AmandaR

Great news...we got the house!!! We close in just 5 weeks, so there's a lot to do!

Quote: Originally Posted by Erica053009 I am confused too on how we let the state/city know we are married and is it legal in the US? Marriages in Jamaica are legal in the US. There's no need to register your marriage in the city/state. Your marriage is recorded in Jamaica. To help set your mind at ease, you could always have a civil ceremony here in the U.S. either before or after your Jamaican wedding to make sure all your bases are covered. We had a civil ceremony here before our actual wedding because DH lost his job and needed to be on my insurance ASAP. When we got our marriage license in PA, the clerk acted like she'd never heard of anyone having a marriage ceremony in Jamaica!

Quote: Originally Posted by LOTTALUV92 Thank you for the information, very helpful to me. how about when i file income taxes? Do you mean how to document your name change for tax purposes? I think that changing your name on your SSC and at your job so that your name is correct on your W-2 would suffice. At least I hope so, since that is all that I did!

We took the plunge last night and made an offer on an adorable 3 bed/1 bath townhouse that is move-in ready! We think we have a pretty good offer out -full asking price, plus $5k in closing and we want the washer/dryer/fridge included in the sale. We're supposed to hear back by the end of the day today, so I'm sure I won't be able to eat or fully enjoy the holiday!

Welcome back! I'm so excited to hear that you guys had an awesome time! BTW - were you wearing hot pink sandals in your wedding pics? I love them!

Quote: Originally Posted by opivy143 Hi Everyone! Im new to this site and unfortunately finding it a little late Im getting married next Saturday (8/30/0 at the Sandals Regency La Toc in St Lucia. It looks like Im the only one here at that resort. Either way, If any of you have any last minute advice and/or tips Im all ears! I hope to come back and have all kinds of helpful infomation for all of you as well! Heather Welcome Heather! Your wedding is right around the corner, you must be so excited! I was married at SGOR, so I don't have specific advice for your resort, but I would just tell you to enjoy every minute. The weddings Sandals does are beautiful whether you opt for just the free wedding, or add ceremony and reception upgrades. You're going to have a wonderful time! I have to admit that I'm terribly jealous. We were these just 3 months ago, but 3 months in the real world seems like an eternity - haha!

I'm so glad to hear that you only got one night of rain! I can't wait until you post pics and more info about your wedding!

I just wanted to share with you ladies that on Monday I am popping my last car loan payment in the mail! It will be such a relief to have one last bill to pay each month, and it's more $$$ to roll over into our student loan payments. This last payment is a big one - $2500, so the credit union will be thrilled I'm sure. This is a big deal for me because my car was my first purchase on my own.

I used to think Tarot Cards were pretty cool until I drew the Death card and my hairdryer flew across the bathroom a few minutes later. Needless to say, those cards are now history. I ticked off somebody.

Quote: Originally Posted by Clussy75 I recently have been going through interviews myself and I kept it at thank you emails, especially just after a phone interview. I know it's good etiquette to send a hand written thank you card after in person interviews but I didn't actually do that in my last round of interviews and thankfully it all worked out well with an offer coming through. Do most people do hand written thank you's now? Good luck with this job! I've done both handwritten and email Thank You's and have been successful with both when interviewing for jobs. On the other hand, working as a Recruiter in HR, I love to receive a handwritten Thank You. I receive tons of emails daily, so it's tough to make your Thank You email stand out, but I definitely notice a Thank You card in my mailbox. I make sure to include them with the employee's file. We live in such a fast-paced society now that it speaks volumes when individuals take the time to write a personal note.

