First wedding review...

To give it a star rating I would give it about a 3.5 out of 5

Florist (resorts vendor) did a good job with the flowers and was easy to communicate with. Considering the resort led me to believe the authorized florist was Jan's flowers (it isn't), the price between the resort vendor and Jan's resulted in the resorts vendor being half the price. They provided upgraded chairs, table linens, charger plates etc ... Showed pictures of what I wanted and it was very close. However on the wedding day there was missing corsages and mothers wrist corsages which was annoying...
Photographer: tropic one: nic and ornella are an amazing team. Super friendly, organized, competent and puts you at ease. Our photos were stunning and I believe reasonably priced (1550$ usds as a customized platinum package we received 150 photos including sunset and first look sessions). Well worth the money for sure
Food/restaurant venue: there's a lot of construction going on, needless to say we had chosen the dolce vita for our meal, when we arrived we saw it was a complete construction zone. The wedding coordinator (Callisha) suggested the grill which was fine but the dolce vita looks much nicer (water front with terrace...) this was an annoyance but what could I do? The actual food was good, we had caprese, spinach ravioli, chicken breast with risotto and pana cotta. Pana cotta was kinda like jello but the wedding cake was quite good, guests commented on how good the food was. It was semi private and we had no issue with out guests coming over to our area and I didn't even notice to be honest. Two hours went by quickly.
Gazebo/ceremony: annoyances here. It was VERY windy, the coordinator gave the minister his script on the original papers I provided, not even in some sort of book or like a holder to keep them from blowing. Minister had difficulty reading it which irritated me since it was blowing all around. Surely she should've know to cut it down and place it in a formal binder as noted previously? Mic was windy but that's all you can do. I watched another wedding after and the minister rad the script perfectly. Music was messed upto introduce us, was delayed and felt awkward...
Cocktail hour: was fine...we had the steel drum it was a nice touch, I just told them play whatever they wanted which worked out fine...we had extra luxury champagne which apparently was some left over which guests took without my knowledge. Would've been good to know since I paid for it so I can disperse it as I pleased (hello 60$ a bottle !!). Appetizers were ok....nothing spectacular...it was to be side of the gazebo...

The wedding started an hour late, I have no idea why...coordinator was no where to be found. Guests were practically,boiling waiting for an extended period I'm sure very annoyed...was never told why, I think the flowers might've been late? No flue...
Coordinator was supposed to put up some more deco at the reception and after party, nothing was hardly used that I took even though she noted I had so few things. When I received my items back a few days later (after requesting them 3 times) it was all throw in the case even with items that didn't belong to me...

Music after party: the DJ is really good, I agonized over playlists for hours but they weren't even really used which is kind of annoying since it was stressed to have my music...however he was pretty good.

After party started late, they had issues playing my music (cords seemed to be setup wrong) was fixed after a few minutes, but still kinda sloppy with songs playing and starting for our first dances...

Even though it started late it ended precisely on time it was supposed to, go figure....

After wedding the room was romantically decorated with fruit desserts, tub drawn with roses and moet plus glasses, a nice touch...

And HERE COMES THE WORST PART

The night before the wedding we returned to our room after dinner to freshen up, coordinator shows up at my door with my dress and some wedding day itineraries of sorts. I noticed it was noted that my after party was at the karaoke bar? I questioned this. She says I can't have it in the gazebo, THE NIGHT BEFORE MY WEDDING, no clear reason, she says weather then she says someone else booked it blah blah blah nothing she can do its her manager. I was flabbergasted, seriously the night before, I maintained some composure but I was crying and very upset, advised under no circumstances would I be going in a dingy bar in Jamaica, if I wanted to do that I could've done it At home for far less $$, I paid for the top package and then some...advised I could compromise. In the end she had a stup on the beach near the boats which wasn't what I wanted but would could I do? Didn't make me feel very valued I can tell you that.

Night after wedding spoke briefly to coordinator, advised wanted to meet with her the next few days. Could never reach her, took days to get my decorations back. Not sure if she was just scared to meet wi me or what? I felt avoided even though I am very flexible, far from A BRIDEZILLA however I couldn't budge on that disco inside after party...seems like once they had the $$ they don't care anymore, very busy multiple weddings a day (3 on my day)

Services offered in my package weren't even utilized. Supposed to get breakfast next morning for parents and bride/groom. Only showed up to one room, all we got were grilled cheeses? Was never resolved. Romantic dinner was supposed t be the next day. No word on it the next day at all, at 630 I called the front desk to inquire, they had no clue, I asked to cancel it since I was about to miss my a la cart reservation if not, no followup on that either.

Booked massages for after wedding morning, I was stomach sick and couldn't go, called the spa 5 times to rebook but no answer...guess I lost out...

Makeup and hair done by Gwendolyn at the spa, she's really good, I took my own makeup and extensions she did a lovely job, my hair sucks at keeping curls but she made it work and used some of my makeup too. Their stuff is drugstore quality so if you have favourite products take them. I had the airbrush which lasted all night but it just the base anyways all the other makeup was regular....didn't avail of my other services because apparently they don't answer the phone
...

I would recommend to do the lower package and add on as necessary...


Now the resort....4.5/5 for my stay...but it def. isn't a sandal type luxury...

Lovely time overall, we actually stayed in the luxury area, highly recommend it, better service, all a la carte meals, better alcohol plus exclusive longue, use it! Best drinks in there! You can get small bills and change towels there too! Arranged dessert to 2 friends rooms which was accommodated easily. Express checkout, anything you need they can do it! Room service was pretty good, slow one night but that's ok! Burger place was slow with food in evenings, when it was supposed to start at 11 often not unail 1130 however I learned near the end of my stay that the main buffet the orchid has buffet open til like 10/1030 so that's convenient. Small pool area for don Pablo but as you can see there's a HUGE building and upgraded area right next door just about completed, it's crazy how much work was done in the week we were there. Sometimes you notice the noise but it didn't effect me much....pool service for drinks practically non existent....swim up bar churns out rum and frozen drinks, you need to specify top shelf...also I wanted disarono and all they had at the time was this cheap sweet stuff, Don Pablo longue had the best cocktails! No issues with towels, clean room, friendly staff, felt very safe, had an awesome night out at the disco DJ was amazing (same as the wedding). Food was excellent in my opinion, take advantage of the adults only and luxury food options, faster service and tastier food, smaller spaces: more relaxation. Omelettes made on the spot and fresh meats and fish prepared over lunch. Lots of fruit and desserts, a bit bland but whatever! Don Pablo had delicious beef tenderloin and banana flambé, the show at mikado was a lot of fun. Picasso was fine too. Couldn't get into the garden grill and dolce vita was closed....no shortage of food that's for sure...one thing I didn't like is that I couldn't get decent cocktails in the resaurants, just basic cran/vodka or wine. I'm not a wine drinker sooo.......