST wedding DJ I have ever experienced, and I'm talking State weddings or destination weddings. I would highly recommend him.

@@angelsj247 I'm doing the same thing, and taking my bridesmaids with me! I just couldn't justify spending the $300 on the resort fee! You'll have to tell me how she does, and what the taxi cab fare was so I know not to get ripped off. Is she also doing your hair? @@MontegoBayBridePA We're getting married on the same day, just different locations!

Sounds great and very generous!

Love this!

@@JamaicaNicole @@ashark I talked to Muneera and she actually had her wedding next door at the Seawind Club, thats why her photos are around the pool. We looked into that options as well, but I didn't want to have to deal with getting a wedding coordinator and planning it myself. That was the whole point of the destination wedding for us. I also thought I saw that the bamboo wedding arch was $450, but my booklet could be out dated. When I get the information back from the WC I'll let you guys know for sure if you haven't found out already. Has anyone received any quotes from the florist? I still haven't heard back and trying to budget for an unknown amount is getting difficult You ladies are the best! -Cora Oooh I do have one more question for past brides. Do they let you play music to walk down the aisle to? Or do they charge you for that as well?

How big is everyone's wedding? Also what time did you guys book? We have about 80 people coming and so far I haven't really talked to anyone on here with a guest count as large as ours! Ha! We also got stuck with the 2pm time, and I was going to try my dangest to get them to push it back to 3pm (for as much money as I am paying them, I don't see why this would be an issue).

@@angelsj247 @@Jennkn87 I can't wait to hear about your weddings when you get back!!

@@EricaNick2015 I'm n the same boat as you, as we are getting married at 2pm at Secrets St. James!! I as well was planning on the 4pm wedding, but they only had the 2pm time slot open. I still haven't figured out what the time line will be and more then anything I'm worried about the heat since the wedding/cocktail hour/reception will all be outside. I tried asking for a break as well, but they said no. I'm trying to get them to push it back to at least 3pm, and then we'll just pay to extend the reception another hour after that. We have about 80 people coming so, moving to one of the bars isn't really an option for us. The keep recommending that we move the reception to one of the ballrooms, but I'm not traveling clear across the country to have my wedding reception inside. If I wanted that we would have stayed here in Portland. I'm curious to see if anyone else on here made the 2pm wedding work outside.