beckys98

Yaay! I missed sending you well wishes before you left but I was waiting for a picture!

I was very against getting legally married before we went to Jamaica and, in retrospect, I was wrong. I can admit it! Of course I LOVED our wedding day, but there was something very strange for us having 65 people staring at us while we took our vows. We had a first look before the ceremony so we were together and had about 15 minutes in our room together before the ceremony. We both joked that we wanted the minister to just come up to our room and marry us instead of going down! We don't love the attention. But mostly it just felt like such a personal experience for us that I almost would have preferred that we did it more privately at home and kept it a secret. I think we would have been more relaxed as it would have taken the pressure off - and been kind of fun that we had a little secret between the two of us. I did not at all expect to feel that way!

Check out the cliffs area of Negri in Jamaica! There are some amazing boutique hotels with villa options that we looked at, they just weren't quite right die what we needed but I want to go back and vacation there!

We did not mail anything - just did an electronic invite/STD and no one said anything about it! We had 66 guests at our wedding last week

I really only communicated with them 2-3 times total in the year leading up to our wedding when I had a list of questions I couldn't figure out!

Yes, dinner service was my #1 request that I thought I made very clear. We wanted to keep things moving quickly and do our first dance at 7:45 and, like I said, at 8:15 we just got up and did it anyway even though dessert had not been served. I didn't see the wedding coordinators at the reception at all - they didn't check in with me at all. I just don't think I should have been the one watching the clock, but I had to Definitely took away from the experience a little bit. So I would recommend putting a family member or bridal party member in charge of watching the clock and communicating with the service staff to keep things moving.

