Total Guest: Bride/Groom-24 adults, 2 children (8years old & 18 months)

 

Ok Ladies I couldn’t wait to tell you guys about my awesome experience.  I will try and be as detailed as possible.  This review will be about the suites and then I will do a planning journal with my other info.  I have to go in order of events so I do not leave anything out.   Also please make sure your guest that haven’t travelled much know what all inclusive means.  My mom bought a $50 bottle of cognac with her thinking she would have to pay for alcohol.  She thought it was like a cruise where the food is included but not the alcohol.  Also I bought travel mugs for me and hubby but really didn’t use them.  The glasses they give you for the drinks are a decent size, not little plastic cups like some all inclusive places give you.

 

Travel Agent-Kim Mallory—A+++++++++

Cost-$50

www.destinationweddings.com ?

kmallory@destinationweddings.com ?

Phone: 816.350.1304 ?Central Time 8-4  Mon-Fri

Best Money I could have spent.  Kim helped me from the beginning with deciding on the location after I told her what I wanted in the resort.  She also helped me set up my wedding website through her company.  I was able to design and send off save the date cards..only had to pay for postage.  My guest were able to get on a payment plan with only a $100 deposit.  Some guest paid each month others every couple of months.  Her company offers and excellent travel insurance were for you can cancel air and room up to 4 hours before you depart for a full refund.  Some guest took advantage of this; some didn’t and lost their money.

 

Thursday 9/22 Check-In: A+

Make sure you have your transportation set up from the airport.  Ours was included with our travel agent.  The taxis will rip you off.  We used Jamaica Tours Limited.  The bus ride was about 30  mins. (I think…I can’t remember I was too excited, but it wasn’t long.)

 

Make sure you also add an international package to your cell phone service so you will not get charged high fees, and is it easy to use your cell phone at first until everyone checks in and you have their room numbers.

 

September is the perfect month to go because it is down season so no one was there.  It made check in and everything else very easy.  They say that the busy season starts Middle of October until April.

 

Check in was a breeze; our rooms were ready to go.  Tiffany came out and introduced herself to everyone.  We set up to meet about 8pm that evening.  We were also served a cool fruit drink from the bar.

 

Hotel Lobby

 

 

Rooms A+

Our room was gorgeous.  We went ahead and upgraded ourselves to the oceanview..room before we arrived, room 3233 which I think another bride on here had as well.  I didn’t want to depend on the hotel upgrading us and they probably wouldn’t have since the hotel was only at 30% capacity.  Yes the hallways and room did have a sort of damp smell..but you are on the beach people.  I have travelled to quite a few locations and knew this just comes with the territory.

 

The following are pics from my friend’s room but they are all set up pretty much the same.

Beds-Very Comfortable, alarm clock is in the room, standard plugs for chargers, plenty of closet space, safe in room, mini fridge loaded with water, soda and beer. Iron and ironing board, dvd player…tv ( sometimes the cable went out..again on vacation didn’t turn on the tv the whole time)

 

 

Bathroom-Tub, double sinks, Standup Shower

 

 

 

Lunch at Aunt Ruby’s Steakhouse-C

So after checking into our room we decided to get something to eat.  The only buffet that was open was Aunt Ruby’s.  This is the open-air area, which originally I was going to use for my rehearsal dinner. I am glad that I didn’t.  It was so hot and humid, everyone was sweating and it was almost too uncomfortable to eat anything.  We just wanted to hurry up and get back in the air conditioning.  The food was good, but the environment was so uncomfortable that we couldn’t enjoy ourselves.  That is why I gave it a C.

 

Side note on restaurants..because the hotels were only at 30% capacity some of the restaurants were not open.  Also if you get the munchies during the in-between hours there really isn’t anything available.  Room service is ok (24hours)  but takes about 40-50 mins to get to you.

 

Dinner at Main Buffet-A

I basically ate at the main buffet for breakfast and dinner each night.  I loved it.  The food was great.  The drinks even better.  There was something for everyone. It was indoors and air conditioned. The décor was very nice.

 

Meeting with Tiffany-A+

Nicole was out on vacation so Tiffany was basically handling everything and she did an awesome job.  We went over our last min wedding details list.  My guest list had dropped again, and she adjusted my invoice on the spot.  She had my final copy of my ceremony script.  We went over details for the wedding day.  The set up for the reception hall.  I left my suitcase with all of my decorations.  I did not bring a lot. You do not have to pay your invoice until the day before the wedding.  Which worked out great for me because I found out the next day that 4 people I thought were coming didn’t have reservations.  So I dropped my numbers even more and Tiffany changed my invoice (no problem mon).  Make sure you take all your emails with you for all of your vendors.  I also gave Tiffany my welcome letter with my guest list and she made sure that they were put in the guest check in envelope.  She even took some over to the beaches for the guest staying there.  She has the starfish for those members of the sisterhood.

