cupcake1382

OMG.. I hate that this site doesn't let you edit your posts!!! Actually, I just went and looked and she no longer has her pricing on her site but she does have a $2k minimum.

Sorry, I forgot ... her package prices are on her website www.valeriedemophotography.com.

Hey Monarch, Thank you so much. She is truly amazing. She does all our photos. We have used her for family photos and our engagement photos. But now she is revamping her business to just focus on weddings and couples. Her name is Valerie Demo Photography. She is a close friend of mine, when is your date? I know last I checked she only had 2 spots left open for next year.

HAHAHAHAH.... I'm totally stalking my photog! So trust me be selfish, I am, lmao! The towel quality wasn't the BEST, but it definitely did the job. They weren't the most plush but I couldn't beat that price. They are regular beach towel size, 30x64.

Nope didn't melt. I used some of my sons freezer packs that we use in his lunch box. They work perfect and as soon as we got there we took them out. The room was cool so I didn't worry about them melting once we got there.

Oh I forgot.. In the Oh Sh!t kit, there was individually packaged advil I found at Staples. Box of 60 packs with 2 advil in each for $16.

So I am FINALLY going through our 4 camera memory cards and found the bag pics before we handed them out so here they are. Thank you to so many amazing women who had great advice and examples for me to pull from. I really wanted to give back to my guests for spending so much money and vacation days to be with us in Jamaica. If you have any questions about where I purchased items or sellers on ebay/etsy feel free to ask. My guests really loved them and were so thankful for the beach towels (always ran out by 9am at our resort and the washcloths which our resort didn't have.) Also, the snacks were very handy for those 3am drunken munchies The cups were perfect because at the swim up bars they cups were SUPER TINY, so my 22oz cups were perfect! I think if you have the money in your budget, try to at least do something for your guests, not free stuff they can get anywhere and they will truly appreciate it! Kids Bags (Our son, Bryce and another couple's son Amir, both age 5) They both had Spiderman beach towels (by the time I took this pic they were already in the pool so I just added a towel) Spiderman Beach Towels purchased from: Ebay Bag, Bucket and Water Bottle- purchased from: Etsy Not Shown- mini sunscreen, snacks (cheez its, candy, granola bar, capri sun) Each one of our 35 guest received a bag. Beach Towels- Purchased from: www.unitedtextilesupply.com $55/dozen Aluminum Water Bottle and Beach Bag purchased from: www.discountmugs.com 22oz Cups purchased from: cupman75 on Ebay 2 washcloths (our resort didn't have them) purchased from: Walmart $8/8 Welcome Packets (see previous thread) www.ellaspaper.com Oh Sh!t Kit: Mini 1st Aid Kit- Target $1 Shout Wipes- Target $1 for 2 Pepto Bismol, Chaser, Alka Seltzer- Walmart Hand Sanitizer- Dollar Store $1/pack of 3 Gatorade packet-Walmart SPF Lip Balm- Customized on Etsy Snacks/Candy-Costco

Sure I can.. I wrote a mini review on my resort in the thread "Any Gran Bahia Brides".. but I will make sure to link my full review and planning thread next week when I get more pics.

Sure- Chandlyn- Head wedding planner: [email protected] Donnalee- Assistant wedding planner: [email protected]

And, thank you! I meant to put that in my previous response to you!!

Hey Belle- I didn't use any flowers from the resort. Actually, my flowers are silk and I bought them off Etsy. I can pm you the seller if you want. The bridesmaids dresses are Davids's Bridal F13182 in Malibu.

That's awesome Vicki!!

Here is our sneak peek, I will post more and my planning thread hopefully next week The day was amazing and perfect! www.valeriedemophotography.com

We just got back and actually, I addressed all our postcards and stamped them and we actually had the basket for them to put the postcards in at the reception. Then I personally took the basket to the front desk and they mailed them home for us.

Oh- I forgot to talk about "no problem" I now HATE that phrase. That's all everyone says on the resort and it is really annoying. Every time I went to Donnalee or Chandlyn with an issue that's all they would ever say. Sometimes you have to say no- there is a problem and get to the bottom of it without them brushing you off. If you don't stand up to them they will brush you off, so be stern and request what you were promised.

