Riu-Montego Bay

[Jwed12]

Haha that will be fun.

 

We got engaged in December, so I've been in this process for almost a year now! It's crazy, but I'm glad I gave myself the extra time. I needed to really look at my options and decide what I wanted, so I'm confident with the Riu. I'm glad to help because it is damn hard getting information out of them!

 

We're arriving on the 20th sometime in the early afternoon. I'd love to meet up! Are you guys staying at the Riu for your honeymoon? You're welcome to check out our ceremony if you're bored on Saturday!

[Emmalou53]

We just met with our travel agent today, and will arrive at the resort on Sun June 17 along with our guests.  Ideally we wanted to go up there by ourselves and have everyone else come the day before the wedding, but the charter flights out of Chicago only run on sun and thr.  So, we are all going to be there that sun.  Our guests will leave on thr. and Kasey and I will stay until sun and then come home.  That time alone will be our "honeymoon", and after a week of being away I think that will be good enough.  We thought about going somewhere else after the whole wedding week, but all of the costs add up really fast.  I have read that some brides bring extra stuff to decorate for the ceremony like chair sashes and centerpieces, etc.  Are you planning on bringing anything extra instead of paying their prices to use their stuff?  So far, we have the free wedding, but I'm budgeting the cost of the minister and we decided to pay the extra $500 for the steel drums for the hr.  That's all I have so far.  Another thing I read in the RIU's info they sent me is that some services will need to be paid in cash when you get there, do you know what these "services" are? 

[Emmalou53]

Jwed, Are you guys planning on using a microphone during your ceremony?  Since my FI is a DJ, I think we are bringing his wireless Lapel Mic for him to wear, and hopefully it will pick up my voice and the officiant.  Or we may ask the officiant to wear it.  Not sure yet.  We are also going to bring our portable cordless Bose i pod dock and i pod to serve as the Speaker and ceremony music.  The acoustic quality that Bose has is hard to beat and I think it will be perfect, not to mention free.  I will have to take these in my carry on bag so hopefully there won't be any problems with the airlines letting me have them on the plane ( I don't know the rules) but I will ask my TA just to make sure.  Anyway, if we do make it down there with everything, you are more than welcome to use them at your ceremony, just let me know.  I think Im also going to use silk flowers for my bouquet and make it myself so I get what I want.  Do you know what song you are walking down the isle to?  I have so many that I like, and when your FI is a DJ it just makes it worse because they have all of these suggestions!  I think my top contender is Marry Me by Train, it is so romantic <3  

[MrsHamblett2012]

Yes Christina Dunbar has been helping me along with NeKeisha...Although I havent heard from Nekeisha since the very beginning....Not sure if she is still there.  Christina seems to reply to my messages fairly quickly...It was one thing i was worried about after hearing from the other girls on thsi site...Burt so far so good!
 

Originally Posted by Jwed12 

Are you working with Christina Dunbar as your wedding coordinator?

 

[Emmalou53]

I just sent them a huge list of questions, hope they answer all of them........

[Jwed12]

Emma Lou,

     Wow! That's so nice of you! I'll have to check with our Dj. Mics would be helpful because I hear those Caribbean breezes can make it pretty blustery. We're doing the same thing too with having our "honeymoon" there. I'm looking forward to it though even though I'm not sure how much time alone we'll have. That's what our private "suite" is for.

 

    I don't remember those individual "services" that you have to pay cash for. I'll have to ask Christina about them. I was just checking out the forum on tipping, and man! We are really going to have to come up with some extra cash to tip with. That really adds up. What does your Fi (Ah! I almost said "husband lol. Not yet!) usually get tipped? $25? $50?  

 

     I'm doing the same thing as far as making flowers. I'd really like to have a bouqet of white roses and tiger lilies to carry, and then my bridesmaids would just have tiger lilies. I've been really slacking on doing research for these flowers. Right now, I think they're out of season unless I go to a warehouse that has them all year long. That might be our best best to finding what we want.I was hoping I could get them at Michael's or JoAnn's so I could use my teacher discount, but that might have to wait until next spring... Have you gotten any of yours yet? Did I ask you where you're from yet? We're from Baltimore.

  

   We're walking down the isle to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Israel Kamakawiwo'ole. I am obsessed with it. Marry Me is a great song though. I'm making a wedding CD as part of the OOT bags, and that will definitely be on it.

