budgetbride2015

Thanks ladies! @@kizzy322 wedding decorator Godfrey provided the chairs @@Endreece no the spa at the resort did my makeup and one of my bridesmaid attempted to fix it

Here's a highlight of my wedding weekend. It includes rehearsal dinner, welcome party and wedding https://vimeo.com/169329921

Hi Brides! I'm just jumping in to offer some support ( I jump on and off a lot). I got married at the suites last august and can answer some of your questions for you. Beach ceremony? Beautiful (pray ALL week for good weather) the set up is right in front of Aunt Ruby's. For the bride planning a semi private dinner at aunt ruby's that's a great transition and you don't have to worry about your guests wandering off to the bar. Godfrey Guy? Yes that is he email address. No he's not an imposter...you have to remember he is a Jamaican. To our American culture Jamaicans can seem a bit pushy but your in good hands trust me. Check out his facebook page, that has pics of all of the weddings he's done including mine, a lot of them done at Iberostar. Another thing that's different in Jamaica than here in the U.S for flowers you have to book them way in advance to get a cheaper rate (like hotel rooms here in the US) Wedding cake? The cake the resort provides is ugly and tastes horrible. Make up? No one asked but I will offer this piece of advice. If you are allowing the resort to do your makeup book your apt early in the morning. In the event you do not like what they did you will have time to get someone else there to do it, or do it yourself. That is the one regret I have. I hated my makeup and I didn't have time to fix it. Be your own advocate and speak up. You are spending a lot of money to look beautiful for the most important day of your life. Well that's all for today. Happy Planning! If you have additional questions I'm here to help One last thing. You do not have to use Tai Flowers and it's cheaper to pay the resort fee for Godfrey then to go with Tai Flowers. One of the reasons I did not use Tai Flowers they had awful communication. I reached out to them August of 2014 and they emailed me back June of 2015. I reached out to Godfrey and he emailed me back the same day.

Hi Brides, Congrats to you all. I got married at the suites back in August of 2015 and I'm willing to offer any support I can. I'm a coordinator here in the states and a former destination bride so I understand the anxiety of having a destination wedding. The one thing you don't have to worry about is the resort it is BEAUTIFUL!!!! All 3. Of course the grand is the best of them all because they cost more but I wouldn't have traded my stay at the suites for the world. The staff is wonderful, Nicole the coordinator is very professional and although she may not respond right away she really does have it together. Here's a quick review Hair and make-up- RUN LIKE HELL (If your an African woman). I HATED my hair and makeup. Luckily the photographer I flew in is also a hair dresser and hooked me up...as far as my make-up I still hate it...Lol! DJ. I used DJ Kevin's company he sent someone else I can't think of his name but he had us rocking ALL night long. We had some bystanders trying to get in to the wedding....LOL! Decorations. Godfrey Guy was sent from heaven above. This man eats, sleeps and breaths weddings. He is awesome when it comes to communication, went above and beyond and exceeded my expectations. Oh and he's ALOT cheaper than Tai flowers and way more creative. You can see pics from my wedding on his Facebook page. Keep in mind he's a local with a thick accent...Lol! But I love him Calabash- I had a private reception at this restaurant, you can request a Jamaican cuisine it was delish. Wedding cake - sucks...if you happen to work with Godfrey let him recommend a baker, the one he ordered for me was soooooooooooo amazing cocktail hour- I had this by the pool...beautiful set-up thanks to Godfrey but waste of money. The food they offered no one ate it and it was infested with ants That's the crash review hope this helps

Congrats! Not sure on pricing for private beach I believe its more expensive to go that route than to rent out one of the restaurants. Then i f you want a tent that's an additional expense. A few things to consider 1. God forbid it rains and they have to move it inside will it be private? Prob not because you didn't tell them ahead of time unless they move you to the disco 2. Will they still charge you the additional expense for the beach set up As far as other prices if you send me your email address I can forward you what I have. Keep in mind prices increase yearly

@@helenk I am so sorry to hear about your mom. My heart goes out to you and your family. Congratulations on the baby!!!!! Don't feel bad about not being able to drink I was pretty much sober the whole weekend ...lol! Honestly DON'T stress about the extras your guests will just enjoy being there. I spent ALOT of time and money and ppl really didn't appreciate it the way I thought they would. Good luck with everything enjoy the moment and DON'T STRESS. Oh and I've had ppl book the day they arrived to Jamaica. My sister didn't get her passport until the day before she left and a few ppl missed their flights. Saying all that to say take on the "oh well and long as my groom is at the altar nothing else matters" attitude. Don't let ppl esp adults stress you. It's about you two enjoy the moment

@@Mcamille no sorry but they're probably all good. If your on FB go to Godfrey Guy's page he has a lot of them on his page

@@Mcamille Kevan is the resort Dj you'll be fine. Remember to ENJOY yourself. Try to do everything at home so when you arrive you can take it all in. My week went by so fast. I'm trying to post pics but its not loading

