JaimeF

Hello, Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. I hope you like the Royal Bahamian as much as my husband and I did. We LOVED it. Everyone there was very nice and extremely accommodating. We chose the pier gazebo for our ceremony location which I really liked because it seemed more private (although I think they put signs up regardless of where on the resort you get married so that people stay away and do not disturb the ceremony). I saw a wedding at the garden gazebo, which was also a very beautiful location, and it seemed private as well. I didn't even notice a wedding at first except that I was on my way to the wedding office and a sign was up to be quiet for the wedding. Did you decide on a resort location yet for the ceremony? I ask because there is a chance that I have pictures of it if you want to see. After our ceremony, we had the little 30 minute cocktail thing which was nice and then we took pictures for a while all over the resort. We really love our pictures. Our photographer was Shavon and the videographer was Alex. They were very nice, laid back but very professional - we felt very comfortable with them and like I said, we really loved the pictures. The video was ok - we really did not want to get the video but our parents wanted it since they were not going to be attending the ceremony. I guess it's nice to have for the memories but I think I would have been just as happy if a guest would have just video taped it. We only had 2 guests who were part of the wedding so we didn't think that would be an option for us. Then my brother showed up and if I would have known he was coming, I would have had him tape it. The photography and video were very expensive in my opinion. But overall I am very happy with the quality of the photos. I'll post some in this thread for you to get an idea of what they are like. As for other info, I just want to add that we had a coordinator that we communicated with through email and phone calls prior to arriving to the resort - this was to plan the wedding and all the details... I kind of feel that although it seemed helpful at the time, it really was kind of stupid because when we got the resort, we pretty much went over everything again with the on-site coordinator. But I guess it's good in a way to give you an idea of what you're getting and what to sort of expect. Also, my advice to you is not to purchase any wedding stuff that you aren't sure about - you can always add it on when you get to the resort. Otherwise, if you change your mind, you get a credit to use towards something else at the resort, you can't refund your money. I hope this helps even a little. Please let me know if you have any questions. I'll post some pictures. For your info, we did the beautiful beginnings wedding package and I think paid a little extra for the pier, but other than that did not upgrade anything like flowers or whatever. Also, I had my hair done at the salon there and it came out really great but didn't last long because of the wind and heat, so I may look a little crazy. It was hot!! Again, let me know if you have any other questions, Jaime

Wow! I've never heard of that before but it sounds like a great idea!! I'm going to look on the internet to see if I could find it. I'm just so curious to see it. Thanks, Jaime

Thanks. That makes a lot of sense. My problem is that I don't have shoes yet but I thought I'd probably wear some sort of flat or flip flops for the ceremony and didn't want the dress totally dragging in the sand. But I would have liked to have the option for a heel in case I wear the dress again for an AHR. I guess I'll see. But thanks so much for your response. That definitely helps. Jaime

Thanks for the response. So are you both getting your dresses hemmed for the higher wedges or shorter for the flip flops? Any pictures of your shoes around? I'm having trouble finding shoes and I need some ideas. Thanks Jaime

Hi, I'm in the process of getting my dress altered and I'm not sure what to do about shoes. I am planning to have a ceremony either on the beach or a pier and was planning to either go barefoot or wear a flat sandal. However, I was also thinking about wearing my dress again at a possible AHR. I would prefer to wear heels but I know I can't do that on the sand. So I was just wondering what other people are doing? Are you just going barefoot and then will wear flats at the reception? Are you wearing a flip flop with some height on the beach and changing into heels later? Thanks, Jaime

Hello, Congratulations! Our wedding is super small too- just us and one other couple (my sister and her husband). Hopefully we will find some good info. I haven't seen much on here about Sandals Royal Bahamian but there seems to be more info about other Sandals resorts. Jaime

