FutureKeese22

We did not get married in the US before we left. A marriage in Jamaica is completely legal in the US. We paid $80 US cash to the resort to have our marriage certificates mailed to us within two weeks and we got two copies. I was very glad I did this so I could change my name faster. The copy the resort gives you before you leave also worked to change my name on things! Hope this helps!

Hi there! I think we got the free upgrade to the Don Pablo section because we booked through a travel agent who booked us through applevacations.com

I do not think I was able to not pay the $800 fee because I was in the Don Pablo section. The Don Pablo employees told me that Arifice studio was an outside vendor that was in the resort. Almost like they rent the space inside of the resort and can charge what they want. 

They called my room a couple of times telling me they were going to do a background check on our photographer who was a 'family friend' and they did and I was fine with that, but I told them they would have to get the payment from her. 

She never paid it and she left the country before I did. 

It's a BS fee and no one should ever have to pay it!

I used monkey butt cream...you can find it at Walgreens...or the baby aisle...literally called monkey butt cream...it may be diaper rash cream but it was AMAZING!

I chose the bottom vanilla and the top chocolate! I didn't try the chocolate and I only had a bite of the vanilla and it was delicious! Too much going on for me to try the chocolate haha! I was all over the place! We played music from our ipod on an ipod dock! It was perfect!

Those of you who had the steel drum band - do they play what you ask them to? For the ceremony or during the time after the ceremony? If they don't play what you ask, what sort of songs do they play? How long are they there for?

I would book any spa appointments before you go. No one with me did the spa. I did my own makeup and had my own hairstylist. No vendor fees for having your own hairstylist or doing your own makeup! :-) 

Hi ladies! I am finally back from my June 22nd wedding! We arrived on June 19th and stayed until June 26th! I met with the wedding planners the next day for about an hour to go over all details of the wedding! There were supposed to be two other brides getting married on June 22nd before me, but they never checked in or showed up (which the wedding planners said that can happen and they can cancel without them knowing) So our wedding was the only one that day scheduled at 3 pm! We paid for the chair sashes with cash and went with the free package. We had 30 guests and ate at the Dolce Vita at 6 pm, was amazing! We had our own private room and although they were having problems with the air conditioning and mosquitoes it was a great time! I will probably jump around a lot so bare with me! ;-) We switched up the menu a bit...we went with the ceasar salad with chicken, tomato soup, chicken and tiramisu. Our wedding cake was two layers...vanilla and chocolate and it was amazing! We rented out the gazebo for after dinner, but we did not have a DJ or a bartender. We decided to use an ipod and an ipod docking station. It was perfect. We asked to have rum punch, ice and cups down at the gazebo at 8:30 (this was no extra cost) (we rented the gazebo from 8:30 to 10:30 pm) The rum punch not there when we got there at 8:30 so one of my guests had to walk all the way to the front desk to ask where it was. (It is a long walk and I was very disappointed). It finally arrived and our guests all enjoyed it. During our wedding review with the wedding planner I told her what I was disappointed with and she said she told them to have the rum punch down there and was very sorry and set my husband and I up with a dinner outside at the Dolce Vita on the deck overlooking the ocean. It was very romantic, but the mosquitoes drove me nuts! The chairs at the gazebo after dinner were also stacked and our guests had to unstack them and set their chairs down where they wanted. When all my guests and I checked in when we got to the hotel we were all walked past the front desk and into the Don Pablo Luxury Collection room. Little did we know that my entire wedding party was upgraded to the Don Pablo wing for FREE which WAS AMAZING! Check in was a breeze, we all got champagne and whatever drinks you wanted with top shelf liquor. They explained everything to us about how this upgrade worked. We had our own private pool with cabanas, we could go into the lounge for top shelf liquor, breakfast pastries, appetizers, etc, free wifi and any problems you had with your room or the resort, you went to the Don Pablo lounge and they would take care of it. My guests all loved it and it was a great start to the trip! The rooms were amazing as well! This part of the resort was built in December of 2012. Anyway, my wedding day was perfect all in all! The weather was hot and sunny! I flew in my own photographer from Iowa with me. I was harrassed by Arrifice studio a few times to pay the $800 vendor fee. (neither I or my photographer had to pay it) and I went into the Don Pablo collection and expressed my concern and they said YOU DO NOT HAVE TO PAY THE $800 FEE THEY ARE AN OUTSIDE VENDOR FROM THE RESORT!!!!! Neither of us paid the fee. I thought it was ridiculous anyway because her and her husband were a paying guest and they stayed for over a week! We did pick out our five free pictures from the resort photographer. Anyway, we got the steel drum band, which was great as well...they played while my sister and Eric's best man walked down the aisle and then I had a cd of a song I wanted played when my mom, dad and I walked down the aisle. Ceremony was a breeze...we said our own vows, I did not like how we had to sign the marriage certificate in the middle of the ceremony...wish that was after it was all said and done, but oh well. We all had champagne after the ceremony and listened to the steel drum band, took pictures and enjoyed ourselves! After the ceremony our guests went to change or get more comfortable shoes on and went to the lobby bar. I went back to my room to have my hair put up because it was hot having it down! I had it down for the ceremony and up for the rest of the night. My hair stylist was my friend who came with and I did my own makeup. We did sky lanterns at the gazebo after dinner, danced and had fun. After the gazebo a lot of us went into the shopping area where all the shops/disco/sports bar and stage are and danced, danced, danced! The wedding planners do know what they are doing and set everything up the way I asked. I gave them a few decorations, our sand ceremony, etc and they took care of everything for me! I did pay an extra $80 US to get my OFFICIAL marriage certificate delivered to me in less than 2 weeks rather than 6-8 weeks. You do get a copy of you marriage certificate before you leave as well. The minister gave it to my Dad after the wedding! I'm sorry my review is all over the place, if you have any more questions or want more details about certain things please don't hesitate to ask! Your day will go perfect even if there are a few little mishaps! I don't regret anything about my day at all! There were so many signs that I made the right choice and we were meant to get married there! :-) I wish I could relive it everyday because it honestly was such a great time and I am so glad I didn't have to plan much and the wedding planners took care of everything for me! I did have a bouquet which was beautiful from Tai Flora! I will post more pics as I get them! :-)

