Iberostar Rose Hall Brides - Post all info/questions here!

[starrysim]

 

 

Originally Posted by kate7711 

 

Hello all past/future brides!! I am planning on wedding at IRHS on May 18, 2013 and have TONS of questions for you past brides.. First off, congratulations on what must have been a beautiful and amazing wedding in Jamaica! I guess i will just ask the questions i have on my mind right now, and just post more as i think of them.. Everyone and anyone, please respond because I sure could use the help!!

1. How many months before your wedding did you send save the dates?

2. How many months before your wedding did you send invitations?

3. Did you use a travel agent? If so, I know most require a deposit to "hold" the rooms, did you pay this deposit yourself, then just got refunded the money once people paid?

4. Did you provide travel agent contact information on your save-the dates or invites (did you include their business cards??)

5. When did you find out how many people were REALLY coming. (I feel like most people are saying "yes were coming!" but im not sure if they are REALLY coming, or just trying to be polite). When did you get a final headcount.. and how did you budget your wedding without this headcount???

 

Thanks brides!!

 

-Kate  

 

 

1.  We sent STD magents (ordered from VistaPrint) 11 months before.  I would recommend sending them a year in advance if you can.

2.  We sent invitations 3 months before, but that's just a formality.  I did put in RSVP cards pointing them to our website or phone number.  Only about half the people actually RSVP'd.  Things tend to be very untraditional with destinations weddings, people don't take them as seriously I guess.

3.  Used our family travel agent, which means some things were a little unconventional, and she did pull strings for us.  She arranged to have our quote valid for a month or two, to allow people to put their deposit down whenever they wanted (it's IMPOSSIBLE to get the whole group together at one time).  She also held spaces without deposit.  Also, when the prices dropped, she arranged to have our rates lowered.  I don't think much of this happens usually

4.  We sent STD's very early, so there was no travel info yet.  We put that into on our wedding website and our facebook group.  We sent invitations later, so there was no need to include travel info again, just the URL of the website.

5.  One month to go, we still don't know who's coming for sure.  We know how many are booked, but others are still waiting for last minute deals, so we don't know for sure.  Also, many people have been saying for years that they will go for sure, and when the time comes they're not going after all.  We didn't even know who was in our wedding party until about 2-3 months before the wedding.  I was expecting this, so I didn't count on anyone until they actually booked.  We didn't really need the final numbers because we're not doing OOT bags or anything, but I can see it getting very frustrating if you're trying to plan things and do a lot of extra stuff.  For favours, we just ordered ~15-20 extras, just so we don't run out for sure.

 

Good luck with your planning!

 

Originally Posted by luvmoo 

 

Hey Ladies!!!! 

For those that have already sent your Notarized documents to the resort... It says in all of the docs to send the notarized papers via Purolator, UPS, DHL etc... has anyone sent them via express post rather than the couriers?? Only reason i am asking.. is i was just quoted from the courier companies.. between 61.00 and 87.00 to mail 4 pieces of paper!!!!!!!!!!! i went to 4 of them.. and the cheapest was Purolator, at 61.00.. I just find that is sooo expensive.. for 4 pieces of paper.. so i was thinking of just sending them via Canada post, express post.. that way they are still tracked.. but will be so much cheaper.... 

 

Thoughts, advise or stories on what you other ladies did??

 

 

Wow, that's crazy!  I'm actually mailing our documents tomorrow.  I was planning on using Canada Post, some method that's quick and with tracking.  I don't see an issue.  I had no idea the couriers were so expensive, the reason I was going to go with CP is because it's more convenient for me.

 

 

[starrysim]

We're renting the disco - I'm wondering if anyone is doing anything to decorate it.  Something simple, but nice.  Any ideas?

[Islandgirl910]

How long did it take past brides to receive their marriage certificate from Nicole/Tiffany after your wedding? I obviously can't change my name yet here in the States until I do but I am anxiously waiting and hoping it will arrive soon!

[ashaun]

Hello ladies!!! I'm back and exhausted but I must say we had an amazing time at the Suites (I got married 10/8)!!! I totally underestimated my time management skills but all in all everything went well. I'll try to get around to posting a review and some pics later this week. We stayed at Secrets Wild Orchid for our short honeymoon and I wish we had stayed at Iberostar but...lesson learned! Congrats ~R!!! I know you are honeymooning but I saw your husband at the spa and asked him to apologize for me. I really wanted to make it over to meet you but once we got there Thursday things were CRAZY!!! I know your wedding was wonderful and I can't wait to read your review!

[futuremrstgun]

no decorations are really needed..its a beautiful space..with an incredibly steep staircase...

