Kassi22

You can find all this info and pics on there wedding website: http://www.weddingsbyiberostar.com/iberostar_rose_hall_wedding_packages.htm Pictures of the Bouquets are here: (Pg 2) From all the pics I have seen of actually weddings, they seem to be fairly close. More tropical colors like pinks, roses, oranges, etc. http://www.weddingsbyiberostar.com/Wedding_Details_IBRH.pdf You could contact Tai Flora and see if they could include the colors you want (If it uses the same flowers, I'm sure they can make a bouquet for you). Aqua might be the tricky party ad I don't think its one of there standard flowers..so you may have to upgrade it.

I heard Tai Flower wasn't cheap, but they are good. I sent in what I wanted and it took months and months to get a response. I got a response a few weeks ago which was close to what I wanted, then I sent it for adjustments (they forgot boutonnieres and some other things) then they responded with the fixes and ad ons the next day. I ordered an upgraded bouquet, two BM bouquets, 5 boutonnieres (groom, men, fathers), 2 corsages, flowers for center of huppa, 6 small balls flowers for isle markers, and 6 flower centerpieces (though we will probably need 1 or 2 more) and we have the quote of $2400. Thought it will probably be closer to $2700.. not cheap. The worst thing is, its not like we get to keep them, or give the centerpieces away as you can't bring them home with you!! I cried a little on the inside to say the least.... but we want it to look nice so we just bit the bullet and are doing it.

My FI got his suit at Banana Republic. Beige Linen Pants, Jacket and white shirt. Not cheap, but really nice. However, we bought it when it was in season (back in May)... I went back about a month ago, and they had little to nothing left as it was all out of season... (go figure.. its still summer!) He tried on suits at Zara, LeChateau, Club Monoco, R&Wco.. so you could check there. At this time of year though, it will be really difficult to find anything in store as its all the fall lines out now. You could ask them when they expect the Spring/summer stuff in.. but I would think it would be March/April time so it might be cutting it close.

I saw an episode of this the other day, planner bride, mermaid with ruffles, with one shoulder of rose detail. If its the same one your talking about, then this dress is by San Patrick 'Capricho'. I actually tried this same dress on, its beautiful

Really? Sorry, when I meant the suites.. I meant Nicole..When spoke with Nicole about it recently, she said this, and I 'quote' "You have to pay a vendor’s fee for them because they are outside vendors and the hotel has a Spa which provides all those services." I will ask her again, but you may to as well, just to confirm. I have heard from some people that used her that got married there, that did indeed have to pay the fee. If you don't that would be awesome and saving $100.. which would be awesome!

She isn't free... or at least not what I have been told by the Suites.. She is a vendor, and not theres.. As the Suite offers spa services they consider her an outside vendor so you will have to pay a vendor fee for her... Rashel is awesome from the images I have seen of her work.. but she doesn't come cheap overall once you take on the $100 Vendor fee.. but I still think she is worth it.

When we first set up our website our parents where like "you need to give your guest other hotel options". We said 'no' .. it because we don't think, in the end, anyone would stay anywhere else. I think if you where to have it in some place like Cancun or Cuba where the resorts can be laid out tightly, where you could walk the beach from hotel to hotel it would be different, but in Rose Hall there really is only a few hotels to choose from... most are in Montego Bay, which you cant just walk to... you would need transportation, then plus the resort fee .. which adds up quickly. I dont see the point in going all this way with friends and family to stay at another resort.. where you can't see the people... We did tell people they could stay at any of the Iberostar Resorts, but if they where at the beach, they didn't have freedom to come see us..but at least we could meet up with them on the beach itself and go to them for dinner. So far though everyone has booked at the Suites which just makes it easier. We made it very clear on our site that if anyone does choose to go to another hotel that there was fees associated with coming to our hotel. We didn't specify that we would pay these on the day of the wedding (which we would if we had to.. but rather not).

We are getting married at Iberostar Rose Hall Suites. We thought about moving to another hotel for the following week, but they cost of it was just ridiculous (as we where already there, it would have been cheaper to come home, and fly back down there then the price the quoted us to move to another hotel on the island!!) So we decided to come back home for a month, then head to Italy (Venice, Florence, Amalfi Coast and then Rome) for 3 weeks for our honeymoon. We choose to spend the money on a new place.

