We returned last week from our wedding at the Iberostar Grand Rose Hall (IGRH) and I must say it was the best week of my life.  Of course, everyone's wedding week is (hopefully) the best week of one's life, but the IGRH and its staff played a huge role in making our experience as amazing as it truly was.

 

Below is our review accompanied by photos taken by friends and family.  I will update this later with additional professional pics.

 

Rooms

The rooms at the IGRH were absolutely perfect.  They were all spacious and clean and pretty.  The bathrooms had two separate sink areas - key for a couple or a wedding party getting ready.  The beds were also extremely comfortable and there was a pillow menu so you can order the pillow that fits your preference.  The mini-fridge was stocked daily with our preferences, which we gave to our butler on the first day.

 

We were upgraded from the Ocean view Suite that we paid for to the Ocean view Suite on the top floor and it was even more amazing than other rooms because it had such a big balcony that overlooked the ocean.  It was so wonderful to fall asleep to the sound of the waves and wake up every day and walk out on the balcony to see the beautiful beach.

 

 

 

Food

The food at the resort was really, really good.  No, it wasn't always the best meal of my life but as an all-inclusive resort I didn't expect this.  I ate at the Surf & Turf, the Gourmet, the Japanese and the Mexican (at the Suites) and I really liked all of them.  There was also an indoor buffet that had tons of breakfast options, a lunch restaurant on the beach, 24/7 room service and, on some days, a delicious Jamaican barbecue on the beach.  I swear I gained 10 lbs in the eight nights I was there because I ate so much good food. 

 

Bars

There were plenty of bars in this place so you never had to be without a drink unless you wanted to, though no one in my group ever did J.  We spent a lot of time at the Pool Bar, the Lobby Bar, the Cigar Car and the Disco (which stayed open util 3 or 4, for those who like to party).  There was also a bar in the Theater but I never made it there and there was also a Music Bar at the Suites that some of my group went to but I never ventured there, either.  All the bars had top shelf liquor.  The bartenders each had special drinks that they liked to make and they were so so much fun to chat with and get to know.

 

Service/Staff

The people who work at the IGRH make it such a special place to visit.  Unlike other resorts I've been to where the staff "gets the job done," the staff at the IGRH go above and beyond to ensure the guests have the time of their lives.  We had so much fun getting to know the staff - Ardley at the lobby bar, Star Friends Royland and Makari, Tasha-Gaye who seems to work all over but who is typically at the pool serving drinks, and Allondo at the Cigar Bar are just some of the people who I got to know. 

 

The staff plays such a huge role in making IGRH such an amazing place!  They work so hard and they truly seem to enjoy what they do.  I told some of them my name at the beginning of the week and didn’t see them for days and they still remembered my name and that it was my wedding week.  They love to talk and get to know the guests – we even invited one bartender to come stay with us in California because we loved him so much!  As an all-inclusive resort, tips are included and are not required or expected.  However, the staff works so hard and for such long hours so we tipped pretty regularly, which they really appreciate and deserve.

 

 

Beach/Pool

The beach and pool area are beautiful.  There is a big infinity pool with a pool bar, a separate pool with volleyball, aerobics, etc. and, of course, the beach.  There were chairs and beds around the pool and on the beach and even with a very large group we really didn't have much trouble finding a bed or chair each day.  The Star Friends who work at the pool and beach always came around and tried to get the guests involved in activities including horseshoes, ping-pong, bocce ball, volleyball, yoga, etc. but if you wanted to just relax they let you be.  In addition to the pool bar there were waitresses who came around the pool and beach area and took drink orders.

 

Spa

Our wonderful travel agent gave us a voucher for the spa and since I had all the pampering leading up to the wedding, my husband used it for his first-ever facial, which he said was very enjoyable (and his skin looked great to I think they did a good job!).  We also had a couples massage that was included in our wedding package.  I have several massages a year and the one I received at the IGRH was definitely up to par with the best I’ve had.  The spa itself was nice – it smelled good and was a relaxing environment and the staff were all very helpful and kind.

 

 

WEDDING

And now to the good stuff!  The wedding was absolutely perfect from beginning to end.  I actually tried to think of something I would change and I honestly can't.  The wedding coordinators did everything we asked and more to make it the best day of our lives.

 

Wedding Coordinators

I found out a week or so before we left for Jamaica that Kymoya was no longer the Wedding Coordinator and this made me very nervous as she had been the only person I had had contact with in the months leading up to the wedding.  When I called the resort to ask about it, whoever I spoke with would just tell me "no worries," but this really didn't do anything to alleviate my worries.  Well, it should have.  The day we arrived at the resort we met with Kymoya, Angellie (she’s the Public Relations Director, I believe, who oversees the Wedding Coordinators) and Tacita, who is the new Wedding Coordinator.  We went through every aspect of the wedding and finalized the details.  No matter what we asked for they said, "Sure, no problem."  The days leading up to the wedding the Wedding Coordinators were around as needed, confirming my hair appointments, sending someone to pick up my fiancé’s suit for pressing, etc. 

 

On the wedding day itself, the Wedding Coordinators were around from the morning on – bringing the flowers to the spa and my room, overseeing the wedding ceremony, cocktail hour and reception venue set-ups, and much more behind the scenes that I never had to deal with!  Tacita and Angellie did such an amazing job and made sure everything went smoothly from beginning to end.

 

The Wedding Coordinators were definitely very busy due to having several weddings that week but they still didn't miss a beat when it came to my wedding and the activities leading up to it.  If I had one bit of advice to give other brides, it would be to not worry too much because the wedding staff at the IGRH are truly professionals.  They plan weddings all the time but they really care about each of the weddings they do and will make yours come together perfectly in the end! 

