Riu-Montego Bay

[MrsHamblett2012]

Hey Jwed12, the planning is going good! I actually took the summer off from planning to relax so I havent been on the site in a while...But now I'm back at it!  We have booked our rooms through our travel agent...Our group rates we're for every 10th person the 11th person was free...I dont know about any other group rates.  We had to book by 8/15 to get the rates that she quoted me last May.  Now I am starting to think about flowers & photography...It's just so hard because a lot of stuff you dont have to do until you get down there...What are your colors?

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jwed12 

Hey ladies, how's the planning going??? Do you guys know how the group rates work with the Riu? I was told that in order to get the discount, your entire group has to book together and for the same amount of time. If any of you have info on this, it would be much appreciated!

 

[Emmalou53]

Hi everyone!  I have become obsessed with researching resorts for my June 20, 2012 Montego Bay wedding, and have FINALLY narrowed it down to RMB.  I have stayed at the RIU Cancun in Mexico and I loved every minute of it.  I like to be entertained all the time, and I know the RIU resorts keep activities going all day, and have theater entertainment at night, etc...  

If any of you are getting married the same week that I am, let me know.  We can swap info, and ideas and such.  My FI and I are expecting around 15-20 guests.  I'm really picky about decor and prefer a really modern, chic, upscale look.  We want to do a sand ceremony and write our own vows.  We will not have anyone in the actual wedding except maybe a flower girl or two.  Since we don't have a big group I don't want to waste money on a DJ for a reception.  I think our families would have just as much fun if you give them unlimited booze on the beach! LOL  I am having a hard time picturing how the day will actually flow.  I assume it will be the ceremony at whatever location we choose, then do we take our pictures while our guests have a "cocktail hour" at the ceremony site?  I'm sure we will have the semi private dinner at one of the restaurants, but does the WC introduce us as a couple when we walk in?  Should we still have a first dance?  When should that take place?  I want to save as much money as I can so I can spend a lot on photography/videography.  I want pics of everything, getting ready, ceremony, reception, and I REALLY want a TTD session the next day with my new husband! 

Any other ideas or input would be greatly appreciated!

[MrsHamblett2012]

Welcome Emmalou!  I'm getting married at the RMB on 5/11/2012!  I have never been there so its hard to for to picture everything as well...I have read A LOT of things on this website and got some great ideas! What I am thinking in my head is that you have the ceremony at whatever time you choose and then go right into taking pictures.  You can either spend money on a cocktail hour or you can just send your guests to one of the bars on the resort and drink for free....The reception dinner starts at 630 and I dont think that the WC will introduce you as a couple...from what I have read the bride and groom have one of their guests do it.  And i am reading that a lot of people do their first dance when they rent out the disco so i dont know about the first dance if you dont rent out the disco. I am unsure if i am doing the DJ/disco...I might rent the disco and not the DJ and we will play our own music...I just keep thinking..what will everyone do if we dont have the DJ? I know that everyone can hang out and drink for free but then i think it  will feel like every other night we  are there...and i want it to feel a little different...So i dont know what to do!  Are you going with the free flowers or choosing a different bouquet? I really really really wanna do TTD too!  The picutres are so pretty!  For our decor i think we are going with a starfish/shell/sea type of theme...I have a picture in my head although I havent actually decided on what I am going to do...But my bridesmaid dresses are a turquoise/aqua color so i think the theme would go well..Tell me more of your ideas!!

[Emmalou53]

