Grand Palladium Jamaica Brides Unite

We're going to bring our Ipod also, but I doubt our docking speakers will play loud enough for all to hear without it sounding incredibly cheesy.

 

Perhaps if we all voice the same complaints they'll make changes to their strange charges. Talk about trying to nickle and dime us. How about doing some extra things to make our weddings special. You'd think that while the resort is new they'd be making concessions until the resort is at least fully booked!

Hi Ladies-- I just wanted to share this link. Someone has posted the photos from their lovely Grand Palladium Jamaica beach wedding on Flickr!!

 

Jeff & Kari Wedding Ceremony - Oct. 9, 2008 - a set on Flickr

thanks for that petals! NOW I'm starting to get excited!

OMG, I'm getting extremely nervous now....I had originally confirmed the date with Charmaine who is no longer there. I have been trying (unsuccessfully) to get in touch with Mina. The package we picked was the Tropical and we are under the assumption that it includes dinner service for 8 ppl (including bride & groom) and an additional $30 per person thereafter. I was not aware that we would have to rent a restaurant - it doesn't mention this anywhere.... I wonder if there is a difference at the Lady Hamilton as opposed to the Grand Palladium Jamaica even thou they are one in the same? My TA who knows Sonja from the Lady Hamilton is going to contact the resort today and find out why my messages are not responded to. I need some definate answers! Once my TA talks to the resort I will let you all know what transpired....

I think as Grand Palladium brides we must stick together so that know one gets taken.

I too am bringing my ipod and docking station as I want specific music played when I walk down the isle and during dinner....after dinner we will be hitting the casino to C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-E

I'll keep u posted....good luck "brides". Let's keep sharin info!

Hi everyone,

 

May I ask how you got the information on the packages to start with? I found a document posted on another site (I think Fiesta) that was last updated in May of this year. Do you think this is current? Or did you get something from the hotel directly?

 

As I understood the information I have, the only packages that included a dinner of any kind, were the Romance and Caribbean packages. The others (Tropical and Just Married) do not. The additional cost per person must only cover things like: chairs for guests to sit during the ceremony, and I'm not sure what else. Perhaps I'm not understanding the information I have though...

I also reached out to the new wedding coordinator (Jascynthia-- apparently Mina was just temporarily helping out) and haven't heard back yet. I can imagine the transition period would be a little bumpy so I'm waiting patiently... for now... lol

The Tropical Package doesn't include a private dinner-- they just help you make reservations for your group at one of the restaurants.

I got the wedding document from Charmaine earlier this year-- it's still the May 08 version & I'm planning on sticking to it since that's what everything was when I signed my contract & put down my deposit.

I think you're right. It covers the chairs and the cake, etc. (They give you a bigger cake based on the number of guests.) The add-ons are things like chair covers, specific linens, etc.

Martee,

 

No Worries! Everything is gonna be alright! Everyone is correct. The tropical package does NOT include dinner, however, they will block off a section of one of the restaurants so you guys can have a semi-private reception. There is a time limit of 1 1/2-2hours depending on your group size.You do not have to rent out any space unless you want to have aprivate reception at the blue lagoon.The $30pp is for extra cake, champagne, & chairs(seems a little steep, but at least these package prices haven't changed unlike all the other extras). If you want chair covers, they are $8 per chair additional(INSANE). I will attempt to attach some price lists below. Also the new WC Jascynthia has been quite prompt in returning my emails as compared to Charmaine. Beware, she doesn't have all the answers yet, but then again she's only been on the job a few weeks.....The Lady Hamilton & Grand Palladium Jamaica sides are the exact same(JR suites & 1 BR suites). LH side is more central to all the restaurants/beaches/spa. There should be NO price difference b/w the 2. The adults only suites/beach/pool are on the lady hamilton side, but there are not many of them, although they are absolutely gorgeous(we made a site visit) all overlooking the water from your bed! Hope this helps you...........Is the casino open yet?

The canape menu is for the romance package

The other is for the caribbean

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WEDDING MAGAZINE - MAY 16, 2008.doc

Entertainment List-Private Functions.doc

Canape Reception.doc

Wedding Menus-Caribbean Package x.doc

Thanks for all your info. I did get in touch with Jascynthia (thanks to my TA), she did clarify that the $300 was for a private venue at the Blue Lagoon. As for dinner being included - it's included in all packages just at one of the al a cart restaurants. Jascynthia is checking with the restaurants to see which one can accommodate our group of 25.

I feel better now that I have spoken with her - I hope she will last a while....I've dealt with 3 different WC's.

Turk - your info was awesome - thanks what would I do without this forum...You all rock!

Thanks Martee. I also contacted Jascynthia via e-mail 2 weeks ago and have yet to receive a response so I'm also waiting patiently. I realize that she's probably swamped. I'd be interested to know which restaurants can accomodate your group. Please post when you find out.

Hi Girls,

 

I just got married at the GP Jamaica on May 14th. I thought it would be useful for me to post a review. No, let me preface with that we were supposed to be married at the GP in Mexico, but was cancelled 6 days before we were supposed to leave…can we say STRESS!!!! I have stayed at the GP in Mexico 3 times, so I knew what to expect out of the hotel chain. We had 2 ½ years to plan Mexico, and 6 days to pull Jamaica together. At the end of the day, we had a few glitches, but I can honestly say that we had the most AMAZING wedding day, and probably worked out 10 times better than Mexico would have.

