jh17

Great ideas everyone!! Love the photo idea!! My friend is going back to Jamaica next week (our AHR is in April) so I have asked him to bring my back Jamaican Jerk spice (in bulk). I am going to put it in little baggies and attach a receipe card for Jerk Chicken and Jerk Tofu (I am a vegetarian). I will probably print a picture from our wedding on the receipe card. We are not having a sit down meal (more appys, etc.) so I am not sure how to hand them out. I have a friend taking everyone's picture as they arrive so I might have her give them out after she takes the pictures. Does anyone else have ideas how they will give their out?

We are renting a local legion and I just contacted a Jamaican catering company for pricing. We are not having a sit down meal (just appy's, finger food, etc.) but I would love it if we could include some Jamaican dishes!

Thanks!! I think the DJ's name was Damian.

Quote: Originally Posted by debbmach I love your photos, they did such a great job! Congratulations, you looked beautiful! Can I just ask a couple of questions: Where was your reception/dinner? Did you hire the DJ and for how long? Thanks! Thanks! Our reception was at the Posdeion (the Blue Lagoon was closed for construction). We hired the DJ for three hours. He was terrible but I don't think the hotel will use him again (we had booked him through Julian who is no longer with the Palladium and Nina knows how bad he was so I don't think she would book him for any future brides). I booked a DJ b/c i didn't want the hassle of having to worry about music but in hindsight i think it would have been better (and cheaper) to rent speakers and hook up an ipod with a specific playlist.

My slideshow was just posted on the photographer's (Sungold) website! I am so excited and I can't wait to receive the rest of the pictures!!!! Hopefully this link will work, if not go to Sun Gold Photography Associates under photoshows (Wade and Jane): Wade & Jane Hope everyone is having fun planning (I sure miss it!!)

We got married last month and are planning our AHR reception for April. It will be held in NS as my fi's (I guess he is my husband now!) family is there and most of my friends but we live in Alberta now. We are having appetizers, etc. and a dance at a local legion hall. I haven't really started planning yet do i need to get organzied!! I have a few friends who will handle all the decoratation. Is everyone planning to wear their wedding dresses?

Here is what i had: old: mother's wedding band (my wedding day was also my parent's 30th anniversary so the wedding band was 30 years old that day) new: dress, headband, etc. borrowed: my aunts (on my mother's side of the family) bracelet blue: my aunt (on my father's side of the family) made me two little blue hair clips I was really happy I had something from both my mother and my fathers side of the family.

I agree with Debs as well. I did not have a MOH because it was too hard to decide and one of my bridesmaids was my best friend (who is a guy). He walked down the asile with my other bridesmaid ahead of me and stood on my side for the ceremony. He even put on a dress for his speech at the reception as a joke (everyone was teasing him before asking what he was wearing to the wedding) - he was a really good sport about everything and he was more helpful to me than my female bridesmaids were. You are in a really difficult position but it is your wedding and you should do whatever makes you happy!

Quote: Originally Posted by tiffandmarv jh17, Thanks again for passing along all your info to the rest of us. Question, did you or your guests leave the resort much during your stay? If so, did folks venture to Montego Bay or Negril? Is it really about 45mins to get to either place? A small group left the resort the day after the wedding to go to Negril (to the beach, shopping, Ricks Cafe, etc.). The last day everyone was there 15 of us did the same trip to Negril which was amazing. I think it was only about 30 mins to Negril (I could be wrong but I think Negril is a little closer than Montego Bay). Some people (including my parents and my fis parents) didn't leave the resort at all. Six of my relatives ended up at Ibersostar before they were transfered to the Palladium (long story) and they took a cab into Montego Bay. They were just dropped off and they were all pretty nervous (some guys noticed their bracelets, said he worked at their hotel and tried to lead them down some alley). When we went to Negril we used a driver (Cecil) who my friend's brother had met when he was in Jamaica in February. He was fantastic and stayed with us the whole time-I felt completely safe. If anyone wants his phone number just message me. I have already talked to him since I have been home and he is one of the biggest reasons I want to return to Jamaica.

