Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[Lianne1980]

 

 

Originally Posted by ashley490 

 

Hi Lianne,

 

I'll try answering what I can and hopefully you'll find it helpful.

 

I got married at 4pm this past January and found we were a little tight on time for after ceremony photos.  I would highly recommend switching your time to 3pm so that you won't feel so rushed losing light with the setting sun.

 

There isn't a whole lot of difference if you get married in the gazebo vs getting married on the beach.  The best way I can describe the wedding area is a T-shape with the gazebo being right in the middle where the two lines intersect.  If you choose to get married on the beach they just move you over to the top far right side of the "T".  I prefered the gazebo because it provided a little bit of shade from the sun so we weren't squinting in pictures of the ceremony.

 

Yes, the gazebo for the night reception disco is the same gazebo you'd get married in.

 

I used Tai Flora for my flowers so I can't comment on any other florists, though I have read that some other brides have used Jan's Floral http://jansflowersjamaica.com/ and were pleased with their service.

 

For photography we used Sungold - Paula & Damian.  They are the owners of the company so they were a lot more expensive than their associates.  I would highly recommend their associate Clayton.  He joined Paula & Damian for our wedding and did all the lighting for our photos.  He was very pleasant and professional.  Some of his work can be viewed here http://wpajamaica.com/  I do however caution you that it seems the resort has recently changed their policy and now charge an $800 vendors fee for bringing any outside photographers onto the property.  Perhaps it can be arranged through your photographer for them to book a room at the hotel and attend your wedding as a "guest".  I think this way would only end up costing around $250 for the room as opposed to the $800 vendor's fee.

 

As someone else already answered, the chairs are very ugly without chair covers.  Navy blue with gold.  Definitely get the chair covers.

 

We really enjoyed the steel drum band and would recommend them.

 

Hope that helps you out

 

 

 

 

 

 

Originally Posted by JayKay 

 

Ill try to answer what I can.

 

As to wedding packages we choose the free package as in the end it was cheaper then the other packages.  If you are having a large number of guests it may be worth paying for a wedding package.  I would say though work out the extra costs of going with the free package and compare it to the price of the package you are considering.

 

I think either location would be beautiful.  We chose this resort specifically because of the gazebo so we never even considered getting married on the beach.  It is really windy down there so just know that.

 

We used Merrick Cousley for our photographer and we are extremely happy with our photos.  His price was great and he was so easy to work with.  I definetly recommend him.

 

The chairs without the covers are ugly.  They are navy blue with gold.  Here is a picture from our wedding that you can see what the chairs look like un covered. There is a guy sitting on the far right of the photo who is sitting in a chair that is uncovered.

 

 

 

Hope that helps you out!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many thanks to the both of you for all that information, it is really appreciated.

 

Think we have more or less decided on the free package, and are just going to pay for the extras... although the unforgettable is very tempting, but I think its a lot of cost, especially when only a few of the extras stand out as a bonus

 

How much was Merrick to hire JayKay if you don't mind me asking ??  Your photos are stunning, especially love the ones where you are jumping in the air.

 

Thank you for the Jans flowers link aswell, i could not find that for looking.  I'm going to email her for prices shortly.

 

We are going to request that our time to be changed to 3pm, just so we don't feel so rushed.  I'm sure someone mentioned on here that the sun sets quite early in december, so i think we would only have about an hour tops before we lost the light.

 

I actually got an email back from Chandlyn today and she cleared a lot of things up for us...  You think by now the hotel would have a Q&A page, as we all seem to have asked the same questions to the hotel at some point.   

 

Its getting sooooo exciting, as the wedding day we want is actually starting to come together.  Don't want to wish my life away, but December can't come soon enough   )

 

Thanks again for all the great info  x

[Kristo]

Anyone know approximately how long the hair trail takes at the spa?  Do they do a makeup trail as well?

[JayKay]

Merrick Cost us about $1300, but I do know his prices have increased somewhat.  I would email him and he can email you his updated price list.  I highly recommend him for photos, we are super pleased with them and he was so easy to work with.