Hello MrsHamblett,  I am getting so excited about how much fun this wedding is going to be!  I seriously can't sleep at night because of it LOL!  When you described your decor/color/theme, I immediately had a vision of the Martha Stewart weddings that come with the Sandals packages.  I love the look of them so much, it is totally "ME."  So far, I have done the initial E-mail to the RMB resort.  I'm sure I will hear something soon on if the minister is available for my date.  We are going with the free wedding package.  Do you know if that includes the minister service and certificate fees?  I think I will save some money and send my guests to one of the bars to drink for free for the cocktail hour, while Kasey and I get our pictures taken.  As for the free bridal bouquet, I do not think this is something that I will be happy with.  It looks quite small in a lot of real bridal pics that I have searched for.  I need something that is going to stand out in my pics.  As a new bride to be,  I am always asking myself, "Hmmmm....How is that going to look in my wedding photos?"  I have seen some pics of people's weddings by searching the Internet, and some of the flowers look dull and I have seen some seriously hideous looking wedding cakes.  Where are you having your reception dinner?  I believe I read in one of your previous posts that you expect about 20 guests.  That is how many we are expecting, 4 of them are children.  I want to pick food that everyone is going to like.  Do you know if alcohol is included with the semi private dinner?  If you have any info that you can share my e-mail is [email protected] , it would be greatly appreciated!  I am really contemplating on the whole DJ thing.  This is a hard decision for me because my fiance has been a DJ for 11 or so years, and has a really successful business in our area.  I can just picture being at our reception and having to hear how the DJ should have done this, or how he did this wrong, blah, blah, blah.... LOL.  My family is really outgoing and fun.  They know how to have a good time.  Kasey's family on the other hand, not so much.  They are very quiet people, more reserved, and come from a very, I mean, VERY, small town in southern Iowa.  Since they make up half of my guest list, I need to make sure that they will also have a good time at the reception, and I don't think the whole renting out the Disco and hiring a DJ thing will suffice.  Any other ideas?  In my initial wedding request I added the steel drums for an hr.  I think this is very authentic and will be a huge surprise to my guests.  Have you decided on  photography yet?  This is what I want to spend the most on.  Ideally, I would prefer to talk a local photographer/videographer into a free all inclusive vacation if they will do my pics for free.  IF I end up doing this, they will actually be considered guests at the resort, so I wonder if they would have to pay the fee for bringing a vendor in?   All of the info everyone has shared is extremely helpful.  Lets keep this going so we can all have the knowledge to make our dream wedding come true! 

[MrsHamblett2012]

I know..It consumes your life!!  I took a break on planning this summer but now I am back at it!  We are doing the free package as well!  The minister costs $360. So basically the wedding package is not "free"  Also the free wedding package is only for 10 people...So everyone that you have over 10 it costs $10.50 per person and that will cover the champagne toast and the cake for the additional people...So yes they give you a "free" wedding package but there are little expenses here and there.  The marriage certificate comes with the package but it does take a while to get.  They will mail it to you in I think like 4-8 weeks.  We are not doing the cocktail hour either...I dont think we have enough people to actually have a "cocktail hour"  I think what we will do is make a little "agenda" for everyone...and we will choose a bar and have the "cocktail hour" there so everyone can be together and have everyone meet for dinner at 630.  I am not going with the free bouquet either...i have gotten some prices from Tia Floral...I wanted simple flowers so I was thinking on white cala lillies for me and my girls. Tia Floral quoted me $160 for my bouquet and $75 for each bridemaids bouquet...I am going to look into the Real Silk flowers and see how they compare...These fake flowers look so real and you get to keep them forever...So Im still debating on that.  We are having our reception dinner at the place where the "free" one take place.  I dont care to have a private reception its just not that important for me and its like $55 per person./...So we will have a semi-private dinner at the steak house.  I think when you do it at the steak house its the normal menu so you dont really get to pick what you eat but im not positive about that either.  The DJ decision is  hard for me too...i think if i do end up choosing to rent the disco i will not pay money for a DJ...I think i woudl just hook and ipod or play a CD on the speakers...I really cant see paying a DJ to play our music after we have just paid money to rent out the disco...but we are still debating.  You could also have a party on the beach but that costs money...they would bring in fire dancers and things like that for additional cost.  Other people have not done anything and just decided to hang out on the beach or to hang out at one of the bars...I mean we still might do that...I just want it to be a little different from the other nights that we are there hanging out on the beach or the bars.  I guess the disco opens to the public at 11pm so you would only have it to yourself from 9-11 is the time i think they rent it out. But if there is a wedding going on the same day you have to rent it fast because someone else might take it....which im scared of too...We decide last minute we want to rent the disco and we cant.  We havent decide on photography either..i have written some emails to PhotoShop which is right at the resort. His name is Michael and from what I can see its pretty expensive...I thought about bringing someone but it would be more expensive for them to fly down and stay...other people use photographers that are notpart of the resort which you can do but you have to pay  that fee for bringing them there...so we are still undecided about that too.

[Jwed12]

Hey ladies! Welcome back Mrs. Hamblett. I was wondering where you've been, and welcome Emmalou!

    I was pretty productive this summer I'm proud to say. Emmalou, we're getting married the same week as you! We will arrive at RMB on June 20th, but our wedding will be that Saturday the 23rd. I'd love to be a spectator at your ceremony if you don't mind.

