Jamaica2014

Hi...would any brides be willing to share a copy of their ceremony script (non religious). We have part of ours done, but we're still trying to piece together some sections. If you could PM me that would be great! Thank you

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Originally Posted by Jamaica2014 

Hi...another January bride here We arrive on the 20th too. Our big day is on the 24th!!! How many in your group?

 

Crazy! We fly out of Toronto at 8am..Would be funny if we were on the same flight!.. Apparently there are 2 other wedding parties on the same flight as us. We have 47 confirmed including us..What about you?

I got this from them today:

The following original documents must be submitted in English when applying

For the marriage license:

~ Full names of the bride and the groom (first, middle and last names)

~ Full names of the mother and father of the bride and the groom (first, middle

And last names)

~ Proof of citizenship - original or certified copy of Birth Certificates and Photo ID for the bride and

Groom

~ Occupations of the bride, the groom,

~ If divorced, original or certified Decree Absolute papers must be produced.

~ If widowed, the original or certified copy of the former partner’s Death

Certificate must be produced.

~ If either party is under 18 years of age, written consent must be given by his/her

Parents.

~ Legal proof must be presented if either party has changed their name by Deed

Poll.

Above documents MUST be sent via courier service at least 3 months prior to your arrival at Resort, Please forward all documents to the Groups Events & Weddings Department of the Grand Bahia Principe Resort Salt Coppers, Pear Tree Bottom, Run Away Bay St. Ann Jamaica WI. Please contact the Resort directly at 876 973-7000 .should you require further clarifications No original documents will be given back. Notarized copies are required.

That's exciting!We don't arrive until the 20th. I feel like it's coming quick!!My colors are Malibu blue and coral accents

I find it extremely hard to get answers too sometimes. Can anybody confirm if you had to forward your original birth certificates to the resort or could you send scanned colour copies? Do you get the originals back...I hope so, lol!

Nice. We get there on the 20th, we'll just miss you!

We are at the GBP from January 20th to 27th and are flying with Air Transat...booked through Trip Central and are paying $1600 for Golden Club rooms. Our TA has been great, and I found that prices in January were actually better than February, March and April! Our flight times are reasonable too...we leave Toronto at 8:00 a.m. and fly back from Jamaica early afternoon!