Hey Current Brides... I was just wondering...did you have to fax in your identification or did you actually have to courier out notarized copies of your birth certificates, passports, etc.  In the wedding package information, it says fax...but Vinnette (an assistant wedding planner) has told me that I need to courier the documents.  I have to admit, I'm a bit apprehensive to send over these official documents...especially since past brides have said that they never even looked at them when they were brought into the hotel.  I am also wondering if we get these documents back - because, quite frankly, I would want official documents that have all this information back in my possession.  Please let me know! I have been waiting to hear back from the assistant planner for over a week and a half now...and am getting quite antsy - as I don't want my date and time given away AGAIN!  Any info would help! Thanks!

I leave in the morning for Jamaica and my wedding is on Saturday! I will post a review in a couple weeks when I get back! I can't believe it is finally here! :-)

Have an amazing time.....take time to take it all in.  Come back and tell us all the details.  Congratulations to both you and your fiancé

Congrats FutureKeese22!  Let us know how it goes.  I leave June 28 for my July 1 wedding and I am sorting out all the final details now! Let's hope everything goes smoothly and beautifully!

I leave a week from Wednesday for my June 22nd wedding! I still need to pack! :-) Can't wait to get there!

When bringing your dress to the airport did past brides just bring it on the plane and check in with it in the garment bag no problem? I will have my purse and then my dress as my carry on...will that be ok? American Airlines said it has to be able to fit in the carry on measurement guidelines, but I don't want to put my dress in anything...just carry it on and hope to be able to hang it in the captains closet.

Did any brides have any problems bringing their wedding dress on the airplane and storing it in the captain's closet. I have about 6 weeks until the big day and I called the airline and they said as long as there is room I can store it in there! :-)

