Our favorite Destination Wedding photographer Nicholaus Haskins tells us why he likes the RIU Ocho Rios, Jamaica for Destination Weddings.

RIU Ocho Rios - A Photographers Perspective

I recently had the pleasure of spending 3 days at ROR (RIU Ocho Rios), while shooting a destination wedding for a fabulous couple from Sweden.  I was really excited to see what RIU had to offer, being that they are considered a 5-Star All Inclusive Resort.  I am going to give an outsiders review of the resort, as I was there by myself and had the opportunity to just be the observer.

Location - ROR is located just outside of Ocho Rios, Jamaica.  Its location is ideal for those who want to get a way from the hustle and bustle of Montego Bay.  Ocho Rios is a little more laid back than Montego Bay, so if you're looking to do more relaxing than partying, ROR is definitely the place to be. ROR is also minutes from the beautiful Dunns River Falls, a waterfall that dumps right onto the beach!  This place makes for a fantastic "Day After" Session, but you'll have to arrive early, as all of the tourists show up when they open at 8:30 AM.  The start of the falls is actually a 10 minute walk, but if you run the entire distance, you'll have at least 15 minutes of the falls to yourselves!

Service - My opinion of ROR's Customer Service skills may not be the best because of the fact that I was there by myself.  ROR suffers from what I like to call "forced smile syndrome." Everyone seems a bit grumpy, until they are aware of a guest's presence.  In this area, Sandals Montego Bay trumps RIU Ocho Rios.  I shot at Sandals a year ago, and when I was there the service was incredible. If you got caught carrying your own luggage, it almost seemed like the staff was upset, and immediately came to take your bags to your room for you.

During my stay at RIU however, I waited over 2 hours for my luggage, only to have to walk down to find it sitting by itself in the lobby.  I took it up myself from there, and nobody offered to help.­

Food - All-inclusive means all you can eat. The food was actually really good.  There are 2 buffet-style restaurants, and a restaurant that requires reservations.  All are absolutely delicious, and the gourmet restaurant doesn't hold back on those servings either.  I'm not sure what it is with Gourmet restaurants in the US, but the servings are always so small. Not the case with RIU. They score perfect in this area.  Ironically, the service in this area is outstanding.  I did have only one complaint; there's nothing to eat after midnight anywhere.  I think this is a big mistake, especially from those couple's flying in super late, or whose flights have been delayed.

Drinks - Personally, I'm a Pina Colada type of guy.  Call me fruity, but it's just the way I roll. It's probably due to the fact that, while honeymooning with my wife, I lived on Pina Coladas.  The Pina Colada, along with every other mixed drink you can imagine will keep you going at RIU. 5 bars and an "after hours" disco club that's open for those nocturnal folks.  Each room is also stocked with Gin, Vodka, Rum, and Brandy, so there's no reason not to have a drink in one, if not both hands the entire time you're there!

Activities - Each day brought something new. The staff participation in this area is incredible.  Whether it is dancing or yoga, there's sure to be something for everyone here. What impressed me the most was the nanny services that ROR offers.  The interaction between the staff and kids is unbelievable.  I was walking past the place and one of the male staff members was on the swing laughing and screaming with like 4 kids piled on top of him.  As a parent, I would absolutely feel comfortably leaving our son with them for the day.

Room - The rooms are very nice, and definitely more than just your standard "hotel room." I stayed on the East side of the property, and did have a tiny view of the ocean.  The majority of the view was the other rooms, being that the building is shaped like a "U." The nicer rooms are on the West side of the property, boasting beautiful views of the ocean.  Each room has a stocked bar, with the more expensive suites hosting Jacuzzi bathtubs.  The beds are not the most comfortable in the world, but at the same time I've slept on way worse.  I would have to say they are "average."

Weddings -Overall, ROR completely blew me away with how they work weddings.  Here there are no brides tripping over each other's dresses.  I could tell that the coordinator wasn't treating this as "just another wedding."  She herself was laying down flower petals on the beach down the aisle.  The steel drum's we're going, the wind was blowing, and for the guests of this wedding...this day was perfect.

The couple's ceremony was held on the beach at the edge of the property.  Most tourists we're keen enough on not to walk in the background, however there will be some (but at least nobody nude).  Great photographers can "hide" these people behind the subjects in their photos making it "appear" to be an empty scene.

The reception was held in Mammee Bay beach restaurant.  The corner of the front portion of the restaurant was reserved for the guests (probably 25-30 or so).  Family was allowed to decorate this area, so it actually turned out really beautiful!  The couple and their guests we're definitely having a really great time talking, soaking in the sounds from the crashing waves, with Bob Marley playing ever so softly in the background. The couple didn't have a full reception, but ROR staff did set up Tiki lamps on the beach, where everyone continued to dance the night away.

