Bridetobe771

https://www.facebook.com/groups/RoyaltonWhiteSandsBrides/

I posted a review in this topic but the above FB group is very helpful

I've heard this is a big problem with using Stave Clarke. She takes forever to get your photos to you. We were married in January at the Royalton and used Misha Earle. We received our pictures within 6 weeks. Not only did we receive our photos quickly she responded to emails within 24 hours and was amazing g on our wedding day. I highly recommend her.

Good luck I hope you receive your pictures soon!

Here is my review of the Royalton

My hubby and I were married at the Royalton on January 10th 2015 our group had a total of 23 people including 1 infant. Here is my review...

We chose the "free pkg" with the Jamaican Experience add on. Note that you still have to pay the minister fees if you want a legal ceremony. Cost was around $350.

We had our first meeting with Chandalyn our second day after arriving at the resort. She was amazing, she had all our emails in a file along with a copy of our final invoice (which we paid in advance before we arrived at the resort). It was a quick 10 min meeting we just reviewed our final details sheet and she asked if we had any questions. I had decided when I arrived that was no longer going to stress about all the little details, we were in Jamaica mon! The next day I brought her a bag of all our decor we brought with us (chair sashes, table overlays, flame less candles, candle holders, fabric to drape the gazebo, hand fans, place cards and place card holders, napkins etc. ) We also had our bouquets made here in Canada by a company called bloom bridal and brought those with us also. They looked AMAZING! I highly recommend checking them out on Facebook. I packed all our flowers wrapped in tissue paper in my carry on.

The day before the wedding our wedding party met Jodi (Chandalyn's assistant) at the wedding gazebo and we did a quick walk through of how the wedding was going to proceed the next day (where to stand, when to exit etc.)

The day of the wedding I had champagne and oj brought to our room (we had the Diamond Club upgrade so our Butler took care of this for us) My bridesmaid did my hair and I did my own makeup. But my maid of honor had her hair done at the spa and it looked fabulous! I swear she had glue in her hair cause it still looked the same at 2am lol! She did warn me that they were a little slow doing her hair so I would be sure to allow plenty of time if your getting your hair done at the salon.

I choose Misha Earle as our photographer. She arrived right on time and even brought her assistant Andre with her. Words can't explain how amazing Misha was. She was patient, understanding, and so easy to get along with. Just pushy enough to get all the photos I wanted without being overbearing. Everyone LOVED her! Thank you, thank you Misha! Note that the resort charges a $450 vendor fee if you choose a photographer from off the resort, but many photographers cover that fee.

Our ceremony was set for 3pm at the gazebo. There was another wedding right before ours at 2pm and they ran late a little. I have to say I got a little stressed when I looked out my patio and still saw different wedding colors on the gazebo at 2:40... But they managed to change everything just in time for our wedding. At 3pm Jodi came to our room to walk us to the gazebo. The walk to the gazebo is completely paved all the way. No worries if you want to wear heals walking down the isle. The ceremony was short and sweet like 10 mins total short and sweet lol! After we had said our I do's The steel drum band immediately started playing, it was amazing and although it was very windy at the gazebo I wouldn't have had it any other way. Everyone started dancing and drinking and partying. It set the tone for the rest of our wonderful night.

After photo's we had our entire reception/dinner on the beach. I didn't rent a tent or lighting or a dance floor. We went for the real beach party feel, toes in the sand dancing under the stars. I wouldn't have done it any other way it was perfect. Even the food was great! Our guests said the jerk chicken served at our dinner was the best they had all week! And I can't say enough good things about the reggae band that played at our reception. The lead singer was AMAZING!!

Well that was a long winded review. If anyone has any questions please feel free to ask while it's all fresh in my mind! Good luck to all the other brides and grooms out there and happy planning! My advice don't stress out too much they really know what they are doing.

I would absolutely recommend this resort for a wedding. No one in our group had any complaints. It was a wonderful week in paradise

Congrats Girl!! We are leaving in 12 days!! So excited Looking forward to your review and writing my own review when we return.

Can anyone help me out with what documentation I need to send to the resort for our marriage certificate? I know I need birth certificates. But they need to be notarized? How do I get this done? Also where do I send them? Thanks ladies!