HI, I am getting married at Sandals Royal Bahamian also! I am doing it in June actually. From what I understand, there are other packages. I have been trying to find out more about this myself. I could swear I saw one for like 36 5x7 pictures. If you go to the Sandals website and click through the part where you can customize a wedding, look for where it says "photography" and then "Individual Items". Scroll through that and you'll eventually see the package for 36 prints for $750. You can also click on "Photography Print and CD packages" and see packages for less pictures, like 12 or 18 prints. I did not actually purchase photography for my wedding yet. I think I am going to wait til I get there if I can. I'm not really sure what I want to get and it all seems pretty expensive. Anyway, I hope this info helps. Let me know if you have any trouble finding the info on the website. Good luck and congratulations!! Jaime

Hi, I've been searching all over this forum for any information about Sandals Royal Bahamian in the Bahamas and there's hardly anything. I'm surprised there aren't more people getting married there. But it's also making me a little nervous... is it awful there or something? Anyway, if there is anyone out there who got married there or are even planning to get married there, I'd love to hear from you! Thanks, Jaime

Hi Norma, Thank you for the response. I like your idea about having more candid photos. I will also take your advice and look into outside photography to compare. I figure that we would want some photos of the ceremony, some of the two of us around the resort, some with all 4 of us together, and maybe some of just my sister and her husband. I guess maybe they would take some pictures of the cake and stuff like that but we aren't really doing a cocktail hour or reception. We do have the option of doing a first dance but I'm not sure if we are going to do that either. I may have to call the resort coordinator and find out if they will customize photo packages or if you can only buy their pre-determined packages. I just feel like I can't choose a number of pictures until I actually see the photos, know what I mean? Oh well. Thanks for the help Im going to look around the forums for photographers in the area. Thank again, Jaime

Hi, I have a question that I'm hoping you ladies can help me with. I am getting married this June in the Bahamas (Sandals) and we are having only 2 guests - my sister and her husband. What I am unsure about is photography. I would like some professional photos taken to document the day so I was planning to buy a photo package but I'm just not sure how many photos I would actually need. I think the photography at Sandals is sort of expensive and I am a little nervous about the quality after reading reviews, but I'm just at a loss as to what makes sense for such a tiny little wedding. Should I even bother with photography? I just keep thinking... how many different pictures could we possibly want with just the two of us and with our two guests... Any advice on the subject? I'd really appreciate any insight. Thanks, Jaime

Jess- Thank you so much for your response. It helps so much. I don't know if you saw my more recent post but I decided to order the dress just so that I could try it on at home by myself to see how I really feel. I tend to be somewhat shy/reserved so I'm not the type to jump around and twirl in it in public and felt weird just trying anything on and coming out for all to see - although I do admit that at J Crew you are not in front of a lot of people, just the people that you brought, which is nice. I just remember putting it on the first time and smiling with the hugest cheesiest smile... I think I have this idea in my head, like what I picture myself wearing (the light, airy, flowy, simple beach dress) and this isn't that. So I need to get rid of all those ideas and go with my feelings I guess. I'm hoping to have it some time this week so I will hopefully know more and have a better idea soon. Wish me luck! Jaime

Jess- Thank you so much for your response. It helps so much. I don't know if you saw my more recent post but I decided to order the dress just so that I could try it on at home by myself to see how I really feel. I tend to be somewhat shy/reserved so I'm not the type to jump around and twirl in it in public and felt weird just trying anything on and coming out for all to see - although I do admit that at J Crew you are not in front of a lot of people, just the people that you brought, which is nice. I just remember putting it on the first time and smiling with the hugest cheesiest smile... I think I have this idea in my head, like what I picture myself wearing (the light, airy, flowy, simple beach dress) and this isn't that. So I need to get rid of all those ideas and go with my feelings I guess. I'm hoping to have it some time this week so I will hopefully know more and have a better idea soon. Wish me luck! Jaime

That dress is really pretty. I like how flowy it is! I can't believe those other fees though... insane! Definitely think about stores you normally shop in and just google the store name and add "bridal" or "wedding" to it. Something might come up. I was surprised with some stores I found. Good luck with your search! Keep me posted! Jaime