Hi fellow brides! Ok here goes .... Resort: A+ I LOVED that place. Hands down we chose a GREAT property. The staff is wonderful, the view is AMAZING even if your in a standard room. The property is clean and the drinks will sit you on your behind esp if the bartenders make you their specialty drinks. The food was ok. I wish there was more authentic Jamaican food available. The food at the restaurants was really good esp surf and turf at the Mexican restaurant. We didn't have any issues with the AC we actually had to turn it off a few times. We booked an ocean view room and was upgraded to a category ocean view. At first I was NOT happy because I was expecting ocean front. The front staff assured us the view we were getting was better but was willing to give us an ocean front room. They allowed us to look at both rooms. We ended up going with what they suggested in the first place. Our view was the view you have when you look off the terrace in the main lobby and the location was great (4405) Wedding Coordinator: B+ Nicole was good for the most. She was able to arrange just about everything we asked for. She ran through rehearsal with us and was there for the entire wedding start to finish. There was a few hiccups which in reality that's to be expected. Our welcome dinner/party was dinner at the steakhouse and should of ended with the Fire dancer. Instead the fire dancer was booked first (so pissed) so of course some folks on island time came late and missed the performance (shrugs). The other thing she typed 7:45 welcome party and 8:30 dinner on the itinerary. Nicole never gave the DJ the list with the bridal party names so there was a delay to start the reception. Spa: D+ Soooooo they sucked like really sucked with hair and makeup. My hair is short. I had it cut right before I left so all they had to do was curl it. Um nope that didn't work out. The make up OMG the products they have are sold at the dollar store here in the US (no exaggeration) and they really just can't do makeup. So I wasted my money. I gave them a D+ because the staff was really nice. Staff: A++ Orlando at the front was so awesome he knew us by first name and attended to all of our needs and concerns. Actually they were all great.Raymond was just simply amazing. He made us feel like we were the only ones on the property. Guest services was amazing. We had an issues with the shower pressure and they sent maintenance to our room at 9:30pm to have it fixed. Ceremony/ Reception: A+ We had our ceremony at the beach. We couldn't of asked for better weather. It was far enough away from everyone we didn't have any land gawkers but we did have some ocean gawkers who eventually left. We opted for the gold package that included a cocktail hour. Ceremony started at 4:30. Cocktail hour between 5:30-6:30 with steel drums .... Food not so great but not too bad. Reception 6:30-10:00 (didn't start till 6:50). We had 68ppl total so we rented the calabash for private reception. We opted for the Jamaican menu and the food was delish. The DJ the DJ was THE BEST..... He's a member for Kevan's team (resort contracted DJ ) our family and friends is still talking about how much fun the reception was. We ended at 10 but I was told later that I could of pushed for 10:30 Decorations: A++++++++++ I don't even know where to begin. Godfrey Guy from GG Decor is God sent. He did an OUTSTANDING job. I was blown away by everything he did. He exceeded my expectations. He is truly a man of his word and he is extremely passionate about what he does. My cousin and girlfriends who are event planners were all impressed. He took care of everything for me from rentals to cake cutting set and the cake. At first I was a little skeptical going with him but I am so glad I did. He worked hard to give me everything I wanted and we couldn't thank him enough. He did all the bouquets, decorations for ceremony, cocktail hour and reception. Photographer and videographer : A+ I flew in my own team from Front Street Video. They covered the whole weekend. I can't wait for the footage. They will travel and Blake Saunders is gifted and talented Property: The property was clean and well kept. The beach was a little rocky. We didn't have issues with getting a lounge chair and the hotel was full for the weekend. Check in and check out went pretty smooth. Excursions: We all went to Dunns River and Blue Hole the next day. Word of advice just go to blue hole its so much better. My dad arranged the whole thing for everyone. If you would like his info let me know he lives there. Helpful tips: Make group reservations in advance they fill up quickly. If your traveling with young children make sure you check out the water park. If you have a large group it's worth getting the more expensive package and paying the difference for extra guests Wire the balance ahead of time if you can. I got charged closed to $200 for an international visa charge because I used by bank card to pay off balance. Try to avoid using the Mac machine there because it's $6 every time you withdrawal money Take care of the staff because they take care of you

Hi Ladies! I will post detailed review over the weekend. Just wanted to stop by and say breathe everything turned out great. We picked a great location and the staff is wonderful. A few hiccups but that's to be expected. Enjoy the rest of your time being a bride because it's over before you know it. Oh and if your still on the fence about decorations look into Godfrey Guy. Check him out on FB some of the pics from my wedding is on his page. LOVE LOVE LOVE him. Turns out my dad knows him as well (small world)

@@beckys98 CONGRATS!!!!!!!! I'm glad everything turned out good for the most part. Thank you for the detailed review I will be going over responsibilities today and assigning someone for day of schedule Sooooooo I must be the only bride that hasn't reached out to coordinators ...sigh I'll be doing that tonight as well I have 7 weeks to go I need 12 more

70 days away.... I need 30 more days ...Lol! @beckys83 just be mindful Im Jamaican and I know a few people that got held up at the airport .... I may be the only bride that hasn't reached out to the coordinators as yet #Jesustakethewheel ...i am excited Godfrey is like my life boat he's so creative

Hi fellow brides. FYI be mindful when bringing items to decorate (linens, napkins etc) customs will charge you a fee (duty) to bring it into the country

His email is [email protected]

@@xxuaangelxx I have a package and it includes more than linen and flowers so my price is different I'm getting chairs flowers for ceremony reception and my girls and more. Reach out to him tell him I referred you. He'll get back to you almost immediately