Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[MrsAprilDewees]

I'm soooo sorry you had so many issues during your wedding day!!! Thats insane! I'll be sure to ask for Chandlyn to be there during the ceremony, but neither of them sounded like much help in the end. But just like you said, atthe end of the day you got to marry your now husband! So it was all worth it!!!

 

 

Originally Posted by Espejo2be 

Hey Girls,
I'm Back!!   So i just wrote a big long message and some how exited out of the screen and lost it all. So i'm going to make this one short and sweet.

Pros:
Gorgeous Resort, and huge

Friendly staff

Spacious bedroom

DELICIOUS FOOD

Very Nice and sweet wedding coordinator (Chandlyn)

#1 pool bartender = Henry

 

Cons:

Guests had to bring towels because of a consistent towel shortage

No upgraded room (even though we were the bride and groom)

Bartender for wedding reception = total waste of money

DJ for ceremony and wedding reception = total dummy and total waste of money

Donnalee = WORST wedding coordinator i've ever come across

Wedding rehersal = total waste of your groups time because nothing goes as planned

Outside the resort your bombarded with locals telling you stuff is free, giving it to you and then asking you for money for it?!

 

Our wedding day. we met Chandlyn (who rushed us) in the lobby to get into the golf cart which brought us to the beach.  After seeing her a couple days before to go over all the details and give her all of the decorations that we had brought with us and tell her how we wanted things laid out.  We got down to the gazebo and none of the pre-ceremony music was playing, the guys were all hanging out at the steps on the top of the isle right where we had arrived and my FI almost seen me, when they were supposed to be standing at the gazebo by that point.  The preist is awesome, he read the script we gave him because we wanted 2 reading incorperated as well as a sand cermeony.  Donnalee was present during our ceremony not Chandlyn (which if i had my time back i would have requested).  When it came to our sand ceremony, i noticed that our vases weren't set out. Donnalee came up in the middle of our sand ceremony and put the vases and sand in sandwich bags on our table and walked away!!!! Our wedding was being webcasted live so it was quite embarassing to be pouring sand from sandwich bags into the vases before we could pour it into the middle vase, all the while the DJ skipped a song and was playing the signing of the register song instead.  It had been hot, humid and gorgeous weather the WHOLE time we were down there, just as we signed the register, it down poured, BAD!!! all of our guests huddled in the gazebo around us and the webcasting cut out, the gazebo floor was flooded! the DJ put on our precessional song during the signing of the register.  it cleared up a little after about 10 minutes and the steel drum band started playing, only half of our guests were offered champagne after the ceremony.  It stayed clear for a little bit and while we were taking group shots I looked over and seen the steel drum band packing up and leaving about 15 minutes after they started playing (they were already paid $400) and there was a half naked man whole none of us knew videotaping our whole wedding and Donnalee was standing right next to time letting it happen. I had to go over and ask him to leave myself!!!!  We all got soaked in the showers and my hair went limp pretty fast.  My spirits were lifted after Merrick Cousley (our photographer) showed me a couple seek peeks on his camera and was saying we had the best weather because colors pop just after the rain (he was my saving grace!!) I would recommend him to anyone because we was fantastic!!!   We showed up to the Dolce Vita for our reception, it was decorated beautifully (better than i could have imagined).  Our guests all showed up at 6:30pm or earlier and had to sit and wait almost a half hour before they were even served wine alone their meal!! The food was great, service was horrible!  They brought out our cake without the cake topped and then didn't know how to put it on (hugging doves) so my FI had to go over and put it on himself in the middle of supper.  We cut our cake and ate a peice (we added an extra layer = so worth it) and got white raspberry, chocolate raspberry and coconut.  We served a couple of our guests some cake because nobody else was around to do it and then never saw the cake again, they didn't ask us what we wanted to do with it or if they should cut it up.  We also found out afterwards from one of our guests that he went to the bathroom in the middle of supper and when he flushed the toilet a rat sprang up out of the toilet and started running around the bathroom and then out through the resturant. He reported this to the manager and he said "yeah, we've been trying to catch that one for a while now!" needless to say, not too impressed!!

