Scrapping our wedding ideas and eloping to Sandals! (Help?!)

I don't have tips on eloping but put a deposit on your room at Sandals ASAP! We are saving over $6000 at Sandals Ochi in the butler village by putting down a $400 deposit.

@readytobearathfon - thanks for the advice! we're definitely going to check that out. they're also having an awesome promotion right now (some rooms are up to 65% off) but i've heard that happens pretty often lol

I have no advice-- I just wanted to say, "I think eloping is a terrific idea-- have fun!"

We're having our weddingmoon at Emerald Bay. If you stay there 3 or more days you can have a free beautiful beginnings wedding. FBIL had their BB wedding in Jamaica. We opted out of the free basic wedding, and chose to customize our wedding. You'll get a $1500 wedding credit with that option. We booked a honeymoon bulter villa for 2 weeks.

Are you considering a real elopement (you, him, and the officiant), or are you considering a small destination wedding (you, him, your parents, your siblings, his parents, his siblings, and a few close friends -- if they can make it). A DW can be a beautiful compromise between the solitary elopement and the big, conventional wedding. Everyone pays for their own airfare, so you're likely to end up with a very small guest list.

We're planning a true elopement, just the two of us!

We had been planning a small DW to Shenandoah National Park (about 70 guests) but after some consideration we've decided we want to share the day together without having to worry about everything else. We figured a "weddingmoon" would be a romantic and memorable way to start our life together.

CrystalQueen2B, are you eloping or having a DW?

Yes we're having a small DW for about 25 guests! We wanted to elope, but the way my mother is set up! She'll murder us both, we had to met somewhere in the wedding because she wanted me to have a big 250+ guest wedding. Sandals has great options for eloping, and any size DW weddings.

We just had our honeymoon at Snadals Ochi and ABSOLUTELY LOVED it! Could not have asked for a better vacation. We spoke to several couples that had been there previous years and said this was by far the best in Jamaica. There were several weddings while we were there as well and they were beautiful. Honeymoon spot was the hardest choice of our wedding and we were thrilled with our decision.

@Eryn - Was Ochi as lively as everyone says? We're kind of torn between RP and Ochi because we've heard that Ochi gets a little bit of a rowdier crowd and at least if we go to RP we can enjoy some peace and quiet when we want to relax and then just go to Ochi if we choose.

Could you make it a family only destination wedding. Like parents and siblings only?

My advice is to let your families know ahead of time rather than just springing it on them that you eloped and are married. They might not be happy you're eloping but they would probably be more hurt if they didn't even know about it. Also, they (or you) might want to plan a family dinner to celebrate/acknowledge it when you return.

Get your legal license here before you go.

We're really not interested in having our family come along - it's nothing against them, we've just decided that eloping means the two of us, not a destination wedding it the family.

I'm considering telling just our parents before we go, we're just not sure how to do that. That's the only part we're REALLY stuck on how to throw together.

Sandals sets everything up as far as marriage license goes. We've read about it extensively online and I've been in touch with other brides who have done it and it doesn't seem that there are any problems with getting everything taken care of there!

Thanks for all the advice!

I’m so glad I saw this post! My fiancé and I are thinking about eloping to Sandals next year. He’s all for it and I’m stuck! I want to elope and have an intimate ceremony with just the two of us.. but I also am afraid I’d regret not having my parents there. Both our parents know we’re considering eloping and they both seem supportive. The moms of course wish we would have a wedding but at the end of the day they’ll be content with whatever makes us happy. My question is.. how was it getting ready by yourself? I’m sure I’d be fine because I’ll be too excited to marry my fiancé. But how was your experience? This is the only thing holding me back from eloping. I’m just not much of a showy person and I guess you could say I’m somewhat shy. I just feel like eloping would be the way to go for those reasons and to just enjoy the start of our marriage without the stress of planning a wedding.

View Quoted Comment It's been almost a year since our wedding at Sandals Royal Plantation and I don't regret our choice to keep it just us. It was an absolutely beautiful intimate ceremony, and the wedding staff and fellow vacationers made us feel so special.

I didn't end up getting ready totally alone. I went to get my hair done at the spa while my husband got a foot massage. We both went back up to the room to start getting ready. My sister is a cosmetologist and taught me how to do my makeup (but you can also have it done at the salon). The wedding planner Renna came up to send my husband away (he and the butler who served as our witness went to the bar) and help me into my gown.

Feel free to ask me any questions you have about a Sandals "weddingmoons". I can honestly only say positive things, as our experience was exactly as we had hoped it would be. We have already booked a return trip to celebrate our 2 year anniversary in July 2019!

View Quoted Comment Yeah, I would definitely get my hair done. A couple from my hometown actually eloped last September. She said they did her hair and helped her in the dress too. Had nothing but great things to say about them! Does the photography/hair/makeup come included in the package? Also, can you get married any day? Or is there just certain days they do weddings?

View Quoted Comment The actual wedding was free. I believe if you stay for 5 or 6 nights they don't charge. Jamaica requires you to be in the country for 48 hours before having a wedding and if I remember correctly, they will not perform weddings on Sundays.
We spent about $100 on hair, I think somewhere around $800 on photos (we bought the rights to 50 photos, all were lovely!). Makeup was not included. Very little other than the ceremony and dinner are included, but since it was just the two of us we didn't need much!

Great! We’re thinking about the Bahamas, Sandals Emerald Bay. I’ve done researching and I’m pretty sure we have to be there for 48 hrs as well in the Bahamas. And the dinner afterward sounds great! How soon in advance do you recommend on booking?

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HI! I'm looking into eloping with just myself and future husband at sandals & i'm trying to get even a rough estimate on how much total it's going to cost. Eloping is our plan to save some money for a house while still making a special memory/having a honeymoon. I understand it varies based on roomtype,packages, etc but I still think knowing how much someone else spent will help me. Also did you opt for any of the photography packages?