Hello Everyone, We just got back from our wedding and trip and while all the small details are still fresh I wanted to share our experiences; Arrival: Sunday We had 25 guests who traveled with us and our time getting through the Montego Bay airport put us all a little bit off schedule. We didn't arrive to the resort until approximately 10:30 - 10:45PM and everyone was tired, flustered (a lot of 1st time travelers). My Husband and I tried to help everyone through the process. GBP had all our welcome packages for us on the bus and there was a little confusion but nonetheless everything seemed to work out. We were able to laugh about everything because it felt like we were "herding cats". **Note - if you are traveling with anyone who has dietary needs (including diabetes) if you are arriving at the resort between 10:00PM and 11:00PM there is nowhere to eat and the distance between the buffet and the snack bar seems like a million miles away. We had to fight to get the snack bar open quickly and slightly early as we had a guest who needed to eat quick. When we finally got to our rooms we had a letter from Chandlyn with a meeting time of 11:00AM on Monday. The rooms were wonderful, large, clean and cool. Ok, so some rooms were short a towel or two or a bathrobe etc...nothing that couldn't be fixed. Monday Our meeting with Chandlyn was great, 30 minutes, we met with her and her assistant Stephanie. I was shocked at how easy all the final details took to decide on. We chose the Grill as our dinner/reception and the Gazebo for the wedding and dance. We also confirmed the time for the golf cart to pick us up by our room (bride and bridesmaids). We decided to go with the Silver package for the pictures ($350) which was 40 photos and we decided to get the ceremony and a session after the ceremony. Everything else we figured we would just use all the guests photos to capture everything else. Altogether we chose the Unforgettable Package and in total the entire wedding day cost us $3000.00 US. We had a rehearsal scheduled for 5:00PM that day which meant we spent the rest of the day trying to track down the room numbers of our parents, bridal party etc because we weren't that organized 24 hours in. **TIP** - Schedule a breakfast/brunch (SOMETHING) for all guests the day or day after you arrive to exchange room information if no one has their cell phones. Our rehearsal was great, took about 45 - 60 minutes (closer to 60 minutes because one of our groomsmen was enjoying the all inclusive bar) but it was hilarious. Stephanie was there and ran the group through exactly where to stand, what would be said, who was walking in with who etc. Tuesday - The Big Day!!! Our wedding was scheduled for 11:00AM - which meant for us women to be ready by 10:30AM and downstairs for the golf cart by 10:45AM. I had my sister (MOH) and a few other bridesmaids and guests do my hair and make up (as someone who doesn't wear make up ever, I was not spending $250 on hair and make up) and I'm so grateful for the ladies who did such a great job!! We didn't have time to go down for breakfast so one of my bridemaids called for room service and we had fruit trays and ham and cheese sandwhiches and (coffee - made in our room). The resort staff were fantastic and as soon as we mentioned wedding day we got a yes for everything. Something happened between 10:45 - 11:00 (my father was down at the gazebo, one of my bridesmaid were late, now I was stressing) and somehow we missed the golf cart and someone called the front desk to see what happened. They told us to come to the lobby - once that got sorted out we were treated to mimosa's in the golden club bar and then travelled down to the gazebo. I was about 20 minutes late but the driver just told me everything was good, no problems, no worries - which was so nice to hear. Finally, I'm in line waiting to walk down the aisle - I met Chris the photographer right there and the pictures started. He was great, so easy going, very natural and very friendly. The steelband was playing (they sounded amazing) and then the ceremony happened. Ceremony - the ceremony was beautiful, that's all I can say - I