[MrsHamblett2012]

I havent even started thinking about wedding songs yet!  I have no idea what I want played when!  Thats def going to be a tough part...

 

I just started looking for "fake" flowers and I have found a ton of places...I just searched in google for Natural Touch Flowers...they look so real...I think what I am going to do is order a sample one from the site www.save-on-crafts.com because they are cheap..Some of the websites that I found have natural touch flowers but they are sooo expensive!! I am going to use Cala Lilies, I havent decided on which color yet though.  I guess we will see after I get the samples in.

[Emmalou53]

Ok girls, I made my bridal bouquet last week and I got my flowers from Hobby Lobby.  I got a mixture of the "real touch" and just the generic fake flowers, but the way they make fake flowers these days actually look real!  I am impressed with the way it turned out, I will try to get you a picture soon.  I figure when it is all said and done, as extensively as our picures will be edited, the flowers will end up looking fake anyway. Right?  At first we planned on bringing our own photographer, but after talking with my mom about it, she had a lot of points that made me change my mind.  I decided to book Stacey Clarke.  Has anyone heard of her?  Her photos are extremely amazing and she is always so quick to answer my questions.  I have a great feeling about her.  So back to the flowers, I highly suggest hobby lobby for the flowers.  I believe the most they charge for 1 flower is $10,  but they always have weekly sales when their stuff is 50% off.  I waited for the week their flowers were 50% off and I only spent a total of $47 for my whole bouquet.  That includes the tape to go around the stems, and the yard of fabric trim to wrap around it. 

JWed, MY Fi Kasey is owner and operator, so most of the time he doesn't get tips.  I think it's because the brides know that he already gets 100% of everything they pay.  Sometimes he get tips and it has never been more than $100.  We are from Bettendorf, Iowa. 

 

So everyone has received their message in a bottle invitations.  The response I got from everyone was a lot less than desired.  So far my mom, aunt, uncle, his girlfriend and daughter, and Kasey's mom and dad are coming.  I might as well count out Kasey's sister, her husband and two kids, because all they see is the dollar amount, despite the fact that they have 7 months to save!  Kasey's other sister would rather blow her money on eating out, and gas to drive 6 hrs a week to see her new boyfriend.  I hope that RMB has a good sale closer to our wedding date so some of these people will change their minds.  It just won't be the same without them.  I am not having a wedding party, so it will be a small ceremony as it is.   

[Jwed12]

Oh my gosh I don't know what I would do without you two. Okay...save-on-crafts and hobby lobby....I'm on it. Yes, Emma Lou! Please post pictures of your bouquet! Way to be on the ball. Mrs. Hamblett, my advice for songs is to start some sort of list on your phone. Every time you hear a song that you like, add it to the list. If nothing else, you'll have a great love song collection that you can listen to as the wedding approaches. We'll all be sentimental balls of goo, I'm sure.

 

Emma. We are seriously having the same wedding. Stacey Clarke is our photographer too! I looked at tons of Jamaican photographers, and I'm so glad I went with her. She is so easy to communicate with, and I've read tons of awesome reviews. Is she doing a TTD session with you too? We are doing ours the day after the wedding on Sunday, and I'd like to go the Dunn's Falls in Ochos Rios. She said she'd even drive us there herself! Not sure how we're going to get back though lol.

 

A lot of our family members are being the same way. We have 50 guests booked so far, and aside from my immediate family and FI's immediate family, I have an uncle and aunt coming. That's it. That is alllll of the family that decided to show up, and I have a huuuge family. All of the other guests are our broke-ass friends. It just goes to show you, it's not about money. People can make money work. Destination weddings really show you who honestly cares about you.  

[Emmalou53]

OMG!  I love stacey, her photos are so beautiful, and yes, we are doing a TTD session the next day.  You will be able to meet her at my wedding!  How cool!  The only question I have is, how are we going to avoid paying that vendor fee??  LOL  I am all about saving the $$$..  She said something about booking in.  What exactly does that mean?  When she comes back the next day to do the TTD,  the WC said I would have to pay another vendor fee!  Ya right!  That's what they think!  I think Dunn's falls is sooo gorgeous and the waterfalls are amazing!  You should do it even if you have to hitch hike back to the resort!