PurpleUnicorn

i posted a ton of photos a long time ago on my recaps thread here: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/73937/my-wedding-recaps-at-sunset-beach-resort-and-spa

glad you think so! i hope others rely with their opinion too!

your welcome! did you decide on Sunset Beach or somewhere else?

i am going start with one through adoramapix and see how it comes out. then maybe the other one through mpix. although, i just did my honeymoon album through shutterfly and if i really like it, i might use it for parent albums, at least one of them,.

thanks. i get what you mean about the book being about the wedding. but i don't want to make two albums per set of parents! for myself, i made an album of Jamaica + honeymoon and then i will have a separate wedding day album. But for our parents, we wanted to get them albums by christmas and since it was like a big family vacation, i thought it would be fun to include some non-wedding pics from Jamaica. i just don't know if that's weird or not.

Hello, I was wondering what other DW brides do for parent albums. I am thinking to include pics from the whole week in Jamaica in addition to our wedding day. What have you done? And would you think it makes sense to start the album with wedding pics or end with it? (I am thinking start). My other pics are from before and after the wedding. Last, what should i put on the front cover of a parent album? a pic of me and hubby? or something more generic, like a pic of the beach at our resort

Nope. i didn't do a cocktail hour as my ceremony was at 4pm and i had the dinner set for 5-7pm, then i did the bonfire party on the beach from 7-10pm. no room for a cocktail hour as we barely had time for pictures! And i also found the liquor for $17 per person to be too expensive. Open bar was included in the bonfire package, so for the dinner, i thought it was insane to pay an extra $17 per person for 2 hours! - they were not asking per hour for that though, just per person.... so basically, after several emails back and forth about this (i tried to ask for only wine, but they charged like $25 per bottle of wine!), we finally decided that i was bringing in my own bottles of wine (i had my friends help me by packing in their suitcases - i only needed 6 bottles), and they charged me $11 for a corkage fee for each bottle they opened and served during dinner. so it was a bit cheaper that way. The wedding coordinator even said this would be better because the wine i could get for cheap in the states was MUCH better than the cheap quality wine they would serve and charge $25/bottle for! SUBMIT

they provided the white table linens. I brought in my own purple napkins and chair ties though so i can set up my color scheme. Otherwise, i think it would have been all white - but you know what? I don't think i asked if they have color napkins!! I know they charge extra for the chair ties - $6 a tie actually! and i bought both my purple napkins and chair ties for 75 cents each. They set up everything for me though, which was nice. i just to give everything to the coordinator and i also printed her instructions on how i wanted my tables set up (as i brought in my own centerpieces as well).

Hi i just saw this message now. i am not sure if it was directed at me, but i think i am the only one who posted my dress in this thread!! it is a Maggie Sottero gown, style Jenna. www.maggiesottero.com

Hi. I did not pay for extra chairs, they give you as many as you need. you pay extra for cake and champagne that is needed above what is included in the package. So when the package says its for 4, 8, 16 people etc, they mean there will be enough cake and champage for that number of people. i still took the basic package and paid $100 for an extra tier of cake and i decided to just use the one bottle of champagne as not everyone in my groups drank alcohol. However, at the dinner i was told that there were now two bottles included! bonus! I did buy my own purple chair ties you see in my pictures as they were very expensive at the resort. the white chair covers were included though, again, as many as you need.

I am selling my last 2 bags of 200 silk lavender flower petals for $3 each bag (I have 400 petals total). This is half off from what I paid originally! I used these realistic looking silk flowers petals to decorate my beach aisle AND as table décor. (see pictures below - the light purple is what I am selling, I have no purple or ivory left). If you live in Canada: - total cost, shipping included, for ONE bag of 200 = $5 - total cost, shipping included, for TWO bags of 200 (400 total) = $8 If you live in US - total cost, shipping included, for ONE bag of 200 = $6 - total cost, shipping included, for TWO bags of 200 (400 total) = $9 PM me if interested.

Hey again, i just replied to your PM and then saw you posted your question here as well. So i will copy my reply for other brides to see as well! I chose Kathy because she became highly recommended to me from another bride i knew from school who got married at Sunset Beach. Also, i found she was much more than a travel agent. She had a preset wedding website that she set me up with and so it was easy to put together my own website. she has a list of recommendations on her site, so for example, rather than randomly picking a site to order invitations from, I trusted choosing one of her selections. If you have spoke to her on the phone, she will tell you how she used to live in Jamaica and has been to many of the resorts so i trusted her reviews and opinions of them - particularly their wedding departments since she has booked and worked with so many of them. Basically, she got me super organized in the beginning of my planning. I didn't know what to or where to start and she helped me a lot in that regard. Also, she was VERY prompt at replying thoroughly to my emails. Finally, she preferred to do individual bookings rather than insisting i do a group package (as a previous travel agent i had been in contact with was pushing for). This was my personal preference since i was living away on internship, and both my fiance and I had family and friends from all over, so we did not have enough people travelling from one location to do a group package. She was happy to put in the time to book everyone individually for the dates they wanted. Oh, last great thing is that the resorts she recommends know her as she has been working with them for so long and has established relationships (well i can vouch this at least for the Sunset resorts). And so she set me up with to be in contact with their wedding department in a very professional manner which was a great start for communicating with them regarding my wedding. And when communication issues arrived (Sunset Beach switched wedding coordinators twice during my planning and i stopped receiving replies at one point), she intervened and got me back in contact with them. She also asks that you CC her on every email so she can follow what is going on. And at one point, she took the time to call me to personally discuss one of the decisions i was making (re - wedding officiant) and i was grateful for her to jump in then and offer her opinion and assistance.