couldn't have imagined anything else. Our minister was so soulful and we truly felt he was there for us and speaking directly to us. We cut the cake and did the cake pictures and what not. We were supposed to cut the cake and eat it with the guests and champagne but because we were running late (and they do 3 weddings a day there) we agreed to cut the cake and then serve the cake at dinner. (Our cake looked like it was melting, literally, like the leaning tower of pisa - but you couldn't tell in the pictures lol) Our picture session with Chris lasted about one hour - it was great. About a few poses in I began to feel so bad for our bridal party (even though none of them complained) because it was so hot and I let Chris know it was ok for them to leave and my Husband and I would continue with our private pictures. **TIP** - Make sure you apply sunscreen before the ceremony, and 1/2 way through your pictures or just before the pictures to avoid a burn if you are prone to sunburn. Our group came back together at 4:00PM for cocktails in the Golden Club Bar (AC!!) until it was time for dinner - 5:30PM. We arrived on time for the 5:30 reservation and we had to wait an extra 30 minutes to get in. We had 36 guest in total and once we did get in we realized 2 of our guests who were staying off resort had brought dates we weren't expecting bringing us to 38 guests, so they had to make 2 extra seats and we said we'd square up with Chandlyn after - this created major tension between us and the staff there. I was quite appalled at how he spoke to us and then how he kept walking back and forth, during the dinner, counting my guests. A friend of mine spoke to him on the side and he backed off. The meal at the grill was horrible, but our group just laughed and made plans to go to the buffet after lol. We had the speeches there and during my father in law's speech a group across from us began singing "happy birthday" making it very difficult to hear him **TIP** - Do your speeches somewhere else, somewhere where you'll have a little more privacy or control over the atmosphere.   Our cake was never served during dinner - we actually never saw the cake or the cake topper again and didn't realize it until we got home. Obviously - this wasn't a big deal to us. We then proceeded to the Gazebo again for lanterns and the dance. We opted to purchase our own booze at duty free ($150 Canadian) and a couple guests threw in a bottle or two as well, we had a staff at the resort during the day ask if we "needed" anything at the dance portion and we let him know it was only mix we needed - $70.00US later we had mix, ice, cups and 2 bartenders for the night (2 hours - 8:30PM - 10:30PM) - **TIP** - YOU CAN BARTER FOR ANYTHING. We even ended up with left over bottles and just gave them to the bartenders and DJ as a thank you. The DJ came with the Gazebo rental - you can bring your IPOD with music you like or have a "must play" list. Have your special dances labeled and let him know when to play them. DJ played good music (top 40, old 90's dance etc) kept our younger crowd going but not our Country loving parents and ourselves lol but it was still a great time. Overall - I loved our wedding. If you "don't sweat the small stuff", it'll be a magical and beautiful memory for the rest of your life. Here's a list of pointers I think might be helpful to pass on: - get your guests room #'s - DO NOT spend one moment of your time worrying about everyone else - they'll figure it out - The Dress - omg, I didn't have a 2nd dress, I wanted one dress and once dress only... needless to say I spent the time between the pictures and the cocktails in the tub in  cold water - where my new husband and I laughed about the morning/ceremony portion of our day. It's hot there - just remember that. - Both our parents are divorced, remarried, and don't get along here - but on an island, on your day, nothing else should matter (it worked!) If you're looking for more information around the financial/bartering pieces, or any questions at all here's my email address - [email protected] - we can talk there. Good luck to everyone and congratulations xoxo Jessica

