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