Hi Sunset brides, I wanted to share my budget breakdown with you in case anyone finds it helpful! I spent $15K total - that includes wedding, travel, accommodations, honeymoon at a different resort, and my at-home reception + extra photo shoot! I am pretty happy with how i did. I definitely could have done better in some areas, but overall, I think my budget and everything i got for it (including some splurges) came out to be reasonable and I got to have my ultimate dream wedding! So here is my breakdown! (I rounded off the numbers, but its pretty accurate to what i actually spent). I included just about everything down to cleaning my dress when i got back and stamps for thank you cards! JAMAICA WEDDING COSTS TRAVEL + ACCOMMODATIONS $1390 – 6 nights at Sunset Beach Resort & Spa (wedding resort) $1365 – 4 nights at Couples Negril (honeymoon) $1300 – Flights for both of us $100 – luggage fees at airport TOTAL = $4155 CEREMONY + PRIVATE RECEPTION $400 – Resort wedding package (officiant, license, bouquet + bout, cake, champagne) $550 – Canopy bamboo arch (splurge, simple arch was included but I didn’t like it) $1220 – bonfire on beach $350 – labor charge $635 – food + corkage fee $100 – 1 extra tier of cake $500 – DJ for 3 hours $330 – Bilingual interpreter for ceremony $90 – Wine box $115 – tips TOTAL = $4290 ATTIRE $2100 – Dress (Maggie $1160 + Alterations $650 + pressed $40 + cleaning $250) (splurge!) $15 – hair flower $170 – hair + make up + manicure + pedicure + tips $120 – Groom’s beige linen suit from studiosuits.com $15 – Lavender Dessy tie for groom $0 – veil (sold it for exactly what I paid) $0 – Shoes (gift from sister) $0 – TTD dress (gift from sister) TOTAL = $2420 PHOTOGRAPHY + VIDEO $1500 – Wedding day photography $350 – Trash the Dress photo shoot (splurge, totally worth it!) $0 – Ceremony video (friend used my camera – I asked for a one-minute video to have a snap shot, he surprised me with a complete 30 minute video of our entire ceremony!) TOTAL = $1850 BRIDAL PARTY COSTS WE COVERED $120 – Groomsman suit $115 – Bridesmaid dress (for DH’s nieces, the other BMs bought their own) $120 – Bridesmaid jewelry $50 – Bridesmaid gifts $45 – Lavender Dessy ties for groomsman + fathers TOTAL = $430 PAPER $200 – Invitations + Thank you cards $85 – stamps $20 – photos for TY cards $15 – bridal shower thank you cards $20 – Purple paper to print programs, vows, poems, etc $10 – paper for menu cards TOTAL = $350 WELCOME BAGS $180 – 20 mini canvas welcome bags (I definitely could have done cheaper here!) $34 – Jamaica post cards $16 – Travel sunscreen $45 – Welcome bag contents from Dollar store $70 – personalized decks of cards TOTAL = $345 FLOWERS $20 – crystal hearts stems to insert in my bouquet $65 – Bridesmaid bouquets $140 – silk petals (for aisle + table décor) $15 – boutonnieres for GM + fathers TOTAL = $240 DECORATIONS $85 – The Knot décor (personalized napkins, candle holder centerpieces, bubbles) $45 – Lavender votive & tea lights candles + tea light holders (for centerpieces) $60 – Guest book, pen, knife set, toasting flutes $40 – Linen napkins + chair ties $30 – Sea shell place card holder $0 – Cake topper (gift from mother) $0 – Ring Pillow (gift from mother) TOTAL = $260 FAVORS $40 – Leather luggage tags for Bridal Shower favors $20 – Sandalwood fans for ceremony favors TOTAL = $60 JAMAICA TOTAL = $14 400 MONTREAL BBQ RECEPTION $68– vistaprint invitations (I paid extra for last minute shipping!) $40 – stamps for invitations $5 – Michaels water bottle labels $80 – Bride party photo shoot $68 – Hair style + manicure $0 – Make up (I did it myself) $60 – food $20 – Dollar store $64 – Silk bouquets for me + 2 BMs not in Jamaica (other BMs still had their bouquets) $175 – cake $20 – wine $0 – more food and alcohol (friends and family helped out) $0 – Decorations (used whatever I had leftover from Jamaica) AHR TOTAL = $600 GRAND TOTAL = $15 000

Hey See what i wrote on page 2 of this thread, post #12 about the vendor fee. Basically, i brought in my own outside photographer and did NOT pay the $250 vendor fee!

I am selling my last bag of 200 silk puple flower petals for $3 - half off from what I paid originally! I used these realistic looking silk flowers petals to decorate my beach aisle AND as table décor. (see pictures below - the dark purple is what I am selling, I have no lavender or ivory left). If you live in Canada - total cost, shipping included = $5 If you live in US - total cost, shipping included = $6 PM me if interested.

i just saw this now and i actually disagree with the fact that its a given the guests take take the centerpieces! I have been to many weddings as a guest and i would never dream of taking something, other than favors, unless i was told so. Yes, i have seen many "give aways", where the DJ will make it into a game. Or at the end of the night, the bride and groom or bridal party go around and offer them (i got to take one home this way). But i would hope that no one takes one without asking or being told they can! And then if they ask, you can tell them they are not for give away. At my wedding i don't think anyone would have taken them, and so i just offered them up and only had a few people interested in them. Also, since its a DW, guests will have to think about what they are packing, so you may be "safer" than you think.