All things Jamiacan

[meBonidie2be]

Just thought I would start a fresh thread hoping to hear from those that have already wed in Jamaica or those that are almost done planning.

 

Would you have done anything differently?

 

What do you think in the end you wasted money on?

 

Did you have an AHR?

 

Did you like ceremonial wording?

 

Did you write your own vowels?

 

Those are all i can think of right now, but I am sure I'll come up with more!

[JayKay]

I am not married yet, but I am getting married in Jamaica.  We did write our own vows.

 

Originally Posted by meBonidie2be 

Just thought I would start a fresh thread hoping to hear from those that have already wed in Jamaica or those that are almost done planning.

 

Would you have done anything differently?

 

What do you think in the end you wasted money on?

 

Did you have an AHR?

 

Did you like ceremonial wording?

 

Did you write your own vowels?

 

Those are all i can think of right now, but I am sure I'll come up with more!

 

[futuremrstgun]

GREAT new thread..there are quite a few BDW brides marrying or have married (recently) in Jamaica...you might find answers to these questions in some of the resort threads...i'm hopeful some of those brides will post here...

 

thanks for starting this...hope it grows with a wealth of info!

 

until next time, happy planning!!

 

R~

[PurpleUnicorn]

Hey there! i checked to see if you already started a thread about this and you did!  where in Jamaica are you getting married by the way?

 

Things I would have done differently - if i had more money - was gone with a different resort simply for a nicer beach. i had a FABULOUS wedding at my resort and it was affordable and both myself and my husband are grad students and our families by no means have money, so the fact that i had such a gorgeous wedding was amazing, but sometimes i wish we waited a few more years till i could have afforded a nicer resort in Negril for example. but on the other hand, i dont think i could have handled waiting a few more years to marry the love of my life!!! so at the same i wouldnt change anything!

 

on a smaller scale, we did a bonfire on the beach as part of our reception. what we didnt know until we got there was that the bonfire itself was not directly on the beach where we partied, it was a bit far out and not totally worth getting. Had we known that could have swapped it for tiki torches instead, we would have done that. - lesson is to try and think outside the box and basic packages you are given. you could probably tailor just about anything the resorts offer!

 

as for wasting money, i guess the bonfire could fall  under that.  the party on the beach was not a waste of money, just the actual fire did not bring us more light or anything.  i also wasted money on personalized water bottles because when it came time to packing for the trip, i couldnt fit them in my suitcase!!! Also, i had bought welcome bags and contents way in advance based on the number of people who told me they were coming....well only half of them ended up coming, so each person rather than each couple got their own bag - so technically i could have saved a lot of money there!

 

and i wasted money on being indecisive in general with regards to dress, shoes, jewelry!  i bought two of almost everything! but thats just me i think and not i am not sure how i could have avoided that!

 

finally, yes, we wrote our own vows. i actually wrote them the night before i left for Jamaica - my advice, dont leave things like vow writing and picking ceremony music to the last minute! i was so stressed before i left that i got sick and lost my voice the day before my wedding!!!!!   i was able to say my vows with a raspy voice in the end, but it really freaked me out, LOL.

 

 

Originally Posted by meBonidie2be 

Just thought I would start a fresh thread hoping to hear from those that have already wed in Jamaica or those that are almost done planning.

 

Would you have done anything differently?

 

What do you think in the end you wasted money on?

 

Did you have an AHR?

 

Did you like ceremonial wording?

 

Did you write your own vowels?

 

Those are all i can think of right now, but I am sure I'll come up with more!

 

[meBonidie2be]

OK so yes i am a terrible speller and spelled vows wrong. I am sure any communications major/ editor could tear my posts apart. lol

 

 

JayKay when you were wrote your vows did you guys do it together. I feel like i don't want FI to know but we live and work together so he would prob see it somewhere.  

[meBonidie2be]

PurpleUnicorn thanks for your response. It's getting close to your AHR. Are you ready? Excited?