After supper we went to the gazebo where the bartender met us, he was nice and very friendly but he mixed the drinks pretty weak and wasn't really worth the $660 we paid for him.  The DJ had our ipod for the dance and hit play and spent the rest of the night surfing the internet with his headphones in. He just let the music play and when someone requested the next song, he looked and them and handed them the ipod.  If i had my time back I would have just got the speakers and done it ourselves and also had someone in charge of the music during our ceremony. 

We left the gazebo and went to the disco for a bit although some of our guests partied until early in the morning. 

We were told to meet with Chandlyn before we left the resort to get our things back and being sceptical I checked the bags right in front of them before leaving.  1/2 of our stuff was missing or broken and when we asked about the coupole specific things that we really wanted back, they said they were in the bag that they gave us and were not willing to do anything for us. So another recommendation, anything you want back, make sure someone is gathering it right after you finished with it!

Our stay was amazing, our wedding was a complete mess but in the end we'll have gorgeous pictures and we're married to each other Oh, and on another note, we did a TTD session with Merrick (which was AMAZING!!!) and when we were in the ocean splashing around my husband (hehe) lost his wedding band... yes, the day after our wedding!! We snorkeled for hours but didn't find it... our luck! So we had to buy him a new band when we got back to Newfoundland.

If you girls have any more questions, let me know, hope this helps a little!!

 

[Natalie2012]

So sorry to hear this news too:( To avoid a lot of these things that could go wrong or not as planned...I am not bringing any decor...table thingys..cake toppers...steel drum band will be playing during ceremony...so won't be bringing my own music...I'm not renting the gazebo..nor hiring bartenders...and no DJ...no rehearsal needed...we r just going to go with the flow...carefree and relaxed:) It's Jamaica...and all I need is my FI:) I did book Merrick though for wedding day and ttd so it was GREAT to hear how pleased you were with him...you will have to post some pics for us:)

Sorry again to hear about your experience..but CONGRATS to you on your wedding!!
 

Originally Posted by Espejo2be 

Hey Girls,
I'm Back!!   So i just wrote a big long message and some how exited out of the screen and lost it all. So i'm going to make this one short and sweet.

Pros:
Gorgeous Resort, and huge

Friendly staff

Spacious bedroom

DELICIOUS FOOD

Very Nice and sweet wedding coordinator (Chandlyn)

#1 pool bartender = Henry

 

Cons:

Guests had to bring towels because of a consistent towel shortage

No upgraded room (even though we were the bride and groom)

Bartender for wedding reception = total waste of money

DJ for ceremony and wedding reception = total dummy and total waste of money

Donnalee = WORST wedding coordinator i've ever come across

Wedding rehersal = total waste of your groups time because nothing goes as planned

Outside the resort your bombarded with locals telling you stuff is free, giving it to you and then asking you for money for it?!

 