I'm so excited - our wedding dvd is being sent via DHL tomorrow, and we should receive it by Friday! Our wedding was back in May, and we were told it would take about 6 weeks for the dvd to arrive. Long story short, more than 6 weeks went by and no video. After sending an email, we received webstreams and approved the video, but nothing was ever sent. I spoke with someone just the other evening, and because of the delay they are sending us an additional copy of the dvd AND 50 webstreams free of charge. I would like to mention that Suzette, our WC at SGOR, was incredibly helpful with us tracking down our dvd even though it's technically out of her hands

Hi ladies, Have any of you ever went back to work for a former employer? I ask because this is a serious consideration for me right now. For a variety of reasons I am unhappy with my new job and know that I made a HUGE mistake in leaving my last employer. Luckily, I emailed my former supervisor and it turns out they would love to have me return and are working out the logistics. If everything works out, I'll be back to just a 10 min commute every morning and won't have to pay tolls! It will mean a paycut and a lower position than I left with, but at this point it seems like a terrific viable option. Has anyone done this before?

Quote: Originally Posted by Melissa G Darma booked all of our hair appointments for us and confirmed the times. We did have to pay up front to confirm the time slot available. After I paid she gave me a receipt through email and I intend on printing it out and taking it with me so no-one will have any questions. For all the brides who had their hair done at Sandals did you pay upfront? We paid upfront for EVERYTHING. If they don't request payment, or you know you didn't pay for something, make sure you do because otherwise it's likely not to be booked for you. This happened with us and massages we wanted, although I think it was an issue with our TA and not Sandals. A couple of weeks before we left I requested a receipt from Darma indicating everything that had been bought and paid for. I printed it out along with every email correspondence to make sure we would get everything we arranged for. In the end we had zero problems and didn't even need to reference the receipt or emails. Better to be safe than sorry.

Quote: Originally Posted by bridget917 Question for you ladies that have been married at SGOR already--we are doing the one hour hot/cold hor d'ouvre reception. We're not paying for any extra entertainment like steel drum band, dj, etc. Was there a cd player accessible so that we could bring our own music to play "in the background"? Also, Darma mentioned something on the phone about sending me pictures of reception sites...I knew we picked our wedding location, but do you actually pick your reception site as well? Thanks We did the one hour hot/cold hor d'ouvre reception and didn't pay for additional entertainment. Our WC brought over a CD player for our first dance and father/daughter dance, and since the reception is only an hour, I don't think it'd be a problem keeping it for the entire time. I actually don't even remember if there was music playing except for the dances - I was too in love to notice I think you do get to pick your reception site as well. Depending on where you're getting married, some wedding sites have adjacent reception sites, which makes for a smooth transition. Beware that the one hour reception goes really quickly by the time you do toasts, dances, and mingle with your guests. Since we had a small group, we all went to the Riviera building lobby and relaxed and had some drinks following the reception.

I just wanted to share that our Jamaican Marriage License is now in our hands! We were married May 21, so it took right around 8 weeks for us to receive it. I was thinking that the Jamaican license wouldn't go through because we were technically married in the states before our DW and didn't tell the WC to avoid any confusion or added fees. So now we're doubly married. As an FYI to Jamaican brides married at Sandals specifically - the marriage license is sent via UPS and you have to sign for it. If you're like DH and I and never home during the day, you'll have to make a trip to the UPS warehouse to pick it up.

DH and I had a funny experience on our wedding night, and I was wondering if anyone else has experienced anything humorous on that particular night? After the wedding night "festivities" I went to bed to lay down, and when I woke up there was huge wet spot around my crotch. It was strange because the wet spot was on the blanket above me and beneath me as well, and it smelled like alcohol. I thought that I'd wet the bed on the wedding night and that I had drank so much that it smelled like alcohol! I was panicking bc I never lose control of bodily functions when I drink, let alone on my wedding night, and I wasn't sure what I would tell DH. I was feeling around the bed and I found the culprit - an empty bottle or Red Stripe. Turns out DH fell asleep holding a beer and it just happened to empty onto my crotch when it fell We can't decide what's worse - him spilling an entire bottle of beer in bed or me actually thinking that I wet the bed! The next morning our room smelled like a frat house, so we were super cool and left a note for housekeeping asking them to make sure they changed all the bedding because we had spilled beer on the bed. We're very classy!