The Grand Palladium uses Taifloral and I can honestly say my flowers were amazing-possibly the nicest I have ever seen. I have #92 deluxe and my bridemaid had #92 standard. They were so pretty I took them to my next resort for my honeymoon (and kept them in the room for decoratation). The WC dealt with them so I can't speak for the customer service but the flowers were definitely perfect. A bouquet was already covered with my wedding package but I paid to upgrade which I think cost $85 for the deluxe and the standard for my bridesmaid was $140 (if I remember correctly). If you would like pictures pm me your email address. Hope that helps! Jane

While my husband and I were having our pictures taken after our wedding ceremony last month my brother and his wife went around all of our guests and videoed “words of advice for the happy coupleâ€. The clips are hilarious and very sweet. We had no idea they had done this and I cried when they showed us the next day. I am sooo grateful to have these clips as a keepsake and we are going to play them at our AHR. If you are able to have one of your guests do this for you at your wedding I highly recommend it-it is priceless!!

Quote: Originally Posted by lisarussell66 Congrats Jane! Thanks for the Review cant wait to see your pics!! Im using Sungold too so glad you liked them! What Menu did you pick? I have the Caribbean package looks like you had the tropical package? Confused with this as they told me if I book the Blue Lagoon I have to choose the Caribbean package? Were getting married in April 2010 what do recommend I should go over with Nina before I arrive? Thanks for letting us know about the spa thats pretty scary! Lisa Hi Lisa, We choose from the Italian menu. Who told you that you had to choose the Caribbean package in order to book the Blue Lagoon? If it was Julian I suggest you confirm with Nina (Julian gave us a lot of incorrect information). We had the Tropical Package and paid for the private venue ($400 for four hours). I recommend confirming as much as possible with Nina before you arrive (meals, flowers, reception timing, etc.). It felt like I spend half of the four days before the wedding going back and forth from the wedding office. When you have your meeting with Nina upon arrival bring everything you need to give her (place settings, music, sand ceremony set, seating chart, etc.). This will save you time as well because we had to bring that stuff to her after our inital meeting and it just wasted time we could have been spending at the beach with our guests! I really don't think anyone will have to go through the confusion I did now that they have Nina-she is very organized and very professional. I hope for everyone's sake they keep her around!! let me know if you have any more questions Jane

I was having the same issue finding this information. I want to add my maiden name as a middle name and take my husband's name as my last name but apparently to do that I need to legally change my middle name.... who would have thought it would have been this difficult and confusing?! I am not sure what I am going to do now b/c I don't want to drop my maiden name completely and I don't want to hyphen my last name but changing my middle name will also change my birth certificate (so my last name will show as my middle name and my last name on my birth certificate....) plus to legally change your name in Alberta you need to go for fingerprints, etc. thanks for all the info!

Quote: Originally Posted by mswhatever JH17 Congrats on being a Mrs!! Could you tell me if they served liquor at the reception? Was it included or for an extra fee? Thanks Thank you!! There is a bar in the Poseidon-it actually worked out perfectly because our cermony finished around 4:30-4:45 and everyone headed to the Poseidon although our reception was scheduled for 6pm. The bar was open so our guests had a few drinks before dinner while we had our pictures taken on the beach. The bar was open for the duration of our reception and wine was served with dinner. There was no extra charge. Jane

Quote: Originally Posted by cgrant32 Jane, Thanks for the great review. That's a wonderful idea about the fans. Did you use any special music for the ceremony? I didn't really want to pay for a steel band or anything. I'm glad it all turned out well. We brought two CDs for ceremony music-one was just a variety of songs to be played for the guests before the ceremony began,. The other had a song I wanted played just before the bridemaids walked down the aisle (Brad Paisley-Waitin on a Woman) as well as our music for walking down the aisle (my bridemaids walked to an instrumental song called "the wings"-its actually from the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack, and my father and I walked to a Scottish bagpipe song). We played Black Eyed Peas 'I Gotta Feelin' as our processional song which they began playing too soon (while we were signing the register) but they figured it out quickly, stopped it and then played it at the right time. The sound was great for the ceremony and the equipment played burnt CDs. Hope that helps!

