beckys98

We have 70 people as well and we are doing bags (even though I originally said we weren't!) but nothing that is difficult to pack! We're just putting everything in a regular gift bag with a tag and then we have custom collapsible koozies like @@IzzyDeee has above, a hangover kit in a muslin bag stamped "In Sickness & in Health", welcome note/itinerary, and some local food items. We'll go buy snacks and Red Stripes (to put in the koozies) when we arrive. My fiance may get mugs for his would-be groomsmen (we don't have a bridal party) but that was just not feasible for a group this size! Hopefully people use the koozies.

I'm so jealous and not at the same time! I'm just over 2 months still and I'm starting to feel a lot of stress from the pile of to-dos and nowhere near enough time to get them all done. I really plan to be doing packing and beauty stuff my last 30 days - so lots of shopping for new clothes and packing them away! Plus getting organized on which vendors we need to pay how, how much money we need to bring with us (including tipping), organizing all documentation we need with us like estimates from the resort, vendor agreements, etc. We also have to do placecards for entree selection for both our welcome dinner and our reception and I'm sure we won't be able to accomplish that until the last couple weeks.

Oh boy I hadn't even thought about the kids menu! I don't have kids so I don't even think about these things. Ha. I also only have 3 kids coming aged 5, 2.5 and 1 but the older 2 definitely won't eat anything we are eating for dinner! I better ask about that...see, this is why I need to spend all this time reading these forums. Haha!

Ah! This is the ONE thing I've started having nightmares about. For us, everyone is arriving and leaving on different days, and the majority are only staying 4 nights, some only 2-3 nights. So I KNOW there are some people we'll hardly spend any time with and the trip is going to go by SO fast. And I worry I won't even spend any time with my fiance if we aren't careful! Our wedding is on a Thursday and Friday is the ONLY day every one is there, so I'm informally promoting the idea that everyone meeting at the pool bar in the late morning and hoping we all hang out together all day. My sister got married in Mexico and did this the day after her wedding and it was SO FUN to have everyone all in one spot all day. The best part of the trip.

Hi! Most brides at my resort (in Jamaica) use Floral Fantasies or Jan's and have very good reviews of both. They say Jan's is cheaper but I've emailed them twice and haven't gotten a response. However, Chantal from Floral Fantasies is very responsive so we'll probably use her for our reception centerpieces. I would DIY them but I am not excited about lugging them down there, so this may be one thing I go over budget on for convenience! The email I use is [email protected].

This is a GREAT idea! I may have to steal this one

This is what we put on our website. I have not gotten asked about a registry once! "Spending time with us in Jamaica is the best gift you can give, so gifts are not expected and we will not be registering. Your presence is present enough!"

Well...it looks like they are in stock at the Payless by my office...in Chicago. It is a completely random solution, but my fiance is going to Toronto for his "non-bachelor party" bachelor party at the end of April. I could send them with him and you could pick them up from where he is staying??

Haha - you sound EXACTLY like my fiance!!

Totally! My plan for April is also to buy new summer clothes and just pack them away for the trip so I get a head start on that! I HATE packing so the last thing I want to be doing is scrambling to pack the day before we leave. I'll surely have last minute wedding and beauty things to do so this is one thing I can actually do in advance - it isn't like I need to be wearing summer clothes and bathing suits in Chicago now

@@veryvalentine thanks for the peptalk! I probably shouldn't be complaining about MY fiance on YOUR planning thread! Haha. I just looked at our weekends in April and they are absolutely packed, including his "non-bachelor party" weekend trip to Toronto with his guys. So I'm planning to use that to persuade him to plow through some of our to-dos this weekend! Unless we have any last minute joiners I think our guest list is pretty well set so we can really get down to business!

We have an outside vendor for photography, but she covers the vendor fee. We are using the preferred DJ, which I'm comfortable with because past brides have ALL said he does an awesome job, but he also isn't very responsive. He averages about a 12 day lag on responding to emails. My fiance would rather go with someone else because of this, but he doesn't really understand the vendor fee situation (attention to detail is not his strong suit, so I've been handling most things!). I am choosing not to worry about that because everyone said he is great, but we also aren't doing lighting or any other upgrades. I'll use the preferred florist for my bouquet because it is included in my package, but I am undecided on an outside florist for centerpieces. Past brides say the preferred florist is horribly unresponsive and more expensive, but if another florist just drops off the flowers at the front desk then you don't have to pay a vendor fee. If they come on-site to set things up, then you do have to pay it. I just don't want to spend a bunch of money on flowers/centerpieces either...

