Post here if you are getting married in Jamaica

[KDoyle]

we are planning on giving mini alcohol bottles as favors but wanted to purchase them in the states and travel down. has anyone else done that? if so, do they tax you at the airport in jamaica for bringing alchohol? we're planning on bringing 100 mini bottles for favors, we may need to split them up between several guests.

I know at our resort you could arrange to have the mini bottles of Appleton Rum (the island fave) ordered for your guests ....if you are getting married at ROR then they gave every deluxe guest room of mine a free Mickey of it with a welcome letter when we arrived. It was a nice touch and souvenir for our guests.

[muneera0302]

Originally Posted by KDoyle 

 

 

I know at our resort you could arrange to have the mini bottles of Appleton Rum (the island fave) ordered for your guests ....if you are getting married at ROR then they gave every deluxe guest room of mine a free Mickey of it with a welcome letter when we arrived. It was a nice touch and souvenir for our guests.

thanks, we aren't at ROR but i'll check with our resort. if they don't offer that, i wonder if packing it from US will get us taxed at the airport in jamaica? :-O hopefully not too bad.

[Charlie112014]

Hello from South Africa, ladies!

We've just booked, it'll be our first visit to Jamaica.

--

Name: Charlie and Mike

Location: Hummingbird Hall in Rose Hall Montego Bay

Wedding: 1 January,2014

Photographer: Undecided, but likely from SA

In Jamaica: 23 Dec to 8 Jan 2014

Dress: Ellie Saab

Theme: Tropical Christmas

 

This forum seems to be an amazing resource, we're looking forward to getting to know you all!
 

[SWOK]

Originally Posted by muneera0302 

 

we are planning on giving mini alcohol bottles as favors but wanted to purchase them in the states and travel down. has anyone else done that? if so, do they tax you at the airport in jamaica for bringing alchohol? we're planning on bringing 100 mini bottles for favors, we may need to split them up between several guests.

are we going to have any overlap at the resort?! im traveling nov 29 -dec 8th??! how exciting

[SWOK]

Originally Posted by LisaJoy 

 

SWOK -

 

Pictures - I'll send you some pics once I get them back from WPA Jamaica.  I do have some if you click on my name, not many though. I have an album on my Facebook.

 

Restaurant - My fave restaurant was Bordeaux (French.)  It was classy, great food and romantic atmosphere.  Himitsu is the Japanese (Pan-Asian) restaurant.  Similar to Benihanas.  This place is booked every night at the grill area so you have to make a reservation a couple nights in advance.  Otherwise you can dine at private tables no problem. We did both but I LOVED the food from the grill.  You got a variety where at the private dining you had to order an entrée which offered one type of meat. The Buffet breakfast offered each morning in the World Café....YUMMY!!! The World Café offers special nights for instance:  Lobster Night.  Watch for those nights on the daily bulletin in the rooms and take advantage!  We loved the two nights we went.

 

Entertainment  - was a hit and miss for us.  Other than the singers/bands they have come on the resort, the Secrets team does the same show over and over again. Basically its a couples game or competition. If you don't mind sharing personal information about your sex life or don't mind being embarrassed in front of a crowd, then opt to be a couple in the show.  If not, sit back and laugh at the contestants. You win a bottle of Tequila.  One night they had men line up. The wife was blindfolded and had to touch each shirtless man's chest, and butt, to see if you could pick out her hubby. Neither wife picked her man.  Oops!!  I could see this create fights with insecure couples so beware.  We did laugh a lot though!!   Sunday nights at 7pm in the open area by the Piano Bar features a single artist, SHYAM MOSES!!! Oh my, his voice is smooth and sings romantic songs.  My husband and I danced even though we were the only ones out there. We didn't care! Other couples will join in then sit down after the song. We danced to almost all his songs. So romantic!!  He offers CDs for $20 after his show.  Listening to one as I type!   We never checked out Desires Night Club.  Is not our thing but I'm sure would have been fun had we gone. If you enjoy sitting around listening to people sing karaoke or just lively ppl, hang out at or in the outside seating of the Piano Lounge. It always seemed lively.

