Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[duckkeisha]

Hi funkybride,

 

Just wondering....My family loves to dance and have fun and I don't feel that 2 hrs is enough time to dance after the dinner at the gazebo.  What are you planning to do post-reception dinner?

 

I really want to bring a friend of mine who is a DJ but I am wondering if there is room for dancing at the restaurant and also how long they let you stay after dinner b4 kicking you out?

 

TFYH,

 

duckkeisha

[duckkeisha]

Congratulations on what looked like a beautiful and memorable wedding day!!!!  I'm very happy that your wedding turned out so beautifully and I can only hope to have as good a time as you did.

 

Simone

[duckkeisha]

Hey kenwedjam0902,

 

Congrats on your upcoming nuptials.  You must be really excited.

 

I'm booked to get married October 14/11 and am in the same predicament as you.  My family loves to party and dance!!!  What are your plans after your reception dinner?  Do you plan to rent the gazebo or are you skipping all that and going to the disco.  One of our friends is a DJ back home and he is dying to play at our wedding.  Not sure how this will work but I hope so!!

 

Thanks for your help,

 

duckkeisha

 

Originally Posted by kenwedjam0902 

 

Hi Ladies!!!

 

It has been soo long since I have been here.  I have soo much reading to do but I can't because my wedding is in 30 days!!!!  I can't believe its next month...  I still have to print programs and the weekend brochure...  But I will leave it in the hands of Kinkos to get it all printed for me.  But before I finalize my documents I have a few questions for past brides.

 

How much time did you have between your ceremony and reception??  Our wedding ceremony starts at 4pm but Chandlyn just said that our reception will start at 6:30pm.  That's 2 1/2 hours!!  I plan on our ceremony lasting at the most 45 minutes and then pictures should take about an hour but what will the guest be doing at that time??  Does anyone know what the closest bar to the Dolce Vita Restaurant is?? And is it open air or air conditioned??

 

What’s the name of the resort disco??  We are having 140 guests at our wedding and they love to party so our four hour reception isn't long enough.  So we are telling everyone that we are going to continue to party at the resort disco.  Do most people change after the reception or just go straight to the disco. I am trying to decide it I want to buy another dress for the after party...

 

Where is a good location for our guests to meet for the Welcome Reception??  Chandlyn said the lobby bar is open at 8pm and in a central location but I just wanted to know if there are any other options.

 

How do guest make dinner reservations before their arrival at the resort?
 
Can guest reserve beach and pool cabana before they arrive at the resort?  I read that they can on tripadvisor but I can't figure out who they should contact?

 

Thanks so much for you help!

 

[funkybride]

Hi duckkeisha,

 

We have no idea what we're doing between the reception and going to the resort disco at 11pm. I was hoping to have some kind of a "dance" but the only options so far Chandlyn has given me are renting out an entire a la carte restaurant for $2500 or having a two hour dance in the disco (before it opens I assume) with a deejay for $700 and then also paying $15/person/hour for "open bar"...I'm waiting to hear back from her as to any other possible options. 

 

Where is your reception being held? We were told we could not even have a few first slow dances in the area of our semi-private reception in one of the a la carte restaurants (I've been to a wedding before where the bride and groom had an IPOD and had their few dances and speeches when their meal was over and since it was also semi-private, we were out of the way and not bothering anyone and it was at about 9pm or after by the time the dances started so most other people in the restaurant were leaving anyways).

 

I'm glad I don't seem to be the only one who isn't sure of what to line up for our groups to do in the evening of their wedding day. Probably my biggest vice with this resort - such a huge resort that hosts so many weddings and yet, barely any options.

 

Originally Posted by duckkeisha 

Hi funkybride,

 

Just wondering....My family loves to dance and have fun and I don't feel that 2 hrs is enough time to dance after the dinner at the gazebo.  What are you planning to do post-reception dinner?

 

I really want to bring a friend of mine who is a DJ but I am wondering if there is room for dancing at the restaurant and also how long they let you stay after dinner b4 kicking you out?