 

Golden Coast wedding package for 8 people $2100

18 extra guest @ $18 each over the 8 package (kids under 12 are free)-$324.00

 

Guest Passes

If your wedding is at the suites and you have guests staying at the beaches there is a $30/person wedding pass that has to be paid anytime they come over for an event.  It is best to have the list of the names of the people staying at the beaches to leave with Tiffany and the front desk.  When guest come over they have to check in at the front desk, leave their driver’s license, and they get a different color arm band, that will then be cut off when they go back to the desk to get their license and leave.  I made the mistake of not including this detail in my wedding invitation (even though this detail was sent out in emails and on my wedding page). A couple of my guest got upset by this so I covered their passes for my meet and greet and the wedding ceremony.  So make sure you let your guest know this.

 

Casino-

There is a very small casino with slot machines…no blackjack tables or other types of tables like you would think.  It kept my grandma happy…J

 

Cigar Bar-

We spent most of our evenings here with Andrew…he was the best.  The drinks were strong, the company was great…the cigars you can pay for in cash or charge to your room. 

 

Friday, Sept 23

 

Breakfast- at the main buffet….A+

 

Spa-A+

We had our complimentary couple massage which was excellent…we tipped them $10 each.

 

Kids Club-F

It was not available as promised...my 8 year old went over there 2-3 times trying to find someone there and no one ever was.  Luckily he loves the water and found a playmate for the pool and was fine. Another downside to being a 30% capacity

 

Trip into town-

We took a taxi into downtown that was $60 bucks roundtrip…(yeah we got ripped off) even though he waited for us while we shopped.  Tiffany said it would be around $30 roundtrip.  Make sure to talk the price before you get into the taxi.  We went to one of the duty free shops and bought the little mini bottles of Rum as a wedding gift for the guest at the reception and some other souvenirs.

 

Meet and Greet @ blue moon music bar (free)

This was a very nice room and air-conditioned.  No I did not have any food only the bar.  It was nice for the families to meet and mingle for about an hour.  We did tip our favorite bar tender Andrew for his service.  You would think they would have had some music but I never heard or saw anyone playing in there.

 

I was going to do welcome bags but decided against it..due to not wanting to carry an extra suitcase, my guest numbers changing so much, and down right tired of planning stuff.  My guest didn’t know they were getting it so they didn’t miss it.

 

Dinner-some of my guest made reservations at the Mediterranean restaurant and said the seafood was great.  I ate at the buffet again.

 

Moon Dance Club-

Very nice…had a good time music was great.

 

Saturday September 24

Free day for my guest

 

Rehearsal Dinner-A+

@ Japanese restaurant at the beaches resort.   I had Tiffany confirm this about 2 weeks before we arrived.  The food was great..the entertainment great.  We tipped the chefs.  We had two tables.

 

Beach Party at the suites is Saturday night.  Which you could hear from my room.  Glad I had my earplugs.  Some of my family went and said they had a good time.

 

Ok on to the big day

Sunday-wedding day

 

I already had my nails and toes done before arriving so didn’t need to make an appointment at the spa.

 

1:30 makeup and hair

Makeup-Rashel Edwards-A++++++++++++

Contact: Rashel Edwards makeupartistry1@hotmail.com

Cost: Airbrush makeup, eyelashes, tattoo cover up, and travel-$200 we tipped her as well

(No I did not have to pay a vendor fee for her)

The makeup was beautiful, light, perfect for the hot humid weather, lasted all night, and was very comfortable.  Only had to touch up my lip-gloss from all the kissing..:) She was on time, very professional, super nice.  I even hired her to come back on Tuesday to do my makeup again for the TTD session.  When I get my professional pictures back I will post those as well

Hair-Fiona her assistant-A++++++++++++

Cost for updo-$60, I tipped her as well

Picture of the back of my hair..I got the jewel pins from Michaels.

 

 

Photographer-George Clarence—A++++++++

www.georgeclarence.com

info@georgeclarence.com

Cost-paid for airfare and room for pictures all weekend not just wedding day.

(No I did not have to pay a vendor fee since he was a guest)

I will post his link when I get the pictures back.

 

Videographer-Roxroy Gough-A++++++++++

rgweddings@gmail.com

www.rgweddingsii.com

Cost-$750 for 3 continuous hours of coverage with 1 camera. 1 DVD for entire wedding.

I will post the link when I get it.

*He actually stayed the entire time from about 1pm – 10pm…all the way through the first dances at the end of the night.  I wasn’t expecting that.  He was tipped as well.  I did have to pay the vendor fee for 2 he brought his assistant so $100 each.  He took still pictures as well as video.  He had my hubby set up with a mic during the wedding ceremony, so I will let you know how that turns out.  He also had a mic set for the speeches during dinner, that would record on his video, but wasn’t a mic for the people in the room.

 

Ceremony Time-4pm

We made a CD of the interlude music and the songs for hubby and myself to walk into.  The speaker system was nice and loud.  The dj did a very good job with the music.  I didn’t notice any problems, but of course I was so excited couldn’t really tell what was going on around me anyways.