Our wedding day. we met Chandlyn (who rushed us) in the lobby to get into the golf cart which brought us to the beach.  After seeing her a couple days before to go over all the details and give her all of the decorations that we had brought with us and tell her how we wanted things laid out.  We got down to the gazebo and none of the pre-ceremony music was playing, the guys were all hanging out at the steps on the top of the isle right where we had arrived and my FI almost seen me, when they were supposed to be standing at the gazebo by that point.  The preist is awesome, he read the script we gave him because we wanted 2 reading incorperated as well as a sand cermeony.  Donnalee was present during our ceremony not Chandlyn (which if i had my time back i would have requested).  When it came to our sand ceremony, i noticed that our vases weren't set out. Donnalee came up in the middle of our sand ceremony and put the vases and sand in sandwich bags on our table and walked away!!!! Our wedding was being webcasted live so it was quite embarassing to be pouring sand from sandwich bags into the vases before we could pour it into the middle vase, all the while the DJ skipped a song and was playing the signing of the register song instead.  It had been hot, humid and gorgeous weather the WHOLE time we were down there, just as we signed the register, it down poured, BAD!!! all of our guests huddled in the gazebo around us and the webcasting cut out, the gazebo floor was flooded! the DJ put on our precessional song during the signing of the register.  it cleared up a little after about 10 minutes and the steel drum band started playing, only half of our guests were offered champagne after the ceremony.  It stayed clear for a little bit and while we were taking group shots I looked over and seen the steel drum band packing up and leaving about 15 minutes after they started playing (they were already paid $400) and there was a half naked man whole none of us knew videotaping our whole wedding and Donnalee was standing right next to time letting it happen. I had to go over and ask him to leave myself!!!!  We all got soaked in the showers and my hair went limp pretty fast.  My spirits were lifted after Merrick Cousley (our photographer) showed me a couple seek peeks on his camera and was saying we had the best weather because colors pop just after the rain (he was my saving grace!!) I would recommend him to anyone because we was fantastic!!!   We showed up to the Dolce Vita for our reception, it was decorated beautifully (better than i could have imagined).  Our guests all showed up at 6:30pm or earlier and had to sit and wait almost a half hour before they were even served wine alone their meal!! The food was great, service was horrible!  They brought out our cake without the cake topped and then didn't know how to put it on (hugging doves) so my FI had to go over and put it on himself in the middle of supper.  We cut our cake and ate a peice (we added an extra layer = so worth it) and got white raspberry, chocolate raspberry and coconut.  We served a couple of our guests some cake because nobody else was around to do it and then never saw the cake again, they didn't ask us what we wanted to do with it or if they should cut it up.  We also found out afterwards from one of our guests that he went to the bathroom in the middle of supper and when he flushed the toilet a rat sprang up out of the toilet and started running around the bathroom and then out through the resturant. He reported this to the manager and he said "yeah, we've been trying to catch that one for a while now!" needless to say, not too impressed!!

After supper we went to the gazebo where the bartender met us, he was nice and very friendly but he mixed the drinks pretty weak and wasn't really worth the $660 we paid for him.  The DJ had our ipod for the dance and hit play and spent the rest of the night surfing the internet with his headphones in. He just let the music play and when someone requested the next song, he looked and them and handed them the ipod.  If i had my time back I would have just got the speakers and done it ourselves and also had someone in charge of the music during our ceremony. 

We left the gazebo and went to the disco for a bit although some of our guests partied until early in the morning. 

We were told to meet with Chandlyn before we left the resort to get our things back and being sceptical I checked the bags right in front of them before leaving.  1/2 of our stuff was missing or broken and when we asked about the coupole specific things that we really wanted back, they said they were in the bag that they gave us and were not willing to do anything for us. So another recommendation, anything you want back, make sure someone is gathering it right after you finished with it!

Our stay was amazing, our wedding was a complete mess but in the end we'll have gorgeous pictures and we're married to each other Oh, and on another note, we did a TTD session with Merrick (which was AMAZING!!!) and when we were in the ocean splashing around my husband (hehe) lost his wedding band... yes, the day after our wedding!! We snorkeled for hours but didn't find it... our luck! So we had to buy him a new band when we got back to Newfoundland.

If you girls have any more questions, let me know, hope this helps a little!!

 

[tamandrob]

I am sorry to hear about your wedding day that really is a shame but like you said now you are married!!!!! Congrats on being a Mrs. I am the same as Natalie I am not renting a dj or a bartender, and I am having the steel band play during the ceremony so hopefully that will go smoothly. Thanks for your review and I can't wait to see so of your pictures!

[JayKay]

I'm sad to read about all your troubles you had.  I just keep trying to think positive and tell myself that that can happen anywhere.  We are also not bringing extra decorations, or toppers, or hiring any extra people to try and aviod things like this.  But in the end you are married and thats all that matters! You will have a great story to tell your grandkids one day about your wedding in Jamaica!  And Im sure excited to hear that Merrick was great, we have booked him too!!

 

Originally Posted by Espejo2be 

Hey Girls,
I'm Back!!   So i just wrote a big long message and some how exited out of the screen and lost it all. So i'm going to make this one short and sweet.

