Heidi

Hello! I know I'm not a Mexico bride...but I am a Riu bride (Jamaica) and from reading your posts, things sound VERY similar. Mind if I join you in this thread??

I REALLY can't decide on this one and could use some advice. Originally, we were going to try to have an at-home wedding, and I had asked 6 of my friends to be bridesmaids - 2 high school friends; 2 college friends; my sister and his sister. Well now that plans have changed and it's a DW, I'm thinking simpler would be better and I think I just want my sister and his sister. BUT I think it's too late to un-invite the other BMs (1 in particular is SUPER excited about it). What do you think

Quote: Originally Posted by kay726 Congratulations!! Some of my guests are staying at Beaches Boscobel for my wedding on Saturday so I will check everything out and take some pictures. I hear it is wonderful though. If I forget to post them , please email me at [email protected]. Wow! Your wedding is really coming up!!! Have a WONDERFUL time; can't wait to hear how it all went!!! (If you stop by the Riu, make sure to take some pics there too! )

Some of these YouTube videos might help... Riu Ocho Rios: YouTube - Clubhotel Riu Ocho Rios Grand Lido Braco: YouTube - Todd and Jennifer's Wedding in Jamaica San Souci Resort: YouTube - A Christmas Wedding in Jamaica, The Sites, Part One

Great job Toby!!! We're all proud of you!

Great Idea!!! I'm ready to put my smile on!!! Have you ever laughed so hard that milk came out your nose? Not milk, but iced tea yes. Have you ever been scuba diving? bunjee jumping? sky diving? no/no/no! But I have been snorkeling a couple of times! I'm too scared to scuba, after Open Water; don't trust the bungee (but would love to try it!) and would LOVE to sky dive, though I'm pretty sure I'd chicken out. Tell us three things about yourself the rest of the world doesn't know (well, I'll just do 3 things the people on this forum don't know!): 1. I am slightly obsessed with Lord of the Rings. I have read the books 5 times and watched the movies a countless number of times. (which may explain why I named my cats after a pair of hobbits!!) 2. I own not one, not two, but *blush* THREE Backstreet Boys CDs!!! Two were from my High School days, so I have an excuse there. But embarassingly enough - I bought the latest one last year and secretly love it 3. I have a thing for SciFi - the channel. If I'm bored, I'll turn on SciFi and watch whatever WEIRD movie they have on, and no matter how ridiculous the plot or incredibly odd the topic, I always get hooked on it. Want an example? I watched all of freaking "Sabretooth!" Anyone seen that one?? I should get a medal for sitting through it! (Though Josh Holloway did make it MUCH easier! ) But I did find a series on there that is one of my favorites - Battlestar Galactica. Anyone seen that one? It's great!!! What is the weirdest nickname you've ever been given from anyone? Hmmmm....nothing too weird actually. I'll go with Joe. I don't know why, but in Middle School a group of us wrote a bunch of silly short stories about Billy, Bob & Joe (each of us being one of them). It's pretty funny to go back and read them now! When was the last time you laughed so hard that you cried? I can't remember...probably some TV show or movie. I have a great sense of humor though, so I laugh at pretty much anything. People say that if you want to feel funny, just tell me a joke & you'll feel like a comedian!

The Caves is WAY outside of my budget... but here's some info & traveler reviews from TripAdvisor: The Caves Hotel - Negril - The Caves Hotel Reviews - TripAdvisor

He is not an American citizen...his passport is from Trinidad. But I'll probably just put American and make a note somewhere that he is actually from Trinidad.

Hey Carly... How are things going??

Another late welcome and congratulations!!!

that is a beautiful ring!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Christine YouTube - t&a: wedding first dance - surprise breakdance my nana sent this to me...so funny haha, that was too funny!!! though Reggie is a breakdancer, and will 100% for sure be breakdancing the night away!!! I feel the need to show off my man's skills here's his windmills: MySpace Videos: My Windmills for you by R-[Edgy]aring provocative or trendsetting

I have oatmeal with berries... to save time, I get frozen berries & instant oatmeal (still the stove kind cause I like that better than the microwave kind - but it only takes a minute or 2)

That place looks GORGEOUS!!!

that is so great!! there are some nice looking dresses on there too!

Hi!! I'm trying to fill out the 'confirmation request' information from the Riu, and I've run into a problem (and they take FOREVER to respond to questions!!!). My fiance and his father are both of Trinidad nationality. This is not a choice on their pull-down menu, and I cannot leave it blank. Has anyone run into this problem & know what to do? THANKS!!!!!

Congratulations!!!!

Well, we FINALLY made a decision! We will be getting married at the Riu Ocho Rios on Friday, April 4, 2008 at 4pm!! I'm so RELIEVED to have that decision done! Save the Dates, here I come!!!

