Newbie!

MrsLawson2be · January 29, 2015

Hi ladies! I am in love with Beaches Negril (via the website and what I've heard) and I'm wanting to get married there April 2016 anyone attended a wedding there or having a wedding there? We plan on knowing for sure by this March where we are going to have this celebration! What exactly should my to do list look like and are there rules that say what you have to pay for your wedding party? I apologize if any of these question sound dumb but I'm new to this the biggest even I've planned is a child's birthday party.

babykuki · January 30, 2015

Hi .. Im a Newbie Looking at getting married in Punta Cana in September 2015 ... So much to do and so little time !!

MarieSamSanchezPhoto · January 30, 2015

Hi ladies! I am in love with Beaches Negril (via the website and what I've heard) and I'm wanting to get married there April 2016 anyone attended a wedding there or having a wedding there? We plan on knowing for sure by this March where we are going to have this celebration! What exactly should my to do list look like and are there rules that say what you have to pay for your wedding party? I apologize if any of these question sound dumb but I'm new to this the biggest even I've planned is a child's birthday party.

Hi there and welcome!!! Congrats on your engagement and welcome to the BDW Forum. This forum is a great resource of information that will be like a pot of gold as you plan your fabulous wedding celebration! Trust me, I was a DW bride 6 years ago and this forum saved me!!!! And don't ever feel bad about asking questions, weddings are tough to plan and fortunately this forum is full of great insight and answers!!!

A good place to start when it comes to planning your Jamaica wedding would be to see what past Jamaica brides are saying here: Jamaica Wedding Forum or Jamaica Wedding Resort Reviews -- that will give you firsthand insight and info from current and past brides.

As far as a to-do list, I think what's always most important is to first decide on a location and then an exact date. Of course, what helps to know the pricing and what types of packages the resort(s) you're looking at offer. If you want to get some ideas of pricing, you might want to try one of the BDW Travel Agents. They Specialize in Destination weddings and you can contact them HERE! These ladies are AWESOME and they will lead you on the right path.

When it comes to paying for for your bridal party -- I don't really think there are actual rules that require you to do so. It really depends on the couple and if it's in their wedding budget. I can tell you that I did not pay for my wedding party to attend our destination wedding in Mexico -- they each gladly paid their own travel and lodging and were completely happy to do so just to be a part of our special day. What I did do was gift each of our bridesmaids and groomsmen with awesome gift bags full of things I thought they would like and enjoy -- groomsmen got backpack type beach bags and leather flip flops to wear on Wedding day, while the girls got super cute woven totes and I bought them their shoes and flip flops for wedding day along with jewelry. For all our guests we also created Welcome Bags and they were filled with tons of items they could enjoy throughout their stay/vacation. My husband's parents also hosted a Welcome Dinner at the villa we rented the night before our wedding, so our guests were well fed And of course come Wedding Day, we had a delicious dinner and dessert spread with lots of alcohol -- it was an awesome party. So every gesture we extended was well received and appreciated No one expected to have their way paid.

I hope that helps a little as you plan your day, just know this is a great place to answer all your questions along the way. Congrats once again and best wishes!!!!

AllieH · January 30, 2015

hi ladies - welcome to BDW!!

beckys98 · January 30, 2015

Congratulations! We are not getting married at Beaches Negril, but it was a contender when we were picking our resort. We REALLY wanted to be in Negril, but ultimately we decided on Iberostar Rose Hall Suites in MoBay.

The pros were that based on their wedding packages our wedding would have been free (or very close to it). However, the cost per person for our guests was at least double any other resort we were considering. We would rather us pay more for the wedding than have many of our guests not able to come because of the cost. We also decided it was a little *too* family friendly for us - we wanted people to be able to bring children, but we weren't super excited about hanging out with a dancing elmo

Obviously EVERY couple has different priorities and needs, I just wanted to mention the part about the costs for reference since it was a big difference.

Happy planning!