Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[kailz23]

HI Ladies,

 

How are you? I just got back a week ago from the Gran Bahia, and wanted to post my review. I got Married on Monday the 15th at 4pm

 

I am going to first say we had no problems with the wedding, just a few with the resort. Make sure you put a request for your maids to come with towels early the morning of your wedding, or stash a few away for the big day, as we did not have any in my sisters room and my husband had to use a beach towel from the twowel exchange because the house keepers had none when he wanted to shower and get ready.

 

Our week was great, weather was amazing could not have asked for better. The only complaint I do have is the amount of time it takes with the couple the week you are away. We had four seperate days of wedding stuff and really took away from our vacation and rest time.

 

Ill do wedding and photography seperate reviews

 

Wedding:

 

We met with Chandyln our second day there, was about half an hour meeting. We went over all the details, menus, decorations, spot where it was to be held. We went over names, which was a good thing as my husband has two last names and they had it down as one. They had Costa down on all th paper work such as menus etc, and it is Dalla Costa. They quickly changed all of that. The notorized documents, she didnt looki at, or ask to know if we had them wiith us. She was good. We met with Arricife photography at this meeting as well, we were using them for our wedding, they confirmed times as to when they were to come to the room, confirmed room numbers at this time as well.

 

We had our rehersal at 10am on the saturday. This as with Deardra. She walked us through what was going to happen the weddding day. Talked about what tiem to be at the golf cart, what time the guests and the men needed to be at the ceremony site. Walked through the bridal procession, practice exit. Answered all questions at this time. Was good. Took about 45 minutes.

 

Monday the day of our wedding, as good, we ordered room service for breakfast and lunch, which was prompt, and hot. too much food actually, but better to have too much than not enough. Again no towels which was bad, I had to use a hand towel to dry off with after my shower.

 

My sister and my Cousin do hair and makeup for a living. So I did not use any services in Jamaica for this. The lightening in the room was fab for this. they were in room 18504 facing the inner of the resort and had great light to do their job. We were right on time with everything. The flowers from Taiflora came on time, the ceremony site set up in plenty of time before the guests made their way to the point. we had our ceremony on the beach side to the right of the gazebo.

 

Taiflora was good. They set up the ceremony site as askled, arbour with white chiffon, and white chivari chairs. worth the extra money. I am not a fan of chair ties. and this all blended into the sea background so nicely. The flowers were nice, the braidesmaids bouquest esxaclty as asked, white hydrangeas with torch ginger and coral orchids. Mine was different than expected, than what they sent me in the picture. I asked for white hydrangeas, coral orchids and pink callalillies were to sort of encompass it around the stems. I got a few callalillies, and blush roses were in my bouquet. I did not ask for roses. It was pretty though. They sent all flowers up in plenty of time for photos

 

After taking a few pre photos, the golf cart to take us to the ceremony site was right on time, acutally calling the photographer at 345 to ask where we were. They took us to the ceremony site, and we met donnalee (another wedding coordinator) at the large walk to the peir. They had the music I had provided for the pre ceremony playing as we arrived. The procession music I wanted played and we flowed through. Everything worked well. 4pm was a good tiem to get married, the sun was starting to drop in the sky, provided nice light for photos, was not directly in our eyes, the wind though on the peir! wow, make sure you have lots of hairspray!.  The videographer was there and filmed the ceremony.

 

AFter the ceremony they played our exit music that we provided. they were right on point with the music. We took group photos, guests, photos and family photos on the peir, and then carreid on to the beach for bridal party photos. When my husband and I branched off to do our photots, my bridesmaids went and checked on the venu and said it was set up perfectly.

 

We rented pisces. Yes it is $1700, but it is gorgeous, the backdrop of the sunset for our 630 reception was magical. The dj was great that was included. played our entrance songs as I had specified on the cds, and played our special dances as asked. The only complaint here is that the wedding planners did not give him a copy of the reception itinerary so that he knew what was going on, I had given one to my maid of honor and she was able to give it to him. He followed it perfectly. He also does not do any annoucements. My maid of honor stepped in for an mc last minute. I thought he would be able to say mom and dad now for speech etc, nope. He doesnt talk. Mikes are provided, it is wirelss. Everyone was able to hear everything well. We had a small reception 22 people with us. It was nice.

 

We did a sweetheart table for the two of use, adn did tables of 6 and 8 circular for our quests. It looked really pretty. Taiflora again had privded us with table cloths and hangining alnterns, and brought the chivari chairs from ceremony to reception for us. The wedding coordinator had set out our place cards as we had wanted, I prrovided them with a seating plan, and they set up our centrepeices and guest book table as asked as well. They were on point.

