hutchets

Wedding colors of turquoise and coral/orange

I got married there two April 2011.  My dress was ivory (not a typical wedding dress) and my husband wore linen pants, brown leather flip flops and a white long sleeve shirt.  My daughter (bridesmaid) wore a coral/orange halter dress.  My son who stood up with husband wore linen pants, leather flip flops and a turquoise polo.  My daughter and I wore ivory flip flops that I had decorated with ribbon and rhinestones (very pretty).  I wouldn't recommend trying to walk in the sand in heels. The colors looked fabulous together!  I made my daughters bouquet, the mens boutonnieres and wrist corsages for the mothers.  I used a lot of coral and ivory flowers for them and used a small amount of turqouse blue ribbon as the accent.  I took NO decorations with me.  It's a beach wedding so why trouble with trying to outdo a beach!  We did do the sand ceremony though which was the only thing I brought with us.  It sat on a table in the gazebo.  My mom wore a lighter turqouise dress and my step-mom wore a peach pantsuit.  They complimented my colors perfectly. 

The RIU does provide the cake table.  We sat at the head of the long table with our guests but we did not pay for any extras and used the reception dinner included in the "free" package. 

I've said it many times ladies, everything will go off without a hitch.  Please do not stress out so much.  Jamaican's run on a different time schedule than we do and are much more laid back.  I came to realize that and decided to just go with it because I should not be so stressed out while getting married on a beach.  And it worked out perfectly.  We were the only wedding of the day at the beach gazebo so there was no rush at all. 

I do agree there are quite a few arguments regarding costs that I do not agree with but I didn't pay for anything extra. But with that many guests, it does put you in a predicament.

 The place is pretty enough.  I only took a few table decorations for dinner to scatter on the table and our sand ceremony items.  They provided candles for the reception dinner table and it was beautiful.  Everything else was theirs and it was gorgeous. 

Have fun and enjoy it.  Your guests will too!

I was married in April 2011 there.  You will not actually hear from Keisha, via email, until approximately 2 months prior to your wedding.  You can email her ahead of that but just beware that you may not get an immediate response.  She was very easy for me to work with but I didn't ask for any extras and went with everything free as the place is beautiful enough to where I felt I didn't want to spend any extra money on decorations etc.  I had nature as my decoration.  We had the standard cake with the raspberry filling and it fed 20 of us with a little left over.  We did not pay for an upgrade on the cake.  We brought a few things for table decorations such as colored stones and some ribbon but I wasn't going to pack much more with us.  Make it easy and do not stress over it!!  That's the beauty of a destination wedding.  You can keep it so simple and yet it's still so beautiful!

I was married there in 2011 and the beach party was Saturday night.  So we did the beach party after the dinner and hung out on the terrace above it in the bar area.  Made for a fun night and it didn't cost anything extra. 

I agree with her.  I think you'd be better off doing something after the wedding rather than at the beach party.

Originally Posted by Soon2BNJersey 

Idea:  After your ceremony and after the pictures, the outdoor sound system is still set up, maybe they will allow you do to a first dance and a dance with your father in the beach gazebo.  your guests are already there and it would only be a little extra time added on.  I saw a couple have dinner at the gazebo at night with candles and lighting.  just the two of them...so it doesn't hurt to ask Keisha, just a thought. 

 

As for me, the cost of the DJ is why i got the disco. $600 for 2 hours including DJ, open bar, and private area.  

 

Ericka,

They have the beach party/bonfire on Sat. nights.  My wedding was on Saturday at 4pm so after our semi-private reception at Mammee, everyone just hung around that area as that is where the beach party is located.  It turned out to be a fun night for everyone and it was free!
 

