geology_rocks

I know that $40/bag or whatever the price is for real rose petals is a bit steep but think about where all the fake rose petals are going to end up... in the ocean! I can guarantee that you're not going to want to pick them up afterwards, that's if they're even still there and haven't been blown around and dragged around by your train. It might not seem like an individual wedding is having a huge impact, only a 100 rose petals right, but multiply that by 3 weddings per day times 6 days a week. All of that fake stuff is ending up in our oceans and the stomachs of the marine life which is a much bigger cost to everyone in the long run. Please consider forgoing rose petals if you're not willing to spend the money on real petals which will biodegrade.

We kept our sand. We had a bit of sand left in each pouring vase so we put that in ziplock bags and sealed the top of the mixed sand with melted wax. It worked out pretty well. My parents put the vase in their checked baggage and it made it home relatively unscathed. We put the left over sand into the pouring vases and put them on either side of the mixed sand. It's sitting on our fireplace mantle now.

We used very similar wording. The officiant started reading and paused partway though and told us to pour the sand. It worked out really well. We weren't too sure how to do it either but it all worked out in the end. Good luck!

 

We got our vases at walmart. They're just plain, square vases. I actually used aquarium sand from the pet store because I was having a hard time finding pink sand. My husband used beach sand.

You know, I'm not really sure. There is a show before the beach party gets into full swing. Fire breathers, jugglers etc. We didnt' stick around for the actual "party" part, just the show. If you want to do a meet and greet, you're probably better off doing it before any entertainment starts, then enjoying the entertainment afterwards. Also, don't worry too much about entertaining your guests, it is their vacation too. Your guests will mostly gravitate naturally towards eachother just because it's a familiar face.

Yup! The beach party is just in front of Seagrape. The main show area is right up the stairs from that. They will not let you on the beach with glass containers but do have plastic cups to pour your drink into.

Honestly, it's not something to worry too much over. You're going to have curious on-lookers at any destination wedding in any location at every resort. They're just jealous cause you're having an amazing wedding and they had to have a stuffy church thing back home with their second cousins, twice removed AND they had to invite their bosses! The beach gazebo was pretty amazing in my opinion. It's a much nicer backdrop than a crepe paper covered ivy trellis! (no offense to those who like the crepe paper covered ivy trellises!

 

And for the record, the beach is not closed off on the wedding gazebo end. You're free to walk off the property but there are security guards keeping other people out.

We didn't have locals in our photos but we did have maintenance men setting up the arch in our pictures, actual Riu employees. Talk about disappointment!

 

 

For what it's worth, i think you guys looked great!!

Once you have your location picked, the rest of the planning should be simple! If you're stressing out, you're thinking too much!!!

 

1. Do I need to provide my own vows? We're having the Civil Ceremony, but I've seen other girls say they've provided their own vows. Should I be working on some vows? Do they play a "Wedding song" of your choice in the middle of the ceremony like a traditional wedding?

You do not need to do your own vows. We requested a civil ceremony but ended up with a minister performing the ceremony. If you want something specific, write your own vows, but if you're not picky don't worry about it! We hired the steel drum band (which was awesome!!) and they played before the wedding, the wedding song as we were walking to the gazebo, and song when we were signing the papers and for a little while after the ceremony... Highly recommended!

 

2. Can I have the "sand cermony" at the Riu? If so, do I need to write something for that?

You sure can! We brought a little paragraph that we found on the internet (google is your friend!) The minister took the idea and did his thing with it, much nicer than the paragraph that I provided.

 

3. Cocktail Hour.....why would you have to pay extra per person if this is an all-inclusive resort and all of my guests are staying here?

Are you wanting to have a private reception for an additional cost or are you going with the included dinner? Honestly, I'm glad I didn't pay for a "cocktail hour". Honestly, There are so many bars scattered throughout the property that you can just congregate around one of them. That's what our guests did after dinner. Ifyou're having a private reception, it may be worth the fee as the nearest bar was fairly far from the Plantation (at ROR anyway.)

 

 

4. Reception......Do I need to reserve my restaurant w/ the WC now, or can we do that once we arrive at the hotel?

If you want a private reception, you should reserve the restaurant ASAP. If you're opting for the included dinner, no need to reserve anything!

 

5. We're not having any attendants.....I've been the MOH in a few weddings, plus my FI's sister is a very good friend, I'd never be able to pick an MOH without hurt feelings.....So who are my 4 witnesses? Can it just be our parents? Do they just sign some papers?

You can have anyone over 18 as your witnesses. In Jamaica, you only need 2 witnesses. Your witnesses can be family and have the same last name as you, no problems.

 

 

Hope that helps!!!

If you're planning on using spa services, you don't have to use your credit card to book online. You have to pay a 50% via paypal though. I suggest doing this to make sure they have enough time to get everyone done. They will also probably have to start before the official opening time so it's probably best to give them the heads up. We went to the spa but I've seen plenty of brides have the stylists come to their room.

 

As for timing, I can't be much help. There were only 2 of us and we got mani/pedi, hair and makeup done. That took from 9:30 - 1:15ish. They like you to have unwashed hair for styling though, as it hold the curl better.

 

Hope that helps!

Definitely don't do the falls BEFORE the wedding. And also avoid river tubing too! While we didn't have any Dunn's River Falls incidents, it would be easy to slip and hurt yourself. We went river tubing 2 days before the wedding and I ended up with a pretty nasty scrape on my back and some bruises. Luckily my sunburn was such a lovely shade of red and it covered up all the bruises and scarches! Hahaha!!!

