Tropical Weddings Jamaica Review -Feb 10, 2010

[bellasteena]

I have used this board for over a year planning my wedding. I do not post often but I got so much valuable information I wanted to post a review of my wedding to help others.

 

We were on the Freedom of the Seas Western Caribbean itinerary. We managed to get a free cocktail party with our group booking and we had this on the second night of the cruise before dinner. It was an hour of free drinks for everyone and a great opportunity for everyone to meet. We had 34 people in total in our group.

 

Our wedding was on Day 4 in Jamaica. Our pick up time was 1:30pm. I had breakfast in the dining room in the morning with my bridal party and then we headed to the salon to get our hair done. I have long hair and I wanted to wear it down so I got them to put curls in it and pin back the front. She did an excellent job and the cost was $65. I think it was $45 for an updo. I bought fresh flowers the night before from the floral cart ($5) and my maid of honor put those in my hair before we left.

 

All of the guests (except my dad and maid of honor) left with my fiancee to get on the bus at 1:30pm. We were driven in a car 15 minutes later. When we got there Almarie came over to give me my bouquet (which was even better than what I had asked for) and my dad and I waited in the car until it was time to walk down the aisle. All of the guests were in their chairs down on the beach and my dad and I walked down a flight of stone stairs to the beach. What an entrance. The beach was set up exactly as we had asked for (petals in the aisle and petals in a heart shape on the beach). The reverend who performed the ceremony was great. He put some humour in the ceremony and said some wonderful things. We did the exchange of vows and rings and then he had us join hands and repeat some things together. It was very lovely and there were a few tears. We signed the papers and cut the cake and had champagne and then moved on to pictures. We had a steel drum band playing and an open bar for our guests. Everyone had a fantastic time and there were a few kids who went swimming.

 

There was nobody else on the beach and it was absolutely stunning. It was fairly windy (which helped to keep us cool) and the flowers in the sand did not move at all!! Almarie really knows what she is doing. We had the rum cake and everyone loved it and the champagne was really good too. We ended up buying the CD with all of the pictures the photographer took because we loved them all. I was worried that we wouldn't know what to do for 2 hours on the beach but it went by so quickly!!! All of our guests had a great time and told us it was the best wedding they had been too. Everything went extremely smoothly and it turned out perfectly. I would highly recommend using Almarie at Tropical Weddings Jamaica as she was a pleasure to work with and she really gave me the wedding of my dreams.

 

I posted some pictures here

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47601451@N07/

Edited February 19, 2010 by bellasteena

[OhCherie]

I have used this board for over a year planning my wedding. I do not post often but I got so much valuable information I wanted to post a review of my wedding to help others.

 

We were on the Freedom of the Seas Western Caribbean itinerary. We managed to get a free cocktail party with our group booking and we had this on the second night of the cruise before dinner. It was an hour of free drinks for everyone and a great opportunity for everyone to meet. We had 34 people in total in our group.

 

Our wedding was on Day 4 in Jamaica. Our pick up time was 1:30pm. I had breakfast in the dining room in the morning with my bridal party and then we headed to the salon to get our hair done. I have long hair and I wanted to wear it down so I got them to put curls in it and pin back the front. She did an excellent job and the cost was $65. I think it was $45 for an updo. I bought fresh flowers the night before from the floral cart ($5) and my maid of honor put those in my hair before we left.

 

All of the guests (except my dad and maid of honor) left with my fiancee to get on the bus at 1:30pm. We were driven in a car 15 minutes later. When we got there Almarie came over to give me my bouquet (which was even better than what I had asked for) and my dad and I waited in the car until it was time to walk down the aisle. All of the guests were in their chairs down on the beach and my dad and I walked down a flight of stone stairs to the beach. What an entrance. The beach was set up exactly as we had asked for (petals in the aisle and petals in a heart shape on the beach). The reverend who performed the ceremony was great. He put some humour in the ceremony and said some wonderful things. We did the exchange of vows and rings and then he had us join hands and repeat some things together. It was very lovely and there were a few tears. We signed the papers and cut the cake and had champagne and then moved on to pictures. We had a steel drum band playing and an open bar for our guests. Everyone had a fantastic time and there were a few kids who went swimming.

 

There was nobody else on the beach and it was absolutely stunning. It was fairly windy (which helped to keep us cool) and the flowers in the sand did not move at all!! Almarie really knows what she is doing. We had the rum cake and everyone loved it and the champagne was really good too. We ended up buying the CD with all of the pictures the photographer took because we loved them all. I was worried that we wouldn't know what to do for 2 hours on the beach but it went by so quickly!!! All of our guests had a great time and told us it was the best wedding they had been too. Everything went extremely smoothly and it turned out perfectly. I would highly recommend using Almarie at Tropical Weddings Jamaica as she was a pleasure to work with and she really gave me the wedding of my dreams.

 

I posted some pictures here

 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47601451@N07/

 

Wow, great review. This really puts my mind at ease planning a wedding with them. The pictures are lovely, and you were a beautiful bride. How far were you from Dunn Falls? I heard that is a great place to check out. I think I may go with the waterfall setting, but it is a hard decision between that and the beach.

[bellasteena]

I did not get off the ship except for the wedding so I have no idea how far Dunns River Falls is. The one major benefit to the beach is that it is absolutely private. I saw pictures on the ship of the falls and it was really crowded. I don't know about the location of the wedding at the falls but there are tons of people around there.