Originally Posted by ericka417 

Hi Ladies

 

I am having a small wedding ~12 people including us.  we are trying to decide what do after the reception.  Does anyone have a list of the activities that the resort puts on.  Like Saturday bonfire/show etc

You really don't have to be doing anything.  That's the beauty of a DW.  I didn't really worry about much at all compared to some of the gals at other resorts and all of the extreme planning they were doing.  I decided that the place is beautiful enough and it's definitely not worth the stress.  Take it easy and you can definitely decide on everything when you get there.  Ours was the free ceremony and very, very laid back.  Our guests and us enjoyed it so much and we wouldn't do anything different.  I just knew going down there that I was not going to pay for any extras so our meeting with her was quick and simple.  Be laid back and enjoy it!!

Originally Posted by Val2012 

I feel like I should be doing more for this wedding but at the same time I don't know what. Keisha told me to wait about picking where we are eating and everything and we are just having a basic ceremony.. am I being too laid back about all of this?

One question I had was who went to the dunns river falls for pictures? and could I see pics if anyone has some????

She emailed someone that day and then told me that they had it.  I was able to add my husband to my health coverage without it.  I just had to submit it to work once it arrived.  Everything should be backdated though from the date of the marriage on the insurance if you go ahead and add him with your wedding date.
 

Originally Posted by IrishgirlinNY 

When you emailed Keisha what did she say to you?  I emailed her probably a week and a half ago and she said she still hadn't received it. I was thinking of emailing her in September if we still didn't receive it.  I don't want to be annoying, but I need it to add my husband to my health coverage. 

 

 

I was married April 16th.  It took 8 weeks to get mine.  I wasn't that concerned about getting it so soon though as I knew it could take at least 6 weeks to get.   I emailed Keisha and 3 days later I had it. 

 

Originally Posted by Val2012 

good luck with that. That is my biggest fear with this wedding. I really hope the expedite works because I have even read bad reviews on that. I really need this certificate ASAP after we get married so I can change my visa status :S

 

 

 

 

One other thing that we did with the Vista print post cards.  We layed them out on the table at the reception dinner and had our friends and family write something on them for us.  It was our "guest book" for the dw.  Some of them were hilarious to read and we are so glad we did that.  We did a charicature picture of the two of us on the beach for our ATH as our guest book. 

 

Originally Posted by hutchets 

We never went to each other's rooms or called them.  We basically kind of knew what we were doing the night before when we all hung out.  We would sometimes run into them at breakfast and talked about the day.  It wasn't a big deal for us.  They were all given a phamplet before we headed to Jamaica with a few itinerary items such as meet at one of the bars the first night they arrived, catamaran-dunns river the next morning and wedding on Saturday.  Other than that, we all did our own thing or just met at the pool.

We did not use our cell phones at the resort but I did add International calling to my phone in case I needed it.  Makeup-I had the spa do my hair and makeup.  It looked great and my son said I looked younger when he first saw me!  I have read from several brides on here that they have used Rimmel foundation and it help up well but I don't know personally.  The weather was perfect though while we were there in April.  Not too hot and not nearly as humid as I had expected or even as it is here in Missouri.  Good luck!

 

 

We never went to each other's rooms or called them.  We basically kind of knew what we were doing the night before when we all hung out.  We would sometimes run into them at breakfast and talked about the day.  It wasn't a big deal for us.  They were all given a phamplet before we headed to Jamaica with a few itinerary items such as meet at one of the bars the first night they arrived, catamaran-dunns river the next morning and wedding on Saturday.  Other than that, we all did our own thing or just met at the pool.

We did not use our cell phones at the resort but I did add International calling to my phone in case I needed it.  Makeup-I had the spa do my hair and makeup.  It looked great and my son said I looked younger when he first saw me!  I have read from several brides on here that they have used Rimmel foundation and it help up well but I don't know personally.  The weather was perfect though while we were there in April.  Not too hot and not nearly as humid as I had expected or even as it is here in Missouri.  Good luck!

 

Originally Posted by Soon2BNJersey 

Congrats to you!

 

I have a question:  how did you communicate with your guests at the resort.  Do cell phones even work there? Did you rely on the phones at the resort?  What type of make up did you use? I know it was humid and hot out there. 