Wow, thanks ladies for your post. I am deep in the ocean now, and have made a final decision on Royalton. However, after reading all these post, this wedding is going to go WAYY over my budget. I didn't know about the rose petals, which I have already ordered and now can’t use . I also did not know about the set menu. I thought that you could just pay the extra, and do the buffet style. Lastly, the decor, from what I have read it will be a lot of $$$$$$ to have the decor, the way I would like for it to be setup. I am trying not to get discouraged, but goodness, this is getting ridiculous, on these prices.

Have you looked at the Jamaica experience package? It includes 1 hour of a steel drum band, private cocktail hour, 2 hours reggae band, and a private dinner and reception. Options for reception are ballroom, pool side or beach with no additional setup fees. All for $1799 It includes 20 people and it's $50 extra per person over the 20 people.

There may be an easier way, but what I did was click on the "Photo Gallery" link at the top of the page (after "Vendor Reviews"). Then I created a new album which I was able to add pictures to. This gallery now appears in the "Gallery" section of my profile, and I can upload pictures directly to the album from there as well.

 

Btw, the picture looked really big before I posted it, but it was a normal size after.

Random question for you ladies: what are your groomsmen wearing? I want a more casual look than a full suit, so I was hoping for either a vest or suspenders, rather than a jacket. However, the best man is a large-built guy (a little overweight) and I want to ensure he feels comfortable in what he is wearing. Looking online I wasn't really able to find many pictures of bigger groomsmen wearing either option (they tend to be in jackets since those are the most flattering). Does anyone have any insight into what may work well?

My fiancée decided he wants the guys to wear long sleeve white dress shirts(tucked in) a tie to match the bridesmaids and beige dress pants. He is going to wear the same with a silver or grey tie to look more bridal and possibly a vest.

CherJK they are awesome!! Very nice and good job figuring out how to post a pic. One question, how do I upload a picture into my gallery? I don't even know what that is lol!

Pamelas21 not too sure what I'm going to do with the paper lanterns. I'm not even sure where they would hang them but I'm hoping they can be used. I plan on buying some batteries powered led lights for them.

The wedding coordinators told me setting up my decorations wouldn't cost. I'm not going to bank on that one lol!

Did Merrick honour the original pricing he quoted you? The prices he sent me were away more than the ones you posted I love his work and Dean Clarke. Of course the 2 most expensive photographers and they don't cover the resort fee

CherJK I was going to ask the same question. Does anyone know how to post a picture not as an attachment?

Pamelas21 I totally agree! I can't get over the crazy prices the resort charges just to rent decor. I am trying to avoid renting anything from them. When I can purchase something for 1/4 of the price why would I rent it from them!? The craziest part is I can only imagine all the decor brides leave after the wedding. They must have a crazy stock room!

For my mason jar cups I'm having vinyl decals made and will put the names on myself. I'm lucky enough to have a family friend doing them for free. Yes FREE wow that's the first time I've said that since I've started wedding planning lol! I'm planning on putting a few things inside the cup ( SPF lip balm, travel candle, body wash etc) if not I might buy some inexpensive bags for the cups.

Here is a picture of the cups. If anyone knows how to attach a picture not as an attachment I'd love to know

Has anyone chosen their photographer yet? I'm still struggling with this decision. My fiancé doesn't want to spend a ton of money on one But they are so important to me. I might have to cut in other areas to put money towards pictures.

Try ebay, or aliexpress. I purchased mine from ebay for $40 and it is beautiful!

Atennille I'm planning to give my oot bags (actually personalized acrylic mason jar mugs I purchased at costco) at the resort. That's the plan anyway, I might change my mind once I see how much stuff I have to pack lol!

Also I purchased my decorations from Luna bazaar, efavormart.com, ebay and my real touch flowers are from bloombridal.com.

I purchased a sash on ebay for $40. It's beautiful!! I wish I had enough posts to see your picture kcole123.

Oh my goodness I LOVE them!

 

They're beautiful Bridetobe771! <3

 

Thanks pamelas21! They were labour extensive but worth it in the end

Here are my boarding pass invites. I really love how they turned out. They were a diy project

Funny how I can post a picture but can't even see the picture I've posted?? Super annoying.

