Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[Kim Deslippe]

What, OMG...guess I'd better send them another email requesting a specific date instead of just asking questions...geesh!!  Thanks for getting back to me though!!

Might I ask what date you have booked pask454?   Be kinda neat if we were there at the same time

 

[greatbritain]

Thanks for the info and CONGRATS Can't wait to see some pics!
 

Originally Posted by jenandmark 

I’m back from our wedding on 11/11/11!  The wedding was amazing, no complaints at all!  Everything went just as previous brides have described, so I am just going to add a few things that I ran into during the wedding and our stay that people might find helpful!

 

• If you bring one cd with music for the ceremony and reception, make sure to have someone get it back after the ceremony.  We forgot to grab it, so later at the gazebo for dancing, our music was missing.  Luckily the dj got ahold of Chandlyn (who had left for the day) and someone from the resort brought the music out to us!  Big bonus points since it had a few must hear songs of ours on it that the dj did not have!  If I had it to do over, I would of made 2 separate discs to avoid this…
• Dancing at the gazebo was perfect!  We did pay for the dj and bartender and didn’t regret it either.  The bar is too far away to go and get drinks during your dancing time…  The dj did a good job.  He had a hook up and played stuff right off our phones, cd and an ipod.  Worked out well for us so we didn’t need to worry about getting things set up.
• So glad my husband tried this, since everything I read on here made me think it wasn’t possible and I had told him not to bother…!  MONEY TALKS!!!  We tipped the dj and bartender at the gazebo and ended up with an extra hour of time.  Yes, we stayed at the gazebo until 11:30pm (we were scheduled 8:30-10:30)!  I don’t know if it just wasn’t the dj’s night to work at the disco or what.  We went to the disco straight from there and it was open, and someone else was playing.   I didn’t care, I was so thrilled it worked that it didn’t matter!
• Money seems to talk everywhere… ! We had several of our guests that went every night to a sit down restaurant.  They found slipping the guy at the door $10 would get them in early if they had reservations, or just in period if they didn’t have reservations there to begin with!  I don’t know if this was just bc the resort wasn’t full when we were there, or if it will always work.  It would be worth trying in my opinion though, we liked all the places we ate (buffet got boring).  The only place we didn’t go was Don Pablo, so I’m not sure about that. 
• We also tipped our housekeeper daily.  We never once ran out of towels or wash clothes.  Our fridge was always full of water and beer as requested, and the room was really clean!  (Actually she went so far as to get us a case of beer for the guys to take with them on their fishing trip!)  A few others complained they did not receive the same service, but, they had also not tipped.  I know some people don’t like too since it’s ‘all inclusive’, but we found here it really made a difference and was worth it to us personally. 
• We handed out survival kits as gifts…  If I had it to do again, I would of added more pepto to them.  Between the trip down (picking up the flu), food and alcohol we had around ¼ of our group eating them like candy and looking for more!  We also gave out cups which were really the big hit!  They were nice not only for drinking since the cups are tiny there, but they held your table, and it helped everyone know who was part of the group…  Really nice since the place is huge and we had people that didn’t know each other!
• Get the room safe.  It’s worth the money for the peace of mind.  We had one room that did not use it and their phones and $40 in cash were stolen (nothing else).   It was the only incident among our group of 45.  Overall security was great, and we felt safe the whole time.  That was really the only negative thing we had happen the whole time there...

 

I really would not change anything from our wedding and our choice to go to GBP!  We couldn’t be happier with how the day turned out, or the rest of our stay for that matter!  Everyone was super friendly and made sure you had a fabulous time! 

 

A big thank you to all the previous brides and all the info I got from them over the past year!  I don’t know how much I will be on here to answer questions about the rest of our experience, but hopefully this info will help all you future brides! 

 

 

 

[pask454]

We've booked January 10th...probably showing up a couple days before...staying a week. What about you?

[ashley490]

It's been my experience that the wedding coordinators often take a week or more to reply to emails, especially during high season.  My travel agent advised me to re-send the same email to the wedding coordinator if I don't receive a response after 5 days.  The second email always seemed to elicit a response within a couple of days.  I would also suggest dealing strictly with Chandlyn.  She seems to have a friendlier disposition,  is more knowledgeable, and doesn't seem so rigid about the resort rules.  That's only been my experience though.

 

Originally Posted by pask454 

Hey Kim Deslippe, I received an email back from the WC the next day. Told me that my date was available, I emailed back right away and told her I wanted to book! I'm still waiting the for the reply.

Does anyone know if the couples bring their own CD to play at the ceremony for entry and exit walk, if it is well heard? Is it just a small CD player at the front...or are there speakers? Thanks!

 

[acw271011]

just a word of caution from experience. be absolutely certain they realize you're trying to book 2013 and not 2012.

 

Originally Posted by pask454 

Hey Kim Deslippe, I received an email back from the WC the next day. Told me that my date was available, I emailed back right away and told her I wanted to book! I'm still waiting the for the reply.