    The Fi and I are doing a beach ceremony in the gazebo. Unfortunately, you cannot do the ceremony any time that you want. They have set times. I believes they are 10, 12, 2 or 4. We are having a 4:00 ceremony. It's stupid because seating for the dinner doesn't open till 6:30, but they are non-negotionable on this point. Trust me. Then we are having a private 6:30 reception at the Mahoe Bay Steakhouse. The $55 per person charge is only if you choose the special menu with the open bar. Our reception is a $1,000 flat rate (which is good for us because we'll have about 50 people), and you get unlimited beer, wine, and rum punch. The menu is pretty good. If you go to my website, I have it posted. As far as a cocktail hour, the WC said they do a complimentary rum punch while the guests are waiting as well as some fruit I believe. Other than that, the cocktail hours are absurd. Like...$25 a person or some crap like that. No thank you. We are going to let our guests enjoy the rum punch and fruit, and then they can wander to any bar in the resort while they wait. The WC said seating will not open until 6:15. The semi-private dinner is only for 40 guests max, so that wasn't going to work for us. Plus, since you are sharing the restaurant with other resort guests, they are pretty strict on music. They wouldn't even let us bring in a ipod. Finally, the dinner is only two hours, and we wanted a longer reception to celebrate. The beach receptions are like $3,000, so that was out of our price range.  

     We are going with Stacey Clarke for photography, and we couldn't be more excited. She is so easy to talk to, and she's very flexible. She will be doing a TTD session with us on Sunday as well. Our DJ is Kevan Stewart from JA Wedding DJ. I actually heard of him from this website. He got glowing reviews from a lot of the brides. I contacted him this summer, and he seems super friendly and flexible as well. We're really excited. It was just important to us that we wouldn't have to worry about music. He's going to play during the ceremony, and then he'll have plenty of time to set up for the reception. I won't have to worry about dinner music and dancing music, and he'll do the announcing.

     As far as flowers, we're going to do silk as well. I might be making my own arrangements. Our colors are cobalt blue and mango. Fi and I both have blue eyes, so I wanted to be surrounded by blue in the pictures so our eyes would pop. (So vain...I know lol). Then I am obsessed with Tiger Lilies, so that's what our flowers will be.

 

    Mrs. Hamblett, what do you mean when  you said that for every 10th person, the 11th is free? We have 41 people booked so far, and they told us the same thing, but I don't understand it! Does that mean that they are free the entire week? Like they don't have to pay for the room at all? Do you get to pick the people that are free, or does the resort pick? Does it matter what room they are in? What if it's an ocean view room? Is it still free? Ah! I'm so confused by this. Thanks!!!!

 

Good luck.

[MrsHamblett2012]

I looked at your website, it looks awesome!!  I should make one, Ill have to find the time first! :-)  I will have to check into Stacey Clarke photography..All we have looked at is Michael (who is at the resort) and its really expensive..I want to do TTD the next day too!! Everyone that does it loves it and the pics look GREAT!!

 

My travel agent is the one that is doing the whole every 10th, 11th is free...I am sure its the resort telling her that...basically we have 21 people books, so 2 people get it for free...My FI and I are taking the free rooms since we are spending so much on everyone else and it would be impossible to pick someone out of all our guests to get free rooms!! They take the average for the room type and how many days...So say a little over half your guests booked 5 days at a garden view and a little under half booked 7 days at an ocean front, you would get the average...so it would be 5 days free with a garden view room...Actually its kind of hard to explain typing...I hope you understand  As of right now we are booked for a garden view room and hoping we get upgraded...if not, no biggie...the room is the  least of my worries!  My travel agent said that they usually do but dont actually count on it because sometimes they are too booked...so i guess we will see...We are staying for 10 days therefore since we  have 21 peopple booked we both get our first 5 nights for free!

 

Also - I saw you write on another blog about the sky lanters...i want to do that soooo badly!! Did you ever hear back from them??

[Jwed12]

Thanks! Yeah, I think I do understand. We have 18 rooms books and 41 people. That means we should get like 3 or 4 people for free. That would be awesome. I'm thinking that it would be good for our parents.

 

Unfortunately, no. I never heard back! She's been so good about answering all of my other emails, but I never heard back about the lanterns. If I can't use them in Jamaica, I'm definitely going to use the floating lotus flowers at the AHR.

[Jwed12]

Are you working with Christina Dunbar as your wedding coordinator?

[Emmalou53]

You can for sure be a specatator at our wedding!  I am so glad someone (Other than my FI) is going through the same thing as I am at the same time!  We should meet up that week!  Thanks for all time Info, sounds like you know your stuff! LOL.  I oficially booked our date for the 20th with the hotel so we will for sure be there.  I can't wait, it's going to be beautiful!  My whole family thinks that we are coing to Cancun because that is what we decided at first, but when we realized all of the crap you have to do just to have  a legal ceremony there, we changed our minds to Jamaica, so our family is going to be shocked when they get their messge in a bottle save the dates that say MB Jamaica.  We haven't told anyone it's going to be great!