Pros:
Gorgeous Resort, and huge

Friendly staff

Spacious bedroom

DELICIOUS FOOD

Very Nice and sweet wedding coordinator (Chandlyn)

#1 pool bartender = Henry

 

Cons:

Guests had to bring towels because of a consistent towel shortage

No upgraded room (even though we were the bride and groom)

Bartender for wedding reception = total waste of money

DJ for ceremony and wedding reception = total dummy and total waste of money

Donnalee = WORST wedding coordinator i've ever come across

Wedding rehersal = total waste of your groups time because nothing goes as planned

Outside the resort your bombarded with locals telling you stuff is free, giving it to you and then asking you for money for it?!

 

Our wedding day. we met Chandlyn (who rushed us) in the lobby to get into the golf cart which brought us to the beach.  After seeing her a couple days before to go over all the details and give her all of the decorations that we had brought with us and tell her how we wanted things laid out.  We got down to the gazebo and none of the pre-ceremony music was playing, the guys were all hanging out at the steps on the top of the isle right where we had arrived and my FI almost seen me, when they were supposed to be standing at the gazebo by that point.  The preist is awesome, he read the script we gave him because we wanted 2 reading incorperated as well as a sand cermeony.  Donnalee was present during our ceremony not Chandlyn (which if i had my time back i would have requested).  When it came to our sand ceremony, i noticed that our vases weren't set out. Donnalee came up in the middle of our sand ceremony and put the vases and sand in sandwich bags on our table and walked away!!!! Our wedding was being webcasted live so it was quite embarassing to be pouring sand from sandwich bags into the vases before we could pour it into the middle vase, all the while the DJ skipped a song and was playing the signing of the register song instead.  It had been hot, humid and gorgeous weather the WHOLE time we were down there, just as we signed the register, it down poured, BAD!!! all of our guests huddled in the gazebo around us and the webcasting cut out, the gazebo floor was flooded! the DJ put on our precessional song during the signing of the register.  it cleared up a little after about 10 minutes and the steel drum band started playing, only half of our guests were offered champagne after the ceremony.  It stayed clear for a little bit and while we were taking group shots I looked over and seen the steel drum band packing up and leaving about 15 minutes after they started playing (they were already paid $400) and there was a half naked man whole none of us knew videotaping our whole wedding and Donnalee was standing right next to time letting it happen. I had to go over and ask him to leave myself!!!!  We all got soaked in the showers and my hair went limp pretty fast.  My spirits were lifted after Merrick Cousley (our photographer) showed me a couple seek peeks on his camera and was saying we had the best weather because colors pop just after the rain (he was my saving grace!!) I would recommend him to anyone because we was fantastic!!!   We showed up to the Dolce Vita for our reception, it was decorated beautifully (better than i could have imagined).  Our guests all showed up at 6:30pm or earlier and had to sit and wait almost a half hour before they were even served wine alone their meal!! The food was great, service was horrible!  They brought out our cake without the cake topped and then didn't know how to put it on (hugging doves) so my FI had to go over and put it on himself in the middle of supper.  We cut our cake and ate a peice (we added an extra layer = so worth it) and got white raspberry, chocolate raspberry and coconut.  We served a couple of our guests some cake because nobody else was around to do it and then never saw the cake again, they didn't ask us what we wanted to do with it or if they should cut it up.  We also found out afterwards from one of our guests that he went to the bathroom in the middle of supper and when he flushed the toilet a rat sprang up out of the toilet and started running around the bathroom and then out through the resturant. He reported this to the manager and he said "yeah, we've been trying to catch that one for a while now!" needless to say, not too impressed!!

After supper we went to the gazebo where the bartender met us, he was nice and very friendly but he mixed the drinks pretty weak and wasn't really worth the $660 we paid for him.  The DJ had our ipod for the dance and hit play and spent the rest of the night surfing the internet with his headphones in. He just let the music play and when someone requested the next song, he looked and them and handed them the ipod.  If i had my time back I would have just got the speakers and done it ourselves and also had someone in charge of the music during our ceremony. 

We left the gazebo and went to the disco for a bit although some of our guests partied until early in the morning. 

We were told to meet with Chandlyn before we left the resort to get our things back and being sceptical I checked the bags right in front of them before leaving.  1/2 of our stuff was missing or broken and when we asked about the coupole specific things that we really wanted back, they said they were in the bag that they gave us and were not willing to do anything for us. So another recommendation, anything you want back, make sure someone is gathering it right after you finished with it!