I went to Hawaii for a wedding around Christmas time just past. It was awesome. .. Wedding was beautiful.. We made a trip out of it as if we had to do the 11 hour flight we might as well make it count. I would suggest going to a couple of islands, they are all different in there ways. Oahu is a must: Waikiki Beach is bustling with shopping, hotels and restaurants (Roy's was one of my Fav's). The beach personally wasn't really my cup of tea, though it was nice, the sand was a little coarse for my liking. You can hike up Diamond Head which is fun. The view from the top is awesome, you overlook Waikiki. You can go snorkeling at Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve. It’s a nature reserve cove with some great fish sittings.. however I will admit, there is better snorkeling about IMO (to follow) but it is still worth a visit. I just feel that the coral was getting destroyed by people that don’t follow the rules (ie, stepping on it) Currents can be strong here, so be aware.. but it’s also fairly shallow and is lifeguarded. Pearl Harbor is also very cool. I will admit, I’m not a major history person, but my FI is.. he LOVED it, but I also enjoyed the whole day as well. Kualoa Ranch is also worth a visit. We did an ATV tour there. They took us through the acres (the ranch is 1100 acres) on a tour up the hills and through the valleys. Lots of movies have been filmed here (Jurassic Park, 50 Frist Date, Journey to the center of the Earth, etc) So you can see the still standing film location pieces. Kinda of neat, and it’s just beautiful. Also, take a drive up the North Shore to watch the Surfers… just amazing watching these folks hit the pikes. The sand on the beaches up here was more like soft sawdust… again, it was a little odd, but still nice. Maui is a must: Maui is completely different then Oahu IMO (this is why I suggest going to more than one island if you can). Beaches here are beautiful fine sand.We stayed on the south west shoreline by Kihei/Makena. This is more of a laid back atmosphere then the more popular (busy) Lahaina. No tall buildings, just road and beach…beautiful. We snorkeled along the beaches here and found it better than the reserve as the stuff was untouched. We saw some sea turtles too! You could take surf lessons. (unless you already know how).. We did this with Zack Howard Surf and it was a blast. Drive up the Halaekala National Park to the top of the Volcano. However, most people do this at crack of dawn to see the sun rise… but I learned a little trick (from my Bro who went previous) .. Go up just before dark. You get to see the sunset, but once the darkness hits (when we were there, we were the only ones up there as everyone left) it gets PITCH black.. but the stars are incredible… words don’t describe it. But when you are 10,000 feet up, in pitch black, they are something else to see! Advice: Pack warm clothes.. its gets FREEZING up there. It was about 82 in Kihei, and 32 at the top. Drive the ‘Road to Hana’.. now .. this is something else! The road is a bit treacherous.. so be a comfortable driver. There are waterfalls everywhere. You can park the car and hike into the rainforest in any direction and find a waterfalls, just awesome. The changes in the scenery is so cool. If you do go, I would suggest buying the ‘Revealed’ books. There is a Maui, Oahu, Big island, etc They are full of information and little secrets that come in handy. If you have any particular questions I would be glad to try and answer.

You found iTravel2000 good to deal with? I'm dealing with them for my wedding and I have found them TERRIBLE from start to finish, it to late to back out so we are stuck but I have to stay on top of them for everything. (my list could go on and on) I had friends that also started to work with them, found them terrible and ran for the hills! I personal would not recommend them for weddings Though, I would say that I think going with a TA is the best way to go. Our TA does seem to be able to get in contact with the WC faster then I have.

I know for our Honeyfund you don't need to know what you are doing. We have it set up and they collect the money from peoples donation. When we are ready we book and pay for the trip ourselvest.. then they give us a cheque back for the money that was collected. This is with Flight Centre.

That's a tough one. If I had to choose between July through Oct I think I would probably pick either July (Earliest possible) or end of Oct /Nov for sure. It will be hotter and more humid in July/Aug time, but Peak Hurricane season is August/Sept and running into October. Now.. the chances of one actually hitting are slim, but just something to keep in mind when picking the date. When we booked for March we told ourselves that if we could not get a date for March or April.. that we would probably wait until the next year.... as I know its 'slim' risk but it was a risk we did not want to take for our wedding.

