breeze616

Here is the spa portion of my review - its ready to post but I'm waiting for Tammy to add the 'Beach' hotel to the review section. (The spa is shared by all 3 hotels) Spa - A I used the spa twice during our stay. Once because one of my nails broke before the wedding, and they fixed it for me (put a new tip on) and repainted my nails. That only cost me $20, so not bad at all! The entire bridal party then used the spa to have their hair and make-up done. They did an amazing job on everyone’s hair. Yes, it was hairsprayed SOLID, but it needs to be in that weather. My hair held up all night, despite that it was a fairly loose design. I had her re-do my ‘poof’ in the front 3 times to get it right and she was very patient and understanding. She even managed to hide my headband that my hair-shell was attached to. The makeup was pretty good as well. They wouldn’t put on my false eyelashes though (I had to do it) and all of us had to add more eyeliner to the bottom rim, even though we all asked for more. I ended up making a few little changes to my hair and makeup, but nothing major. They did a great job and everyone was on time except me with my ‘poof’ pickiness. Haha

Here is the Spa section of my review - its done Im just waiting for Tammy to list the 'Beach' hotel in the review section. (The spa is in the suites though) Spa - A I used the spa twice during our stay. Once because one of my nails broke before the wedding, and they fixed it for me (put a new tip on) and repainted all my nails. That only cost me $20, so not bad at all! The entire bridal party then used the spa to have their hair and make-up done. They did an amazing job on everyone’s hair. Yes, it was hairsprayed SOLID, but it needs to be in that weather. My hair held up all night, despite that it was a fairly loose design. I had her re-do my ‘poof’ in the front 3 times to get it right and she was very patient and understanding. She even managed to hide my headband that my hair-shell was attached to. The makeup was pretty good as well. They wouldn’t put on my false eyelashes though (I had to do it) and all of us had to add more eyeliner to the bottom rim, even though we all asked for more. I ended up making a few little changes to my hair and makeup, but nothing major. They did a great job and everyone was on time except me with my ‘poof’ pickiness. Haha

Looks great! congrats!

Looks Great! Congrats!

Looks great! Congrats!

We had no problem going to the Suite's or the Grand's beach and we all stayed at the Beach resort. The issue is that Beach guests can't get drinks at Suite's resort, so your Suite's guests would have to go to the bar and get your guests their drinks. Some of my guests made friends with people staying at the suites and they did this while there.

I'm a graphic designer so I made the bookmarks using Adobe Illustrator. I also have contacts in the print industry who were happy to print them, laminate them and cut them for me. But really anyone could make them! You could use Powerpoint or even Word. Just design the bookmarks in text boxes and leave the text box marked out so you know where to cut them out of the regular sized paper. Then you could print them on glossy cardstock, but I recommend having them printed at Office Depot on card stock and laminated there as well. Laminating them makes them look very professional and last longer. Then you (or office depot) can trim them using a paper cutter. I love this paper cutter http://fiskarspapercutter.com/ you can only do one page at a time, but its more accurate than the guillotine-type cutters. After they are cut out, I used a scrapbooking corner punch to round the corners, this is what I used: http://www.123stitch.com/cgi-perl/itemdetail.pl?item=01-001448 Then I used a hole punch for the ribbon hole, tied some ribbon through it and voila! I get all my supplies at craft stores like Michaels. Happy Planning!

And I was just married at the Beach resort, so mine might be different too but I'll answer to what I did.

Hi Natalie! I got them from 4imprint.ca. They had the best prices/shipping for me in Canada http://www.4imprint.ca/product/C105356-CL/Omicron-Key-Ring-Bottle-Opener Happy planning!

Hi Ladies! Were back! We had an INCREDIBLE wedding and vacation. FYI, our lil guy is in the mail (Xpresspost) and on its way to Kate! dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up: 1 ) kateandbri - January 8th-15th, Melia Caribe, Punta Cana 2 ) CarribeanBride - Feb 6th-13th 2011- Dreams Palm Beach, Punta Cana 3 ) Teira1031 - April 1,2011 - April 14, 2011 Dreams los cabos 4 ) Hockeymom97 - April 30 - May 9, Turks and Caicos *(To be confirmed with bride before)* 5 ) susanna.hanson - June 17, 2011, Cabo San Luca 6 ) Mallory57 - Aug 11-21, 2011, Moon Dance Cliffs, Negril, Jamaica 7 ) Kathie - October 14 - 29, Aruba If you would like to join this CLEAR starfish list, please post in this thread with all of this info: 1) That you would like to join the 'dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up' 2) Your travel dates (an estimate is ok if you haven't booked yet). 3) Your wedding location It is your responsibility to get the info of the bride on the list after you, and send the starfish and journal on in a timely manner. Please do not disappoint the brides after you by committing to this if you don't think you will send it off in time.