I promise, no commission from the Riu here, haha, but here are a couple pics: And wedding locations: The new Gazebo on the beach: My Photo Gallery - New Beach Gazebo with Basic included arch - Powered by PhotoPost Beach w/ free arch: My Photo Gallery - Free Pkg Coconut Arch Included in all packages - Powered by PhotoPost (from Riu's photographer), the Gazebo off of the beach: (from Riu's photographer), upgraded arch on the beach:

I COMPLETELY know what you're going through (minus the multiple TAs). Some family members just NOT like the DW idea at all. But we reminded everyone that DW means MUCH less money than a wedding at home. And since we're paying for it on our own, that's key! Look for my responses below in green. Quote: Originally Posted by carlymcmullen Hello everyone, We want to send an open invite to all of our guests that we will have at the reception back home after, but we don't expect anywhere near that many to show up. I think we'll have between 50-60 and my fiance thinks 80. My fiance and I are doing the same thing...we will be inviting somewhere around 100-120 people. I don't think more than 50 will come, but everyone we've told says if their finances are OK they'll be there. We are having trouble finding a resort that will book us. I feel like having this destination wedding has been nothing but a headache from the start, but I am so not ready to have the traditional wedding (not at all what i want!). Can any of you offer suggestions? We wanted all-inclusive, and children friendly. Also a tropical looking place, not a condo/apt building look. And obviously we wanted something affordable for our guests, @1,000/pp. We're PROBABLY going to the Riu Ocho Rios. The Riu's in general are more affordable than other area reasorts (Beaches, etc), but still all-inclusive, child-friendly and very nice - which are the reasons why we're probably booking there. Affordablity is KEY for us....Riu rates for 2008 arent' being officially published until mid-May. My TA is working on getting them for us. I'll let you know as soon as I do! My TA recommended a few other resorts, but I can't remember them off the top of my head. I will look them up when I get home from work and let you know what they were. Also, on affordability - Jamaica resort rates DRAMATICALLY decrease in April, which is why our date will be in April. Would you consider changing the month? Here are the problems I am encountering: 1. I am already on my 3rd travel agent (the 1st was with destinationweddings.com, and she just wasn't helpful at all, the 2nd was a mall travel agent, who kept telling us that we should get rid of the kids (we have 4 kids in our immediate family and in the wedding) b/c if we got rid of the kids it would open up our options and she wouldn't tell us any other options then Jamaica, now the 3rd seems great and all, but we keep submitting our information to resorts and then she comes back with problems, so i don't know if she is just not very good, or if the problems are valid!). I work with a TA who is the mother of a co-worker. She is based out of Allentown area, and is a leading TA of the Caribbean. She specialized in cruises AND destination weddings. I would be more than happy to give you her info. She does require a $250 retainer fee, but that money gets applied to the wedding in the end. My TA is working COMPLETELY within our budget, not pressuring us to increase it or anything, she really is great. 2. We have already changed our date once (we originally wanted Feb 17th, but since that was Valentine's day weekend, we moved it back to avoid the increase in price). Again, consider April/May when rates will decrease. This month (May 2007) Riu has rooms for $89pp!! 3. And we are on our 3rd resort! I am almost to the point where I am done with it all, but that is just not realistic. (Originally we were goin to book Sunset Beach Resort, but found pics and weren't crazy about the look of the resort. Then we tried to book Sunset at the Palms, but they couldn't accommodate all of our guests. Now, we tried Beaches Boscobel, but they won't give us a block of space since the weekend we want to get married is the weekend after Presidents day!) Don't get too frustrated - the right resort is out there!!! Also, check out Reviews of vacations, hotels, resorts, vacation and travel packages - TripAdvisor - they've been VERY helpful to me. They have forums on there (you'll probably recognize some posts from me, haha!) where people will give you 100% honest feedback. Also, trip advisor shows you guest photos, NOT the doctored up resort photos on websites. 4. I got the latest bit of bad news yesterday morning, so while I am complaining to my mom about why is this so damn hard, she springs on me that her and my dad might not be able to go anyway. She proceeded to give some bs excuses, but who needs to hear that on top of all the other issues! Going crazy, any suggestions? Carly

WOW!!! that was incredible....

Quote: Originally Posted by Watersreid Hi ladies, I have been engaged for over 2 months and still haven't decided on a location! I would like to an all inclusive resort somewhere easy for everyone to get to from the US (I'm expecting 50-80 guests!). I am finding myself searching everywhere and really need to narrow it down. I'm all for suggestions! We are planning on April or May of 2008. P I've been engaged since Christmas Eve and still haven't completely decided!!! We're probably doing it in Jamaica (though I really want Belize now too!), but definitely in April 2008. April and May are off-season for the Caribbean, so you'd get some good deals there. I can only speak for Jamaica (which greatly discounts rates in April & May) and Belize (May would be cheaper). I don't know what kind of budget you have (we're on a tight one), so we're looking at the Riu resorts. They're all inclusive but still affordable, and we want as many of our guests as possible to be able to come so affordability is key for us. Our front runner: Riu Ocho Rios Hotel, Jamaicas Newest All Inclusive Resort Look forward to hearing where you decide to go...let me know if I can be any help! (And maybe you can help me decide, hahaha!)

Quote: Originally Posted by LadyP That is on Ardmore ave right. My son goes to Barbizon on Greenfield. They are never open when I try to go. I think it is by appointment on Sat. What part of philly are you in Ann Baliey's (at least the one I was talking about) is in Doylestown.

There are several stores that sell just bridesmaid dresses - I looked at a bunch for white bridesmaid dresses...that could be another option for you (and it'd save $$$)

When I went dress shopping, I went to Harleysville Bridal (on Rt 63 in Harleysville) - had some affordable dresses as well as the extravaggant ones. I also checked out Bridal Town in Collegeville (I don't recommend!!!), Ann Bailey's (VERY expensive!!!) and ended up getting my dress at David's Bridal in Conshy (where I never thought I would!!!) - the price was just right, and I really did love the gowns.