Jump to content

April 9 Wedding at Catcha Falling Star (Negril) - My Recap!

NHKinNegril
 Share

Recommended Posts

NHKinNegril

NHKinNegril

Posted
Posted

Hi ladies :)

I am newly returned from my April 9 wedding at Catcha Falling Star in Negril. I haven't posted much on this board, but I used it a lot in my wedding planning, so hopefully this recap will help some of you as well. When my (then) fiance and I began looking into sites in Negril for our wedding (I won't go into how we came to settle on Negril as the location!), we knew right away that we wanted a smaller boutique hotel rather than a large all-inclusive. We only anticipated around 25 guests, and we wanted a more intimate setting and to be the only wedding of the week--not one of several that day. We looked into Rockhouse and Tensing Pen, but they were already booked for our wedding date. We then came across Catcha Falling Star and fell in love with it immediately! The reviews on Trip Advisor speak for themselves--this is a small, intimate resort with superb personal attention from the staff. Its location on the stunning cliffs with beautiful landscaping made it an ideal location for us. Below are my comments on the resort and the various vendors we used for the wedding. Also, here is a link to some photos so you can see the flowers, hair, makeup, location, etc.

https://picasaweb.google.com/nimiesque/WeddingRecapCatchaFallingStarNegril?authkey=Gv1sRgCJr99Ibm-u-zOA#

Resort: Catcha Falling Star (http://www.'>http://www.'>http://www.'>http://www.'>http://www.catchajamaica.com/)
I simply cannot say enough positive things about them. From the moment we arrived, we were treated as though we were the only guests there. Every staff person greeted us by name every time we saw them ("Good morning Miss Niki!"). They were genuinely happy and eager to make us comfortable. We did not book the entire resort for our wedding as it was already partially booked when we scheduled our wedding. Half of our guests stayed at Catcha, and others stayed just down the road at other small resorts or all-inclusives. We weren't planning any group activities or scheduled events other than the wedding day, so this worked perfectly for us. The grounds of Catcha are stunning and the cliffs were so much fun to jump off! The on site restaurant, Ivan's, is #1 on Trip Advisor for a reason--the food was amazing and the drinks are strong!!!

In planning my wedding, Andrea and Mauvette took care of almost everything for me! They booked the officiant, I asked for a Steel drum band and they took care of it (they were fantastic! See below), they recommended a cake maker, and all I did was choose the flavors (again, see below). They did not have any hidden fees, in fact they didn't charge extra for anything! They set up the chairs, decorations, tables, and handled all the logistics. I didn't have to worry about anything. They also had extra staff on hand for the cocktail hour and dinner service, and didn't add any fees for that. I can email anyone interested in more specifics of food, menu, costs, etc, but basically this is what we did: Post-ceremony champagne reception with appetizers: We paid by the bottle for champagne, and $16/pp for appetizers. We chose 3 appetizers, and they prepared them basically planning on 2 of each per person. We had some leftover (I think they made more than they actually charged us for!). Dinner: $55/pp + wine. We got a 4-course dinner including chocolate cake (OMG so good!). Open bar at reception: they either do a per person fee, or you can just request an open bar and pay for what is ordered, which is what we did. This was smart for us as most of our guests had very little to drink, as we were full of wine and champagne already! Again, they were super flexible in tailoring the package for us. There is, in fact, no set package. You tell them what you want and they make it happen. No fees for every little thing you want to customize.

Florist: Floral Fantasies (http://www.floralfantasiesjamaica.com)
100% thrilled with them! I ordered the "Regal" bridal bouquet ($150), flower girl's hair wreath ($35), two ceremonial tripods ($85/each), and table centerpieces (I requested that they be kept to $40/each). They did a fantastic job. All the flowers were fresh, bright, fragrant, and well put together. For the tripods and centerpieces, all I told them was that I wanted predominantly red, orange, and purple flowers and they did not disappoint. They used high-end flowers and everything was exquisite. My husband and I stayed at the resort through the following week, and the flowers were still alive and beautiful for most of the week! We moved the tripods to our balcony, and the resort kept the centerpieces on the dinner tables for quite some time. They clearly used healthy and fresh flowers.

