Linzibella

Hi there! Just looking for advice or comments about any photo sharing websites that you ladies may have used to upload and share photos with you guests. We would really like for all our guests to have access to the account and be able to upload their photos all to one place (vs. each having individual accounts and having to share albums). We would also like to maintain some control over it (i.e. not have everyone use the same log in and password to one account) so that photos can't be deleted by accident by someone. My DH is looking into this, but I thought that all of you that have done this before might have some thoughts on which programs worked for you. Thanks!

Re traveller's cheques, I called the resort directly and they only cash them into Jamaican dollars, no USD. You would have to go to the bank in town to cash traveller's cheques into US funds. I'm not 100% decided but I think that I'm just going to estimate how much money I need to pay Chandlyn for the "free" wedding package, the steel drum band, reception cost, flowers etc, and bring that in cash (and never let it leave my sight). I don't want any extra charges on my credit card (and the flower shop and an Lee's Tours have both told me that there will be extra charges to use credit cards -between 5 and 7% I think). What a pain!

Re traveller's cheques, I called the resort directly and they only cash them into Jamaican dollars, no USD. You would have to go to the bank in town to cash traveller's cheques into US funds. I'm not 100% decided but I think that I'm just going to estimate how much money I need to pay Chandlyn for the "free" wedding package, the steel drum band, reception cost, flowers etc, and bring that in cash (and never let it leave my sight). I don't want any extra charges on my credit card (and the flower shop and an Lee's Tours have both told me that there will be extra charges to use credit cards -between 5 and 7% I think).

Thanks Kimmer. It's looking like that might be my best option. I'm glad to hear that your pictures turned out well. Did you post them on the forum? If you did, can you send me or post the link to the posting? Thanks!

I have asked Chandlyn, the ROR wedding coordinator the same question and if she could send me a transcript of what is said at the ceremony. She only sent me the actual vows (Do take Groom to be your wedded husband....). I've sent her another e-mail to ask if there is anything else that is said, or if we have to provide that if required. I don't want a whole lot said, but a little more than just the vows. It will only take us 2 minutes! If I hear back from Chandlyn, I'll pass what she sends me.

Hi ladies! I'm getting married at the ROR on January 20th, 2009. I'm looking for ideas regarding a photographer since mine has recently cancelled on me last minute. I have spoken with a couple of you about this, but I think that there are maybe a few more of you out there. Are any of you that are going to be down around then bringing a professional photographer on their trip with them that you wouldn't mind sharing on January 20th? I would of course pay for some of your costs. Or have you booked a local photographer and could pass on their name (I am aware of Brian Nejedly). Someone also mentioned that they had seen some pictures done by Christopher (one of Michael assistants at the Photoshop). Do any of you know whose wedding that was and have a link to the thread with the review/pictures? Thanks for your continued help!

Hi! If anyone has information about a local photographer that they've used successfully lately, I'd love to hear about it, get a name/website. Has Michael's work been any better lately? I think that I remember reading about another photographer working at the Photoshop now too? Is that right? Is s/he any good? The photographer that I was going to bring down with me has just bailed on me, a couple days before our final payment was due. I'm now trying to figure out what I'm going to do. Thanks ladies!

Hi! If anyone's thinking about this, I have just found out that I actually have until Wednesday to have all the travel details/final payment worked out. So....if you are getting married the week of Jan 17-24 at the ROR and you have guests that still want to come but couldn't get flights anymore, I have a few spots available. Maybe you just want to check out the location for your upcoming wedding? Or have a nice winter vacation? Let me know! ~Lindsay

Hi everyone! Well, a few things have fallen apart lately for my ROR wedding Jan 17-24th. My photographers have bailed on me (3 days before our full payment is due) and 2 of my finace's Aunts have cancelled their trip in the last 2 days. I'm starting to feel like I want to cancel too and the "Why didn't we just elope" feelings are starting to creep in. I know it will be fun in the long run, but this is driving me crazy. Anyways, there are now 3 flights and 2 hotel rooms out of Toronto and 1 flight and hotel room out of Montreal available for Jan 17-24th if anyone else is plannig their wedding for that week and needs some extra spots. I know that the Sunquest packages sold out really quickly, so maybe you have a couple of guests that didn't book in time and still want to go. If you do, PM me and I'll send you my contact information or that of my travel agent, so they can book and join you at your wedding. Only catch is it has to be done this immediately as details have to be finalized/payments made on Monday, Dec 1st. I hope everyone's planning is going well and you're not having similar issues! ~Lindsay

Hi! I've booked Mammee Bay for our dinner and Seagrape for our reception (although I hadn't thought of poolside for a reception. I think that would be nice). I was kind of digging the idea of dancing in the sand, having a bonfire and some tiki torches maybe. I've heard some say that the disco is a little cheesy, and we can all head there anyways after the beach if the party continues late into the night!