Does anyone know if the couples bring their own CD to play at the ceremony for entry and exit walk, if it is well heard? Is it just a small CD player at the front...or are there speakers? Thanks!

 

[cupcake1382]

Hey New Brides!!

 

I got married at GBP on 9/10/11.. My whole planning thread is here:

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/76108/cupcakes-jamaica-09-10-11-planning-journal

It has lots of pics of the resort and restuarants. If you have any questions, let me know!

 

To answer the cup question...We did 22oz stadium cups and I got them from ebay and they turned out AMAZING. You just send them your artwork and they send you an email proof. They weren't expensive and it was so cool to see everyone at the pool in our group with our cups. (Take personal cups to the swim up bars, their cups are SO SMALL!)

http://stores.ebay.com/Oasis-Promotional-Products

 

Here are our cups: (I got 40 Tiffany Blue and 40 Orange)

 

[belledame]

Hi Cupcake,

 

Where did you get the artwork for the cups?

[pask454]

Thanks so much Cupcake!!! It has helped so much....I was so excited to show my fiance...but you know them...really wasn't that into it. I sure am though! I was having so much trouble thinking of things to get my BM's and GM, you gave me lots of ideas! Thanks!!!

[tamandrob]

Congrats on being a Mrs!!! Thanks for the helpful tips and I am glad you had a great time!
 

Originally Posted by jenandmark 

I’m back from our wedding on 11/11/11!  The wedding was amazing, no complaints at all!  Everything went just as previous brides have described, so I am just going to add a few things that I ran into during the wedding and our stay that people might find helpful!

 

• If you bring one cd with music for the ceremony and reception, make sure to have someone get it back after the ceremony.  We forgot to grab it, so later at the gazebo for dancing, our music was missing.  Luckily the dj got ahold of Chandlyn (who had left for the day) and someone from the resort brought the music out to us!  Big bonus points since it had a few must hear songs of ours on it that the dj did not have!  If I had it to do over, I would of made 2 separate discs to avoid this…
• Dancing at the gazebo was perfect!  We did pay for the dj and bartender and didn’t regret it either.  The bar is too far away to go and get drinks during your dancing time…  The dj did a good job.  He had a hook up and played stuff right off our phones, cd and an ipod.  Worked out well for us so we didn’t need to worry about getting things set up.
• So glad my husband tried this, since everything I read on here made me think it wasn’t possible and I had told him not to bother…!  MONEY TALKS!!!  We tipped the dj and bartender at the gazebo and ended up with an extra hour of time.  Yes, we stayed at the gazebo until 11:30pm (we were scheduled 8:30-10:30)!  I don’t know if it just wasn’t the dj’s night to work at the disco or what.  We went to the disco straight from there and it was open, and someone else was playing.   I didn’t care, I was so thrilled it worked that it didn’t matter!
• Money seems to talk everywhere… ! We had several of our guests that went every night to a sit down restaurant.  They found slipping the guy at the door $10 would get them in early if they had reservations, or just in period if they didn’t have reservations there to begin with!  I don’t know if this was just bc the resort wasn’t full when we were there, or if it will always work.  It would be worth trying in my opinion though, we liked all the places we ate (buffet got boring).  The only place we didn’t go was Don Pablo, so I’m not sure about that. 
• We also tipped our housekeeper daily.  We never once ran out of towels or wash clothes.  Our fridge was always full of water and beer as requested, and the room was really clean!  (Actually she went so far as to get us a case of beer for the guys to take with them on their fishing trip!)  A few others complained they did not receive the same service, but, they had also not tipped.  I know some people don’t like too since it’s ‘all inclusive’, but we found here it really made a difference and was worth it to us personally. 
• We handed out survival kits as gifts…  If I had it to do again, I would of added more pepto to them.  Between the trip down (picking up the flu), food and alcohol we had around ¼ of our group eating them like candy and looking for more!  We also gave out cups which were really the big hit!  They were nice not only for drinking since the cups are tiny there, but they held your table, and it helped everyone know who was part of the group…  Really nice since the place is huge and we had people that didn’t know each other!
• Get the room safe.  It’s worth the money for the peace of mind.  We had one room that did not use it and their phones and $40 in cash were stolen (nothing else).   It was the only incident among our group of 45.  Overall security was great, and we felt safe the whole time.  That was really the only negative thing we had happen the whole time there...

 

I really would not change anything from our wedding and our choice to go to GBP!  We couldn’t be happier with how the day turned out, or the rest of our stay for that matter!  Everyone was super friendly and made sure you had a fabulous time! 

 

A big thank you to all the previous brides and all the info I got from them over the past year!  I don’t know how much I will be on here to answer questions about the rest of our experience, but hopefully this info will help all you future brides! 

 

 

 

[cupcake1382]

Hey There,

I ordered the artwork from: http://ayleedesigns.gnyc.net/monograms.htm. I think they were $15 for 5. Congrats!
 

Originally Posted by belledame 

Hi Cupcake,

 

Where did you get the artwork for the cups?