Hi Everyone - I posted this under the resort reviews but also adding it here including some info on vendors/excursions. Let me know if you have questions! We had 61 guests staying at Iberostar Rose Hall Suites hotel, with people arriving/departing at different days between June 7 – June 16. We were extremely happy with our choice of resort. It is close to the airport, family friendly, beautiful and clean. The size of the resort was perfect for us. It felt nice and small and it was easy to find people and quick to get anywhere. All in all, our wedding events were everything we hoped they would be. Our guests had the best time and everything was beautiful. A few things could have gone more smoothly but, of course, our guests didn’t notice. Wedding Coordinators – I would give them a B/B+. One month before our wedding I sent an email with a couple easy questions and followed up twice and didn't hear from them for 3 weeks - I would expect MORE communication closer to your wedding date, not less! We really had a very simple set up (no bridal party, no head table, no cake topper, no menu cards or favors, etc.) and really only had 3-4 things that were important to us that we discussed during our meeting 2 days before our wedding. We didn’t want any aisle runner…our ceremony was set up with the white runner anyway. They played the WRONG SONG for our processional and when we told her afterwards she insisted she played the right song. No, no you didn’t, we know the song we chose and that was not it! Why argue with us? So we ended up doing our first dance to the song we were supposed to walk out to – kind of a big thing to mess up. We were also very clear that we wanted dinner service to start while speeches were going on so that dinner could be complete by 8:00pm at the latest (we were private at Calabash). Well, speeches started and dinner service did not so after 2 speeches my sister went and asked the servers to begin. At 8:15 dessert hadn’t been served yet so my husband and I got up and did our first dance anyway. The wedding cake was also never served! We did pictures cutting the cake, but we didn’t want to interrupt dancing to make people watch. We assumed the cake would be cut and served but it never was! One of the servers finally cut it after the last dance as everyone was leaving so people could take a piece to-go. About ¼ of our guests had already left and didn’t get any. I really would expect that making sure the wedding cake was served would fall under the responsibility of the wedding coordinator and not the bride L Also, the night before we had a welcome dinner at the steakhouse at 6:30 and bonfire with the steel drum band. The band was scheduled to play from 8:30 – 9:30. Well, similarly, dessert wasn’t even served by 8:30. I only casually asked someone what time it was and they said it was 8:40. So I freaked and had to rush our guests out of dinner to get to the bonfire – it was almost 9 by the time we got people down there and we missed 1/2 of the time we paid the band for. Again, I feel like it was the responsibility of the wedding coordinator to at least tap us on the shoulder and let us know the time it was and help us usher the guests down there. We went down to the office to pick up our items after the wedding, brought it back up to our room and realized when we were packing to leave that they didn’t include our guest book!! We did get it back at the last minute but, again, kind of an important thing to make sure you return to the bride and groom. Overall, I felt like they had a little bit of a disinterested attitude that I was surprised by. I had sent our ceremony script and final guest counts and entrée counts for both the welcome dinner and wedding and our timeline about 10 days before we arrived and when we showed up for the meeting they had no idea I had sent it – hadn’t even seen the email yet – fortunately I had printed out extra copies for them. There were a couple of other small details that were frustrating. Maybe because we were so low maintenance they didn’t worry about us too much? I put some friends/family in charge of certain aspects but in retrospect I should have put them in charge of more to help the days run more smoothly and take more of the responsibility off of my shoulders. Welcome Dinner/Bonfire – We did a welcome dinner the night before the wedding at Aunt Ruby’s at 6:30, followed by the bonfire from 8:30 – 10:30 on the beach with the steel drum band from 8:30 – 9:30. We had our guests draw a table number out of a hat before dinner so everyone was randomly seated. This worked out awesome because people got to meet other guests! Plus, we only had 6 tables so most people still had 1-2 others at the table that they knew. The food was delicious and everyone raved about it. The slightly odd thing is the servers don’t really offer drinks other than red/white wine, so everyone was going inside to the bar to get drinks. It was okay because it was probably faster that way, but just something to keep in mind. The steel drum band was AMAZING and the bonfire was totally worth it for our welcome event. Spa – I had my hair and makeup done in the spa on the wedding day, along with many of my would-be bridal party (we didn’t do a formal bridal party). My stepmom had brought champagne from the airport and brought it down to the spa that morning – the spa manager served it for us and kept our glasses full. They were all so lovely and helpful. My hair and make up ended up absolutely perfect and lasted ALL NIGHT despite the fact that I was sweating buckets. I did have false eyelashes and my right eye was watering a ton so my right lash was coming up in the corner. Tracey, who did my makeup, came up to my room before our first look and reapplied the lash and touched up my makeup for me! I have zero hesitation about recommending the spa for hair and makeup. I was 100% happy. Ceremony/Reception – Our ceremony was on the beach at 4:30pm. The ceremony location is definitely off to the side enough that we only had a couple gawkers, but I absolutely did not notice them at all! And they don’t let anyone walk behind you on the beach so they aren’t in pictures. It was windy that day so sand was hitting my face a little but I was glad for the breeze to keep me cool. We did group photos on the beach immediately after – I was a little worried because even people who weren’t in photos hung around, but since the bar is open in the steakhouse/snack bar, people just went in a grabbed a drink and were fine hanging out. We left to do our pictures and everyone went to the lobby for drinks before the reception started at 6:30. (We did not pay for a formal cocktail hour.) We paid to rent Calabash for a private reception for our 66 guests (we had 5 off-property guests) and did the international bar. I already mentioned a bit about the timing, but the restaurant itself was perfect for our reception and for a group of our size. We chose to do the Jamaican entrees instead of the regular Calabash group menu and we’re so glad we did. Everyone RAVED about the food and it was really delicious. We were able to swap out the salad and soup course with Jamaican options as well. There was plenty of space to dance and everyone had a blast! DJ – We hired DJ Dutch (AKA Sheldon), who is DJ Kevan’s associate. My husband handled all the music coordination in advance and talked to Sheldon on the phone a couple of times and communicated through text on WhatsApp. He was absolutely lovely and helpful. He checked on us SEVERAL times during the reception to make sure we were okay and didn’t need anything (which is more than I can say for the wedding coordinators). We gave him a list of songs and he played most of them and mixed in other songs in the same style, which was perfect. Everyone danced their little hearts out and it went by way too fast! Definitely would recommend him – very professional and did a terrific job. Flowers – My bouquet and my husband’s boutonniere were both from Tai Floral, which came with the package. I just wanted something tropical but didn’t give other instruction and I thought they were lovely. We ordered 4 centerpieces from Floral Fantasies and they were AMAZING. I wish I had a picture, but I’ll have to post one later when I get one. Chantal was fantastic to work with and very responsive. I had requested quotes from both Jan’s and Tai Floral for the centerpieces and never heard back from them! We didn’t have any other floral needs other than the centerpieces. Photographer – We hired Stacey Clarke. I think many of you probably saw the concerns I was having before we left since I hadn’t heard from her and had seen similar issues from almost every other bride who used her. Long story short, after a conversation with her and because brides LOVE their photos once they get them, I didn’t break my contract and went with her. I think she was fine on our wedding day. I wouldn’t say I loved her like some other brides did, but I also think she was a little nervous around us because she knew we were concerned going into it. She was fine with the 2 of us, but I did feel like she was a little annoyed during our group photos. Yes, it is annoying to round people up to do family pictures in different combos, but it is necessary and I could tell she was over it. We did a second shoot a few days later and she picked us up and took us to a little private beach. We did some photos in our wedding attire and then changed clothes. We almost cancelled this session because we didn’t feel like doing it and were ready to relax, but I’m so glad we did. It was more fun to do the photos in a more casual setting and we looked at them on her camera on the way back to the resort and they were AMAZING. I honestly think we will end up liking them better than the photos on our wedding day. She captured us so well and I can’t wait to see them! She promised a few pictures in the next 2 weeks so I’ll report back J Rooms – We booked a regular room and were given the upgrade to Ocean View (Room #4422). We had a spectacular view and our room was cleaned every day (late morning) with turndown service every evening. The minibar was restocked every other day (which was plenty for us). I had seen some reviews saying the air conditioning didn’t cool their room but that was definitely not a problem for us! We had to open the door frequently to warm it up in there because it was so cold! I was glad because I sweat a lot J Check in and check out were simple – no issues. We did have one guest on the bottom floor who saw a cockroach in his room, and he was immediately moved to a higher floor. (It is an island…bugs happen.) The exhaust fan in our bathroom also didn’t work when we checked in so it got really steamy and humid when we showered, but we called maintenance and they fixed it right away. No one else mentioned any issues. Restaurants – We ate at all the restaurants on the Suites property and they were pretty good! Unexpectedly, the Mexican was our favorite. I had the tacos al pastor and couldn’t stop talking about them all week. I think unanimously the Mediterranean was everyone’s least favorite, but it was still good. The buffets are a little bit smaller than other all-inclusives we’ve stayed at but the quality of the food was better. We are slightly biased, however, because they always had an abundance of Jamaican food (and my husband is Jamaican) in addition to plenty of other options so we were always pleased! I really don’t think they keep much track of how many of your restaurant allotment you’ve used. No one had any issue getting as many reservations as they wanted. All in all, the food at IRHS was very good compared to other places our guests raved about the quality – especially at our welcome dinner and wedding dinner. The room service menu is small but our group used it heavily – especially in the middle of the night. My girls ordered it on the wedding day and it did take over an hour, but other people said it took about 30 minutes. We also went to the Mexican restaurant at 4am on our wedding night for snacks and they make hotdogs/hamburgers/etc. to order for you, which is another great option for late night food! Pool/Beach – The beach is a little bit rocky right when you enter the water, but then it is smooth once you are in. The water is so warm and clear and we had zero issue finding a spot to relax in the shade. It is slightly harder to find a “prime” chair at the pool but we were also looking for space for 60 people! Pool bartenders were great and kept our drinks full. We spent all day the day after the wedding in the pool and it was super fun and just what we wanted. Disco – Oh the disco! Ha. The disco was DEFINITELY the best disco of all the discos at all-inclusives we’ve stayed at. Hands down. It always had a crowd but was never packed and the DJs were fantastic. It isn’t the same guy every night and there was one night I would have sworn the DJ knew we were coming or someone gave him a list of what to play because every single song had our group dancing. He was on point. (This happened to have been the night before our wedding so I was up until 3am dancing with our guests – I just couldn’t tear myself away! It was worth it.) It was absolutely perfect for our group and I hear at least a handful of people from our group closed it down every night. Theatre – We tried to go to a show the first night as we had been told by one of the workers that it was the BEST show all week. Well…we left after 15 minutes because it was so terrible! Haha. We didn’t attempt the shows on subsequent nights so maybe they got better, but it wasn’t for us J Weather – Okay, this isn’t about the resort but it is good to know. The day we arrived it poured ALL DAY non stop. The second day it was sunny until about 1pm and then poured the rest of the day. Fortunately we were staying with family the first 2 days so we didn’t miss any beach time, but we had a few guests who had already checked in. However, the forecast called for rain almost every day, including 70% chance of storms on our wedding day and we did not see a single drop of rain the rest of our trip! We got very lucky I think. It was cloudy some days, but that actually kept the heat in check so it wasn’t too bad. It was very windy on our wedding day and the couple days after but, again, the wind kept us cool so we didn’t mind. Martha Brae Rafting - We are very fortunate that my husband’s cousin drives a taxi for a living in Jamaica. We rented a 15 person van for the week so he was able to take our guests off the resort and provide transportation to excursions for us. The morning before the wedding we took about 25 people to do rafting on the Martha Brae. Everyone loved this and it was a perfect thing to do before the wedding. It is only about 15 minutes from the resort and it is very relaxing and peaceful. Since it is rainy season the river is a little faster (and not as clear) so the trip down was about 50-60 minutes – it is about 90 minutes in dry season. Dunn’s River Falls and Ocho Rios - Okay, I admit I wasn’t very excited about Dunn’s River Falls because I thought it was a little touristy. Hey, I can admit when I am wrong. It was awesome! We took about 40 people to do this 2 days after the wedding and it was so fun to do with a group. It is more beautiful then I imagined – but be warned it isn’t for the faint of heart! It is a little intense in parts and a little dangerous if you aren’t careful. So glad we did it. We stopped in Ocho Rios on the way back for some patti and jerk and were back to the resort around 4:30. We also took a group to Scotchis one night for jerk – I actually didn’t go but my husband did. Everyone loved getting authentic jerk and getting off the resort. Of course this was totally optional and easy for us to do since we had the van and someone who could drive!

