Sandals Grande Ocho Rios - Beach Ceremony?

[christinkiel]

Hello everyone!

 

This is my first post so I apologize if this info has already been discussed, I'm new to the forum! Anyway, my wedding is 6.26.2010 and I am dealing with all the final decisions now - 30 days away and I'm kind of a blank slate!!! yikes!

 

I just need some help finalizing finishing touches but most importantly, where to have the ceremony and reception. Here are some details about our wedding:

 

Date: 6.26.10

Time: 4:00

Guests: 50 - 1/2 family 1/2 friends

 

Bridal Party:4

Bridesmaid Dresses (this is not me, it's a google pic I found with the BM dresses we bought):

The girls are wearing silver shoes but I haven't decided anything else. I am inspired by the starfish jewelry, favors, and charms I've seen, though. They don't really match my invites but I don't think that matters, no one's going to be holding up our invitations to the wedding saying 'that doesn't match!'

 

Groomsmen: 5

Here are the shirts the groomsmen are wearing - sleeves rolled up with tan slacks and brown leather flops:

 

Theme: we want it to be an intimate, simple event with modern touches of a kind of a garden theme. which really doesn't go with the beach necessarily but i want it to seem simple, elegant and incorporate some traditional feel rather than being all super beachy with things like palm trees and shells that may have more of a casual vibe.

 

Flowers: We've planned boutonnieres made out of white magnolias with sprigs of bear grass and wrapped with a coral ribbon. My bouquet will consist of green fuji mums, various orchids, and white magnolias

So, as you can see our colors are coral and pistachio. VERY hard to find the right colors in everything from flowers to wedding favors so we are throwing in a little fuscia in the reception to help coordinate us out in coordinating various shades together. BM bouquets will be green fuji mums and kermit (mini) mums.

this was an inspiration:

 

Ceremony: I am really torn as to where to have the ceremony. I want to have it on the riviera side in order to take some beach shots before the reception, but I'm not sure I'm crazy about the reef terrace. I love that it shows the beach in the background because I don't want to spend too much or lug a bunch of decor down there, but I'm not sure how I feel about the terra cotta and the giant empty gazebo behind us? Just not sure if it's our 'style' although I have seen some beautiful wedding photos there. Anyway, my dream would be to have it on the beach but I did hear that the beach was rather disappointing and very small. Does anyone have any photos or insight as to where we should have the ceremony? I would LOVE to see some 'real life' photos of SGOR's beach.

 

Reception: We have selected the 2 hour dinner reception which includes a 30 minute cocktail reception prior to the dinner. After that, we are going to head to the nightclub (Nicole's) at the resort for cocktails and dancing.

I haven't been to any destination weddings, well, I haven't been to that many weddings for that matter and here are the things I need help figuring out:

1) Timeline: what is the order of "to do's" for a destination wedding reception? we don't have a ton of time and we're going to do all the fun partying afterward so all I can think of is the cocktail reception while we're doing photos, then dinner, cake cutting, toasts (while everyone's eating the cake), toss the bouquet...am I missing anything?

 

2) Decor. I am so indecisive and I need to put orders in for anything extra I'm doing NOW! So, we've already paid for string lights but are wondering, should we do these pink ones or stick with plain white?:

Our reception will likely be in the gardens with 6 plain white resort tables with white chivari chairs kind of like in the picture. I'm not sure what to do for centerpieces? I want it to be very simple and easy to travel. I was thinking perhaps green beaded round chargers in the center with paper lanterns in the center? But I don't want them to clash with the current centerpieces. Any suggestions? I need something not too expensive as we'll likely be leaving them there...

 

3) Wedding Favors: no clue. any ideas are welcome!!!

 

-Is it tacky not to do a welcome bag? We're going to do a welcome letter but with 50 people it is going to be next to impossible to do a whole welcome bag. Is there any type of "goody" that would be easy to distribute and a cute welcome item that you gals can think of?

 

-Groomsmen gifts: we have no idea what to give them. what have you destination brides given in the past?

 

Thanks in advance for all your help!!!!

-Christin