Coyaba Resort -Mobay Brides post here!

[ajanders21]

Here are the final few (out of the hundreds we took)... since we were dealing with Hurricane Paloma just a few hundred miles away, the wedding lawn was soaked and we had out ceremony on the Docks (a first for Coyaba). I highly discourage brides from getting married under the gazebo tent unless its pouring rain (its super dark, trust me!)... anyway, it worked out for the best and at the end of our ceremony the sun came out and we had an amazing sunset!

 

View of ceremony-

 

Ceremony 2-

 

Ceremony 3- (getting the petal toss)

 

Back view of the petal toss exit-

 

My bouquet-

 

Our photoshoot (Sungold was AMAZING!)

 

The sunset-

 

 

Entrance to the reception (with luminaries and tiki torches, not shown)

 

Entrance past the torches and luminaries (what's not shown but amazing are these hanging candles in the palm trees, SO amazing!)

 

My tablecard arrangements- LOVED these!

 

one more!

[ajanders21]

Just to give you an idea how amazing it is under the tent:

 

 

I'll have to dig through my other photos of the band (8 or 9 people with backup singers to boot!) Seriously amazing band!! And of my table settings... Also, once my professional photos are done I'll paste the link as well!

 

PM me with questions, but seriously, are you all in for a treat!!

[MoBayBride]

The biggest CONGRATS to you and your new husband!! Your post meant so much to my FI and I, we reread it many many times! Our group traveling in June is the same size as yours and we are doing a lot of what you did. Thanks to you I'm set on the tent, which I wasn't sure about. We were also glad to see that you had a good response to Sungold since we are also using them! I met Paula and Damien in May and instantly liked them. I'm glad everything worked out for you and thanks again for sharing!

[mentionbien1]

First of all, CONGRATULATIONS and welcome back! I am so glad that Coyaba was everything that you wanted for your wedding. Now seeing your pictures, I can't wait to go back!

 

I have a couple of questions, if you wouldn't mind helping me out!

 

Because of the rain, you said the wedding lawn was soaked, but then you had the reception on the East Lawn? Are those 2 different places?

 

And when you mentioned the Gazebo Tent, is that the one on that separate deck (before you get to the walkway to the wedding lawn)?

 

Also, how much did you pay for your bouquet? I am still not sure what to do about flowers. They all seem quite expensive.

 

Any help with your add-on pricing (lights, coconut bar, etc.) would be great!

 

& I am with you on the all-inclusive plan. We decided that after our reaserch trip down there...our bar and restaurant bill each day was as much as our room. It is expensive!

 

Thanks for sharing!

[ajanders21]

Dana, per your request I just emailed you my snapfish album which is a growing collection of family photos from the weekend.

 

Ladies, that's another thing I suggest. Open up a snapfish or Kodakgallery, or some sort of photo account where wedding guests can upload their photos onto, for everyone's enjoyment. There were so many pictures I would have missed if I didn't do this. I included the info in my welcome passport book, including the log-in and password, and it seems like everyday the photo album grows!

 

 

To answer more questions...

the East Lawn were the reception was held (under the tent) is next to the property, but its technically where Alex lives (it was Joanne's but they switched). The only thing that seperates it from the property is a small wall (the oceanside isn't walled off and you can see the house/lawn from the beach).

 

They had the for-sight to put up the tent days before the wedding, so even with all the scattered rain, the grass stayed very dry. Its an amazing location because its even more tucked away from the other hotel guests that makes you feel like your in your own very special place (especially will all of their hanging candles in the trees leading up to the entrance) I cannot tell you the warm glow this tent gave off! I will say though, that the tent is harder for air to circulate so people were definitely getting their sweat on. (they had set up several fans but booze + humidity + dancing= serious sweat!) I will warn everyone about another "issue". I don't know if it was the rain, or just how it is in Jamaica, but there were several spiders that made appearances at the wedding. On tables, chairs, etc. No one complained about being bitten, but there were several shrieks scattered throughout the wedding. (they mostly would show up after someone got up from their chair).

