Jamaica08bride

His prices start at $5800 which includes a travel credit.

If anyone is looking for a great photographer I would highly recommend Baltazar Photography . Chris Baltazar photographed our wedding at RIU Ocho Rios, Jamaica in May and the photographs are nothing short of breathtaking. We have received so many compliments on how stunning our pictures are. Throughout the whole process Chris was very professional and a joy to work with. Chris was extremely responsive to any questions we had for him during the process. He was able to effortlessly mingle with all of our guests and captured all of the wonderful memories of our wedding day. Chris is located in the Washington DC area but is willing to travel for destination weddings. Please check out Chris’ website and the link to a few of our wedding pictures that I posted on the forum. Washington DC, Destination Wedding, Maryland, :b | Chris Baltazar Destination Wedding Photographer http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t21860

Hey Monique! Nice to see you on the forum. I'm not on it as much since I don't always have internet access at work but these ladies are a wealth of information as I'm sure you already know.

Thank you! I'm not sure what the brand was but I ordered them from nordstroms.com. I know they were less than $50 but if I can find the receipt or an email with the details I will give you all the info.

Thank you. We made all of the menu cards, programs, and OOT bags. For the menu cards and programs we used a blank beige invitation card that we bought at Michael's. I think it was a box of 100 for $15. For the programs we bought the fans from Oriental Trading Co. and the ribbon from Michael's (out of the clearnce section for $.25 each!). We wrapped the handles in ribbon and used a small hole punch and some more ribbon to attach the program to the fan. Besides my fingers being a little stiff after wrapping all the fan handles it was a very easy project. For the menu cards basically the same thing printed the text on the cards and then bought some green metallic paper to dress it up a little. We used double-sided tape to attach the menu cards to the paper. It came out better than the glue. We used a little ribbon to attach the name cards to the menus. The name cards were 3 different kinds of paper. We printed the names on the leftover beige cards that we had and cut them out. We used double-sided tape to put them all together and then a small hole punch to put the ribbon through. I reccomend using an Xacto knife because it made the cut paper look a lot cleaner than scissors. We bought out OOT bags for $.99 each from cheaptotes.com and iron on transfer paper from Staples. My husband designed the logo that we used on everything. Oh and you notice I say we, because i had him tying ribbons and cutting paper too. I was not about to do all that by myself! I got all of my ideas from this forum. You can get a lot of good ideas from these ladies. My husband wanted to get rid of the internet because everytime I would get on the forum I would see a new great idea and want to do it. Quote: Originally Posted by MoKe0506 Hi Niki, I love the photos, you look beautiful. It looks like everything turned out great. You used the same travel agent that I am using, they actually emailed me some of your photos. I was like hey, she's on the BDW board. I have a quick question, where did you get all your materials for the programs and menus, etc? I want to make them myself and I love what you did. Also, your OOT bags, where did you get those? I am going to use you as an inspiration, I really like what you did. Congratulations again!!! Did you book the steal band for your reception as well?

Sorry about that. Try this one and for the event name type in either Erik Green or Tiffany Sharpe Find the Perfect Wedding and Portrait Photographer on Pictage.com

During the planning process I began to second guess if I even wanted to do a destination wedding. I have a large and very close family and people started dropping out one at a time. At the time I questioned was I making the right decision and how could I have my wedding without my family there. Well I did and it was FABULOUS! I only had 3 family members there and a lot of friends and we had a blast. When we got back and everyone saw the pictures they were kicking themselves for not going. We had even talked about having a AHR for everyone that couldn't make it and we scrapped that idea. We had our dream wedding and like a few of the ladies already said everyone that was supposed to be there was there and that is how it was meant to be. No matter what you do or how accommodating you are you just can't please everyone so as long as you and your fiance are happy with your decisions that is all that matters.

Your pics are great! I know you're husband will love them. I want to do a BD photo album for my husband as well.

Thank you for all of your responses. I am a slacker and have been neglecting my BDW responsibilities. Here is the link to my pro pics. Be warned there are a ton of them. For the event name type in either Erik Green or Tiffany Sharpe Find the Perfect Wedding and Portrait Photographer on Pictage.com Here is the link to the slideshow as well. You have to install a plug in to view it so it's not the easiest thing in the world. If you have a Mac (like I do) it will not work. So you can imagine what I was going through when I got the link and couldn't watch it. http://baltazarfotos.com/shows/green

Yes, he told me he met you. How did everyone get to talk to you but me? lol But do not let him fool you he used to read the forum occasionally at work. He would talk about me for always being on there but when he had a question the first place he went looking was BDW.