 

Reception dinner was by dolce vita, was fantastic, we mixed and matched off the menu choices. Caprese salad, ravioloi, stuffed chicken, and the chocolate puffs for dessert. Im not picky on wedding cake, but they provided wedding cake (my husband wanted lemon) and they made us lemon, which was great, and they cut and served it with dessert. The restaurant manager kept things going as we wanted, and was great letting us know when cake cutting time was etc. Beer and wine were served all throughout the reception

 

Dancing with out group was great, dj was amazing, played country, top 40 and then all the top club hits, and mixed reageton in for me. Reception ended at 1030 sharp. Had one last slow song to close off the night and all done. Had a greta time, our guests had a blast. I recommend having the pisces rented out as you are able to do your special speeches, your dances and have a private night with your guests.

 

Photography:

 

we used the resort wedding photographer. we requested Chris Lee as per the recommendations he had had from this forum. He was fabulous. He did a great job. I am not comfortable in front of the camera, and am not a fru fru bride and he did coaching with me, let me know what he was thinking, made me feel very comfrotable. he listended to what I wanted. and went with it. I wanted the girls first glance at dress pic, and my dads first look pic.  His pics were great. Ill add a few at the end. he stayed for the reception, left at 10. Great repception shots, greta journalistic shots of us and my guests. We got all the pics, well worth it, I was not bale to cut them down to the 75 which were in cluded in our package. I would highly recommend him. And it was much cheaper than having another come off the resort.

 

We also got the videoographer for the ceremony, we had a small guest group,. and have alot of family we want to chare this with. Yea it is not a 4 minute movie trailor like some couples are doing now. But it is ceremony, and a few shots after, 21 minutes long and only $440. Compared to $3200 for 4 minutes. I wanted the ceremony to keep our memories of our ceremony forever, well worth it and a good deal to me.

 

All in all it was a great day. Easiest way to get married in my eyes. Was not stressful, and needed much less of my time. They did a great job and carried it off without a hitch.  Here are a few pics

[leannesmith]

Hi kailz23.....congrats! You looked beautiful. I am really glad everything worked out for you perfectly.

[CdnBrideJoanne]

Thanks so much kailz23 for your review!  You looked beautiful and so glad your day turned out as you wanted.

[EmTy23]

Thanks so much for your review, love your dress 

[JayKay]

I think this new $800 fee is insane! I'm so glad I didn't have to pay that.  One of the reasons I specifically chose this resort when I was deciding where to get married was because they didn't charge an outragous vendor fee.  I really hope all you soon to be brides lodge complaints as this is rediculous.  I can understand some sort of vendor fee to encourage the use of their on site photographers, however, that is the highest fee I have seen, and I looked at tons of resorts with vendor fees all over the carribean and Mexico.

Originally Posted by dutchess 

I was also going to get my cousin who is a professional photographer to shoot my wedding. He is coming either way. He is a paying guest there for the week. The hotel said it doesn't matter! It's 800!! Wow. I said he isn't charging me and he's a family member and a guest! They said nope no exeptions! Wow wow wow

[Jennelle]

Thanks soo much for your detailed info on your wedding and experience at the resort. very happy to hear that your day went off without a hitch. Your pictures are so beautiful. Congratulations !!!!

[FutureKeese22]

Thank you for your review! Who was your videographer? Is the Dolce Vita better than the Grille? We are trying to decide on which place to have dinner! Thanks!

[FutureKeese22]

