Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[kerrij]

Just wanted to mention, that i heard from a girl who just got married at GBP, and she used the hotel photographer and she said they weren't that good. she said she wished people had taken more photos on their personal cameras cause the ones she got from the hotel photog weren't good. Just a heads up incase anyone is planning on using them. we get 10 free photos with our Free Package, we'll take them cause they are free. lol

[christinak82]

thank you for the information kerrij...

[BrieP]

Hi girls!!!

 

I really appreciate all the information you are posting on here ...... I have been researching hotels for what seems like forever and after reading all your posts I am 95% sure I will choose the GBP for my wedding in January 2011!!!!

 

Keep the information coming

I will let you know if I come across any helpful information as well

 

Brie

[StephAli]

Hey,

 

Thanks for the info. on the photographer. I had emailed Beverly to ask if the photographer has a website or samples, but she did not respond.....

[kerrij]

I'm baaaack!!! OMG girls, if you even second guess the GBP even once, DON"T!! it was the BEST resort to get married at. the gazebo is sooooo private and sooo beautiful. and you feel special because there aren't 2-3 weddings a day there. i think there were only 2 other weddings our entire week...and the 2 other girls were both named Kerri too! funny! we felt special and everyone on the resort knew our group...which wasn't hard as there were 50 of us who all became the bestest of friends and made so many friends aroudn the resort.

the hotel was soooo great, the food was awesome, service...umm, pretty much no one had complaints, that i heard anyway, but i thought felt the nice ones were super, and the not so nice ones were crap and felt like you were annoying them...it was one way or the other, but i also found that everywhere in jamaica, even at our second resort, so i wouldn't take that to heart for this resort.

Beverly is FANTASTIC!!! seriously, don't worry about a thing until you get there. she'll go over everything with you and plan the whole wedding in about 15 mins...she'll even do a rehearsal with you, which i HIGHLY recommend. i thought we didn't need to bother and just a waste of time, but was soooo gald we did it. everything was amazing and every single person cried at one point of the night.

I would write your own script too, i hated what the Rev had so we rewrote ours and it was soooo special.

the spa...gail, is a total cow! she was rude to everyone, and told the hair stylist to be there by 9am, nd their drive was 1 1/2 hrs to work, and our appt was at 10:30 and my MIL got in trouble for being late! i had confirmed the appt time the day prior even for 10:30. the stylists were OK. i hated my hair but didn't care enough to fix it, my moms hair was AWFUL!! i even said, nooo that isn't finished! she had to go back and redo her hair. the stylists don't really listen to what you say, they know best! or so they think. i asked not to have a huge mass of hairspray in my hair when done, becuase my BM before me did and it looked sick! (i also saw the bride before me and i hated her hair too!) she said no you need it, and i said no i want it to look natural not all glued together, and she wouldn't listen and glued my hair together. my MOH was the only one with good hair. also i gave her hair inspiration pics, and it didn't look like what i wanted i had them do my make up and it was nice, but the mascara was terrible and she refused to put on false eyelashes.

our wedding time was at 3:30 and it was soooo rushed with pics between the ceremony and dinner at 6:30...i'd say 2pm would be ideal!

Hihgly recommend the steel drum band...$400 for 4 of them and they have a sound system so you can hear it well...amazing touch!

we also hired the DJ and bar for the dance, but we got jipped because we had it the night of the beach party and the DJ does it, so he had to leave at 10:30 instead of 11pm. but it was soooooo fun! the gazebo dance floor was backed the entire time! and a great spot for garter and bouquet toss!

the hotel photographer....do not use!!! he was there, somewhere. my hubby saw him but i didn't even once! we got 10 free photos which i still haven't seen or had contact from him. but apparently his camera was not a fancy one like a photographer should have. just like a Canon SLR or something. i'd def hire outside the resort!

the dinner we had at Dolce Vita by the beach, it was PERFECT! a room all to ourselves, great for speeches and toasts. loved it!

Hmmm, not sure what else there is to cover! any questions, just let me know!!

[christinak82]

hi kerrij,

 

thank you so much for sharing your experience with us... it´s great to hear that you loved the resort and your wedding... the spa experience doesn´t sound that great though... I have something very specific in mind with my hair, so I think I am gonna flip out if she won´t listen to what I want, hihi...

you said they have beach parties at the resort, is it a special day or do those parties take place randomly?

how did it work with the dolce vita? did they block the whole restaurant for you? or did you have a separate area? how was it decorated? did you choose certain colors/flowers, etc.?

 

I think I will have some more questions later if you dont mind :-) ?

Congratulations on your wedding :-)

youre married now!!!! yeeeiiih....

[kerrij]

I don't mind the questions at all! fire away!

the hotels beach party is tuesday nights. but its not on the beach lol. it's at the snack shack, and was soooo cool! so it's great if you don't have your own dance to just go to that.

 

at dolce vita they have a side room that is round and held 50 of us well, and i'm sure smaller groups would be just fine too! the doorway was the only view of the rest of the restaurant, but was also across the lobby of the restaraunt. was perfect!

i didn't notice decor at the rest. but def didn't need any. i didn't have any special decor anywhere and people told me it was the most beautiful wedding they've ever been to. so i wouldn't worry about taking stuff with you or buying/renting much. not even flowers.

my bouquet was GORGEOUS!!! i LOVED it! you can choose your colors and your bouquet and anything you want with Beverly. she has a binder of pics of stuff and you just say, i want that! and she'll make it happen. the chair covers were included which is nice too!

[StephAli]

Hey Kerrij,

 

CONGRATS!!!! I love the picture of you are your husband!!

 

I was just wondering if you could tell me how far the bar is from the beach gazebo??

[christinak82]

Hi Kerrij,

 

does that separate room also hold more than 50 people? We expect about 60-70 people.

Did you have to pay those $2500 for that room?

[jennypenny23]

Hey everyone! We are considering GBP Jamaica for our wedding the week of Jan 29th 2011!! We would be flying Transat from Toronto!!! Just have to make the final decision SOON!

 

 

kerrij - I would LOVE to hear how your wedding went!!!

How are you other GBP Jamaica girls doing with your planning??