Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[exquisite02]

@Futurekeese22, I think i bought my sky lanterns from the place that JayKay did if i'm not mistaken. https://www.theskylantern.com/shop/index.php?osCsid=a92cf3a4336113497fb016447b6512a3 they were very quick to ship and they worked well. More importantly, they were 100% biodegradable which was important to me. i had some staff ask me if i had left overs because they wanted to try them.

[exquisite02]

I know this question wasn't for me but i would like to say that they didn't even mention the new vendor fees to me and i didn't bring up the fact that we had our own photographer with us. i really hope for the sake of new brides that they go back to the idea of if you photographer is a paying guest then you don't have to pay and if you use an off the resort photographer then it's only $80 vendor fee. not this crazy $800.

 

my photographer was a paying guest because he was there for our wedding and another Canadian couple's wedding. My package only includes 200 hi resolution photos with only 40 special effect editing on a cd disk. he is not making an album for us. i plan on doing my own wedding album. So for a disk of 200 photos and he worked about 6 hours on the day of the wedding and about 4 hours on the trash the dress day. I paid $1750 total for photography. if you read back a few pages a go another bride used the new resort photograther and she paid much less. if i didn't book our photographer so in advance I would have probably just got the resort photographer based on the other bride's review and seeing my own 5 free photos.That's just my own opinion though and photography isn't a big deal for me. i would make sure you know what exactly the new fees are before booking anything in advance.

Originally Posted by CandaceB 

Hi JayKay!

 

THank you for posting this info. its really helpful. I was wondering how come you didnt have to pay a vendor fee for your photographer? What did your photography package include?

[CandaceB]

Kristo,

 

I'm really interested to know what happened to the vendor fee for your photographer. Did you have to pay the $800.00? This fee makes me want to not book at GBP thats crazy.

[FutureKeese22]

Thanks so much! I'm excited to do these at my wedding too! I think the guests will really like it!

[Kristo]

Nope, didn't have to pay it.  First, they never questioned me about my photographer when I was there, but my wedding planner here in Canada had already contacted Chandlyn about it and they agreed that I wouldn't be charged the fee as I had booked my wedding last April, BEFORE they new fee came into place. 

 

And second, my photographer ended up booking a room there for the night, so even if they had questioned me about her, I would have told them my photographer was one of my guests at the resort.  So it all worked out!

 

Originally Posted by CandaceB 

Kristo,

 

I'm really interested to know what happened to the vendor fee for your photographer. Did you have to pay the $800.00? This fee makes me want to not book at GBP thats crazy.

[cgraygirl2]

Hi Tamandrob,

 

I would love to get your extra business if they are still available.  Please contact me via email at [email protected].

[Kristo]

Ok here it is.. my review.. FINALLY!!  Sorry for the delay!

 

 

Let me first say that no matter what happens while you're down there, or how stressed you might get, you're going to have a perfect day!  Even if something is slightly off, it won't matter, because you're marrying the man of your dreams!

 

We met with Chandlyn two days after arriving.  Meeting with her was great, but it seemed VERY rushed and a little chaotic.  We were literally sitting in the lobby, going through our suitcase of all the wedding stuff we brought down and pointing out what we wanted done with everything.  She made notes, asked questions when needed but never looked stressed of frazzled (like we did!).  So after a 20-30 minute meeting, we walked away a lil worried and questioning whether it would all work out the way we planned it in our heads.

 

She did have to look into a couple things and get back to us on some questions and requests we had.  She had the wrong a la carte booked for us in her notes, so she was checking on the Dolce Vita for us.  And she had mentioned the $250 fee that all brides are being charged and we questioned it as we had never received ANY communication from them regarding that.  (We later found out that she had emailed the communication to an incorrect email address, but they wouldn't budge on it, and basically told us that we had to pay it if we wanted to get married). 

 

We had purchased the Unforgettable package.  We chose that package mainly because we were having 31 people so it worked out cheaper.  There were some freebies thrown in that we never received (romantic dinner for two, Jacuzzi at the spa and a couple other small things) because of conflicts and the wedding coordinators not getting back to us or returning phone calls.

 

I had my hair trial the day before the wedding and took my ipad in with a picture of what I wanted.  She pretty much recreated the style I wanted and I was VERY happy with it.  She did my makeup as well, and I'm very picky but it turned out ok.  I ended up going back to my room and adding to it a bit and was happy with the outcome. 

 

The day of the wedding, I went down with my bridesmaids and we all got our hair done.  They did the same to my hair again, and added some fresh flowers free of charge.  I had brought a fake flower that I wanted put in my hair but she opted in putting in fresh orchids and they looked amazing!   Also, their hairspray is truly AMAZING!!  Ladies, you'll have nothing to worry about.  I got married on a windy day and it still didn't budge!!!

 

Went back up to my room and started getting ready.  I was sooo excited, not nervous at all!  I hadn't seen my fiancé since the night before and I was just so excited to see him and tell him everything that I've experienced!    I think the best feeling in the world is walking down from your room to the front lobby where they pick you up with the golf cart!   Everyone stares, wishes you good luck and tells you how pretty you look!  That's such a confidence boost right before your special moment!  So we got taken down to the gazebo (oh and I forgot to mention, they threw in the steel drum band for free for us.  We brought steel drum music to play and to walk down the aisle to but the band played music till we arrived, and then played after while we had champagne and took pictures!) and it was nice and cool and windy.  It was challenging on those stairs, so I would advise you ladies in heels to try it out a couple times in the week before you actually walk down in your dress.  The walk is long but before you know it, you're at the gazebo, with your friends and family looking on and your husband-to-be waiting to take you into the gazebo.

