beckys98

Hi @@Hbinning - I got married at Iberostar Rose Hall Suites June 2015 and I can partially answer your question. The included reception is semi-private, not private. There are quite a few options to make part or all of the night private. A lot of brides use the included semi-private dinner and then do a private bonfire on the beach with a DJ and bar after dinner. Or you can rent the disco for private use from 9-11. You can rent a restaurant to have a completely private reception, which is what we did for our 73 guests. You have to have a minimum of 40 guests for restaurant rental. I think they have changed the pricing slightly from last year, but we paid a flat $800 for the rental of the restaurant which included the meal, beer and wine. We added the full bar per person per hour. The reception ended at 10pm. I did ask how much it would cost to extend it an hour, which I think was only a $200 fee for the staff, but when you add in the extra $190 per hour for the DJ and another hour of bar for everyone, it got to be a REALLY expensive hour! You could also do the whole thing dinner and dancing on the beach, but if you have dinner on the beach they require you to rent a tent and that increases your costs pretty substantially. Hope that helps a little!

Great question! We did our wedding on a Thursday so that it was out of the way and we could relax the rest of the weekend with our guests (most of our guests came Tuesday or Wednesday through Sunday). We did our wedding coordinator meeting on Tuesday morning (2 days before) but there would have been absolutely no consequence for us if we had the meeting the day before. The coordinators do weddings every single day so they are experts at it, and I also was pretty low key and didn't bring an abundance of stuff with me that needed to be explained or set up. So we ran through the details one last time and that was it! I wasn't really relaxed and "present" with my guests until after the wedding and I really was so excited for the day after when we just rolled out of bed and regrouped at the pool with all of our guests with no agenda or responsibility. And I wasn't worried about tan lines or bloating

I agree - It is just *different* stress than a traditional wedding! Having a DW was DEFINITELY the right choice for us and I wouldn't change it for the world for a million reasons, but if you are type A at all it can be difficult trusting in selections without ever seeing your resort or venue for yourself. You put a fair amount of faith in the wedding coordinators and have to learn to let certain things go. And then, of course, there is bound to be some drama from family and guests around travel and what not. Not to discourage you! But I feel like it is best to be prepared for it as you dive into planning. This forum is a great place for support, ideas and encouragement.

You can use other flower vendors. They just have to leave the flowers at the front and the wedding coordinators will set them up. If the florist actually comes onsite to do things, then you get charged the vendor fee. we used Chantal from Floral Fantasies and loves our flowers (we only did centerpieces). Tai Flora literally took 2 months to respond to me and I also tried Jans and they were unresponsive. Other brides have liked Jans, which I think is now the preferred florist for Iberostar Rose Hall Beach, but I gave my money to the florist with the best service!

I was married in Jamaica in June - while I didn't have to provide a divorce degree, we simply scanned notarized COPIES of our birth certificates and passports and emailed them to the wedding coordinators. The notary included a letter stating that he saw the original copies and basically we are who we say we are. We never had to provide originals and had no issue getting our license.

Congratulations! I got married this past June in Montego Bay at Iberostar Rose Hall Suites and would definitely recommend it. They have a less expensive resort adjacent called Iberostar Rose Hall Beach that also gets rave reviews from brides. My husband is also from Jamaica so happy to answer any questions about either!

I did not! But nothing to worry about. It is gorgeous and we had no complaints with the resort! I was just fantasizing about finding a last minute deal to go back

Happy planning, ladies! I got married at IRHS this past June. Happy to answer any questions!

Hmmm..I'm not sure. You mean for centerpieces? I brought vases with candles in them for our centerpieces, but I would bet they have some sort of vase you could use, depending on how many you need.

No not at all! We had 4 kids in the group and there is still a kids club and stuff for them to do. But the place isn't specifically geared toward families so it was a nice mix.

Hi @@courtneylauren17! I got married at Suites, but which restaurant you can use for your reception is based on how many guests you have. So basically they'll choose for you, which is good and bad. How many guests do you have? It should say on your paperwork which restaurant fits your number of guests, and that would leave room for a DJ/dancing I'm sure. I can send you some pictures of ours, even though it was at Suites. We had 67 guests. We had chair sashes, tall floral centerpieces on half of the tables, hurricane vase candles on the others, and framed table numbers. And that was it! My advice is keep it simple. People are so excited to be in Jamaica and having so much fun that they don't even notice. The expectations for traditional weddings are pretty much out the window for destination weddings so you can do whatever you want. I did not want to lug a ton of stuff down there - I already felt like what we brought was a pain!

Hi @@ikm! I got married at Suites in June this year. Honestly, I don't think you can go wrong with either resort for your wedding. Your day will be great at either one! So, in my opinion, it comes down to your guests and what you think will work best for them. Suites is "nicer" with more restaurants (plus you can access everything at Beach) better liquor, nicer rooms and a more upscale vibe. But that comes at a cost to your guests, of course. We are in our 30s, as are most of our friends, and many of our guests don't have children yet (and those who do didn't bring them!) and this was their vacation. We thought about our guests and what types of vacations they normally take and knew they'd prefer something a little bit nicer without breaking the bank. So suites was the right fit for us. It is still very reasonably priced for what you get compared to other resort brands. Or at least it was in June! But if your group is younger or you have many people challenged financially, then I don't think you should hesitate to book Beach. The wedding day will be really similar at both places and every single bride I've come across has had rave reviews of both resorts. Good luck and happy planning! I'm happy to answer any questions about Iberostar that will help. I know how stressful and overwhelming it can seem sometimes!

I got married June 11 and got the certificate I think August 20. So about 2 months later!

Oh also I would say may sure the resort you choose has a nice indoor back up option that you would be happy with. I did that for ours too because I didn't want to get stuck inside in an ugly banquet room with no windows. Ours had a stunning grand staircase off the lobby as a backup location and, as much as we dreamed of getting married with our toes in the sand, we would have been completely fine with that alternative. But I've seen some brides who had to have their ceremony indoors and were really unhappy with what was available. So just be sure to vet that with your resort so you're comfortable with it!

It is definitely true that you may get spectacular weather. However, my husband grew up in Jamaica and locals will tell you May and October are definitely their rainiest months. We were there in May before we had set our wedding date and it rained all day everyday, so we picked June instead of May because I was scared of May! So my point is you just have to be comfortable with the risk, which is slightly higher than normal in October, and be okay with it maybe raining. If rain will ruin your trip, maybe go for a less risky time.