 

So, the day before the wedding, sunscreen, lots of sunscreen! And no extreme sports! That might be a good day to go into town and go shopping.

We sent our documents via registered mail from Calgary. I have no idea how long it took because Chandlyn didn't let me know when they arrived. They did however arrive safely. The total cost, including the envelope was about $20.

See, I knew you would have an awesome time! Everything looks like it turned out beautifully. And your TTD pictures, YOWZERS! Those are hot! Congratulations!

Dunn's River is a must see for sure, it was awesome! But, unless you like crowds, avoid Dunn's River on a day when the cruise ships are in town (you can see them from the ROR beach.) Try and go to Dunn's river towards the end of the day. They stop admitting people at 4pm. We got there at 3:30pm and had the place to ourselves! Here's a shot from our climb

 

I feel honored! Now send me a plane ticket so I can talk you through the big day too! hehehe!

Honestly, you'll have a great time! In case any small details don't quite fall into place, try not to let it bother you, chances are, you're the only one who will notice something is not quite as you planned! You'll have a much happier day if you can relax. Have a good breakfast that morning. Remember to take lots of pictures, even of the minute details! Walk slowly both to the beach and down the aisle. SMILE! Assign a family member to make sure your guests hang around for a group shot, you don't want to have to do that yourself! And most important, make mental notes and come back here and give a detailed review with pictures! I love those things!

We got married at ROR then went on a cruise. We actually were contemplating between 2 cruises and the itinerary you chose was one of them. We ended up choosing a cruise out of San Juan, Puerto Rico because it was a bit cheaper. The cruise was a nice honeymoon because it was something different after spending a whole week at the same place. The only thing I didnt' really like was the food, it was terrible compared to the food at ROR!

I wouldn't even worry about trying to hang your dress in the closet. The closests on the planes that we were on were too short to hang the bag without it dragging on the ground anyway. When I picked up my dress at the bridal salon, they pulled the train up over the hanger and pinned it like that. That way, the train wasn't sitting in a big puddle of dress at the bottom of the garment bag. I even folded my dress at the waist when I put it in the overhead bin. Don't panic if you don't get to hang your dress in the closet, those silly things are more resiliant that we think!

What is your dress made of? My dress was that shiny satin stuff that so many dresses are made of and I made a conscious effort to lay it flat in the overhead bin and hang it up as soon as possible and my dress didn't wrinkle at all. Hopefully you won't need to get your dress steamed!

There is no maximum number of guests for the "free" package. The only stipulation is that you have to have at least 5 rooms booked for your guests and 80% of your guest must be staying at the resort. You will be fine with 15-35 guests to have the free dinner at Mammee Bay steakhouse, the maximum is 50 guests. And drbrainfreeze stated, the flowers are real, the free bouquet choices are carnations, daisies or a mixed tropical bouquet.

I can't help you with all the prices but can give you a rough estimate for some stuff.

 

- My bouquet was roses and orchids. It was $110. My bridesmaid's bouquet was a smaller version of mine, $65. Boutenieres were single roses, $10 each.

- Chair covers, I didn't have them but have heard of them costing between $12-$15/chair. So for 20 people that would be $240-$300

- Aisle runner $40ish

 

Sorry I can't help with photography, videography or seagrape as we didn't look into these options.

 

Honestly, I recommend booking the free package and paying for the upgrades you want. That will give you some extra money to play around with for stuff you really want like the reception!

Fantastic brochures, very nicely done. Have you printed them yet? If you haven't, there are a couple of things you may want to change.

 

- The tap water in the resort rooms is non-potable. There is bottled water provided in the mini-bar for drinking. I also read that the water is filtered before I left and told my guests that it was safe but there is a sign above the taps telling you not to drink the tap water.

 

- The RIU certified craft vendors will be set up right outside of the restaurants, not on the beach. There is a very small craft market at the far end of the beach (past the beach gazebo), off RIU property but it is certainly not RIU sanctioned. Open-minded people may enjoy a quick trip over there but the locals WILL be smoking ganja and they WILL offer to sell you ganja.

 

- The ATM at the resort was not functioning the entire time we were there. Perhaps mention to your guests that they should not rely on that as a source of cash.

We were there in May and didn't have a problem with sand fleas. We didn't have a beach reception but we were down on the beach a few nights. Ants on the other hand... make sure you don't leave any food lying around!

You will definitely have a spot to have dinner. They will make room for you! If you want to book something extra for your reception like the disco or plantation, do so as soon as you confirm your wedding date as that kind of stuff is on a first come, first serve basis. Hope this helps!

There's a magnetic latch on the side of the sliding door. The door itself has a magnet on it. When the door is opened and the magnet is no longer in contact with the latch, the A/C turns off. I don't think it has anything to do with people being in the room or not because our room was always plenty cold when we would come back after having been gone for a while.

I didn't see any inner tubes for sale at ROR. They didn't have a separate shop for pool supplies, only a couple of small gift shops which mostly sold trinkets and toiletries at incredibly inflated prices!

There are a few slot machines in the sports bar, there is bingo almost daily (thought it's only about 30 minutes), they could eat non-stop while they are awake, ummm... would they be interested in watching people play games or swim? How about bringing a crib board and deck of cards? We had some fantastic naps at ROR, make sure to bring a magnet to put on the sliding door latch so the A/C stays on! That's all I can think of, our oldest guests were in the 60's but they like swimming so I can't help much more!