Thanks for all of the advice everyone. So far this is what I have decided to do. I found the dress for cheaper, like half price in my size, with a decent return policy. I am going to purchase it and try it on at home, in my size and hopefully get a good feel for what it's like. If I don't get a great feeling about it, then I'll just return it. When I tried this dress on the first time, I liked it but was surprised I liked it so much. And I couldn't stop thinking about it. And actually, when I went back to jcrew this last time to try it on again, I was considering buying it because J. Crew was having a 20% off sale online that included bridal gowns. I feel like this current price is too good for me to pass up and I just need to try it on, by myself, see how light/heavy it is, if I'm comfortable, etc. I may try david's bridal this weekend just to see if I like anything. I just feel so uncomfortable going to these stores and basically trying on the dresses in front of so many people. Thanks again! I appreciate all the help! Jaime

Hi, I think it's a great idea and I hope you can find something. Some regular stores like J. Crew, Ann Taylor, Lane Bryant (I think called Sonsi), etc. have bridal stuff and it's just like ordering from the catalog, meaning you get it in a couple weeks instead of months like at a bridal salon. I'm thinking that you can also look for bridesmaid style dresses in white which may be cheaper than getting something labeled as a "wedding gown". Maybe even David's Bridal has some shorter dresses - i just don't know what there timeline for shipping out dresses is like. Here is an example from J. Crew that I was thinking about for you: http://www.jcrew.com/wedding/Wedding_Bride/honeymoon/PRDOVR~29286/29286.jsp You'd have to check on the sizes. Maybe even a nice department store might have something off the rack in their dress sections (not the bridal section) in white or ivory. My other suggestion is to check ebay or a used wedding dress site (like preownedweddingdresses.com or recycled bride.com) if you don't mind a preowned dress. Good luck! I hope you find something!! Jaime

Thanks. That definitely helps. I've only tried on maybe 8 dresses. I may have mentioned it in my original post (I don't remember) but when i tried this dress on I was surprised because it totally wasn't what I was looking for. I went for more of a chiffon or silky sheath. My sister and I happened to see the other one on a mannequin and she was like, "just try it on for fun" and I was all whatever about it, but ended up really liking it, perhaps even loving it at the time. The sheaths were nice too but they didn't make me feel like I was getting married. When I tried the other one on, I felt more like a bride even though I wasn't going for too much of a wedding-y look, if that makes any sense. I think you are also right that the wedding planning stuff is getting me down and it really is making it hard for me to be excited about any of this, which makes me feel bad. Part of me is super excited about the wedding, but it's hard because our families are not excited about our plans at all and pretty much told us that it's just an inconvenience. Oh well. There was a time when I was really excited about the dress, so I almost wish I didn't try it on again under all this extra stress stuff going on. I tried posting a picture in the post above, if you want to see the dress I'm talking about. I am going to take your advice and go to David's to try on some more dresses. I think it will give me a better sense of what I actually do and do not like. Thanks again for your help. i really appreciate it! Jaime

Thanks for the reply. There were others I kind of liked too but not as much as this one. There's one that I like almost as much which is cheaper but it's really plain, but nice too. I think I'm also having a hard time with this because I'm finding it hard to know what the dress is really going to be like in my size. I've been trying on dresses that are many sizes too big and they just seem like a lot of dress and cumbersome. And like I mentioned before, I don't know what kind of dress is appropriate for a beach wedding. I don't want to look back at my pictures and look like a freak in a crazy dress on the beach. I figured out how to put a picture in. This is the dress I'm undecided on: I think I may keep looking, Maybe I'll find something I love or maybe trying on other dresses will make me like this one more. Jaime

