Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[SarahJ]

Samantha 262....congratulations on your forthcoming wedding...this forum is fantastic & I'm so pleased I found it as it has put my mind at rest that we made the right choice to have our wedding at the GBP Runaway Bay! I can't wait...13 weeks to go for me. Regarding pictures that all previous brides have added if you are viewing on a laptop down the right hand side you should see a few pics & it says "view all" this will take you to the gallery. I loved looking at all the pics, they reassure you how beautiful your wedding pics will be :-)

[Samantha262]

Thank you so much ladies! Great info and advice! I'm getting more excited....just wish I didn't have to wait so long lol

[FutureKeese22]

FutureKeese - The DJ made the night at the gazebo! We rented it for 830, and he was there, already set up for it. While we were walking up to the gazebo, all you could here was bass! It was so exciting.  He has a labtop set up with a microphone and a big speaker....he played all the "in" songs right now, and people were asking him for requests, and he had most of them...a lot were the party songs, and typical wedding reception songs, like 'old time rock n roll' etc. We didnt have a first dance or father/daughter...so if you want that, I would bring your own just in case he doesnt have them. At one point, the DJ was playing songs that I wasnt fond of, or didn't know, like techno, so we simply just asked him for pop/rap, and he was awesome! He doesnt use the microphone, but we did a couple times...like to announce we were setting of sky laterns, or last dance of the night. At the meeting with Chandlyn, we asked if they could set up the table with ice, and cups, etc...and she said no problem, I think a lot of people ask for it. Then at the rehearsal, we asked if it was possible to get a jug of rum punch..or pop...or anything! She said, no problem, that she'll try her best...but its not usual. When we got to the gazebo, there were two huge jugs of rum punch...it was great! Along with everyones beer and extra liquor, it was MORE then enough...we had soo much extra! Make sure you bring the big water bottles from your room too....it gets hot out there dancing so much!!! They also set up chairs around the gazebo for people who wanted a break. We never sat down, we only had the gazebo for 2 hours, we tried to make the best out of it! Everyone said it was the highlight of the trip. At the end of the night, we werent sure who cleans up, so a bunch of us just collected all the beer cans and cups, and cleaned up....they left clear bags, and a box...so we just quickly seperated garbage/recyling. It was windy, so we didnt want them flying all over the beach... Thank you for all this info! Where did you order your sky lanterns from? Can you send me a copy of what you typed up for your guests to [email protected] :-) did the airline let you put the sky lanterns in a suitcase?

[SarahJ]

Hi ladies, just a quick one.  Did anyone use the Arrecife Studio for their wedding day photographers? Do you know if these are the photographers that the wedding planners recommend? Any reviews welcome please? Thanks

[MrsViolo]

Arrecife studio is the GBP photographers. I haven't used them (yet) but based on this forum they don't have the best reviews :s

Hi ladies, just a quick one.  Did anyone use the Arrecife Studio for their wedding day photographers? Do you know if these are the photographers that the wedding planners recommend? Any reviews welcome please? Thanks

[SarahInNS]

Ive recently booked my wedding! Really excited, but kind of nervous of a few things... hopefully some of u can answer my questions i find it hard to get answers out of Chandlyn. I find its always very quick yes/no responses, that don't really answer my questions......

 

It seems like there are alot of weddings on a daily basis. Now that I've booked, im kind of nervous it wont feel special, knowing its like a production line of weddings.

 

Has anyone had their wedding at noon? Thats when ours is booked;  It seems soo early, but she said that's all that's available.

 

What do you possibly do between then and the reception, without ruining your clothes/hair lol?

 

Has anyone done a poolside reception after the dinner? What is that like? What did it cost?

 

How much time do you have at the gazebo after the wedding ceremony?

 

How big are the restaurants? Since there's several weddings per day, how do they arrange dinners? are several wedding parties there at once, in each restaurant?

[JayKay]

They are the resort photographers.  The planners recommend using them, but I don't.  We had 5 free photos included in our wedding package and when we went to go look at the photos and choose one it was hard to.  The photos weren't very good and looked pretty amateur instead of professional.  I know the resort is trying to push people towards using them as now they charge a $800 fee for outside vendors. I highly suggest using a different photographer.