 

Originally Posted by Krysta lee ann 

 

hey!

 

my friend had a semi private dinner and it was fantastic! she had the free wedding and didnt add anythign and it looked beautiful!

 

 

 

I was married there in April and had 19 people.  We did the semi-private reception.  It was just fine.  There were other people in the restaurant but they weren't really near us so we felt like it was pretty private.  You have to bring any decorations you want for the reception.  A bit of advice, keep it simple.  You will have to have someone decorate the tables for you unless you luck out like I did and the waiter did it. (There weren't any other receptions in there that night so we had him all to ourselves)  He went above and beyond by decorating for us as well as getting our alcoholic drinks.  You typically have to get those yourself unless you drink the wine.  We did the free wedding as well and only paid for the minister and the extra guests for dinner.

I purchased small magnets for my guests but no one used them.  It was humid outside and most people were hardly in their rooms at all.  Laundry services are available but you I beileve it's a send out service.  Nothing to do your own with down there.
 

Originally Posted by booschmit 

Somewhere on a ROR thread someone had commented about bringing magnets to put on the air conditioner in the rooms to keep it running. Does anyone know anything about this? Does it work? Any help would be appreciated. I'm questioning whether it would be a good idea to get magnets before we leave in one week to put in our OOT bags. Any help from those who have been there would be appreciated. Also does anyone know if they have basic laundry services that we can either do ourselves or have done?cost? THanks to everyone who has helped me on this website! Brenda

So sorry for your loss.  Life is definitely too short.  What you said below is so true.  Keep it simple.  The guests will know NO difference at all!  They will just be happy to be there in a beautiful location with you.  Our guests did the beach party and the disco after our semi-private dinner.  It was great since we had an AHR as well and splurged on it.  Best wishes.

Originally Posted by Soon2BNJersey 

Hey Ladies,

 

I haven't been to active on the boards lately.  Unfortunately I lost one of my dearest friends to Cancer today, and it made me think.  Life is too short to be hung up on expensive decor and worrying about what people think...enjoy all the time you have with loved ones.  I have 40 people coming with me and they are there because they care.  The only person that will know about the lack of details is ME!  I am also having an AHR so I just spoke to Keisha and decided today to scale down to the basic wedding, semi-private dinner and hit the disco with open bar and DJ.  I have a fun group, so we are gonna have fun regardless.  Although these boards have been really helpful, I would prefer to break the bank for my relaxed Island Casual AHR back home.  I even had the nerve to change my colors for my AHR  (different party, different colors) and YES... I will wear my dress again... (i may change later on in the night)  Use these boards to network, vent, and find out information, but don' t get so caught up in detail, your guests won't know the difference anyway.  save yourself thousands of dollars on overpriced items and have fun.. Happy Planning, I hope everyone is having a great day

The WC will contact you via email approximately 2 months before your date.  You can ask her any questions you want.  All of mine were answered and I kept a friendly stream going with her.  We went with the free wedding and didn't upgrade anything so it was very simple, as a DW should be.
 

Originally Posted by ericka417 

Question

 

Who makes first contact the RIU wedding coordinator or me?  I am not having my wedding until November so i dont want to bother her too early with so many weddings going on but i have heard that if you dont get stuff in writing(e-mail) things will change.

We did preceremony songs but not enough of them.  Allow for 30 min of pre-music.  The guys playing the music filled in with stuff they had which was just fine.  We had a song for my kids to walk to but we ended up not recognizing it when it started so they didn't go.  So we had them skip it and walk to my song which was way long enough for all of us.  They don't play music during the sand ceremony as the minister is speaking.  They did one for our certificate signing and then our exit. 

We were married 4/16 and still haven't received our official certificate.

Originally Posted by booschmit 

Can anyone who recently got married at the ROR tell me how long it is taking to get your marriage certificate in the mail? I have heard several weeks to 5 months. Keisha told me 8 weeks but was just wondering if that was accurate. Also does anyone know if you can expedite the service? appreciate any help with this?