Our stay was amazing, our wedding was a complete mess but in the end we'll have gorgeous pictures and we're married to each other Oh, and on another note, we did a TTD session with Merrick (which was AMAZING!!!) and when we were in the ocean splashing around my husband (hehe) lost his wedding band... yes, the day after our wedding!! We snorkeled for hours but didn't find it... our luck! So we had to buy him a new band when we got back to Newfoundland.

If you girls have any more questions, let me know, hope this helps a little!!

 

[mekanabr]

Espejo2be , I'm so sorry to hear that your wedding day didn't go as smoothly as expected  But at least you will have beautiful pictures and you married the man of your dreams!!!  Can't wait to see your pictures!!!

[greatbritain]

gorgeous!
 

Originally Posted by mekanabr 

I couldn't wait to share this with you girls! It's a preview from our photographer, I love it!!! I keep looking at them over and over lol

http://www.laurietennentstudio.com/shows/trevorandmegan

 

[acw271011]

Wow. And I thought I had problems just even trying to get a wedding!! I'm so sorry to hear things went wrong. You really have me worried now. We're taking our sand ceremony and our cake topper but I have nobody to help me with these things. We're 2. Nobody else. I don't have a maid of honour anymore and we don't have a best man either. Our cake topper we want to re-use for our AHR when we come back so now it sounds like I have to be worried about tracking it down. I can't believe they disappeared with your cake!!!  I want to be able to take it back to our room and use it for a sweet.

 

Yes - it's true you get married and you're in paradise, etc. But when things go wrong like that, it's just additional stress at a time when you don't need any more stress. With everything we've been through I definitely don't need or want any more...

 

On a brighter note, thanks for the recommendation of Merrick. He's our photographer too and like you he has been my saving grace!!! I already told him he was my angel. He has been so calm about everything we've been through and I'm totally excited to meet him and see what kind of pics we end up with since now we're a great big party of 2!!!

 

Originally Posted by Espejo2be 

Hey Girls,
I'm Back!!   So i just wrote a big long message and some how exited out of the screen and lost it all. So i'm going to make this one short and sweet.

Pros:
Gorgeous Resort, and huge

Friendly staff

Spacious bedroom

DELICIOUS FOOD

Very Nice and sweet wedding coordinator (Chandlyn)

#1 pool bartender = Henry

 

Cons:

Guests had to bring towels because of a consistent towel shortage

No upgraded room (even though we were the bride and groom)

Bartender for wedding reception = total waste of money

DJ for ceremony and wedding reception = total dummy and total waste of money

Donnalee = WORST wedding coordinator i've ever come across

Wedding rehersal = total waste of your groups time because nothing goes as planned

Outside the resort your bombarded with locals telling you stuff is free, giving it to you and then asking you for money for it?!

 