Thank you for your review! Beautifu

HI Ladies, How are you? I just got back a week ago from the Gran Bahia, and wanted to post my review. I got Married on Monday the 15th at 4pm I am going to first say we had no problems with the wedding, just a few with the resort. Make sure you put a request for your maids to come with towels early the morning of your wedding, or stash a few away for the big day, as we did not have any in my sisters room and my husband had to use a beach towel from the twowel exchange because the house keepers had none when he wanted to shower and get ready. Our week was great, weather was amazing could not have asked for better. The only complaint I do have is the amount of time it takes with the couple the week you are away. We had four seperate days of wedding stuff and really took away from our vacation and rest time. Ill do wedding and photography seperate reviews Wedding: We met with Chandyln our second day there, was about half an hour meeting. We went over all the details, menus, decorations, spot where it was to be held. We went over names, which was a good thing as my husband has two last names and they had it down as one. They had Costa down on all th paper work such as menus etc, and it is Dalla Costa. They quickly changed all of that. The notorized documents, she didnt looki at, or ask to know if we had them wiith us. She was good. We met with Arricife photography at this meeting as well, we were using them for our wedding, they confirmed times as to when they were to come to the room, confirmed room numbers at this time as well. We had our rehersal at 10am on the saturday. This as with Deardra. She walked us through what was going to happen the weddding day. Talked about what tiem to be at the golf cart, what time the guests and the men needed to be at the ceremony site. Walked through the bridal procession, practice exit. Answered all questions at this time. Was good. Took about 45 minutes. Monday the day of our wedding, as good, we ordered room service for breakfast and lunch, which was prompt, and hot. too much food actually, but better to have too much than not enough. Again no towels which was bad, I had to use a hand towel to dry off with after my shower. My sister and my Cousin do hair and makeup for a living. So I did not use any services in Jamaica for this. The lightening in the room was fab for this. they were in room 18504 facing the inner of the resort and had great light to do their job. We were right on time with everything. The flowers from Taiflora came on time, the ceremony site set up in plenty of time before the guests made their way to the point. we had our ceremony on the beach side to the right of the gazebo. Taiflora was good. They set up the ceremony site as askled, arbour with white chiffon, and white chivari chairs. worth the extra money. I am not a fan of chair ties. and this all blended into the sea background so nicely. The flowers were nice, the braidesmaids bouquest esxaclty as asked, white hydrangeas with torch ginger and coral orchids. Mine was different than expected, than what they sent me in the picture. I asked for white hydrangeas, coral orchids and pink callalillies were to sort of encompass it around the stems. I got a few callalillies, and blush roses were in my bouquet. I did not ask for roses. It was pretty though. They sent all flowers up in plenty of time for photos After taking a few pre photos, the golf cart to take us to the ceremony site was right on time, acutally calling the photographer at 345 to ask where we were. They took us to the ceremony site, and we met donnalee (another wedding coordinator) at the large walk to the peir. They had the music I had provided for the pre ceremony playing as we arrived. The procession music I wanted played and we flowed through. Everything worked well. 4pm was a good tiem to get married, the sun was starting to drop in the sky, provided nice light for photos, was not directly in our eyes, the wind though on the peir! wow, make sure you have lots of hairspray!.  