Camalli

It's kalfani he's great but they have him working on so many weddings. Hopefully you have a smaller party? They can't seem to support a wedding party more than ten. Most of the weddings we see there are for smaller groups. Yeah they're not the most responsive group and we were there four days before our wedding and met with them. If you're doing the spa ask to do a trial run for you and your team...I read my husband your note and he said ask her if she could change locations...no on the serious note good luck I hope everything goes more smoothly for you. I don't know what happened to my wedding maybe it was too many people for them maybe we upgraded too many things and brought our own decorations and had too many things for them to do that was out of the ordinary for them but it was just awful

Oh ok. Yea Kalfani is good. I like him and so does my mom and fiance. We actually took a trip there to meet with him in person in May. Only issue I have with them so far in the planning process is responsiveness. It's quite ridiculous and I know they wouldn't get too far that way here in the states - I guess it's the 'island pace'. Of course this is exasperated by the fact that I'm anal retentive - so you can imagine my nerves at this point. But other than that, so far - I think, so good. My wedding is about the size of yours 45 guests including my fiance and I. We got the wedding extravaganza package and the Pisces for the $2,500 to have a fully private reception. Kalfani also confirmed that the DJ is good (DJ Kingston), which we were adamant about, since we're Caribbeans ourselves and my fiance is a party promoter. I'm a project manager by profession, so I've approached the planning and execution from that angle - but of course come the day - you can't predict what will happen. I have a cousin who is an events planner - specializing in weddings - who I've assigned to be my eyes and ears and hands and mouth come the day from morning to night. I've told him not to get in the way of Kalfani and the wedding staff when they're doing their thing, but to make sure it's all getting done and to my liking. He was more than happy to obliged lol. We're planning, we're praying and we're keeping positive that November 1st will go off without a hitch - because they are going to have a bunch of outspoken-take-no-BS angry Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Bajans, Guyanese and Italians to contend with. Like seriously.

 

If I could give negative stars I would...It was seriously the worst experience EVER!  People to this day ask me how my wedding went and I have to pause and try to look for something good to say - at the end, I say well I'm married to the love of my life and I suppose that counts for something!  

 

Let me start off saying that we (my now husband) and I traveled here December of last year to look at the resort.  We had done our research that we wanted to get married in Jamaica and we narrowed it down to two resorts, this one and another one in Montego Bay.  When we went to Gran Bahia - we met with their wedding coordinator who we still adore despite all the challenges that came up but we went there to prepare for our wedding.  We went there to look at the resort, to meet with the wedding coordinator, to discuss our wants and to see if they were able to meet our needs for our wedding.  We were upgraded to a great room, we had great food, we met with different vendors while we were there for make up, photography, videography, florists, etc.  tried all the food and even chose our menu, our appetizers,  and our cake.  We were happy that we came down to Jamaica and spent 8 days to sort everything out for our wedding and we were happy to go back home and took the resort's recommendation to get married in August instead of December as we had wanted to do.  

 

Fast forward to our wedding date of August 9th - well let's start before then August 6th to when we arrived.  Maybe even before that - we had some difficulties confirming things, food, cake, things shipped there like our license information etc.  but we were so strong in our belief that at the final hour - the day of our wedding things will fall to place.  We had about 42 guests fly out to Jamaica with us from California.  Prior to our arrival, majority of our guests upgraded to their Don Pablo suites...I have so many bad things to say about my experience here that I won't have enough space or time to write it all down.  

 

So every headaches of confirming and sending credit card slips etc. our parties finally arrive - a month prior to our departure the hotel was completely booked (even though they told us to move our wedding to August because it's their down time) so half of our family had to stay at different resorts and commute over to our resort for the wedding.  They made us pay extra fees for them on top of what we were paying for their food etc. for the wedding and they were only there for our wedding reception - didn't even take advantage of anything at the resort or eat their food or even swim in their pool...I mean come on!!  So another 1k down to pay for day passes for our guests off sites... basically the mantra that we found at this hotel - if they could charge you for breathing their air - they'd do it.  

 

So we get there and the management is just rude - the whole Don Pablo and regular lounge thing is ridiculous.  They treat people who belong in the regular part of the hotel like they have malaria  - we had one family amongst our guests who were not Don Pablo and they literally chased them out of there although we were just sitting there resting after 24 hours of travel from California through transfers and airports etc.  

