I don't want to review her wedding in case she wants to come on here and do it herself (she was the bride after all) but I do want to say that it was beautiful, quick, and from a guest's perspective, it seemed very well put together and elegant. She had an 11am wedding, and we were back in the water as soon as it was over! TOTALLY the way to go (unlike mine where it seemed like appointment after appointment, lol). Like I said, it was beautiful and magical. If you have any questions about the basic wedding, email me and I can ask her (if she does not do her own review).
Now on to my wedding. I will review each part:
The next morning (the day of the wedding) I had an appointment at 10:30 am to get my mani and pedi done. This was disappointing because my wedding was at 4pm and yet it seemed like the whole day I was getting ready while everyone else had fun (they went on jet-skis this time...lol). However, the mani and pedi came out beautifully and I was able to have a couple of mimosa's while waiting! I had about an hour to kill after that, so we went to each lunch at the bayside restaurant since most of our family had arrived by that point. Then it was back to the spa for my hair and make-up! I must say, my hair was beautiful, and the make-up scare I had the day before was in the past because she took her time and made it right. Everyone is friendly at the spa, and they all remember you by name after you’ve been. In fact, everyone at the resort does! I can't even tell you how many times I ran into an employee who called out to me by my first name. It made me feel really special. Yes, the spa does accept tips (so does everyone else, actually, even though Sandals has a no-tipping policy. We did tip every once in a while (on the sly). The lady at the counter at the spa will ask you if you want a tip added to your bill. I always just told her to add 20%.
After the ceremony, the cocktail hour was held in the game room. We had champagne, hot and cold hor’ however you spell it, cake, and our island band played. The hor’ dourves were okay. I thought they were yummy, but not 5 star quality if that is what you are hoping for. I believe they had some type of turkey and cheese on a cracker, some type of crab cracker, veggies, fruits, etc. I really can’t remember now! We had a sweetheart table with our cake on it, and the rest of our guests had their own big table. It was air-conditioned and SO NICE. We cut the cake and were whisked off to take pictures. So, we really didn’t get to see the island band for that long although our family LOVED them. They purchased two CDs! Luckily the island band roams the resort a lot so we did get to hear them play again and again. If you see them, ask them to play “big bam boo”.
We had a table set up right on the beach close to our gazebo. It was GORGEOUS. They set it up with tiki torches and tropical plants. They used white linens and big blue glasses. The contrast was great. They also set up a bar close by. We had about 3 or 4 people on hand to deliver our food and get us drinks. I’ll tell you…watching that sunset was AMAZING. You couldn’t ask for anything more! In the beginning of planning we were going to wing it and try to get a restaurant to seat all of us…but looking back on it I am SO glad we had the dinner. I highly recommend it, especially if a lot of guests are staying at resorts other than beaches or sandals. This is because it costs those guests $130 to get into sandals in the first place. If you have the dinner, your guests’ day pass rate will drop to $75 and then they will have to pay $75 for the dinner….so that’s $150 bucks per person (everyone pays $75 for the dinner, even you!). Not bad, considering the 1-hour cocktail reception would have ended up being $155 per person with the day passes. Each person saved $5 bucks and we got a WAY better reception. Can’t go wrong! Or course, if all of your guests are staying at the beaches or sandals, they get in for free so you won’t need this deal (althought they will still have to pay the $75 per person for the dinner). Sorry if that is confusing.
Was GREAT!!! Best food we had while there. I can’t remember everything (and it was only a week ago...geeze), but we chose the beef tenderloin. SO good. Our desert was the coconut and chocolate parfait with rum flame fruit. AMAZING! They decorated the plate with a drawn flower. Everyone commented on how good the food was. After dinner we hung out at the piano bar for a couple of drinks and then everyone made their way back to their own resort. It was a beautiful, magical night.
After my cousin’s wedding she returned to her room to see that it was decorated with flower petals and had towel art on the bed. We did NOT get this service. Actually a couple of other times she’d go to her room and find chocolate covered strawberries or a bottle of champagne…etc. Both of us had basic rooms…neither of us had a concierge or butler service, but for some reason she got these things and I didn’t. I don’t know if she just lucked out, if our maid was lazy, or if it was due to our room level (she was upgraded to one room level higher than ours, but still just a basic room with a garden view). At the very least, after all the money we spent on the wedding, I expected these little extras for us, but we didn’t get them. We didn’t complain but I wish I would have. I was afraid they’d laugh at me and my seaside premium room. Lol. But if these things are important to you (which it turns out I am more disappointed than I thought) I recommend bringing it up with your coordinator beforehand.
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