purrfected

I recently stayed at this resort and it is a beautiful resort to host a wedding. The food isn't the best, but the service is good and people are friendly. In my book, that more than makes up for a couple of so-so meals.I saw a wedding while we were there and it was beautiful.

I got married in Negril in August and I had my license in the beginning of October, which for Jamaican time, is pretty quick. My wedding coordinator fed exed it to me. I told them I needed asap in order to make the changes to our health insurance.

We did a live reggae band for the cocktail hour on the beach and a guitarist for the actual ceremony. My brother in law used his ipod and computer to play the music for the reception. It was a great mix...live band on the beach and great familiar music inside the reception...

I loved your pics! You guys look so happy. Thanks for sharing....

I thought I would take this opportunity to vent. I have been working, but my paycheck is consistently late or short. It has put me so far behind that I feel like I am just paying catch up. I am still working hard, actually harder than I was when I was getting paid on time, hoping that when payday comes I will get paid.There is really nothing out there and employers know it, so they can treat their employees how they want to. The general attitude is that you should just be grateful to have a job. I have been so busy and depressed about this situation, which started when I got back from my honeymoon that I have not taken care of lots of my post wedding stuff. I finally put a picture of our wedding up in the house when my husband asked when I was going to do it..... I know that the economy is going to recover, things are just tough right now. I think it would be a lot easier if we were all suffering and tightening our belts for awhile. However, in order to support a lavish, very expensive lifestyle, the employees have to suffer. On payday the other employees ask me (I have been there the longest) whether or not I think we will get paid. We all have automatic deposit but it is rarely used. It has been 2 months since any of us (other than the office assistant who makes 10$ an hr) have received a regular check and it is consistently short. One employee spoke of going to the labor board but is so scared of being out of a job that she talked herself out of it. I hope to finally complete my wedding review this weekend. I have been so depressed that I have not been able to finish it. All of the joy and happiness that I felt I have not been able to express it in my review. All I can say is thanks to my fellow BDW's for understanding and being there for me..

OMG, those shoes are a need not a want in my book! I love them and this is the one day where you get to be a princess. I say go for it. Charge them and pay for them later. (This is coming for the bride who is still paying off some spluges that she made for her wedding and I don't regret any of them!

Congratulations! Have fun planning your wedding! Negril is beautiful!

Congratulations! Have fun planning! This is a great website with a wealth of information. The ladies on this forum are so helpful.

I spent my honeymoon there this past August and it is a gorgeous resort. The service was great. It is comparable to a US hotel. The beach is man made so it is rocky and difficult to swim in, but the view is incredible. The grounds are manicured and spectacular. We went into a wedding reception while we were there and peaked in. It was beautiful and everyone seemed to be having a blast! The staff is what makes this hotel. Things to keep in mind: Montego Bay is about 15-20 minutes away and it costs about 25$ each way to get there. However, there are lots of restaurants that have a shuttle service that will pick you up at the hotel and drop you off in the evening. Just ask the conceirge and they will set it up! The resort seems to shut down kinda early. Seems like most everyone stopped hanging out around 10pm. But that's ok, that is the perfect time to catch a shuttle or a cab and go into town! The food is really good, I didn't have a bad meal the entire time I was there! The drinks are a little pricey for Jamaica (my husband's top shelf cadillack margaritas were $18 each!) but hey, its still the Ritz. I didn't go to the spa, but some of my guests were at the resort for one day of my honeymoon and they said the spa was incredible. Their suites are gorgeous and you will have plenty of room to get dressed with your girls. The champagne they serve is really good so no worries there. Congratulations and happy planning!

YAY! Congratulation! Have fun planning your wedding. I agree, Negril is amazing. I loved my Negril wedding. I hope you plan the wedding of your dreams. Good luck!

I loved my wedding coordinator. I purchased a package for my wedding that included her services. I tipped her in cash and gave her a gift bag. The bag included a Bath & Body works set, a necklace similiar to one that I wore that she admired, (I was going to give the necklace to one of my guests that had carted an entire suitcase to Jamaica for us, but since our coordinator admired the one that I wore, I gave her that one and am taking my guest to the spa for a massage. I'm going too, so its kinda a selfish gift!)some allergy meds that are hard to get in Jamaica that we had discussed, and some perfume. I think it should be left up to the individual. My coordinator went out of her way for me and I really appreciated it. She came in on her day off to help me with some of my planning once I was on site. IMHO I don't think there are any set rules, your tip should be based on your experience.

My wedding was pink and green. I loved my bouquet. I sent the florist pics and they actually gave me exactly what I wanted, pink roses, orchids and greenery... The bridesmaids' bouquets were mini versions of my bouquet.

I have not done my review yet, I know I am a bad BDW bride, but I haven't had a lot of time since we got back last weekend. We spent 11 days in Jamaica. It was magical. We were married in Negril on the beach at sunset. I would not change anything about it. It was very close to how I envisioned it. Of course, nothing comes out perfect, but it was all in all a great experience. If you are looking for a small intimate resort, Sunset at the Palms is a great choice. The staff was accomodating and all of my guests loved the resort. Here are a few pics prior to my review, just because we love pics!

