WARNING- long review!!!!

We got married at the ROR (march 9^th 2011). We had 32 guests and everyone had a wonderful time. I will start by giving a review of the resort than I will talk about the wedding.

We travelled from Halifax to Montego Bay by Thomas Cook airline. Somewhat good service but the comfort of the aircraft is not good. The free drinks they provide help to ease the pain of the uncomfortable seats. The drive from the airport to the resort was ok. I had read about the crazy drivers but did not really notice anything dangerous. It was a smooth ride. It took 1h15 to get to the resort and on our way back it took a little longer since we stopped and picked up people at 2 different resorts. One downfall when we travelled back. Our departure from the resort was at 6:45am restaurant only opens at 7:00 so no breakfast was provided for us. I thought that the resort could have set up coffee and muffins for us.

 Rooms: The rooms are very comfortable. I was supposed to be upgraded to a suite because of my wedding but the hotel was full. I didn’t mind because all of my guests were not in the suite section and I wanted to be close to them. Of course the beds were hard and the pillows were not comfortable but this is to be expected when you travel. You have to keep in mind that this is not your home and you are not going to find the same comfort you have at home. The housekeeping was excellent. I left a 3$ tip everyday and we had excellent service. Do not leave any food or beach towels in your room because you will have ants crawling all over the place.

Food: The buffet was good. I especially liked the breakfast. Lunch was ok….I did enjoy the jerk chicken and basically ate a lot of salad. The restaurants were great and you were able to reserve in advance (no lines at 7am). We got to eat at 3 specialty restaurants during our week stay. The service was excellent but they were booked to the max every night. At night time, I was craving for munchies (chips, chocolate bars) I suggest that you bring some from home.

Activities: We had a great time!!!! The shows were ok but we hung out at the disco for most of the time…the downfall was that it only opens at 11pm.Tips the bartender and you will have great service for the night. I recommend the Cool Runnings Dunn’s fall river trip. We had sooooo much fun!!! Be careful the punch rum on your way back is a killer!!!!! During the day, the staff is around getting people to participate in different activities. We had fun with different activities. The beach is wonderful and snorkeling is great…you just need to go a little over the designated sections and you will find plenty of fish. Lots of beach chair…no need to reserve in the morning.  We also had a great time at the pool swim up bar.

Now the good part

Wedding:  I took the free package and added a few things. I didn’t think the other package was worth it. I didn’t want a bride and groom t-shirt for that price and the flowers were not that expensive.

We got married Wednesday at 4pm at the casibo beach. It was amazing. I loved every moment.

I meet with Keisha Monday to finalize the details of our wedding. She was on time but busy with her phone.

Flowers: I had contacted Tai Flora before I left. The price for my flowers at first was around 450$ than I quoted the same flowers by another company in Ocho Rios which they quoted at 275$. I than send that work order to Tai flora and they brought down their price to 176$. For 176$ I got my bridal bouquet and 2 brides maid bouquet. That included the rebate that you get with the free package. I didn’t want any boutonnieres for the man. The flowers were beautiful…they were better than I expected. Believe me there is room for negociating price with Tai Flora…excellent service.

Hair: Renova spa was excellent. My hair was beautiful. Nicole was great she did exactly what I wanted. They also did my bridesmaid hair and it was great.

Photographer:  I was disappointed in Micheal’s work. I didn’t find him very professional. He didn’t tell us what type of pose to do and how to position ourselves for the picture. My maid of honor was the one telling him what type of pose he should do. The videographer was excellent. I do not regret paying 400$ for the video. It is great…I watch it a million times already. The total cost for the video and 15 pictures was 670$.

The ceremony: The ceremony was great.  I had ordered the white aisle with petals for 110$ but it was windy that day so I got the aisle but not the petals. They were given to me after the wedding in a bag. I was kinda disappointed about that but I guess I have no control over mother nature. The white chairs were no extra cost. I brought my own sand ceremony. I had a friend who put it together before the ceremony started and she also picked it up after the ceremony…I read that sometime they tend to disappear. I had also brought pink fans for my guest and bubbles. They didn’t use the fans because it was windy but it was one of my party favors and everyone loved them. I ordered them through Wedding Star.  Everyone made bubbles when we walked down the aisle…it was great. After the ceremony they served punch and water at no extra cost. One downfall is that our guests didn’t hear our vows because it was windy. If I would do it again I would request a microphone.

As a surprise my maid of honor had rented a projector to projector my father and sisters signing my wedding song while I walked down the aisle. The cost of the projector was 200$. At the end this didn’t work. We could only hear them. She had to push to get her money back…at the end she was reimbursed the full amount.

Supper was at the Mamma Bay steak house. It was a semi private reception which was great. I had brought some candle (batterie operated) thank god because it was windy. I also had some petals and little flowers to decorate the tables. I suggest that you don’t need too much on the table there is a lot already with all the dishes. It is simply beautiful by itself. We did a toast and everyone enjoyed there meal. The service was great. We had 2 bottle of champagne for our toast at no extra cost.

Cake: I was impressed by the wedding cake. I was very good and they put pink roses on the top.

Bomb fire on the beach: after supper I had requested a bomb fire until the disco was open. I thought it was too expensive to rent the disco/DJ for 2 hours. It would of cost close to 800$. So we decided to have a fire on the beach for 200$. We really enjoyed it but it was a small fire and not a lot of wood. We did the toss of the bouquet at that time. Once the fire was out we headed to the disco and we danced the night away.

The wedding was more than I imaging…it was truly amazing. Everyone had fun and I felt like a princess. The only down fall is that it is a wedding factory. There was about 3-4 weddings a day and sometimes you would bump into to each other. I meet a bridezilla at the airport which made everyone laugh through the whole vacation. She was getting married the day before I was and she complained about everything. She even had 4 dresses that she wanted to put in the pilots closet in the aircraft. I was told we were a loud to put one dress and not all pilots aloud this. So I told the pilot that we should both have one dress. So she had to put her others dresses in the small compartment. She was not very happy about this and all week she looked at me with a dirty look. I just laughed at it and we called her the bridezilla. Then I saw her crying at the front desk because she didn’t get her upgrade to her suite. It was crazy.

The one thing I suggest is to go there with an open mind. I was able to do everything I wanted…tossing the bouquet, having special sand ceremony, bomb fire, dancing. It was amazing.

TRASH THE DRESS: the day after I did trash the dress. I recommend this to every bride. I felt like a diva!!!! And it didn’t even ruin my dress. I went on the beach and took some pictures there and than a literally jumped in the pool with my dress. I was great and I got lots of good pictures. Everyone at the resort thought I was crazy and I was surprise on how a lot of people never heard of trash the dress but it is a must for someone that is getting married down south.

Love every moment of my wedding. Please feel free to ask any questions.