My husband wore a linen suit. It was pretty windy on our wedding day so he was fine during the ceremony but he took the jacket off for dinner and dancing.

Quote: Originally Posted by Linzibella Thanks so much for sharing your great review and pictures. It looks like it was a beautiful wedding and you looked gorgeous! I love the shot of dinner at Mammee Bay. You mentioned that you brought decorations with you. Did you use them for the tables at the reception? I couldn't quite see what they were. Some people have said that there isn't much room on the table for decorations, so I was wondering what yours were like. Do you have a close up picture? Also, it looks like you had tables set up outside of the Seagrape. Did that cost anything extra? Thanks! Yes, we had a few decorations for the dinner tables. Initially I was going to do some type of centerpiece but after seeing a picture of the tables there was just no room for that. So we went with crystal candle holders with taper candles, rose petals, crystals, and table runners to give the all white linen some color. We also made menu and place cards for each guest. No, there was no charge for the tables set up at the Seagrape. I will post a pic of the table decorations as soon as I find one.

You look beautiful and your pictures are great. Good find on the photographer.

My pastor from home came to Jamaica to participate in our ceremony. His flight was delayed so he was a little late but the Jamaican minister was very accomodating. I think legally the Jamaican minister has to do the exchanging of the vows and signing the documents but outside of that he will allow an outside minister to read a bible verse, speak, say a prayer or whatever else you would like them to do. The minister does not attend the rehearsal so you may want to have your uncle meet with him right before the ceremony so they know who is going to do what.

Everything looks amazing!! I know you put a lot of thought into each and every detail and it really shows. I'm so glad to hear that your hair worked out. I remember seeing you on your wedding day and wondering who did your hair because it looked great. I cannot say enough about your pics they are gorgeous! I'm amazed at how you look great in EVERY picture. I also made a small cameo in your slide show. I am with the girls who are standing on the balcony watching the wedding. I'm the shadow sitting down. The next time I'm home we should get together. I will have to bring my mom too because she just loved you.

I got it in a bridal shop in Leesburg, VA but it is a Maggie Sottero gown so most places that carry that line can order them.

Quote: Originally Posted by MoKe0506 Wow, everything looks great! You were a beautiful bride. I love your pics and the pic of Mammee is really pretty. It's gorgeous when it is lit up like that! I'm glad to hear that everything went so well for, Congratulations! What time was your wedding, and how did you find the privacy on the beach during the ceremony? Did Chandlyn stop by at anytime during your reception to make sure that everything was ok? Thanks! Our wedding was at 4pm. The gazebo is located at the very end of the property so it's not as crowded as other parts of the beach but there are still people there. People took pictures but everyone was very respectful and did not intrude on the ceremony. After everything was over some of our guest were saying that there were people hanging out in the back watching but again it wasn't a bad thing. As the bride I think you'll be oblivious to a lot of it. To be honest I don't know if Chandlyn came by the reception. The last time I remember seeing her was after the ceremony when we were taking pictures and the guest were getting their rum punch. I think she may have stopped by Mammee Bay when we were cutting the cake, but I really don't remember. We didn't have any big issues so I guess if we did I would've known that she wasn't there. One of my mom's friends was playing wedding coordinator and helping to move things along so that helped a lot.

Quote: Originally Posted by BeckyN Congrats!!! You look so beautiful! Glad to hear everything went well... it all looks amazing. Thanks for a wonderful review! Just curious if there is anything -looking back - that you wish you would not have done? No, I can't think of anything that I wish I would not have done. We went with the free package and didn't add too many things so that kept the cost down. I think all of our decorations we brought were used and we didn't have too many extras. Our guest enjoyed the OOT bags and everyone used the mugs. I know when we got there and saw the disco we didn't think it was that bad at all so we thought about changing back to the disco to save money. In the end we're both glad that we spent the extra money and went with the Seagrape because it was a great setting.

