kalolaco

I asked about chair covers for the ceremony only - I presume it'd be the same/around the same for chair covers for dinner. Chair covers are $7 per chair, and ribbon is $4 per chair, if you wanted to tie a ribbon around the chair cover. I opted not to do chair covers - too pricey! I made my own bows out of tulle and tied them on the chairs lining the aisle, just so I had a little something for decoration.

We didn't ask ahead of time, but they upgraded us upon check-in. We didn't have to ask, they offered (we were planning on asking anyway but since they offered we didn't have to). We booked the gardenview junior suite and were promised an ocean view room junior suite upon check in; when we got there, our papers said ocean view junior suite but they upgraded us to ocean front junior suite.

A bag of loose petals from Tai cost around $30US. I had orchid petals though, might be a different price for roses.

Or you could do what I did and get legally married in your home town at city hall, or wherever, and only pay for the "Renewal of Vows" package. You get everything else you would with the Free Wedding package, but at a cheaper price (about $200 cheaper). We did it this way to save a bit of money and the hassle of getting legal documentation to Jamaica (you'll need to send notarized copies of your birth certificates (and possibly drivers licenses) to Keisha before you arrive), then legal documentation back to your home country (which could take months), then you have to bring that documentation to have your wedding officially recognized in your home country. And getting your Jamaican marriage recognized officially in your home country might come with more fees as well! Too much hassle, in my opinion. If you get legally married at home first, you just have to send Keisha a scan of your marriage certificate. When I did this she even offered to "keep it a secret" so you're guests don't know that you're already legally married.

If you'll be at the pool on the "standard" side of the resort, then it'll be far enough away. If you're at the pool near the "deluxe" side of the resort where the upgraded suites are, I don't THINK the entertainment would be disruptive. It is a ways away. I know the sound definitely carries to the lobby area of the deluxe side (my room was on the third floor above the lobby of the deluxe side, and I could definitely hear the entertainment from my room)... and the pool is on the other side and down a ways from the deluxe lobby. In theory it's a ways away but I don't know how the sound carries! If you can confirm it's the pool on the non-deluxe side of the resort then you'll be good to go! (PS I say "deluxe" and "non-deluxe" for descriptive purposes only... the entire resort is very nice, there's no obvious difference in quality between the 2 sides!)

If you'll be at the pool on the "standard" side of the resort, then it'll be far enough away. If you're at the pool near the "deluxe" side of the resort where the upgraded suites are, I don't THINK the entertainment would be disruptive. It is a ways away. I know the sound definitely carries to the lobby area of the deluxe side (my room was on the third floor above the lobby of the deluxe side, and I could definitely hear the entertainment from my room)... and the pool is on the other side and down a ways from the deluxe lobby. In theory it's a ways away but I don't know how the sound carries! If you can confirm it's the pool on the non-deluxe side of the resort then you'll be good to go! (PS I say "deluxe" and "non-deluxe" for descriptive purposes only... the entire resort is very nice, there's no obvious difference in quality between the 2 sides!)

I thought they also used the Plantation restaurant for semi-private dinners too. I could be wrong but I'd double check on that one. Mammee Bay steak house and the main buffet are definitely options though.

I had a great TA through Sell Off Vacations in Barrie (so that's Signature Vacations/Sunwing Airlines). Message me if you want her contact info. She even booked my far-away guests in Calgary and Arizona!

I have no idea about bringing your own equipment. Does anyone know if the voltage of electricity is different in Jamaica? The plugs are the same as in Canada, but when my hubby used his electric razor he said it sounded like a chipmunk, lol, so I would make sure it's all the same voltage and such so there's no risk of ruining expensive DJ equipment! The sound quality with the iPod was fantastic! Nice and loud. It was hooked up to a Macbook and some other DJ-looking devices. I don't know if it was a fluke that the resort provided 2 guys to operate the sound system (because we didn't pay for them!), but it was great that they were there! Only suggestion would be to request a spot on the beach at the opposite end of the resort from the area where they have nightly entertainment. That can get a bit loud. We were down by the jerk chicken hut and it was far enough away from the resort's stage that we didn't have any sound interference from them.

For those booking with Sunwing, I suggest requesting a seat close to aisle 7! That way you can monitor the overhead luggage bin where your dress will be kept. I was in row 2 (which is part of the "Elite Plus" upgrade offered thru Sunwing; you get preferential boarding, more leg room, and can bring an extra 10KG of luggage for both the bride and groom) but you can't keep an eye on what happens to your dress! I learned the hard way!

