Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[toesinsand30]

When is everyone doing their cutting of the cake and first dance, along with mother/son and father/daughter dance ? My fiance seems to think doing it right after the ceremony is a bit weird lol

 

Thanks

[katelynn]

Tris -

keep on her, I actually went to my travel agent and said you need to get this booked for me as she was giving me the running around saying she could only note it on my file...not good enough! and by the end of the day the Italian was booked, I think that was like 2 weeks ago and I am the start of May.

 

Our TA said that the rates actually went up for us...I think the single did by like $300 so I am glad we locked it in way back when. I got a confirmation from her on Friday saying everything was booked and good and that we should get our tickets about 3 weeks before....its a lot to keep track of as we have 43 people coming with us! We are very excited as we are having our Stag n Doe next weekend and we plan on handing out our OOT beach bags then with the tickets...only 38 days until we leave

[acw271011]

Ok - first I'm wondering if my restaurant is ok because of which one I booked. looking back through the threads here it seems anyone that wants the Italian is told they have to wait until they arrive, or a couple weeks before. the ones that say the Grill have been told yes. the fact that the italian is small and initmate may be the deciding factor that they can't have too many weddings in there at once??

 

ehpage - how are you managing being the TA???  I debated about that and my other half now is saying don't even mention prices to anyone or they'll be dropping like flies. he says lets wait a bit and see how the prices go.

 

tris - did peeps bail cuz of pricing??  that's what I'm worried about too. we have so many experienced travellers - my inlaws to be are million milers with Holland America cruise lines, my sister in law to be is a flight attendant, my sister is a terminal supervisor at Toronto airport, we've travelled a ton of places and always booked "last minute". we went to Cabo Mexico 2 years ago and booked tuesday and flew out saturday. got an all inclusive, one week taxes in $811. the resort cost was $534.  so you can see why when we're quoted $1500 for a one week vacation we know darn well the prices are going to come down.

 

Originally Posted by tris 

Omg our prices have dropped too! We all payed $1700 after tax and now it's down to $1200. Just depressing!

I've emailed her again and made mention of "if she would like any gifts from Canada", so we will see if a little bribery works! Haha!! I just want to know which restaurant we'll be at so I can confirm my damn menu!

 

I'll be the creeper behind a tree crying at your wedding! I'm so pathetic... when my mom, myself and my sister were in Cancun a few years back there was a wedding going on and I'm sitting in my lounger bawling. Complete strangers and I'm sobbing hysterically. I can't wait to see how I am at my OWN wedding! Haha!

 

We have us + 15 right now (a LOT of people bailed on us).
 

 

 

[tris]

In regards to the restaurant... I'm getting pretty irritated about this! I mean, you can't tell everyone something different! It's like they play favorites or something.

 

People bailed for a variety of reasons. One friend bailed because of the price (this was after I paid his $200 deposit for him because he couldn't afford it.. so yah, I lost $200, fun). Then my sisters long term BF bailed because he dumped her 2 months ago.
 

Originally Posted by acw271011 

Ok - first I'm wondering if my restaurant is ok because of which one I booked. looking back through the threads here it seems anyone that wants the Italian is told they have to wait until they arrive, or a couple weeks before. the ones that say the Grill have been told yes. the fact that the italian is small and initmate may be the deciding factor that they can't have too many weddings in there at once??

 

ehpage - how are you managing being the TA???  I debated about that and my other half now is saying don't even mention prices to anyone or they'll be dropping like flies. he says lets wait a bit and see how the prices go.

 

tris - did peeps bail cuz of pricing??  that's what I'm worried about too. we have so many experienced travellers - my inlaws to be are million milers with Holland America cruise lines, my sister in law to be is a flight attendant, my sister is a terminal supervisor at Toronto airport, we've travelled a ton of places and always booked "last minute". we went to Cabo Mexico 2 years ago and booked tuesday and flew out saturday. got an all inclusive, one week taxes in $811. the resort cost was $534.  so you can see why when we're quoted $1500 for a one week vacation we know darn well the prices are going to come down.