Good choice to move your ceremony to 3pm.  I really wish we had done that. We got married in mid January and the sun set about 530 and we were extremely rushed getting pictures in.
 

Originally Posted by Lianne1980 
 

Many thanks to the both of you for all that information, it is really appreciated.

 

Think we have more or less decided on the free package, and are just going to pay for the extras... although the unforgettable is very tempting, but I think its a lot of cost, especially when only a few of the extras stand out as a bonus

 

How much was Merrick to hire JayKay if you don't mind me asking ??  Your photos are stunning, especially love the ones where you are jumping in the air.

 

Thank you for the Jans flowers link aswell, i could not find that for looking.  I'm going to email her for prices shortly.

 

We are going to request that our time to be changed to 3pm, just so we don't feel so rushed.  I'm sure someone mentioned on here that the sun sets quite early in december, so i think we would only have about an hour tops before we lost the light.

 

I actually got an email back from Chandlyn today and she cleared a lot of things up for us...  You think by now the hotel would have a Q&A page, as we all seem to have asked the same questions to the hotel at some point.   

 

Its getting sooooo exciting, as the wedding day we want is actually starting to come together.  Don't want to wish my life away, but December can't come soon enough   )

 

Thanks again for all the great info  x

 

[JayKay]

With the bridal hairstyle and makeup you get a trial for both.  I didn't use them so I don't know about how long they would take.  I know it took about 2 1/2 hours on my wedding day to have my hair and makeup done at the spa.

 

Originally Posted by Kristo 

Anyone know approximately how long the hair trail takes at the spa?  Do they do a makeup trail as well?

 

[lenyblair]

Hey Brides...

So I am now within 3 weeks of leaving for my wedding.....eeeek!!!

 

Anyone have any last minute tips or things that they wish they had done/remembered?

 

I feel like I am having a panic attack and forgetting to do things!

 

thnx all!!

[JayKay]

Its coming up quick!!  The one thing I wish I would have done is just relax and enjoy every minute of it.  I was really stressed out about the wedding the first 4 days we were there and never really got to truly relax and enjoy myself.  Just remember, your wedding will be great, dont stress about it!!  Enjoy your vacation in beautiful Jamaica and the wedding events will all fall into place!  And if you forget something, trust me, you will probably be the only one who will know because you are the one doing the planning, so dont stress about that.

 

Originally Posted by lenyblair 

Hey Brides...

So I am now within 3 weeks of leaving for my wedding.....eeeek!!!

 

Anyone have any last minute tips or things that they wish they had done/remembered?

 

I feel like I am having a panic attack and forgetting to do things!

 

thnx all!!

 

[AngelaFraser]

Hello Ladies!
I'm getting married in a few weeks, and was just wondering what other brides have been told about pre-booking your a la carte meals for your stay? I was under the impression that you could e-mail the reservation staff a week prior to arriving to book your a la carte meals, but some of my guests have been told that you have to book when you get there and that you cannot book more than one meal at a time. It just doesn't sound right to me... and I have had close family stay at other Gran Bahia resorts where this was not the case.
What were your experiences, or what have you been told?
Help!

[AngelaFraser]

Hello Ladies!
I'm getting married in a few weeks, and was just wondering what other brides have been told about pre-booking your a la carte meals for your stay? I was under the impression that you could e-mail the reservation staff a week prior to arriving to book your a la carte meals, but some of my guests have been told that you have to book when you get there and that you cannot book more than one meal at a time. It just doesn't sound right to me... and I have had close family stay at other Gran Bahia resorts where this was not the case.
What were your experiences, or what have you been told?
Help!

[Kristo]

I'm getting married at the end of May, so none of my guests have started booking theirs yet.  I did email the resort last week though to see if I could book my welcome dinner and they emailed me back saying it was fine and booked it for me. 

 

Who is it that you are trying to reserve through?  I have been emailing [email protected]

 

[ashley490]

I was able to book my 3 personal a la carte's a couple weeks in advance through the email that Kristo just gave.  I didn't have any trouble booking them. I was married this past January and it seems the resort has made some policy changes since then so I'm not sure if they changed the policy on booking your a la carte's in advance.