I was just married at the Riu Ocho Rios on Feb 16 I'll try to answer some of your questions! 1. I emailed Keisha the wedding coordinator about a steaming service. Unfortunately, none is available on resort. For $45 there is a vendor that they work with off-resort that will steam the dress. I opted not to do this. I purchased a handheld portable steamer and brought it with me (Rowenta brand from Sears), but unfortunately it wasn't really effective at getting rid of the few wrinkles my dress got during travel. **Also, a note to anyone travelling with Sunwing airlines - there is no place to hang your dress on the plane. There is a dedicate overhead baggage compartment around row 7, but this is highly problematic! Both on the flight to and from Jamaica, people placed their luggage in this bin, even though there is a bright orange label that says "dedicated for wedding items". One passenger was downright rude to me. I watched as he forcefully crumpled my garment bag containing my dress, bridesmaid dresses, and fiance's suit into a corner of the baggage compartment before shoving in his own bag. Thankfully there was an amazing flight attendant who saw this and set him straight.** 2. I also tried to find out pricing for excursions before arriving, but couldn't find the info online. They're all really great about accommodating groups though, so if you can give them at least 1.5-2 days notice, you'll have no problem booking an excursion for your group. They're pretty good about giving group rates, and if you mention that you're the bride, there's a good chance that you and your hubby can go for free. We booked a catamaran to Dunn's Falls for $45/person (about 25 people in the group), and my husband and I were complimentary. In the end, high winds prevented the group from going, but those who wanted to were able to get their money back (a few went another day, and they still honoured the group rate even though only around 6 people went). This was booked through the Scuba Caribe hut right on the beach next to the jerk chicken hut (it was about twice the price to book through the Sunwing coordinator located near the lobby). 3. I did book the on-site photographer. I have the price list from 2012 (since I booked in 2012, I was given the 2012 pricing even though my wedding was in 2013. I'll try to attach it here...) I booked the head photographer, but he was sick the day of my wedding so 2 of his assistants (Lincoln and Denise) were my photographers. I just got the low-resolution images emailed to me yesterday to look through. For about 4.5 hours of photography (spread out throughout the day) I have close to 1700 shots to choose from and a lot of them are truly fantastic! I'm very impressed. To compensate not having the head photographer (Michael Sondern), my package was upgraded from 100 images to 125. 4. I had the beach party reception, and didn't see any poolside receptions while I was there, so not too sure about this one In total 36 people travelled in my group, and our group rate was about $1460 for 7 days in standard ocean view rooms. This was through Sell Off Vacations (Sunwing) for Feb 13-20 flying out of Toronto. It was not much more to upgrade to the ocean view junior suites, which is on the newer side of the resort. (Less than $50 person to upgrade to these rooms). Hope this helps! Let me know if you have more questions weddings_2012 pricelist.pdf

Our cake was very plain. You get a choice of chocolate or vanilla cake, with white icing being the standard icing. It was 3 tiers. To fancy it up a bit, I ordered a bag of flower petals for $28 from Tai Flora (I upgraded my flowers, didn't use the ones from the free package), and used those to decorate the cake, along with a cake topper. I'll try to attach an image to this post....

I was married at the Riu Ocho Rios on February 16, and I had the beach party reception from 9-11pm. There were plastic chairs, but NO tables. Keisha had said there would be tables, but when I got to the resort on the 13th and asked her about it, she said there would only be very small square plastic tables - basically the size of a night table. So not really meant to be sat at. In the end, those weren't even set up on the beach, just the chairs. It was $15 per person for 2 hours with a private bar and bartender. We didn't ask for a DJ. We rented out the sound system for $150/hour and brought an iPod and some CDs as backup (we ended up using the iPod). However, there were 2 people there running the sound system the whole time, so that was an unexpected bonus!

One more thing, Kelx44 - hope you don't mind if I ask, but what exactly did Keisha say in her email to you? Was she starting the process of planning your ceremony?

Keisha has already tried contacting you about your ceremony and yours is after mine? That's strange! I wonder if I should email her directly? I have a good relationship with my travel agent and she hasn't mentioned anything to me about Keisha contacting her.

I accidentally came across this website and thread and I'm glad that I did! I'm getting married at ROR on Feb 16, 2013. I've booked my ceremony time (3pm, beach) but haven't emailed Keisha yet for anything; pretty sure when I booked I got an email that said she would contact me 2 months before the wedding. I don't want to wait that long though! I want to know all the details ahead of time. Anyway, just thought I'd post here in case there are any other brides getting married at ROR in the near future - perhaps we can compare notes on our progress! For now, I'm going to sort through all the posts in this thread to see if I can answer my own questions - if not, I'll be posting here again!