The videographer was there and filmed the ceremony. AFter the ceremony they played our exit music that we provided. they were right on point with the music. We took group photos, guests, photos and family photos on the peir, and then carreid on to the beach for bridal party photos. When my husband and I branched off to do our photots, my bridesmaids went and checked on the venu and said it was set up perfectly. We rented pisces. Yes it is $1700, but it is gorgeous, the backdrop of the sunset for our 630 reception was magical. The dj was great that was included. played our entrance songs as I had specified on the cds, and played our special dances as asked. The only complaint here is that the wedding planners did not give him a copy of the reception itinerary so that he knew what was going on, I had given one to my maid of honor and she was able to give it to him. He followed it perfectly. He also does not do any annoucements. My maid of honor stepped in for an mc last minute. I thought he would be able to say mom and dad now for speech etc, nope. He doesnt talk. Mikes are provided, it is wirelss. Everyone was able to hear everything well. We had a small reception 22 people with us. It was nice. We did a sweetheart table for the two of use, adn did tables of 6 and 8 circular for our quests. It looked really pretty. Taiflora again had privded us with table cloths and hangining alnterns, and brought the chivari chairs from ceremony to reception for us. The wedding coordinator had set out our place cards as we had wanted, I prrovided them with a seating plan, and they set up our centrepeices and guest book table as asked as well. They were on point. Reception dinner was by dolce vita, was fantastic, we mixed and matched off the menu choices. Caprese salad, ravioloi, stuffed chicken, and the chocolate puffs for dessert. Im not picky on wedding cake, but they provided wedding cake (my husband wanted lemon) and they made us lemon, which was great, and they cut and served it with dessert. The restaurant manager kept things going as we wanted, and was great letting us know when cake cutting time was etc. Beer and wine were served all throughout the reception Dancing with out group was great, dj was amazing, played country, top 40 and then all the top club hits, and mixed reageton in for me. Reception ended at 1030 sharp. Had one last slow song to close off the night and all done. Had a greta time, our guests had a blast. I recommend having the pisces rented out as you are able to do your special speeches, your dances and have a private night with your guests. Photography: we used the resort wedding photographer. we requested Chris Lee as per the recommendations he had had from this forum. He was fabulous. He did a great job. I am not comfortable in front of the camera, and am not a fru fru bride and he did coaching with me, let me know what he was thinking, made me feel very comfrotable. he listended to what I wanted. and went with it. I wanted the girls first glance at dress pic, and my dads first look pic.  His pics were great. Ill add a few at the end. he stayed for the reception, left at 10. Great repception shots, greta journalistic shots of us and my guests. We got all the pics, well worth it, I was not bale to cut them down to the 75 which were in cluded in our package. I would highly recommend him. And it was much cheaper than having another come off the resort. We also got the videoographer for the ceremony, we had a small guest group,. and have alot of family we want to chare this with. Yea it is not a 4 minute movie trailor like some couples are doing now. But it is ceremony, and a few shots after, 21 minutes long and only $440. Compared to $3200 for 4 minutes. I wanted the ceremony to keep our memories of our ceremony forever, well worth it and a good deal to me. All in all it was a great day. Easiest way to get married in my eyes. Was not stressful, and needed much less of my time. They did a great job and carried it off without a hitch.  Here are a few pics [/quote