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We got married at the Riu Ocho Rios on May 9, 2008 at 4pm. So here are some of the details… We arrived on Tuesday, May 6. The bus ride was not as bad as I had anticipated. Our driver was very friendly and informative so that made the time go by a lot faster. We arrived at the resort, which is just beautiful, and checked in with no problems. We asked about an upgrade and she went in the back and then came back and said we had been upgraded. We were excited to hear that but when we got to our room it was a jr. suite which is what we booked. I called the front desk and they told me that I would have to meet with Chandlyn about being upgraded. Coincidentally on our way up to our room we were waiting for the elevator (holding the dress) and Chandlyn walks up and introduces herself we gave her our names and room number and she said that she would call to set up a meeting. Within 5 minutes of us being in the room she called and scheduled an appointment for noon the next day. She also told me that there were no full suites available that day but she would check again the next day. We never got upgraded, however, we also never asked about it again. After the first day we decided that we didn’t feel like moving even if there was something available so we were fine just staying in the room we were in. We met with Chandlyn on Wednesday, May 7. She was right on time and the meeting lasted maybe 20 minutes. She went down her checklist and we went down ours and that was about it. We brought our own flowers and decorations so she told us to bring those to her office when we got a chance. She confirmed what we had requested online and asked if we wanted any additional things. I asked the few questions I had and she answered them and we were done. Chandlyn is pleasant but I can only imagine how busy she is since I personally saw at least 7 brides in the first 4 days we were there. She is straight to the point and I can appreciate that because I am the same way. So leaving the meeting I felt at ease but I can see how some brides may feel rushed or like they may need a little more from her. I think it’s just a personal style preference. That same day the majority of our guest checked in. Almost everyone in out party was upgraded to a jr. suite. I think there were a few problems with some of the rooms but they were all handled to everyone’s satisfaction. I had a hair trial at 3pm that day and that went well. Audry put my hair up in 10 minutes, and it looked great. I made sure to ask if she was going to be the one to do my hair on the actual day and she assured me that she would. We had our rehearsal on Thursday, May 8 I think it was at either 5 or 5:30. Chandlyn walked us through the ceremony and that was about it. It was quick and easy. We had our rehearsal dinner at St. Anne’s that evening at 6:30. Originally we were just going to do the bridal party and parents because I thought we were limited on the amount of seats we could reserve. At the meeting with Chandlyn she said “yeah, no problem mon. I can do a semi-private area for all 40.” So we were able to have a big dinner with all of our guest. We had a great time at dinner and I’m glad that everyone was able to participate. Anyways back to the wedding, The morning of the wedding I had breakfast and hung out on the beach for a little while. When I came up to my room I noticed it was a little warm, I checked the AC and it was on 68 but no cold air was coming out. I checked the patio door, because if the door is open the air turns off, but it was shut. We turned the temp all the way down and the fan all the way to high and nothing. Great, just what I needed. I went down to the front desk and told them that the AC wasn’t working. I told them that I was getting married that day and there would be a lot of people in the room so if they could do it ASAP I would appreciate it. I went and got a few drinks to calm my nerves and then went to my 1:00 hair appt. Audry was there as promised. She did my hair and it was even better than the trial. I was really concerned about what was going to happen with my hair but it all worked out just fine. When I got back to my room it was freezing!!! My friend did my make-up and she did a great job. The room was crazy with about 10 people in there at once, but we all managed to get dressed and Chandlyn called around 3:50 to see if we were ready. She came to the room and escorted us to the gazebo. When we got in view of the gazebo I saw that everyone was just standing around, the groomsmen were sitting down and no one was ready. So I told her that I was going to stand back there until they were ready. That’s actually when I saw Marsha. Chandlyn went down and got everyone organized and we started. When I got down the aisle the first thing the minister did was introduce himself and shake my hand which I thought was funny. The ceremony was very nice and in my head it seemed like it was 5 seconds long, it went by so fast. The minister did a totally different order than what we rehearsed but it wasn’t a big deal. The steel drum band was excellent and although I didn’t get any rum punch everyone else seemed to enjoy it. After we took pictures we went to Mammee Bay to get a sneak preview of the dinner set-up. We were really impressed. Chandlyn did a great job with the decorations. My mom bought all the decorations so I had no idea how everything was supposed to look so I just gave them all to Chandlyn and asked her to make it look nice and she really did. My mom even said the way she set it up was better than she had even envisioned. Dinner was good. It took them a while to get everyone’s food so by the time the last people got their food the first people were done but it wasn’t a big deal. We had our champagne toast and cut the cake at dinner. The cake was a three layer white cake with maybe a strawberry filling. It was good and more than big enough to feed all 40 of our guest. After dinner we had dancing at the Seagrape. This was the best decision we made and I thank all the other brides who suggested it, you could not have been more right. We hired the DJ and he played great music. It got a little hot after a while but no one was complaining. At one point my husband and I were dancing and talking and we decided that after the last dance we would go jump in the ocean. The only person we told was the photographer. So after the last dance we told everyone to walk down to the water for a group picture and as we were walking Erik and I just took off running and jumped in. Everyone was yelling and scrambling for their cameras. I think I fell about 3 times trying to get out because the dress was so heavy. It was the perfect way to end the day. The RIU is a great resort. I met a lot of interesting people there and all of our guest are still calling talking about what a great time they had. The food was just OK for me. I did not go hungry by any means but some things were not so tasty. I think once you’re there you’ll find the things that you like and stick with that. I only ate at the Japanese restaurant and I thought it was good. My mom ate at a few more restaurants after I left and she said all of them were good. The staff is extremely friendly and accommodating. I can not say enough about Jamaican hospitality. We had no issues the whole time we were there. We brought our own photographer with us and had no problems at all. In fact one of the guys from the photoshop came to the dinner and the dancing and he was talking to our photographer. My first though was oh no we’re going to have a problem, but they were chatting and laughing and the photoshop guy came up to us and said that our photographers cameras were a lot better than his so we should have some good pictures. All in all the RIU was the perfect place for us to get married. I have nothing but positive things to say about it and our whole experience. Once I got there I just decided that I was going to relax and enjoy every second of the experience. I did not stress about anything and everything worked out better than I planned. I know that the odds of me ever taking a vacation with all of my friends and family again are slim so the time that was spent with them and the memories that we made are priceless. So just remember to truly enjoy the experience and the people that are part of it.