Thank you for your review! Beautifu

HI Ladies, How are you? I just got back a week ago from the Gran Bahia, and wanted to post my review. I got Married on Monday the 15th at 4pm I am going to first say we had no problems with the wedding, just a few with the resort. Make sure you put a request for your maids to come with towels early the morning of your wedding, or stash a few away for the big day, as we did not have any in my sisters room and my husband had to use a beach towel from the twowel exchange because the house keepers had none when he wanted to shower and get ready. Our week was great, weather was amazing could not have asked for better. The only complaint I do have is the amount of time it takes with the couple the week you are away. We had four seperate days of wedding stuff and really took away from our vacation and rest time. Ill do wedding and photography seperate reviews Wedding: We met with Chandyln our second day there, was about half an hour meeting. We went over all the details, menus, decorations, spot where it was to be held. We went over names, which was a good thing as my husband has two last names and they had it down as one. They had Costa down on all th paper work such as menus etc, and it is Dalla Costa. They quickly changed all of that. The notorized documents, she didnt looki at, or ask to know if we had them wiith us. She was good. We met with Arricife photography at this meeting as well, we were using them for our wedding, they confirmed times as to when they were to come to the room, confirmed room numbers at this time as well. We had our rehersal at 10am on the saturday. This as with Deardra. She walked us through what was going to happen the weddding day. Talked about what tiem to be at the golf cart, what time the guests and the men needed to be at the ceremony site. Walked through the bridal procession, practice exit. Answered all questions at this time. Was good. Took about 45 minutes. Monday the day of our wedding, as good, we ordered room service for breakfast and lunch, which was prompt, and hot. too much food actually, but better to have too much than not enough. Again no towels which was bad, I had to use a hand towel to dry off with after my shower. My sister and my Cousin do hair and makeup for a living. So I did not use any services in Jamaica for this. The lightening in the room was fab for this. they were in room 18504 facing the inner of the resort and had great light to do their job. We were right on time with everything. The flowers from Taiflora came on time, the ceremony site set up in plenty of time before the guests made their way to the point. we had our ceremony on the beach side to the right of the gazebo. Taiflora was good. They set up the ceremony site as askled, arbour with white chiffon, and white chivari chairs. worth the extra money. I am not a fan of chair ties. and this all blended into the sea background so nicely. The flowers were nice, the braidesmaids bouquest esxaclty as asked, white hydrangeas with torch ginger and coral orchids. Mine was different than expected, than what they sent me in the picture. I asked for white hydrangeas, coral orchids and pink callalillies were to sort of encompass it around the stems. I got a few callalillies, and blush roses were in my bouquet. I did not ask for roses. It was pretty though. They sent all flowers up in plenty of time for photos After taking a few pre photos, the golf cart to take us to the ceremony site was right on time, acutally calling the photographer at 345 to ask where we were. They took us to the ceremony site, and we met donnalee (another wedding coordinator) at the large walk to the peir. They had the music I had provided for the pre ceremony playing as we arrived. The procession music I wanted played and we flowed through. Everything worked well. 4pm was a good tiem to get married, the sun was starting to drop in the sky, provided nice light for photos, was not directly in our eyes, the wind though on the peir! wow, make sure you have lots of hairspray!.  The videographer was there and filmed the ceremony. AFter the ceremony they played our exit music that we provided. they were right on point with the music. We took group photos, guests, photos and family photos on the peir, and then carreid on to the beach for bridal party photos. When my husband and I branched off to do our photots, my bridesmaids went and checked on the venu and said it was set up perfectly. We rented pisces. Yes it is $1700, but it is gorgeous, the backdrop of the sunset for our 630 reception was magical. The dj was great that was included. played our entrance songs as I had specified on the cds, and played our special dances as asked. The only complaint here is that the wedding planners did not give him a copy of the reception itinerary so that he knew what was going on, I had given one to my maid of honor and she was able to give it to him. He followed it perfectly. He also does not do any annoucements. My maid of honor stepped in for an mc last minute. I thought he would be able to say mom and dad now for speech etc, nope. He doesnt talk. Mikes are provided, it is wirelss. Everyone was able to hear everything well. We had a small reception 22 people with us. It was nice. We did a sweetheart table for the two of use, adn did tables of 6 and 8 circular for our quests. It looked really pretty. Taiflora again had privded us with table cloths and hangining alnterns, and brought the chivari chairs from ceremony to reception for us. The wedding coordinator had set out our place cards as we had wanted, I prrovided them with a seating plan, and they set up our centrepeices and guest book table as asked as well. They were on point. Reception dinner was by dolce vita, was fantastic, we mixed and matched off the menu choices. Caprese salad, ravioloi, stuffed chicken, and the chocolate puffs for dessert. Im not picky on wedding cake, but they provided wedding cake (my husband wanted lemon) and they made us lemon, which was great, and they cut and served it with dessert. The restaurant manager kept things going as we wanted, and was great letting us know when cake cutting time was etc. Beer and wine were served all throughout the reception Dancing with out group was great, dj was amazing, played country, top 40 and then all the top club hits, and mixed reageton in for me. Reception ended at 1030 sharp. Had one last slow song to close off the night and all done. Had a greta time, our guests had a blast. I recommend having the pisces rented out as you are able to do your special speeches, your dances and have a private night with your guests. Photography: we used the resort wedding photographer. we requested Chris Lee as per the recommendations he had had from this forum. He was fabulous. He did a great job. I am not comfortable in front of the camera, and am not a fru fru bride and he did coaching with me, let me know what he was thinking, made me feel very comfrotable. he listended to what I wanted. and went with it. I wanted the girls first glance at dress pic, and my dads first look pic.  His pics were great. Ill add a few at the end. he stayed for the reception, left at 10. Great repception shots, greta journalistic shots of us and my guests. We got all the pics, well worth it, I was not bale to cut them down to the 75 which were in cluded in our package. I would highly recommend him. And it was much cheaper than having another come off the resort. We also got the videoographer for the ceremony, we had a small guest group,. and have alot of family we want to chare this with. Yea it is not a 4 minute movie trailor like some couples are doing now. But it is ceremony, and a few shots after, 21 minutes long and only $440. Compared to $3200 for 4 minutes. I wanted the ceremony to keep our memories of our ceremony forever, well worth it and a good deal to me. All in all it was a great day. Easiest way to get married in my eyes. Was not stressful, and needed much less of my time. They did a great job and carried it off without a hitch.  Here are a few pics [/quote