 

The gazebo deck is tented and it was where you waited during the processional, and its not favorable to photography. Especially if you look at my wedding photos it was a little overcast that day (which cleared as soon as we started signing the wedding papers, a sign from above ) So with overcast skies, and no real lighting is would not have been my ideal wedding. I made the snap decision that even with the possibility of rain, that I would have it on the dock (again a first for Coyaba). I decided that no matter what, if it rained, it would just be the heavens shedding "tears of joy"... and thankfully it didn't rain... but there was a lot of chanting "sun, sun, sun" in my bridal suite!

 

Regarding the question of costs for the extras... I believe are the following (but might change by next year)

Fresh coconut station- $5 per person

Bonfire/Jamaican smores- $300 (I think?)

Pepper lights (Christmas lights), luminaries, paper lanterns- $500 (I brought down the white paper luminaries because they only had brown... and I brought down my own paper lanterns, but they didn't return them, so maybe you can use mine!

Tent Rental- $1750 (plus a set up charge) ... this one stung when I first ordered it but I was beyond pleased with the result)

Reggae Band - $3000 plus an additional 300 for 1 hour of DJ (since we wanted a 4 hour party)-- very steep but really its such an experience if you can afford it!

 

Also, the room they give to the bride and groom is amazing. The view is straight out into the ocean and they have cathedral wood paneled ceilings which makes the room gorgeous. Also, they've upgraded the rooms in building 3 (301-31, the bedspreads are this amazingly soft suede-ish duvet instead of the palm leaf in all of their photos (the palm leaf print is still used for their curtains) but its very nice to say the least!

 

Is this post going on forever??

Final things...

My bouquet was cylimbium orchids (I don't know how to spell it), and for just them it was $300 dollars, but she did have one with the same orchids and roses for a little cheaper. The bridesmaids bouquets as well as the corsages, boutineers, etc were all dendrobilum orchids (again, I can't spell) and they were

$90 for the MOH (I only had one bridesmaid)

$40 for the junior bridesmaid (same as MOH but smaller)

$25 for Moms

$15 for dads and best man

(i think thats the #'s)

 

Also, I used silk petals for my petal aisle (coyaba is cool with as long as you tip the gardener), and I also brought in freeze dried rose petals for the petal toss. Thankfully I didn't have any issues at customs, but I was told to "deny, deny, deny" if asked if they were real. SO much cheaper than getting them from the florist..$50 for 60 cups of freeze dried (more than enough for my 60 guests plus more for the aisle) vs. $80 for a bag of real white petals from the florist which she estimated to be enough for 6-10 people!

 

Feel free to ask more questions, these are all things I wanted to ask and had no one, so I'm more than glad to help you girls out!!

 

And, again... the place truly is spectacular. The food, the drinks, the staff... you won't be disappointed with anything!

[Myda77]

Welcome back!!! Congratulations, everything looks great! Now I really can't wait to get there. Your flowers and dress look amazing.

 

I definitely also went with the all-inclusive package and lately was feeling really bad about it becasue it was so expenseive. After reading your review I feel a whole lot better about it. It's def worth it.

 

I love the coconut bar and bonfire idea, sooo cool I didn't even know they could put that together. Really awesome!

[Myda77]

Did you use the make-up artist Mitzi? If so, how did you like the way she did your make up? I am contemplating if I want to use her. Thanks!

[ajanders21]

I did my own makeup, but I had Mitzi do my hair (and my MOH's hair)... She did a great job on my hair (see photos above), but on my MOH's hair, it was not so great. I don't think she gave Mitzi enough direction and her hair ended up looking like Marie Antoinette... it was pretty bad. We ended up fixing her hair after Mitzi left, and it ended up looking much better. So, if you plan on using her bring photos and have a game plan, (maybe plan on having her use most of your own makeup like foundation, etc) and she should do well... also, I would suggest having someone keep touch up stuff on hand after the ceremony (so that you don't have to go back to the room to fix your makeup in case you cry...and you can go straight to photos)...