 

 

 

[lmarie]

tris.. hahahaa. You made me laugh. That is what I am like at other peoples weddings too, even if I dont know them!
 

Originally Posted by tris 

I'll be the creeper behind a tree crying at your wedding! I'm so pathetic... when my mom, myself and my sister were in Cancun a few years back there was a wedding going on and I'm sitting in my lounger bawling. Complete strangers and I'm sobbing hysterically. I can't wait to see how I am at my OWN wedding! Haha!

 

 

 

 

[ashley490]

I'm in the same boat Tris.  We had a ton of people tell us they were coming even up until a month ago, then when the time came to put deposits so many people bailed for different reasons.  I had two single people say they were coming so I set them up to get the double occupancy rate.  When it came time for deposits one booked and the other didn't.  Now the one that's booked is ticked off because she's either got to pay an extra $500 or forfeit her $300 deposit.  I feel bad because I told her the other person was going to book and now hasn't, so I think I'm going to soak up the $300 loss and give her the money back.  It's all so frustrating!

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by tris 

In regards to the restaurant... I'm getting pretty irritated about this! I mean, you can't tell everyone something different! It's like they play favorites or something.

 

People bailed for a variety of reasons. One friend bailed because of the price (this was after I paid his $200 deposit for him because he couldn't afford it.. so yah, I lost $200, fun). Then my sisters long term BF bailed because he dumped her 2 months ago.
 

 

 

[AshleyL]

 

 

Originally Posted by acw271011 

 

 

 

 

I was wondering what had happened to you and how your wedding went!!!  I hope in spite of the drama that it was wonderful.

 

Personal opinion only, I wouldn't send the cancellation note with your wedding announcement. That really should go separately. You're announcing a happy event. How many people were supposed to be going to the reception? Could you not take an evening and cancel by phone? Enlist family to help you out. Your mom, or get your new husband to talk to his side of the family as well.  Things like that happen all the time. Weddings get cancelled, or even downsized and plans have to change. If you really want to send something out, go to Staples and buy the plain white cards they sell that go with invitations. Print them out on your printer and sent them out. It doesn't need to be anything fancy. And from the etiquette that I've heard about, you don't have to give a reason. You can simply say that due to unforseen circumstances, or circumstances beyond your control the event has been cancelled. Period. The family gossip tree will do the rest of the work for you.  If there are certain people that you want to provide more detail to you can do that. Otherwise, the event has been cancelled and that's it.

 

Hope you can post some pics soon!!  Welcome back and congratulations on being a new Mrs.!

Thanks for the advice! We didn't send out that many invites originally but word of mouth got out about the reception. I may see if I can come up with a list though and start making some calls, or like you suggested send them out separately.

 

 

 

 

Originally Posted by ames9782 

 

congrats ashleyl!!  i loved your pics, you guys make such an adorable couple and look so so happy! love it!! 

 

i do have one question for you.  what are your thoughts on the salon ladies??  were you happy with your hair? did they listen to your ideas, etc...  i've read a few reviews about it and no one was really happy with them, and that worries me a bit, because i have no one in my family or friends that does hair, so i need to rely on the salon!  so are they good to work with?? 

 

congrats again! 

 

Thanks so much! I was very happy with my hair. I took in a bunch of photos, and I did the hair trial (because I had heard not great reviews too) and they did a great job. My bridesmaids and my mother also liked their hair. My one bridesmaid felt the backcombing was too high so she just told them and they fixed it right away. You just have to be honest with them, they dont mind fixing things to make you happy. I got a manicure the same day as my trial and by the wedding day I had smudged it, well the girls fixed that for me too. Just sneak them down a pina colada (we did and they loved it!)lol. They were extremely nice and hard working, but they did try talking me into getting my make up done there too (they get paid based on the number of appointments so if no one books, they sit there all day and don't make money). but I spent a bunch of money on MAC make up and makeup trials back home to learn how to do it properly so I just did it myself.