 

I was not able to receive one single response from Jacynthia prior to me arriving, this was a bit frustrating for me since we had such a tight timeline to pull this together. I decided to call, I called everyday until I was finally able to speak to her. My main concern was that our ceremony was confirmed and that we had a nice place for our dinner. She reassured me and told me it would be a great day.

 

My biggest beef with this hotel is the reception. When we checked in, all of our guests had an ocean view but us. Now, this was my 4th GP stay, plus our wedding, plus I sent a request prior to our arrival. I was pissed! Also, we have an 18 month old son, no crib in the room and nothing about our wedding or the meeting with Jacynthia. Not a great start to the trip. I understand they were at 100% capacity due to the swine flu, but come on, let’s use some common sense. In any event, after 3 days of bugging them, we finally got moved to an ocean view….and what a view it was! They could only give us a jr. suite, but we were fine with it.

 

The day after we checked in, I went to see if I could speak with Jacynthia about our meeting. They had to call her and told us to meet her at 12:00. When we arrived back at 12:00 there were about 4 or 5 brides waiting to talk to her. There were 15 weddings there that week. Yikes! She was a very busy lady. I saw here there several times past 9:00 pm and she even came in on her day off (Sunday) when I was there. Anyway, once we got to sit down with her and go through everything it was great, she is good to deal with. I was a bit worried because she was scribbling notes on different pieces of paper, but everything turned out great (minus a few glitches).

 

Flowers:

I had asked about getting green cymbidium and purple orchids for my bouquet. She said “no problemâ€. She was supposed to get me a price, but I wasn’t able to find her after our meeting. In any event, my flowers were BEAUTIFUL, but the total cost was $528…ouch! Now, that did include a bridesmaid bouquet, 4 boutonnieres, and 3 corsages. But, I was not expecting that, so just a warning! Oh, also I got a white orchid for my hair. I had to call a few times before my ceremony to track my flowers down so they could bring them to me for my hair orchid. I think their normal practice is to deliver them to the ceremony site.

 

Ceremony:

Our ceremony was scheduled for 2:00. Not a drop of rain all week and wouldn’t you know it, big nasty black clouds roll in at about 1:15. I was so sad! Luckily, they are on “Jamaican time†and waited for them to pass, so the ceremony didn’t start until about 2:45. The back-up location is the spa (which is nice), but I really wanted the beach! Anyway, the ceremony was amazing. Jacynthia had given the dj some other couple’s wedding cd, so luckily one of our guests had her ipod with our songs on it and they quickly created a new play list…â€no problemâ€! The minister was great, he made me feel very calm. We also did a sand ceremony that was very special. Note - you need to bring your own vases and sand. Flowers, chairs, set up was very nice.

 

Pictures:

I was disappointed that you are forced to use their photographers, but after everything we had been through I just wanted to get married. The pictures they took are nice, but I think we could’ve done better. At the same time, it is pretty hard to screw up the beautiful Caribbean Sea as a back drop. They were obsessed with making us kiss for the all the pictures, so we had a good laugh at that. After your wedding day you meet them in the gift shop and pick out which pictures you want. We got the $500 package, so got 100 digital, 18 prints and a slide show to music. It was nice to be able to leave Jamaica with all of our pictures.

 

Cocktail Party:

Since our ceremony was so early, we decided to have an appetizer/cocktail party between the ceremony and dinner. We chose to do it at the gazebo on the cliff…great location! We hired the steel band. It was tones of fun! We also wanted a big bucket of red stripe, so Jacynthia arranged that for us as well, the cost was $100 for that (the red stripe that is). Cost of the reception was $15 per person (min. 25 people).

 

Dinner:

We had our dinner at the Blue Lagoon (private area) because we wanted to do a slide show and this was the only way. Cost was $300 for the Blue Lagoon and $250 for the projector. Which they didn’t set up properly, but luckily there were some techy geeks in our group to fix it! We chose our menu from the Italian. It was good! I had asked for chocolate wedding cake, but it was white, “no problemâ€, our guests said it was the best wedding cake they every had. We had place settings, wine stopper favors, goodie bags for the kids, and little vases with sand, shells and candles for the tables – everything was set up how I had asked. “no problem†Instead of the traditional clinking to kiss, we made our guests to a Bob Marley shot (type of drink) or sing a Bob Marley song. It was fun, even the waiters got into it and sang to us. We had a great time! After dinner we went to the Infinity Bar to listen to the Reggae band, it was awesome. I had SO much fun!

 

Resort:

The resort was amazing, food was great, everything was awesome. Don’t believe the bad stuff you read. Is it perfect, no, but hey – you’re on vacation. Just go with an open mind and don’t get bent out of shape if everything doesn’t go “perfectâ€. Just enjoy!

 

 

If anyone has any specific questions, or you want to see some pictures, just email me at trunquist@shaw.ca

 

Thanks!

Tara