Hi everyone!! Let me start by saying we had a ton of stress prior to leaving for Jamaica mainly caused by the Palladium’s decision to retile their pools. I won’t go into details but it went as far as relatives travelling all the way from Scotland being transferred to a different resort and having to move to the palladium half way through their trip-very, very stressful. So needless to say I was very concerned about how everything was going to turn out-not only on the day but for the whole week. Although we still had issues overall I am really happy with how everything turned out. The Resort When we arrived we went to the Jamaica side to check in however that side of the resort was closed and we were all moved to the Lady Hamilton side. This worked out well b/c my Fi and I were upgraded to one of the honeymoon villas and everyone else was close by. The room was amazing and if you haven’t been to the resort before (we hadn’t)-it is unbelievable. Everyone was very happy with the rooms. We spent most of our time between the sports bar, adult pool and infinity bar. Everything is pretty spread out but I really like that about the resort. We stayed at the Dunns River Sandals for our honeymoon and that was one of the things I missed most about the Palladium-being about to walk around and not feeling like you are at a hotel (if that makes sense!). I highly recommend that everyone uses the spa area (with the steam room, sauna, etc.). It is amazing! Again the Palladium’s spa was way nicer than the Dunns River Sandals. Only one buffet was open while we were there and half (or more) of the a la cartes were closed on a rotating basis. It was a huge pain as there was no schedule for when they were open or what they were serving-one night the Asian would be open but it was serving Italian, etc. It was very difficult to book a table for everyone-they said we had to have a set menu so we ended up just making a reservation at the buffet for all of us which worked out well. One night 10 of us tried to get a table at the Asian and even though the restaurant was empty they would not let us sit together at one table. WC We had arranged to meet Julian at 10am on Wednesday (we arrived Tuesday afternoon). The front desk said they would call to remind her. We showed up at 10 to be told that Julian wasn’t in and could we come back at noon. We were not impressed b/c we had waited around in the morning for the meeting and now had to wait more. When we came back Nina apologized b/c she had looked over our file and seen how many issues we had been having (she said she was frustrated just by reading the emails). We had not received any emails from Julian in about a month-everything was confirmed over the phone b.c she was receiving my emails but we were not receiving her responses (now I wonder if she was even sending responses). We went over all the details with Nina, choose flowers, etc. We came back later that day to drop off our table decorations, sand ceremony set, etc. as well as to meet the minister (and give him a copy of our ceremony). Spa We had a ton of problems with the Spa. 5 of us had treatments booked on Thursday (we had booked and paid online) that they didn’t have record of. We got in but it was concerning that they didn’t have any record. We then confirmed our appointments for the day of the wedding and they didn’t have record of half of those appointment either. They did a good job of our hair and make up (I had brought pictures of how I wanted my hair and it was pretty close to the pictures). They were fast-about an hour for my updo and makeup (and I have relatively long hair). I had purchased a ocean massage for my parent’s 30th anniversary. I had paid for it online and booked it for 8am on Monday (I was told I could only book it for 8am, 5pm or 6pm). When they showed up at 8am they were told the receptionist wouldn’t be there until 9am and to come back then. When they came back at 9am they were told the massage would be at 10am. At 10am they were told it could only be done at 5pm or 6pm. They enjoyed the massage but it was very disappointing because this caused them to miss our excursion to Negril and they had to waste the whole morning going back and forward to the spa. I recommend going to the spa to confirm all appointments as soon as you arrive to avoid this kind of hassle. Flowers I chose to upgrade my bouquet to deluxe #92 from the Tai Floral brochure and also order the standard #92 for my bridesmaid. Flowers were not a big deal to me but I am so glad I upgrade because they were honestly the prettiest flowers I have ever seen-way nice than the picture in the brochure. The flowers were delivered to my parents room (where I was getting ready) before 1:30pm so no problems there (there was a bride married a few days before me and her flowers had been delivered to the ceremony site instead of her room). Ceremony Our ceremony was booked for 4pm at the gazebo. I watched 3 other weddings at the beach while we were there and although they were very nice the beach is a lot more public than the gazebo. If you are like me and don’t really want a whole bunch of people in their bathing suits watching you say your vows I suggest going with the gazebo (it is private and extremely pretty). It was extremely hot and our guests were VERY grateful for the fans we had put out on the chairs (a great Michaels purchase). Vincent MacKenzie was our minister and he was great. We