jamaica08

Some of my guests had the same question so I emailed the question on the the RIU website. They told me they do have 2% milk there. I got married in Nov 08, and unfortunately I can't recall if my guests actually drank the milk or not. Everybody came home ok though - no illnesses.

Oh my, I really hope that I did not sway your decision... When we made our decision it was almost a year ago and since then I think that many more weddings have happened there. Ironically, I just ran into a friend who I hadn't seen in years who recently got married there - she had a small wedding, less than 10 people, but said it was great. I specifically asked about the beach - she said that there were two beaches and the one further down, I guess you have to walk just a little bit, was a better beach. So, at least you have a choice. I decided against it because a year ago they were transitioning wedding coordinators, cost and it was still a fairly new hotel (ie. construction still being done). It was tough to resist that beautiful gazebo though.... I agree with prettypeaches, it's tough how to take reviews - some people are harder to please sometimes - I think as long as your have the right company, you can make a good time out of nothing...

I commented on a thread awhile back because I considered this resort also... GBPJ looked like an awesome resort to get married in but we decided to go with ROR. Check out the thread below. Good luck! Trust me, once you pick the location, you will begin to start breathing easier... http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t20366

Great idea! Maybe I can get a big heavy duty duffle bag and then we squish them into the other bags. Ya, I wish we would've gotten away with free bags but it's a sign of the times, what can you do.... We did already plan on having family take some of the small stuff (since they have to pay for bags too)... so we've already tapped that resource

Hi Ladies, How did you or do you plan to bring all the goodies (favours, OOTs, decorations, etc) with you? Me and FH have 2 luggages going with and I'm thinking of packing 2 boxes for all the extras? Our airline is making us pay for our bags but with the goodies, I really only have to pay for it one way. If I were to pack a luggage bag for extras, then I would have to pay for the empty bag to return home. Do you think boxes would be a safe alternative? I'm curious to know what others have done in the past and what others are planning on doing. THANKS!

I'm going to have to jump on the bandwagon too... Geology Rocks, think you can send me a copy of the catalogue also? I'm at [email protected]? Thanks in advance.

Whoa! $800?!?! That's crazy! I will say it did make your ceremony setting very beautiful though. Maybe I'll bring my own but thanks for info and the tip to talk to Chandlyn first.

What a great review. Thank you so much. I saw your teasers pics when you first posted and I couldn't wait to see the rest, but I had to because I was out of town!!! Very awesome pictures. If only I would've know about your event planning business earlier... your attention to details, really spectacular. Actually, question - did you do/plan the decorations at the gazebo too? It looked really nice and now I think I would like my ceremony there too. Looked like you had a wonderful day. Welcome back and thanks again for sharing!

Don't worry dinzers. Take your time, make the right decision so that you won't regret a thing. I know it's tough but, trust me, the right choice will come. Does the $1700 include the flight, transfer and hotel? If so, I think that's reasonable from Toronto - if it was for family or a good friend, I would spend that. I guess you almost have to come to terms with your expectations. Choosing a destination wedding we knew not everybody would come and we were ok with that. We understood that cost, vacation time, personal conflicts might be an issue so we set the expectation that as long as our immediate family was there, we'd be ok. Everything else is a bonus.

Wow! Great Pictures!! You look beautiful and looks like it was a wonderful day. Thank you for sharing. Were these pictures from the Resort Photoshop or just guests pictures? They are great shots!

Hey Windsor/London/T.O Girls - Flying from Detroit is about 400-500 dollars. The only direct flight from Detroit is with Northwest and right now it is about 475 USD. My friends in Toronto can fly WestJet of Air Jamaica direct to MBJ for about 600 CDN. Exchange rate is basically par for comparison sake so you could save anywhere from $100-200 depending which airline. We lucked out and booked a flight with Spirit for 355 USD out of Detroit but there was one stop in Florida. I guess I can't have the cake and eat it too... JW117 - read my earlier post reply to dinzers question. Hopefully that helps you decide which resort to go with...

I think I read in another thread that you don't have to finalize that stuff until 2-3 months before hand. Although I don't think there are many brides getting married on my day (Nov 13, a thursday) - we decided to put the request in for plantation already... just in case. I think the other things I wouldn't worry so much about since the 3 weddings would be at seperate times so things like the ceremony location wouldn't be a problem. It's the reception things (locations, dj, etc), you know, when they are all happening at the same time that I would worry about a little more.

I'm on the fence about this too... added money, added time to make them perfect, added baggage, added stress... Although a very nice gesture, I think I'm going to pass and maybe just do mugs or a t-shirt. This way it's a little less money but still a welcoming gift and thank you for being here gift.

Hey Chicklet - I'm flying from Detroit too! I'm from Windsor... What we ended up doing was negotiating directly with ROR to get group rate room upgrades and then we figured to let the guests book their flights for what they were comfortable with. It's was more work for us to do all that rather than making a TA do it but I think we saved our guests some money (or at least get more for their money). We tried group rates with the airlines but because of the economy and the industry - it was not much of a discount. We have friends from Toronto, who are on the fence about flying from T.O or Detroit - they could probably save about $150-200 flying from Detroit but have to make the 4 hour commute to get here. 2 hours from London might be worth it... Funny - just noticed tons of Canadians on this thread...

Actually, we looked at GBPJ and were very close to choosing it. The resort looks beautiful and their gazebo off the beach for the weddings - totally perfect. The problems that we had with it was that it was still fairly new so alot of the travel reviews I read said that their was still some construction going on. That was at the beginning of the year so by the time you get married, maybe things will settle down. One TA also said that it was super huge, and although ROR is pretty big, I hear that you definately need to use the shuttle carts to get around. Oh ya, and they have a service charge on using the in-room safe!!! What?!?! I know... That bothered me but I guess if you get the golden package (I think that's what it's called) - the safe is included. Our big concern with the Gran Bahia was the wedding costs - I think they have a single wedding package that starts at $1400 - which includes some of the basic stuff, ie paperwork, decorated location, semi-private dinner for up to 12, cake, etc. If you are having a lot of people (I think over 12 - we are having approx 50), you HAVE to have a private dinner reception where you have to buy plated menu meals which were crazy expensive (ie. appetizers $15-25, main entree meal $40-45, this is per person cost)... it was like having a wedding locally for pete's sake. Also, open bar was another upcharge to have during the dinner (but this is typical I find for all the resorts). Also, I didn't feel comfortable with the communication with the wedding coordinator (Yanique), like I always felt pressured to book the date even though I was just asking questions and I confirmed with Mel (who jmhein mentioned above on the canadianbride.com forum) that Yanique was self absorbed and was new. But overall, Mel said she was happy with her wedding and her pictures turned out great. I know it sounds like I'm giving GBPJ a bum wrap but I still really really wanted to get married there (new resort, near the airport, beautiful wedding location). But because of the amount of people we were having.. the costs just kept on piling on... we opted to go ROR. To be honest with you, the great reviews and the amount of brides going to the ROR was really comforting because like you, I had trouble finding feedback for the Gran Bahia. Hopefully this helps you make a decision... I know it was super tough for me! Hang in there...