 

I wore barefoot sandals made by designerbead-A++++++++++

http://www.etsy.com/listing/49327423/big-rhinestone-barefoot-sandals-anklet

Cost$ 27.00

They were perfect.  I wore some cheap flipflops on the walk from the hotel to the beach, and then slipped them off before I got to the sand.

 

Ceremony Setup

Huppa-A++++++++++++++

Huppa Flowers by Tai Flora-$65.00, originally $85+ tax, but I brought my own bouquet and flowers so they discounted the price.

 

Aisle Runner-White, they added the shells to hold it down which was a nice touch.

 

Chairs-Covered in white with silver tiebacks included.  I had a raffi fan, program, and bubbles on each seat.

Hubby and Son’s Outfit

Island Importers-A++++

http://www.islandimporters.com/

Great service, get return policy, fast delivery.  Pants were a little long so we had them tailored at our local cleaners.

Son’s Outfit $95, Hubby’s Outfit $115

 

Ring bearer Pillow-$53.50

Etsy Designer- beautifuldetailswed

http://www.etsy.com/listing/54763416/pearl-nautilus-shell-ring-bearer-pillow

 

My flowers-A++++++++++

Etsy Designer-Mybeautifulcreations

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/51090976

Cost-$355.25

?Round Bride's bouquet (35-40 callas) with faceted glass beads -ivory ribbon wrapping

?1 groom's boutonniere -ivory ribbon wrapping

?4 father boutonnieres -brown ribbon wrapping

?5 mother corsages - wrist corsages on pearl bracelets

Everyone thought they were real..my mother tried to put them in water.  They traveled very well in my suitcase…I just has to unfold a few petals, and I was able to bring  them back with me.

 

The starfish was in the middle of my bouquet, my photographer has a better picture I will include once I get them.

 

 

 

My dress and jewelry

Bride Beautiful in Atlanta, GA A+++++++++

http://www.bridebeautifulinc.com/

Dress was $450

Jewelry-$120

 

 

Back of my dress-

 

Pastor-had a mic, read my ceremony script just fine.  The speakers kept going in and out, but it was still good.  Also the pastor did not hold the mic up to us when we were saying our parts so the audience really couldn’t hear.  Put that in your details..or just grab the mic from him, he will get the point…J

 

After the ceremony which is over really fast.  There was champagne for toast.  Then we took group shots in front of the huppa.

 

I was going to do a cocktail hour but decided against it.  I just told everyone to meet at the Calabash at 6:30pm.  Everyone liked this because it gave them a chance to  go back to the room, freshen up, change clothes if they wanted, and just relax.

 

Reception Dinner-Free

Calabash Gourmet Restaurant-A++++++++++

I did not rent out and did not need to, we were the only people there at 6:30pm.  People did not start coming in until the 8:30pm seating but we were getting ready to go by then.  Another advantage of being there during down season.  Service was fast, professional, and the food was so good.  Because I did not rent out the venue I had to give Tiffany a list of menu selections.  I sent out a goggle survey to everyone about 1 week before, and for those that did not pick I just selected something.  At the dinner the servers actually went around and asked everyone again what they wanted and some people changed their minds from what they selected in the survey and there was no problem.  I ordered chicken fingers in advance for the 2 kids.  Because I did not rent it out we had to use the rectangle tables, and a sweetheart table.  I did not bring any extra decorations except the small bottle of rum, and kissing bells to ring.  I did the tables with the inside open so no one was sitting with their backs to anyone.  It was perfect.  Since I did not rent it out we could not have a mic and speaker set up for speeches.  But Roxroy had a mic for his video camera and I had guest come up and do speeches during the appetizer and soup dishes.  It was perfect.

 

 

 

Wishing tree-I rented one from Tai Flora for $60 and got the shells for people to write on from

Etsy Designer-Shabbypeadesigns

http://www.etsy.com/transaction/55998599

Cost $14.00

They were perfect and some of the messages were so sweet.  I will put a picture up when I get one.

 

Reception Dancing-

Rented out the Mango Club for 2 hours $350 for 30 people includes DJ and open bar for 30 people

We had an ipod with our first dance songs on there.  After that we had a playlist but the dj played his own mix.  Which was fine, but he did not .  Everyone danced for the whole 2 hours.  My son was able to stay until 10:30pm.  If you are brining your own playlist make sure to have a CD backup just in case they can not find the cord for the ipod.

 

Overall Everything was great..no major hiccups expect for guest not showing up.  Weather was perfect the entire time.  BEST DAY OF MY LIFE.

 

 

I tried to include everything, but I may have left out a detail you want to know about just send me a message.  If you want copies of my welcome letter, ceremony script, or program let me know.

Without this site and forum I would have lost my mind…so now I am paying it forward.

 

I even asked some of the vendors which were their favorite resorts to work with.  All said Iberostar Suites was excellent….Riu was good….worst is Grand Palladam.