TammyWright

Gran Bahia Principe, Runaway Bay, Jamaica Wedding Jayne and Mason were wed on 1/13/2012. Jayne, username JayKay, used the BDW Community to bring her destination wedding to life. Jayne gives back to the BDW Community as she kindly shares the details of her perfect day in an interview below. Wedding Profile The Bride Jayne The Groom Mason Hometown Medecine Hat, Alberta, Canada Wedding Date January 13, 2012 Wedding Location Gran Bahia Principe, Runaway Bay, Jamaica Why did you choose to have a destination wedding? For us we always knew we would have a destination wedding. When I was in grade 4 I wrote a short story about how some day I would get married in Jamaica surrounded by the beach and ocean. Once we became engaged we just knew it would be a destination wedding rather than an at home wedding. We both come from very large families that are spread throughout all of Canada and the USA. I was also in University finishing my nursing degree and didn’t have time to plan a big formal at home wedding. And because I was in University, finances were tight and we knew a destination wedding would be cheaper. Why did you choose your location? When we first decided on a destination wedding we thought we would get married in Mexico. Once we started doing some research we decided Mexico wasn’t for us. We never really found any resort that jumped out at us as being the place we would get married (well beside a few resorts that were out of our price range). We had a pretty limited budget and wanted to find an affordable place for our guests. Also, some of our closest family members expressed concerns over Mexico due to safety reasons. We then pondered a few other locations, such as Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and Cuba. We eventually decided on Jamaica as we had only ever heard wonderful things about the country. Another perk of Jamaica was that it was super simple to get legally married there, which was really important to us. As to choosing the resort, lots of time and research went into deciding. I spent hours researching various resorts on BDW and tripadvisor. I made a list of every possible resort on the island of Jamaica and was able to narrow it down based on some criteria. We wanted it to be all inclusive, family friendly, reasonably priced wedding packages and a place that none of our family had been to before. We were able to narrow down our search to 4 resorts. From there we used the help of a travel agent who was able to provide us with feedback on the resorts as well as pricing. In the end we choose the resort, the Gran Bahia Principe, because it fit our budget and our checklist. Another plus was that it offered a free wedding package, which helped us save some money. And I fell in love with the ocean side gazebo! What were your wedding colors and/or theme? At first I wanted to have bright tropical colors to accent the blue ocean and white sand. I wanted to have fuchsia and orange. My husband thought that would be way to girly so we compromised and went with turquoise with lime green accents. In the end there really weren’t too many lime green accents but more of a variety of shades of blues. What made your wedding special? Every wedding is special in its own right. What made your wedding unique? I know its cliché, but I married my best friend in front of my family and best friends. The whole entire wedding day was so special, starting with the night before. My husband and I stayed separately as I wanted to see him for the first time on our wedding day when I walked down the aisle. I got to spend an amazing night with my now sister in law having so much fun, laughing until we cried. We spent the morning getting ready, just the two of us and I’m so happy we had that time together as she was able to help calm my nerves (she was married in Mexico 3 years ago). Another very special moment is when my parents walked me down the aisle. My parents mean so very much to me and I’m so glad they were able to be a part of my wedding day. I know there are many brides out there who have lost their mother or father, or whose parents couldn’t be a part of their wedding day so I feel very blessed mine were there. One of the major challenges of putting together a destination wedding is finding and working with your ideal vendors from afar. What wedding vendors did you use to put together this spectacular wedding? Photographer -- Merrick Cousley Photography Florist -- Tai Floral Wedding Coordinator -- Wedding Dress -- Tai Floral Invitations -- Vista Print You were an active member of BDW and created some great content. Could you please summarize (with hyperlinks) some of your best work for us? Iron-On Transfer for OOT Bags VistaPrints STD Magnets JayKay's Jamaican Wedding Planning Thread Your Wedding was absolutely beautiful! Your posts and reviews will be extrememely helpful to our new brides. Thank you for sharing your special day with us at BDW. Dear members, if you planned your wedding with the help of our community we would love to hear from you. Contact us at [email protected] if you are interested in sharing your wedding experience with us. For more information here is the "BDW Real Weddings | Featured Wedding Submission Information Thread" Thanks!