Overall, if you're looking for a laid back resort with charm then RIU Ocho Rios is absolutely the place to be.  The activities will keep your blood pumping, the food will keep your body running, and before you know it you'll be uttering that phrase that Jamaicans use the most, "na problem."

©2009 Nicholaus Haskins Photographer LLC.  This article may not be used without permission

http://www.haskinsphotography.com

This is probably going to be the final post from DestinationWeddings.com's visit to Jamaica.  However, we will have some people returning from a visit to the Dominican Republic later this week, so hopefully they will be giving me some great photos of beach wedding locations in the DR to share with you.  If I could only find someone to do these blog posts, perhaps I can actually be the one at these great destinations taking these photos!

Much like the post with the video of the Jamaican minister talking about officiating a beach wedding, this video shows another person who is responsible for the success of your wedding...the on-site wedding coordinator.  Much like the ministers out there, most coordinators at destinations are extremely personable and passionate about ensuring your beach wedding is a success.

The video below is from an interview that Nancy did with the wedding coordinators at Breezes Runaway Bay in Jamaica, and not only shows their commitment to ensuring your wedding is a success, but also gives you a great peak at their great beach wedding location!

This is the third post from DestinationWeddings.com's recent visit to Jamaica, but it's a little different from the first two, because it won't show you any beach wedding locations.  However, it will show you something even better...a glimpse at one of the many great ministers that perform all these great beach weddings.

Having experienced it firsthand with my beach wedding in Nassau, ministers at destinations are usually incredibly friendly and entertaining people.  Destination Weddings are very unique events, and the officiants that choose to work with them are usually very creative and passionate about what they do.  And no, I'm not talking about Elvis impersonating ministers in Vegas...

The video below is an example of a great minister from Jamaica talking to Nancy about performing weddings at the Starfish Trelawny.  This just shows how you get a great piece of local culture from your Destination Wedding minister, and how youit can't help but make your beach wedding an incredibly enjoyable event.

OK, here we go with post two from DestinationWeddings.com's recent visit to Jamaica to inspect all the great beach wedding locations.  As I mentioned in the first post, we do these trips regularly to ensure that our Destination Wedding Planners are up to date on all the happenings at our favorite locations.  So, below is a video of the great beach wedding locations at the Starfish Trelwany resort in Jamaica.  Enjoy!

 Thanks again to Nancy for the fine camera work!

A small crew here at DestinationWeddings.com recently took a trip to Jamaica to check out some interesting locations for Jamaica weddings (I know, tough life huh?).  The group consisted of a couple people from our corporate office, and most importantly...several of our Destination Wedding Planners.  We do these trips periodically, to most of our popular beach wedding destinations, so we make sure that we are up to date on the most recent changes at destinations...and to be on an island versus the office!

 This will be the first post of probably 3-4, and this video shows 3 destination wedding locations at Grand Lido Negril, all of which are an outstanding choice for your Jamiaca beach wedding!  Thanks to Nancy for the great camera work!

HEY MON!!! My name is Precious and I am delighted to be planning our wedding in the beautiful Island of what many consider, "the island of one love," Jamaica.   Just as I said, "Yes, yes, yes!" when he proposed, "Yes, yes, yes," we are finally tying the knot!!! My "love" and I got engaged in the summer of 2007, while on vacation in Mexico.  Prior to the engagement, we had been dating for over eight years.  No, you are not delusional, 8 consecutive YEARS! So yes, at this point I had already given up the idea of what in my mind would be the perfect moment for the perfect proposal. I knew it was going to happen.  It was just a matter of when? After so many marvelous years, my "love" managed to capture the proposal of my dreams, and what I considered the "perfect moment." 

Following our romantic dinner on the evening before my birthday, he decided he wanted to take a walk with me on the beach.  As we walked alongside the Sea of Cortez, hand in hand gazing at the exceptionally clear sky, we noticed a shooting star.  Before I even lost sight of the shooting star, he shouted, "LOVE, MAKE A WISH," and so I did.  As we continue to walk, he unexpectedly decides he wants to sit.  As we face the sea and begin to feel our bare feet curl deliciously in the cool sand, he begins to tell me that he purchased something small for my birthday but that the bigger gift awaited me in New York. I responded by saying, "aww, you didn't have to get anything for me sweetie, this trip was enough."  As he caresses my face with his tender hands, he begins to express his love for me.  At this point, I didn't know what to think.  The setting and the mood was so surreal, that I felt as if I was sedated and taken to paradise.  As we continue to embrace each other, he suddenly sit's up, reaches into his pocket, pulls out the box, gets on one knee and asks me the magic question.  After quickly picking up my mouth that rapidly dropped onto his lap, I managed to say yes!  Can you believe it? He granted my wish in less than an hour! It was heaven sent!

The wait was worth every minute of it.  He couldn't have chosen a better time or a better setting.  He did an awesome job picking out my ring, and I got exactly what I wanted. 

