Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[littlebroon]

 

hello all!!

 

just wanted to send a quick message out to all those who have been to gran bahia principe for their wedding! i am starting to plan for an april/may 2013 wedding there, and feel way in over my head....already! my brother and sister-in-law were married at a gran bahia in punta cana, and i absolutely loved it; loved the idea, and how the two families just seemed to get even closer with a week together!!

 

i haven't spoke to any travel agents or "destination experts" on the details, but i figured i would hit up the BDW forums to get some ideas first. now, i may not be clicking the right things, but i seem to get a lot of information from 2009/10. just looking for some current information if there is any out there

 

few of the things i was curious about:

 

- how long in advance did you find the resort and start booking

- how long in advance did you send out "save the dates"

- where did you have the reception dinner (on the beach, at a restaurant) i've seen some YOUTUBE videos of people having their dinner outside on a patio, but haven't seen any pictures of videos of what the restaurants are like. was it closed off for wedding, or were other vacationers allowed to eat there?

- did you hire a photographer? if so, on the resort or from off?

- what wedding package did you go with? is there MUCH difference in the end (is the "best" package above and beyond the rest)

 

 

i'm sure there are 1,000 more questions I'm forgetting, but its just a few i can think of right now. 

 

thank you to anyone who can help me out! 

 

littlebroon

[FutureKeese22]

Thank you! It was a big and hard decision! But, I am glad I did it now. I am done having second thoughts! I am sure when it comes in and I try it on again I will fall in love all over again! I have to keep thinking that the dress will probably be the least of my worries on my wedding day! All that matters is Eric and I!

[FutureKeese22]

I am bothered by the $800 fee as well since we are bringing a friend who is a photographer with us. As I have said before, she said she is confident we won't have to pay it and if for some reason we absolutely have to, she said she would pay it. I have heard bad things about the resort photographers and pictures/video are also very important to me so I do not want to use the GBP photographers!

[Lianne1980]

Beautiful dress.  My dress is from the same range...  they are stunning dresses.

 

this is mine:

 

http://www.sotteroandmidgley.com/dress.aspx?style=JSM1235&page=0&pageSize=36&keywordText=&keywordType=All

[Lianne1980]

 

Originally Posted by Lianne1980 

Beautiful dress.  My dress is from the same range...  they are stunning dresses.

 

this is mine:

 

http://www.sotteroandmidgley.com/dress.aspx?style=JSM1235&page=0&pageSize=36&keywordText=&keywordType=All

 

Sorry that was for FutureKeese22

 

[pask454]

Lianne - that dress is stunning!

[JayKay]

I will try to answer your questions best I can.  We were married at this resort January of this year.

 

- how long in advance did you find the resort and start booking

 

We booked our wedding date about a year in advance.  However, we knew there was a possibility that we would have to change it because the flight schedules were not available when we booked our wedding date.  In the end we did have to change our wedding date because of a change in flight schedules

 

- how long in advance did you send out "save the dates"

 

We sent out STDs about 10 months in advance.  Because at the time we didn't know the flight schedule or if our wedding date would have to change, we chose to keep them pretty generic, by just listing the resort and the month (January 2012), rather then a specific date.

 

- where did you have the reception dinner (on the beach, at a restaurant) I've seen some YOUTUBE videos of people having their dinner outside on a patio, but haven't seen any pictures of videos of what the restaurants are like. was it closed off for wedding, or were other vacationers allowed to eat there?

 

We had our reception dinner at the Grill restaurant.  We asked about a beach reception and they don't do them at this resort.  We didn't have the restaurant closed for our reception, if you want to I believe it costs $2500.  We were off to the side at the Grill restaurant and no one was even seated near us so it felt pretty private.  Here is a picture of our setup.

 

 

 

- did you hire a photographer? if so, on the resort or from off?

 

We hired a photographer.  We hired Merrick Cousley.  Included in the wedding packages are photos from the resort photographer, Arrecife Studios, and there photos were okay, but not great.  I heard now from future brides on here that they have started charging a fee for an outside vendor, such as photographer, of $800.  We never had to pay any fee for him to come to the resort for the day.

 

- what wedding package did you go with? is there MUCH difference in the end (is the "best" package above and beyond the rest)

 

We went with the free wedding package.  We compared all the packages and it seemed to be cheaper to go with the free package and pay for an extras.  We only had 18 guests in total, so I guess if you are planning on having a large number of guests one of the other packages may work out to be cheaper depending on your guest count.

 

[Lianne1980]

 

Originally Posted by pask454 

Lianne - that dress is stunning!

 

Thank you, its really gorgeous, can't wait to wear it !!!  )

[Emi-Lou]

Hello Jaykay, did you organise the chair ties in the restaurant or did the wed-co do it for you?

[JayKay]

They did that.  They were set up for the ceremony then the set them up for the dinner.  I didnt ask them to do it, they just did.

Originally Posted by Emi-Lou 

Hello Jaykay, did you organise the chair ties in the restaurant or did the wed-co do it for you?