Sandals Whitehouse Wedding Review

[BakersGirl]

We were married at Sandals Whitehouse on May 2, 2010.

 

The ride to the resort was really fun. You read so many bad reviews on Trip Advisor, but it wasn't that bad. Now...keep in mind that we had just met up with friends and that didn't hurt anything. We were able to stop 1/2 way and use the restroom and get some jerk food. The BEST food all trip, it was out of this world.

 

Our room was great. It was smaller that I had pictured, but was more than big enough. We were in Concierge room 1224 in the Italian Village. The only thing we were upset about was we wanted a 4th floor room, but were told this 2nd floor corner room was an upgrade. My parents were on the 4th floor and their view was amazing. I think they booked a category beneath us. We had 8 guests travel with us. It was a small group.

 

Dinner did prove to be a challenge. We had the Concierge group make all of our reservations for us. The first evening we were split into groups of 6 and 4. The second evening we ate at Giuseppe's and were seated at a table for 10. The night of the wedding they were also able to accomodate us as a whole at Elenors. We were seated at a table for 8, but they squeezed 2 more seats in. It was tight, but at least we were all together. The last night that everyone was there together we were off resort for dinner.

 

The Boys had a fishing trip planned for the morning of the wedding that was cancelled because the boat was broken down. That was a big disappointment, but we received a full refund about a week after it was scheduled.

 

We had Rashida as our Jamaican Wedding Coordinator and John as our Photog.

 

We had the Beautiful Beginnings wedding and did not purchase any additional upgrades for the wedding or reception. I did take my own flowers for us and our attendants. A choice I do not regret. My flowers were beautiful and had a blue starfish accent from the Starfish Passing Thread.

 

Our wedding was at 3pm in the Concierge Gazebo. I went to Red Lane Spa at 12:30 to have my hair done. They did a fabulous job and used the hair flowers that I had also taken with me. Michael got ready in our room and then moved on to his brothers room and the concierge suite/lounge while I was getting ready. The wedding started on time, or maybe even a few minutes early. It was VERY windy at ceremony time. They had Michael and I trade places and then the wind worked with us. It blew my dress out and made beautiful pictures. I had emailed Sage the ceremony wording that I wanted to use as I wasn't crazy about the wording Sandals used.

 

After the ceremony we all moved down to the beach for pictures. Magically while we did that they set up our cocktail reception in the Gazebo. They move fast...I didn't even see them do this. We had some bubbly and appetizers with our guests, cut the cake, and called it a day! It was absolutley perfect!!!!! We had also booked a private sunset cruise that was cancelled because of the weather. Since it was cancelled they were able to move up our dinner reservation and get us all at the same table.

 

We did not purchase a picture package. We went the a la carte route and purchased the images direct on a CD that we have now printed at home. It was $20 per image. We purched 18 of the photos that the Sandals Photog took. He did a great job, but so did all of our friends. I could have purchaed more from him, but couldn't justify the additional cost since some of our friends pictures were almost as good. LOL. I am cheap that way.

 

The only thing I am disappointed in was that they didn't do anything special in our room that night. No flowers on the bed...no bottle of bubby (yes I know there was a bottle in the fridge).....nothing. I know I didn't pay extra for any of that but really expected some type of wedding night acknowledgement.

 

Overall it was a FABULOUS trip and the wedding was a dream come true. We did the Negril and Appleton tours. If anyone has any questions please let me know! Good Luck ladies. I hope your weddings are as magical as ours!!! I just can't stop smiling!

[Girasole]

Congrats Kelly & Michael!!

[Josie1073]

Congrats Kelly! Welcome home! It sounds like you had a wonderful trip. I am doing exactly as you...BB with no upgrades, bringing my own flowers, at 3PM, but in Negril, and we are only bringing 2 people, so we will be one of the restaurants for dinner after the ceremony.

 

Question - did you purchase the a la carte pictures beforehand, or did you just set it up when you got down there?

 

Oh, and 2 days after the wedding, we are transferring to the Whitehouse for our honeymoon week. What did you think of the restaurants? Any good tours?