Ok, this is how my cake turned out. I had a white cake with fluffy white frosting and pink flowers cascading down the side. But this is the Jamaican interpretation of all of the pics that I sent her. I actually like it after I got over the fact it wasn't the cake that I wanted. It was delicious so that helped me get over it a whole lot quicker. The first layer was white cake with Baileys filling. Fabulous, the 2nd layer was a rum spice cake with a vanilla liqueur filling.I am a drinker and you could taste the alcohol, so I thought it was great. The top layer is in the freezer and I guess next year I will be surprized since I asked for a white cake with Baileys and the other layers to be plain white cake with vanilla filling!

Thanks everyone! My wedding was magical! I will be posting pics and a review at some point this week. Work is getting in the way of my BDW posting time!!!

Hi Girls! I am in Jamaica and so far so good. The weather has been great. A few light rain showers but thats it. Sunset at the Palms is a beautiful resort. I cannot tell you just how nice and accomodating everyone has been. I met with the hotel manager of SeaWind Resort today where we are having a bbq and bonfire on friday night as a rehearsal dinner. No problems. I have been dieting for about 3 months (I lost 14 lbs!) and I am just trying not to gain it all back before i get married on Saturday. The food is incredible ! I had grilled red snapper and fries for lunch. It came with a jerk chutney sauce that was soooo good. I have to watch it ! Thanks for all of the well wishes! Don't worry I will take lots of pics~!

First, I wanted to say thank you to everyone for all of their help, suggestions and support. Next, I wanted to say thanks to all of the mods for making this such a great forum. I leave today for my wedding in Negril. Ana and Bill had better keep their hurricane butts away from my wedding!! I will be checking in with you girls. If anyone has anything they want me to take pics of or look at I will be in Jamaica for 11 days, half in Negril, half in MoBay. Wish me luck!!! OOPS, I meant to say leaving for my wedding. Excuse the pre wedding shakes!!!! Tammy

I am doing pale pink toes and a sheer pink (natural) on my nails. You can see my nails thru the sheer pink polish. I like the nude look too!

Mo, I love your invites. They are so cute. I am glad your guests enjoyed them!

Congratulations! I love your dress. You were stunning. I am glad that everything was perfect. Great pics by the way!

Congratulations! You were a gorgeous bride and you two looked so happy! I am glad everything was perfect!

I've just now read this post and I leave on Monday. I am so bummed. Thank you for the heads up. I will make sure to tell her the wedding is 2 hrs earlier than it is and just pay her for the extra time. Faith is actually my photographer, I sure hope she is more professional for my wedding. I feel bad that your sister had a bad experience. I am praying that my experience with her is better. I also have her booked for a TTD session. Well girls, cross your fingers and say a prayer for me!

I found out from brides on Trip Advisor that if you are going with a resort photographer the best way to go is not to "pre pay" for your photos. One bride was going to buy a package before her wedding but her FI didn't want her to. She said they paid the photographer to take pics the day of the wedding and the next day he brought her a cd with over 300 pics on it and after she bargained with him, (remember this is Jamaica) he only charged her a one time fee for the cd and it was a fraction of the price quoted on the resort website for the same thing! If you plan on using a local photographer it seems the way to go is to work out cost once you arrrive. Good luck everyone. I leave on Monday for Negril so if you want me to do any research or check something out while I am there, send me a pm!

Ok I really hope this is after August 29th, that is when I get back from my wedding! I don't mind driving to Brea, (I live far from everything) but it would be really nice to have it close to the beach! It just seems like destination wedding brides would want to have lunch on the beach, right? Here are a few suggestions. Maybe in Long Beach (Gladstones or Parker's lighthouse right on the water?), or the Cheescake Factory near Redondo Beach, or maybe even somewhere in Huntington Beach. I went to a really nice brunch last summer at a hotel that had awesome views in HB, I just don't remember the name right now. I will have to ask the girsl Maybe at Casa del Mar or The Loews on the beach in Santa Monica? Moonshadows in Malibu? (If we have it on a Sunday afternoon at Moonshadows, they have a DJ with dancing overlooking the beach. It is really fun.) The Ritz in Laguna Niguel has an awesome brunch and it is so beautiful. Ok, brunch is one of my favorite weekend activities, so I have been to brunch anywhere from San Diego to Santa Barbara! Let's pick a few places and then vote!

I was told by another Jamaican bride to bring receipts if you are bringing lots of wedding stuff to Jamaica. It doesn't matter if the luggage is checked or carry on Customs can ask for the receipts if you have lots of items. I think they want to make sure that you pay taxes on them if you are going to sell them in the country. I know that I was told by my TA that I could not send things to her via mail because it would get held up in Customs. I wanted to mail some of this junk and not have to take it all in suitcases. I know that it is expensive to mail stuff but I was going for convenience. Anyway now we have given some items to guests and we are taking 2 carry ons (and my dress) in addition to 4 suitcases. I put the receipts in a ziploc bag in my carry on. I don't have a receipt for everything, but I do have quite a few. I will let everyone know how it went when I get back. Tammy