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hailothere

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  1. I noticed that you are getting married at the Riu in Negril. We passed there on a tour. Just as an FYI, the Riu in Negril is about a 45 minute to an hour ride from the airport, so you may want to alert your guest of the ride. Rick's Cafe is near the Riu and I would suggest trip there in the early evening to watch the sunset and to see the crazy people jump off the rock cliffs, some as high as 100 feet.
  2. I said when I came back I had to post my reviews. I chose the Riu, Montego Bay and had a FANTASTIC time. It was like a fairytale. The resort was beautiful, everyone I came in contact with was friendly, taxi drivers to the hotel staff, they take pride in their work. Taxes are 17% so prices were high and people are underpaid. We tipped drivers and even tipped our waiter for the wedding reception. They prefer US dollars so take US money, the exchange rate, you will lose on the US dollars if you do Jamaican. We did travel off of the resort for a day, went to Negril to the beach and to Rick's Cafe. Make sure you tip the drivers, minimum wage is $40 a week, so trust they really appreciate it. The weather was hot everday around 90 degrees, it rained twice, not complete wash outs, during my seven days. When you arrive you are greated with rum punch, if you arrive before 3 pm, more than likely your room is not ready. There are six buildings for rooms, I recommend either building one, two or three. Five and six are the furtherest from everything, more walking. The beds are a little hard but other than that my room was on the second floor and very nice. It has a balcony that you can sit on if needed. The ocean view rooms, many were blocked my palm trees so you did not really see the ocean. We had maid service everyday, and every day there was a towel decoration on the bed. There are ceiling fans as well as air conditioner. There is a bar in your room. The bathroom has two sink, toilet and tub. The beach was okay, prettier in Negril. If you go to about waist deep, you hit the seaweed. There were always lounge chairs available. Free water activities, paddle boats, sailing, canoeing and scuba diving. If you want to jet ski, parasail, that cost. On the beach was a jerk chicken hut, MUST TRY. There were a few vendors that were on the beach but they never disturbed me. There were two pools, huge pools, one that had a swim up bar and then another pool. They were clean and had ample room in them. There was lounge chairs around the pool areas too. You can get beach towels from the pool area, so no need to pack our own. Food is not five star but it is not bad, I ate well everyday. They have three speciality restaurants, Asian, Steak and Italian. You MUST make reservations the day before for the speciality restaurant. If you have reservations, make sure you there by 15 minutes after your reservation time, if not they cancel your reservation. We ate at the Asian and the Steak House, the steak house is where you have your wedding reception. All of the restuarants are buffet style, and there are two main buffet dining areas. Rose Hall is the main hall for breakfast and dinner. Mahoe Bay is the main hall for lunch. There is everything from salad to coconut mussels, and freshly squeezed juice to cooked to odere omeletes. There is entertainment daily from morning to night. There is water aerobics, pool side games, nightly shows, make sure you see Michael Jackson. There is also a casino, only slot machines. Now for the wedding itself. I was scared at first because the contact I had with the WC was short and brief. However, I had an appointment two days before the wedding. Basically you went over EVERYTHING. I had the free wedding, so I paid for the minister and go the freebies, but there is a cost for amazing. Flowers are expensive. The best floral set-up of the gazebo, I believe was $250 US. The chairs cost too, the basic chair is brown, was not bad but the better the chair the higher the cost, chairs start at $5 per chair. Flowers are expensive, I got what came with the package. I paid $25 for my sister and got ONE tulip. Boutineres are $15 a piece depending on what you get. You are allowed to bring your own cd of music if you want, I used the one that was there. We did not have a rehersal, the WC basically directed you 5 minutes before the start. I wed at 2:00 pm which meant I had to wait 4 hours until dinner. The 4:00 wedding is a good time, however, it may interfere with the sound system from the 4:00 entertainment. The minister does have a microphone. You will have outsiders watching, since it is outside. A word to the wise, it is HOT, your will SWEAT, you may have sweat stains depending on the attire. After I met with the WC, I meet with PhotoImages for my pictures. Make sure you book an extra hour. The start time is the time on your contract, not the time you are ready to start. My start time was 1:30 pm to take photos of me getting ready, at 1:30 there was a knock on my door. The photographer will take about 200 pictures from which you can