 

Moving on...our room this time around although this time was our wedding - was off to the side and our view was the bushes...geez thanks!  So basically once you've made up your mind that you're getting married there and they have your money - they don't care.  And now the stories have changed, now vendor fees that didn't exist before now exist.  We weren't told a vendor fee for make up and now we got one so we were forced to use their spa services for bridal parties hair and make up----DON'T DO IT!  For one or two people I guess it's fine but not for a party of 7 women for hair and make up  - they won't know what to do with themselves.  On the day of my wedding - thankfully I opted to pay the day passes for outside vendor for me and my maid of honor but to appease the hotel I used their spa services for my bridal party and it was a DISASTER!  They started at 6;30 - they were suppose to be done at 8:30, they were suppose to have 7 women there to do hair and make up - what they don't tell you is that those 7 women aren't up to par with make up or hair.  Out of the 7 women who got their hair an make up there, 5 of them took it off, 3 cried, two told them just to stop...and I as the bride was waiting in my room ready for my bridal party to go back into their own rooms to redo their hair and make up.  So two hours later - my bridal party is finally ready and I've lost two hours of my videographer, photographer etc.  you get the picture....

 

While this is going on...the church calls us.  We had two ceremonies, one at the church and one at the hotel gazebo.  The church tells us that our license hasn't been received so they can't marry us....so thankfully my uncle is the priest and we convince him that the hotel does havea  license to marry us so now the legal side of things are going to be taken care of by the hotel instead of the church.  We had sent all of our paperwork to the hotel to complete this for us two months prior and that we were going to be married by the church and just a vows ceremy with them...nevertheless...after that's all sorted out we proceed to the church. 

 

Another minor thing - I have no flowers that morning...since we have two services  they only ordered flowers for the evening and not the morning.  somehow the wedding coordinator gets me flowers and although its ugly as heck - I'm just grateful at this point that they're real and that they're flowers...

 

We had asked for them to provide water bottles for our bus since the church service was going to be long - nope didn't happen.  Thankfully the church anticipated that they'd have a lot of thirsty people so they provided some for us.  

 

We get to the hotel - other things that were suppose to be done aren't done - we asked for lunch to be delivered for our vendors so they could start with photos and videos....not done. 

 

We have our afternoon vows ceremony...scheduled for 4:30...let's just say I was waiting in my wedding dress on a lounge chair next to my guests waiting for an hour for the officiant to show up.  I had to call the general manager's secretary to get things going...and then ofcourse since that was late...everything else we planned for the reception was late.  We planned a grand entrance with a boat - that was late and the guests didn't even notice we came on one.  The food that we paid extra to upgrade...wasn't the food we paid for.  The food that we got was rubbery and gross and not what we tasted or asked for.  The DJ didn't even have our CD for our entrance or our music so again we're standing there waiting while people figure things out.  

 

We paid extra for a cake that they cut slivers of and then gave our guests some lemon cake that we never even asked for!  We paid extra for this cake and they cut like a fourth of it and put the rest in our room...I ended up putting that cake outside our door for the maid to take because what were we going to do with enough cake to feed 50 people? 

 

Oh...side note we had a rehearsal dinner planned for the night before - didn't happen.  So they planned it at one of the casual buffet of the resort.  We were running around all day that by the time we got back to the resort I had to go to dinner.  I had worn the same outfit to the church for rehearsal and you'd think if it was good enough for the church its good enough for the casual buffet right?  NO...I walked in with a white dress and a t shirt over my white dress that comes down pass my knee.  I was asked not ONCE but TWICE by the manager of the buffet Palmyra that I had to go home and change in FRONT OF MY GUESTS!  apparently the strap from my bathing suit was showing by my neck...geez...I have long hair just tell me to cover it.  No he tells me that I have to leave the restaurant...LOL I'm like geez so will my guests.  So we left not ONCE but TWICE...I canceled my wedding for the next day but felt bad for my guests so I decided to keep it.  That's how awful this place made me...I wanted nothing to do with them and wanted our money back. 

 

We paid for upgrades, we paid for a private venue, we paid for transportation, we paid for so many things with this resort so they could accomodate our wedding and it was literally like a nightmare.  The next day I was so pissed that it effected my mood at my own ceremony, all of their mess ups, influenced how I felt...the hour wait at the gazebo, the missing CD for the entrance, I mean you name it...it was wrong.  And we had given them a binder with instructions that were color coordinated with matching diagrams and mock pictures of what we wanted...

 

The next couple of days we meet with the general manager and his staff and do you know what they comped us for all of the above? The $250 fee that we paid for the officiant LOL.  Seriously we almost died laughing...so we didn' get the food we paid to be upgraded, the services at your spa - we didn't get, your staff actually caused the delay of our wedding and caused us to lose out on taking pictures with our bridal party and made us cut so many things out of our wedding reception and you're giving us back $250 after we paid how much to your resort and brought 42 guests for 7 nights?  

 

Don't do it...if you have a small wedding party of less than 10 and its a simple wedding - I say go for it but anything over 10....just go somewhere else or else you'll regret it and you'll forever have to tell stories about your wedding day like I do.  Save yourself the misery...go somewhere else.  We will never return to a Gran Bahia resort again...and they gave us three nights free for our wedding gift ONLY if you buy 7 nights...LOL believe me they can keep it...