One other question..for those of you that did a sand ceremony- did you play a song during that time. I'm trying to get all our music organized and wasnt sure if I should put a song in there. DId you pretty much do some preceremony songs, a song with me walking up the aisle and then a recessional song at the end? or did you somehow incorporate others and where? 

THanks girls.

Bmadzia1 - It's possible it's changed since ours but the free package was for up to 10 people.  We basically paid for all those above 10 to sit in the steakhouse together for the dinner along with the extra wine etc.  I was fine with it since I didn't pay for anything else extra. It was much cheaper than buying a larger cake at 250+ or paying for one of the other wedding packages that included more people.

There was only one other wedding on the same day as ours and it was at the pond gazebo and not at the beach.  It was a Jamaican family wedding which we actually got to see a bit of from our balcony.  I guess it's possible that it all depends on the time of year you are getting married as to how many weddings are scheduled each day. 

Originally Posted by frizzy64 

 

I didn't see another wedding until my own so i didn't feel like i was in a wedding factory or anything! On my wedding day there were 3 weddings. I booked in advance for our beach party so i knew we have that secured before we went. I believe one of the other couples also wanted one so i was glad we thought ahead! The mammee bay steakhouse was busy with another wedding on the night so we got a free upgrade to a private wedding reception at the plantation. It didn't make any difference to us anyway. I recommend you book your hair and make-up in the spa ahead of time too as that way you can be sure to get your ideal time. There was another bride in the salon just after us who was getting married before me.

During the 2nd week there we heard that 2 weddings had been double booked for the same time and location so they had to move one to later in the day. Apparently the bride was devastated but to be honest i don't think it would have bothered me. It was only moved an hour later.

The number of weddings a day varied so some days there were only 2 and others there were 4. One day we sat on the beach and saw 5!

 

We just got married in April 2011 at ROR.  We took one's and fives with us for tipping just in case.  I know that we would leave a dollar or two for our maid but not each day.  My husband would tip a bartender in the morning, maybe $5, at the pool we were at.  We did notice that they were more generous with the alcohol in our drinks with an early tip.  I don't like drinking tons of sugary drinks so this helped if you know what I mean.  When we transferred to Couples Tower Isle, tipping isn't allowed and I had to stand by the bartender and tell him to keep pouring the rum so that I got what I wanted.  This was frustrating-especially since it cost more $ to stay there!  (We won't go back to Couples and enjoyed RIU more).

We did not tip the officiant nor the wedding coordinator.  It totally slipped my mind and I realized it after we left the RIU!  We did tip the waiter taking care of us for our semi-private reception because he did much more than I had ever read on here from other brides.  He set up the tables with our decorations for us rather than having to have a friend or family member do this.  He also got us alcoholic drinks from the bar which i guess is not the norm.  You typically have to get them yourself if you want something other than wine.  There were not very many people int he restaurant so our party really lucked out and did not have to leave the table at all.  I believe he got a 50.00 tip!  We took 250 with us for tipping and didn't spend but maybe 80 total on tips.

My travel agent said that she NEVER tips at any all inclusive but my husband tips big here at home so he was definitely going to tip at the RIU.  It makes him feel good because they don't make much money at all.  We are glad we did.

Here's a pic of the free flowers for the gazebo for our wedding along with my daughter's hair which was done at Renova Spa and everyone raved over it.  We paid for nothing extra except for the 9 people over the 10 for the free ceremony.   . 

You should consider the free ceremony and then adding upgrades to see if it is more cost effective.  It was for us.

Originally Posted by courtney1 

Hi Ashley,

Thanks so much for getting back to me.  I think we will also go with the Caprice package, I'm the same I could pass on a few things that package includes.  After I read your reply I emailed MICE right away about the chairs and honoring the $150 DJ, I was totally shocked when you told it was $300 an hour. Last year when we were picking packages the DJ price was $150 an hour, crazy how quickly things change.  

