ashley490

Well ladies, I’m back! We stayed at GBP from January 14-21, 2012 and got married on the 18th. We certainly had the most beautiful day to get married...hardly any wind at all. I don’t want to repeat everything that some of the other ladies have said to I’ll just do some highlights. Meeting: We met with Chandlyn the day after we arrived. She had placed a note under our door the night before to let us know when our meeting with her was booked for. At the meeting she pretty much had everything written down that I had emailed her about. Just a few last minute corrections. Since I hired Paula and Damian from Sungold to do our pictures I told Chandlyn I did not want the resort photographer present and that I didn’t need the 5 free pictures that come with the package. Since I was skipping the pictures she offered to give me an extra layer of cake for free. Then I gave her our wedding favours and we paid for everything on credit card and we were set. Wedding: Our ceremony was at 4pm. I almost would’ve preferred a 3:00pm ceremony just to have a little bit of buffer time between the ceremony, pictures, and dinner. I felt a little rushed trying to freshen up before dinner. We were supposed to eat at the Grill but they moved us to the Palmyra (buffet restaurant) which was okay since it was much quieter than the Grill. Despite the change in location we were still able to eat the food I had selected from the Grill (chicken Caesar Salad, beef vegetable soup, mix grill, and cheesecake). The food was good, people swapped parts of the mixed grill amongst each other to get more of what they liked which worked well. My favourite was the soup. They had the cake table there and brought out the cake once everyone was finished their main course. Since we were only a group of 23 we all sat at one long table which felt less formal and as such more comfortable for us. After dinner we went back to the gazebo for dancing, drinks, and entertainment. We hired the bartender who was really nice but doesn’t stock Red Stripe, so if you have lots of beer drinkers you might want to skip the bartender (I wish I had now that I know). We also hired the hat field dancers, who do some fire dancing, to perform. I would give them a 3 out of 5. They weren’t super but it was still entertaining to watch. It also filled up some of our dance time which was good since we don’t have a lot of people in our group who like to dance. Overall the wedding was great, and our guests said everything was lovely. The only one who noticed anything wrong was me because I put so much time and effort into planning everything. Things that went wrong: They delivered all of the flowers to my room, and because I was busy getting ready I didn’t realize until it was too late that they had left the men’s bouts in my room too. I panicked but thankfully our photographer, Damian from Sungold, offered to run them down to the guys at the gazebo. Crisis averted!! I had given fans to Chandlyn at the meeting to be placed on the chairs at the gazebo. I guess she had given them to Donnalee and then Donnalee gave them to a “trainee†to hand out. My guests never did get the fans. Turns out the “trainee†gave them to the bride that had her ceremony at 2:00pm instead of my group at 4:00pm. Needless to say I was REALLY ticked off! It was frustrating sorting this out as Donnalee insisted that they had been given out. After talking to her about it a couple days after the wedding she still insisted that she didn’t know what happened but offered to have our marriage certificate mailed to us express post. I paid the resort to provide the chair ties. I gave explicit direction on what the color should be (purple in the same shade as my orchids). They ended up using a much darker purple which I wasn’t really thrilled about. They also decorated the gazebo in the same color but then tied lime green bows at the bottom of the pillars, which I thought was hideous and still have no idea why they did that. My wedding cake was 3 tiers. I had asked for coconut, chocolate, and vanilla raspberry. I ended up getting 2 layers of vanilla raspberry and one layer of chocolate. I complained about this to Donnalee and she said she was going to check into it with the pastry chef...but nothing ever happened. We had the DJ play music for the ceremony. While he played the right songs at the right places, I assumed that he would fade out the songs before turning them off. Wrong again! As soon as people got to their spots the DJ abruptly turns off the music. So if you want a nice fade out perhaps burn the CD that way. Aside from the wedding, we went to the Japanese restaurant 2 days before the wedding where the chef burned my face with hot oil. He didn’t even ask if I was okay, just looked over and then kept going about his business. The other 9 people around the table saw what happened and were shocked but at least showed concern and asked if I was okay. Had I not been wearing my glasses my eyes would’ve been burned. I didn’t report the incident right away and then when I did bring it forward the woman from PR basically called me a liar because I hadn’t reported it sooner. Things to Rave about: Damian and Paula from Sungold are AMAZING! While they are somewhat expensive I thought (and hubby thinks too) that they were worth every penny. Damian was so kind when I had a bit of a freakout about the flowers before the ceremony and tried to help in any way he could. His eye for detail is second to none. He’d always make sure my necklace was straight and that “the girls†(since I’m busty) were always properly covered, and that I was looking perfect all day. We did a next day trash the dress shoot at Coyaba gardens, and Damian and Paula picked us up from the resort in their own vehicle and drove us. I was feeling really sick that day and both Damian and Paula were so sweet. They’d stop the car occasionally to let me out for some fresh air and even stopped and bought me a drink to help settle my stomach. The few pics that I saw on their camera were phenomenal! I really can’t say enough about them. They are truly gifted photographers and are just fantastic people all around. Rashel Edwards is undeniably gifted at what she does. I had her do my makeup for my wedding and next day TTD session and I felt like a beauty queen both days. She was definitely worth the money! If you’re unsure about hiring her, just know that she will make you look flawless for your wedding. She was also so pleasant, patient, and understanding. I was really late for my appointment with her (I mixed up the time I was supposed to meet her) but she just waited for me (thank god!) and quickly got to work once I arrived. She really is a gem and her work speaks for itself! Overall we had a nice vacation. The resort is huge but has lots of options for things to do. I had read in some reviews that the bugs were bad but we didn't notice this to be a problem. The best place to eat is Don Pablo’s (get the chateaubriand). The best snorkelling is by the wedding gazebo. The best sand for the beach is towards the nude beach. Relax, explore, and enjoy! Know that not everything will go according to plan but just roll with it and you’ll still have fun. If anything is wrong talk to your travel rep right away and hopefully they can get you some type of compensation. If you have any questions just ask!