Hair and Make-up: Debra/Queen Bee (http://www.salonnegril.com/index.htm)
$180 for hair and make-up, which included the pre-wedding trial at her salon. Loved Debra! Super friendly, listened to what I wanted. I did airbrush make-up that stayed on all day/night through the heat and humidity. She even airbrushed my chest area a bit to hide my slight burn! She was on time (even early!) and came to my resort to get me ready in my hotel room. 100% happy!

Officiant: Rev. Campbell
$300 (plus the resort added $35 to FedEx us the certificate) I don't know how many of you have to book the officiant on your own, but Catcha recommended Rev. Campbell so we went with him. We asked for a non-religious ceremony, and it was short, simple, and elegant. There were a few mentions of God, but nothing overly religious. If you're curious as to the wording, send me a PM and I'll send you a link to a brief video so you can see some of the ceremony.

Cake:
We just went with Catcha's recommendation for cake maker and told them what flavors we wanted (they can do basically anything!). We did a pineapple cake with coconut custard filling and vanilla buttercream frosting, decorated with fresh flowers. I am not exaggerating when I say that this was the BEST wedding cake I have ever had. Our guests could not stop telling us how delicious it was. I was worried since I am picky about cake and would not have an opportunity to do a cake sampling, but I was so happy with it I ate two pieces that night (plus stole the frosting from my brother's piece!). I'm sure if you email them they can put you in touch with the bakery they use (they said they always use this baker unless a bride prefers her own choice).

Steel Drum Band:
$280/hour - 4-person band. Again, I just asked Catcha to find a steel drum band, and they scheduled them for me (they use this band a lot). They played as guests arrived for the ceremony, during my flower girl's and my walk down the aisle, then through the champagne reception. I had wanted to walk down the aisle to Canon in D, but they didn't know it, so they played "Here Comes the Bride" which to be honest I wasn't thrilled about, but when I heard it in steel drums it was actually beautiful and I didn't mind! They played "Stand by Me" while my husband and I signed our paperwork, which I thought was perfect! Overall, they were fantastic. Song choices (I didn't make any specific requests) were great and they added the perfect ambiance to the wedding and festivities. Bonus: they were an hour early!!! Super professional :) We tipped them $100 and they were obviously thrilled about it! Sorry I don't have their contact info, but if you email Catcha I'm sure they'll put you in touch with them.

Photographer: Diane Campbell/Digital Memories (http://www.digitalmemoriescollection.com/)
I posted a separate review on them. HUGE disappointment. We contracted them from 2:00-8:00 for $900, with our ceremony starting at 3:00. We got Diana and her son to do a video and photos. They showed up an hour late, just minutes before 3:00 and so I have no photos of me getting ready, and I was frantic that whole time wondering if they'd show up at all. I requested candid, casual shots, and they kept trying to pose me and my husband in awkward, cheesy poses that just look stupid. My husband and I had to direct THEM as to what to be doing so we could hopefully get some shots we liked. Out of over 200 images on the disc that Diana threw together, half are out of focus, either me or my husband have our eyes closed, and there is not ONE spectacular image that we would enlarge. They did no photo work to fix dark or overexposed images, and they didn't weed out the clearly bad ones (probably because there'd be no images left to give us!). I am beyond disappointed. Our guests took better photos with their point and click cameras. Huge waste of $900. See my post on them for more details: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/72018/digital-memories-diana-campbell-photographer-in-negril

Wedding Favors:
We brought favor bags with us and planned on buying local gifts in Negril, since we would be arriving 3 days before the wedding. We took a cab to a shopping center and bought Appleton Rum (not the tiny mini bottles, but I think 12 oz bottles), mini rum cakes, blue mountain coffee, and jerk seasoning. Plenty to choose from at the Hi-Lo shopping center!

Again, feel free to PM me or ask any more questions. I have tips for navigating and eating out in Negril in general (For example: cars with red plates are taxis. Do NOT accept a ride from any car without a red plate! Also, I got a minor ear infection (!) and went to a local Dr. who only charged me $50!)