 

TFYH,

 

duckkeisha

 

[acw271011]

Hey - I was in Virginia Beach last week!! Loved it and I think we're going back at Xmas to try and do more that we missed.

 

Originally Posted by cupcake1382 

Hey Girl!!
You are getting married a week before us! We are 9-10 and my friend is 9-3 anyhoo- I'll answer what I know..

1. We have more time than you!! Our ceremony is at 1230 and dinner at 6. So we are doing our ceremony from 1230-1, then at the gazebo with 1st dance and pics until 2. Then doing pics on the beach until 3 then relax time until 530 where everyone will meet at the lobby for dinner at 6. We luckily have two photogs so we will split up and do guys pics and girls pics after family pics. Honestly the resort is huge so I doubt the little time you have in between will matter greatly. If your wedding is at 4 and you have the gazebo until 530 that only leaves an hour until your 630 dinner. I would jut go take more pics or at least go to a bar and have a couple drinks.

2. I don't think the disco has a name. There is only one on the resort. After dinner you could just have all the guests who want to attend meet in the lobby at 1045 (the disco opens at 11). That is totally up to you if you want to change. I'm not, I love my dress too much!!

3. We are just telling our guests to meet us at the buffet at 730 for the welcome dinner where we will hand out welcome bags and remind them of important info.

4. Guests can call the resort up to 2 weeks before check in to make a reservation at the a la carte restaurants.

5. I dunno about the cabana.. I would just try calling the resort front desk and asking.

 

 

[cupcake1382]

Awwwwwww man!!! You totally should have messaged me and we could have met up for dinner or drinks!! Boooo, haha!! If you do come back near xmas make sure you email me!
 

Originally Posted by acw271011 

Hey - I was in Virginia Beach last week!! Loved it and I think we're going back at Xmas to try and do more that we missed.

 

 

 

[cupcake1382]

Hey All GBP Brides-

 

I finally got some good concrete info from Donnalle, the assistant wedding coordinator on some things some of us were confused about:

 

Ok- So for the ceremony ONLY you have free access to the DJ to play your Ipod or cd. She said he has the hookups for Ipods but I suggest you bring your own auxillary cable for Ipods just in case.

 

If you RENT the gazebo for dancing etc. you do NOT have access to the DJ unless you rent him too.

 

Make better sense now?

[acw271011]

So ladies. I guess I have some updates...

 

If anyone will be at GBPJ the week of October 17 to 21 let me know. All of our plans seem to have changed - again!! Gosh I hate family!!

 

So it looks now as though we are leaving here on Oct 15, getting married at GBPJ on either Oct 20 or 21 (still to be confirmed), flying home Oct 22 and doing an AHR on Nov 5th. We're still alone to get married so if anyone that's there wants to come and join us for a drink, feel free. Or even stop by to say hello. The resort is saying the only time is 1:00 pm both days, which totally sucks, and we're actually waiting to see if someone cancels to have the 20th, and it isn't first choice at all but it is what it is. And Merrick is available so we still get our awesome pictures on the beach!! It means we get married a whole month earlier but the good thing is it also makes it so close to our anniversary that I'm ok with it.

 

So if you plan to be there in October let me know...

[mekanabr]

hi girls,  here is some info that might help some of you with the time issues etc...

 

-I know some ppl are planning on having their reception at the disco at 11... It is a lot of fun, but just a little warning, it is VERY Loud and pretty dark and it's not super huge.  I know my friends and I had a lot of fun there but none of my parents or any older guests went to the disco, I don't really think they would have enjoyed it.  But it depends who the crowd is that you will be taking there.

 

- for the 'semi private' dinner...I know that the wedding coordinators tell you they don't allow music etc... but if you have your own ipod dock or whatever to play music, I don't see any reason why you couldn't have your first dance there.  I wish we would've had a dinner playlist prepared bc it was silent when we got there (and there weren't any other ppl dining yet) so we asked them to play music.  However their speakers have a mind of their own and it would go to silent to very quiet italian music to super loud ridiculous opera music blaring..it was really silly.  But if you don't have anywhere else to do your first dance I def think you could get away with, plus the wedding coordinators only stopped in briefly to let us know the gazebo was set up, otherwise they weren't there.  I wouldn't be able to get along with lots of dancing in there but one or two slow dance songs would prob be fine.

