destination wedding in Jamaica

My wife and I got married in St Lucia in 2009 and absolutely loved it! We stayed at the Sandals Grande St Lucian. The beaches were gorgeous there! We also did a zip line adventure through a rain forest, a boat cruise around the island, kayaked in the ocean...the list goes on. If you decide to go, I would recommend the helicopter ride from the airport to near the resort. It is much faster than the bus ride and is really cool. Feel free to pm me if you need any more info.

All this talk makes me want to go back

My wife and I got married in Jamaica in 2008 and it was great. We went with a resort in Negril and really liked it because it was pretty laid back, all the people were really nice, and it was stress free. We didn't really leave the resort much as we had all we needed there and went snorkeling several times from the resort.

It was about a 90 min bus ride from Montego Bay to the resort, but I've also stayed in Montego Bay and the south (Negril) side of the island is much nicer IMO in terms of the beach and the water.

GET THE TRIP INSURANCE. Seriously, a friend of mine was in Cancun and he fainted in the lobby and hit his head fracturing it in two places and breaking something in his ear. The resort freaked out and wouldn't call an ambulance so his wife had to call a cab to get him to the hospital and max out every credit card they had so the doctor would perform surgery on his brain to relieve the pressure. Had to stay there about 5-6 days before being cleared to fly home. Not trying to scare anyone but Mexico doesn't take you Cigna insurance.

My hubby and I still talk about the bus ride on our honeymoon in Jamaica. Beep! Beep! Then pass on a hill as fast as possible! What a ride!

My wife and I got married at a resort north of Playa del Carmen in Mexico. It was a great area for us because we had some younger people who were able to head north into Cancun, older folks who just wanted to lounge on the beach while a steady stream of margaritas flowed their way, and we were able to take yet another group to look at Mayan ruins, ziplining, etc.

It also worked out well because there were enough resort options in the area that some family members who we never dreamed would attend for money reasons were able to join us by staying at our resort for two nights and a different one for the rest of the week.

A word of warning from our experience - your daughter has to be okay with putting the plans in place and then letting them happen (for the most part). We took a special trip down to put all of our plans in place (menu tasting, flowers, set up, etc), but everything came out from slightly to wildly different than what we had agreed upon (ironically, I was more up in arms about it than my wife, who used to do event planning). Even so, it was a truly magical evening and our family still talks about our wedding years later, which is pretty cool since we were sure no one would come once we made the decision to do it outside of the US.

I think my only other piece of advice is to have her visit several resorts, if at all possible, before making a decision (the best is if she can try the food by having lunch or something during her visit too. Most wedding/event coordinators are usually very happy to oblige you). We had our heart set on a particular resort during our research/arrangement trip because of the glowing reviews we read online but we ended up HATING it. Just by dumb luck, I had read about a resort opening and browbeat/guilted my wife into visiting it with me before we made a final decision. After seeing it and discussing all of our available options, we ended up going back there to put in a deposit and make the arrangements. (I won't lie, being able to have the ceremony, dinner, and celebration afterwards all on the beach was a huge selling point for me.)

A word of warning for you too - having a destination wedding will draw lots of flak from family and friends not only on the couple but their parents. Just be prepared for repeatedly hearing the questions, "Why are they getting married down there? Is it even safe?"

I didnt think the ride was bad. Offensive driving is key around there. The big vehicles have the right of way basically. We were in a smallish 7-8 passenger bus type vehicle. I never felt unsafe on the ride, but I did feel a bit scammed at one point as they stopped at this small store to let people go to the bathroom and buy drinks or whatever. Just thought it was totally unecessary as we were all ready to get there. Never felt that way at the resort though. We stayed at Couples Swept Away and its not super high class or anything, but it was right up our alley with the amenities that it offered. Lot's of exercise equipment, free snorkeling, nice beach.

Thanks for the replies!!! Now she is planning on St Johns. Lordie....can't wait for the wedding so I can give her away