pearlygirl

Thanks for all of the opinions.....I wanted to do this DW pretty low-key. I didn't want all the planning of a traditional wedding. I figured I'd book a trip, tell family/friends, let them decide if they want to come, then go w/ the flow and have it be pretty simple.....Do whatever the WC tells me to do when I get there. I know I want the Sand Ceremony and I thought I'd get a few small gifts for guests that can be used on vacation....ie travel mugs (possibly personalized w/ our wedding date), sunscreen, towel, etc. But that was the extent of my planning. It was just that after reading about how much effort a lot of you ladies put into it, I felt pretty lax in my own planning process. I commend all of you who do special things for your guests and have extra things planned step-by-step....it is a lot of effort. I just don't have the time, creativeness, effort or desire to do all of the extras. I certainly appreciate all of your opinions....it helps me feel better that I can plan as much or as little as I want and it'll be a great day no matter what! Thanks again, Ladies!!

This forum is great and filled with so much information, but I keep finding things that I never thought of doing for our Negril DW! I'm freaking out! I think I need Wedding 101 or something. Here are just a few things I didn't think of, some that perhaps should have been obvious to me.... Cake topper, extra decorations, programs for the ceremony, gifts for guests that have traveled all that way for the wedding, and many others that I've blocked out of my mind for now, but have read about in the forum. Do I need to have the entire ceremony planned out with programs and readings and songs etc I figured the WC at the Riu would have a standardized/simple little ceremony planned out and we could just add a few things to make it more personalized like music and the Sand Ceremony. If I need to plan the ceremony and make programs, I better get moving!!!! Unless it is the preference of the couple to go the extra mile (or miles in some cases) to incorporate special things into the ceremony and/or entire trip? Am I being too lax in my planning or should I be doing more?!?!? Any opinions are appreciated!

Whoa!! $20 for a glass of wine! Thats crazy! I'm thinking maybe we'll do the 9pm seating that way we can go to Margaritaville, Ricks or maybe do the sunset cruise in between the ceremony and dinner. If we did the 6:30 seating, I don't know if we should really be out at Margaritaville or Ricks with children later in the evening. Does anyone know how late the bars in the hotel stay open? steph, which restaurant do you suggest for the dinner? I'm not a big seafood lover, FI thinks the steakhouse, but I think other people have said the steakhouse isn't that great. What is your opinion?

I wish I could help, but I don't know how to do that either! I can't even figure out how to get that little ticker thing to pop up in my profile. Hopefully someone can help cuz I'd love to see your pics!

This is kinda funny....as I've written before, we moved the date up one year. So I just started looking for the trip/wedding in the past couple weeks. Our travel dates were pretty open, but we knew for sure sometime mid-late January or beg-mid February. I emailed the Riu w/ the original week we wanted to go, and they informed me the only available times were 11am or noon. So I asked her when a 4pm was available, she told me February 3, 2009 and that day is what I booked our entire trip around. That is how I got lucky with the 4pm. Although it is the day after by b-day, which I'd prefer it wasn't. Oh well, the bright side is that FI will have an easy time remembering special days since they are so close! (Hopefully) Anyway...the bus renting or sunset cruise idea both sound like great suggestions. bpayne....let me know what price they come up with. Also, I want to wear my dress the entire evening. I didn't pay all that money for a beautiful dress I'll never wear again just to take it off right away

Thanks steph! It is such a reassurance to hear from a bride who has just returned from Riu Negril. I think you are relieving a lot of stress for us!!! We'll probably be asking you every question under the sun for the next couple weeks.....sorry in advance!

Our wedding will take place at 4pm at the Riu Negril. I'm guessing pictures will take and hour or so, then I'm not sure if we'll to the 6:30pm seating or 9pm seating. There will only be 12-15 of us, ranging in age from 9 years-55 years and we'll just do the semi-private dinner reception in one of the restaurants. My question is......What do we do after dinner?!?! Are there any fun little bars to go to in Negril (keeping in mind that we'll have a child with us)? If we do the 6:30 seating, I don't know how long the lobby bar will keep everyone entertained after dinner. I don't want everyone to get bored and go back to their rooms early!!! If we do the 9pm seating, it might be fun to leave the resort after pictures for a while then come back for dinner, then go to the lobby bar. Does anyone konw of any fun little bars/restaurants near the hotel? Any advise is appreciated! Thanks, pearlygirl

steph held03.....Congratulations on your wedding!!! Thanks for posting here. It's good to hear everything went well for you. And I'm glad you let us know the photographer did a good job....I think it will ease a lot of worries for us. Is there any way for you to post a few? Here are a few questions for you.... 1. Did you have your hair done at the resort? If so, how did they do? 2. Did you actually get the room upgrade? 3. How were the bouquets/flowers? Do you suggest upgrading the flowers? That's all I can think of right now, but I'm sure I'll think of more! Again, thanks for the post and I look forward to reading your future review!

