ROR Brides (Riu Ocho Rios)

[kalolaco]

I accidentally came across this website and thread and I'm glad that I did! 

I'm getting married at ROR on Feb 16, 2013. I've booked my ceremony time (3pm, beach) but haven't emailed Keisha yet for anything; pretty sure when I booked I got an email that said she would contact me 2 months before the wedding. I don't want to wait that long though! I want to know all the details ahead of time.

 

Anyway, just thought I'd post here in case there are any other brides getting married at ROR in the near future - perhaps we can compare notes on our progress!

 

For now, I'm going to sort through all the posts in this thread to see if I can answer my own questions - if not, I'll be posting here again!

[Kelx44]

Hello,

 

Im getting married at ROR on Feb 22nd. 2012.  Keisha emailed me last week though my travel agency. You might need to talk to your travel agent too figure that out.

[kalolaco]

Keisha has already tried contacting you about your ceremony and yours is after mine? That's strange! I wonder if I should email her directly?

 

I have a good relationship with my travel agent and she hasn't mentioned anything to me about Keisha contacting her.

[kalolaco]

One more thing, Kelx44 - hope you don't mind if I ask, but what exactly did Keisha say in her email to you? Was she starting the process of planning your ceremony?

[katman]

Originally Posted by wontongir1 

 

Hi CamHo

I had 80 people at a wedding there in May of this year (2012).  The wedding was on the beach and the reception was at the ballroom patio. Everyone had a ton of fun so I have no regrets at all. J

 

 

 

Hey Wontongir1,

 

Glad to see another ROR bride who had a successful wedding day with more than 80 guests  I'm just getting into the beginning stages of planning our RUR wedding, and our group will be at LEAST 80 as well...and I'm starting to get concerned that with a group this large the cost is going to be outrageous!! They seem to have fees for every little extra!

 

How did they charge you for your ballroom terrace reception? Did you have to pay a set up/rental fee as well as the per person fee? We are likely doing the Caprice package which is said to include 40 people for dinner - are these 40 still included if you upgrade to the private venue (so you would only be paying the per person fee for the extra 40+ people?).

 

Also, were you able to have your dinner AND reception there with dancing and everything? If so, what was the space like for dancing? Did you use the steakhouse menu? 

 

So many questions, I know, but ANY help at all would be REALLY appreciated. Thank you so so much!!

 

Kat

[wontongir1]

Hi Kat,

 

It was $1000 to rent out the Pool Deck but unfortunately it rained so we had to move it to the ballroom terrace.  We just did the basic package and then paid something like $11-12 a person for the setup.  For the dancing, I rented out the Disco area which includes a private bar.  I recommend doing this if its available.  I think that was around $1000 as well.  

 

Most of our guests stayed at the hotel so their dinners were included.  I had 5 family member drive in and I think it was around $100 per person.  We had the steakhouse menu and everything was delicious.  

 

If you need a photographer, I know a really good one in NYC.  I paid his way there plus extra for the photos and package and it was still cheaper than paying one in Jamaica.  You can see some of the photographs from our wedding here that he took.  http://www.patrickchanphotography.com/marsha-and-johnnys-jamaican-wedding-2/

 

Hope this helps!  Let me know if you have any other Q's and I'll try to answer them.

[hutchets]

I was married in April 2011 there.  You will not actually hear from Keisha, via email, until approximately 2 months prior to your wedding.  You can email her ahead of that but just beware that you may not get an immediate response.  She was very easy for me to work with but I didn't ask for any extras and went with everything free as the place is beautiful enough to where I felt I didn't want to spend any extra money on decorations etc.  I had nature as my decoration.  We had the standard cake with the raspberry filling and it fed 20 of us with a little left over.  We did not pay for an upgrade on the cake.  We brought a few things for table decorations such as colored stones and some ribbon but I wasn't going to pack much more with us.  Make it easy and do not stress over it!!  That's the beauty of a destination wedding.  You can keep it so simple and yet it's still so beautiful!

[katman]

Originally Posted by wontongir1 

 

Hi Kat,

 

It was $1000 to rent out the Pool Deck but unfortunately it rained so we had to move it to the ballroom terrace.  We just did the basic package and then paid something like $11-12 a person for the setup.  For the dancing, I rented out the Disco area which includes a private bar.  I recommend doing this if its available.  I think that was around $1000 as well.  

 

Most of our guests stayed at the hotel so their dinners were included.  I had 5 family member drive in and I think it was around $100 per person.  We had the steakhouse menu and everything was delicious.  

 

If you need a photographer, I know a really good one in NYC.  I paid his way there plus extra for the photos and package and it was still cheaper than paying one in Jamaica.  You can see some of the photographs from our wedding here that he took.  http://www.patrickchanphotography.com/marsha-and-johnnys-jamaican-wedding-2/

 

Hope this helps!  Let me know if you have any other Q's and I'll try to answer them.

 

 

 

Hey, thanks so much for getting back to me..your wedding photos are stunning!! We are still tossing up on what to do about photographers, but will likely fly one in! Seems like much better value.

 

I'm so confused over this dinner situation though.  My travel agent has been speaking with Keisha via email, and what they're saying is that for a private dinner (pool deck/ballroom terrace/beach/etc.) the cost is a 600$ set up fee, and dinner costs 67$ per person!! Even for guests staying at the resort!! And this is the cost for ALL guests - the 40 that would be included in the caprice package semi-private dinner are NOT included if you decide to go with a private dinner.  I feel that this is absolutely ridiculous! I'm so confused at how they can charge so much. So you didn't pay a per person fee at all for all 80 people? I wonder how this could have changed so drastically.  Was your dinner a buffet?

 

Has anyone else ran into this pricing problem? For our 90 guests, a private dinner would cost us $6630.00  (WHAT !!?!?!?)

($67/person x 90) = $6030 + $600 set up fee

 

We were planning to go with the Caprice package (assuming the first 40 guests would be included for dinner - as per the package) but now I'm wondering why we would do that if we have to pay for each persons dinner anyway.  Seems it would be cheaper to go with no package, and just pay the judge fees on our own.  Is there any benefit to getting one of their packages if you're having a private dinner?

[IrishGirlMD]

katman,

I know exactly where your frustration is coming from.  I'm getting married at ROR June 28th, 2013 and I have been in direct contact with Keisha through email. I was shocked to learn that if I have over 40 guests then they FORCE you to have a private reception dinner and NO ONE is free.  Not even the 1st 40.  If I hadn't already sent out all our invitations and created the wedding website, I would be switching my wedding to somewhere else.  Of course there's nothing I can do now, my deposit has been paid, invites are out, and people have already paid some of there reservations.  I assumed that if I was bringing more business to their resort, then I would be treated with discounts, NOT over priced dinners that are free to everyone else.  Ugh!

[wontongir1]

I guess they might have changed their ways... Have you tried speaking to the management over there?  In my opinion, they shouldn't make you have to pay for a private dinner & setup if they do not have the space in the semi-private area. They should accommodate you where they can fit the amount of people.