HI Ladies, How are you? I just got back a week ago from the Gran Bahia, and wanted to post my review. I got Married on Monday the 15th at 4pm I am going to first say we had no problems with the wedding, just a few with the resort. Make sure you put a request for your maids to come with towels early the morning of your wedding, or stash a few away for the big day, as we did not have any in my sisters room and my husband had to use a beach towel from the twowel exchange because the house keepers had none when he wanted to shower and get ready. Our week was great, weather was amazing could not have asked for better. The only complaint I do have is the amount of time it takes with the couple the week you are away. We had four seperate days of wedding stuff and really took away from our vacation and rest time. Ill do wedding and photography seperate reviews Wedding: We met with Chandyln our second day there, was about half an hour meeting. We went over all the details, menus, decorations, spot where it was to be held. We went over names, which was a good thing as my husband has two last names and they had it down as one. They had Costa down on all th paper work such as menus etc, and it is Dalla Costa. They quickly changed all of that. The notorized documents, she didnt looki at, or ask to know if we had them wiith us. She was good. We met with Arricife photography at this meeting as well, we were using them for our wedding, they confirmed times as to when they were to come to the room, confirmed room numbers at this time as well. We had our rehersal at 10am on the saturday. This as with Deardra. She walked us through what was going to happen the weddding day. Talked about what tiem to be at the golf cart, what time the guests and the men needed to be at the ceremony site. Walked through the bridal procession, practice exit. Answered all questions at this time. Was good. Took about 45 minutes. Monday the day of our wedding, as good, we ordered room service for breakfast and lunch, which was prompt, and hot. too much food actually, but better to have too much than not enough. Again no towels which was bad, I had to use a hand towel to dry off with after my shower. My sister and my Cousin do hair and makeup for a living. So I did not use any services in Jamaica for this. The lightening in the room was fab for this. they were in room 18504 facing the inner of the resort and had great light to do their job. We were right on time with everything. The flowers from Taiflora came on time, the ceremony site set up in plenty of time before the guests made their way to the point. we had our ceremony on the beach side to the right of the gazebo. Taiflora was good. They set up the ceremony site as askled, arbour with white chiffon, and white chivari chairs. worth the extra money. I am not a fan of chair ties. and this all blended into the sea background so nicely. The flowers were nice, the braidesmaids bouquest esxaclty as asked, white hydrangeas with torch ginger and coral orchids. Mine was different than expected, than what they sent me in the picture. I asked for white hydrangeas, coral orchids and pink callalillies were to sort of encompass it around the stems. I got a few callalillies, and blush roses were in my bouquet. I did not ask for roses. It was pretty though. They sent all flowers up in plenty of time for photos After taking a few pre photos, the golf cart to take us to the ceremony site was right on time, acutally calling the photographer at 345 to ask where we were. They took us to the ceremony site, and we met donnalee (another wedding coordinator) at the large walk to the peir. They had the music I had provided for the pre ceremony playing as we arrived. The procession music I wanted played and we flowed through. Everything worked well. 4pm was a good tiem to get married, the sun was starting to drop in the sky, provided nice light for photos, was not directly in our eyes, the wind though on the peir! wow, make sure you have lots of hairspray!.  The videographer was there and filmed the ceremony. AFter the ceremony they played our exit music that we provided. they were right on point with the music. We took group photos, guests, photos and family photos on the peir, and then carreid on to the beach for bridal party photos. When my husband and I branched off to do our photots, my bridesmaids went and checked on the venu and said it was set up perfectly. We rented pisces. Yes it is $1700, but it is gorgeous, the backdrop of the sunset for our 630 reception was magical. The dj was great that was included. played our entrance songs as I had specified on the cds, and played our special dances as asked. The only complaint here is that the wedding planners did not give him a copy of the reception itinerary so that he knew what was going on, I had given one to my maid of honor and she was able to give it to him. He followed it perfectly. He also does not do any annoucements. My maid of honor stepped in for an mc last minute. I thought he would be able to say mom and dad now for speech etc, nope. He doesnt talk. Mikes are provided, it is wirelss. Everyone was able to hear everything well. We had a small reception 22 people with us. It was nice. We did a sweetheart table for the two of use, adn did tables of 6 and 8 circular for our quests. It looked really pretty. Taiflora again had privded us with table cloths and hangining alnterns, and brought the chivari chairs from ceremony to reception for us. The wedding coordinator had set out our place cards as we had wanted, I prrovided them with a seating plan, and they set up our centrepeices and guest book table as asked as well. They were on point. Reception dinner was by dolce vita, was fantastic, we mixed and matched off the menu choices. Caprese salad, ravioloi, stuffed chicken, and the chocolate puffs for dessert. Im not picky on wedding cake, but they provided wedding cake (my husband wanted lemon) and they made us lemon, which was great, and they cut and served it with dessert. The restaurant manager kept things going as we wanted, and was great letting us know when cake cutting time was etc. Beer and wine were served all throughout the reception Dancing with out group was great, dj was amazing, played country, top 40 and then all the top club hits, and mixed reageton in for me. Reception ended at 1030 sharp. Had one last slow song to close off the night and all done. Had a greta time, our guests had a blast. I recommend having the pisces rented out as you are able to do your special speeches, your dances and have a private night with your guests. Photography: we used the resort wedding photographer. we requested Chris Lee as per the recommendations he had had from this forum. He was fabulous. He did a great job. I am not comfortable in front of the camera, and am not a fru fru bride and he did coaching with me, let me know what he was thinking, made me feel very comfrotable. he listended to what I wanted. and went with it. I wanted the girls first glance at dress pic, and my dads first look pic.  His pics were great. Ill add a few at the end. he stayed for the reception, left at 10. Great repception shots, greta journalistic shots of us and my guests. We got all the pics, well worth it, I was not bale to cut them down to the 75 which were in cluded in our package. I would highly recommend him. And it was much cheaper than having another come off the resort. We also got the videoographer for the ceremony, we had a small guest group,. and have alot of family we want to chare this with. Yea it is not a 4 minute movie trailor like some couples are doing now. But it is ceremony, and a few shots after, 21 minutes long and only $440. Compared to $3200 for 4 minutes. I wanted the ceremony to keep our memories of our ceremony forever, well worth it and a good deal to me. All in all it was a great day. Easiest way to get married in my eyes. Was not stressful, and needed much less of my time. They did a great job and carried it off without a hitch.  Here are a few pics