Does anyone know why this got moved out of the Jamaica forum?

It'll be fun to see some of his new work. Let me know what you think of it once he gets it on-line.

It would be nice to see more recent work from True Colors....are they the ones who do the pics included in the package as well?

That would be great cuz I'd love to see what the prices are to choose something different. I think the WC at the Riu Negril gives us all different info.....she didn't have bouquet 30 on the list of options that she sent me.

Oops! I meant JustUsTwo, not justthetwoofus....sorry. That's how confused I am!?!?!

bpayne.... I am also going with the Royal Package, we'll only have 12 guests. I just posted a reply on the thread about the flowers. I'm getting myself confused going back and forth between threads! justthetwoofus.... Thanks for helping us newbies out! The search is a great tool and there is a ton of information on this site, but some threads become more personalized to the writer as they go on. After spending so many hours on this site (instead of getting my work done...oops!), I just had to write my own question.

Janky....I've never heard that before! I see those aren't the best bouquets (30 would be my favorite of the available), but how will you get fresh flowers down to Jamaica w/out them getting ruined? Do you know if you can upgrade to a nicer boquet for an additional cost? But I'm also with you on trying not to upgrade much from the Royal package. My same thoughts were that the 12 they provide are fine (considering they're not the best quality photos-why purchase more for $400-$600), and my guests, who are mostly family, can take a bunch of pictures. I'm sure they'd turn out just as nice.

bpayne & Soon2beWed09....... I'm glad you guys have questions about the Riu Negril, too. I see both of you are getting married after February, so I will definately post a review and try to figure out how to get pictures posted because I know exactly how it feels to want to know every single piece of information available about how the wedding will go at the resort!!! Which wedding packages are you going with? The sand ceremony takes the place of the unity candle, and I think it's a neat idea because we are being married on the beach, and I like the verbiage about the sand, once poured together, can not be separated........ Are you guys using True Colors Photography? Or an outside vendor? Or who is this Michael that everyone is talking about? From what I am able to understand, he is from the photographer from Riu's on the other side of the island and he will come to the Riu Negril for photo's?

Thanks for all the info and advice, ladies! I'm relieved to know that most everything can be simply planned w/ the WC at the resort. You're all a great help! Brie

Hi everyone! User Name: pearlygirl Name: Brie & Bo Location: Riu Negril Wedding: February 3, 2009 in JA: January 30, 2009 - February 6, 2009 We moved our wedding date up a year and just booked the trip last Friday so I have a zillion questions I've already posted and I'm sure I'll think of some more.....Sorry, I'm just freakin out a little!!

I thought a DW would be easier than a traditional wedding, but after reading through so many posts, I'm getting more confused! Don't get me wrong, this is a great site with tons and tons of information, but I just realized there are a lot of things I didn't think of...... I thought I'd book the trip and wedding day/time and just figure it out once we got there and it would be relatively stress-free. I posted a few questions a couple hours ago, and after reading through this site (instead of working), I have some more. Wedding is set for February 3, 2009 at the Riu Negril-Royal Package. Any help is appreciated! 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? 2. Can I have the "sand cermony" at the Riu? If so, do I need to write something for that? 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? 4. Reception......Do I need to reserve my restaurant w/ the WC now, or can we do that once we arrive at the hotel? 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? I'm sorry I have so many questions, but we just moved our wedding date up a year and just booked the trip last week so I'm totally freaking out big time!!!

Thanks for the replies! Best wishes to both of you on your wedding days! I was under the impression that you can't have outside vendors come in for pictures and that you have to use True Colors Photography at Riu Negril......am I wrong? Also, the Riu Negril doesn't offer the Free Pacakge like the Riu Tropical Bay does. I'd love to go w/ the free package, but I don't have that option. My 9-year old son is coming along, and the Riu Tropical Bay was about $300-$400 more per person than Riu Negril. We wanted to choose a nice AI at a reasonable price for our guests to be able to come along on such short notice.

Hi everyone! I'm new to this site, and we just moved our wedding up one year to this February 3, 2009 at the Riu Negril and just started the planning, so I'm freaking out a little. (Okay, a lot!) We're having 10-15 guests and going with the Royal Package. I have a few questions I hope can be answered......(sorry if they've been answered in other posts, but I'm still navigating this forum) 1. How are the pictures provided in the package? Do you recommend upgrading the photo package to include the DVD with True Colors? 2. Do they have a variety of recorded cermony music? Is it traditional wedding stuff or do they have any Jamaican Reggae as well? 3. How much advance planning do I need for decorations, etc? Can all the planning be done once we arrive at the resort relatively easily/stress free? 4. How many weddings do they have in one day? My list of questions goes on and on, but these are the basic ones I have right now. Any information is appreciated!

Hi everyone! I'm Brie, and we moved our wedding date up a year and just started the planning process in the last few weeks. Our new date is February 3, 2009 at the Riu Negril. Any tips and/or info is appreciated!