Hello Ladies!! I am back from my wedding at the Beach resort and it was FANTASTIC. Everyone had an incredible time. I will post my review ASAP. Thank you for all the best wishes If anyone has questions for me - shoot away!!

Hi Ladies! Well we leave for MoBay in the monring and I have our lil guy with me! I'll send to the next bride on my return! dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up: 1 ) breeze616 – December 6 – 16th Iberostar Rose Hall, Montego Bay 2 ) kateandbri - January 8th-15th, Melia Caribe, Punta Cana 3 ) CarribeanBride - Feb 6th-13th 2011- Dreams Palm Beach, Punta Cana 4 ) Teira1031 - April 1,2011 - April 14, 2011 Dreams los cabos 5 ) Hockeymom97 - April 30 - May 9, Turks and Caicos *(To be confirmed with bride before)* 6 ) susanna.hanson - June 17, 2011, Cabo San Luca 7 ) Mallory57 - Aug 11-21, 2011, Moon Dance Cliffs, Negril, Jamaica 8 ) Kathie - October 14 - 29, Aruba If you would like to join this CLEAR starfish list, please post in this thread with all of this info: 1) That you would like to join the 'dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up' 2) Your travel dates (an estimate is ok if you haven't booked yet). 3) Your wedding location It is your responsibility to get the info of the bride on the list after you, and send the starfish and journal on in a timely manner. Please do not disappoint the brides after you by committing to this if you don't think you will send it off in time.

Hey Ladies!! Well, this is it! I leave in the morning for Montego Bay!! I will be sure to post a thorough review on my return!! I posted a planning thread too Ttyl!!

DIY Chair Swags Aren’t my chair swags sick?? The resort has white chair covers and silver chair bows, I plan to use them to pin my chair swags on. These were actually really easy to make. I bought the shells at http://www.qualityshells.com/ then me and my BMs put clear craft glue on the shells, making it look like it was dripping from the edge, then we dipped the shell in a bowl of multicoloured seed beads. Voila! The beads stuck to the glue and looked great! Then just glue some pins to the back and your good to go. The fabric is simple to do as well, check my soon-to-come blog for tutorials! Menu Cards Guest Book I made a guestbook using our Engangement Photos - People can sign throughout the book in sidebars and in thought bubbles. Guest Favours I DIY’ed the favours as well. Since we are leaving so close to Xmas, I made sand dollar Xmas decorations. Bridesmaids Gifts I sewed my BMs their own silk robes with lace trim. I had my embroidery guy embroider their names on them. I’m also giving them each a clutch. I got two Kate Spades, one LAMB and one Coach. OOT Bags I love how our OOT bags turned out. In them there is: Beach bag Tide to go (personalized) Sewing kit (personalized) Bottle opener (personalized) Postcards (I designed) Bookmarks (I designed) Ear plugs ‘Water Proof Wallets’ Welcome letters Not shown here are Beach Balls and Immodium packets – they are coming with my BM from the USA. I wanted to post more pics of my trip clothes shopping, but I’m running out of time!! As I said – I’m starting a blog/wedding business on my return. I will be in touch regarding this soon!! And now, I’m back to packing!

