Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[a084596]

I had my actual birth certificate card notarized and then I sent copies via email as well as copies of passport to Assistant Planner.
 

Originally Posted by ames9782 

hey there!!  well that's exciting you are the first person on here that's getting married the same time as me (that i've noticed anyways!)  i'm flying out of toronto on Oct. 22.  and yes i'm starting to get moer and more excited because things are starting to come together. from outfits to booking our trip and everything, but yes still very stressed, more so about the things that we're doing here.  we are having a "brunch" instead of a buck and doe (neither of us are really buck and doe people) and then the reception when we get home.  that's what's stressing me out the most!  we got our group quote the other day for our trip and with all taxes included it is only $1213pp i was pretty excited about that too!!  we'll have to keep in contact on here, and meet up when we are down there!  hope everyones planning is going good!!

 

question - has anyone got a concrete answer on what birth certificate we have to use? do we need a long form or not?  i can't seem to get anywhere on getting an answer to this question.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rebeccauk 

Hi ames9782,

 

We get married on 27th October 2011, 2 days after you! I know what you mean I'm getting excited and stressed all at the same time .

We fly out on the 23rd from manchester, uk. Where are you coming from?

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by ames9782 

thanks for all the feedback, lots to consider and look into..... just confirmed my date this week for October 25 2011!! we're having it at 1pm, so i'm pretty excited, but pretty stressed too! i've read so many of you saying not to stress don't worry it all gets worked out when you get there, but oh i'm still stressing.  i feel like i have sooooo many questions to ask, but i can't get it together to think of what they actually are... i am also lookiong into merrick cousley for our photographer and his work looks so amazing and i was totally shocked at his prices!! they are so reasonable! anyways keep the info coming ladies and maybe i'll figure out the answers to the questions i can't think of by reading this!!!!

 

 

[tris]

Hey... yah, not really. We all still have our bachelor or bachelorette parties. The social is thrown (usually by the wedding party) a few months usually before the wedding. A hall is rented, there's a cash bar, silent auction, etc. You sell tickets... friends, family, friends of friends all come and dance the night away.

 

Originally Posted by lmarie 

I lived In Manitoba for a while, and that was what they were called "socials"! I'm in Newfoundland now, its just called your Stagette, or Bachelorette party for the woman, or bachelor party or Stag party for the man.
 

Quote:

Originally Posted by tris 

Buck & Doe is a very Ontario, CND thing. In Manitoba we have "socials", which are the same thing pretty much. It's a big party that's thrown in honor of the couple before the wedding. There's a cash bar, silent auction, usually some games, a DJ & dancing. It's a fundraiser for the wedding of sorts in addition to a big get together. I know most people who don't live in one of these two provinces that I've spoken to about it think it's extremely tacky but it's totally the norm here. Most people have one and it's almost expected in many groups of friends. We had ours before my good friend left for Australia and had an amazing time.

 

I know some people also call a joined bachelor/stag party a buck & doe.

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rebeccauk 

We get there on the 23rd for 15 nights and we paid £1400pp about ($2256pp) which includes free upgrade to gold club.   Thomson/first choice (Travel agent) don't make it easy!  In the UK most TAs don't offer a group rate on long haul holidays.............we had to just book, send out the save the dates with our website on them which had all the details on price etc and hope for the best. People had to inquire about the exact price when they booked!!  Its been a nightmare if I'm honest. 23 have booked so far so its worked out ok.

 

I get a little confused sometimes on here so i looked up "buck and doe" on wiki lol,  at first i thought it was like Stag and Hen in the UK but after looking its not something we do here? I like the idea of getting everyone together the night before the wedding tho so thanks I'll have a look into that. We are also having a party for about 130 when we get home and that's all sorted apart from a few decorations.

 

Anyway keep in touch & happy planning, we will definitely have to meet up xx

 

 

[acw271011]

hmmm. I posted here earlier and can't see it. does anyone know when is a good time to get Beverly by phone?  I heard back (yay) from the 'assistant wedding planner" and it turns out the time we want on nov 16th isn't available which sucks, but they didn't make any suggestions or advise if we could have an earlier time or the next day. I think I want to try Beverly directly. I'm a bit disappointed with the information I got back. I guess I was looking for a bit more.