Originally Posted by SarahJ 

Hi ladies, just a quick one.  Did anyone use the Arrecife Studio for their wedding day photographers? Do you know if these are the photographers that the wedding planners recommend? Any reviews welcome please? Thanks

[leannesmith]

Arrecife studio is the GBP photographers. I haven't used them (yet) but based on this forum they don't have the best reviews :s

Hey there....congrats! I am getting married at Gbp on sept 30 and I think I am going to use merrick cousley...an outside vendor. His pictures are amazing, but the packages are a little pricy. Check out his website....

[MrsViolo]

I'm looking into a few different outside vendors. The $800 vendor fee kills me!! Stacy Clarke covers up to 500 of the vendors fee so that helps. A couple others I've emailed about doing both the wedding and a TTD the following day have mentioned staying over at the resort and based on previous posts in this forum it seems that if the photographer is a guest at the resort there is no vendors fee...

 

This is my list of local photographers that at least someone on one of these forums have said good things about. I've heard a lot of great things about both Stacy Clarke and Merrick Cousley. Zuluspro has great rates and unlimited coverage but i'm not sure how impressed I am with the photography. I still have a lot of emailing back and forth to get more info but thats what I have so far. Reviews on any of the below would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thanks

 

 

Vendor	Price 1	Price 2	Price 3	TTD	Vendor Fee
Stacy Clarke Photography	$1395us UP TO 3 HOURS ON LOCATION PHOTOGRAPHY, ALL USABLE IMAGES HIGH RESOLUTION EDITED ON A COPY RIGHT FREE CD, PHOTO SLIDE SHOW, ONLINE PROOFING & DELIVERY VIA DHL WITH TRACKING	$1595us UP TO 5 HOURS ON LOCATION PHOTOGRAPHY, ALL USABLE IMAGES HIGH RESOLUTION EDITED ON A COPY RIGHT FREE CD, PHOTO SLIDE SHOW, ONLINE PROOFING & DELIVERY VIA DHL WITH TRACKING	$2095us 8 HOURS ON LOCATION (CAN BE SPLIT OVER 2 DAYS) PHOTOGRAPHY, ALL USABLE IMAGES HIGH RESOLUTION EDITED ON A COPY RIGHT FREE CD, PHOTO SLIDE SHOW, ONLINE VIEWING & DELIVERY VIA DHL WITH TRACKING	No separate TTD shoot due to travel time. Will stay over night depending on package we pick do the TTD the following day	VENDOR FEE’S UP TO THE AMOUNT OF $500US.
Saab Wedding	Associate Photographers Price - US 2400 5 continuous hours coverage Two photographers 1 high resolution disc with about 350 images for printing Photos online for viewing and sharing with family and friends	Associate Photographer Price - US $1500 3 continuous hours coverage One photographer 1 high resolution disc with about 200 images for printing Photos online for viewing and sharing with family and friends		Michael or Olive are US $500 per hour (US $350 for our associates This includes a high resolution disc of images for printing.	None – bride covers whole cost
ZULUSPRO	$1600 Full coverage Editing 2 month online gallery DVD	2900 Full Coverage 2 Photographers Editing 5 month online one hour engagement session Slide show		No charge – but requires stay at resort overnight and will do it the following day	Will be staying at resort over night
Merrick Cousley	$2300 Coverage – preparation to reception DVD with all images – 300 images Photo retouch – color balance, black & white, sepia toning, artistic, etc. Family online gallery – one month of sharing with friends and family. Travel fees – travel and accommodation included (Jamaica only)			$450 Trash the dress session (1 hour): 100-150 high-resolution images on CD. Exciting trend capturing romantic images wearing your wedding gown and suit at a location you wouldn’t dare to venture on your wedding day.	Groom and bride cover the cost   However, accommodation included in the cost so he may be able to be a guest at the resort
Alain Hottat
Sandy May
Misha Earle
Brian Nejedly
dianna cambell
Nora and Chris Photography
photos by LAM
Marcia E. Roberts

[JayKay]

We used Merrick Cousley for our photographer and we were so happy we did.  We are in love with our wedding photos and he was so easy to work with.  We used him when he was a fairly new photographer so we didn't pay nearly as much as he charges now, but I still think he is worth it.  My husband and I aren't picture people and he made us feel so comfortable and the pictures never felt forced.