Sandals Question! :)

[Bridget810]

Hello everyone! I've been researching DW for over a month now and have gotten frustrated by the complexities of it all--I thought it was supposed to be simple! ha, ha! Because of this, I'm considering a Sandals or Beaches wedding, but all their packages seem to just be for 2 people. I'll probably have 30 to 40 guests. So, does any one know the estimated cost of having a private reception with dinner, open bar, and a DJ? Since all my guests would theoretically be paying the resort's all-inclusive price, it seems like this should be inexpensive... Any info would be so great! Also, any recommendations on which resort would be best would be helpful (though I know that Jamaica is probably my last choice). Thanks so much girls!!!

[bridget917]

A private reception at the Sandals Grande that included a sit down dinner and personal bartender for 3 hours is $75 a person...the dj is extra, but honestly I don't know how much off the top of my head. If you have any other questions I can try to help. Just a note--if you upgrade your reception at all, you have to pay for everyone including the bride and groom. If you stick with the very basic package (just cake and champagne and I think it's for half an hour) it's free for the bride and groom and two other people.

[Tracie09]

Hi!

 

I spoke with my wedding consultant and she said that if you want to do a reception, you have a couple of different options. We are going with an hour reception with cocktails and appetizers. Its $25.00 a person, including myself and the groom. It looked like the best deal. A sit down dinner would be nice, but we were planning on just having a dinner together with everyone at one of the restaurants. BTW, we are getting married at the Grande St. Lucian in St. Lucia. I looked at all the Sandals resorts, and they all look beautiful. I think wherever you choose, it will be beautiful!

[OMC]

As a locale, I would definitely suggest Sandals Dunn's River in Ocho Rios. The place was absolutely great for our vow renewal. You can check out the review I just posted for more details.

[Zo-Zo]

Hello Bridget, I got married this past summer at Beaches Ocho Rios and had around 55 total guests attend. I found it to be a lttle dissapointing that they are not really equip to handle a large wedding seeing that most DWs are small and intimate. I had most of my guests stay there but some also stayed outisde the resort so they had to purchase a day pass for $150( or $75 depending on whether or not you pay for their dinner. I chose to pay for their dinner cuz it is only right, so they only paid &75 for the day passes) for the day to come on property. My mom also chose to pay for some of the day passes for close family and friends who could not afford it. Some brides opt to pay that price for them or some don't.

 

As for costs my package costed me $75 per person which was a private wedding reception,dinner and dessert. That included standard table linens and centerpiece which is white and then a bowl of sand and shells as the centerpieces. The open bar was included, wedding cake, and a separate cocktail reception before the dinner. The Dj was about $600 for 3 hours. Now my reception got even more expensive because we did alot of upgrades which you can do once you get to the resort and meet with your planners. My mom wanted more of an elegant look and added nicer centerpieces with floating candle votives and orchids and colored water and different linens. Also just to let you know the cake is a two tiered cake that is very small and was not enough for all my guests which I asked for a bigger one but did not receive it. They said they did a 3 tier specially for me but it was 2. But all I can say is be very specific with what you want and what you don't and you can always make special requests and they will work hard to get it for you. Overall they were great and extremely helpful and accomodating. The did misplace or lose my engraved knife and cake carver set that I brought down there so make sure you have someone designated to collect your flutes and cake set if you bring one there. If you have any more questions feel free to e-mail me personally at zstwrt78@gmail.com. Hope I was some help to you! Good luck!

[Zo-Zo]

Hello again, also just some more advice. If you are planning a larger amount of guests it is also good to plan through a Beaches/Sandals specialist. I found one locally in my area by going to wedding shows and events and they always have a booth up. My travel agent was great and free of charge and she helped to plan travel and my wedding for the majority of my guests. it helped to take alot of the pressure off of me since I was finishing up college at the same time. She did all the calling around and asked all the questions and she was also familiar with all the properties and visited my location several times. So she was HUGE help! Just something to consider!

[IrieBride08]

Hi Bridget,

 

I got married at Sandals Grande Ocho Rios (SGOR) and had 40 guests attend. I would recommend this resort since you are anticipating a similar guest count. My guests loved the resort and it was so large and had so many activities to participate in, I think it was the best choice. I think that Dunn's River is a beautiful resort too, but it felt more like a hotel than a resort to me. It all depends on what you prefer.

 

Through Sandals, I was able to host a welcome cocktail reception and rehearsal dinner for free (since we had more than 20 guests). These events turned out beautifully and my guests were completely impressed and blown away. With these events, we had private servers and bartenders, etc. They even provided music.

 

We did host out wedding reception offsite at Evita's, a local Jamaican-Italian restaurant in downtown Ocho Rios. This was preferrable to me because the Sandals reception was $75 per person (for a three hour reception, open bar, etc.) and I had a fully customized reception at Evitas for $45 pp for a 3-hour reception, reggae band, and custom wedding cake.

 

Feel free to PM me if you'd like additional information. I'm happy to help! Good luck with your planning!

Gionne