 

you'll be very happy with the space.  we had alot of fun in the disco!!!

 

R~

Originally Posted by starrysim 

We're renting the disco - I'm wondering if anyone is doing anything to decorate it.  Something simple, but nice.  Any ideas?

 

[futuremrstgun]

awww..love, i was looking for you the whole time...the "hubster" didn't mention meeting anyone but i'll have to ask him...i've been talking and meeting all kinds of people so he probably just thought..oh, here we go....R~ has met someone else...  lol!!!

 

we had to move our wedding inside as the weather wasn't all that great on saturday and i was afraid of rain..but i'm happy with everything.  time management was an issue for me too..i was SUPER late getting down the aisle but all in all, i'm very pleased with how everything turned out.

 

i hope your big day was everything you'd hoped for.  we had a blast and we're still here. the grand is simply marvelous..my husband and i will be returning year after year after year..its just that beautiful and the staff is super accommodating and hospitable...oh my!

 

here's a few sneak peak pics (iphone pics) for those wondering about an indoor wedding, etc...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally Posted by ashaun 

Hello ladies!!! I'm back and exhausted but I must say we had an amazing time at the Suites (I got married 10/!!! I totally underestimated my time management skills but all in all everything went well. I'll try to get around to posting a review and some pics later this week.
We stayed at Secrets Wild Orchid for our short honeymoon and I wish we had stayed at Iberostar but...lesson learned!
Congrats ~R!!! I know you are honeymooning but I saw your husband at the spa and asked him to apologize for me. I really wanted to make it over to meet you but once we got there Thursday things were CRAZY!!! I know your wedding was wonderful and I can't wait to read your review!

well, that's it from here...i'm off to breakfast!!!

 

until next time, happy planning!!!

 

ps...i ended up using marcia roberts as my photographer and hope to post professional pics soon...she's SUPER professional and alot of fun...so for those of you thinking about using here...go for it..i promise, you won't be disappointed!!!

[Nikadawn]

Holy smokes that's ridiculous! My only question with express post is can you still track it once it's out of the country? Do they hand it over to the local postal system once it lands in Jamaica? And if so how reliable is the mail there?

 

Originally Posted by luvmoo 

Hey Ladies!!!! 

For those that have already sent your Notarized documents to the resort... It says in all of the docs to send the notarized papers via Purolator, UPS, DHL etc... has anyone sent them via express post rather than the couriers?? Only reason i am asking.. is i was just quoted from the courier companies.. between 61.00 and 87.00 to mail 4 pieces of paper!!!!!!!!!!! i went to 4 of them.. and the cheapest was Purolator, at 61.00.. I just find that is sooo expensive.. for 4 pieces of paper.. so i was thinking of just sending them via Canada post, express post.. that way they are still tracked.. but will be so much cheaper.... 

 

Thoughts, advise or stories on what you other ladies did??

 

 

[wendyjd]

Mrs Gun, just saw a couple pics on Marcia's FB page... look great!!!!

[starrysim]

 

Originally Posted by futuremrstgun 

no decorations are really needed..its a beautiful space..with an incredibly steep staircase...

 

you'll be very happy with the space.  we had alot of fun in the disco!!!

 

R~

 

That's great to hear!  I remember seeing someone's pics, and it didn't look very nice, but I could be remembering wrong, or maybe it was the lighting...

 

 

Originally Posted by luvmoo 

Hey Ladies!!!! 

For those that have already sent your Notarized documents to the resort... It says in all of the docs to send the notarized papers via Purolator, UPS, DHL etc... has anyone sent them via express post rather than the couriers?? Only reason i am asking.. is i was just quoted from the courier companies.. between 61.00 and 87.00 to mail 4 pieces of paper!!!!!!!!!!! i went to 4 of them.. and the cheapest was Purolator, at 61.00.. I just find that is sooo expensive.. for 4 pieces of paper.. so i was thinking of just sending them via Canada post, express post.. that way they are still tracked.. but will be so much cheaper.... 

 

Thoughts, advise or stories on what you other ladies did??

 

Ok, I sent mine today.  From Canada Post's website, it doesn't look like they offer Expresspost to Jamaica, just regular mail (with registered option for $13), and the Priority Int'l Pack, which is like $130.  So I went with Purolator, it cost $50+tax and it's 2 days.  Doesn't sound too bad.  I may have gone with CP's regular registered mail, but I'm late and had to get it there ASAP. 

 

[taylorabby225]

Hi there!

 

I came across your blog and was wondering how your wedding went?? We are considering the same destination..

 

 

Any feedback would be helpful!

 

Thanks

Taylor