 

Salon

I got my hair and nails done at the salon on my wedding day and they did a great job.  I had a practice hairstyle a few days prior and she did exactly what I wanted.  On the wedding day, my hair was definitely very hair sprayed but it held up in the humidity and was still perfect late in the night.  My nails were also done perfectly so overall it was a great experience in the salon!

 

 

Ceremony

We got married on the beach right in front of the resort and it was truly breathtaking!  We opted to have no runner - just the sand underfoot - and had chairs with white covers and silver ties.  We hired a steel drum band and they did a great job.  I sent them a list of songs that I wanted played and they did exactly as I asked.  It was so nice walking down the aisle to traditional island music - it fit right into the beautiful Jamaican setting!

 

 

 

 

Videographer

We decided just the night before the wedding that we wanted a video of the ceremony and of course Angellie said, "no problem" when we asked her if we could still add the video to the package.  Boy, are we glad that we did because it turned out so nice!  They brought us the video before we even left the resort a few days after the wedding.  The videographer captured the whole wedding ceremony as well as some footage of us taking pictures afterward and even some of our guests saying messages to us.  It was well worth the price to have this video for the rest of our lives!

 

Cocktail Hour

Immediately following the ceremony we had a cocktail hour on the pool deck complete with full bar and hor d'oeurves.  They even gave us a speaker and iPod dock for music.  I honestly didn't even see it at all (we were getting pictures inside the hotel) but everyone said it was really nice and the food was great.  We had considered having everyone go to the lobby bar instead of holding a formal cocktail hour in order to save money but I am very glad that we elected to have the cocktail hour, as I think it kept our whole group together and added a nice flow of events to the evening.

 

Reception

We held the reception at Port Maria restaurant, which is an open-air restaurant on the beach (typically used for a lunch buffet).  I brought tons of decorations with us, including table covers, floating candles, white tulle, 32 paper lanterns, beach glass for the tables, table numbers and seating cards (starfish tied to the card with ribbon; they gave me the sand box because we forgot one - pic below).  I gave them to the Wedding Coordinators prior to the wedding day with minimal instruction and they made the venue look fabulous!  I was in awe when I walked in and saw how beautiful it all looked. 

 

We elected to stick with the buffet that came with the venue rental (as opposed to paying additional per person for a plated dinner).  The food was absolutely delicious and there were so many options on the buffet!  I keep hearing about the lamb but I never even tried it because there was so much other stuff.  The cake was included in our wedding package and it, too, was delicious (we got the strawberry cheesecake flavor).  We also added a full bar - necessary with our group :)

 

I had read on here that the DJ the resort works with wasn't the best so I was a little nervous and almost hired someone else.  This would have been a mistake for sure.  DJ Cardell did a wonderful job!  I gave him a list of songs prior to the wedding and he played all our favorite songs.  We did bring CDs of the important songs (first dance, father/daughter, etc) and the mother/son song was way too long and he cut it off right where we told him to.  Tacita did much of the MCing throughout the night but DJ Cardell did his share, too, and did a good job.

 

 

 

 

Flowers

We worked with Tai Flora for our wedding flowers and I LOVED the way they turned out.  They did exactly as I asked with our bride and bridesmaid bouquets (all purple orchids for me and purple orchids with some white orchids mixed in for the bridesmaids) and the reception flowers (purple, white and lilac orchids with pink roses).  I hadn’t been too picky on the ceremony flowers and I love what they did.  We had a mix of tropical flowers for the arch and pink and orange petals for the aisle and it was perfect for the setting!

 

I had decided on the day I arrived to add orchids for the bridesmaids’ hair and they ordered these without a problem.  On the day of the wedding they brought the orchids but there were only six and I had eight bridesmaids.  Again, without issue they had two more hair orchids brought to the resort.

 

 

 

Photographer

Our wedding photographer was Neville, a photographer that we hired through Sungold, and we LOVED him!  He was so professional but also laid back and fun and made us feel so comfortable.  He had an assistant photographer with him, which was great because she stayed in the suite where the girls were getting ready and Neville went to where the guys were.  We took tons of pictures after the ceremony and Neville and Antoinette were also there throughout the reception to capture all our important moments. 

 

We also had a day after shoot (we actually did this a few days after the wedding).  We elected not to do a trash the dress session - I couldn't bear to trash my beautiful dress - so we wore regular clothes.  This shoot was great and Neville was once again such a joy to work with.  He went above and beyond to get the best shots.  He even took us to a special off-site location that was supposedly had beautiful scenery, and though security at that resort wouldn't let us in, we really appreciated that he tried to make it happen for us!  I haven't seen the pictures of the wedding or the day after shoot yet but I have no doubt they will be amazing! 

 

Conclusion

My husband and I had the best week of our lives at the Iberostar Grand Rose Hall.  Our guests haven’t stopped telling us how wonderful it was and keep asking us to renew our vows there next year so everyone can come back again J  In talking to family and friends, the word “magical” is used more than any other to describe the beautiful and special time had in Jamaica.  If I got married one hundred more times to my husband, I would have all one hundred weddings at the Iberostar Grand Rose Hall.

 

 

 

Specifics

Wedding Date: December 4, 2010

Group Size: 59 people

Wedding Coordinators: Kymoya, Tacita and Angellie

Nights Spent at IGRH: 8 wonderful nights

Rehearsal Dinner: Surf & Turf

Other: “Welcome Cocktail Hour” on the Lobby Terrace

 

Florist:  Tai Flora

Ceremony Music: Steel Drum Band

Reception Music: DJ Cardell

Photographer: Neville (through Sungold)

 

 

 *** I realize this was very long and covered probably WAY too much, but if you have any specific questions, please do not hesitate to shoot me a message J