JayKay

Congrats! You looked stunning! Your photos are amazing!

Ill answer some of these questions for you: -We took our long form birth certificates with us to the resort. We scanned and emailed them to the planners a few months before our wedding. They didn't even ask to see them at the resort. -We used the free package and got the included 5 pictures. When we went to select our 5 photos we asked how much it would be to purchase the remainder of the pictures (90 of them) and were told it is $10 per picture so a total of $900 for 90 pictures. -We brought our own ceremony music on a CD. I'm not sure if they provide music or if you need to bring your own.

Why not hire a local Jamaican photographer and see if they can work something out with the vendor fee-such as cover a portion of it, or stay a night at the resort to get around the fee?

Here is a link to our wedding photos from Merrick Cousley http://s1124.beta.photobucket.com/user/kergz06/library/

We used Merrick Cousley for our photographer and we were so happy we did. We are in love with our wedding photos and he was so easy to work with. We used him when he was a fairly new photographer so we didn't pay nearly as much as he charges now, but I still think he is worth it. My husband and I aren't picture people and he made us feel so comfortable and the pictures never felt forced.

They are the resort photographers. The planners recommend using them, but I don't. We had 5 free photos included in our wedding package and when we went to go look at the photos and choose one it was hard to. The photos weren't very good and looked pretty amateur instead of professional. I know the resort is trying to push people towards using them as now they charge a $800 fee for outside vendors. I highly suggest using a different photographer.

Samantha262-Your Fiance sounds like my husband, cheap! That is why we chose this resort and went with the free wedding package. It is a great package to use if you are having a small number of guests and don't care about all those little extras involved in the other packages. MrsViolo- I had my hair and makeup done at the resort spa and I was really happy with the way it turned out. I didn't use the included hair trial as I didnt want to waste one of my afternoons in the spa getting my hair done. I brought pictures of the way I wanted my hair and they basically recreated it. I was really worried about my hair holding curls in the humidty as I can never get it to stay curled in Canada but they have this amazing spray, they call it cement spray, which really held my hair all day. As to my makeup I don't normally wear a lot of makeup so I wanted something simple and neutral. I told her this and she did a fantastic job. My makeup lasted all day long and looked great. Overall, I was really happy with the work they did. Lisa K- What we did was looked at all the packages and tried to decide if the extra money was worth it. In the end most of the packages include the same things with a few differences. We found the differences didn't add up to the extra money and would be cheaper to go with the free package and pay for the extras we wanted. I suggest you compare them closely to decide if the extra money you are paying is worth the price. We didn't do a lot of excursions while we were there. We went to Dunns River Falls as a group which everyone loved and the younger group of us went to Mystic Mountain where we did the ziplining/bobsledding/watersliding. We loved Mystic Mountain and had a great time, but it was pretty expensive. I think we payed $40 per person for Dunns River Falls and $130 per person for Mystic Mountain.

I hope you do feel as special as I did! It really is a great day where you should be so special! We were at the Grill for our reception.

So glad to hear you had an amazing wedding! It sure does go by so quick! I wish I had taken more time to soak everything in and walk slower down the aisle. I was just in a hurry to get to my fiance that I walked so quickly to enjoy my last single moments of my life.

I purchased my wedding band really early (9 months before wedding) as I knew exactly what I wanted and it was on sale for almost half price. I would say leave lots of time to go shopping especially if you don't know what you want. And try going back to the store your FI bought your ring from. Often times they have matching bands or bands that work well with the engagement rings they sell (such as from the same company, ect.) And try lots of different types and styles on unti you find the one you love.

I thought I would be nervous to as I also hate being the center of attention, but I knew it was our family and best friends there and we had a small group which made it easier to know they would all be staring at me. I also felt so pretty that I wanted everyone to stare at me! haha! And it truly was amazing all the random people that congradulated us during our day as we were walking around the resort taking pictures/going to supper ect. It really does make you feel so special.

This is what it looked like with no extra decor. I brought the blue chair ties with me and they transfered them from the ceremony to the supper. I wasn't picky about color of the menu but I know they will do it in a different color then yellow if you request it.

And the next bride had difficulties with the starfish and she doesn't have it. What a cursed little blue starfish.

Don't be scared! Be excited!! My husband and I celebrated our 1 year anniversay yesterday! So hard to believe it has been over a year since we were married. How time flies! I really wish we were back in Jamaica redoing our wedding because I loved everything about our wedding!

I didn't have favors so I'm not sure if they will put those out, but they did move our chair ties from the ceremony site to the reception meal.

Not sure who you were asking but...We didn't bring any decorations for our wedding except chair ties. I purchased mine for a way cheaper price then renting them from the resort. Other then that everything was provided by the resort. I didn't want to have to worry about centerpeices ect.

Welcome! You will find with any resort you choose there will always be negative feedback. Try not to base your decision soley on that. I highly recommend you work with a travel agent. They will help you narrow down your search based on your critieria you have listed. Good luck with your search!

Welcome! You will find tons of useful information on this site to help you in planning your destination wedding. I would definetly suggest working with a travel agent. Also, what we found was helpful was to take a list of what we were looking for in a resort (such as things your mentioned, great beach, great food ect) with us to a travel agent to help her get a feel for what exactly we were looking for. And make a budget and know what you want to spend and what you think is reasonable for guests. This will help narrow down your search to affordable resorts that fit the budget. Do lots of research. I think we researched for at least a month before deciding on where our wedding would be. And read tons of reviews from brides on here which will help you get a feel for the weddings they perform at the resorts. Good luck with your search!

Flowers?

Check out this thread. There is tons of information on it. http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/51518/any-gran-bahia-principe-runaway-bay-brides-out-there/3960#post_1853581

Love your bridesmaid dresses. Looks like your planning is coming along nicely!

I love your jewelry!! Its so stunning.

I love the picture with the blue starfish!!! Thanks for sharing.

Beautiful photos! Congrats!

Everything looks fabulous! Your wedding planning/DIY'ing is coming along great!