Secrets St James/Wild Orchid Weddings 2012/2013

[krisf1986]

Ya im not too sure if you have to use a certain dj. I was originally going to just use the sound system and just have someone pay attention but I just found out my friends boyfriend is a dj so I was thinking about just using the sound system and having him bring his equipment and being our dj.

[Jennkn87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krisf1986 

Ya im not too sure if you have to use a certain dj. I was originally going to just use the sound system and just have someone pay attention but I just found out my friends boyfriend is a dj so I was thinking about just using the sound system and having him bring his equipment and being our dj.

Good idea. My one friend, who hasn't booked yet, but says she is coming..her husband is a DJ. She wasn't sure if he was going to be able to make it yet tho. I just hate to think of having to pay a BUNCH of $$ on all the extras when We are already paying so much for the Ultimate package, and most likely will have quite a few extra people over the included 20 people to pay for. I am going to bring chair sashes I think. I really don't want to spend $8 per chair for different ones, however, I don't know what they would look like without covers on them. All the little things are going to end up adding up! It's hard to figure out what to budget for! When is your wedding Kris?

[krisf1986]

Ya im trying to do everything myself. Except my bouquet, my arch, and maybe tiki torches. But im making my bridesmaids bouquets, program fans, chair bows since the chairs already have a white cover included, I might even make my own flower arrangement for the arch since their flowers are so expensive. Im also making my own centerpieces and putting them together when I get there. And honestly you will find that doing it yourself is MUCH cheaper and also it Helps to do it yourself since you see what you are getting since if they do thinks you physically cant see what is in your wedding until you get there. But chairs do have white chair covers on them. My wedding is may 1...when is yours??

[krisf1986]

Also it really helps if you spread it out. I started getting things right away and slowly getting things I need so I can spread out my money. One week ill get one thing and the next week ill get something else so that I dont have to spend alot at once and it also helps to get things done early and not have to stress later!

[Jennkn87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krisf1986 

Also it really helps if you spread it out. I started getting things right away and slowly getting things I need so I can spread out my money. One week ill get one thing and the next week ill get something else so that I dont have to spend alot at once and it also helps to get things done early and not have to stress later!

Sounds like you've got everything planned out well! Thats good to hear about the white covers. I wasn't sure if they included those or if that was something else you had to pay for. I have had one bride on here that just recently got married that is using one of my colors, so I may be  buying some of her chair sashes. She also has the organza for the arch, but I haven't decided if it's the right one. We aren't getting married till September 19, 2014. So I still have quite some time. Right now I'm trying to get people to make the commitment so we can get the rooms blocked. Just got our engagement pics done, so when I get those done I can focus on STD's and Invites. If you don't mind me asking...how did you go about that? Are you having an at home reception? I'm trying to decide what to do for STDs and Invites and still keep it cheap. I thought about doing a save the date/invite to the people that are coming to the ceremony down there. They obviously already know they are invited. I don't want to have to send double of everything since we are having the at home reception a month after we get back, so I will have to send save the dates and Invites for that out to everyone..which will end up being 250-300. My main goal is to save money and not get myself too deep into spending extra. I am not a do-it-yourself-er..but I'm going to become one!! I have a friend that is really good at this stuff so she will be around to help me thankfully!

[krisf1986]

Ya I am learning the do it yourself thing too but its worth it! And kind of fun! I am having a reception here after but im just going to do like a huge bbq reception I think. Since most people I really want there are coming. However for save the dates I just made one on my computer with pictures and info on the wedding and resort. I didnt want to spend alot on stds and invites. Then for the invitations I ordered mine from zazzle.com. they have really cute destination wedding invites! Not TOP quality however nice! I got passprt invites! But they have really cute boarding pass ones and 1000s of styles and are cheap. I paid like $60 or 70 for 40 I think. A good idea to save money on two sets for the wedding and at home reception is to include that info on the save the dates. Then have two rsvp cards for people to tell you of they will be attending just the wedding, reception, or both!

[Jennkn87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krisf1986 

Ya I am learning the do it yourself thing too but its worth it! And kind of fun! I am having a reception here after but im just going to do like a huge bbq reception I think. Since most people I really want there are coming. However for save the dates I just made one on my computer with pictures and info on the wedding and resort. I didnt want to spend alot on stds and invites. Then for the invitations I ordered mine from zazzle.com. they have really cute destination wedding invites! Not TOP quality however nice! I got passprt invites! But they have really cute boarding pass ones and 1000s of styles and are cheap. I paid like $60 or 70 for 40 I think. A good idea to save money on two sets for the wedding and at home reception is to include that info on the save the dates. Then have two rsvp cards for people to tell you of they will be attending just the wedding, reception, or both

The only problem with doing that is we are only inviting certain people, close family and friends, to Jamaica. Then we are inviting everyone...extended family, aquaintences, work friends, parents friends ect. to the reception at home. I'm hoping everyone will RSVP on my wedding website for the ceremony. So thats why I was kind of thinking of spending a little extra and making the Jamaican ceremony ones double as a Save the Date/Invite. Dunno how I'm going to pull that off yet, but it was just a thought. I guess technically I could do the same thing for the at home reception. Nothing we are doing is traditional anyhow!! :-)

[krisf1986]

Ya me either. I dont think anything we are doing is traditional! You'll figure it out just make sure to research before you buy invites cause theres alot of good places!

[Jennkn87]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krisf1986 

Ya me either. I dont think anything we are doing is traditional! You'll figure it out just make sure to research before you buy invites cause theres alot of good places!

I know!! What were the top sites you looked at? I really want to include one of our engagement pics on the STDs and Invites. I really love the idea of the luggage tags for the ceremony. We would only need 20-30 of them since they would be going to the couples. I want to somehow include a picture tho! I'm not sure what I want to do for our invites yet! I see soo many cute things but then I remember that they will eventually just get thrown away anyways, so it's not worth it to spend a whole bunch of money on them!!

[secret823]

Any feedback about the Secrets Hotel photographers?  I'm thinking of using them for my engagement photos