My first invoice from the florist, I thought seemed crazy high, around $1400 USD, that included chairs and chair covers, so thanks again for saving me some money when it comes to that, we are totally using the white folding chairs, no chair covers.  The florist charges $11 USD a chair cover, and $7 a chair.  

Are you guys using the resort photographer??  We opted not to, and decided to fly our own down with us.  Crazy extra cost but hopefully it works out.

We should keep in touch, I'll let you know how our wedding goes and kind of what to expect.  Our wedding coordinator there is Keisha, seems to be really helpful.

Courtney

You should read my review on the ROR from this April.  I have absolutely NO regrets.  I had no issues with Keisha, the wedding coordinator.  We had a very good relationship via email prior to our wedding.  They have a price document that you will receive 1-2 months prior to your wedding for 2011 prices.  I am happy we had ours there.

Originally Posted by Soon2BNJersey 

Hmmm where to begin....LOL My wedding is in September at ROR. I don't know about the other ROR Brides but I am NOT feeling the Wedding Coordinator.  She tends to adjust her price quotes as she sees fit.  Stay on top of her, and KEEP EVERY EMAIL THAT SHE SENDS YOU, MAKE SURE YOU BRING IT TO THE RESORT!  I wouldn't say regret, but I will say that I am a little disturbed at the way things are done.  We are already nervous and anxious brides, we need things to run smoothly.   You should check the boards for ROR reviews and see what others are saying.  I am sure my day will be beautiful, but until then I have my "BULLSH*T FILTER" on and she will not get over on me. 

 

btw... beautiful name we have the same spelling!

 

I am not sure I'd wear heals.  I saw a bride in heals the day before my wedding and I just couldn't believe it.  I made some beautiful flip flops with ribbon, bows and rhinestones and they were perfect.  I even made some for my daughter who was my maid of honor.  We only had 19 guests and didn't need a microphone for the wedding. I asked afterwards and they all said they could hear it but I do know that I made a point of speaking a little louder and the officiant spoke loudly as well.  We did not pay for any decorations.  Keisha put the flowers up on the gazebo and that was it but really, that was all that was needed.  We had not fabric.  You will probably have some trouble with your guests hearing you though in the restaurant if there are several other parties there.  Ask her when you meet how many will be in your restaurant the same evening as you.

We wrote our own vows/ceremony as well.  I took pieces from many other brides on here and made my own.  We had to specialize the sand ceremony because that's where my kids were included in the wedding.  It was really nice that they could be made a special part of it. Our ceremony was exactly 20 minutes long.

I went with the free tropical bouquet and loved it because it was so tropical and free.  I'm glad I didn't pay for another bouquet because you cannot take it with you when you leave.

Originally Posted by booschmit 

Thanks frizzy 64..that was all helpful. I'm surprised you say the tuling and flowers are always on the gazebo because tai flora is trying to charge me for it. These are the things this website is wonderful for. I'm cancelling that on my order. I really just want a nice bouquet for myself and flowers for our parents and some sashes on the white chairs.

Another question I have, is about toasts at the plantation. Did you have any sort of microphone or did you just talk loud? I had asked Keisha about a microphone and she quoted me $150/hr to use it. That is ridiculous! We have 60 guests so i'm worried it may be hard for everyone to hear but I'm not paying several hundred dollars for it. How bout at the ceremony? was there microphone available there for when we do our vows? Also did you use standard vows? or make your own? not sure how this works and cant seem to get an answer of what the "standard" vows are.

Thanks so much for your help and advice..it is much appreciated!

 

We just returned from Jamaica (RIU Ocho Rios) and had taken our own starfish down that I had purchased at Hobby Lobby. 

We had no troubles at all.  I even carried the large one on the plane with me while going to Jamaica and had checked it on the way home.  We also had several bottles of Appleton rum and Sangster rum cream that we checked in our luggage and brought home.  No issues what so ever.