mrs*j*2011

ooh very pretty! 

I just wanted to throw my 2 cents in on this topic. 

I really miss the old review section.  It was a really easy way to read a brides full wedding story without having to bounce around from vendor to vendor in the new review section.  And now as a recent bride, I'm not really looking forward to putting together my review just for the fact that I have stuff that doesn't exactly fit under a vendor but I still want to share the experience. 

I don't want to get in trouble for posting a review somewhere I'm not supposed to! 

Is there any way of re-opening the old review section but still keep the current vendor reviews open?  Maybe we can take the vendor specific parts of our reviews and copy/paste into the new section??

I will say, though, I did have some difficulty dealing with the coordinator assigned to me prior to traveling but everything was perfect once we arrived.  The on-site coordinator was totally awesome.  Honestly, I felt discouraged before we left and felt strongly that I would never recommend Sandals to anyone but they definitely redeemed themselves once we arrived.

I think Sandals is a great place for a small (inexpensive) wedding.

Just updating this in case anyone searches for this information in the future.

I'm sure it's similar for all the Sandals resorts - at Royal Caribbean, there was a "dress up" party with a HUGE buffet.  They have everything you could possibly imagine for food.  There was live music throughout the evening and all sorts of entertainers mingling around.  They put out NYE hats, noisemakers and other fun stuff at all the tables.

It was really fun.  There was even a couple who had gotten married earlier in the day so they had an awesome setting for their reception.

So if anyone plans to be at Sandals for New Years Eve, pack a nice outfit and be prepared to party all night long!

Originally Posted by RocknRobin04 

 

Do you think you'll be attached to them still after the wedding? 

We've been home for 3 days and I've got my flowers displayed on the mantle.  Who knows how long I'll leave them out but I don't think I'd want to turn around and sell them right away.  It is, however, a personal preference.  It really depends on how sentimental you are.

Here's mine!

Sandals has a free wedding option.  The only thing you'd have to pay for is the marriage license which is $250 but they waive it if you book a certain level room for 6 or more nights. 

We just returned from Sandals Royal Caribbean where we did the Beautiful Beginnings wedding.  We added a cocktail hour and photo package but didn't pay for anything else.

Thanks tenny! We're still in Jamaica but sadly we leave in the tomorrow morning. Hopefully there isn't too much snow in Philadelphia and Burlington...if I can't get snowed into Jamaica, then I may as well be home!

I paid $70 for hair and $55. My wedding was on sunday but I prepaid a few months before in case there were any price increases for the new year. (and you have to tip because they are not employed by sandals)

Hi everyone!  I'm reporting in live from Jamaica!  Everything went great yesterday.  We had a few rain sprinkles just before the ceremony but it was mostly sunny otherwise.  The wind, however...this is the windiest weather they have ever had in Jamaica!  Of course...it didn't ruin anything for us.  We just made sure we had enough hairspray!

Full review will be coming but I'm going to enjoy my honeymoon for now!

Thanks ladies! 

I'm all packed...the bags are at the door, waiting for FI to get out of work in a half hour and then we're off to the hotel for a few hours sleep until we catch our flight in the morning!  Jamaica, here we come!

Wow.  She seems to have a screw loose.  Totally inappropriate behavior on her part. 

It's a good sign that your FI has started to distance himself from her, based on your feelings about the situation.  And a very nice gesture on his part by not including her on his guest list.  If it were me, I don't honestly know if I'd be able to extend that olive branch and give him the ok to invite her.  It's your day and you don't need to be stressed about her presence at your wedding and how she might act inappropriately while there. 

Good luck...sounds like you've got a good guy!

Goodies for the ladies

I was going to do OOT bags but half of our guests are leaving the day after the wedding so it seemed like it might have ended up being a waste of money.  But I couldn’t resist getting a few things.

Pashminas – ivory for the moms and orange for everyone else.

Jamaica Pandora-style beads for the ladies who have bracelets/necklaces.

Starfish necklace for my BFF (thanks-for-coming-all-the-way-to-Jamaica-for-my-wedding gift)

Wedding day shirts for my sister and I

My shirt for travel day! (from CustomizedGirl.com)

I think that's everything!  Now...back to packing

Dress

My dress is Mori Lee (#4511).  I didn’t have the “OMG THIS IS THE DRESS†moment but I love it all the same. 

Shoes

Aldo, ordered from Amazon

My sister got her dress from JC Penney.

This is the actual color of the dress

But this picture shows the style a little better…

FI is wearing khakis and a white dress shirt and his best man is wearing khakis and a light purple dress shirt…sorry no pics!

Hair Trial

I’m taking these pictures with me in hopes they can recreate the style.

Wedding day jewelry

Earings from my grandma (my borrowed item) and necklace purchased from etsy.com.  It’s hard to tell but the necklace is Japanese pearls and Swarovski crystals.

still more to come...