Moores has really nice Linen Calvin Klein suits with vest for destination weddings...my fiance and I are purchasing his outfit today If you live in Ontario, Moores is having a buy one get one free sale on everything in the store until Sunday April 29th...worth checking out!

HI Ladies, How are you? I just got back a week ago from the Gran Bahia, and wanted to post my review. I got Married on Monday the 15th at 4pm I am going to first say we had no problems with the wedding, just a few with the resort. Make sure you put a request for your maids to come with towels early the morning of your wedding, or stash a few away for the big day, as we did not have any in my sisters room and my husband had to use a beach towel from the twowel exchange because the house keepers had none when he wanted to shower and get ready. Our week was great, weather was amazing could not have asked for better. The only complaint I do have is the amount of time it takes with the couple the week you are away. We had four seperate days of wedding stuff and really took away from our vacation and rest time. Ill do wedding and photography seperate reviews Wedding: We met with Chandyln our second day there, was about half an hour meeting. We went over all the details, menus, decorations, spot where it was to be held. We went over names, which was a good thing as my husband has two last names and they had it down as one. They had Costa down on all th paper work such as menus etc, and it is Dalla Costa. They quickly changed all of that. The notorized documents, she didnt looki at, or ask to know if we had them wiith us. She was good. We met with Arricife photography at this meeting as well, we were using them for our wedding, they confirmed times as to when they were to come to the room, confirmed room numbers at this time as well. We had our rehersal at 10am on the saturday. This as with Deardra. She walked us through what was going to happen the weddding day. Talked about what tiem to be at the golf cart, what time the guests and the men needed to be at the ceremony site. Walked through the bridal procession, practice exit. Answered all questions at this time. Was good. Took about 45 minutes. Monday the day of our wedding, as good, we ordered room service for breakfast and lunch, which was prompt, and hot. too much food actually, but better to have too much than not enough. Again no towels which was bad, I had to use a hand towel to dry off with after my shower. My sister and my Cousin do hair and makeup for a living. So I did not use any services in Jamaica for this. The lightening in the room was fab for this. they were in room 18504 facing the inner of the resort and had great light to do their job. We were right on time with everything. The flowers from Taiflora came on time, the ceremony site set up in plenty of time before the guests made their way to the point. we had our ceremony on the beach side to the right of the gazebo. Taiflora was good. They set up the ceremony site as askled, arbour with white chiffon, and white chivari chairs. worth the extra money. I am not a fan of chair ties. and this all blended into the sea background so nicely. The flowers were nice, the braidesmaids bouquest esxaclty as asked, white hydrangeas with torch ginger and coral orchids. Mine was different than expected, than what they sent me in the picture. I asked for white hydrangeas, coral orchids and pink callalillies were to sort of encompass it around the stems. I got a few callalillies, and blush roses were in my bouquet. I did not ask for roses. It was pretty though. They sent all flowers up in plenty of time for photos After taking a few pre photos, the golf cart to take us to the ceremony site was right on time, acutally calling the photographer at 345 to ask where we were. They took us to the ceremony site, and we met donnalee (another wedding coordinator) at the large walk to the peir. They had the music I had provided for the pre ceremony playing as we arrived. The procession music I wanted played and we flowed through. Everything worked well. 4pm was a good tiem to get married, the sun was starting to drop in the sky, provided nice light for photos, was not directly in our eyes, the wind though on the peir! wow, make sure you have lots of hairspray!.  The videographer was there and filmed the ceremony. AFter the ceremony they played our exit music that we provided. they were right on point with the music. We took group photos, guests, photos and family photos on the peir, and then carreid on to the beach for bridal party photos. When my husband and I branched off to do our photots, my bridesmaids went and checked on the venu and said it was set up perfectly. We rented pisces. Yes it is $1700, but it is gorgeous, the backdrop of the sunset for our 630 reception was magical. The dj was great that was included. played our entrance songs as I had specified on the cds, and played our special dances as asked. The only complaint here is that the wedding planners did not give him a copy of the reception itinerary so that he knew what was going on, I had given one to my maid of honor and she was able to give it to him. He followed it perfectly. He also does not do any annoucements. My maid of honor stepped in for an mc last minute. I thought he would be able to say mom and dad now for speech etc, nope. He doesnt talk. Mikes are provided, it is wirelss. Everyone was able to hear everything well. We had a small reception 22 people with us. It was nice. We did a sweetheart table for the two of use, adn did tables of 6 and 8 circular for our quests. It looked really pretty. Taiflora again had privded us with table cloths and hangining alnterns, and brought the chivari chairs from ceremony to reception for us. The wedding coordinator had set out our place cards as we had wanted, I prrovided them with a seating plan, and they set up our centrepeices and guest book table as asked as well. They were on point. Reception dinner was by dolce vita, was fantastic, we mixed and matched off the menu choices. Caprese salad, ravioloi, stuffed chicken, and the chocolate puffs for dessert. Im not picky on wedding cake, but they provided wedding cake (my husband wanted lemon) and they made us lemon, which was great, and they cut and served it with dessert. The restaurant manager kept things going as we wanted, and was great letting us know when cake cutting time was etc. Beer and wine were served all throughout the reception Dancing with out group was great, dj was amazing, played country, top 40 and then all the top club hits, and mixed reageton in for me. Reception ended at 1030 sharp. Had one last slow song to close off the night and all done. Had a greta time, our guests had a blast. I recommend having the pisces rented out as you are able to do your special speeches, your dances and have a private night with your guests. Photography: we used the resort wedding photographer. we requested Chris Lee as per the recommendations he had had from this forum. He was fabulous. He did a great job. I am not comfortable in front of the camera, and am not a fru fru bride and he did coaching with me, let me know what he was thinking, made me feel very comfrotable. he listended to what I wanted. and went with it. I wanted the girls first glance at dress pic, and my dads first look pic.  His pics were great. Ill add a few at the end. he stayed for the reception, left at 10. Great repception shots, greta journalistic shots of us and my guests. We got all the pics, well worth it, I was not bale to cut them down to the 75 which were in cluded in our package. I would highly recommend him. And it was much cheaper than having another come off the resort. We also got the videoographer for the ceremony, we had a small guest group,. and have alot of family we want to chare this with. Yea it is not a 4 minute movie trailor like some couples are doing now. But it is ceremony, and a few shots after, 21 minutes long and only $440. Compared to $3200 for 4 minutes. I wanted the ceremony to keep our memories of our ceremony forever, well worth it and a good deal to me. All in all it was a great day. Easiest way to get married in my eyes. Was not stressful, and needed much less of my time. They did a great job and carried it off without a hitch.  Here are a few pics