 

 

She also has this hairspray that is like cement, (which is awesome with the weather) but be prepared to wash your hair that night (or the next morning) otherwise you'll have an itchy scalp!

[Myda77]

Marie Antoinette! LOL that is a good one! Oh gosh, I really didn't want to have to worry about it, but I guess I better have a plan B. Thanks for the advice.

 

Did you choose the plated dinner or the buffet? I was going to go with the plated meal but now I am not so sure.

 

Did you prepare OOT bags for your guests? If so, did you bring the items with you and how was customs regarding this? I am afraid they will stop me and charge me a ton of money. Of course I will never tell them I am having a wedding, but somehow they always know.

 

Thinking back now, is there anything you wish you had done or wouldn't do again?

[ajanders21]

I hope I didn't scare you away from Mitzi! She really did end up doing a great job with my hair!

 

We went with a plated dinner (I wanted a little more formal reception and we ran out of food on the buffet the night before! So I was glad we did plated!). It really was fab food... we got the steak and shrimp skewers and every aspect of the meal was delicious. They also served the food quickly so it wasn't like people were waiting to eat all the time. (We didn't realize but they serve the couple first and you both must be seated in order for them to serve you) so really if the wedding couple is seated then it flows quite quickly! (and you have a dedicated waiter at dinner which is nice). Also, I don't know if I mentioned this, but you'll have the same waiters throughout the week so by the reception you'll be calling them by their first name. Also, I don't know where you are having your reception at and I don't know if it was the rain, or just Jamaica but there were lots of little spiders who made appearances throughout the evening on tables (only when someone got up and left their seat). That might be something you want to consider with a buffet.

 

We brought our own oot boxes (we ended up using small cake boxes with our logo (a palm tree) stamped/embossed on them). Inside we had a small sunblock, goldfish, trail mix, aspirin, mike and ikes (the sort-of colors of jamaica!), a CD that I made and a welcome booklet- passport. I was really worried about customs too (I also brought in freeze dried rose petals for a petal toss in the ceremony) but it was actually a breeze. Coyaba tells you to play dumb, and don't declare anything... we ended up sailing through customs. We also were smart about packing. I spread things out through 4 separate bags, I had other people carry down stuff for me, and my mom had a bag completely dedicated to the oot boxes. Again, play dumb, and smile and you'll likely sail through without a problem. The only issue we really faced is that we didn't have much room for clothes so we recycled a lot of our daytime outfits (since space was sacrificed for wedding crap!)

 

I did a lot of DIY projects and everyone loved them, but I couldn't do the final assembly until I got there and so I spent a lot of time in my room cursing myself while putting things together. Everyone appreciated every single detail but it still was a B I T C H.

 

I wish I would have gotten there a day before my guests arrived so I could have been settled in, instead of arriving with everyone else.

 

I wish I would have ordered the rum french toast. It is apparently divine and it was sold out by the time the news got to me! (if you are on the AI you can "double" order breakfast which is why it was all gone!)

 

I regret not "slowing down" on my wedding day. I was so worried about rain/hurricane that I just wanted the wedding to be over with so we could take photos because it looked like it would rain at any moment!

 

I enjoyed the coconut bar but a lot of people didn't enjoy the taste of the coconut (a little salty) so not a lot of people actually drank them. It was a great thing for people to see and remember but I'm not sure I would definitely do that again.

 

I must say though, that I was very pleased with so many aspects that I have many more "I would do again in a heart beat" over I wouldn't do, or wish I did...

 

The best advice I can give you is to relax, because you really are in good hands. Alex and Gabi really did everything that I could have ever hoped for and more. Have your vision ready when you do the meeting (on your arrival day), and when the meeting is finished really relax, they will blow your mind with their attention to detail.