 

ames9782 - where did you find the photographer - recommendation or on your own? does he have a website?  who quoted you for $1213????  that's an awesome price p/p  we've been told that low season is right until dec 15th so I'm hoping our quote is a good one for november. sorry to bombard with questions - I'm desperate for info!! lol

 

tris - where did you see pics of a beach wedding?  I've only seen the gazebo and love the look of it but would be curious about the beach too especially if they put up an arch and decorate it. I think that's really pretty. I checked out tai flora and the pics are great. I set up an email that is just for all the wedding inquiries so you can send a different link if you have one to jamaicawedding112011@gmail.com

 

good luck to all of you that are ahead of me to get married. I so hope everything goes really well for all of you.  keep the information coming please....

[JayKay]

Hi girls!

 

I have a few questions that I thought maybe someone on here could answer.

 

-Does anyone have any information about what color of chair ties they have at the resort?  I emailed Beverly and she sent me a blank document, and could re email her, but then it would take another month to get an answer!

 

-We want to do a sand ceremony.  Has anyone else done this? And if so, have you been able to use sand from the beach?

 

-How far in advance should you make your appointment with the spa for hair and makeup?  Also, if anyone has used them how were they?

 

-We are using the free package. Some of the other packages say that they include "accompaniment to wedding location-gazebo".  Does anyone know if with the free package you have to get yourself there?

 

Any answer would be much appreciated!

[akua420]

It comes with the basic white chairs, and she has pretty much every colour you want for the ties, you just have to pay.

Yes you can use beach sand, another bride on another forum I read did.

I emailed Bev about my appiontment about 2 months in advance and she said they have a spot for me, so I'm just going on that and hoping there is one in 2 weeks to do my hair!  Otherwise I'm screwed. Just email Bev or the assistant wedding planner and get her to do it, because when I was trying to go through the spa they told me they had no availability.  Then I had a hysterical email to Bev and she scheduled it.

And I'm pretty sure they take all brides to the site.  They pretty much have to with it being such a huge resort.  But I will confirm when I get back in March!
 

Originally Posted by JayKay 

Hi girls!

 

I have a few questions that I thought maybe someone on here could answer.

 

-Does anyone have any information about what color of chair ties they have at the resort?  I emailed Beverly and she sent me a blank document, and could re email her, but then it would take another month to get an answer!

 

-We want to do a sand ceremony.  Has anyone else done this? And if so, have you been able to use sand from the beach?

 

-How far in advance should you make your appointment with the spa for hair and makeup?  Also, if anyone has used them how were they?

 

-We are using the free package. Some of the other packages say that they include "accompaniment to wedding location-gazebo".  Does anyone know if with the free package you have to get yourself there?

 

Any answer would be much appreciated!

[ames9782]

hey there!  for my photgrapher i am using merrick cousley who's name i found on here. is website is www.merrickcousley.com.  i personally LOVE his work and his prices are fantastic!!  he does have a $200 travel fee becuase he comes form kingston jamaica.  and as for our quote we are using sears travel as our TA and the group quote was through air canada (the only catch was that everyone that booked with that price had to be paid in full by april 30th, so i think we are gonna pass on that .... i know sounds awful.....but right now there's a lot of our family that needs more time than that, and we were told too that we could get it cheaper if we wait a bit..

 

hope the rest of your planning goes well!

Originally Posted by acw271011 

hmmm. I posted here earlier and can't see it. does anyone know when is a good time to get Beverly by phone?  I heard back (yay) from the 'assistant wedding planner" and it turns out the time we want on nov 16th isn't available which sucks, but they didn't make any suggestions or advise if we could have an earlier time or the next day. I think I want to try Beverly directly. I'm a bit disappointed with the information I got back. I guess I was looking for a bit more.

 

ames9782 - where did you find the photographer - recommendation or on your own? does he have a website?  who quoted you for $1213????  that's an awesome price p/p  we've been told that low season is right until dec 15th so I'm hoping our quote is a good one for november. sorry to bombard with questions - I'm desperate for info!! lol

 

tris - where did you see pics of a beach wedding?  I've only seen the gazebo and love the look of it but would be curious about the beach too especially if they put up an arch and decorate it. I think that's really pretty. I checked out tai flora and the pics are great. I set up an email that is just for all the wedding inquiries so you can send a different link if you have one to jamaicawedding112011@gmail.com

 

good luck to all of you that are ahead of me to get married. I so hope everything goes really well for all of you.  keep the information coming please....

[JayKay]

We are also using Merrick Cousley.  We love his pictures and his prices are much much much cheaper then others.  Plus I like that you hire him for the day, not just for a certain number of hours! 
 