@@atennille, you can always bring your own decorations if you want to cut down on cost. I plan to bring fake flowers so we don't have to pay so much for bouquets and decorations. Also, if you want to go past 11pm, you can either have your reception in the ballroom or I believe there is a disco/nightclub on the property you could all go to after.

 

Actually, speaking of, did anyone visit the nightclub while they were at the resort who can tell us what it is like?

 

Lastly, I thought the same thing about ending at 11pm (seemed early). However, I just recently went to a friend's wedding and the reception was 5 hours (7pm-12am) which was actually a bit long for the majority of the guests (the older crowd had left and most of the younger people were pretty drunk by the end of the reception and not really on the dance floor anymore). Afterwards, we all just went to one of the hotel suites and hung out there, but people were pretty done for the night after an hour or 2 of chatting. Plus people will likely start drinking way earlier in the day than they do at most weddings given the easy access to alcohol, so I personally don't think ending at 11pm will be too big a deal if you start your reception around 6pm or 7pm. Of course this will depend on your group and how big of partiers they are...our group was 5 years out of college so a bit rusty on the day-long drinking marathons

I don't think there is a disco at the Royalton. Pretty sure there is a sports bar that plays music every night though. Our plan is to have our reception on the beach until 10 or 11pm then go to the sports bar. Like you said most people will have had so much sun and booze they probably won't party till 2am lol! I know every time I've been on vacation to a warm place I'm in bed early.

I just reviewd all the document for the Royalton, and I see that you can not bring outside wedding decorators. I really like this hotel, however I wanted to hire an outside decor service. Somone please tell me this is not the case.

9k wow, that's the Kardashian life, lol

I've ordered all my decorations online and will be bringing them with me. (Chair sashes, paper lanterns, hand fans, table linens, napkins etc. ) we are expecting 20ish guests so it's not too much to carry with us in our luggage. If we were having a large party I'd probably rethink brining everything with us though.

Hi ladies! I booked! Friday, June 5, 2015. Someone took the 6th :-(. I'm excited yet nervous about moving forward. You guys have been a major help! Thanks so much.

Congrats!!

Thank you so much for the pictures @@FutureMrsGlover I am so excited for our wedding now. 7 months and counting

How is everyone doing with their planning? I'm now 7 months away!! I feel like it have soooo much to do.

Hello Toronto/Markham people.

 

Just wondering did you go through a travel agent or sunwing directly??

 

Sharon

I booked directly through Sunwing. I received pricing from a few travel agents and they were all coming back with the same price as Sunwing or higher. Finally just settled on going directly with Sunwing. The only thing I don't like about Them is they don't act as a traditional travel agent, what I mean by that is the bride and groom are responsible for collecting names and CC information from the guests. Guests are asked not to contact Sunwing directly. I didn't realize this until it was too late... Wishing I had gone through a travel agent I really don't need all the extra stress of getting everyone's info.

I've heard most girls put them in their carry on and ask each bridesmaid to do the same. I guess if they are wrapped in tissue they should be fine. And supposedly if they get any wrinkles they can be easily taken out with a hair dryer, but the real touch flowers are made of latex so I can't see them getting wrinkled.

I've received quotes from a few people that make real touch bouquets. Most are coming in around 150$ for a 10" bouquet. I'm defiantly going that route. I can spend the $50 elsewhere. There are lots of vendors for them On etsy and most will customize the bouquet to you exact specs.

I'm not a fake flowers kind of girl but when you consider the price the resort charges and that you rally only get them for one day fake seems like a better option. And I'm really shocked at how far fake flowers have come. They truly look real!

Have you considered using real touch flowers? I've been looking at bloombridal.com they are in Toronto. They aren't "cheap" but at least you can keep your flowers after the wedding, they are beautiful too!!

Ellie is in Toronto. In the same office as Laura.

Ellie told me that. Has anyone else been dealing with Ellie? I think it's funny that everyone is getting different answers

I agree! Rant away! That's what this thread is for, helping and ranting lol! I'm sure when I get closer to my wedding date I will have lots of "rant" posts too.

Why do have to use Tai flora? If you pay the vendor fee why couldn't you use someone else? I asked about bringing in a makeup artist and was told I'd have to pay the $450 vendor fee to bring them in HAHA! That's not going to happen!