Good luck to all you brides planning your dream weddings...may it be as wonderful as ours was!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 1 month later...
mzthan6

mzthan6

Posted
Posted

Hi NJKinNegril, your post is a big help for me.  I'm currently planning our wedding in Negril, we chose Villa SurMer.  Are Andrea and Mauvette the wedding planner for Catcha Falling Star? 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by NHKinNegril View Post

Hi ladies :)

I am newly returned from my April 9 wedding at Catcha Falling Star in Negril. I haven't posted much on this board, but I used it a lot in my wedding planning, so hopefully this recap will help some of you as well. When my (then) fiance and I began looking into sites in Negril for our wedding (I won't go into how we came to settle on Negril as the location!), we knew right away that we wanted a smaller boutique hotel rather than a large all-inclusive. We only anticipated around 25 guests, and we wanted a more intimate setting and to be the only wedding of the week--not one of several that day. We looked into Rockhouse and Tensing Pen, but they were already booked for our wedding date. We then came across Catcha Falling Star and fell in love with it immediately! The reviews on Trip Advisor speak for themselves--this is a small, intimate resort with superb personal attention from the staff. Its location on the stunning cliffs with beautiful landscaping made it an ideal location for us. Below are my comments on the resort and the various vendors we used for the wedding. Also, here is a link to some photos so you can see the flowers, hair, makeup, location, etc.

https://picasaweb.google.com/nimiesque/WeddingRecapCatchaFallingStarNegril?authkey=Gv1sRgCJr99Ibm-u-zOA#

Resort: Catcha Falling Star (http://www.'>http://www.'>http://www.'>http://www.'>http://www.catchajamaica.com/)
I simply cannot say enough positive things about them. From the moment we arrived, we were treated as though we were the only guests there. Every staff person greeted us by name every time we saw them ("Good morning Miss Niki!"). They were genuinely happy and eager to make us comfortable. We did not book the entire resort for our wedding as it was already partially booked when we scheduled our wedding. Half of our guests stayed at Catcha, and others stayed just down the road at other small resorts or all-inclusives. We weren't planning any group activities or scheduled events other than the wedding day, so this worked perfectly for us. The grounds of Catcha are stunning and the cliffs were so much fun to jump off! The on site restaurant, Ivan's, is #1 on Trip Advisor for a reason--the food was amazing and the drinks are strong!!!

In planning my wedding, Andrea and Mauvette took care of almost everything for me! They booked the officiant, I asked for a Steel drum band and they took care of it (they were fantastic! See below), they recommended a cake maker, and all I did was choose the flavors (again, see below). They did not have any hidden fees, in fact they didn't charge extra for anything! They set up the chairs, decorations, tables, and handled all the logistics. I didn't have to worry about anything. They also had extra staff on hand for the cocktail hour and dinner service, and didn't add any fees for that. I can email anyone interested in more specifics of food, menu, costs, etc, but basically this is what we did: Post-ceremony champagne reception with appetizers: We paid by the bottle for champagne, and $16/pp for appetizers. We chose 3 appetizers, and they prepared them basically planning on 2 of each per person. We had some leftover (I think they made more than they actually charged us for!). Dinner: $55/pp + wine. We got a 4-course dinner including chocolate cake (OMG so good!). Open bar at reception: they either do a per person fee, or you can just request an open bar and pay for what is ordered, which is what we did. This was smart for us as most of our guests had very little to drink, as we were full of wine and champagne already! Again, they were super flexible in tailoring the package for us. There is, in fact, no set package. You tell them what you want and they make it happen. No fees for every little thing you want to customize.

Florist: Floral Fantasies (http://www.floralfantasiesjamaica.com)
100% thrilled with them! I ordered the "Regal" bridal bouquet ($150), flower girl's hair wreath ($35), two ceremonial tripods ($85/each), and table centerpieces (I requested that they be kept to $40/each). They did a fantastic job. All the flowers were fresh, bright, fragrant, and well put together. For the tripods and centerpieces, all I told them was that I wanted predominantly red, orange, and purple flowers and they did not disappoint. They used high-end flowers and everything was exquisite. My husband and I stayed at the resort through the following week, and the flowers were still alive and beautiful for most of the week! We moved the tripods to our balcony, and the resort kept the centerpieces on the dinner tables for quite some time. They clearly used healthy and fresh flowers.

