Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[Mikeytosh]

contact me [email protected] I can assist you with that,

 

Regards

Michael

[AngelaandTrevor]

We pretty much have everything sorted out including colors! We are going with yellow flowers and the guys will be in beige and whites and the girls will be in champayne colors! Just waiting for one last response from Chandlyn! Then its just the music left to do and alterations on dresses but we are doing that in Febuary closer to the date! We tryed in April to get the 16th 17th 18th 19th or 20th for our wedding date but they said it was all booked! When did you book your wedding?

 

Angela

[Tekeya Thompson]

Hello Ladies,

This will be a short message but I promise to give more details later...just got back and tired.  In the end, the wedding was gorgeous, Chandlyn was awesome, and I couldn't ask for a more perfect day.  I had some ups and downs prior to the wedding...(the bus driver let my carryon bag with all my wedding stuff off at the wrong resort) but once the kinks worked out, everything was lovely.  I know there are lots of questions, feel free.  I noticed the string about the birth certificates/passport copies.  Technically the process works faster if you have a notarized copy of your birth certificate and passport.  The short form people are referring to, is when birth certificates were more like a "card" and didn't have the notarized seal.  A long form is just the full size paper version with the state's stamp seal (of live birth) on it. Most banks (if you have an bank account with them) will notarize for free, I know Chase and Wells Fargo does.

 

 

Our wedding was AWESOME.

 

We had our rehearsal dinner (only allowed to do 20 for our party) at The Grill.  Okay...the grill....salmon was good. A couple people had the steak but was feeling the effects of it later. IT is SUPER HOT in the restaurant..no air at all, which made it very uncomfortable.  It was roaches and bugs in the restaurant also, so don't be alarmed when you see something crawling lol.  My bridesmaid napkin actually moved (a bug was crawling underneath), so she never ate anything else.
The food was good prior to that but it's just the heat and bugs that are disturbing.

 

Rehearsal, I met Donnalee...she walked it thru but it wasn't in good detail, so it was a little confusing.  This was my first time meeting or even speaking with her, I only worked with Chandlyn prior but she was away handling a 152 party wedding. 

 

Wedding:  Everything was put together well but everyone was running a
little late including Chandlyn.  The DJ had to restart one song because he played the
wrong one, but my lady in waiting got him straight. I had my own officiator but the Jamaican minister was supposed to do the sand ceremony and pronounce us.  He was very "off" on the
program.  He had us signing documents, blessed u and we hadn't even did the sand
ceremony or been pronounced.  My cousin who was also officiating had
to tell him that he forgot it.  Donnalee forgot to set the sand ceremony
up, so it was like a LONG period of silence until they brought
everything (which the sand was still in the bag)...so ghetto.   I was
irritated about that part.  Once we got it going, the sand ceremony
itself took FOREVER...make sure you have music for that.

 

The WIND is FIERCE at the gazebo, fyi for your hairstyles.  It wasn't that hot at gazebo because we were
inside of it, and the wind was blowing like crazy. We finished taking pictures and had to
head to reception dinner at Dolce at 6pm.  The reception wasn't set up yet, so we had to
wait.

 

Dolce was great...we had the semi private area...we was able to play
our music and do our photo guestbook which the guests really enjoyed.
They also played with the cootie scavenger hunts which was cool.  I
hate that I didn't do the 1st dance and stuff there because when we
got back to gazebo, it was HOT as heck and we were dripping sweat.

 

The chicken at Dolce was great.  The salad and desert that comes with that option
was horrible.  The squash soup was decent. You have the option to
change it, which I recommend.

 

The pool does close at 7pm but the nude beach and regular beach is open
all the time.  They do have washclothes but they only give it to the
honeymooners after the wedding, not to the guests....they only have
bath towels and handtowels.

 

FYI, your reception dinner, Donnalee and Chandlyn are NO WHERE around,
so you need to have your own announcer and program set.  We had to
wing it and it killed me, i hate when stuff isn't organized.  I wasn't
aware they didn't "coordinate" during the event. And I didn't know
what was next, etc.  So the cake came in last...it was nice.  They end
up putting flowers on it (which I didn't paid for, but it was really
nice).

 

We went back to the gazebo after dinner (rented it out) to do our first dance, mother/son dance, party ;-)...OMG it was SO HOT!!!  We were told later that when the sun goes down, the temperature rises (so it gets hotter after dark near the beach).  We still partied.  Our paper lanterns were hanging and it was so nice.  FYI, if you want it back, I would advise you to take them down yourselves....we didn't and they were torn up by the wind.

 

Other than that, everything was gorgeous.  It was a perfect ending to the perfect week. 

[tamandrob]

Congrats on being a Mrs!!!!! I am glad you had a great time other than a few mishaps! Thanks for the review it was very helpful. I am going back and forth about a sand ceremony; would you have one if you were to do it over again? Thanks so much! 

[Tekeya Thompson]

The sand ceremony would have been nicer if my music was playing as instructed and all the items were on the table prior.  We (including the minister) was trying to fill the vases with sand in the middle of all of the wind, so it was a LONG period of dead silence.  If it was put together as it should, I would do it again.  I did the sand frame so it came out really nice with 3 colors (one for me, my husband, and son).

[Tekeya Thompson]

I haven't gotten my picture peeps yet, but I honestly think I made the right decision going with Sungold photography versus the hotel.  Sungold came prepared with lighting, etc...the hotel didn't have anything but their camera.

[FleetMac bride]

Tekeya congrats  I just wanted to ask how did you where your hair with it being that windy?

 

ACW my FI also is divorced so we were going to get his papers and send them but what do you mean about red sealed???

[toesinsand30]

yes for sure we can do that for you just remind me when we are there ha ha I have a bad memory !!

 

BTW it is ALL worth it you will have those memories for a life time !!!!!

 

Originally Posted by acw271011 

great! I know it's so nice to get the details out of the way. our wedding stuff is nothing now that it's just the 2 of us, but our AHR is what I'm working on now.

 

I so can't wait to peek at your wedding!! I found out my dress goes free on our flight. doesn't count against weight or baggage at all. so relieved!! hey - if you guys have a minute on the 20th at our time we're hoping to find someone to take quick pics for us with our regular camera. maybe 15 minutes or so. that way we'll at least have something to show when we come home. just one of the little ways it totally SUCKS to be going alone... I just keep telling myself it will all be worth it. it will all be worth it... lol  6 weeks from today! 

 

 

 

[tamandrob]

Thanks for your advice! I think I will be doing one I just hope it's done right!!! I see that you went with Sungold did you hire an associate or Paula? I can't wait to see your pictures!

 

Originally Posted by Tekeya Thompson 

The sand ceremony would have been nicer if my music was playing as instructed and all the items were on the table prior.  We (including the minister) was trying to fill the vases with sand in the middle of all of the wind, so it was a LONG period of dead silence.  If it was put together as it should, I would do it again.  I did the sand frame so it came out really nice with 3 colors (one for me, my husband, and son).

 

[Tekeya Thompson]

Thank u much!  My hair was pinned up, but my birdcage veil was EVERYWHERE but on my face lol.  We had a hard time with pictures because of the wind.  But it worked out.
 

Originally Posted by FleetMac bride 

Tekeya congrats  I just wanted to ask how did you where your hair with it being that windy?

 

ACW my FI also is divorced so we were going to get his papers and send them but what do you mean about red sealed???