Bouquets The BMs will carry white bouquets made of white cymbidium orchids and white roses. Kinda like this one. My bouquet will be similar to the above, with blue hydrangeas and irises but instead of the white orchids, I’m getting blue orchids like in the arrangement below. I love blue orchids, I know they’re dyed that way but they are still stunning. Reception I ordered my flowers from Boulevard Florist in Negril Jamaica. She gave me an awesome quote, so hopefully it all turns out as planned! This is the centerpiece inspiration I sent her: I later changed my centrepeice flowers to ones similar to my bouquet, but in the same vases. Instead of the floating candles, I am bringing a TON of lumieres that my sister designed and I cut out on my lovely Silouhette SD. I will also bring a ton of shells that my BMs helped me paint for the table Lumieres My other sister drew the patterns for these lumieres and I designed them and cut them out on the sillhoutte. We made a ton of these for the table tops and to sit on the railing of the reception area. We made a bunch of LED throwies to put inside to light them up. Great thing is they are paper and can be packed flat and popped up once we get there. Hanging Lanterns I created these hanging lanterns and cut them out on silhouette. This one is a rough draft, it doesn’t have the tissue paper behind the cutout and the tabs need to go inside, but you get the idea. These will hang on trees near the ceremony location and the reception location. Huppa décor We will use the resort huppa, I made sheers to hang from it in our wedding colours. Sorry no pic of those, but here is our inspiration pics: I also made these flower arrangements to hang on the corners of the huppa, they match the chair swags. They will also hang on the corners of the awning above the head table and the same sheers will hang behind the head table like this (inspiration pic): I will also be bringing a ton of starfish and painted/decorated shells for the table. To be continued......

Groom & groomsmen We ordered the Grooms and Groomsmens suits from Studio suits. They are linen in English Beige. Sorry I didn’t get a pic. Those are the silk ties that I had one of our lantern designs heat transferred onto. I wanted it to be tone-on-tone, and not like a loud design, I think they turned out great. Sorry they are a bit wrinkled. These are part of their gift, along with the shirts for their suits. Sand Ceremony I just love my nautilus shells! We will use these to pour the sand from into the glass vase. Once were back, I plan on glass etching our date, etc on the vase – but I want to wait to pick the best side of the vase to etch on I also created this little box to hold the nautilus shells full of sand until we are ready to pour it. To be Continued....

