Jamaican Destination Wedding – how to pick a resort?

January 27, 2015 8:45 AM

I have a dear friend planning a destination wedding in Jamaica for April 2016 she is having some difficulties in picking the resort. Would you be able to offer any suggestions?

The bride will be going down with her mother in law March of this year to scope out resorts in the Montego Bay Area. So any suggestion would be welcomed.

Priorities:
- all inclusive
- budget friendly (~1000 USD for 5 days)
- food is important
- they do not want the ceremony on the beach , a garden would be ideal
- swim up bar
- great photography

The guest list is around 40+ people and growing. Any tips/tricks/suggestion for a destination wedding in general and any travel advise for Jamaica specifically would be great.

Thank You!

posted by blueberrypicasso to Human Relations (6 answers total)

Omggggg I'm on my phone right now so I can't be as eloquent as I'd like but we got married at Couples Tower Isle and can't recommend it enough! The wedding was free with a week stay! Memail me if you'd like more info!
posted by masquesoporfavor at 8:54 AM on January 27, 2015

Some all-inclusive resorts don't allow children as guests (I think Couples is one of them). If that's relevant to her guest list, she should keep it in mind.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:56 AM on January 27, 2015

Couples Sans Souci is also nice and has multiple garden areas and gazebos. It's on the same side of the island as Couples Tower Isle.

That said, 1000 USD for 5 days may be a stretch. They don't allow kids to stay, and they only allow a certain number of single rooms if you have enough couples already booked. If you have a lot of single people attending who want to stay on site, some of them will probably have to double up and share beds. They won't have to pretend to be a couple or anything, just share the room.

Another option is that you can get day passes for your guests for just the day of the wedding, if it's not important for you that all 40+ people stay in one place.
posted by cabingirl at 10:04 AM on January 27, 2015

She has to increase her budget to at least $1500 but Sandals (Montego Bay or Ocho Rios) would work. I had mine at Montego bay and it was worth every penny!
posted by ramix at 10:42 AM on January 27, 2015

My uncle got married a few years ago at the Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton. The ceremony was in a secluded area not on the beach, and the resort was absolutely lovely. I don't know what it would cost now, but I would love to go back there.
posted by sascha at 11:44 AM on January 27, 2015

5 or 6 years ago I went to a wedding at Iberostar Rose Hall that I absolutely loved. The property is actually 3 connected properties – the Grand, Suites and Beaches. They each have different price points, which I think is nice for giving people options (but be aware, the lower priced properties do not have access to the higher priced ones – guest for weddings will get a day pass for the wedding day if it is at a higher priced one than where they are staying). There was only one wedding a day, so you had your pick of the different areas that were used for weddings (my friends did the beach, but there was also a very nice garden and some great indoor spaces) and I thought the onsite photographer did an awesome job.

My friend worked with a travel agent that had a lot of experience with Jamaica and had been to many of the resorts. This helped her pick which one she wanted, and then most of us used that same agent to book our trips down there.
posted by Sabby at 12:48 PM on January 27, 2015