I would highly recommend using Island Importer for purchasing linen suits. We ordered our guys stuff from there and they were fabulous to deal with! I had actually measured FI wrong so when I received the pants they didn't fit. I assumed since it was a custom suit (which you cannot return) and since it was also my error that I would have to buy another pair of pants. But when I called Island Importer they offered to make a new pair for free! They were really understanding about my accidental miss sizing and said their goal is to make sure the guys look really good for the wedding. Anothere plus was that the shipping was really fast (I live in Canada and Island Importer is in the States and the custom suit only took 3-4 weeks to be made and arrive at my house). You can also order fabric swatches from them for around $10 (which is what I did) so that you know the true color rather than trying to guess from looking online. Check out their website www.islandimporter.com

I've heard it's easier for the DJ if you put your music on CD's. Apparently they have difficulties operating Ipods. I've also heard that if you're going to bring an Ipod it's easiest if you bring your own connections just so you're not disppointed in case something happened to the ones the resort has.

Maybe try contacting Tai Flora, they're the florist for GBP. They'd likely be able to send you photos of which flowers are included in the free wedding package. Their email is [email protected]

The other florist is Jan's. The website is http://jansflowersjamaica.com/

I made my deposit using Western Union, it was the cheaper option for me. Rashel will give you a couple different options for your deposit (moneygram, bank wire transfer, etc) though. I let the wedding coordinator know that Rashel was coming in to do my makeup and I was told that she would need the day pass which is $75. I was able to negotiate with Chandlyn and ended up being able to include Rashel in my number of wedding guests so I only have to pay the supplemental fee. Since I'm using the free package it only costs $20 for her to come on the resort. I'm also having Rashel stay to do touch-ups throughout the evening which I think is very worth it. Rashel also has a December to Remember special on right now, although it's only for the first 10 brides to book...but you should ask her about it. I think it gets you 15% off your total. She also has packages if you have a larger bridal party that you might be interested in, if she hasn't mentioned it to you.

I've also booked Rashel Edwards for makeup and her assistant for my hair. I found her prices to be comparable to the resort's. The selling factor for me was that Rashel uses airbrush makeup which is really lightweight and gives you a super flawless look, whereas the resort salon uses concealer, foundation, etc. Much more cakey in my opinion. I think Rashel's portfolio also speaks for itself, not to mention the endless positive reviews from past brides. Her facebook page is called Chasity Artistry Rashel Edwards Her email address is [email protected] She's been fantastic to deal with. She has even added me to her BBM in case I have any questions so that she can respond quickly. I highly recommend her!