had written our own ceremony which he used. He was very funny and kept the mood of the ceremony light (which was what we wanted). We also had a sand ceremony which Nina and Lori set up for us (they even measured out the sand because we had our mother’s pour a layer first). Word of advise if you are doing a sand ceremony with layers like us-let the sand settle to make sure the vase is full before packing it! We had our mothers pour a layer each and then we mixed ours but b/c the sand wasn’t settled when we put the lid on it all mixed on the way home. It sounds stupid but I was really upset about it b/c I really like having the layers-it was pretty and symbolic so I was very disappointed when I opened the box last night. Photography We had booked a gold package with Sungold associate RS. The package included 10hrs and also an assistant photographer (AG). They were both amazing to work with and highly recommended. My fi and I aren’t the most comfortable when it comes to having our pictures taken (especially for hours on end) and they made us feel totally at ease. They showed me a few of the photos as we went on their cameras and they were stunning. We had booked a room at the resort for them which I think ended up cheaper than the day passes because they were there the day of the wedding and the day after for the TTD (we just booked the room-we didn’t include them as guests). Our photo session after the ceremony was cut short because of an insane thunderstorm that had rolled in but I think we made up for it with the TTD (plus the storm was really cool to watch from the Poseidon). We told Nina we did not want True Colors at the ceremony and it was no problem (she just asked if we had our own photographer and we said yes-that was it). We asked to have True colors come to the reception to take pictures of the guests (to use up the 8 free included in the tropical package). My guests had a hard time choosing their pictures b/c they were not good. I would have been very upset if we did not have Sungold (so thanks to this site because it was only through other brides that I thought to book an outside photographer!!) Reception Our reception was at the Poseidon (originally supposed to be the Blue Lagoon but relocated because of the construction). The Poseidon was perfect because it was so close to the gazebo. My mum had asked Nina if we could use the covered chairs from the ceremony for the reception (instead of having the regular chairs) and I am so glad they used them because it looked amazing. The tables were set up with our place settings and shells we had brought as well at candles from the hotel. We had a head table and 4 tables of six in front. I was very happy with how the reception looked. The food was good (although I didn’t eat much-I was too excited). We had a vanilla cake and it was great (lots of people commented on how good the cake was). The bar and food service was great as well. We had booked the DJ through Jascynthia and when Julian started she told me we had to use the hotels DJ. She cancelled the DJ Jascynthia had booked and I thought we were using the hotel’s DJ. Turned out that he was not the hotel’s DJ but an outside vendor and he was terrible. Don’t worry though-I don’t think the hotel would use him again. Nina told me the next day she actually had a couple from a nearby villa ask her what was wrong with him because they would hear the music from the room. He would restart songs a minute into them and cut songs off half way through. I had given him a CD with instructions for 6 specific songs I wanted played during the reception (very simple instructions) and he wasn’t able to follow them. I felt like I had to go talk to him every 10 mins to make sure he knew what he was doing. Plus his equipment was terrible-we could barely hear the speeches. Before the reception (while we were having our pictures taken) my brother and his wife went around with a video camera and had everyone tape “words of advise for the happy couple”. I had no idea they had done this and I cried watching the clips. The clips are hilarious and sweet and will be perfect to show at our AHR. I highly recommend doing this at your wedding if you can-it is priceless. Excursions We had booked a booze cruise through the resort for Monday however it was really windy on Monday so we cancelled the cruise in the morning. Instead we called Cecil (a driver that my friend’s brother had met when he was in Jamaica in January) and 15 of us went into Negril to the beach, shopping and to Rick’s café. This was definitely one of the highlights of the trip. Cecil is great-he stayed with us the whole time, made sure we weren’t hassled by anyone and made us feel totally safe. He also took myself and my husband to the Dunn’s River Sandals on Tuesday for our honeymoon. We stopped at the falls first and he showed up where to go and waited while we climbed the falls. He let us use his cell phone as much as we wanted to call home for no charge (he even stopped by the hotel earlier in the week and gave my friend a cell so that we could get ahold of him throughout the week). I will post his phone number (it is at home) in case anyone wants to contact him. I think that covers everything-sorry it is so long-winded!! If anyone has any questions let me know. I will try to post some pictures soon or if anyone wants specific pictures message me and I can email them. Take care everyone-happy planning! Jane

