acw271011

ha ha I can do this now since we've now been married almost 2 1/2 months... but words of wisdom?? that's easy -RELAX!!!! it will all work out and go just fine. just remember it's Jamaica and things do work differently. but the resort has tons of experience - they do 2, 3, 4 weddings a day sometimes. try hard not to stress out! we picked a destination wedding because it's supposed to be easier than doing the big doo here at home. sometimes I feel sorry for some of the brides on here that are getting so stressed about things. relax ladies. Chandlyn is the consummate professional and all of you will have an absolutely wonderful day!!!

If she says a wedding pass, she means the $75 fee pass for vendors coming onto the resort.

I was wondering what you thought of the resort photos? did you pick 5? we found there were barely enough good ones to even try to pick 5 but we did get a couple of good ones. when are you getting your photos?

that's enough time. it isn't that long of a walk lol and you'll be anxious enough I found I had a tendency to walk a bit quick!! you're lucky to be going at this time of the year! it has gotten so cold here all of a sudden I wish we were going somewhere warm!!

Here is what they sent me for prices. I quite enjoyed getting my hair and make up done there. I also had a pedicure done a couple of days before when they did my trial hairstyle. You don't pay when you go. They charge it to your room and you pay when you're leaving, and it's in Jamaican dollars, not US so the rate can alter slightly depending on the exchange. I ended up disputing the rate they were charging me but it was because the exchange rate had changed. I ended up paying what I was told I would. BAHIA SPA 4 TAXINCL[1].pdf

omg I absolutely love the little ones!! they are just too adorable!! once again Merrick has proven his talent!! your pics are stunning!!! and you looked absolutely beautiful!!

just as an FYI... I did bring my bouquet home from jamaica and the groom's bout. got them through customs no problem. my understanding is that cut flowers are different from plants where soil is attached. the only tip would be make sure they are well soaked in paper towel around the bottom. mine had started to dry out by the time I actually got them home, but they did survive the trip, and quite well I might add!

wow! stunning!! we had him too for our Oct 20th wedding and I agree with every word you said about him. our pictures are fabulous, we've had a zillion compliments on them and we would do it all over again!! he is one of the sweetest men you will ever come across and just wonderful to deal with! we would recommend him to ANYBODY that asks!!!! congrats again. we actually talked about you at our wedding and the ring loss..... lol

I just got an email from Donnalee on Friday (at last) saying she had our marriage certificate and was going to mail it, but wanted to verify the home address first. That's the proof that you're married in case you're changing your name and bank account names, credit card names, all that stuff. You may need to make a couple of copies and have them notarized, but I'm not sure how it works. I'm not changing my name and we've been living together for about 9 years so we've already sorted out the "together" stuff. I'm quite happy being me and don't want to change my name. I've done it before and it just isn't a big deal.

ha ha that was me! if you check you'll see. we got married on oct 20th. if you want Michael Spencer's contact info I can give it to you. he is an absolutel gem of a man and really takes care of every one that he takes around! the funny part was he was originally recommended by someone my husband works with that got married at GBP back in may this year, and they used him and absolutely loved him, and they had a group of about 30 people! The reason Michael recommended Cranbrook was because of how close it is to the resort compared to Blue Mahoe Falls. His taxi bus would take a full bridal party, parents and a few guests quite easily and his rates are very very reasonable.

just thought I would add a couple of pictures from out reception after we got back from GPB

thanks!! I can't wait to see yours!!! feels like we've been on here at the same time forever!! lol

I had never heard of Cranbrook before we got there even from reading all of the posts here. wish I had so that we would have known because it's an awesome place!! it's not that I didn't get to pick my specifics - I just didn't think about it and I guess I should have. I though I was clear enough in the beginning and I also thought that we would automatically have pictures right at the gazebo. we only did our sunset ones there and they didn't come out as well as we had hoped.

unless they move tables big time don't know where they would put a dance floor. it's a good idea fi they'll make the space for you.

gee it's nice to have an easy one to answer! definitely put all your music on 1 cd! then just make a list of each track on the CD with what it's for like: track 1 - guests being seated, track 2 guests being seated, track 3 bride processional, track 6 signing the register..... etc. like that but list each track. we had music for doing our sand ceremony, signing the register and our first dance since we did it right at the gazebo and it all worked out great. we didn't get every song only because it all went so fast we ended up with too much music! but otherwise, these guys do this every day sometimes several times in one day. we found they were great. we got told that a cd is ten times easier for them than an IPOD just because of the connections and stuff and the sound was great. I heard it all the way down at the beginning of that loooooong pathway to do my walk so volume is definitely NOT a problem!! doug actually had an extra list in his pocket just in case something happened to the first one, but we just put it inside the cover of the CD so it was all right there!

you will definitely be happy with him. just remember to be very specific if there are any locations you want pics done and let him know or give him a piece of paper with the locations. I didn't do that and wish I had as there were a couple of places on the resort I wish we had gone. otherwise he is one of the nicest men you will ever meet and very anxious to please! we invited him for dinner with us since we were only 2 and he actually stayed!

Thanks. there are a few I wish we had done but at the time didn't think about so piece of advice - do a list of what you want. my heart was set on sunset photos and we ended up being a bit late and missed the sunset. plus we did no photos at all right down at the gazebo. my mistake again. but we did go to this awesome park - Cranbrook park - about 15 mins from the resort on the recommendation of our taxi driver. I posted a review when we got back that if you go back on here you should be able to find it and I put all the info for the taxi driver that took us there. it's just gorgeous!! try around page 275 to 280 here maybe? we got married Oct 20th and returned home Oct 22nd.

http://www.merrickcousley.com/clients/20111020_anndougwed/ here is the link to our pictures done by Merrick Cousley. We thought he was great and his prices were pretty reasonable. I've never heard of the guy that you're talking about and I did the same as jaykay. I researched about 8 before I settled on Merrick. He was absolutely wonderful to deal with and really worked hard to get our pictures to us in time for us to do a slideshow for our AHR.

We narrowded it down and then went from there. Lady Hamilton is really nice and so is the Iberostar but both we found a little bit pricier. We ended up with Gran Bahia Principe Jamaica in Runaway Bay and loved it!! We got married October 20th and had a blast!!

His price was really reasonable (about $1,000 including his travel costs). We were only 2 - no guests at all so he reduced the price just a little bit for us instead of his full rate. We just go the CD of pics - close to 400 I think - because shipping albums, etc is just too expensive from Jamaica. We also got a video of our wedding since we had no guests. His name is Roxroy Gough and he was great. Again, the price is very reasonable. It's just a short video but because we had no one there to take other pictures for us, we opted for the video and don't regret it at all. I can dig up websites if you want them.