Thanks for the update Kya. It's nice to get some feedback from someone in a somewhat similar boat. We live in a town that has a population around 10,000 - 12,000 people. I've lived here my whole life but my fiance has only been here for the last 4 years. He works at a Nickel mine and has been spreading the word but he's not the pushy sort lol! He'll casually mention it in conversation but that's about it. As far as growing up here goes, it seems lots of my family, friends, and the people I knew growing up have either moved or just aren't going to be in town for New Year's so I feel like we aren't going to have a huge crowd to draw on. Not to mention I work at an addictions center so it's not like I can even advertise at work lol! There's also 3 other socials happening that night and 2 of those 3 couples are what I call "power couples". They seem to know literally EVERYONE, and people that I thought would come to mine are going to the power couple social instead. I'm starting to really get down about the whole thing. I just about started bawling just thinking about it today. I'm trying to stay positive but it's hard at this point. I feel like I've put so much effort into organizing it and there's a chance it's going to be a flop. I appreciate the reassurance that folks usually buy tickets the week before though. I don't quite feel so alone now

Hi Kya! I was just wondering how social ticket sales were coming for you? Mine are so slow, almost next to nothing so I'm having a bit of a melt down. If we don't end up selling a whack load more in a very short amount of time then I might as well cancel the social. Everyone keeps telling me to relax and that most people will buy at the last minute but I feel like we should've at least sold 50 by now and we haven't. If your's are going well do you have any suggestions on how I can push ticket sales along?

That's super weird!! I've never received anything like that since being on this forum for almost a year. Sounds like you did the right thing by reporting it

I've never heard of him before. I'd be cautious if he doesn't have a large wedding portfolio. Sometimes when photographers don't have large wedding portfolio's it can be because 1) they've not done very many or 2) they don't have a lot of "usable" photo's to share. I'd check into other photog's that past brides have used like Sungold, Merrick Cousley, or Marcia Roberts.

I sent my STD cards out even before I had picked the resort so you're ahead of where I was lol! I also didn't have an official ceremony date so I only put the month and year. I put this little verse on it (see below) to at least give some indication as to what we were doing. Even though I didn't have all the details I wanted to let my guests know asap that they were being invited so that they could start saving up for the trip. Here's what I put: Save the Date to Celebrate! (Bride's first name) & (Groom's first name) aren't married yet But save the date so you won't forget. The Caribbean is where it will be An invitation will follow so you can RSVP The Wedding of (Bride's full name) to (Groom's full name) January 2012 Resort, pricing, and other details will be obtained and shared in January 2011.

We're country fans too! Originally we were going to do a combo dance but I was going to be dancing with my brother and my fiance was going to dance with his mother. I had chosen My Wish by Rascall Flatts for it, which I highly recommend. We've ended up deciding to scrap the whole combo dance idea though because it ended up that my brother can't come. Have a listen to the lyrics, I'm sure you'll love it

JayKay - I'm kind of in a similar boat and was just talking about this today with a woman I work with. Her suggestion was to still allow them to participate in the wedding events but if I want to give them an OOT bag it was at my discretion. She also suggested that if I do decide to do OOT bags for them that they don't have to be the same as everyone else's. They should be happy to receive anything you want to give them. I thought her advice was pretty good so I've decided to still make them OOT bags but only with things that I can find now. I'm not going to put in a whole lot of extra work but I don't want to exclude them either.

It's been my experience that the wedding coordinators often take a week or more to reply to emails, especially during high season. My travel agent advised me to re-send the same email to the wedding coordinator if I don't receive a response after 5 days. The second email always seemed to elicit a response within a couple of days. I would also suggest dealing strictly with Chandlyn. She seems to have a friendlier disposition, is more knowledgeable, and doesn't seem so rigid about the resort rules. That's only been my experience though.