I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK I've missed my GBP brides SO MUCH! Ok so I hate to do this but can I just say DITTO to everything Tekeya said, lol? Our weddings were exactly a week a part and everything that she experienced so did I.... so I will keep it short but feel free to ask questions. I am blunt so I don't meant to offend anyone but I too believe in keeping it real. 1. Donnalee is an asshole. She has not one customer service bone in her body. I'm a wedding planner and I would NEVER talk to anyone of my clients the way she THOUGHT I was going to let her talk to me. She decided to continuously tell me they had a wedding at 3 when my time at the gazebo was until 2pm. So kindly after the 3rd time of her telling me (around 1:40) I politely told her to stop telling me as I understood the 1st time she told me and also I have the gazebo until 2pm, so DO NOT start to take down my decorations until 2pm. She left me alone after that. Secondly, she told me it wasn't her responsibility to give me back my decorations- see below: 2. Make sure you have someone get your decorations after your reception dinner (if you have some things you want back.) Now, I had pomanders, starfish bowls and 31 battery operated tea lights and I told Chandlyn when I met her that I wanted these items back. All she said was "no problem" (I will get more into that phrase later on!). So on Monday, since they don't work on Sunday's I was told no one knew where my items were and I should have elected someone to get the items after the reception at the Dolce Vita. To make matters worse, since the resort is turning over to off season, the Dolce Vita was closed until the day we left. So Donnalee with her stank attitude continued to remind me it wasn't her problem so I reminded her if she wanted me to pay for the wedding packaged she would find my items. After about 45 minutes of back and forth she called Chandlyn who called the manager of the Dolce Vita and said my stuff was in a storage closet in the restaurant and they would be retrieved on Thursday (our check out day) and be mailed to me. I had Donnalee put this in writing on GBP letterhead. 3. Make sure you go through everything with Chandlyn. EVERYTHING. I told her I didn't want the resort photog there, who actually is the photog who takes pictures of you in the pool all day for purchase. Who elbowed my photog a couple times and was quite rude. So this was person #2 who I politely had words with. I told him to leave and that I told Chandlyn I wouldn't need his services. So he gave me some sad look and said, well you get 10 free pictures so can't I shoot something for you? I said no thanks, I have 2 photogs taking care of everything. Since the pictures are free and you aren't getting paid for any of this, it might be better for you to go back to snapping people at the pool. 4. The resort has a mosquito issue in the rooms. My hubby and I were spraying like crazy in our room, it was gross. Other guests had roaches in their rooms. The Dolce Vita has a serious mosquito problem. At the beginning of the reception my dad actually walked all the way back to his room and go OFF and all 35 of us sprayed it before the reception started. We didn't have any bug issues at the gazebo or near the gazebo where we took pictures on the rocks. Honestly the resort is very nice, not 5 star, more like 3 star. The food is ok, the place is HUGE, nice people working there. I did find out that the guys at the swim up bars wearing white button downs with bow ties are Trainees and do not get paid at all. So I made sure to tip them well as they were the most polite and always made my drinks perfectly. The Jerk Shack on the back of the hotel (open from 12-3pm) was soooo good, and we ate there after the wedding (we had a big gap, wedding at 1230, dinner at 6) and we ate there for lunch every day. Breakfast in the main buffet was great, dinner at the Japanese was horrible, and we loved the Dolce Vita and Grille dinners. Make sure you make your dinner reservations when you check in, they fill up fast. We waited and ended up with reservations at 9pm, 2 nights in a row. DON'T splurge on the Golden Club rooms unless you really just want the 30 minutes of internet access and a couple other amenities like a little bottle of rum in your room, and robes/slippers. The rooms are all exactly the same so to pay more money for those few amenities were not worth it to us. I hate real flowers so I had no flowers whatsoever at the gazebo or reception so I got an extra layer of cake for free instead. So I can't comment on Jans or Tai Flora. I also brought my own photogs. Ok that's all I can think of, lol... If you have any questions feel free to ask anything! Here is the teaser we got from my photog- I'll update with more pics when she updates me!

I have some down time in Orlando with a lay over The resort is 40 minutes from the airport and 25 from Dolphin Cove..

OMG LADIES!!!! My time has come, I am heading to Jamaica for my wedding on Saturday!!!! I will make sure to come back and tell you all everything as soon as I get a free minute! xoxo Cupcake

We got the guys shirts from Island Importer also in the aqua color. They all rented tan suits from Jos A. Banks (not sure if you have them where you are but they are a mens suiting store you can also rent tuxes).. I loved that the shirts also came in kids sizes and we got one for our son to match the grooms.

I just wanted to say Happy Wedding Day to my girl Tekeya. She is at our resort the Gran Bahia Principe in Runaway Bay, Jamaica. We have done so much together with our weddings at the same resort one week apart it has been a true pleasure sharing stories, buying stuff together to get a cheaper price, and sharing great deals We will truly be friends for life, I'm happy to have met an amazing, sweet and kind hearted person!

I'm not too sure about anything dealing with the Bahamas. I know the Jamaica Tourism Board was amazing and I just called and told them how many I needed and they sent them right out. You may want to go to one of the Bahamas Forums and see if any of those brides have had any luck contacting them. Good Luck!!

Thanks Lisa- feel free to PM me and ask questions. They were super easy to do!

Try www.island importer.com and www.kgstores.com. They both sell extended sizes. My ex football player hubby 6'2, is a 44 waist 34 length and wears a 4x shirt and we frequent both of those sites for suits, dress clothes for him. For the wedding we got an aqua shirt for him and our son for the wedding. Also I am not sure if this is available to you but www.jimsformalwear.com is where we rented his tux.

I've heard they have tried to incorporate more Jamaican "stuff" into the resort. We are leavin on Wednesday so I will make sure I write a detailed review. As a seasoned traveler, I too look for lots of culture, customs etc in a place I am going. I did hear by lots of people that the jerk chicken in the hut on the resort is amazing.

No problem. Sent! Check your bulk mail if you don't see it. I sent it in 2 emails..