Your wedding is a week after mine and you're far ahead of me in planning! I'm envious The music organization is to be led by my fiance (he used to DJ) but to him June is still SOOOO far away so I have a hard time getting him to take it seriously. I can get bits and pieces of his attention to get feedback on MY projects, but he is clearly not ready to take anything on himself yet. He hasn't even given any thought to what he is going to wear or what kind of ring he wants. I've accepted he will be of no help close to the wedding because he'll be doing all his tasks last minute. Ah!

Very true! We are putting an itinerary in our welcome bags. Even if you tell people ahead of time they'll forget. But our resort only does 1 wedding per day so I am pretty sure whatever time we want is when it is. We picked 4:30.

We will have about 73 so we're doing private at Calabash. Our group LOVES to dance and my fiance used to DJ (as did several of our guests) so the music is really important, so we're springing for the private. I am also super freaked out about being too hot with the June wedding so I didn't want to do the reception outdoors. I sweat a lot and I will be really miserable if I'm overly hot - just not what I'm going for on my wedding day. I need the air conditioning! But we are doing the beach bonfire for our welcome event - I don't care if I'm too hot for that

Well I've learned that you always have to check in on other's planning threads because you never know what topic (or off-topic) is going to be covered! Haha! For the record, I take Seasonale and take it continuously as well. I can't fathom going back to having my period EVERY MONTH anymore...just seems so excessive @@kcole123 I think you look gorg in BOTH dresses. I can't wait to see your pictures! We originally wanted 4/17 as our wedding date but it was booked and it stresses me out to think our wedding could have been coming up that soon. 78 days for me! Which is simultaneously too far away and not enough time!

HI @@CarlyW - You actually have to have 40 people to do a private reception in the restaurants, so you may have to do semi-private for 35. And then for private which restaurant you use depends on the number of guests. For 40 they'd put you at the Mediterranean restaurant "Mare Nostrum." But I've heard very positive experiences with the semi-private dinner!

I have the Southwest Visa and it has no foreign transaction fee! It also has the best rewards. We paid for both of our flights to Jamaica and 2 family members' flights with our points!

For ours, you have to either select the same entree for everyone or do placecards with their selections if you have more than 40 people. I know which restaurant the reception will be at because it is based on the size of your group, but I won't know for sure which restaurant we have for our welcome dinner until like 1-2 weeks before! That is stressful for having to get entree selections. I added meal choices to the RSVP section on our website. I was just generic for the welcome dinner (Chicken, Beef, Seafood) since the group menus at the restaurants have one of each option. They can also note dietary restrictions on there. We could have our ceremony whenever we want (we picked 4:30) but dinner times for the reception are firm at 6:30 and have to end at 10:00 pm.

HA! GREAT QUESTION...it is completely stupid, but common I think. The $800 for the private reception does actually include beer and wine so you could technically skip it, but we want to offer liquor to our guests for the wedding. But we are not doing a formal cocktail hour in between the ceremony and reception because it would be another $700 for the bar! So we're just telling people to meet in the lobby for a drink before dinner. I could understand an extra set up fee or service charge to have a private bartender, but the $10 per person per hour is totally crazy. Our bar tab for the wedding will be over $2,000...I try not to think about it

Okay that is weird! I'm happy to send you mine even though it is a different Iberostar. Pricing is probably different, but it could give you an idea. For my wedding, the "extras" we are doing that cost extra are: - Private reception (Flat $800) - DJ ($190 per hour - but renting the speakers alone to play an ipod is $150 per hour) - Open Bar ($7 or $10 per person per hour) - Live Entertainment ($450 for a steel drum band for one hour) - $20 per person over the 10 included in the package, which is for cake, champagne toast, set up, etc. Other add ons are extra florals, spa for hair/makeup, photographer, videographer, there are other cocktail reception and venue options or other events. For example, you can do a tented reception on the beach but the menus for that are more expensive and you have to rent a tent, dance floor, etc. etc.

Thanks! We have not been there! We are getting married at Suites since we have a few children in our group, but we've heard GREAT things! Counting down the days...

Also, my fiance is Jamaican. "Island Time" is a real thing. haha

Hi @@purplekitten. I'm getting married at an Iberostar, but in Jamaica. We definitely got a packet of information on venues and "extras" before we even signed the contract. That was back in 2014 for our 2015 wedding. We got our "final details sheet" about 4 months out, which is what we fill out to let the resort know what our selections were (due back to them 30 days out), but I had the information on cocktail receptions, wedding and reception locations, live music, florist, etc. I would try asking the wedding coordinators for the information again!

I used events@@JamaicaweddingDJ.com. I initially sent an inquiry through his website and never got a response. My wedding coordinator gave me this email address. It was 12 days before he replied. But, after his initial email he has responded promptly to a few follow up emails/questions. We put our deposit down to reserve him (his partner, actually) last week!