OMG! Its my turn!! First of all I have to thank Tammy and all the BDW Mods and Contributers! This site has made my wedding 4561768374367167683143 X easier, I would’ve have been pulling my hair out without it. So thank you thank you thank you!! Special shout outs to the ol' shoutbox peeps. You girls are totes awesome and I know that the friendships I have made there will be enduring long after my wedding is said and done. Who would’ve known I’d meet such wonderful non-nerdy people on an internet forum? Love you hooks! Ok, so about my wedding…. Engagement After 7 years of dating, I knew my time was close. He started hinting and we looked at rings together and it became very clear that his taste in Erings was ABHORRENT! I mean, if it was the ugliest, gaudiest ring in the display, he said ‘oh that one’s nice…’ :sick: So I quickly went to work googling and found this New York designer I LOVED: http://www.maevona.com/bridal-jewelry/2 and picked out the ring I wanted: The ring design is called Eriskay. I had mine done in all white gold. So, once I had picked the design, I called my Mom (she now works for a jeweler, and FI and I knew when he was ready he’d call her cause obv he’d get a great deal) sent her the design and told her that I think Steve will be calling you soon for my ring and she said ‘I’ll take care of it’ and she did! Best thing was, I got the ring I wanted, but wasn’t sure when it was going to happen, so still was surprised, best of both worlds! My ring May 23, 2009 my FI asked me to go out for dinner. In the restaurant, he took off his sweater to reveal his custom TShirt while I was opening a loving card signed "Roses are red, violets are blue, you're the love of my life - can I marry you?" of course, I said "YES!" After dinner we met some friends at the movies and they took these pictures. Wedding bands I obviously had to have a custom band made for my e-ring, and I totally love it. My ring looks nothing like a typical wedding band and e-ring and that is what I like about it. I cant wait to get the matching band for my one-year anniversary that will go on top. Resort After much consideration, we decided on the Iberostar Rose Hall Beach resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica. It was affordable for our guests, had none of the headache that come with marriage in Mexico and it was highly rated on Trip Advisor. I am so happy with our choice. Travel Agent We went with Romantic Travel, a Candian Travel Agency that specializes in destination weddings and honeymoons. We had a pretty good experience with them, nothing to rave about. She will be reviewed separately. Photographer I was soo lucky to book my uber-talented photographer just before she blew up and became very well-known and respected in Toronto (not to mention expensive!). She also happens to be an old friend from Elementary School so she gave me an amazing deal to travel with me to Jamaica, do my Eshots and my TTD! Her deets: Tara McMullen: http://taramcmullen.com/ Engagement Photos: We wanted our photoshoot to reflect how we are - We love living in the country, but you wont find us in scruffy jeans and plaid shirts. We always look fly, we always bring the party, and we always, always, are madly in love ♥ Here are a few of our favs… Those shoes are my favourite Jimmy Choos. I will wear them for the reception as my 'something blue'! Colours/Theme: A beach destination wedding was always our dream, so I knew I wanted the décor to be beachy, yet classy and romantic. My colours were inspired from the paua shell: Lots of greens and blues and purple, I wanted everything pearly and iridescent with lots of shell accents and a feel of the blue ocean water. Save the Dates I DIY’ed my save the dates and sent them out one year before our trip. I posted a thread about them here: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/52916/breeze616-s-diy-stds We asked for an ‘early-bird’ RSVP, which was very helpful during the planning process. Remarkably, we have about the same amount of people booked who RSVP’d a year ago! A good tip – I wrote the person’s name on the back, so I knew who was RSVPing. You wouldn’t believe how many people forget to do that when you ask your guests to do so. Invitations I’m not gonna lie. These invitations were the bane of my existence. I wish I hadn’t said ‘formal invitation to follow’ on my STDs cause I would of blown the whole thing off. They are pretty awesome though, if I do say so. My fantastic bridal party helped a lot with DIYing these puppies. This is the outside front with the pearly envelopes I used. I used dark purple ribbon, white card stock and an iridescent paper I got at the Paper Place in Toronto. The ‘birds & hearts’ design I created then cut it out using my trusty Silhouette SD. I heart my Silhouette! And this is what it looked like from the inside I designed the invites as well, then I cut the ‘froth’ at the top of the waves from card stock and covered them in iridescent glitter glue! The other side was a pocket with the wave design on it, and different sized inserts with all the information they could need, specifically cut and designed so they show the titles and look symmetrical. Finally, I glued the ‘frothy waves’ using a puffy double sided tape to give them a 3D look. They actually turned out really nice, and I used the ‘bird and hearts’ theme a couple other ways in the wedding, so it was a useful exercise. Dress Ahhh, my dress… I came up with the design for my dress on my own and my uber-uber-uber talented Moma made it for me. My Mom’s career includes fashion design, working for the Toronto Theatre, and making us the ultimate Halloween costumes ever. I always knew she’d make my dress and that it would be an amazing couture gown. And that’s what I got! Here is my design: We documented the entire sewing process from the beginning to end. That story will be featured on my blog, if you are interested in reading about it. Here is the real thing! (on the dress form, sorry no time to put it on and take pics!!) So we changed the original design a bit - I took off the hip swag because it would have been too much. The gathers in the stomach/hip area are more noticible and even looking on me then on the dress form. Sorry these pics are on the dress form and not me! It looks a lot better on me. I guess you’ll have to wait to see it on me in my review. I hand made all the flower embellishments but the rest was all Moma!! Wedding Jewellery & Accesories I have THREE pairs of shoes to wear for my wedding day. Ya, ridic right? But it makes sense…. no really…. I got low wedges for the ceremony because its on the beach, which means sand and no heels. Also, my FI is only a few inches taller than me so I didn’t want to wear my usual 4 inch stilettos. Of course they were a too plain for me so I whipped up some shoe flowers for them. ahh, much better! For a tutorial on how to make these, follow my soon-to-come blog! Here is my jewellery. I also handmade this hair shell! I really love how it turned out. Excuse my nasty hair... this was VERY late at night. Knock-Off Trash the dress I knew we’d be doing a Trash-The-Dress shoot in Jamaica, but no way was I jumping in the ocean in my couture silk gown. So a Chinese made replica dress just made sense. Actually, my design for my dress really jumped off from this dress from the Disney wedding line: So I had Gianinar Bridal in China create a knock off version of the dress for me, with a corset back. It fit perfectly when it arrived by courier. First Dance Dress My sister is a ballroom dance teacher, and she choreographed our first dance and my father daughter dance. So I wanted a cute dress to wear that wont hinder my movements and show off our fancy footwork. This is not what I had originally wanted. My dance dress was delayed in shipping, so I had to run out and buy this. But its pretty, looks good on me and has a nice skirt that spins nicely for dancing. Sorry for the crappy pic, but I need to get packing!! Here are my dancing shoes, they have suede bottoms for ballroom dancing. Bridesmaids Dresses For my bridesmaids, I wanted something flowy and beach-wind friendly. I saw this dress on revolve clothing, and decided it was perfect. I have a nerdy love for crosswoven fabric and when I found this one in my wedding colours, I had to do it. My Mom also made the BMs dresses. Here is the final result: To be continued.....

