SnowAngels

We have yet to receive ours and our wedding was on April 13th, 2009. Also, haven't received our Birth Certificates back yet either ....

Good you asked ZUZELH! The Spa is nice, however, I didn't choose to have my hair done there, because the humidity kept dropping my hair of any style anyway (I kept my hair half up, half down). If you're planning a complete up-do then maybe it's worth it .... I'm not completely sure though. I had a manicure, pedicure, polish change while at the spa. Thank goodness I had a girl with a steady hand for my wedding day's french manicure, because when I went back just for a polish change a week later, the esthician had white under my nail, had to re-do a few nails, was very slow. I RECCOMMEND YOU BRING YOUR OWN NAILPOLISH!!!! They only carry very muted shades of pink/neutrals .... nothing fun and vibrant. My friends who came with me for the manicure all ended with very toned down nailpolish, not really summery-beach colours that might've matched their dresses better.

Petals - I originally chose the Carribean Package, then realized with renting out the Blue Lagoon it was more cost effective to go with the Tropical Package and upgrade the meals to Lobster ... I think I upgraded 9 meals to Lobster of the 13 guests, but it still worked out to be less. However, I didn't have my dress steamed or the Breakfast in Bed. Didn't matter to me at all though - I'd rather save the money.

Panda - Just so you don't feel that nervous ... all of my meal items came from the Poseiden Restaurant menu. It was all good! We upgraded some of the dishes to the Lobster (was definitely available for us), but the others had the Snapper and the Garlic Shrimp. I didn't hear any complaints about any of the food. (Maybe they just didn't say anything to me though .... hmmmm). We all really enjoyed it, and as mentioned a few pages ago, I tried to change my venue to the Poseidon Restaurant for my Reception because after seeing it, it's beautiful, very private and overlooks the beach!!! (But it was booked for a private party!) We were still VERY happy with the Blue Lagoon! Oh, and as for the Photographer - he's not as bad as I thought he'd be. I still had my own photographer there (he was also a guest of mine though) but we went to go pick up the pictures from the gift shop and there were quite a few nice one's to choose from. However, he only did pictures from the ceremony site. I wanted certain shots from around the resort, and I'm not too sure if he would've followed us - again, I had my own photographer so maybe he didn't feel the need to come. I selected my 8 5x7's that the package came with, for each additional picture he wanted to charge $12 ... not too sure if that's what it actually costs or if he just randomly threw out an amount, because they also do some pictures around the resort for guests just hanging around and I don't know if they just jack up the cost for a 'wedding'. I didn't really have to look further into it, because I knew I had a lot of the same pictures with my own photographer. But as mentioned, he wasn't BAD ... you can find them inside the Gift Shop on the Jamaica side, they have a booth with some of their work (some a little cheesy) but you'll get an idea at least of what they are capable of. When they are printing it out for you (afer you've selected them) try not to get them to lighten it too much. I've noticed my pictures were soooo lightened that the Dark Blue Ocean background is almost Baby Blue ... minor issue! Some of my best shots came from my friends - so if you have friends with good cameras, or if you guys have a great camera, then pass it to a friend to snap shots for you. My most favourite pic is from my friend who followed my photographer around with us, and just took the shots from different angles then what he got. Hope this helps!