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by ames9782 

hey there!  for my photgrapher i am using merrick cousley who's name i found on here. is website is www.merrickcousley.com.  i personally LOVE his work and his prices are fantastic!!  he does have a $200 travel fee becuase he comes form kingston jamaica.  and as for our quote we are using sears travel as our TA and the group quote was through air canada (the only catch was that everyone that booked with that price had to be paid in full by april 30th, so i think we are gonna pass on that .... i know sounds awful.....but right now there's a lot of our family that needs more time than that, and we were told too that we could get it cheaper if we wait a bit..

 

hope the rest of your planning goes well!

Originally Posted by acw271011 

hmmm. I posted here earlier and can't see it. does anyone know when is a good time to get Beverly by phone?  I heard back (yay) from the 'assistant wedding planner" and it turns out the time we want on nov 16th isn't available which sucks, but they didn't make any suggestions or advise if we could have an earlier time or the next day. I think I want to try Beverly directly. I'm a bit disappointed with the information I got back. I guess I was looking for a bit more.

 

ames9782 - where did you find the photographer - recommendation or on your own? does he have a website?  who quoted you for $1213????  that's an awesome price p/p  we've been told that low season is right until dec 15th so I'm hoping our quote is a good one for november. sorry to bombard with questions - I'm desperate for info!! lol

 

tris - where did you see pics of a beach wedding?  I've only seen the gazebo and love the look of it but would be curious about the beach too especially if they put up an arch and decorate it. I think that's really pretty. I checked out tai flora and the pics are great. I set up an email that is just for all the wedding inquiries so you can send a different link if you have one to jamaicawedding112011@gmail.com

 

good luck to all of you that are ahead of me to get married. I so hope everything goes really well for all of you.  keep the information coming please....

 

[ames9782]

yes i too love the fact that you hire him for the day!!!  and his prices for what you get in the packages are no comparison to the rest!!  hes hands down an all around great deal!!

[acw271011]

thank you!!  I contacted merrick cousley and checked his website. he sent me his info and you're absolutely right!!  his prices are great so I'm almost certain we'll book him. our group will be really small so he recommended a certain package for a smaller group.

 

I had the same issue with air canada and refused to work with them through another TA. now we're trying to deal with Weddings by Oceans here in Toronto so we'll see what they say. if not, then I'll just do the work myself and help everyone else. I cannot justify asking anyone to spend $4,000 to attend our wedding especially if I'm not willing to spend that much myself. it's just not on.

 

I'm also really having a hard time getting any cooperation from GBPJ as far as trying to finalize a date and time, especially now that they've come back and said we can't have the time we want on the date we wanted. I think it may be time for a phone call. all I want now is just to confirm that we're there on a certain date and can get married!!!  I'll worry about all the rest later. for november I still have tons of time!

[tris]

Email back from Beverly.. I don't know if any of these will answer questions for people, but maybe it will

 

I just had a few more questions... sorry!!

1. In regards to our long form birth certificates. We have them and we're wondering how we get them to you? Fax? Scan/Email? What works best for you?  Please have your documents scanned and sent to me.  

2. We understand that restaurants cannot be reserved until a month before or when we get there but we're wondering if we can put down a request for the Italian?  Noted and will be placed as request.  Confirmation will be advised closer to the wedding.   We'd prefer that option if it was available to us. Also, in regards to this, are the tables round/square?  Your tables are square.  

And how many guests would be at each table? (Right now there's about 20 of us). We do as many as 8 or 10 persons each table.  I'm just curious because we're making our own simple centerpieces to bring down with us and I need to know how many to bring ! We're thinking of doing a sweetheart table for Kai and myself as opposed to a head party table, but we're open to ideas.  Sweet heart table sounds great.  Noted and confirmed.    

Also, is there a choice of colored linens for dinner, or will it be white?  Table linens are white.  

3. I'm still waiting on song choices for the steel drum band. We're fine with them playing whatever they'd wish before/after the ceremony but we'd like to get some ideas of song choices for the bride walking down the aisle, as well as the wedding party. Or should we just bring ideas of songs that we like?  I am looking into this.  Most time the steel band plays songs such as "pacabel canon in d major for the bridal party walk down or here comes the bride on steel band which is quite unusual.  

4. Considering we're bringing our own photographer we won't be needing the resort photographer. Another bride mentioned that they were given a credit towards flowers for this. Would that be available to us? I've already made contact with the florist the resort uses and given them a general idea of what we're looking for (pretty simple).  Please find that this is based on the wedding package selected.