HI Ladies, How are you? I just got back a week ago from the Gran Bahia, and wanted to post my review. I got Married on Monday the 15th at 4pm I am going to first say we had no problems with the wedding, just a few with the resort. Make sure you put a request for your maids to come with towels early the morning of your wedding, or stash a few away for the big day, as we did not have any in my sisters room and my husband had to use a beach towel from the twowel exchange because the house keepers had none when he wanted to shower and get ready. Our week was great, weather was amazing could not have asked for better. The only complaint I do have is the amount of time it takes with the couple the week you are away. We had four seperate days of wedding stuff and really took away from our vacation and rest time. Ill do wedding and photography seperate reviews Wedding: We met with Chandyln our second day there, was about half an hour meeting. We went over all the details, menus, decorations, spot where it was to be held. We went over names, which was a good thing as my husband has two last names and they had it down as one. They had Costa down on all th paper work such as menus etc, and it is Dalla Costa. They quickly changed all of that. The notorized documents, she didnt looki at, or ask to know if we had them wiith us. She was good. We met with Arricife photography at this meeting as well, we were using them for our wedding, they confirmed times as to when they were to come to the room, confirmed room numbers at this time as well. We had our rehersal at 10am on the saturday. This as with Deardra. She walked us through what was going to happen the weddding day. Talked about what tiem to be at the golf cart, what time the guests and the men needed to be at the ceremony site. Walked through the bridal procession, practice exit. Answered all questions at this time. Was good. Took about 45 minutes. Monday the day of our wedding, as good, we ordered room service for breakfast and lunch, which was prompt, and hot. too much food actually, but better to have too much than not enough. Again no towels which was bad, I had to use a hand towel to dry off with after my shower. My sister and my Cousin do hair and makeup for a living. So I did not use any services in Jamaica for this. The lightening in the room was fab for this. they were in room 18504 facing the inner of the resort and had great light to do their job. We were right on time with everything. The flowers from Taiflora came on time, the ceremony site set up in plenty of time before the guests made their way to the point. we had our ceremony on the beach side to the right of the gazebo. Taiflora was good. They set up the ceremony site as askled, arbour with white chiffon, and white chivari chairs. worth the extra money. I am not a fan of chair ties. and this all blended into the sea background so nicely. The flowers were nice, the braidesmaids bouquest esxaclty as asked, white hydrangeas with torch ginger and coral orchids. Mine was different than expected, than what they sent me in the picture. I asked for white hydrangeas, coral orchids and pink callalillies were to sort of encompass it around the stems. I got a few callalillies, and blush roses were in my bouquet. I did not ask for roses. It was pretty though. They sent all flowers up in plenty of time for photos After taking a few pre photos, the golf cart to take us to the ceremony site was right on time, acutally calling the photographer at 345 to ask where we were. They took us to the ceremony site, and we met donnalee (another wedding coordinator) at the large walk to the peir. They had the music I had provided for the pre ceremony playing as we arrived. The procession music I wanted played and we flowed through. Everything worked well. 4pm was a good tiem to get married, the sun was starting to drop in the sky, provided nice light for photos, was not directly in our eyes, the wind though on the peir! wow, make sure you have lots of hairspray!.  The videographer was there and filmed the ceremony. AFter the ceremony they played our exit music that we provided. they were right on point with the music. We took group photos, guests, photos and family photos on the peir, and then carreid on to the beach for bridal party photos. When my husband and I branched off to do our photots, my bridesmaids went and checked on the venu and said it was set up perfectly. We rented pisces. Yes it is $1700, but it is gorgeous, the backdrop of the sunset for our 630 reception was magical. The dj was great that was included. played our entrance songs as I had specified on the cds, and played our special dances as asked. The only complaint here is that the wedding planners did not give him a copy of the reception itinerary so that he knew what was going on, I had given one to my maid of honor and she was able to give it to him. He followed it perfectly. He also does not do any annoucements. My maid of honor stepped in for an mc last minute. I thought he would be able to say mom and dad now for speech etc, nope. He doesnt talk. Mikes are provided, it is wirelss. Everyone was able to hear everything well. We had a small reception 22 people with us. It was nice. We did a sweetheart table for the two of use, adn did tables of 6 and 8 circular for our quests. It looked really pretty. Taiflora again had privded us with table cloths and hangining alnterns, and brought the chivari chairs from ceremony to reception for us. The wedding coordinator had set out our place cards as we had wanted, I prrovided them with a seating plan, and they set up our centrepeices and guest book table as asked as well. They were on point. Reception dinner was by dolce vita, was fantastic, we mixed and matched off the menu choices. Caprese salad, ravioloi, stuffed chicken, and the chocolate puffs for dessert. Im not picky on wedding cake, but they provided wedding cake (my husband wanted lemon) and they made us lemon, which was great, and they cut and served it with dessert. The restaurant manager kept things going as we wanted, and was great letting us know when cake cutting time was etc. Beer and wine were served all throughout the reception Dancing with out group was great, dj was amazing, played country, top 40 and then all the top club hits, and mixed reageton in for me. Reception ended at 1030 sharp. Had one last slow song to close off the night and all done. Had a greta time, our guests had a blast. I recommend having the pisces rented out as you are able to do your special speeches, your dances and have a private night with your guests. Photography: we used the resort wedding photographer. we requested Chris Lee as per the recommendations he had had from this forum. He was fabulous. He did a great job. I am not comfortable in front of the camera, and am not a fru fru bride and he did coaching with me, let me know what he was thinking, made me feel very comfrotable. he listended to what I wanted. and went with it. I wanted the girls first glance at dress pic, and my dads first look pic.  His pics were great. Ill add a few at the end. he stayed for the reception, left at 10. Great repception shots, greta journalistic shots of us and my guests. We got all the pics, well worth it, I was not bale to cut them down to the 75 which were in cluded in our package. I would highly recommend him. And it was much cheaper than having another come off the resort. We also got the videoographer for the ceremony, we had a small guest group,. and have alot of family we want to chare this with. Yea it is not a 4 minute movie trailor like some couples are doing now. But it is ceremony, and a few shots after, 21 minutes long and only $440. Compared to $3200 for 4 minutes. I wanted the ceremony to keep our memories of our ceremony forever, well worth it and a good deal to me. All in all it was a great day. Easiest way to get married in my eyes. Was not stressful, and needed much less of my time. They did a great job and carried it off without a hitch.  Here are a few pics