Flowers - asked for Orange & Green ... Jascynthia didn't think the original was pretty enough so sent them back, and got a free upgrade to Calla Lillies -Loved Them! Cake - 2-Tier Vanilla (really didn't need that big, but always wanted a tiered cake for my wedding). Decorations on cake was a little interesting, pink flowers on top (aghem, remember orange & green theme ....) but I didn't care at all. It looked good and was not the focal point of the wedding reception with the beautiful views anyway! Ceremony Decorations - went to Michaels, bought small 9" Hurricane Vases x 2, and a larger Hurricane Vase (maybe 12") for our decorations. Half filled the vases with sand from the beach, placed candle and shells inside the vase. Placed large vase in front of Bride & Groom, the 2 others were on each side of us. Also from Michaels little glass tealight candle holders with green candles in them (2/pk for $1.50 Canadian$), those were to surround the railing that overlooked the pool/beach ... probably didn't need them, kept blowing out as well, and even forgot them there! Brought - Green Candles, shells (from Dollar Store) Bombouniere's - Message in a Bottle (idea) we filled with beach sand and put a note inside to say thank you and they can either collect shells, or other memorable items .... or dump it and put oil in it later!!! Place Cards / Programs - just bought some printable stuff and used our colour theme! The program didn't have much 'detailed' info, but the generic stuff - I had no idea who the officiant would be, etc. And I never did get that info in time, but it looked cute and really, I don't think a program is really that necessary anyway! The ceremony is so short. Lounge - we went upstairs to the Lounge after, where we just took our Flowers (Jascynthia moves the flowers from the ceremony to the reception for you) and put them on the short tables and sat on the wicker chairs and hung out. Some danced with the live band - it was great! Room Upgrades - we did ask for an Upgrade, and were told that our entire group got upgraded to ocean view - I'm not 100% sure about that being an upgrade, or if that was what we were originally given and they just said it was an upgrade. Our whole group had 1-bedroom suites though, so I'm not too sure how much more they would've even upgraded us (bride & groom) ... all of our guests units were right above the ocean and perfect!!!! Beautiful views from both balconies, see below! This pic from the Lobby: Gazebo at Sunset - random stranger told us to pose and take a pic, worked out great! I hope this helped some people with their wedding planning, I know I was seriously stressed about a lot leading up to the wedding. Now when I look back, I think so much work and concern was really unnecessary! It all fell into place and was PERFECT! Even the little bit of rain doesn't upset me as much as I thought it would've! As a Suggestion: - book a private reception location. By fluke, we were at the Buffet where another BDW bride's reception was taking place, and they don't have a dress code at the Buffet's. We were in jeans and shorts, baseball cap, etc. and we were placed beside the entire wedding party - weird! It was even more awkward when they were cutting their cake, because we really felt that we might've been in their shots. We tried to move or look the other way so that if we did end up in the background, their picture wouldn't be ruined. As well, we were at the Mexican Restaurant and they had a reception there as well. The entire group was facing looking out the large windows at the front of the restaurant, with all of the tables for the restaurant around them... just my recommendation.

So, I got married on April 13th (didn't like the date, but tried to co-ordinate it with some guests that might only have had the Easter Long Weekend to come ... as it turns out, none of them came anyway, and I was stuck with the 13th)! Closer to the Arrival date is probably better, so that you can "get it over with" sooner than later and have the rest of the week to enjoy and PIG out! TashaB - I've attached the Blue Lagoon as it was set up for us. As a reminder, we were only a group of 13. Ceremony - on the Beach Reception - Blue Lagoon (paid $300 extra, or worded as $100/hr, 3 hr minimum) Music - we brought our iPod and battery operated / rechargeable Docking station w/ Speakers. Bring back-up batteries too ... There were NO issues with us doing this, we had our first dance, our Father Daughter dance, etc. Music also played throughout the dinner. Meals - Appetizer, Snapper, Lobster, Shrimp ...... see next posting for Continuation

actually, that's exactly what it still looks like. I wasn't able to make it over there in the daytime, and was going to try right now - but it's too dark for a good pic. But Petals pics are accurate.

Panda, here is a pic of my setting at the beach. I selected the latest time available at 4pm. Sunsets here about 6:20pm - maybe later by your wedding day. I will try to get the pics of the Poseidon inside (although it is a very open restaurant, and not that large)...but I'll whip out my laptop in embarrassment to get you your shot on my webcam. ... not sure if I've uploaded pics right or not. Picture of my bouquet - callas lillies! picture of my Hurricane Vase with beach sand and shells. I brought them, but not neccessary - the flowers from the ceremony were place on our table and was really full - keep in mind we were a small group though!