Hair and Make-up: Debra/Queen Bee (http://www.salonnegril.com/index.htm)
$180 for hair and make-up, which included the pre-wedding trial at her salon. Loved Debra! Super friendly, listened to what I wanted. I did airbrush make-up that stayed on all day/night through the heat and humidity. She even airbrushed my chest area a bit to hide my slight burn! She was on time (even early!) and came to my resort to get me ready in my hotel room. 100% happy!

Officiant: Rev. Campbell
$300 (plus the resort added $35 to FedEx us the certificate) I don't know how many of you have to book the officiant on your own, but Catcha recommended Rev. Campbell so we went with him. We asked for a non-religious ceremony, and it was short, simple, and elegant. There were a few mentions of God, but nothing overly religious. If you're curious as to the wording, send me a PM and I'll send you a link to a brief video so you can see some of the ceremony.

Cake:
We just went with Catcha's recommendation for cake maker and told them what flavors we wanted (they can do basically anything!). We did a pineapple cake with coconut custard filling and vanilla buttercream frosting, decorated with fresh flowers. I am not exaggerating when I say that this was the BEST wedding cake I have ever had. Our guests could not stop telling us how delicious it was. I was worried since I am picky about cake and would not have an opportunity to do a cake sampling, but I was so happy with it I ate two pieces that night (plus stole the frosting from my brother's piece!). I'm sure if you email them they can put you in touch with the bakery they use (they said they always use this baker unless a bride prefers her own choice).

Steel Drum Band:
$280/hour - 4-person band. Again, I just asked Catcha to find a steel drum band, and they scheduled them for me (they use this band a lot). They played as guests arrived for the ceremony, during my flower girl's and my walk down the aisle, then through the champagne reception. I had wanted to walk down the aisle to Canon in D, but they didn't know it, so they played "Here Comes the Bride" which to be honest I wasn't thrilled about, but when I heard it in steel drums it was actually beautiful and I didn't mind! They played "Stand by Me" while my husband and I signed our paperwork, which I thought was perfect! Overall, they were fantastic. Song choices (I didn't make any specific requests) were great and they added the perfect ambiance to the wedding and festivities. Bonus: they were an hour early!!! Super professional :) We tipped them $100 and they were obviously thrilled about it! Sorry I don't have their contact info, but if you email Catcha I'm sure they'll put you in touch with them.

Photographer: Diane Campbell/Digital Memories (http://www.digitalmemoriescollection.com/)
I posted a separate review on them. HUGE disappointment. We contracted them from 2:00-8:00 for $900, with our ceremony starting at 3:00. We got Diana and her son to do a video and photos. They showed up an hour late, just minutes before 3:00 and so I have no photos of me getting ready, and I was frantic that whole time wondering if they'd show up at all. I requested candid, casual shots, and they kept trying to pose me and my husband in awkward, cheesy poses that just look stupid. My husband and I had to direct THEM as to what to be doing so we could hopefully get some shots we liked. Out of over 200 images on the disc that Diana threw together, half are out of focus, either me or my husband have our eyes closed, and there is not ONE spectacular image that we would enlarge. They did no photo work to fix dark or overexposed images, and they didn't weed out the clearly bad ones (probably because there'd be no images left to give us!). I am beyond disappointed. Our guests took better photos with their point and click cameras. Huge waste of $900. See my post on them for more details: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/72018/digital-memories-diana-campbell-photographer-in-negril

Wedding Favors:
We brought favor bags with us and planned on buying local gifts in Negril, since we would be arriving 3 days before the wedding. We took a cab to a shopping center and bought Appleton Rum (not the tiny mini bottles, but I think 12 oz bottles), mini rum cakes, blue mountain coffee, and jerk seasoning. Plenty to choose from at the Hi-Lo shopping center!

Again, feel free to PM me or ask any more questions. I have tips for navigating and eating out in Negril in general (For example: cars with red plates are taxis. Do NOT accept a ride from any car without a red plate! Also, I got a minor ear infection (!) and went to a local Dr. who only charged me $50!)

Good luck to all you brides planning your dream weddings...may it be as wonderful as ours was!



 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...