 

Excursions - You can purchase excursions onsite.  In fact, I recommend buying once you are there.  We booked one prior to leaving the US.  That excursion was disorganized and chaotic. The company through Secrets was far better and way more organized!!  We did two combos.  1)  Dunns Falls and Ultimate Swim with the Dolphin.  Both were so cool!! I would recommend it even thought I read how touristy Dunns Falls was.  It really was not that bad. The vendors you walk through at the end are SO RUDE and PUSHY!!! Beware. 2)  Mystic Mountain which included the Sky Ride, Bobsled and Zip Line.  The bobsled was the best!!! Zip Line was cool but you go from tree to tree in short distances.  I expected a longer zip line but still glad we did it. Both excursions were around $200+.  **If you want to purchase local items, do it while on the excursions!!  Items are expensive at the resort and they do not negotiate.  Secrets has a vendor night on Wed so you can buy limited things, no clothing.**

 

Water Sports - They offer Kayaks, Hobies ($10 with a captain on board, free if you can sail.)  I know you can snorkel but we bought one while there. Cost us $40-50 so bring your own snorkel. We had fun in the WO Preferred Club beach snorkeling against the rocks.

 

Beaches - Speaking of beaches.  WO offers a private beach which is quiet and peaceful.  Only Preferred Club members are supposed to be in that area.  SJ is more a party area, lots of people and where all the water sports are. When hanging with family, we were in the SJ areas - pools and beaches. Once they left and just us, we stayed in the WO section and thoroughly enjoyed the alone time. We honestly barely used our swim out room however the option was nice plus offered more sunlight in the room without having a balcony.  When you walk outside your door on the ground floor, 90% of the restaurants are right there!! 

 

Spa  - We went to the spa for massages and to enjoy the hydrotherapy circuit pool twice.  Loved it. I did pay for my hair and makeup and ended up redoing it all (in a hurry) right before my wedding. I didn't like it and the lady didn't even have an eyelash curler!  That is crazy!! I thought the way she did my makeup would hold up better in that environment than my own. My own makeup (mineral powder) would have done just fine.  I did stuff a handkerchief in my bosom for during the wedding for sweat.  A must have!! I'd save the money and do your own since you have 60 ppl going. Somebody in your group has to have some talent. LOL!  My SIS did mine after my spa appt.  Just make sure your makeup is darker for professional pics.

 

Casita - The beach casita sits right off the walking path off a popular SJ pool.  You will have people watching you more so than you would in the gazebo however the gazebo cannot hold 60 ppl.  Have you thought about a beach wedding?  That was my first choice but Lisa Marie (WC) said it was not that private.  After seeing it, it would have worked out fine since not many ppl sit in that area anyway. It would offer more privacy than the casita in my opinion only because its up against rocks and open beach.  The casita is about 50 feet from the main walkway. Ours was only 8 ppl so the gazebo was perfect.  If I had more, the beach wedding would have been perfect but then you have to decorate the area = more $$.  Check out AlexisinJamaica's page (she's commented on several Jamaica posts.)  She did a beach wedding at Secrets and was AWESOME!!! But she put a lot of money into it.  Not sure your budget.

 

Tips - Literally now talking about actual tips, money tips.  Take lots of $1.00s for tips. You'll find many of the employees deserve the tips.  We took 50 $1.00s and ran out during our 10 day stay. Not many places can give you change so come prepared.  The wedding team truly did take care of everything once we arrived there.  They forgot our tiki torches but was not their fault. It rained for 2 hours solid right up to our start time so they put us in the ballroom then back out at the gazebo last minute. I would recommend to review your hotel bill prior to checking out!!! I did find some minor errors that took a while to fix. You can charge to your room when you purchase things in the boutique or spa.  We had to pay with a cc for the excursions and the vendor night required cash. Internet access does not work in the SWO rooms but when you take your phone into the lobby area, works like a charm!! They also offer two computers for your use. If you take a camera, lock up your battery charger!! I know sounds stupid but many ppl take cameras and forget their charger. Ours was stolen from our room the last full day there so I am guessing another customer forgot theirs and gave our room attendant money if she came across one.  Its the only thing that could have happened. We locked up all our valuables. I would suggest doing so. People are nice there but no one is perfect. 

 

Candlelight Private Dinner - I would take advantage of the Candlelight Private Dinner at the 5:45pm or 6:00pm time slot.  Yes, it gets dark shortly after you start but you do see the sunset and everyone has left the beach area for dinner so you truly have a PRIVATE dinner. If you choose an earlier time slot, people are in your bubble.  LOL It ended up being free for us but we were willing, and expecting, to pay the $390.  It was worth it.