Hi, I could really use some help, advice, opinions, suggestions, etc. I am getting married in June and have looked at a few dresses. I mainly went to J. Crew because I love the simplicity of their dresses. When I originally went back in September, I went specifically to look at gowns that were more of a sheath or column style, but ended up really liking a gown the was more of an A-line or even ball gown silhouette (I'm not sure what it is considered). Of course the gown I liked was more expensive than I wanted to spend but I was thinking that maybe I'd do it since I seemed to love it. Anyway I just went back last week to look again and I tried the gown on again. This time, I'm just so unsure about it all. I always hear and read stories about people falling in love with a dress and knowing it's "the one." I actually have the chance to buy this dress at like half price and I'm still on the fence. This isn't so surprising because I do tend to be very indecisive all the time. But I don't know what's going on. I did love the dress at one point but I don't know if I'm having trouble deciding because my wedding plans have been a fiasco thus far, so as a whole I've been feeling down about wedding stuff.. I also can't picture what would look good or be beach wedding appropriate. I just don't know what to do and I feel like I don't have many options because my wedding is in about 4 months. I would even post pictures of a few dresses I tried on to get opinions but I don't know how. Thanks for any help. t is greatly appreciated! Jaime

I'm having trouble finding a dress too. I tried a few on back in September about a month after I was engaged and found one I really liked, but I wasn't really into the dress shopping at that point. Well, my fiancé and I just decided to get married this June so now I feel like I'm totally pressed for time and that I don't have many options. My original plan was to look at the J. Crew bridal dresses because they are on the simpler side and ship super fast but I'm really torn. I just went there on Thursday and tried the one I liked from back in September - I don't know how I feel about it anymore and it's expensive which is totally throng me off. They had another one I kind of liked that was much cheaper but very very plain. I think my main problem is that I don't know what will look ok on the beach. I don't want to feel awkward in a big dress on the beach. I just don't know what to do... are there any options for me for finding a dress within the next 4 months??? Jaime

Those are so cute!!! How much does it cost to ship each one to your guests? I love the idea!! Jaime

Those are so cute!!! How much does it cost to ship each one to your guests? I love the idea!! Jaime

Hi, I just booked my wedding at the Royal Bahamian for this June. I'm looking forward to reading any responses you get to this thread. Do you know anything about the ceremony sites? The WC sent me some pictures of the different sites but I want to see what the Pier is all about but of course that picture wasn't sent to me. All I know is that it costs extra. Thanks and good luck with your planning! Jaime

Thank you for the great information! It definitely helps! If I have any more questions I will email you. Thanks again. I really appreciate it! Jaime

Hi, I just booked Sandals Royal Bahamian for this coming June. I would like to do the beautiful Beginning package but I have a few questions I'm hoping you ladies can help me with. 1. How long is the actual ceremony? 2. I was told by the wedding coordinator that it comes with no decor. I read on this forum that you can add things on like an arch or whatever but I'm a little confused. I read on here that you have to pay for the extras 60 days in advance. But I thought we don't actually decide on the wedding site until we get there. I figured, if we decided on the beach I would get some sort of decor but if we chose a different area we might not. So can anyone clear this up for me? 3. I was looking at the photo/video packages... what is an unstretched canvas or gallery wrap? Also, did anyone do the dvd? Did you like it? 4. Did anyone get their hair and makeup done at the resort and if so, how was everything? Thanks so much for the help. I am starting to get nervous!! Jaime

Hi, Well, we have decided (for now anyway- you never know what will happen tomorrow) that we are just going to do the DW and whoever comes, comes. His mom is a little upset because his brother's wife is pregnant and probably won't be able to go. My parents are upset because grandparents won't be there. But really, how many people can we make happy... My fiancé and I feel like our parents think we are being very selfish but really we are very accommodating people and just this once we want to do something for ourselves that will make us happy. Isn't it technically "our" day? I actually just spoke to the travel agent on the phone and we are going to try to book this tomorrow when she is back in the office. We are looking at Sandals Royal Bahamian this coming June. We are still planning to do the AHR maybe in the fall for extended family. If people are really extremely hurt by this, then maybe we'll do a surprise little ceremony at the party. I don't know yet. I really hope you and your fiancé are able to come up with something that makes the two of you truly happy. I think that's most important. Good luck! Jaime