I agree with everyone's posts. DH and I were legally married before our DW bc he lost his job just 6 weeks before the wedding and we needed to make sure he had medical insurance "just in case". We wore business casual clothes like we would wear to the office and went out to dinner to celebrate. Because our day was so spur of the moment (DH lost job Thursday, we got marriage license Friday, and were married the following Tuesday), we didn't set out to make it terribly special. I actually had to attend a work function 2 hours away that day, so we got married and I went to work - very romantic! Our legal day in no way took away the meaningfulness of our DW ceremony. In fact, I have trouble remembering the date of our legal ceremony half the time, and I know that DH certainly doesn't remember. For us, it's our wedding in Jamaica with our families that counts. My mom is the only one who knows about our legal wedding, and she actually thinks it's quite funny that we were "married" before actually getting "married." Bottom line is that you can really do whatever you want for legal day. There's no right or wrong - kind of like planning a DW.

Steph, your AHR looked like a blast! I love the picture of everyone playing Musical Chairs!

That's wonderful news! I hope you have an amazing experience there. I had a terrific time at my SGOR wedding, and would do it again in a heartbeat!

After talking to my mom the other day about how my little brother and his girlfriend are practically joined at the hip, it got me thinking - are those of us who aren't conjoined missing out? My brother and his girlfriend have been dating since HS and now go to the same college. Even when they come home they can't bear to spend more than a couple hours apart. As another example, I worked with a woman at my previous job who literally talked to her husband on the phone 3-5 PER DAY, and not while on a break. I can understand calling to check in if something's going on, but I seriously doubt that's the case every day. I finally had the balls to say something to my supervisor and a No Cell Phone Policy was drafted. DH and I are obivously very close and do a lot together, but we also don't have to be "together" every waking moment to feel secure. We avoid calling each other at work unless it's an emergency, or something happened that we can't wait to tell until we get home. I love DH dearly, but sometimes we just need a couple of hours apart to do things for ourselves. For me it's window shopping at the mall or meeting my mom for lunch. Sometimes he just likes to mess around on the computer for a couple hours while I'm not there adding to his honey-do list

We keep missing the UPS truck, and we have to sign for it, so we don't have it yet! I think we'll have to actually go pick it up bc it's getting ridiculous. Regarding the quality of the video - it looks OK, but I don't think the webstreams have the best resolution. Some of the transitions in the video aren't smooth, but overall I think it's great and I definitely cried when I watched it. They incorporated our first dance song and the song my dad and I danced to, so that made it special. It's fun to watch us say our vows and have our first dance. Makes us want to go back very badly!

We saw at least 1 wedding per day when we tied the knot at Sandals. I too felt like I was the only bride on our wedding day, even though there were at least 2 other weddings that day I was aware of. There certainly wasn't a line to get married.

We just found out that our Wedding DVD should be arriving today, providing DH is home in time to sign for it! They sent us a web stream so we could "approve" before they sent it out, so that was nice. I remember how breezy it was the day we got married, but it looks like a storm is about to blow up in the video! I think we were too in the moment to really notice.

Quote: Originally Posted by hollisandsteph I just got back from the DMV. It is official, I changed my name..whoohooo! LOL Congrats on your name change! I guess this means you got your Jamaican Marriage License?

Quote: Originally Posted by quiche Thanks! OOT bags was another thing I was worried about. I was thinking of not giving them out at all. I did not want to lug a whole bunch of stuff out of town with me. So I think it's a great idea to give them out before the wedding. I haven't gotten to the DIY stage, but I'm sure it will be fun. I'm looking forward to trying some crafty projects, especially if it can save me $$ in the long run. If you're having a small wedding with about 10 guests, it's easy to through together a casual barbecue or something together beforehand to get everyone together and to give out the OOT bags. That was our intention, unfortunately we lost track of time and didn't have a weekend to spare! What's great about a small wedding is that DIY projects aren't quite as daunting. It's much easier and less time consuming to DIY 10 programs than 50 or 100!