Elisha's May 8th ROR Wedding Review/Pics!!

[foundmyprince0907]

I had read someone else's review and I really liked the format so I stole it - I hope that's okay!!! Here goes my review:

 

 

Flight

We took US Airways from Phoenix to Charlotte and Charlotte, NC to Montego Bay. I did not check my dress because I felt it would fare better with me holding it but I think it would have done much better if I would have had an extra suitcase and checked it. There was no extra space so I could hang it and it got crammed in the overhead compartments. My husband tried to make it so that people didn't shove their bags on top of my dress but by the time we made it to the resort the dress was crumpled. And the ROR does not have a dry cleaners/laundry facility on-site. You literally have to take a cab into town to get it pressed. And that's scary. Luckily, the irons they have in the rooms are really good irons with steamers and that helped some but still there were wrinkles. Since I got my dress at David's Bridal the fabric was like polyester and I was able to iron it a little bit. So it looked fine the day of the wedding but I would recommend packing it in it's own sturdy suitcase. Other than that the flight was as expected, on-time and everything. No complaints there to or from Phoenix, AZ. We had 1 layover and the total flying time was 6 hours and our lay over was only an hour an a half so that wasn't bad.

 

Jamaica

Customs went great for us. There was no one in line! It took us about 10 minutes to get through everything. From what I heard we were lucky. It was the easiest part of the trip - no problems mon. Once we got to our bus, that's where the craziness started. Our driver was really nice but OMG! The way they drive there is CRAZY!!! First of all - our driver was a bit tipsy. He kept drinking out of a whiskey bottle he kept in his shirt pocket. He even made jokes about it!! Then when he was weaving in and out of traffic he was on his cell phone the whole time. I couldn't watch. We had one too many close calls and all the passengers were freaked out. I buried my head in my husband's lap and just told him I couldn't watch. When we got closer to the hotel we saw some crazy things like a guy walking down the street with no shirt on and a huge sword in his hand. That was scary. I will say the drive back was great - MUCH better driver. So I think it's just random if you will have a good bus ride or not. But it did take about 2 hours. The time went by fast though. Luckily.

 

Check in

Check in was GREAT! We got there around noon and check in wasn't until 3 so we just left our bags in the lobby and went and fell asleep on the beach. We woke up and had some jerk chicken - which is the BEST - and then sat in the lobby for a little while enjoying the breeze and fresh air. Before we knew it, it was time to go to our rooms. They took us right to our room. We had a regular room at first and the day before our wedding they upgraded us to a suite for the rest of our time there (5 more days). Both rooms were amazing! We had no problems with keys or anything. We took $100 in 1's and tipped everyone 1 or 2 dollars. They really appreciated it. We didn't use the in-room safe because after reading Trip Advisor reviews it seems they can get into that safe so I bought locks for our luggage before we left and anytime we left the room we locked everything up in our suitcases. Nothing was stolen but I heard things from other people that they had things stolen. We left a tip for our maid everyday and she always made us pretty towel art with flowers on our bed. 1 day I forgot the tip and she didn't make any towel art LOL!

 

Hotel

The hotel is awesome! So beautiful!!! Like I said before - if you tip afterward any good service they appreciate it. We always tipped our waiters and bartenders and maids. I couldn't believe the number of people that did not tip. I felt bad for the people that worked there that they were so accommodating and nice and helpful and people would just get up from their table and leave - no tip or anything. They really appreciate the tip. There are a few that work there that are sore thumbs - they don't like you and you can tell. There was one waiter we got a few times and we called him Mr. Personality as a joke because he never had an expression on his face and he wouldn't talk to you. We still tipped him a dollar just because - but we shouldn't have. We didn't have a problem with any vendors on the beach. We loved Dr. Feelgood! He was so funny!!! My husband talked to him everyday on the beach and he is hilarious!!! He is always trying to sell you something but we liked watching him talk to people and sing - LOL!!!! We met a vendor named Cheap Charlie that was really cool too! We bought a bunch of nice necklaces from him. He's on the beach as well. Of course he always wants to make sure you're getting all your "chemical" needs met as well but my husband and I were always respectful to everyone and that's a big deal to that culture - respect. They left us alone for the most part so long as we told them - no mon it's all good. We have everything we need. Then they might talk to you a little or walk away. There were some topless ladies on the beach that didn't bother me or my husband any (obviously). Some people were offended by it that weren't with us. One grandma cursed out one of the topless ladies on the beach LOL!!! Oh hilarious.

 

Restaurants

BLAH!!! I hated all the food. The first 2 days it was cool but OMG by the time it was time to go home if I had to eat anymore of that food I would have lost it. There was a good selection and I will tell you this - if you want the freshest, best food - go right when the buffet opens. I mean right when it opens! Otherwise, if you go an hour or so later I don't know what happens but the cooks start to rush and all the food comes out tough, hard, dry, unappealing, ugh. It sits under the hot lights for too long - BLECK! We ate at one of the restaurants only on our last night and the food was good but it didn't taste too much different than the buffets. I could deal with it - no biggie. It wasn't serious - I can eat a styrofoam cup and be happy but I just thought everyone should know the food isn't that great and gourmet. It's fine though. I was glad to get home and eat real food though LOL!!! And I don't know what's up with the reservation system. We never got up at 7 AM and waited in line even though 99% of people did. We would just go down around 9 or 10 and someone was sitting there. No line or anything. The lady would tell us there were no more reservations, we'd give her $5 and she would make room for us. It was that easy. There was a couple that was in front of us that tried to make resevations that late and the lady said "no more reservations" and they were bummed and walked away. I guess they didn't know you just had to tip her.