I'M BACK!!! I'm going to start my recap thread shortly and will post all the details, but we had the best time and it was everything I had hoped for!

I'M BACK!!! I'm going to start my recap thread shortly and will post all the details, but we had the best time and it was everything I had hoped for!

Thanks, everyone! I just finished getting waxed and polished at the spa and I'm 98% done with my packing so I'd say I'm in pretty good shape. I truley can't believe how calm I am. We got an expensive bottle of champagne as a gift for our engagement that we haven't drank - I think we may just need to pop that open and have a little quiet celebration tonight before we take off for this wild ride tomorrow morning! Cheers! I'll catch you on the other side!

@canken80 You're right behind me! I hope you also have a fabulous, stress free, memorable time! Cheers to you!

I can't believe we're leaving in 3 days from now and our wedding is one week from today! Today is my last day in the office. I am prone to anxiety and my entire goal through this whole planning process was to put in the time and energy well in advance so that I wasn't completely panicking and stressing this final week and the first few days in Jamaica. I have to say, wedding wise, I'm in great shape!! My fiance is finishing up some final coordination/logistics details for a couple excursions we have planned, but I'm leaving all that to him and he has it under control. I did hope I would be 95% packed by now, but work has kept that from happening. Try as hard as I could, but 3 big projects I thought were wrapping up came back around to be very needy in the last couple weeks! Even if I wasn't preparing to be off it would have been a tough couple of weeks, so it is extra crazy. I've had to work over the last few weekends, which is when I normally would have been packing. Hopefully I can pull it all together and keep my calm through take off! Thanks to everyone for your support, ideas and advice over the last year! I'll post a recap thread when I get back since I didn't do a planning thread and share my stuff in case it is useful to those in the trenches of planning

Yaay! Holy smokes you look gorgeous! Congratulations!!

@@yycbride2016 @@TinkerSofi My fiance was the same way the entire way through planning. Every single thing was "Why are we doing this now?" I kept saying "Do you want me to be an anxious, nervous wreck through the wedding day, or do you want to relax and have fun together and with our guests? Fun? Yeah, I thought so...now get to work!" Haha. It worked pretty well

Update! We finally spoke to the photographer yesterday. My fiance found her on WhatsApp and sent her a message to call him - she did within 30 minutes. He explained our concerns and frustrations very clearly and let her know this level of service was not acceptable to us - or to the other brides who are waiting for their pictures. She did apologize and said she had some health issues in March/April and it has put her behind - she sounded embarrassed that brides were upset with her and asked if I had their names for her to call and apologize to them directly. She offered to let us not make any additional payments until she sends us the tracking number letting us know our photos are on their way, which is what we would have suggested anyway. She also immediately sent a follow up email to us with another apology and confirming the payment arrangement. All in all, my preference would still be to go with the other photographer. But at this point that doesn't feel like the right thing to do. If brides had said she was unprofessional or a problem on their actual wedding day, I would in a heartbeat. But that is not the case - so I have to just let it go now and trust that it'll be fine. I do hope I did some small benefit in telling her in a constructive way (versus coming across like a demanding bridezilla) about the abundance of concerns floating around out there about her! If she really didn't know how big of an issue this was for her clients, and now she does, perhaps she'll be more on top of it for future brides so they aren't in a complete frenzy a week before their wedding!