 

-for renting the gazebo, as far as I understand if you do not pay for the dj, you must bring your own stereo to play music.  There are plugs down there but I would recommend bringing something that can run off of batteries, as they do turn the lights off at 10:45, so if you want to stay down there any longer, you need to have something battery powered. 

 

-someone had asked what size paper lanterns I used and I used 8" lanterns and I got them from Luna Bazaar.

 

- Also- for first dances, I think you would be able to have them right after the ceremony if you didn't have another place to do them.

 

- If the gazebo is rented on your wedding night, you can either rent a restaurant, the disco, or you could easily get everyone together at the terrace/lobby bar.  If you can have a few friends head up there a little bit in advance to get some tables together it would at least give everyone a place to hang out.  THere is live music up there every night and the terrace bar opens at 6-11.  When my group was there there were a few nights when 25 or more of us would meet there before or after dinner and just get tables together and hang out.  It was always a good time and you can request songs for the band to play, another option for your first dance.

 

-for the long times between ceremony and dinner...seriously, don't stress about that!  We had our ceremony at 2:30, stayed at the gazebo until 4 drinking champagne, eating cake and getting pics taken.  Then we headed out into the town for pictures and no one complained that there was time in between.  Our dinner didn't start until 6:30 and it really wasn't a big deal at all.  It's a huge place so ppl can def entertain themselves.  If you want a place for ppl to meet, they can all head up to the lobby bar and hang out and get drinks. Or just let everyone go cool off in the AC of their rooms (a lot of ppl did that bc it was so hot during the ceremony), also if they are hungry the main buffet restaurant is open until 3:30 or the beach buffet is open til 5 or so. 

 

-THe disco is called Ska Disco, for those who were wondering.

 

JayKay- for my pink and orange I brought with me just a few extra chair sashes and table runners, but I'm pretty sure they used their own decorations for the gazebo bc I don't think I would've had enough orange to put up there but who knows...they never charged me for anything.  I would just bring a few extras and I'm sure they will handle the rest.  I bought my fuchsia satin chair sashes (which I used for table runners on top of the wider orange organza runners) from www.save-on-crafts.com and my fuchsia and orange organza sashes and runners from efavormart.com. 

 

-AirJamaica- my aunt and uncle flew from Philly and they loved their flight, no problems with anything and they had an awesome flight that got them there at 8:30am!  (everyone else arrived at noon)

 

-for the birth certs, I ordered copies from the state for my husband and I and brought them along, they were pretty much just like originals since they were from the state so we didin't need to worry about notorizing them.  I don't know how much it costs to notorize them but the copies from the state were only $10/copy.  Just a thought!  Chandlyn really didn't look at them, I pulled them out and she said 'oh you have originals! you're fine' and also didn't even look at our passports, she just told us that she trusted us. 

 

-ok I hope I covered everything!  Good luck everyone, I'm sure your weddings will be so perfect!

 

Ps- here is one of our 5 free pictures from the resort photog...def the best one (he doesn't know how to deal with the sunshine, they were all super overexposed, so we realized how great it was that we brought our own photographer)

 

[MIssdonne]

Hello Girl

 

My group LOVE LOVE the music, so for my wedding (it was in june btw!!!) after the 2 hours in the gazebo, everyone went to the club and we stay until the end!! And trust me, the club was not so good but everyone make fun!! After the club we went to the Burger Place (only burger and hot dog) until 4 am! 

 

For the reception, the time was so short that we didn't had the dessert (lolololol), we went to the gazebo to do the first dance!
 

Originally Posted by duckkeisha 

Hi funkybride,

 

Just wondering....My family loves to dance and have fun and I don't feel that 2 hrs is enough time to dance after the dinner at the gazebo.  What are you planning to do post-reception dinner?

 

I really want to bring a friend of mine who is a DJ but I am wondering if there is room for dancing at the restaurant and also how long they let you stay after dinner b4 kicking you out?

 

TFYH,

 

duckkeisha