Congratulations Lizz!! I'm glad to hear that everything went well for you. I think my husband and I got a chance to dance at your reception. Well not really, we were at Sandals next door and our room was right by the Plantation so Friday night while we were packing we could hear all the music from the reception so we were dancing around our room.

Thanks. My mom's friend did all the flowers for me. She made the boutinierres, and the arrangements to decorate the gazebo. She brought the flowers for the bouquets and we made them at the resort the Wednesday before the wedding. I have a hot glue gun burn on my leg as a memory of that night! I will try to post some pics this evening. It can be a pain in the butt trying to get all of that stuff there. I had my mom buy some of the decorations in CA and bring them with her so that helped a lot. Her friend brought all of the floral decorations and the rest of the stuff we divided amongst friends and family here. We ended up with two checked bags each and lucky for us they did not weigh them at the airport because I know they were all over weight.

I had a very positive experience with Chandlyn at the ROR. Prior to our arrival I had only corresponded with Chandlyn twice. Once to set up and confirm everything (date, time, dinner, reception, steel band, etc.) and a second time to confirm that she received our documents. I had read on the forum that she was hard to get in contact wth so I really had no idea what to expect. After we had checked in we ran into Chandlyn as we were getting on the elevator. She saw us holding the dress and introduced herself. She asked us for our room number and said she would call to schedule a meeting. She called within 10 minutes and set up a meeting for the following day. The meeting went very smooth and lasted maybe 25 minutes at the most. We had brought our own flowers, decorations, and photographer so we didn't have to deal too much with those details. We knew exactly what we wanted (thanks to all the good tips we got from this forum) and she was very accomodating. The next day we dropped off all of our decorations and supplies in her office. I seperated everything into specific bags (ceremony decorations, dinner decorations, etc.) but I did not give her any specific guidance. I remember just telling her here is all of our stuff, you do this everyday so I trust you to make it look nice. Well she really came through. The way she decorated everything looked great. Our guest were really impressed with the dinner decorations. My mom was really concerned that the restaurant (Mammee Bay) was just going to look the way it did every other day we were there. She was really impressed with what Chandlyn did and how she was able to transform our area into something special for us. All in all I would suggest using this forum as much as possible to get some of your questions answered so that way when the time comes to talk with Chandlyn you know excatly what you want or need from her. Before we left I made a list of questions for Chandlyn so at the meeting I pulled out the list to make sure I didn't forget any details. I would advice doing that so you don't forget anything during the meeting. I think she is very busy and appreciates when people are prepared.