Jamaica wedding blues

[BeachBrideBeth08]

So true, that this experience happens to so many of us. I too gave everyone a year notice, which I thought was fine (I couldn't wait 2 years lol).

 

I also got the same comments from people - "If only it were St. Lucia...". I really couldn't think of a ruder thing to hear from my FBIL, but then, other people complained that I had picked Jamaica and they weren't interested. Nice manners!

 

So, out of 150 invited (and really, I totally didn't expect that many, of course) we have 14 booked. My MOH has daily fights with her tool of a boyfriend so that has delayed her booking.

 

On the bright side, two couples are coming that I never thought would (and we are super pleased about that) and with just 6 weeks to go, my travel agent says that new people are 'inquiring' every week. So, until I am there, I will just wait to see what happens.

 

I'm so anti-big-wedding, I still couldn't imagine a better way to do the whole thing.

[WAJA2009]

I have also heard the "Oh if it was only Turks and Caicos" comments and its mainly from people who have never been to Jamaica, who "heard" negative things. Since the time of my original post in this thread, I have actually embraced the idea of a smaller wedding. I decided not to have a bridal party/groomsmen (a headache on its own), which has saved hundreds of dollars and I can splurge a little on other stuff like favors and upped the package with my photographer.

 

I invited 150, so far 15 are on board. Oh well.

 

Anyone having the Jamaican wedding blues, please know that this will pass and at the end of the day as long as the most important people are there, its all good!

[BeachBrideBeth08]

Good for you for not doing the bridal party! That's the one thing I would take back if I could. I'm sure it will be fine in the end and all, but it was a headache like you said.

 

And yeah, all the people I invited who complained had never been there but just heard bad things.

[sarah.cullen]

Quote:

Originally Posted by waliandayanna I have also heard the "Oh if it was only Turks and Caicos" comments and its mainly from people who have never been to Jamaica, who "heard" negative things. Since the time of my original post in this thread, I have actually embraced the idea of a smaller wedding. I decided not to have a bridal party/groomsmen (a headache on its own), which has saved hundreds of dollars and I can splurge a little on other stuff like favors and upped the package with my photographer. I invited 150, so far 15 are on board. Oh well. Anyone having the Jamaican wedding blues, please know that this will pass and at the end of the day as long as the most important people are there, its all good!

Hi Waliandayanna

Glad to hear another bride who is sticking to her guns and not letting anyone change her mind!
I had exactly the same trouble with my Dad, himself & his partner couldn't understand why we didn't want to get married a little closer to home (Cyprus) as they both love that place. As I have mentioned on another post, a close friend of mine married there about 3 years ago, they went for a week & the whole holiday, including the wedding set them back about £6-7K as they had to bring spending money, pay for the chapel, reception, flowers, photographer, etc etc etc!

Another big upset for me has been the fact my dad won't be there to give me away, his partner said 'Jamaica's not a place we want to visit' BUT they're well able to go on 2 cruises in the past 3 years, visit her son who lives in LA twice, and to cap it all off they went on holiday last May to Canada for almost 3 weeks, so please don't give me any of that c**p that Jamaica's not their scene. Also I happen to know her son who lives in LA, was married to a different girl (who my stepmum didn't like) and they flew off to Antigua to get married, but she refused to attend.

I probably seem to be a bit frustrated but am I going over the top slightly!?

Anyway, regardless of whoever's not going to be there, I intend to have a great wedding day & a marvellous holiday!!!!

Good luck with everything!!!

Sarah x x

[AnnaC]

I haven't sent out my invites yet but I'm pretty worried about this. I'm debating between having the wedding in July or November. More of my friends would be able to come in July since they're teachers and can't get time off during the school year. However, some of these friends are used to travelling cheap- going to whatever 2.5 star hotel is on sale last minute with crappy food and amenities and they're fine. I would hate to book everything for July and have them flake out. November gives everyone else a little more time to save, our baby would be a little bigger and we can plan it around a date that means more to us personally. I don't plan on having a wedding party and would be happy if the wedding was just us but this would greatly upset our parents.

[blckrevpower]

oh my! I've been going through the same thing, and we haven't even booked a location yet! I'm hearing we will be there and all this other stuff. My FI keeps telling me that its all about us, anyway.

[Jen2113]

I am going through the same thing and my Father in Law keeps inviting his friends when he's NOT paying for the wedding- I AM! I just keep saying, only 20 people are going and they're not invited. What is so difficult to understand about SMALL DESTINATION WEDDING w parents, siblings and OUR best friends? Seems self expainatory to me but I feel better hearing the same gripes from other people... I was starting to wonder if there was something wrong w me!

[Un-Bride]

Wow, just stumbled upon this thread and man, it reconfirms our decision to elope. I can't believe the nerve of some people to say "Oh, I wish it were somewhere else". It is your day and the bottom line is that it is about you and your partner. It's not important what color the napkins are, or who even attends (though I know certain people are important to all of us and we couldn't imagine a wedding without them) ... the point is you are making a committment to one another and the only person who matters is this person! I am so sorry that anyone would have to go through this when planning the most important day of your life. It sucks!

[Pandabride6]

OMG... I'm not even gonna go into the long end story of it all but I can definitely relate.

 

My former MOH (who I've known since kindergarten and is my god sister) got engaged a couple of months after me last year and decided to have her wedding a month b4 mine. "Wow", I thought. I would have the same response if my wedding was in the states too. But recently she tried talking me out of a DW by "nicely" suggesting to do a wedding here... at another time. my FI and his family flipped out over that. It was also because of that, our families became more open to having the DW. lol. End of that story, she's not MOH anymore and I could care less if she comes at this point but I told her she's more than welcome to show up for the AHR. No hard feelings, seriously. She feels bad though...not my issue.

 

Another BM said she may not be able to come because she's unemployed. Understandable. At least she asked if I had alternatives (like family that stays in JA that she could stay with). I appreciated that so I'm looking into that for her.

 

My other BM says she's going but because of the whole MOH situation, I'm not holding my breath. Thank goodness I know these things now.

[KristieF]

Well everyone else has already said the same thing I will - we've all been there! I know that doesn't make it any better for you, but maybe misery loves company I really wonder about people though, don't they realize how rude it is to make comments about the location you've chosen? I just had to share the best comment I received about my DW, I asked FI to contact one of his best friends to find out if he would be attending our DW in November. He calls me to back to say "he said November doesn't work that well for him, April would be better". Umm... WTF I bit my tongue because I knew regardless of when the wedding would be, this guy wouldn't be coming. Sure enough, he said money was the issue and then we find out through Facebook that he has booked a trip across the country to go to the wedding of one of his girlfriend's friends. I would have been so mad if I had changed my wedding plans to suit people and they still didn't end up coming - this was a perfect example of why I didn't listen to anyone! As others have said, all we can do is be happy about the people who are coming, and although maybe it's not ideal the less people there are, the more time we'll have to spend with them!