 

Hope that helps!! Let me know if you have any other questions. 

I don't know how to thank you enough for your amazing response! you are awesome!!!

i totally stalked ur pix on FB and the wedding looked gorg!! congrats again, i hope ur enjoying married life! i cannot wait to get down there!

right now, from ur suggestions im trying to decide on having the ceremony on the beach and the reception on the casista or just doing both on the casista. i know you said all the weddings u saw while there were in the gazebo but i will have too many people (i have a very large italian family who are all deciding to join in the fun lol). but i didnt want to have to purchase a chuppa and all that stuff. hmmmm decisions....

how did you get the candlelight dinner. i know u mentionsed something about a honey moon package as well as the wedding package. what was the diff? was it length of stay? how can i get both? bc technically it will be our honeymoon too! lol

did you see anyone doing the bonfire??

[LisaJoy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SWOK 

I don't know how to thank you enough for your amazing response! you are awesome!!!

i totally stalked ur pix on FB and the wedding looked gorg!! congrats again, i hope ur enjoying married life! i cannot wait to get down there!

right now, from ur suggestions im trying to decide on having the ceremony on the beach and the reception on the casista or just doing both on the casista. i know you said all the weddings u saw while there were in the gazebo but i will have too many people (i have a very large italian family who are all deciding to join in the fun lol). but i didnt want to have to purchase a chuppa and all that stuff. hmmmm decisions....

how did you get the candlelight dinner. i know u mentionsed something about a honey moon package as well as the wedding package. what was the diff? was it length of stay? how can i get both? bc technically it will be our honeymoon too! lol

did you see anyone doing the bonfire??

 

 

LOL...you stalker, you! Just kidding. I'm glad you were able to get an idea. I'm still waiting to get my professional photos back from WPA Jamaica. I'll post thoses on FB the second I receive them. lol We loved our simple wedding and are thoroughly enjoying married life! I can imagine your excitement as December is not that far off. Time will fly by, as I'm sure it already is.

 

That is really cool a lot of family and friends are going to be present. You could always do a beach wedding and reception. It really is more private. Hmmm, I wonder if I took a photo of the casita area so you can see it. Whatever you decide to do, people tend to go inside to shower and head to dinner around sunset. The cute little bathrooms are right in the area of the Casita so makes it convenient for you and guests. No worries, the bathrooms are not an issue or an eye sore.

 

Yes, you will technically be on your honeymoon as well but they base it off how many days you are staying AFTER your wedding. For instance, we stayed a total of 10 days. Arrived Friday morning, married Monday and left the following Monday. Because we stayed 7 days after our wedding, we apparently qualified for the Honeymoon pkg. Now please know, I asked about getting both prior to arriving at Secrets. They told me no, you cannot combine two packages. So not sure why the change of heart? May it been a way to "give back" or maybe they overlooked that we indeed did qualify. Either way, we were happy!

[LisaJoy]

@SWOK - forgot to answer the bonfire. Did not see a wedding party do a bonfire though I believe Alexisinjamaica had one. May want to check with her. The Secrets team planned a bonfire for the resort and cancelled it last minute because it was drizzling. Barely drizzling....and I would have still sat my butt there. Lol Oh well. For only having an hour, I didn't feel the $500(?) was worth it for the bonfire but then again, you have a big group of people where I did not.

[muneera0302]

Originally Posted by SWOK 

 

are we going to have any overlap at the resort?! im traveling nov 29 -dec 8th??! how exciting

no chica we wont', our wedding date is dec 20. but how exciting! i'm so looking forward to visiting secrets again.

[pzl101]

Originally Posted by muneera0302 

 

I'm getting married at secrets as well. I'm gEtting my guests bags and wanted to put some logo or saying on there (maybe not our name because I want them to be able to reuse the bags after the trip) . Any suggestions? I've checked out other threads but haven't found anything, wondering if any of you jamaica brides have any ideas.

I've read posts where girls uploaded a pic/logo and printed them on Vistaprint canvas bags. There are tons of groupons for vistaprint and they are always having sales.

[pzl101]

Originally Posted by muneera0302 

 

thanks, we aren't at ROR but i'll check with our resort. if they don't offer that, i wonder if packing it from US will get us taxed at the airport in jamaica? :-O hopefully not too bad.

did you check with secrets if they do it? i would imagine appleton would deliver anywhere on the island. i want to give bottles at as a favor too ...