Hi there! I also want to put in my vote for Lisa Mark and Tania Beattie. I just did my BD shoot on Friday and was going to post some pictures when I get home tonight. Lisa and Tania were fabulous. Tania's hair and make-up were well worth it and the couple of teaser pics I've seen from Lisa so far are great. I was so nervous, but they made me feel at home and made the shoot so easy and fun (and I normally hate having my picture taken). I rented the same studio as the girls above mentioned and it was really cool. Lots of brick, wood floors, cool old couch and great big windows. She is planning a BD marathon with Tania for the near future so contact her (she's very quick to reply) as that could be a way to do it a bit cheaper (although I think that her prices are pretty reasonable). Her website is www.lisamarkphotography.com and Lisa's website is brides Etc.(although she is set up through Lisa for the BD shoot) Anyways, I just wanted to throw my two cents in too. Lisa was great if you're looking to do this type of shoot (although her wedding and engagement photos are beautiful too!). I'll post some pics of my shoot later tonight.

Dear Krys, Thanks so much for your post. I really appreciate you taking the time to include the links to those gorgeous pictures you took. I think your suggestion of doing a maternity shoot instead of a TTD is a great idea (my Mom wasn't really impressed with the TTD idea anyways LOL!). Your pictures really are great and captured the joy of the parents. Thanks again! ~Lindsay Quote: Originally Posted by Tropical Imaging Keep your photographer, but instead of having a TTD session, bring some flowing types of fabric and do a cool maternity shoot. 7 months is the perfect time. We've had a few maternity shoots over the years on island and they are so fun. Most of them are not on our blog as our moms have been very daring and choose not to have them online, but here's an idea. http://blog.tropicalimaging.com/2008...nths/#more-529 http://blog.tropicalimaging.com/2007...-and/#more-381 and a couple of samples are in this post http://blog.tropicalimaging.com/2008/05/27/fathers-day/ We have a few more in our portrait gallery on our website as well. Get excited about what amazing maternity shots you'll have and maybe you can make plans to have a family portrait shoot a year later. (We have a few families that started as brides/engagements and come back every year to have us document their lives from maternity onward.) Here is a recent family that has come every year since their engagement/wedding/maternity... http://blog.tropicalimaging.com/2008...rains-part-ii/ I hope some of these can help you get excited about some amazing photographs you can get!!! Congratulations. Krys

Thanks so much everyone. After reading only a couple of posts, I decided I must have been having a "pregancy brain" moment(s) when I was thinking about cancelling. You're all right. I should keep the good photographer and get the best pictures possible of this wonderful moment. I would regret it later on I'm sure if I didn't go with what I originally wanted. Great idea on the maternity pics. Thanks for the ideas. I will be sure to post them when I'm back (although it's not for a long time still). Thanks again for all your support and advice. I knew I could count on you. ~Lindsay

This is fun to see! Julie (JulieG) - October 24, 2007 Jenn (JenniferLynn) - May 10, 2007 Kaylee (kamay)-October 16, 2008 Fannie (royfa) - October 23, 2008 Lisa (Chiquita) - November 5, 2008 Melissa (MissyR) - November 27, 2008 Dianna (Destination0 - December 11, 2008 Daina(dainanewell)- December 12, 2008 Rebecca (rebecca120 - December 17th, 2008 Connie (teacherbride) - January 19, 2009 Lindsay (Linzibella) - January 20, 2009 Lindsay (seaprincess) - January 28, 2009 Amy (Amarillis) - January 28, 2009 Chantal (Chantal85) - January 30, 2009 Kate (kleslie5) - February 6, 2009 Ana (Ana) - April 1, 2009 Kristin (ryan's girl) - April 1, 2009 Michelle (shellb) - April 24, 2009 Shannon (Shay2679) - May 7, 2009 Karen (GPBride2009) - May 12, 2009 Sorcha (townie princess) - June 12, 2009 Virginia & Mike (Virg) June 30 2009 Michelle C (michellepicksbrent) - August 19, 2009 Heather (*Heather*) - October 22, 2009 Leslie (lscilley) - November 16, 2009 Joanne (jpitts7 - Nov 19, 2009 Denise (FutureMrsLewis) - April 26, 2011