Hey girls! I can tell you first hand that the Poseidon Restaurant is an AMAZING choice! It is very private, and the beach is just below you. We were going to change our venue from the Blue Lagoon after seeing it, but it was unfortunately already booked for another private party! But it's a beautiful setting and very open, but private. I'll try to take a pic and post when I'm back. To everyone else, I am still here at GPL for our honeymoon (we loved it so much we changed our plans and cancelled our Negril reservation) so let me know if there are any pics to take for you while I'm here. I won't be back until next Saturday, so unless I can take pics from my laptop webcam, expect the photos then! I can tell you that Jascynthia is REALLLY BUSY! I think I have seen at least 1 wedding every 2 days. But she is amazing and great to deal with. We are so happy that we chose GPL!!!

Oh, didn't see the question about flowers. We chose from the package, but I had specifically asked for orange and green (as those were our colours). Apparently, Jascynthia did not like the arrangement that was provided for my bouquet and boutinere, so she sent them back and got us orange-ish calla lillies (way more in price, but didn't charge us for them - she wanted us to be happy!) I can tell you that if your party is really small - we just picked a few fresh flowers and came equiped with floral tape, scissors, floral wire and make our own. We didn't go crazy, just the boutinere's and Matron of Honor's. The flower arrangments that are used at the ceremony are then transferred to the reception as part of the decoration. Jascynthia does all of that. Hope that helpeda little! Now I really gotta go, they're waiting for me at the lounge!!!

Hi everyone! I just got married yesterday at the Palladium on the beach. It was awesome, and I can say that Jascynthia is wonderful ... I was stressed because I didn't have anything selected when we arrived on Friday. No meals, no flowers, no cake! (okay, we had them selected, but she never got my emails - so we had to go through it all over again!) The Blue Lagoon is large. Our group is only 13, but it worked out well and the setting was in a U shape looking towards the restaurant (not towards the ocean). This works out well for the pictures, meaning the background is much nicer. We are still here, so I should get going and spend more time with our guests! But I can say that this resort, and the wedding was waaaay more than I thought it would be! We are so pleasantly surprised and Happy with how it all worked out. By the way, after the Blue Lagoon reception, your guests can go to the lounge above the Blue Lagoon and dance with the live band or just hang out in the open air. I have pics, but I'll have to post them when we get back in another week and a half.

Awesome! Thanks for letting us know!!!

We are leaving on Friday and our Ceremony is on Monday! I've never felt this unprepared for anything! Regardless, from my lessons learned trying to deal with GPL and Jascynthia is that in an email I ask each question I have in number form. She might take a week to respond (which is so painful) but everything gets answered. If you throw a question here and there, sometimes you'll only get 1 or 2 answers. FYI - knowing we're only 9 days away to the ceremony, I still haven't selected my cake, meals, flowers, etc. I've asked about it several times and now was told I should find a picture of a cake I'd like, still waiting for a quote for extra flowers (for the men, Maid of Honour, Mother of Bride, etc.).... I really believe (and have been trying to find the email of the GM to ask this question to him), when you sign up and pay your deposit they should email, fax or even regular mail forms back to you with specific information based on the package you requested: ie. Choice of meals (tick these boxes) type of Flowers Bouquet (tick one box) type of Flower Boutinerre (tick one box) Cake Flavour (tick one box) etc ....... This would make it a lot easier for both Jascynthia and us, so we BOTH know what to expect. Well, if anyone feels like their not organized, I'm sure I can make you feel lots better!!! When we get there, I know it will all be fine! ..... I hope!

Hi Everyone! I'm sooo happy I came across all of you ... I'm gettng married on April 13th at the Grand Palladium Lady, but I haven't even received my confirmation yet .... agh! So, really, I don't know if we have even been confirmed for that date or not. Does anyone have any input as to whether it's worth while to rent out the Blue Lagoon (if available) for our entire party which will only consist of 14-16 guests? I don't mind spending the money if it's a better experience. Is there a place to also set-up our own iPod & portable speaker system at the Blue Lagoon to have our first dance, father/daughter dance, etc.? With such a short time frame, I'm starting to get stressed ...... I just hate not knowing!

Thanks! Any chance you're in Jamaica that week (or day?)...hehe!