[AishaB]

Congratulations!

[mrs*j*2011]

congratulations!! thanks for doing this review - there aren't too many Sandals reviews on here.

 

random thought/question - did you wear your wedding dress to dinner or did you change? I've decided not to pay for a reception as we will only be having 10 guests so we'll be dining at one of the restaurants. initially, I figured I'd want to wear my dress for as long as possible but now I'm thinking it might look strange? or who cares because it's my wedding day??

 

how long did you have with the photographer? I'm leaning more towards doing a la carte because I can't justify the insane package prices. A few of our guests have volunteered to take pictures but I think we'll still probably want some professional ones too.

[Pinky]

Congrats! It sounds like your day was absolutely amazing.

[BakersGirl]

Josie & Mrs J - We purchased the individual pictures after we reviewed them the day after the wedding. We didn't commit to anything more than the free 5x7 until that point. We almost did a photo package, but decided to go the a la carte route and I am glad we did. We had plenty of time with the photog. John dd our pics. I really think he did a great job. From the beginning of the wedding-pictures-toast/cake cutting was about an hour. I know it sounds like so little time, but it didn't feel rushed in the least bit. It was great! Memories that will last a lifetime!

 

Josie - Restaurant Reviews as follows:

Jasmines - Asian - Just ok?? Some ppl in our group loved their food and some hated it. I would say it was just ok... We only went once and were there 8 nights.

Giusippes - Italian - Pizza at lunch is GREAT. They will make any combo you ask for.

Dinner was ok. Some good and some just ok. We ate there twice for both lunch and dinner.

Eleanor's - Was great. All food we had there was really good. We ate there 3 times Service was excellent. The Restaurant Manager Earl was so nice. Really made dining there a pleasure. He came over each meal and spent a few minutes talking to us. We had dinner there the night of the wedding, our wedding dinner just the two of us one night for our "wedding dinner," and then ate there our last evening there. We also ate breakfast there one morning. Breakfast was good, but a bit slower pace than we wanted.

Neptunes - Ate there for lunch. Got there right at noon when they opened and service was painfully slow, but the view was great and the food was good when it arrived. Dinner was a seafood buffet night. It was just ok...Fish was over cooked for my taste. But other guests traveling with us loved it. A warning about Neptunes - If you get afternoon rain then evenings in there are a mosquito fest!!! Wear lots of bug spray. It hadn't rained the night we went there and it wasn't too bad.

We never made it to Bluefields for lunch, but heard it was ok. Nothing great. There is a guy on the beach most afternoons serving jerk pork and chicken. It was pretty good. He sets up right outside of the Italian pool. The Italian pool is where we spent all of our time. At night the Dutch pool is super private. Never made it in the French pool.

 

We went the Negril Tour and then to Appleton another day. We had a blast the day of Negril. We went with 6 of our 8 guests. Bailey was our driver and he was wonderful. He took us to a local restaurant for dinner on the way back and the food was great. This trip stopped at Sandals Negril (we only spent a few minutes there) Margaritaville, shopping at Times Square Market (prices get cheaper as you near the end of the shopping.) Ricks, and then ended with dinner at the restaurant. It was great and so was Bailey. Ask for him!!

 

I did not like the Appleton tour. They didn't show us as much as I thought we would see. You get to see the donkey do his thing, a brief look at the distillery and then sample a few of the rums. Overall was very disappointing.

 

A few of our guests did the zip line tour and said it was lots of fun.

 

 

Mrs. J - I changed into a short white dress for the evening. I was ready to get out of the big dress. But, I did see brides there that wore their dresses in the evening. It was lots of fun. Guests and Employees can tell you just got married, so everyone talks to you. It was cool!

 

Sorry that was so long, but let me know if you have any more questions!

[Mrs.B]

Congratulations and thanks for sharing!

[Josie1073]

Thanks Kelly!!! I can't wait to go...the Negril tour sounds great! I definitely want to eat out a local place. And I am waiting until we get down there to purchase any photography - so far, I haven't read about any problems if you wait.

[KaytlinJean]

Thanks for the review! Congrats!