 

I am getting married in Ocho Rios "The Jewel Dunn's River Beach Resort and Spa"  on 11/11/11 (I'm wierd with numbers). We were there in February. Brian said he wanted to go back before the end of the year, but we were not engaged then. Its nice that we are going to a familiar place and staying in the same room as last time (which was amazing). I feel as though it will help calm our nerves. 

 

It seems as though we can all look back and think I should have done that or not done that. But at this point it seems like you are really happy you didnt wait to get married.

 

Stinks the bon fire wasn't on the beach. So you had to make those choices before you got there? Thats good advice to take their package and tailor it to your needs. I hope they are flexible. I can't wait to get down there and start planning b/c it is really hard to understand the WC over the phone.

 

I talked about those water bottles and i dont know if its a good idea. someone said get labels and have the hotel get the bottles. I really dont want to have to worry about labeling water bottles when I get to paradise ya know. I am an impulse shopper and i am really worried that i am going to overspend on OOT bags.

 

As far as the jewelry and shoes ect. do you wear any of it now. I think it would be cool to say "i was going to wear this in my wedding".

 

So sry to call u out, but WHY would you wait til the night before to write your vows(which is totally something i would do  BTW)

 

New q's:

 

Did you send out actual wedding invitiations for those going DW. Then on top of it send out invites for AHR?

How did you get your invitations? 

[canadiangirl]

Welcome, and thanx for the sweet email... although we are not yet married yet were getting married at the GPLH in april 2012, in your email you stated thing you needed...if you post on here things you would like to do as a DIY project....we can all pitch in and help you out!

[PurpleUnicorn]

the first pair of shoes i bought, i sold to another bride on this website!  and my second pair, that i actually wore in my wedding, i have worn several times since my wedding!

 

the first set of jewelry i bought was not that expensive and actually the necklace clasp recently broke when i moved and i never got to wear it.  another set i had bought for my wedding, i actually ended up buying 3 more and giving them all to my Bridesmaids to wear in my wedding!  about a year before my wedding, i bought a pair of nice earrings that i thought i would wear in my wedding, but never did, although have worn on many occasions since.  and finally, the actual earrings i did wear in my wedding, i have not worn again, but plan to for my AHR and after that i will whenever i have the opportunity!  

 

LOL to writing my vows last minute! i didn't plan it that way. all last year i was working full time at my internship and i wanted to sit down and give myself a lot of time to write my vows.  and becaise it was so important, i just kept putting it off until i had "time".  well in reality, i never had time for anything. so finally on the night before i left for Jamaica (not the night before my wedding), i said i HAVE to get this done before i pack!  so i finally did!  i think i slept one hour that night.

 

i did also leave some things like tying ribbons to programs for when i was in Jamaica and then i had my bridesmaids help me, so you could always do that with water bottle labels - i wish i had done that with the labels.

 

as for your new questions:

i bought formal invitations from Invitations by Dawn (website: www.invitationsbydaw.com)  and sent them about about 6 months before the wedding. i also had a website set up through mywedding.com where I had people RSVP.  then my travel agent/wedding planner did all the work of contacting my guests and sending them info about the resort and wedding.  if you don;t have someone that like that - I HIGHLY recommend the person i worked with, let me know if you are interested.  she also set me up with my wedding website and guided me in what to write and include.

 

I was not planning to do an AHR until much later (because so many people couldnt come to Jamaica in the end). So i only told people AFTER I came back from Jamaica through a save the date email and then ordered cheap, but nice, invitations off vistaprint and sent them out last week!

 

[PurpleUnicorn]

oops, i put the wrong web address from where i got my invites.  i got them there because they had a whole selection of beach themed ones which i loved!  http://www.invitationsbydawn.com/index.jsp

[JayKay]

We actually didn't write them together.  When I asked my FI if he wanted to he said he didn't want to and he didn't care.  So I took it upon myself and did it myself!

 

Originally Posted by meBonidie2be 

OK so yes i am a terrible speller and spelled vows wrong. I am sure any communications major/ editor could tear my posts apart. lol

 

 

JayKay when you were wrote your vows did you guys do it together. I feel like i don't want FI to know but we live and work together so he would prob see it somewhere.