Wow!! Just watched your Video and it was awesome. You looked amazing and everything looked like so much fun! Congrats!! Now I can't wait!!!!!

Is this for Iberostar Rose Hall Beach, Suites or Grand? I know from my experience and people posting that there communication can be slow. The first time I emailed the WC at the Suites it was about a month before I got a response.

I choice Iberostar Rose Hall Suites because I trust the Iberostar Name (stayed at others). I researched and found the the reviews where overall solid, and it had benefits I wanted (ie, kid friendly, distance from airport, price, etc etc) I have been to the Caribbean a lot, about 15 times, so I new I wanted to get married here, however, Jamaica is new to us. We wanted something different, we wanted to make a new memory and we heard great things about Jamaica. So we thought, Why not! It fit our criteria, so we booked it up. Really, we only had a few options that would work for us. If you are looking for a place. Do up your list of must haves, things you can't live without, then location, price, and then research experiences and go on that. Honestly... the hardest part I found was picking a place.. but I did pick a place that we agreed on.. we tried to make 'most' people happy.. knowing we would not make 'all' people happy (as that's impossible IMHO ) I have not felt regret yet, and I don't think I ever will. Good luck!!

I’m one of the most indecisive people in the world, I swear! Because of this I would be scared to try on anymore dresses. As much as I still look at pictures (which I really shouldn’t) of other dresses, that I think “why didn’t I try that one on!†I will never try on anymore as I would be afraid to like another one other than the one I have purchased, which I love. I wouldn’t purchase a second dress (just not worth the money to me) and I can’t return the one I have, so I would rather just avoid the situation. The Maggie is beautiful! I do agree that you should go try it on again and see how you feel. I personally wouldn’t taint my opinion on it by trying on any other dresses until you re-try this one on. If you try it on, and you don’t love it, then go try on others! Or, if you can purchase two dresses, then go for it! Have one for the ceremony and one for the reception J

We did things a little differently. First we sent out an email to everyone that we would have invited (Friends and Family) getting a feel for who would be interested in attending a Destination Wedding. This is the message that we noted that we don't expect everyone to show. ... after that we sent our another email with our wedding website to those that showed interest... This is what I wrote: Now, unfortunately, with such a plan we understand that the wedding will likely be a smaller event as many families will be unable to attend. There are many reasons and believe me we understand them all too well. We know that cost, lack of vacation days, previous engagements, other vacation plans, etc will all limit the number of attendees. Let us finish by apologizing to those of you who will be unable to attend. It was of course never our intention to exclude anyone from our big day. However we have a dream to be married on a beach under the sun and we hope that you understand that is what we want to do. We also hope that no one feels as though they will offend us if they are unable to attend. On the contrary, we who hope we have not offended you. Not sure if this helps you at all....but its a start

If you want fully free, try Gimp www.gimp.org/ Its similar to Photoshop... but free Photoshop being the best option but you have to ($700ish). .but you can download a trial (I think 30days) http://www.photoshop.com/products

Travel agent...pffft. That's one thing I can't help with. First, for our wedding we went with iTravel2000. TERRIBLE. If I could back out, I would.. but its to late.. I have had to literally stay on top of them for everything.. I had friends that went to them as well, and before I knew it was iTravel they asked me "did you have any issues with your TA" and I asked why, and they explained who they where with and I told them to RUN. They did.. as they where just getting started...they ended up going with a friend of there family who has been fantastic apparently, not sure what company though... sorry. Second, for our honeymoon we decided to go somewhere new.. so we tried Flight Center.. arg!! Not much better... not as bad, but just crap customer service, emails that go into black holes.. very annoying. Nothing bothers me more then emailing someone something, and not hearing anything at all for a week, or two, or three... not even an acknowledgement of "I'm looking into it" .. nothing. If I where you, if you don't personally know a good TA... find one!! Get references from someone. If I had my time back I would have looked harder as its stressful trying to organize something like this when you have to be on top of them and fix their mistakes. There are some 'Destination Wedding' travel companies around the city as well, but I opted out of that as I refuse to pay someone $1000-$5000 to help book travel and figure out wedding details (that a TA will do for free, and you and the WC do for free). Ahah.. Sorry to vent, but that was the one thing about this whole wedding planning that drove me off my rocker!! ahahah. So take my advise, and pick your TA carefully!