hello everyone, my wedding was last week at the palladium and we used sungold associates (RS and AG). They were both fanastic. We had no problems with the hotel-during our meeting with Nina she asked about true colors and I just said I did not want them at the wedding. She asked if we had our own photographer and we said yes and that was it. She showed me where to have the photographer at the ceremony (for us walking down the aisle) and there were no problems at all with us having our own photographer. We booked a room for the photographers which i think ended up being cheaper than day passes b.c they were there the day of the wedding as well as the day after for the TTD. We decided to use our free 8 photos from true colors for our guests so we had them come to the reception to take pictures. To be perfectly honest my guests had a hard time choosing what pictures to take because none of them were any good. I am soooooo glad we did not use them for our wedding. The edges of the photos were uneven because they cut them with a papercutter (they are not printed to size). If pictures are important to you I would not recommend using True Colors. Hope that helps everyone!

Hi everyone, I can confirm that Julian was let go (it happened while i was there for my wedding last week). Nina is fantastic and now that she is looking after things the service should improve dramatically. I will hopefully have time to write my review by the end of the week but just wanted to post this for those who were having trouble getting a response-I can totally relate b/c i had to deal with Julian until we arrived at the resort to find out she was no longer there. Nina is extremely helpful and I think my wedding would have been a disaster if it wasnt for her and Lori Douglas!

Hi everyone!! Just got back last night and wanted to post a quick message to reassure everyone you have made the right decision booking the palladium for your wedding!! Our wedding was amazing!! I am just back at work right now so I don't have time to post a full review but I will as soon as possible. A few quick notes though-Julian Chang is no longer at the Palladium (I think she was let go while I was there-I didn't even meet her) but Nina is now in charge and she is fanatastic. Lori is great as well. Christine-I used Sungold's associates (RS and AG) and they were amazing. We don't have our pictures yet (obviously) but they showed me some of them on their cameras and they were amazing. I am so excited to see the rest! Anyways, must get to work but i will post the review soon!

I am leaving on Monday!!! I am sooo excited!!! Will let everyone know how it goes when I return!

Thanks for the advise-I think you are exactly right! We have decided to give the smoker to my Fi's parents for Christmas now so I don't feel so pressured anymore about the present for my parents. I have given them the bird bath already (can't exactly take that to Jamaica!) and they loved it. Thanks again and congrats!!

I can totally relate to your frustrations-I am in the same situation with the WC at the Palladium. Wedding is in less than 3 weeks and she is having email issues so I haven't received anything in writing from her in weeks. We had a different WC up until a few months ago and the new WC doesn't have any of the details that were confirmed with the old WC (tried to tell me I had to pay extra for bigger cake when old WC said that was included, etc, etc.). I tried to call today and can't get through to the resort. now i am travelling to Texas for work for the rest of this week and by the time I get back it will be less than a week until we leave.... Hope things get sorted out for you!

I need help with what to get my parents as a gift for helping out with our wedding. They have given us alot of financial help, not to mention my mum has been the only person helping me organize/plan the wedding (every detail from dress shopping to OOT bags to reception-everything). Plus our wedding date is my parent's 30th anniversary. My fi’s parents have not helped at all-financially or otherwise (in fact they have caused us problems). We bought my fi’s parents a smoker (approx $260). My fi agrees that we need to get my parents something really good because of all their help and for their anniversary. I have ordered them a solar bird bath/fountain for their yard and booked them a couples massage at the resort. I was thinking about giving them flights/hotel for a weekend away somewhere (I was looking at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville). Does anyone have any other suggestions?

I totally agree-I don't see anything wrong with odd numbers and I am in the same situation! I originally had 3 bridesmaids but for a variety of reasons only one is making it to the wedding. My fi has 2 groomsmen and we have our roommate (who is also my best friend) who is kind of standing for both of us-I tell everyone he is my maid of honor. I am not sure if he will stand on my side of my Fi's side at the ceremony. I think I will have him walk down the aisle with my bridesmaid and have the two groomsmen together. I think you should do whatever makes you happy and I agree with Melidell-go with your gut!

We will have 30 ppl at our reception. We are planning to have a head table with bride/groom/bridesmaids/groomsmen (total of 6), a table with my and my FI's parents and our siblings and then the other 3 tables will mix up the rest of the guests. I am the same way-I want everyone to mingle so we are having assigned seating and I am putting people together who I think will really get along (for example, I think my uncle and ony of my FI's friends will get along great although they have never met so I am sitting them at a table together). Of course if something happens in the days leading up to the wedding I will switch the seating before the reception.