Showgirl

Hi ladies I have been following this thread for the last 15 months and I got married at the Gran Bahia in December 2011. I wanted to share my experience with you in an attempt to reassure you in the same way that so many other past brides have tried to do, and that was helpful to me. The main thing that I would say off the bat is that our wedding was truly amazing. It was the wedding of our dreams and we had a fabulous time. We live in the UK, and had quite a large destination wedding (80 people). We have had non-stop compliments and not one person complained about the hotel. In fact, we already have people from our party that have booked to return later this year. My top tip to you is to decide the type of wedding that you want and then to work with the co-ordinators and other vendors to make it happen. Don’t try to fit your dreams around what you think is on offer. Privacy was important to us so we paid the close out fee for Dolce Vita and it was fantastic to use the whole space for dinner, dancing, speeches etc. We also used Tai Flora to decorate the venue for us, and they did a great job. They did all the flowers for the bridal party and I worked with them to incorporate my colour scheme and favourite flowers. I also took some of my own table decorations and the venue just looked stunning when it came together. We deviated from the set menus and paid an additional fee per person in order to have the Jamaican menu. We are African-Caribbean and the reason that we chose Jamaica was to have this theme run throughout our wedding so Jamaican food was a must for us. It was delicious and although I didn’t get to eat much (I was too giddy with happiness), we had a lot of compliments on the food and there really was a lot of food – both in terms of choice and amount. We didn’t go with the private bartender, but brought our own top-shelf liquor drinks and champagne instead as this worked out cheaper. We also had Jamaican Canapés during our cocktail hour and the steel band played for about an hour after our ceremony, before we headed to Dolce Vita for our reception. The ceremony was lovely and Reverend Watson was very good. We wanted something more personal and a little longer than the standard ceremony so we added a few things (poems etc.) to extend the ceremony a bit. Rashel did my make-up and she is excellent, so if you choose to book her services, you will have nothing to worry about. Due to another booking, she had to do my makeup really early (11am) and my wedding was at 3pm. She told me to keep the room temperature cool and honestly, I had no problems with my make-up until I took it off at about 2am. I also used the resort spa to do my nails, and they were done well. I can’t comment on hair as I had my own stylist with me. My dress needed steaming and this was organised by Chandlyn and done on the morning of the wedding. No complaints here. I can’t comment on any photographers as we had a photographer with us for a week so that we could capture photos from our excursions. We did a couple of group shopping trips into Ocho Rios, a trip to Dunns River Falls and chartered a private party catamaran with Cool Running’s. All activities were great fun. The resort cake is delicious but I also had a separate rum cake made by Sheila’s Cakes. That cake was awesome and huge. We had sooo much cake. The resort cake is decorated a little too fussy for my tastes but it tasted really good. And now for Chandlyn and Donalee. Having read some of the comments on this site, I was ready to be pretty assertive with them about my expectations. Having met them both, I now have to say, they were a dream to work with. Like you, I have had to wait several days (sometimes weeks) for a response to e-mails and have also had to resend or chase, which is stressful. However, on meeting both ladies and working with them a few days before the wedding and on the wedding day itself, I have nothing but praise for them. I largely dealt with Chandlyn, and she is very professional and really knows her stuff. She reminded me or double-checked things that I had forgotten to mention and also gave some helpful suggestions on how things could be done which ultimately improved our day. Having been in your shoes in the 15month planning of our wedding, I genuinely appreciate that for you as an individual, your wedding is the most important thing to you and believe it or not, Chandlyn and Donalee also understand this. However, they are dealing with around 3 weddings a day, almost every day and it is just the two of them. I met with Chandlyn 5 days before the wedding and whilst I was there, she was always available to respond to any questions or assist me in the run-up to the wedding. On the wedding day, she was fantastic and easily worked a 16-18 hour shift that day. I also worked with Donalee and found her very good too. We had a wedding rehearsal the day before and Chandlyn took the bridal party through everything including the timings for the walk to the gazebo, where everyone should be positioned etc. You will have no problems hearing the music/ceremony etc. as they use a PA system, and I had my music on an IPOD playlist, so you can use this or a CD. I am actually trying to keep this review brief, and I could say so much more. However the main thing that I want to convey, is to trust in the fact that you will have a great wedding that will provide you with wonderful memories for the future. My unofficial nickname is Miss High Maintenance, supposedly due to my high standards and I can honestly say that the Gran Bahia exceeded our expectations. With such a large group, we were nervous about the amount of money that people had spent to attend and the distance that they had travelled (Jamaica is 10 hours from England). We definitely wanted everything to be perfect. Our guests have been full of compliments on the wedding and resort choice, so please try not to worry. I wish you all happy planning for your special day. It is going to be fabulous!