I did reach out to another photographer just to see if I had options in the event we can't come to a resolution with her. They are available (thankfully my wedding is on a weekday) and will work with me on my budget. So I do have a back up plan if necessary! They expressed the same sentiment you did @@acw271011, that these experiences make other brides hesitant to hire outside vendors in another country and it hurts all vendors! I know technically we'd be in breach of contract if we cancelled our current photographer, but given the complaint about her is responsiveness and slow turn around - I have a hard time seeing her going through the effort of suing me when she'll still likely have my $720 deposit. @@Sandraco8 Yes! Wedding wise, outside of this, we are set! I still have a few personal odds and ends to pick up and pack but we're in great shape. My biggest thing right now is work. Preparing to be off for 2 weeks is a complete nightmare and I have a couple of big projects in progress that need a ton of attention before I go. In fact, I'm about to spend the rest of my day working when I should be packing. It is what it is!

@@krystalball - We are definitely thinking of withholding a portion of the payment like you suggest. It would at least give us some peace of mind I guess. @@Sandraco8 - My fiancé did say to just respond "Yes, we'll do it, call my fiancé to discuss." so then she'd need to call him. I do want to be a little cautious because if we do use her I don't want it to be a totally contentious relationship on my wedding day. So I at least set up the scenario. This is what I responded to her: We don't mind doing this for you. But I also haven't received a response from you on an email I sent you May 9th regarding our wedding coming up in 11 days. We leave in a week and feel a little uncomfortable sending our final payment without having a response from you or having discussed any details of our day. My fiancé left you a voicemail yesterday. We've seen many, many brides expressing consistent concerns over the past few months about your responsiveness and turnaround times to receive their photos being even longer than the maximum 12 weeks stated on the contract. And in those instances, they also aren't hearing updates from you regarding their photos and it is concerning to us. Brides say they enjoyed working with you and they are happy with their photos once they are received, which is great. But we would like to discuss this before we leave for Jamaica so we are comfortable working together going into our wedding day. We would like to know that after our wedding day we will be able to reach you in the event of questions and that we will be able to receive our photos, slideshow and album within the 12 weeks stated on our contract. Please call my fiancé. Following the conversation we will be happy to give you our address so you can ship the phone to us. We'll see what she responds! I have to think since she said she has phone issues that she is not actually going to call him.

@@MarieSamSanchezPhoto Thanks for your thoughtful reply on both sides! So, I did actually hear from her this morning, but not about my wedding! I got an email asking if she ordered/shipped a phone to me would I bring it down to her! Honestly, this is something I would normally not mind doing (my fiancé is Jamaican and bringing stuff from the US to people is a very normal thing to do) but given the circumstances it seems to be a pretty bold request! The contract states turnaround on the photos is 6-8 weeks, or during "busy season" it could take up to 12 weeks. I've not seen any bride say they got them in 6-8 weeks (or even hear from her in that timeframe) so I think she is operating at that 12 week mark all the time. But many brides also still haven't received their photos after 5 months. It seems most receive them by 6 months. But at that point, her not delivering the photos within 12 weeks is a breach of contract but I have few options other than to leave bad reviews. Am I really going to spend money on an international contract dispute? Probs not. I like her work, sure, but there were others I liked as well that I've never seen a complaint about. So I'm just pretty disappointed in my choice

Ugh - I really am kind of freaking out about this. Funny you say that about her excuse because I've seen other brides say (when she did finally respond) she gave them other excuses like her laptop crashed or she couldn't get on the internet, etc. etc. That is just not okay with me and, yes, $2,500 is a ton of money! To be honest, the brides who did eventually get their photos - I'm not sure if they ever got their albums or slideshows?? I just emailed WPAJ and, on a long shot, asked if any of their photographers are available on my date. They were in my top 3 and since they have several photographers I'm thinking one may be free that day? I just want to know if I have a viable back up option. If I do, ideally she would agree to give me my deposit back and we could go with someone else. That would be my best case scenario right now. Really appreciate your candid feedback - even though it stresses me out - it is exactly what I was worried about already! The negative concerns/issues are abundant and consistent so I know it isn't isolated.

