Secrets Saint James Wild Orchid Bride 11/9/2013 - Need Planning Help/Tips

[renatakramarz]

Were booked for 11/9/2013 for Secrets Saint James.... While seems so far away i want to get a heard start on the planning process as I would like to bring a lot of my own decor/etc.  Does anyone have any suggestion on where to get decently priced decor such as chair sashes, tulle, etc..  im assuming the resort will allow you to bring your own correct?

Also if anyone has gotten married at these resorts and can offer any tips of any kind to make the process smoother, less stressful, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Thank you 

[SWOK]

Im getting married at secrets wild orchid 12.3.13 and was wondering the same thing. do they let you bring your own things such as linens and bows or do they charge you a fee? any info you get would be helpful. please share!

[muneera0302]

yes you can bring your own decorations and they do charge you a fee, i think it was $300 i can't remember. they do offer everything as far as decorations as well but it's pricey. there are a couple threads on secrets that has all the info you will need for secrets wedding and reception, secrets also has a beach club next door called seawind that is on the same property but they allow you to have kids at the wedding (just an option). they are managed by different people. hope that helps.

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/79828/secrets-st-james-wild-orchid-weddings-2012-2013/210#post_1905646

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/85907/alexisinjamaicas-secrets-st-james-4-27-13-planning-journal/40#post_1907406

[renatakramarz]

Thanks so much for your help!

[muneera0302]

Originally Posted by renatakramarz 

 

Thanks so much for your help!

no problem, i'm staying at secrets and getting married at seawind next door only since they allow kids for the ceremony and reception. it's a bunch of secrets brides on here so youll find all the help you need. :-)

[muneera0302]

Originally Posted by renatakramarz 

 

Were booked for 11/9/2013 for Secrets Saint James.... While seems so far away i want to get a heard start on the planning process as I would like to bring a lot of my own decor/etc.  Does anyone have any suggestion on where to get decently priced decor such as chair sashes, tulle, etc..  im assuming the resort will allow you to bring your own correct?

Also if anyone has gotten married at these resorts and can offer any tips of any kind to make the process smoother, less stressful, I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Thank you 

they should have given you a price breakdown with everything for your wedding, i remember it's in there for decoration fee, i think it's $300 but i can't remember for sure.

[alexisinjamaica]

Hi ladies!

I got married at Secrets in April and I brought TONS of stuff down. Three big plastic bins worth. My husband thought I was crazy, and I started to think I'd done too much, but I'm sure the wedding coordinators have seen worse! They only charged me a $50 setup fee to set it all up, and they go over how you want things to look in your meeting with the WC before the wedding. We went through each item I'd brought with me piece by piece, taking it out of the bins, and I described how I wanted it to look (I brought some pics too) and they took notes. I was happy with how it all looked so I'm sure you'll be pleased too!

 

Also, if you're going to do a welcome bonfire you should know that in addition to the open bar and DJ, they provide all the ingredients for s'mores! I didn't know that and had brought a bunch of s'more fixings with me. Wish I'd saved that packing space!

 

Good luck all, can't wait to see how your weddings turn out!

[renatakramarz]

oh my gosh $50 that is so reasonable... I read your planning thread and you did such a great job putting all of this together!! Did you ship all your stuff down there prior to getting there or did you just check extra luggage? Did you use all of their vendors or did you go with outside ones?

[renatakramarz]

do sea winds have a website? Who would i contact to get a quote? Did you chose to go that route because they allow children or was there other factors?

[alexisinjamaica]

Originally Posted by renatakramarz 

 

oh my gosh $50 that is so reasonable... I read your planning thread and you did such a great job putting all of this together!! Did you ship all your stuff down there prior to getting there or did you just check extra luggage? Did you use all of their vendors or did you go with outside ones?

 

Thank you! I brought everything with me and checked extra luggage. We flew American, so we were allowed 1 checked bag each, 1 carry on, and 1 personal item. We both packed all of our shoes and clothes into our carry ons (a feat, but doable since my clothes were sundresses and bathing suits) and then we each had a garment bag as our "personal item." His had his suit, mine had my dress. They let me hang my dress and were super nice to us on the flights. We checked 2 big plastic bins (taped these up really well) for free and then paid $40 to check the third. All in all, pretty easy. Everything got there and I think out of everything only one bowl was broken, but I had a backup so it was fine. Oh I also had my parents check one huge suitcase of stuff. That got there fine as well.