I just received word back from Chandlyn regarding this whole gazebo thing. Here's what I sent her and what her response was. I was speaking to another bride-to-be who is getting married at your resort in January and she had mentioned that she was just informed there is a minimum amount of 25 persons required to rent the gazebo and bartender for the dance portion of the reception. Could you please clarify if this information is correct? I'm sure you can see from the number of guests in my group as identified above why I am concerned about this new information. While I know you have already confirmed the gazebo, DJ, and bartender for me and my group for the dance portion of the reception, could you please re-confirm that the gazebo, DJ, and bartender are all booked for me from 8:30pm to 10:30pm as I do not want to run into any difficulties upon arrival and do not want anything cancelled on me due to only having 23 guests total in my group.All arrangements will be followed as previously arranged for the gazebo after party I was speaking to another bride-to-be who is getting married at your resort in January and she had mentioned that she was just informed there is a minimum amount of 25 persons required to rent the gazebo and bartender for the dance portion of the reception. Could you please clarify if this information is correct? I'm sure you can see from the number of guests in my group as identified above why I am concerned about this new information. While I know you have already confirmed the gazebo, DJ, and bartender for me and my group for the dance portion of the reception, could you please re-confirm that the gazebo, DJ, and bartender are all booked for me from 8:30pm to 10:30pm as I do not want to run into any difficulties upon arrival and do not want anything cancelled on me due to only having 23 guests total in my group.All arrangements will be followed as previously arranged for the gazebo after party So she really didn't say one way or the other if their policy had changed, but it seems as though I'll be having the gazebo with a bartender for my group of 19 people. Perhaps if you are still wanting the bartender you could pay for the minimum number of people (25) even though there are less in your group, that way the resort is still making it worth their while so to speak. I know that may seem silly having to pay more, but if you really want it they may be flexible and it's worth a shot. Otherwise I'd just do what other brides have done and tip some of the bartenders around the resort to get some jugs of rum punch or something.

I'm pretty sure Chandlyn's email is [email protected]

I had checked with Chandlyn back in March and she indicated at that time that the mix grill is bits of pork, chicken, and beef. I thought that was a nice selection so that's what I've opted to go with. I also originally asked for the ceasar salad but now with the couple of reviews I've read about it not being very good I'm torn on whether or not I should change to something else. If it is only the dressing that makes the salad not very good it might be possible to bring a couple bottles of dressing along and get the resort to use that instead of what they normally use....just a thought though.

My wedding isn't until January 2012 and I was able to reserve the gazebo back in February 2011. I had no problems booking the gazebo at that time however, I believe I booked it through Beverly when she was still there which may have made the difference. I too am very frustrated by their constantly changing policies. It seems as though everyone gets a different answer for every little thing. It also seems that this resort is becoming more sticky on some of their policies (i.e. needing 25 guests in order to book the gazebo). I am so thankful for this message board! It helps me keep my sanity

Thanks for posting the response you received! I'm going to email Chandlyn immediately to ensure that my reception not be cancelled. I also have had the bartender booked from the very beginning of my planning and never was it mentioned that there was a minimum number of guests for the gazebo/private bartender. Thanks again for sharing the info! I'm so glad to hear about this now instead of once I get down to the resort. This just solidifies my decision to print off ALL of my emails that I've sent/received from the wedding coordinators to bring them on the trip.

I've never been told that and I've got a group of 19 which Chandlyn is very aware of. I think you should speak to the manager. That's absolutely ridiculous since they clearly knew all along how many guests you were having. Keep me posted on whether the minimum number of people thing gets cleared up.

We're also having a New Year's Eve social! I feel like it's creeping up so fast and will be here before we know it. Thankfully all I have left to organize is our liquor order and we're set. YAY!!

Thanks for sharing your brochure! Between yours and Jaykay's I think I have a really good idea about what I should write/include. Thanks again ladies!! You both rock

Hi Ladies! I noticed some of you had made pre-travel brochures for your guests. I was thinking about making some of these but I don't know where to start. If any of you have any suggestions on what to write/include or if you'd be willing to let me use your's as a template I'd really appreciate it. Thanks

When I checked into having my dress steamed down there Chandlyn had informed me that the resort does not have a steamer. She said that one of the local flower companies steams garments starting at $90usd and goes up from there depending on what you need done.