Wow big sister, that is really awful!! That must make it so frustrating to feel like you cAnt share any ideas with your sister as I said before I think you should be honest with your sister and tell her how you feel that sharing the spotlight is not as fun as having it to your self, for both of you!! Even if it doesn't change anything, atleast you'll feel like you did what you could to make things better for both you. I didn't say anything and eventually got so frustrated I blew up on her - which was wrong and horrible for both of us. I hope you two can work it out!! Quote:Originally Posted by bigsister11Â I feel your pain. My sister got engaged just three months after me and she is having her wedding 3 weeks before mine. I have had to tell her many times that we need to be good communicators thru-out this entire thing as to not step on each others toes, but I feel like she is trying to one up me on everything. I had already shared most of my ideas the first 3 months my fiance and I were engaged and so now I feel like everything she is planning is more expensive and is trying to outdo mine. I just keep reminding myself that this day is about my fiance and I and that no matter whether or not people attend hers and not mine I could care less. I just want to spend that day with the people I love and my fiance. I have been worried because she is a bridesmaid in mine, but I just figure I will have to put in a little extra time and plan mine to the last detail before her wedding so that I will have three weeks for adjustments after I see what I don't like about hers. I am sure they will both be spectacular, but I am a little sore still about her stealing my thunder. People are going to remember your wedding for its uniqueness and they will be there for you! Stay positive. I feel your pain :-)

Congrats Nikki! Can't wait to see your review Princess - Nope, no welcome party for me. But as Imuze said, I saw on the wedding details document that you can arrange for reservations for whatever restaurants you want. Or, just give them a heads up to meet somewhere. I've attached a resort map for your use. It has the names of all the amenities on it. IBRH_COMPLEX_MAP.pdf

To new Brides: Its up to you to scroll back through the posts and find a list you want to be added to. Then do as instructed at the bottom of the list! Happy Planning!

Well that was very aggravating! I spoke to Tameica and she said that she will just get a copy of my father's id once he is there... (huh?) So anyways, I'm just sending my BC and passport notarized copies.

My FI's birth father was also an abenstee father. He also happened to pass away this year. Tameica (my WC) said that we should type a letter explaining that "FI's father passed away and was not present during his life, so we have no record of his ID available", and to have that letter notarized. Weird, but whatevs.

Yes, that is exactly what you do. Make photo copies, leaving lots of space at the bottom for the notary's stamps. Then bring both your originals and the copies to a lawyer or Red Seal Notary and have the copies notarized. You'll have to arrange to borrow your father's ID and bring it with you to the lawyer as well (or ask your father to get a notarized copy for you). I recommend finding a lawyer who will do it, as they tend to be cheaper than Red Seal Notaries, but shop around. Because of our time crunch, we went with a local lawyer who said he would do it for $40 per document. But in the end he only charged us $20/document, which was nice.

Hey Ladies, So as I'm running around like a madwoman, I get this email EXACTLY one month before my wedding: Please note that we need the paperwork here at least a month in advance to apply for the license that is needed to get married here in Jamaica. ...in order to get legally married by a Marriage Officer recognized by the Jamaican Government you must apply for a License ahead of time. Bellow you will find the list of documents that are required by the Jamaican Government to apply for this License:  Notarized copies of the Bride & Groom's birth certificates which must include father’s name.  Notarized copies of Bride & Groom’s official ID (Passports)  Notarized copies of divorce decrees or death certificates (if applicable) These documents must be sent to the Wedding Coordinator at least four (4) weeks prior to the couple's arrival to the hotel (We highly recommend to use a private currier as FedEx, DHL, UPS…) I knew they needed copies, but didn't know they needed to be NOTARIZED. So that's an extra cost and extra time. Also, because we don't have our Father's name on our BC here in Canada, I had to get his ID notarized and send that. I just thought I would let you ladies know this, get copies of your passports and BC and Father's BC NOTARIZED by a lawyer and FedEx'd to arrive in Jamaica 1 month before your wedding. If I'd known that, I would've been on this a month ago. Now its looking to arrive two weeks before the wedding. Hope its enough!!

@ islandbride8 Hey There, basically, There are a couple of starfish bouquet jewels being passed from bride to bride, We desties use this as our 'something borrowed'. If you get on the blue starfish list you can use it as the 'something blue' too. Its a great tradition!