Finishing Touches is now available

I, like most of you, was very disappointed by the finishing touches. I still didn't get the flower options from my WC in Miami. At this point we decided we are keeping things simple. We will give our guests there bags when they arrive, we are going to have our "reception dinner" at one of the restaurants & since we only have 12 people including us that shouldn't be an issue. I would rather spend my money on a massage than $175 flowers you can't even bring back to the US.

 

Chrissy

Hmm, I wonder if they will pass out the OOT bags at check-in (at no charge) so that they aren't "delivering" them to their rooms

QUOTE]

 

We're just having our family members call us when they get there and we're going to greet them at their rooms with their gifts. Our party is small too- 17 of us total. Most of them are traveling together too so it won't be an inconvenience for us to welcome them...

 

The most frustrating thing for me is them not telling us this stuff upfront. I feel like if you don't ask, you won't know. There's nothing that has all their fees in writing.

BeachBride, I was told by my WC that they wouldn't pass them out at Check in and that the only option was the $3/room delivery charge but who knows. Also, not sure if this is true or not but I was told it would be $50/item set up from the outside for both the ceremony and the reception. Hope this helps...who knows if it is true though...

Monica tried convincing Sterling and I to go with the full reception because she can't guarantee that our party will be able to be seated together at one of the restaurant for dinner together. There are only 17 of us total. So I asked her what would happen if we wanted to eat dinner together any other night, they couldn't accomidate that? She couldn't really give me an answer. I think she realized I called her on her "untruth".

It's hard to keep everything in perspective. You just really need to think about what you're going to remember about your wedding 50 years from now. What was important, that you got the flowers you wanted or a massage that helped you relax and enjoy your vacation... I vote for the massage!!!!

I'm with you Chrissy. I was told the same thing about the restaurants and kind of feel pushed into paying extra for the reception. Interesting! I mean, what are they going to do, people have to the right to eat. Why wouldn't you be able to make a "reservation" to all sit together?

 

Anyway, I am with you on the massage. I am not going to fret about the flowers. I didnt even think that I wont be able to bring them home anyway!

 

I am going to have my brother put out our decor. I don't care if they get pissy. I am in a spot now where I dont want added on fees so I feel like I am just going to handle the details within the family...... i wont even involve the WC with my personal giftbags or decor.

I got that with your post Good looking out Maureen!! The advice that you give on here helps us out alot!!!
Thank you!

I just sent the WC I have been working with an email about the OOT bags so I will let you know what she says.

 

As for the additional costs popping up, I have just made sure to ask every question I can think of to get the answers in writing so that they can't change anything on me in the future! I am pretty sure both my TA and the WC never want to hear from me again, but I don't want any surprised coming up!

Kelly, my WC tried to tell me the same thing about the dinner reservations. At this time, there's only about 8 of us and she keeps pressuring me into a full reception package. However, since there's less than 10, it costs a TON to have anything more than the half hour reception. I'm not pleased, since when I originally looked into Sandals, their reps kept telling me that everything was included, and I could have as large (and long) of a party as I wanted.

At this point, I've been rethinking using the Sandals resort we're booked at, at all. I'm tempted to go with another company.

oh no! don't to that! well, at least if you do, you can still get most of your money back. When I first started looking at locations, I went onto beaches.com and asked the agents questions over instant messagner. I specifically asked them if there were any other charges other than the government fees for us to get married there. They only went into detail regarding the receptions, nothing about the extra crap I'm finding out about now.

I chose a destination wedding because I can't afford a wedding at home. With the size of our families, a destination wedding with immediate family is all that I can afford. I can't afford all these added expenses that they didn't tell me about. Life is too short and there are more important things than to worry about than a wedding... I want to focus on having a good marriage instead of worrying about how we're going to pay off the wedding once it's over.

I agree with Maureen- what I find is that the miscommunication is in how the questions are being asked and then assumptions are being made. It's understandable as most brides have not planned a destination wedding before!

 

Generally, when brides are asking if there are any other fees to get married, they mean- tell me all the costs pertaining to the wedding and reception with all of the options available-the res. agent who is not a wedding specialists is hearing and taking figuratively what the bride is asking- what other fees are involved to get married- well to get married it is just the govermental fees based on length of stay and room category- for the Beautiful Beginnings package. They get the minister, a pre chosen bouquet/boutiniere, cake & champagne, the location, a photo. To get married that is all that you need plus a few extras.

 

The confusion is as i stated above because the brides are thinking about the reception and adding upgrades to the wedding -not just the actual wedding/legal being married portion!

 

Just like with any at home or destination wedding- there are extra costs involved depending on what "extra's" and upgrades you want.

 

If you are doing a reception- even at an all inclusive resort- does not mean that you get a private diner and party. There are costs to the resort to provide a private event -mostly in terms of additional labor. You need someone ( the wedding coordinator) to work with the food & beverage staff in arranging the dinner (ordering food, prepping, cooking and serving) plus setting up the location-tables, dinner ware ect and cleaning up afterwards. This all takes man power- seperate from what the resort has allocated for the regular guests and thus there is a cost to it.

 

Hop that explained things a little better!

the