yes i confronted chandlyn with this.  this is what i was told. the photographers has exclusive right to the resort  if you request that they not be part of your wedding at all then you need to pay the photographer $800 before the wedding is performed....  you can request him not be in your room. chandlyn has forward my email i sent her to the photographer.  i will let u know what the response is. LOL!! 

Thats so much for that information, makes me feel better. i got this very stern email from the photographer at the resort which basically told me I had no choice in the matter. Saying that he has full rights to attend my meeting........ If i dont want you there who gives you the right...

I got this email from the resort photographer.  You can email them your questions. [email protected] This is an agreement of exclusivity between Arrecife Studio and Gran Bahia Principe Resort it’s applied to all of its different services. Sorry for the inconvenience we may cause; but please inform us if you have a local or international Videographer or Photographer. Photo Service:  If a guest brings a professional photographer local or international, the photographer (not the guest) must pay US$ 800 fee because of the Photo service exclusivity breakage between the both above mentioned companies. Video Service: If a guest brings a professional Videographer local or international, the Videographer (not the guest) must pay US$ 200.00 fee because of the Video service exclusivity breakage between the both above mentioned companies. We want to make clear that this fee is not for the client it’s for the photographer or Videographer, who is making business in a resort that has an exclusivity agreement with our company. If you need any further assistance do not hesitate to contact us.  Thank you and let us know in advance.   Kindest Regards,

I don't feel comfortable with the resort photographer being in my room. They can be at the ceremony if they want, but I don't want them in the way of my friend who will be taking my pictures. My photographer said she has never paid for a vendors fee at any destination wedding she has done. She said we shouldn't have to pay since she is a paying guest and is staying for 3 nights plus! She said if it comes down to it she will pay the $800, but I still think it is BS. We have to pay for many other things...I just don't understand. But, I will be putting a stop to the resort photographer being in my room...that is my privacy and I heard the resort photographer is not good at all. Sorry to sound rude, but this is one of the most important days of my life and I don't need any extra stress that day. :-)

Hey ladies...I have emailed Chandlyn the same email 4 times since the end of February and I still haven't heard back Very frustrating! Does anyone have another contact name or email? Who is this Stefanie person? Thanks.

Hey ladies...I have emailed Chandlyn the same email 4 times since the end of February and I still haven't heard back Very frustrating! Does anyone have another contact name or email? Who is this Stefanie person? Thanks.

Hi...does anyone have pictures of what the semi private Dolce Vita dinner option looks like? Do have an option as to how they set up the tables?

Great thanks for the info

To clarify again, anyone can't rent the gazebo for a spot to have a dj and some dancing up to 11 pm and for a 2 hr period. if anyone goes way back to the beginning of these posts, you'll see that it's an option that a lot of brides have done and has worked out really well. Unless you rent the Piscis open location which is private or ask for the Dolce Vita privately at a cost of $2500, all other reception locations are semi private. Yes there are other diners there, but the resort really does work hard at trying to make sure the wedding groups are as close to private as possible and the Dolce Vita has a semi private room where they put wedding groups. I've never seen a single complaint about uninvited guests at a reception held there. Ladies - you have to remember this is Jamaica and it's a resort. it's a different wedding experience and a wonderful one. you're going there to have a special no stress wedding. don't try to make it like a wedding you would plan at home. that's not the idea. Enjoy the planning experience and the fact that you're on a beautiful island in the Caribbean marrying the love of your life.

January 15th 2014!! - We'll be at the resort from the 11th to the 18th. Maybe we'll see you there!

Hey ladies...I'll be getting married in January 2014...and I cant wait! Thanks again everyone for all the helpfull advice...this site has made the planning process so much smoother I have rented the Gazebo and DJ for the after dinner party/dance. Can anyone tell me if this is the same gazebo that you get married in? As well, does the resort set up any decorations, lighting in the gazebo? Thank you!

Your pictures were absolutely beautiful...Does anyone know if the resort photopgapher has changed recently? These pictures are very good, bust past reviews regarding the resort photographer have scared me! As well, does anyone know... if your photographer is a paying guest, do you need to pay the vendors fee. Thanks again everyone for the info...really helpful

Hey everyone....thanks for all the helpful advice! I joined this site two weeks ago and have been reading non stop! I'm getting married at Grand Bahia Principe January 2014 and I am super excited...even if its a year away! The only thing I have been struggling with is the ridiculous venders fee for outside photographers. I have read many replies that indicate that if a photographer is a paying guest at the resort, you do not need to pay the fee. Can anyone confirm this for me? My phtographer is a friend who lives in St. Marteen during Ontario's winter months. We will be paying to fly her to Jamaica and stay at the resort for two nights. She is technically a friend with a big camera, lol! Would the resort still make me pay the $800 vendors fee?

Hey everyone....thanks for all the helpful advice! I joined this site two weeks ago and have been reading non stop! I'm getting married at Grand Bahia Principe January 2014 and I am super excited...even if its a year away! The only thing I have been struggling with is the ridiculous venders fee for outside photographers. I have read many replies that indicate that if a photographer is a paying guest at the resort, you do not need to pay the fee. Can anyone confirm this for me? My phtographer is a friend who lives in St. Marteen during Ontario's winter months. We will be paying to fly her to Jamaica and stay at the resort for two nights. She is technically a friend with a big camera, lol! Would the resort still make me pay the $800 vendors fee?