ebecks

Here is our Gallery from December 2015 - some good shots: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/gallery/member/281864-ebecks/

Have a look at this thread - it's worth reading through: https://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/topic/44634-any-gran-bahia-principe-runaway-bay-brides-out-there/

Here is my gallery from 2015: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/gallery/member/281864-ebecks/

I was there in December 2015 for my wedding and the snack bar was under renovations. I don't think it would look like that anymore. We did our dinner / dance a bit less traditional. And it was perfect. I didn't want to pay a fortune. So we did a basic meal inside a restaurant that was free (for my 43 people) **the 30 people max wasn't there when i was married. After the dinner we went to the gazebo where the ceremony was and it was amazing! They had dancing and it was lite up right beside the beach. Music and drinks were there. You had to pay for a bar but the costs turned out to be way cheaper and it had a pretty back drop with the lite up resort. Here is my Gallery: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/gallery/member/281864-ebecks/

Look into getting married at the gazebo - it was gorgeous. I wouldn't have wanted a beach wedding - it was too hot to be in the sun that long without shade and the beach isn't super fine super soft sand, it's kind of rocky. They will upcharge you for everything - try to keep simple for cost savings. A lot of the extras you think you want, won't really be remembered. The sunglasses we ordered through 'shades of fun' - they turned out to be the cheapest for decent quality. We actually wear the sunglasses on a regular basis. We didn't put our names on them so maybe if others wanted to continue wearing them after the trip. We did lanyards with our names and date which turned out nice. And plain beach bags which a lot of guests used. Along with some added snacks in our welcome bags. Also had how to share pictures with us, thank you notes, and a hangover kit with Tylenol, pepto tablets, bandaids, and gatoraid single powder packs. Are you doing the wedding planning with the travel agent or wedding coordinator? I suggest doing directly to the resort if you haven't figured that out already. Pisces has changed - they are no longer the palm fran huts - it is now a white tent which is pretty but not as tropical as the older picture illustrate. 1. the photogs at the resort were awesome - the pricing is about the same as local so it was 100% worth it for me. 2. We didn't use seating charts and let everyone sit where they wanted - 43 poeple. you can choose how many tables and seats per table. No table number needed unless you want a seating chart - they do put menus on each table 3. Depends on the restaurant for pants / shorts 4. 49 people is the max for a "free dinner / reception" if you have 50 you need to go private. 5. I almost brought fake flowers but chose against it - i only had 1 bridesmaid - she got the free bouquet included and I chose an upgrade for around $130 US - it was gorgeous. see my gallery for picture. I just did the standard version because the deluxe was $255US. The standard was perfect and full of flowers. Sometimes she took days or even a week when you first start planning. I suggest you email your questions / request in point form because they always seemed to answer every question this way by just answering each bullet in a different color.

The gazebo was super windy when I had my wedding at 2pm. I had my hair down but it didn't bother me. The ceremony would have been way to hot without the wind for myself and the guests. The wind also makes your dress flow nicely while you're standing there getting married. I just uploaded pictures a l couple days ago with pics from my wedding. Some were done by the photographer so you can see what they are like - Nick was our photog and was great. I labelled the photog shots. Some answers to questions above. We only were charged taxes on the photographer - all wedding fees included taxes We did the free package and paid for the bar at the gazebo for our after dinner dancing party. The gazebo rental ended up being free - not sure if they forgot to charge us or if because we paid for the bar it was free. It was sooo worth it and the pictures were so pretty - see my gallery for our first dance pictures with bubbles We also paid $400 for the steel drum band for the ceremony It was still cheaper to not go with a package and the above 2 options - we had 43 guests. We had the resort photographer - Nick / Ornella - they were amazing - I uploaded some pics last week with the title "grand bahia principe" - resort photographer pictures are labelled The resort coordinator can send you the menu options, bar costs, bouquet options - many many flower options We choose dolce vita but it was under construction so they shut down the palmyra (smaller buffet) for my group but still have the dolce vita menu OUr menu was: Caprese Salad (nothing special but it was good - not like i'm used to in Canada - very simple lettuce and tomato and cheese). Chicken breast with risotto - so good. Dessert was profiterols (soooo good) and wedding cake (vanilla raspberry) all good! We thought about doing canape after the cermony but i'm glad i didn't. We all got champagne then took group pictures. By that time everyone was ready to get out of the heat and sun - most went to the pool - our wedding started at 2pm Here was the menu - I thought we got both soup and salad but it was just one or the other. We chose menu 3 - bolded selections below GROUPS - WEDDINGS Dolce Vita Restaurant MENU No 1 Cream of Tomato and fresh Basil Spinach Ravioli with Sauce "Boscaila" Beef Scalloppini with Fungi Sauce Porcini Tiramisu MENU No 2 Minestrone Soup Neapolitan Penne Rigatto Seafood Choppino Panna cotta MENU No 3 Caprese Salad Cream of Roasted Squash and Thyme Chicken breast with ricotta, walnuts and bacon - basil - risotto crunch Profiteroles with Cream and Chocolate Coulis

The prices keep changing. So just make sure you keep note of the email they send you and quotes. I confirmed everything right away. Then a month before I was told the prices went up. I told them the prices I was quoted and they gave me those prices. I didn't have to put a deposit down for anything. Ask for Nick and Ornella if you can - they were amazing. Feel free to ask any questions. I was just married there last month.

We were just married at this resort last month and it was amazing. Please feel free to send any direct questions about anything. It was perfect and amazing. I did a lot of planning ahead of time and it was easy to get married. I just showed up.

I just got married there last month. The week was amazing, the wedding was amazing. It was perfect. Feel free to send me a message or ask any specific questions.

Thanks so much for these pictures!! I actually purchased this dress and am so anxious for it to come in. The pictures helped remind me how much I love it. Did you buy this dress? Or find another one?

Anyone looking at or have just purchased a Maggie Sottero dress? I've been looking at the Patience dress but can't find a lot of "real pictures" online. Wondering if any DW brides have worn or plan to wear a Maggie and if they will be light and airy like they feel / look.

I decided to just go with the photographer at the site, their facebook page show some pictures and they've really improved. I don't want to pay the vendor fee and don't want to rely on friends and family photos. I think i'll just do my own hair / makeup. With a few test runs at home to see how best to do it. I'm going away to make this wedding easy and painless, so worrying about the spa and having to spend the money doesn't interest me. I've heard great reviews about the spa, but also negative ones and don't want to take a chance. I've already stressed about the amount of people actually going and may cause me to shut down a restaurant I don't want to stress about the little details. What are the 2015 brides planning for their days? Did you rent the gazebo or a full restaurant? I want to know what people thought about the piscis? Did it feel tropical still or similar to a reception like we have at "home"?

Thanks everyone for all the welcomes, I actually just found the 550 page thread with all brides for GBP Jamaica and was able to happily make all the necessary choices. I noticed a slight decrease in activity recently with 2014 / 2015 brides - hope there are some around to share their experiences and photos.

I'm pretty much planned - few details to go. Thanks to this forum I was able to decide what options were best for me. We are a group of at least 30 - I expect some last minute bookers. I first stressed about a 2pm wedding - but this gives me more time for pictures and potentially to take a rain break if needed before getting sunset pictures. I decided to go with dinner at the Dolce Vita for the "free" private room rather than a long table off to the side in the grill. Mostly I'm excited about the Gazebo we rented for dancing after dinner. We opted for the "Romance extravaganza" package only because it includes the open bar at the gazebo and steel drum band I wanted for the ceremony. We get some extras for basically the same costs it would have been for the open bar and band. How is your planning coming along?