Well it’s finally time for my planning thread!  We leave on Friday morning and I am so excited!  Thank you so much to Tammy and all the mods for creating and making this forum such a fantastic resource.  I’ve learned so much and had so much fun watching other brides weddings take shape.

We’re getting married on Sunday Jan 2 at Sandals Royal Caribbean.  The following day we are transferring to Couples Negril for our honeymoon.

Since there will only be 8 people traveling with us, we didn’t do invitation, STD’s or anything like that.  We just called everyone and said “this is what we’re doing; call the TA to book your travel!â€

Rings

Mine is from Kay Jewelers and we ordered his from Titanium Kay.  T Kay was great to work with.  We originally ordered a ring and FI didn’t like it.  No hassles returning (no restocking fee) and very quick (free) shipping from CA to NY.

Flowers

I ordered from wedideas.com.  They were great to work with. 

I gave them a picture of the style I wanted, specified the type and color flowers and they did an awesome job.

My bouquet

MOH bouquet (this is the picture before they shipped, the bouquet is with my sister so I wasn’t able to get a picture once it was finished.)

Bouts for the men (white orchids for the dads, single calla for the best man and calla and orchid for FI)

Wrist corsages for the moms

more to come...

Originally Posted by Tennyt1 

 

My FI HATES fake flowers ....otherwise I would have ordered silk flowers a long time ago.

For a while, I thought fake flowers would be cheesy looking.  I just kept picturing the plastic ones that you can get at Walmart or something.  But you can get real touch ones that look so real, you honestly can't tell the difference.  It's all about finding a reputable vendor.  Some places even offer samples so you can get an idea of what they truly look like.

I personally could't justify spending a ton of money on real flowers that I won't even be able to take home with me. 

JB - I am so excited for Couples.  I've read some really great stuff about the resorts.  It's very different than Sandals, from what I understand.  Couples is very laid back and the rooms are basic - you won't find a 4 poster mahogany bed in the whole place.  I don't plan on spending a lot of time in the room so I don't really care either way!  They also have a lot of inclusives (snorkeling, scuba diving, sunset catamaran cruise) that drew me away from staying at Sandals after the wedding.  I'll be sure to post pictures and review both resorts.

Originally Posted by melodygayle 

 

The WC hasn't tried to sell the cake knives as an extra so I'm sure that will be included. 

Haha, good point!  They try to sell us everything else so the cake knives must be included!

We leave on Friday morning (New Years Eve!) and are accepting any and all good weather vibes!    We're flying from Burlington VT to Philadelphia to Montego Bay.

oh geez!  I hadn't given a thought to cake servers.  We leave in 5 days...I think I'm just going to wing it and use whatever they have at the resort.  I've done really good with not spending a ton of money on extra stuff so why start now?  Everything we're doing is very casual so if we have to use a plain old knife, that's fine with me! 

FI got me an ipod touch (right in time for our wedding next week!) and he was thrilled to receive a new tire for his motorcycle from me.  seriously, he didn't want anything else!

I ended up saying something to our GM about the entire situation.  He kind of broached the subject so I felt like it would be okay to tread lightly and mention the issues to him.  (It would have been a lose-lose scenario for me to say something to her as she's my direct supervisor.)  GM was fully aware of everything that was going on and said something would happen soon because he knew it was getting out of control.  About a week after that conversation, the employee gave notice that he found another job. 

Now the only thing we have to put up with his him calling and texting her on every break he gets.  It's a company cell phone so I can't even imagine how much we pay for the two of them text each other non stop all day long!  Oh and her bragging about how much they love him at his new job and how much money he gets for overtime and holiday pay.  Ummm, no one cares!    I just smile and nod...

"This Years Love" by David Gray.  It's been our song since we first started dating nearly 4 years ago.

I'm not sure if it's an option but have you looked into the ready-to-go options on wedideas.com?  I ordered my flowers through them and they were great to work with.  They have a lot of options that are already made or the supplies are readily available so they can ship quickly.  You may not get EXACTLY what you want but maybe it'd be closer than what you ordered via etsy.

Good luck.

I decided on real touch (sounds so much nicer than "fake"!) because I was able to choose exactly what I wanted, keep them forever and it was so much cheaper than getting real ones in Jamaica.  I got 2 bouquet, 4 bouts, 2 wrist corsages and a hair flower for $235 plus shipping.  I used wedideas.com and would definitely recommend them.  Everyone I've showed them to in person cannot believe they're not real. 

Mine:

MOH

oh that's so cool!  We can't justify the cost of a DJ so we were definitely going to make use of an ipod or burned CD of songs.  I think I'm getting an ipod touch for Christmas so if I do, I'll have just 5 short days to download and figure out this app in time for our wedding. 

Thanks Aisha!.