Our wedding day. we met Chandlyn (who rushed us) in the lobby to get into the golf cart which brought us to the beach.  After seeing her a couple days before to go over all the details and give her all of the decorations that we had brought with us and tell her how we wanted things laid out.  We got down to the gazebo and none of the pre-ceremony music was playing, the guys were all hanging out at the steps on the top of the isle right where we had arrived and my FI almost seen me, when they were supposed to be standing at the gazebo by that point.  The preist is awesome, he read the script we gave him because we wanted 2 reading incorperated as well as a sand cermeony.  Donnalee was present during our ceremony not Chandlyn (which if i had my time back i would have requested).  When it came to our sand ceremony, i noticed that our vases weren't set out. Donnalee came up in the middle of our sand ceremony and put the vases and sand in sandwich bags on our table and walked away!!!! Our wedding was being webcasted live so it was quite embarassing to be pouring sand from sandwich bags into the vases before we could pour it into the middle vase, all the while the DJ skipped a song and was playing the signing of the register song instead.  It had been hot, humid and gorgeous weather the WHOLE time we were down there, just as we signed the register, it down poured, BAD!!! all of our guests huddled in the gazebo around us and the webcasting cut out, the gazebo floor was flooded! the DJ put on our precessional song during the signing of the register.  it cleared up a little after about 10 minutes and the steel drum band started playing, only half of our guests were offered champagne after the ceremony.  It stayed clear for a little bit and while we were taking group shots I looked over and seen the steel drum band packing up and leaving about 15 minutes after they started playing (they were already paid $400) and there was a half naked man whole none of us knew videotaping our whole wedding and Donnalee was standing right next to time letting it happen. I had to go over and ask him to leave myself!!!!  We all got soaked in the showers and my hair went limp pretty fast.  My spirits were lifted after Merrick Cousley (our photographer) showed me a couple seek peeks on his camera and was saying we had the best weather because colors pop just after the rain (he was my saving grace!!) I would recommend him to anyone because we was fantastic!!!   We showed up to the Dolce Vita for our reception, it was decorated beautifully (better than i could have imagined).  Our guests all showed up at 6:30pm or earlier and had to sit and wait almost a half hour before they were even served wine alone their meal!! The food was great, service was horrible!  They brought out our cake without the cake topped and then didn't know how to put it on (hugging doves) so my FI had to go over and put it on himself in the middle of supper.  We cut our cake and ate a peice (we added an extra layer = so worth it) and got white raspberry, chocolate raspberry and coconut.  We served a couple of our guests some cake because nobody else was around to do it and then never saw the cake again, they didn't ask us what we wanted to do with it or if they should cut it up.  We also found out afterwards from one of our guests that he went to the bathroom in the middle of supper and when he flushed the toilet a rat sprang up out of the toilet and started running around the bathroom and then out through the resturant. He reported this to the manager and he said "yeah, we've been trying to catch that one for a while now!" needless to say, not too impressed!!

After supper we went to the gazebo where the bartender met us, he was nice and very friendly but he mixed the drinks pretty weak and wasn't really worth the $660 we paid for him.  The DJ had our ipod for the dance and hit play and spent the rest of the night surfing the internet with his headphones in. He just let the music play and when someone requested the next song, he looked and them and handed them the ipod.  If i had my time back I would have just got the speakers and done it ourselves and also had someone in charge of the music during our ceremony. 

We left the gazebo and went to the disco for a bit although some of our guests partied until early in the morning. 

We were told to meet with Chandlyn before we left the resort to get our things back and being sceptical I checked the bags right in front of them before leaving.  1/2 of our stuff was missing or broken and when we asked about the coupole specific things that we really wanted back, they said they were in the bag that they gave us and were not willing to do anything for us. So another recommendation, anything you want back, make sure someone is gathering it right after you finished with it!

Our stay was amazing, our wedding was a complete mess but in the end we'll have gorgeous pictures and we're married to each other Oh, and on another note, we did a TTD session with Merrick (which was AMAZING!!!) and when we were in the ocean splashing around my husband (hehe) lost his wedding band... yes, the day after our wedding!! We snorkeled for hours but didn't find it... our luck! So we had to buy him a new band when we got back to Newfoundland.

If you girls have any more questions, let me know, hope this helps a little!!

 

[BusyBee123]

Espejo2be - Congrats on getting married!!! Glad to hear that you had a great time and enjoyed the resort!  

 

I'm sad to hear about some of the trouble that you had with your big day.  Rain is the #1 thing that I am dreading, because there really isn't all that much that you can do!  Its unavoidable unfortunately.  This isn't the first time I've read about stuff going missing after the reception.  Given their history, we're going to hand off the super important stuff to my parents, and the rest won't be the end of the world if it goes missing!  

 

Hope you're enjoying newly married life and congrats again!  Good luck with buying the hubby a new ring!  

 

[FleetMac bride]

WOW not surprised by Donnalee as she had double picked my wedding date and time but the rest of it wow. I am thinking I amgoing to get some help too I also have has to much stress to worry about that kind of crap. Congrats though at least your married to a wonderful man

[FoxyRoxy30]

Hi Ladies,

 

For those of you who have already experienced GBP, do you think it's a good venue for a large group (i.e. 150 people). If so, what are your suggestions for where the reception should be held.  Also, is there a back up plan in case it rains on your weddng day? Thanks for any information you can provide.