April RMB review

[angie8119]

Well this is a bit overdue so my aplogies ladies!! Overall I had the best time at my wedding. The only changes I would make would be to worry a bit more about myself and less about everything else. I truly can not believe its over! I know everyone says that but is surreal how quickly it all flys by. I will do my best to give you all that I still remember but feel free to ask any questions. I want all the brides-2-be to feel as well informed as they could ever want.

 

I will be quite frank with my thoughts below but they are my opinion and remember opinions are like a pair of silver hoops... everyone's got one.

 

We flew Air Jamaica, which I thought was fine over-all. I was a bit concerned about my wedding dress because their was two other brides on the plane, so I had my BM carry my dress on board so I was able to guarrentee the captains closet.

 

Tip: Fill out the international travel forms. We ignored the flight attendents and when we got off the plane we traveled around looking for a pen and were the LAST people to get thru customs!

 

Going thru the air port was relatively smooth, we used myislandgetaways and had a shuttle to take us to RMB.

 

Tip: Don't get scammed by the people in the red hats! we really didn't need their help but they took our bags and nagged us for a tip. Then said is a $1 per bag, and we have 10 bags!!! con artists!!!!!

 

It is at this point I enter the biggest downfall of my entire wedding weekend!

As I mentioned earlier we had ten peices of luggage, including the dress and carry-ons. Well, we miss counted and lost one peice of luggage. What was in this one peice of luggage that could ruin the trip.... MY CLOTHES!!!! For the next four days I had no bra, panties, swimsuit, or shoes outside of what I wore on the trip to JAmaica!

 

TIp: KEEP TRACK OF ALL PEICES OF LUGGAGE! You would think this would be obvious but look what happened to me

 

Well the luggage loss was not an insisant reality for me... when we got to RMB we were greeted with the expectedly tasty rum punch and began the check in process. Coincidently Sharika, the WC, was there and we ended up going right into our meeting and finalizing all details.

 

Tip: be sure to confirm and reconfirm your wedding location!

 

PRior to arriving to Jamaica there was some confusion with the location of the wedding and Sharika claimed I never confirmed where I wanted to be married.

Now fellow Riu brides, outside of their website I did send three separate emails questioning confirmation of the gazebo area. My response "we can discuss when we meet". Unacceptable.

 

Needless to say, I was ready for WAR when I met Sharika. She insisted the beach was the better location and yes this location was quite pretty but not private. Privacy was the main concern for me and it definetely got me upset. However, she worked out some pricing for me which helped the mood and we were able to move on. Sharika was very efficient and organized at our meeting. After the beach location was finalized (w/o choice) we were able to review every detail and step to ensure the day would be flawless. DJ, band, menu, floral (Grande Garden) and officient. I must say I left our meeting feeling confident everything would be pefert.

 

I had the front desk give out the welcome bags. Success! Everyone was quite appreciative. I would recommend doing this for your guests!

 

The front dest was also quite helpful in the search for my luggage, although I really thank Grande Garden (floral) for helping me out big time with this. I will explain later.

 

The day of- I had hair and makeup done at Renova spa... EHHH.

Makeup would have been better if I had done myself. I use bare minerals and no matter how many "ya mon" I got she seemed pretty clueless. Hair- was alright but nothing special considering it was $150 bucks.

 

Tip: Do your own makeup or have a friend do it. REnova Spa is a waste of money.

[angie8119]

Photography was done by Misha Earle. I really loved working with Misha, the only change I would make would be on me and to not be afraid to pose as many times as you want. She catches the moment but there's a few shots of family I would have liked more of. Unfortunately i was also running late so I feel like I could have gotten more pics of DH and I. B+

 

TIp- be on time ladies!!

 

Tip check if photographers book on their own before going thru Sungold Associates.. you may spend more money with a middleman.

 

GRande Garden was my floral. This was the absolute best decision i could have made! Charmaine was the most patient, detail orientated, and consistent person I dealt with throughout this process! She responded within 24 hrs of every email. Called me around my crazy schedule as many times as we needed to speak, and most of all... she drove me around Jamaica on the hunt for my luggage the day before the wedding! We traveled to 4 different resorts and back to the airport searching for the suitcase until finally one of the travel rep made numerous phone calls to eventually have my luggage delivered the next day (wedding day)!!! A++

 

Overall, when I walked down that aisle, Charmaine not only captured my vision but built from it and it became everything and anything I could have imagined!! Grande Garden definetely made my wedding in everyway!

 

Steel drum band- for the ceremony only. Another great decision! they played good music and really set the mood! Also great background music for the video. A++

 

DJ- booked thru RMB and...EHHH. Music stopped every twenty minutes and our grande entrance was a disaster because he couldn't get the music to start! Not sure what else could have been done here except maybe the IPOD, which i know we destination brides love to do! C

 

Now I didn't eat much at the wedding but everyone told the food was GOOD!!!! the cake was vanilla and chocate with buttercream icing...A++! everyone loved the cake and wish I had some .

 

We also had firedancers. I wanted to do something special for our guests since they traveled so far to celebrate with us and they loved it! I booked this thru the hotel and it was $400. They were the nightly performers for the resort. They did a good job but I really wanted one single dancer and alot more fire. B

 

Nikki and Sharika did do a great job overall. there were a few bumps in the road but we got over them and my wedding was all that I could have asked for! Sharika was 8 months prego at the time so, we wish her the best of luck in her new beginning! Thats all I got for now... here's my slideshow from the great Misha Earle!

 

Angela & Alex

[JENISE]

Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

Your pictures look great! Your ring is so unique, that dress fit you like a glove and you and your hubby make a gorgeous couple. Congrats on everything!

[TLC4Rock]

Thanks for sharing so sorry to hear about your lost luggage.

[yumyum90]

thanks for such a through review, would love to see your pics. I'm sorry about your lost luggage that had to suck! Thanks for the tip about the guys in the red hat too!

[Thomasjsgirl]

Congratulations! Everything looked amazing and how great is it that they found your missing luggage!!

[KGraham27]

Did you end up with the beach location or the gazebo location? I am getting married there in June 2011.

[NikkiT.]

Angie it sounds like your wedding went well overall! Congrats!! I wanted to ask you how long the fire dancers performed? I am wanting one fire dancer, but I am hearing that anytime over approximately 20 minutes is really way to long. What do you think?

 

Thx,

Nikki

[Perplexy]

What a fantastic looking time!  You and your hubby are one smoking couple!  Congrats!

[mrsdennis]

Loved everything about your wedding Congrats!!!!