 

 

 

Originally Posted by katelynn 

 

Congrads Ashley and acw...the pics were amazing, I cant wait to finally get down there!!

 

Acw - sorry to hear about all the fam stuff going on, at the end of the day it is your day again and if some people are missing out on seeing you guys at your AHR that is too bad that it cant be resolved for you to celebrate and share your love with everyone. I have a question for ya - you said that you got married on a Tuesday and there was a beach party that night so you wernt doing the gazebo dancing...did you like it? what went on at the beach party etc? We are thinking of doing that now too and ditching the gazebo to save money, your thoughts would be amazing!!

 

So...finally have the restaurant booked and found out there is 3 weddings on my day which I am not really a fan of...but what can you do I guess right? On a lighter note I go this week for my final dress fitting and to get a bussle put in...I hope it still fits as its been awhile!! lol

 

 

Hmmm there didn't end up being a beach party that night. It was raining most of the afternoon/evening and we only had about an hour of clear weather to get photos outside. I'm not sure what happened with the beach party. We chose not to do the gazebo dance because everyone was happy either hanging out at the lobby bar (it was piano night) or heading over to Pueble Principe and the bars there. Honestly I'm glad we didn't spend the extra money to rent the gazebo, the weather wasn't that great and a lot of our guests were exhausted and in bed by 10pm lol.

 

 

Originally Posted by toesinsand30 

 

LOVE LOVE LOVE your pictures AshelyL !!!

 

Do you mind me asking where your groomsman and your man got their suits, pants and shirt from ?

 

Thanks

Vicky

 

 

Thanks Vicky! My husband picked his suit up at Tip Top Tailors (just a suit store in the mall), it's part of Calvin Klein separates collection and cost about $300. His shirt was also from Tip Top and he couldn't find a short sleeved one he liked so he just bought a long sleeved dress shirt and had them shorten the sleeves (they charged $10 or something like that). The boys khaki pants and white shirts were from Old Navy - $30 for the pants, $12 for the shirts, but the shirt didn't end up fitting my bro. So the shirt he ended up wearing came from Tommy Bahama Outlet and was $60 (his shirt is the one with a sublte striping on it.

 

[FleetMac bride]

Thanks for the help, and my wedding date is November 25th-2011. I really wish I could get the 2012 prices when I read that I was so pissed off LOL. But I am happy I finally am getting married though nothing can take that happiness away LOL.

Originally Posted by a084596 

It is still only 2 hours for the gazebo regardless of dj.  I have not asked for a quote on the liquor because I don't know what I should ask for.  There are only 19 of us and a few don't even drink.

When is your wedding date?

 

[FleetMac bride]

I booked the Italian restaurant too for November 2011
 

Originally Posted by ashley490 

That is super weird.  My wedding isn't until January 2012 but Chandlyn has already confirmed the Grill Restaurant for me.  I guess it's one of those things where half of us are told one thing and the other half are told another...sooo frustrating!

 

 

 

[cupcake1382]

This is CRAZY!! I see things have started to go downhill since Beverly left. I was told my wedding could only be at 1130 or 130 and for dinner all they had available was 630?!?!?!? And I was told I couldn't book the Italian restaurant until I go there. Not to mention my emails go a week or two without be answered.

 

As a wedding planner myself this is just starting to drive me crazy. The reason I picked a destination resort is because I didn't want to have to deal with any of this stuff. But now I see I have to go into wedding planner mode and start whipping people into shape down there to get some answers!!

 

The first thing Chadalyn should have done was figure out which brides she needed to contact immediately (with weddings coming up soon) and tell the rest of us she would get back to us shortly. And, why publish new prices if they weren't going to honor them until 2012?!? But actually I got the new price for my wedding on 9-10-11 but from what I'm reading on here, some of you didn't. This is nuts, I am going to call and speak to a manager and get back with you guys..