 

Entertainment

BEST THING EVER!!!!!!! Those people are awesome!! I think they live there. Not only do they provide entertainment all, day, long - but they also do an awesome job at night! I was on the stage several times LOL!!!! The entertainment people are awesome and I hope if anything they earn a good living doing what they do. Very personable, funny, great group of people. Great music, everything's great!

 

Tours

We did the Cool Runnings tour with snorkeling and Dunn's River falls and that was awesome. We only went on 1 excursion because we had just as much fun on the beach at the resort. My parents did the shopping excursion and they will never do that again. They were literally harrassed by all the vendors and my mom had to run back to the bus. She said it was horrible. We didn't do that so I can't attest to that. We did all our shopping on the resort. About 3 times while we were there they let vendors come in and set up a market in the lobby. It was cool because they had rules they had to adhere by so they couldn't harass you. We also bought from Cheap Charlie and Dr Feelgood - they were cool.

 

 

Wedding

Wedding was AWESOME!!!!!! Setting up the meeting with Chandlyn was so easy. She was so accommodating. I had the basic free package. I only upgraded my flowers and for my bouquet, 2 corsages, and 2 boutonnieres it only came to $183. I thought that was a great price! The wedding ceremony site is so beautiful as it is I didn't think I wanted any extra flowers or anything. To me, less is more and there is beauty in simplicity. All a matter of preference though. The pictures were FABULOUS!!!! We used Brian Nejedly and ladies I would reccommend him over and over and over again. He became more of a friend and stayed and hung out with us in the lobby drinking, telling us about his life there (he's american) and all the cool places to go see. Wonderful photographer, and very reasonable price. I didn't have any problem getting the day pass for him and no one from the Photoshop bothered me even once. The flowers were supposed to arrive the morning of our wedding. The wedding was at 2 PM and the flowers didn't show up until 1 PM. But I had complete confidence in Chandlyn. I wasn't worried about it at all. I called her and checked on the flowers and she said "no worries - I promise the flowers will be here." And I was fine with that. And the flowers came. The wedding coordinator Nikki came and got me and walked me down. My dad was waiting for me. I had burned a CD of songs that I wanted played but stupid me didn't make sure the songs had burned okay and when I was at the top of the stairs Nikki said to me "Um your CD doesn't work" OMG!!! I told her just to play anything I didn't care and they had back up music down there and waiting. They played recorded music steel drum band Cannon in D (which was perfect) and some other music during the sand ceremony and at the end. It was PERFECT. They are so good at what they do. I didn't even care about the CD - it turned out great with the music they had anyways. The wedding and pics were done by 4:00 and the reception wasn't until 6:30 so we just went back to our rooms to relax and met up again at the restaurant. The reception dinner was nice. We had the whole restaurant to ourselves with the exception of 1 other wedding (I believe one of the other BDW brides *smile*) but we couldn't see them from where we were at. All in all the day was simple and perfect just like I like it.

 

 

What else

 

Oh YEA!!! Don't trust the forecast AT ALL!!!! I was a nervous wreck before I left checking the forecast and it said rain the whole time. guess what? It only rained once the whole week we were there for like 10 minutes and it was over. The Jamaicans said they can't predict their weather and almost everyday, we would be surrounded by clouds in the hills but the beach would be blue skies and sunny. Like it only rains in certain spots but never rained on the beach LOL!!! It was forcasted thunderstorms on my wedding day and as you can see from the pics - blue skies - a few clouds. It was a bit breezy but that made for some cool pictures!

 

Oh and - just a little something special - I found out I was pregnant the day after I got home from our wedding LOL!!!!!! YAY!!!!! Our first baby!!!!! Not expecting it at all! And I got a little too much sun and drank some but doctor says everything is fine - thank God. Life is good! YA MON!!!!!

 

For all my pictures go to Photography by Brian Nejedly - Ocho Rios, Jamaica - Weddings, Villas, Surfing, Reggae - then go to Private Galleries and the password is: davis

 

Hope you all enjoy the pictures and good luck on your weddings!!!

[m_willis22]

congrats on your wedding and the baby. your pics are absolutely beautiful.

[tdmitchell]

Your pictures are beautiful! You looked gorgeous, simple, and elegant! I like the way they decorated the gazebo! Congrats on becoming the Mrs. and the baby! Wishing you and your new family the best!

[drbrainfreeze]

Congrats on the wedding and the baby!! I saw you walking around with Brian on Friday. You looked beautiful!! I don't think it was us though at your wedding reception...we were at Plantation for our rehearsal dinner.

 

I agree with you on Brian. Best decision ever!! I actually think I watched your wedding too.

[ukbride]

Congradulations on your wedding and baby.

 

Thanks for the great review and sharing your pictures.

[KHarrod]

Congrats on the marriage and baby. Thanks for sharing your review and pics.

[meliss238]

Wow, amazing pictures, thank you so much for sharing!! Congrats on the wedding and the baby, what an exciting few weeks!

[latricej919]

Everything looks gorgeous. Thanks for the review. Congrats on your marriage and upcoming bundle of joy!

[Carolyn]

Congrats on becoming the Mrs and a Mommy. You looked great in your dress.

[marny61]

Your pictures are beautiful and you looked like you were having such a wonderful time. Congratulations!