choose. We took pictures at the gazebo and at the beach, he asks you if there are special pictures/groups that you want. The reception dinner was at the steak house on the second floor, we were away from the regular dining crowd and assigned a personal waiter. Although this was a buffet restaurant, too, the waiter, Nicholas, highly recommended, did everything for us. The tables are set up with blue and yellow accents, you are allowed to bring decorations. There was another wedding party down the other end, it did not intefere with us, and they had floating candles and flowers on their tables, it added a intimiate touch. There was hor derves, fish nuggest, chicken nuggets and something else do not remember and baskets of bread. Then there was a fresh garden salad followed by tomato soup. The main course you had a chose of five meats, ribs, sirlon, ribeye, baked chicken or a seafood kabob. In addition a baked potato and mixed vegtables. You also had white and/or red wine, both very dry, water, soda and champange. The wedding cake was two tier. My cake was yellow cake with raspberry filling and whip cream white icing, It was really moist. To some it up, my parents were against a destination wedding, they came back four days ago and that is all they talk about. They said for how excellent everything was, they thought I put years into planning, when actually all I did was plan the trip, the WC took care of everything.
  3. I just got back from Riu, Jamaica, Montego Bay, my wedding was July 31. I was actually going to write on the site but I figure this is a good place to start. Let's start from the beginning. I stayed for seven days, out of the seven it rained twice but not a complete washout either day. The Riu was beautiful, well kept, friendly staff, nice rooms, however the beds were a little hard. I was a little afraid because the comminucation with the coordinator before travel was quick however once there, she had an hour meeting with me and the wedding was smooth. I had the free wedding, really basic, had to pay for the minister and any extras. They get you with the extras. There is one flower that is free, to me, it was beautiful. It had an array of colors, white, orange, purple, yellow and green so it matched my colors perfectly. Flowers for the brides maids depending on your package start at $25 and for the men the bouitneiere starts at $15. Then there is set-up, there is the basic ivy arch accented with flowers which is free, they have other set-ups with additional flowers but that is costly, flowers are costly. You have the basic brown chairs which are free, if you upgrade it costs. They have white wood chairs at $5 a chair then another chair which is $10 a chair. You have the gazebo on the beach or the gazebo on the plaza. I did the plaza, the beach was literally stuck right in the midst of the beach, too many people laying around. Due to the resort activities, try not to have your wedding at 4:00, the sound system intefers with the sound system from the activities from the resort, my wedding was at 2:00 no problems. I did not have a rehersal, although you probably could if no one is in the space at the time the day prior, You may be able to decide how your group will walk to the front if it is a lot of you. We entered from the side and walked down. For dinner, what I did was just make reservations at one of the speciality restaurants for the group for the night. We did not do a private reception although is was basically private. The dinner was held at the steakhouse restuarant on the second floor. There was another wedding party down the other end, you would not have even known they were there unless you looked down to their tables they were quiet. You have your own personal waiter, who we tipped, after you see all the work he does, Nicholas, was his name, highly recommended. If you want decorations for your table you can do that. The other party had floating candles on their tables which added a nice touch. I used the photographer from the resort, I will post the link when I get the unedited pictures. The photographer is PROMT. Make sure you pay for additional time, an extra hour, you will need it. Michael, the head photographer took my pictures, my start time was 1:30 at my room, at 1:30 he was there. His watch starts from the time on the contract, not when you are ready. He took over 200 pictures, of course the wedding, pictures after the wedding on the gazebo, the beach and around the trees. You meet with the photo images after you meet with the coordinator. They will basically go over all the packages with you and show you photos of a previous wedding so you have an idea. You will NOT have your pictures before you leave. They edit the pictures, take people out the background, etc. Put it like this, my parents were highly against the destination wedding and my parents LOVED everything. They can not believe how well everything flowed, went together for the wedding with very minimal planning by me.
  4. I am a Newbie. Anita Mickens soon to be Martin Wedding - July 31, 2010 Riu-Montego Bay
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