Ahah. No problem. Glad I could help. You are asking all the same questions I had!! We are going to have the DJ for the party on the beach later in the night (for anyone who wants to dance) and I think the fire dancer for a quick show. Will do the steel pan band for ceremony/cocktail. I love steel pan! I wouldn't mind the reggae band, but there a little steep in price so we don't think we will get them. ($1000 an hour.. eek!) Cocktail hour we will be doing food. I was debating on which one, but we think we will just do the cheap one as people will be eating dinner right after but we wanted something for people to just nibble on while they wait for us to get pictures done. You don't have to have food, you can just have drinks as far as I'm aware. Their difference in the bar... National Bar = Soda: Cock & Diet Coke, Fanta, Sprite Beer: Red Stripe and Red Stripe Light Rum: Appleton White and Gold and Coruba Dark Tequila: Rosite, Portoneva Whiskey: House Whiskey Vodka: House Vodka Gin: House Gin Brandy: House Brandy Others Campari, Oporto, Liquors: Various House, House Amaretto, House Whiskey Cream, House Rum Cream Wine: Red, White and Dry Martini Sparkling: Torrse de la Vid Cocktails: Tropical Cocktails (Punch, Mai-Tai, Zombi, Daiquiri, Mojito, Pina Colada, Blue Hawaii, Margaritas) Interntational Bar is the above... plus Beer: Heineken Rum: Appleton Special, Malibu, Capitan Morgan Gold, Appleton Reserved, Appleton VX Tequila: Cuervo Gold, Sauza Whiskey: Johnnie Walker E.R, Ballantines, Bourbon Jim Bean, Canadian Club, Jack Daniels Vodka: Smirnoff, Stoli, Absolut Gin: Gordons, Beefeater, Bombay Sappir, Tanqueray Brandy: Presidente, Veterano, Fundador Others La Ina, Dry Sack Liquors: Sambuca, Ammaretto, Kahlua, Baileys Sparkling: Freixenet Carta Nevada, Corte Real Brut Cocktails: Cosmo, Manhattan, Kir Royal, Bloody Mary, Dry Martini, Apple Martini As for dinner, I was told they have basic bar with dinner .. no extra fee.

Awesome!! Good Luck!

We hired an external Photographer (Misha Earle, found references for her here online), Video I'm not bothering with, will just have a family member do it with one of our cameras. Hair and Makeup I'm getting Rashel Edwards (external) as I hear she is incredible. I really had a hard time with that though as the cost is $$$.. but just bit the bullet and hired her. For flowers we are staying with Taiflora, I hear they do a good job, but can be pricey...but flowers are pricey in general. I have heard of other floral vendors but I have heard good and bad reviews, so I didn't want to risk it. I have sent my information to Tai, but they are so SLOW on getting back to me with quotes.. a little frustrating. I know its a ways a way.. but I want to know if they can do what I want, and the price so I can budget for it and purchase things I need that they can't supply. argg.. One thing I don't like is Iberostar charge Vendor fees for anyone you use that's not the hotels. Tai you don't have to, but I will for the photographer and Makeup/Hair. It all adds up! I will definitely be getting the steel pan band. I have not decided though if we will just have them for the hour cocktail hour, or if we will have them for the ceremony, toast and cocktail hour (2 hours), but that was one of my must haves. Have to have that Caribbean feel! We are having the ceremony on the beach (most likely) and then cocktail hour there as well.. unless when I get there I find it really windy (heard people say this).. as then I may move the cocktail hour to the lazy river area. Choices.. choices!

You keep saying how much you 'Love' the first dress, and the second dress you 'don't Love' ... Nuff said no? Both are very pretty...but I would go with the dress that I 'Love' Also, as for the shoes... its a destination wedding!! Wear flats! (Heels..sand.. don't mix!)

Its hard to tell without knowing where you are flying from? I know for me, the best price I was able to get was to go to a travel agent. She was able to get us a group deal for about $500pp Less then we could online.

Yeah, I did up a rough budget as well.. I'm hoping it will be fairly close to what it actually cost once I get there.. ahahah. Are you planning on hiring a photographer, makeup artist, florist, etc?