 

 

Who was your wedding coordinator? I have Kalfani and my wedding is on November 1st. He's been good so far. I'm so sorry to hear of such a horrible experience you had. I've stayed at the resort a couple of times and it's always been pleasant - but reading your review now has me on even more edge - especially since they're not the most responsive and my wedding is so close.

Hi ladies!

 

I'm back and want to post a review before I forget, these last few weeks have been crazy!! We got married on March 3rd, 2014 and it was absolutely amazing! My fiance and I arrived at the resort on February 25th so we had lots of time to meet with coordinators/photographer etc. and it was the best decision we made. We had 45 guests who all arrived on March 1st and we had all of our meetings and planning done by the time they arrived! I highly recommend going a few days earlier than your guests if you can do it.. Especially if you have a big group.

 

We met with Tamika and Ashani the day after we arrived and went over EVERYTHING and finalized payment. I ordered flowers for myself, bridesmaids and mothers from Tai flora. It was a bit pricey, but I had a specific look I wanted and I have to say they exceeded my expectations! The bouquets were more beautiful than I ever could have imagined! I brought a lot of my own decorations (table runners, chair sashes, etc) -enough for two suitcases full - and they took everything all packed up and said they would handle it! I gave them a picture of everything set up the way I wanted at the reception and they nailed it! They even packed all my decorations up for me afterwards.

 

The ceremony was at 2pm and we were about 20 minutes late! I booked Rashel Edwards for hair and makeup for myself and 6 bridesmaids and she did an amazing job, all the girls loved it! We started at around 9am and were on time until we tried to squeeze my mom and mother in law in and that's what ended up making us late! Still 20 minutes was not bad at all, no one had any complaints. Also the coordinators waived the vendor fee for Rashel, we just had to pay for her and her assistant's day pass which wasn't a big deal.

 

The ceremony was short and sweet, I have no complaints other than that it was super windy!! They aren't lying when they say 2 pm is the windiest time of the day! Still I wouldn't change a thing, the wind calmed down afterwards for our pictures and the overcast skies looked so beautiful:)

 

We went with the Romance Extravaganza package so we had cocktails and appetizers served after the ceremony. It wasn't quite an hour long because we were running late but I don't think any of the guests noticed. The steel drum band played the whole time and everyone loved it!

 

We requested Christopher Lee as our photographer and he did an amazing job! He had nicknames for everyone in our wedding party and it was so much fun! We didn't want the pictures to end! Unfortunately he did tell us he's leaving the resort it April to start with another company but he will be available to book as an outside vendor. We were told by Tamika that the vendors fee is only $200 now instead of $800 which is much more reasonable.

 

We also brought in a cinematographer from off resort, his name is Roxroy Gough from Your Day Cinematography. We haven't seen the completed work yet but him and Chris worked really well together! We have seen sample videos of Roxroy's and they look really good! The resort also waived the vendor fee for Roxroy since we were going with the platinum package for our photography.

 

We also booked the Piscis for our reception and it was gorgeous! It started at 630 and was just in time to catch a beautiful sunset from our seats. Our meal was from the Dolce vita and was delicious, I had guests coming up to me all night commenting on it! By the time we got through all the speeches and everything we only had about half an hour for dancing but it was a blast! Chris Lee was supposed to be done at 830 but stuck around til the very end because he was having so much fun!

 

I should mention when we met with the coordinators they told us the Piscis was $2500. I told them I was quoted $1700 earlier and they honoured it. I would have paid the 2500 if I had to do it again though! I also had brought thank you cards with tips for our bartender, dj and serving staff and gave them out at the end of the night. They were all wonderful and didn't seem to be expecting a tip at all.

 

I honestly could go on forever, the resort is amazing and our wedding day was absolutely perfect! I will do my best to keep checking this forum and answer any questions, there's probably lots that I missed still!

 

Here's a link for some of our pictures by Chris Lee. I can add more

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qhbqshff0o84a04/fLbGOMxHkH

Thank you sooooooooooooooo much for your great review. It has really helped to calm my nerves a bit. I also sent you a private message with some questions. Hope to hear from you soon!

Thanks

Cam

Hi Everyone

I'm brand spanking new to the site - and in such a short time I've found it super helpful. My wedding is Saturday November 1, 2014 at 2pm. I have booked to have the reception at the snack bar at 6:30pm - because I saw this wedding there (http://www.knotsvilla.com/real-destination-wedding-grand-bahia-principe-jamaica-all-inclusive-beach-resort/) and thought it was done beautifully. I'm a project manager - so planning a destination wedding with not the most responsive folks is teaching me about patience. 

Has anyone on here done their reception at the snack bar? I have Kalfani as my wedding planner/coordinator and he just sent me an email saying that I have to pay an additional $2,500 for the fully private reception. If the snack bar is already private - why do I have to pay to make it private? 

Anyone can give me some help ammunition other than the obvious?

Thanks so much Ladies!

Cam