 

The whole thing was magical!  I just couldn't stop smiling!!!  I don't think I've ever felt love so strong, right in that exact moment!   My fiancé just stood there, holding my hands and smiling, he was giddy!!  All he could say to me was "Wow!"

 

The ceremony itself was good, the minister read what we asked him to read, and we did the sand ceremony as well.   Right after the sand ceremony my sister told me there was a rainbow in the sky, and it was the first one we saw all week long.  The rainbow was so symbolic for me as my Mom had passed away six years ago and it broke my heart that she wasn't with me on my special day.  But she truly was, as the rainbow appeared and a list misting of rain fell.  It was a magical moment that everyone noticed and my photographers caught on camera! 

 

Aside from the photographer we hired (Stacey Clarke Photography was AMAZING and I would strongly recommend her to anyone!  Google her…  she is so friendly, and so accommodating!  Her packages were too high for our budget so I told her what we COULD afford and she worked within it.  We got her from 3:30-6pm on the wedding day and 1.5 hours the following morning for TTD - all for $850!!) we also had the resort photographer (which we received 15 photos from - they aren't bad at all, see some of them below) and my bridesmaids husband did the rest of the photography for us.  So we were WELL covered the whole day!    I haven't gotten anything back from Stacey yet, so all the pics I have are from the resort and my friends husband.  And if these pics are any indication on what my professional pics will look like, I can't wait!!!!

 

After many congrats and pictures we went to the Dolce Vita for our reception dinner.  It was just perfect!  Private room, overlooking the ocean, but there were a few mosquitoes.   Our dinner was lovely, and very yummy and in between courses we did speeches.  It was the perfect sized room for 31 people with a head table and 3 tables full of our guests.    We cut our cake, which was delicious  and looked a lot better than some previous brides cakes, so I was quite happy.  We also set up our fingerprint tree in there and all our guests left behind their fingerprint and their name on the tree.

 

After the dinner we all headed back down to the gazebo for the party!  We didn't hire the dj, nor did we hire a bartender.    Instead we just paid the $250 for the gazebo rental and brought our ipod full of music with a special playlist for the wedding especially.  Some of our friends had gone into town that morning and picked up lots of rum, vodka, beer and wine and had it all ready to go for us down there.  The only problem was there was no ice (that Donnalee had promised).  So after they ran back a couple times to find out where it was, they came down and delivered it to us.  While we were waiting for that though we set off the sky lanterns that we brought down.  They were a HUGE hit and everyone just loved them!  Some didn't quite make it up in the air and crashed into the ocean, but people still had a lot of fun doing them, taking pictures of them and making wishes. 

 

Next was our first dance… it was beautiful!  We had provided everyone with sparklers and while we were dancing we looked around the entire gazebo and saw them all a glow!  It was another magical moment for us! 

 

When you rent the gazebo you're only supposed to have it for 2 hours… they kept the lights and power on till midnight for us, which was great!  After that, some people called it a night, while others changed and headed to the disco!

 

Our room was decorated when we got back with rose petals, towel swans in the shapes of heats and another bottle of Moet champagne (we had received one earlier in the week as well).   It was so pretty!   It was an amazing end to a long but amazing day!

 

The next morning we got all dolled up again for our TTD session with Stacey.  Again, walking from our room down to the lobby was amazing as this time everyone was congratulating us and telling us how great we looked!  I remember a little girl stopping me and just staring with an open mouth and she finally said "You're soo pretty!"   Awww…  it just makes you feel amazing and I wanted to wear my dress every day for the rest of the vacation!  hahaha!

 

So our TTD session was so fun!  Lots of cute pics with the bright blue sky behind us, and my dress standing out so well on that backdrop.  We took pics around the resort, down by the gazebo and then finally went into the ocean.  She left it up to us to be spontaneious and have some fun with it.   It was just a wonderful experience and if you keep an open mind and run with it, you'll have a blast getting your dress all dirty!

 

Overall, there were some bumps and hiccups along the way, but the end result was a magical day we'll never forget.   We had a group of 31 with us, and you get pulled in a lot of different directions during the week.  Between friends, family and the wedding, you're VERY busy!  So try to make time for everyone, even if it's for brunch, or a drink at the pool bar, but just reaching out and spending a little bit of time with everyone goes a long way!   Also make sure that you make time for yourselves as it can become very overwhelming!  Just remember that you're in this together and no matter the stress level, you have each other to lean on.

 

So to end the review, I just wanted to say that I can't tell you how much love I felt that day, and how much more I fell in love with my husband!    It truly was a dream come true and the perfect wedding!    I would do it again in a heartbeat!

 

I'm sure I've missed some things, so if you have questions, just ask!

[Kristo]

 

[Kristo]

Oh and if you can, book your a la cartes a week in advance.  If you don't, you might find that they have no availability once you get there or there are really late times available.  You can book those through [email protected]. 

 

And our room was upgraded to the 5th floor, with a great view of the gazebo so I was able to see exquisite02's  wedding and her pics afterwards!  They looked great and their colours were amazing!  I ran into her the next day, right before I was getting into the golf cart to get married… she was just back from her TTD session and she was wet from head to toe!  But she still looked beautiful!  Glad I got to meet them when we were down there as we've been talking for about a year now. 

[JayKay]

Congrats!!! Your photos are beautiful!!

Originally Posted by Kristo