[merocket59]

Congrats!!! A private beach in Jamica must have been so nice! It was so beautiful there but the only thing I didn't like was that there were so many people so close to me all of the time so you didn't even have to deal with that. I love your pictures and the flower heart in the sand was a very cute detail!

[UDFrogger1]

Wow, great review. This really puts my mind at ease planning a wedding with them. The pictures are lovely, and you were a beautiful bride. How far were you from Dunn Falls? I heard that is a great place to check out. I think I may go with the waterfall setting, but it is a hard decision between that and the beach.

 

If you find out where your ceremony is going to be, you can view dunns river falls and the ceremony location on google maps. I don't believe Almarie uses Dunn's River as a ceremony site, and I know exactly why because I've been there several times and there are thousands of people tripping all over each other to climb the falls. The real experience is climbing the falls - just to look at them from any given spot is not very exciting, as they are more of a cascading river than a "falls."

 

I'm getting married on April 22 and Almarie is my wedding planner as well. I've asked her if we can take a group to a waterfall for pictures after the reception and I believe we are going to do that. The only downside is that we are only in Jamaica until 3:30 pm, and because of this our ceremony is at 10:00 am (imagine what time I'll have to wake up!!) to allow enough time for the reception and pictures.

 

I chose the beachfront garden setting and plan on doing pictures on the beach as well. The waterfall settings can only accomodate a limited number of people so be careful if your wedding is going to be large. We have 51 people coming on the cruise with us.

 

If you have any questions and want to contact me directly my email address is laurieshopes at hotmail.

 

Good luck!

 

PS - great review bella, thanks again for all your help. I'm getting so excited!!! :)

[OhCherie]

If you find out where your ceremony is going to be, you can view dunns river falls and the ceremony location on google maps. I don't believe Almarie uses Dunn's River as a ceremony site, and I know exactly why because I've been there several times and there are thousands of people tripping all over each other to climb the falls. The real experience is climbing the falls - just to look at them from any given spot is not very exciting, as they are more of a cascading river than a "falls."

 

I'm getting married on April 22 and Almarie is my wedding planner as well. I've asked her if we can take a group to a waterfall for pictures after the reception and I believe we are going to do that. The only downside is that we are only in Jamaica until 3:30 pm, and because of this our ceremony is at 10:00 am (imagine what time I'll have to wake up!!) to allow enough time for the reception and pictures.

 

I chose the beachfront garden setting and plan on doing pictures on the beach as well. The waterfall settings can only accomodate a limited number of people so be careful if your wedding is going to be large. We have 51 people coming on the cruise with us.

 

If you have any questions and want to contact me directly my email address is laurieshopes at hotmail.

 

Good luck!

 

PS - great review bella, thanks again for all your help. I'm getting so excited!!! :)

 

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I have done a lot of research, too. I am getting married at the cascading falls setting. There is less than 10 of us. I liked the oceanfront setting but it is an hour away, and just like you, we have to be back at 3:30. I wish we had more time in Ochos Rios. We want to fit Dunn Falls in after the wedding. I saw pictures. It does look crowded but it would be fun to climb the falls. Did you schedule a hair appt already on the ship? I am sure hoping they can do my hair really early in the morning. I will post a review after the trip. I am getting married on 4-15-10.

 

Oh Cherie

[UDFrogger1]

I hope you get to fit the falls in after the wedding. At least it's all very close to the ship. You'll have to go back and change, though - at least I assume you won't climb the falls in your dress! That would make for some cool pictures though. I too am hoping that they will be able to do my hair very early in the morning. Otherwise, I may have to do my own. My style will probably be fairly simple (humidity proof!).

[OhCherie]

I hope you get to fit the falls in after the wedding. At least it's all very close to the ship. You'll have to go back and change, though - at least I assume you won't climb the falls in your dress! That would make for some cool pictures though. I too am hoping that they will be able to do my hair very early in the morning. Otherwise, I may have to do my own. My style will probably be fairly simple (humidity proof!).

 

 

I called Carnival today about the salon. On their site, you can only make spa appts in advance. I was told their salon opens at 9:00, which will be too late for me. Just wanted to give you a heads up as it appears you may run into the same problem. I may ask Almarie for some suggestions of places to go near port or my friend may do it.

[Lancer786]

I am planing for a honeymoon cruise soon, best of luck all those who already sailed.

[wedd2011]

I did not get off the ship except for the wedding so I have no idea how far Dunns River Falls is. The one major benefit to the beach is that it is absolutely private. I saw pictures on the ship of the falls and it was really crowded. I don't know about the location of the wedding at the falls but there are tons of people around there.

 

We are planning on getting married in Ocho Rios on the beach. I noticed that you only got off the ship for the wedding--we are doing a ceremony of 10 people with no reception. About how long did just the ceremony take? If we arrive at 9am and board at 5pm, do you think we would be able to fit a ceremony w/ cake and champagne toast and then Dunn's River Falls or some sort of excursion?

[ash459]

Bellasteena: "All of the guests (except my dad and maid of honor) left with my fiancee to get on the bus at 1:30pm. We were driven in a car 15 minutes later."

 

How much the transporation cost? I am looking into getting married in Jamaica in the same location. Thanks for all of your help, and congrats!

[bellasteena]

Everything was included in the price (transportation, flowers, cake, steel drum band, open bar, photographer, officiant). I did not pay extra for anything at all which made it far less stressful.

[Dylaziggi]

What was the name of the beach that you got married on?

 

Beautiful!