So here we are planning our very special day.  We both happened to share the idea of having a non-traditional wedding, and agreed on having a beach wedding.  I wasn't sure as to how I was going to go about planning our destination wedding.  I looked online for weeks, contacted several hotels, but felt extremely overwhelmed.  I thought to myself, "There has to be an easier way to plan a destination wedding." It was then, when I came across destinationweddings.com! I was assigned to an awesome wedding specialist who contacted me right away.  It has been a walk in the park for us ever since.  Please stay tuned for my next blog.  I am excited to embark on this journey and share every minute of my destination wedding experience with you all.

Thank you to all the couples that particpated in our first "Best Destination Wedding Video" contest.  It is really fulfilling for us here at DestinationWeddings.com to be able to see the great weddings that we had the honor of being a part of. 

When I tell you that juding was tough, I am not kidding.  We received so many great videos, and all of us here had our favorites.  But, at the end of the day we had to make a decision.  And here they are, the top three Destination Wedding videos from our first contest:

***For all you couples planning your wedding with us, or for those that have already done so, if you would like to participate in a future video contest, please e-mail me at quent@destinationweddings.com***

Third Place: Anne and Darryl, Jamaica

Second Place: Jasmine and Joseph, Riviera Maya Mexico

And the winner... 

First Place: Lori and Adam, Riviera Maya Mexico

It always fascinates me that even those who are rich and famous still seek out the simple things in life, such as a stunning beach setting in which to wed. I guess that is the true beauty of a beach wedding. You can dress it up or down as well as make it lavish and extravagant or simple, elegant, and romantic as actor, Taye Diggs, and Broadway actress, Idina Menzel, did in Jamaica.

Taye evidently fell in love with Jamaica when he was on location filming there, so it made sense that he would return with his fiancé and have a Jamaica wedding. The couple married at sunset in Montego Bay, Jamaica as the waves kissed the shore of their beach wedding, and a group of 60 family members and friends looked on.

According to reports, the bride wore a stunning strapless gown that was delicately adorned with crystal beadwork as she glided toward her fiancé down a rose petal aisle. Accompanying the bride were several bridesmaids who carried gorgeous orange and yellow nosegays and wore white corset tops with ruffled hemmed, sand-colored skirts. The groom, who waited anxiously at the end of the aisle as his soon-to-be-wife approached, wore an off-white suit without a tie, which displayed the informality of the occasion.

Steve Wonder's ‘Overjoyed' played as the couple exchanged vows beneath a white canopy, which highlighted the white blossoms within the bride's upswept hair. The Jamaica wedding reception of Taye Diggs and his beautiful wife was held on the terrace of a nearby hotel and was equally as stunning as the beach wedding ceremony, with pale yellow roses that adorned the area.

Without a doubt, this is probably one of the most beautiful celebrity beach weddings I have ever encountered.

Looking to add a little more adventure to Jamaica weddings?  I recently returned from an unusual Jamaica familiarization trip where not only did we visit numerous hotels, but we also experienced two new attractions - Mystic Mountain and Chukka Cove.  Both attractions are considered "soft" adventure - ha!  I guess that my definition of soft adventure, a walk along the beach and maybe even horseback riding, is different from the definition in Jamaica.  Here, bobsledding, zip lining, ATVs, etc. are the norm.  

First, we went off to Mystic Mountain where a sky lift takes you 700 feet up the mountain.  The views from the top are spectacular!  It is here that the real adventure begins!  The choice is bobsledding or zip lining.  Being a bit of a coward, the bobsled look sort of tame.  So, I climbed in and found myself flying along the track at what felt like 150 miles per hour.  I am told that I was only going 25 miles per hour, but I am not sure that I believe that! 

Having survived the bobsled, my newly found adventurous spirit decided to try the zip lines.  I was sailing along quite nicely zipping from tree to tree until I came to the third zip line.  Looking out, I could not see it, so my gaze was directed straight down!  My first thought was "what are my other choices?"  Unfortunately, no choice but to take the line straight down! 

Having survived that, I felt invincible, as though I could now do anything.   So, when we were taken to Chukka Cove, I had no fear!  The choice of activities were numerous: ATV, dune buggies, dog sled, horseback riding, beach and of course, zip lining.  Now that I was an old hand at it, I decided to do the zip lines again.  However, this time we took a bus up to the top of the mountain.  Surviving the bus ride up the mountain was truly an adventure in itself!  We drove along a VERY narrow, gravel road twisting and turning along the edge of the mountain.  The site of many rusted out cars and vans that had obviously gone off the road added to the anxiety.  By the time we suited up and began the run on the zip lines, I knew that nothing could be as frightening as the bus ride up the mountain.   

All in all, I definitely recommend these two attractions to anyone that visits Jamaica, and they would be perfect for an adventure getaway with your Jamaica wedding guests before or after the big day.