Hi Ladies - I don't have a planning thread (drat) so I am posting a new topic and hoping I can get your thoughts on what you'd do. We leave for Jamaica for our wedding in 8 days and our wedding is in 12! Of course we booked our photographer last July and at the time I saw other brides say that she takes a long time to return pictures (like 12 weeks), and I figured I was okay with that if her style was what I liked the best. But ever since I've seen bride after bride after bride complain about how the photographer is completely unresponsive despite any attempts to contact her via email, Facebook or phone. She just does not respond at all. And many brides are waiting 5-6 months to get any of their pictures back, well beyond the maximum 12 weeks it states in the contract. They aren't even getting "sneak peak" photos to use for thank you cards before that. In fact, a bride on this forum today who got married in January hasn't heard a thing from the photographer! Now, every bride also says they love their photos and how they are worth the wait, and that they liked her on their wedding day, but I am MAJORLY regretting my decision to hire her I emailed her on May 8th to touch base and ask her about our timeline and what to expect on our wedding day. I haven't heard back. According to our contract, our final payment was due to her yesterday (2 weeks before our wedding) but I haven't heard from her. Another bride with a wedding a few days before mine DID (finally) hear from her, so I know she is alive! My fiancé tried calling her today and left a voicemail. I just don't think not contacting your client - or responding to their friendly email - in the month before their wedding is acceptable and I don't want to send her our $2,000 payment on a hope and a prayer. If she doesn't deliver my photos by the 12 weeks, she has my money so what am I going to do about it? This doesn't seem to be an issue with any other Jamaican photographers, and this issue is abundant and consistent among brides who have used her, so I just really regret giving her my money. She has a $720 deposit from us already. Hopefully my fiancé can get ahold of her and talk about our concerns (he is more assertive than I am) and if he isn't getting a bad feeling maybe ask for our deposit back? It seems unlikely she would return it. We may be able to find another photographer available at the last minute (or use the so-so resort photog), but then we'd be out the $720. I just picture her showing up on my wedding day and already having a negative feeling about her and it just stinks. Everyone says your rapport with your photographer is important and she is going to be hanging around us all day! I really do not want to send her the money and hope for the best...any other thoughts? Am I making too big of a deal out of this and I should just trust that it will be fine?

I know - on another group everyone is complaining about her. They say once they get their pictures it is worth it but she doesn't respond at all and it takes 5 months. Technically my payment was due to her yesterday (2 weeks before the wedding) but I emailed her on May 9 and still haven't heard anything. Honestly I would try to see if I could get someone else last minute but then I'd still lose my $700 deposit. I'm really not sure what to do...it is a lot of money to spend on someone who is so unprofessional.

I LOVE your itinerary!! It is so perfect! Good job.

Well there is your answer. GET IT! Similarly my dress is the only dress that felt "right" to me and I'm so excited to wear it! I may never take it off...

I'm really excited for you @@LisaAnthonyPoppy! I hope you have the BEST time and I can't wait to see pictures! Enjoy every moment. Cheers!!

We did get a lot done over the weekend! I got my placecards done and printed finally, got the last of our guests' entree choices for our welcome dinner, got all my documents printed and organized just like you mentioned for your binder! I did some more shopping for clothes to pack. So I think we're in pretty good shape. I also worked for a bit to try to get things organized to hand off while I"m off for 2 weeks. The only thing I didn't do over the long weekend is work out. My advice to brides is definitely don't wait until the last month to try to lose weight/exercise. There is no time! I started packing my decor/welcome bags stuff last night and it definitely does not all fit in my carry on suitcase, but all the breakable stuff does, so I feel okay about that. I'll need another bag with our welcome bag contents and, like you, I'm really worried to check it! My fiance things I'm insane, but if it doesn't make it we have no welcome bags and that would be such a waste of time and money! Plus I still worry about it getting thrown around and all ruined with the checked bags. We have a few other people on our flight so I'm hoping someone can take it for us as their carry on. Wedding is 2 weeks from today and we leave in 9!