Hi girls, I'm looking for your thoughts on a photography issue. So I had decided on and booked a photographer from home that I'm really happy with for our wedding in Jamaica in January. He's not charging me for the photography but we have to pay for his and his wife's (who is his assistant) travel expenses. This should be okay, because we have enough people booked on our group package that I'll get one "free" trip, so we'll only really be paying for one person and I figure that this a great deal for photography for basically the whole week. And I really wanted nice photography. So where's the problem, right? Well, last month I found out that I'm unexpectedly pregnant. I'm going to be about 7 months at the wedding. So this is not going to be the wedding that I had in my head, but we're going to still go ahead as planned. I can't decide now whether I should keep the good photographer and pay for his trip, or since the pictures aren't going to be what I had imagined (well, what I had imagined but with a beach ball under my dress and a chubbier face) should I just go with the photographer at the resort, who isn't as great but will be cheaper. My dress is going to have to be altered and so it's not going to be "perfect" anymore and so I'm waffleing about this now because I'm just not sure if I'll be happy with any of the pictures. What do you ladies think? I know this is a personal decision, but you are all always so insightful and helpful in making decisions. Anyone been in a similar situation? Thanks as always!

This has got me worried for my wedding in January when I'm planning on bringing down a photographer. He hasn't been there before so I'm hoping that will help things, and he and his wife are staying the whole week, have booked with our package etc, so I'm going to claim that he's a friend that has offered to take pictures if questioned. Wondering if I should send an e-mail to the Riu Wedding office and get the "permission" e-mail that I've seen from others. I'll give him a copy to carry with him at all times! Glad to hear that your wedding went well otherwise and I hope that Robin's not too upset about the whole thing. The Riu really needs to sort out this issue. Keep us updated.

Hi! Similar comments as above. We're arriving on a Saturday and wanted to get married on the Tuesday for a couple of reasons. Our TA called the Riu Weddings office and asked if we could do it on the Tuesday and there were no problems. Just have your TA look into it and it should be okay.

Hi everyone, My Mom wants to plan a tour for all of our wedding guests. We're thinking the Dunn's River Falls tour, although I've read somewhere about a sailboat with snorkelling, drinks, and a trip to the falls which would be fun. Anyways, I thought that I would try to get her some information to start looking into and the best source of that is you ladies! I did a little searching on the forum and have found the following 2 companies, but thought that it would be great and useful for all, if we had a list of companies that people had used and liked (or disliked), the tours they went on (and liked or disliked) etc. I will be happy to compile a master list and keep updating it with all of our suggestions. So, anyone who's been to Ocho Rios and done day trips/excursions/tours whatever. Let us know who you booked with, if you booked before you arrived in Jamaica or at the hotel, what you did, and even how much it cost. Lees Tours http://http://www.leestours.com/ Chukka Caribbean Tours Chukka Caribbean Adventures

Thanks for sharing your pictures and detailed review. You (and everything else) looked gorgeous. I agree that Mammee Bay should maybe always be an option for the wedding location. It looked like it turned out really well. Would love to see pictures of your reception decorations -what you did on the table, the cake, etc. when you have a chance to post them. Also, do you mind sharing how much the Lees Tour to Dunn's River Falls cost? You organized that with them before you left I presume? Congrats!

Well, ultrasound day finally arrived. It has been agony waiting but I went this morning and I am still pregnant, although a lot earlier than I had originally thought. The IUD seems to have come out without any problems too. The little girl/guy is only 3mm long and so I'm 5 weeks and 6 days pregnant. But we could see the heart beating at a good rate. My FI thought that was really cool! I'm so glad that he came with me as now it's more real to him. So I was barely pregnant when I went to the doctor 2 weeks ago and that explains the faint pregnancy test. I can't believe how quickly I noticed that something was going on with me as I had been thinking about taking the pregnancy test for almost a week. I'm not due until March 20th so that's a good thing as I will be much less pregnant when we're planning on getting married in January than I thought. I'm going to talk to the doctor again, but my FI really wants to keep the wedding the same. We'll see what she says and think it through. I don't really want to have a Jamaican baby, 2 months early though. Thanks again for everyone's comments and well wishes. I have felt so much better since I shared with you and to hear some of your similar experiences has been comforting. I'm seeing my doctor next Wednesday and so will update again soon. I now have lots of planning to do over the next 6-7 with the wedding and new baby!