Congrats! Thanks for the review! Who was your videographer?! Gorgeous pics!

Thank you for your review! Who was your videographer? Is the Dolce Vita better than the Grille? We are trying to decide on which place to have dinner! Thanks!

I scanned everything yesterday and emailed it to Chandlyn so that is done finally! Just waiting on her to email me back with some general questions I have. If we already have the gazebo booked for after dinner, no other bride can have the gazebo that same night, correct? There are two other weddings on the same day I am getting married.

Does anyone shipped anything to the resort and did you have any problems? I am contemplating shipping 36 sparklers that we have, but I want to make sure they put them in a safe place until your wedding. I guess you can't bring them on an airplane, but I'm sure people have and haven't got caught before. If you did have something shipped, what is the address? Thank you!

Ok thank you! I will try to scan and email!

Do any of you have an email to get in touch with the wedding coordinators? For some reason mine isn't working and all my emails are getting sent back to me. Does anyone know why the fax number listed on the bottom of Chandlyn's email doesn't work? I want to fax our notarized copies of our birth certificates and passports and I tried to Friday but the fax number didn't work...or do you know the full address to the resort? We are 8 weeks from the wedding tomorrow and she wants those documents at least 8 weeks prior. Has anyone used the coral chair sashes that the resort has? Are they a pretty coral? Thank you!

I don't feel comfortable with the resort photographer being in my room. They can be at the ceremony if they want, but I don't want them in the way of my friend who will be taking my pictures. My photographer said she has never paid for a vendors fee at any destination wedding she has done. She said we shouldn't have to pay since she is a paying guest and is staying for 3 nights plus! She said if it comes down to it she will pay the $800, but I still think it is BS. We have to pay for many other things...I just don't understand. But, I will be putting a stop to the resort photographer being in my room...that is my privacy and I heard the resort photographer is not good at all. Sorry to sound rude, but this is one of the most important days of my life and I don't need any extra stress that day. :-)

Does anyone have the fax number? I have 876-670-8646 and it isn't working...I really want to get these documents faxed before 12. Thank you! :-)

Does anyone know the address to send the notarized copies of passports and birth certificates? Thank you!

Does anyone know the address to send the notarized copies of passports and birth certificates? Thank you!