Congratulations! What perfect timing! I hope that you're feeling well.

THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH EVERYONE! I knew that sharing with all of you would make me feel better. Your words of encouragement and support are so helpful. All I want to do is plan -whether I should move the wedding, what to do about my dress (even though I know that it's really a trivial thing in the grand scheme of things), who to tell first and how to tell them, and even what the baby's name should be -even though I know that I'm getting WAY ahead of myself. My mind just can't stop racing though. It's going to be a long wait for the ultrasound and my next doctors appointment. Anyways, thanks again for your thoughts and messages. It means a lot. I will keep you up to date as I find out more. Hugs for everyone You ladies are the best!

..so I’m going to share with all of you ladies. Last Wedneday I had a positive pregnancy test (well, 3 of them. I just couldn’t believe it so had to go back out to the store). I didn’t really think that I was pregnant. I hadn’t had my period for awhile, but this was not unusual. I likely have polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), which means that I don’t ovulate regularly and so don’t get my period regularly. My cycle had been getting more “normal†but the last few cycles were around 40 days. So I was a week and a half or so past 40 days, but just thought that it was the PCOS. My breasts had been tender but only like they often are just before I’m going to get my period, so I just thought that it was about to come. Oh also, I have (well, had) an IUD in, so I wasn’t real concerned because of that too. Finally though, something told me that I should do a pregnancy test. My finance thought I was crazy when I came out of the bathroom and told him that I thought we were pregnant. The line was pretty faint and he didn’t believe it, so wanted me to go get one of those “more accurate ones, like digital or somethingâ€. He’s a computer guy and likes technology, I don’t think that he realizes that they all kind of work on the same principle. But I was pretty surprised too, so was happy to go out for a second and third opinion. Well, they both came back positive. How did this happen? I’m using pretty effective birth control and I’m hardly ovulating! So, it was too late to call the doctor, but I did first thing in the morning. They managed to get me in to see a doctor that night after my urging that this was veryy important since I had an IUD in. It was a LONG and unproductive day at work (not that any of them have been since finding this out)! So at the doctors they did another test and again it came back positive although still a bit faint. The doctor removed my IUD. This could cause me to miscarry right now, but could cause a lot more trouble in the future if I left it in and carried on with the pregnancy. Since my periods aren’t regular, I’m not really sure when I ovulated and so don’t know how far along I am. The doctor scheduled me have an ultrasound to date the pregnancy, but it’s not until next Thursday (over a week away). And then I don’t get to see her again until the following Wednesday! I’m going crazy over this! All I want to do is keep taking pregnancy tests to see if I’m still pregnant, but I’m trying to wait a few more days for that. I haven’t had any signs of a miscarriage, but I don’t really have too many other symptoms of being pregnant either, except my sore and bigger boobs. I’m worried that the test was faint because I was pregnant briefly but am not anymore (I think they call that a chemical pregnancy). I’m not really feeling nauseous I don’t think, just maybe nerves about not knowing. This worries me too. I don’t know how I’m going to wait until the ultrasound and seeing the doctor. Oh yeah, and then there’s the wedding. We’re getting married in January, when I am likely to be around 7 1/2 -8 months pregnant. I’ve already ordered the dress and there’s no way it’s going to fit! I still needed to lose 5-10 more pounds to make sure it fit properly. What if I’m not able to travel? The doctor said if I’m healthy it shouldn’t be a problem, but what if I’m not? We don’t want to tell anyone about it yet until we know more information but I’m worried about the trip and the fact that almost everyone has booked with their deposit. We’re excited (we think) about being pregnant but this is just such a shock and not how we planned. We wanted to start trying as soon as we were married, so it’s not a bad thing, but just bad timing. I’m also worried about getting too excited in case it doesn’t work out and I do miscarry because of the IUD or any other reason. Oh, and then there’s also the guilt from the fact that I’ve been enjoying summer so far and have been having a drink or 2 every few days. I haven’t been drunk really, but this is something that I would have avoided if I even had an inkling. It just adds to the pressure. Anyways, thanks for letting me vent. I’m sorry this is so long but I needed to get this off my chest and knew that you girls would listen.

Congratulations! Everything looked beatiful. It looked like you had a lot of fun that evening too. What did you do about music? Did you hire a dj there or bring an iPod and speakers? Thanks for sharing.

Those are SUPER cute (and right on the money with their saying, lol) Too bad they are out of stock. Thanks for sharing!