Congrats! Thanks for the review! Who was your videographer?! Gorgeous pics!

[kailz23]

Originally Posted by FutureKeese22 

 

Thank you for your review! Who was your videographer? Is the Dolce Vita better than the Grille? We are trying to decide on which place to have dinner! Thanks!

 

 

I acutallly never met the videographer lol. He was at the ceremony site before I even got there. It was the resort videographer. he was good, he got the music from our ceremony, procession and some of our songs from the reception and used them in the video, it was nice. Only complaint, it was windy and you can hear the wind hitting the mic on my husbands shirt the whole time. But You get the real idea of jamacia haha.

 

Grill menu was awesome. The steak is fab!, but the caprese salad and the ravaoli from the dolce vita was awesome as well.

[Jamaica2014]

HI Ladies, How are you? I just got back a week ago from the Gran Bahia, and wanted to post my review. I got Married on Monday the 15th at 4pm I am going to first say we had no problems with the wedding, just a few with the resort. Make sure you put a request for your maids to come with towels early the morning of your wedding, or stash a few away for the big day, as we did not have any in my sisters room and my husband had to use a beach towel from the twowel exchange because the house keepers had none when he wanted to shower and get ready. Our week was great, weather was amazing could not have asked for better. The only complaint I do have is the amount of time it takes with the couple the week you are away. We had four seperate days of wedding stuff and really took away from our vacation and rest time. Ill do wedding and photography seperate reviews Wedding: We met with Chandyln our second day there, was about half an hour meeting. We went over all the details, menus, decorations, spot where it was to be held. We went over names, which was a good thing as my husband has two last names and they had it down as one. They had Costa down on all th paper work such as menus etc, and it is Dalla Costa. They quickly changed all of that. The notorized documents, she didnt looki at, or ask to know if we had them wiith us. She was good. We met with Arricife photography at this meeting as well, we were using them for our wedding, they confirmed times as to when they were to come to the room, confirmed room numbers at this time as well. We had our rehersal at 10am on the saturday. This as with Deardra. She walked us through what was going to happen the weddding day. Talked about what tiem to be at the golf cart, what time the guests and the men needed to be at the ceremony site. Walked through the bridal procession, practice exit. Answered all questions at this time. Was good. Took about 45 minutes. Monday the day of our wedding, as good, we ordered room service for breakfast and lunch, which was prompt, and hot. too much food actually, but better to have too much than not enough. Again no towels which was bad, I had to use a hand towel to dry off with after my shower. My sister and my Cousin do hair and makeup for a living. So I did not use any services in Jamaica for this. The lightening in the room was fab for this. they were in room 18504 facing the inner of the resort and had great light to do their job. We were right on time with everything. The flowers from Taiflora came on time, the ceremony site set up in plenty of time before the guests made their way to the point. we had our ceremony on the beach side to the right of the gazebo. Taiflora was good. They set up the ceremony site as askled, arbour with white chiffon, and white chivari chairs. worth the extra money. I am not a fan of chair ties. and this all blended into the sea background so nicely. The flowers were nice, the braidesmaids bouquest esxaclty as asked, white hydrangeas with torch ginger and coral orchids. Mine was different than expected, than what they sent me in the picture. I asked for white hydrangeas, coral orchids and pink callalillies were to sort of encompass it around the stems. I got a few callalillies, and blush roses were in my bouquet. I did not ask for roses. It was pretty though. They sent all flowers up in plenty of time for photos After taking a few pre photos, the golf cart to take us to the ceremony site was right on time, acutally calling the photographer at 345 to ask where we were. They took us to the ceremony site, and we met donnalee (another wedding coordinator) at the large walk to the peir. They had the music I had provided for the pre ceremony playing as we arrived. The procession music I wanted played and we flowed through. Everything worked well. 4pm was a good tiem to get married, the sun was starting to drop in the sky, provided nice light for photos, was not directly in our eyes, the wind though on the peir! wow, make sure you have lots of hairspray!.  The videographer was there and filmed the ceremony. AFter the ceremony they played our exit music that we provided. they were right on point with the music. We took group photos, guests, photos and family photos on the peir, and then carreid on to the beach for bridal party photos. When my husband and I branched off to do our photots, my bridesmaids went and checked on the venu and said it was set up perfectly. We rented pisces. Yes it is $1700, but it is gorgeous, the backdrop of the sunset for our 630 reception was magical. The dj was great that was included. played our entrance songs as I had specified on the cds, and played our special dances as asked. The only complaint here is that the wedding planners did not give him a copy of the reception itinerary so that he knew what was going on, I had given one to my maid of honor and she was able to give it to him. He followed it perfectly. He also does not do any annoucements. My maid of honor stepped in for an mc last minute. I thought he would be able to say mom and dad now for speech etc, nope. He doesnt talk. Mikes are provided, it is wirelss. Everyone was able to hear everything well. We had a small reception 22 people with us. It was nice. We did a sweetheart table for the two of use, adn did tables of 6 and 8 circular for our quests. It looked really pretty. Taiflora again had privded us with table cloths and hangining alnterns, and brought the chivari chairs from ceremony to reception for us. The wedding coordinator had set out our place cards as we had wanted, I prrovided them with a seating plan, and they set up our centrepeices and guest book table as asked as well. They were on point. Reception dinner was by dolce vita, was fantastic, we mixed and matched off the menu choices. Caprese salad, ravioloi, stuffed chicken, and the chocolate puffs for dessert. Im not picky on wedding cake, but they provided wedding cake (my husband wanted lemon) and they made us lemon, which was great, and they cut and served it with dessert. The restaurant manager kept things going as we wanted, and was great letting us know when cake cutting time was etc. Beer and wine were served all throughout the reception Dancing with out group was great, dj was amazing, played country, top 40 and then all the top club hits, and mixed reageton in for me. Reception ended at 1030 sharp. Had one last slow song to close off the night and all done. Had a greta time, our guests had a blast. I recommend having the pisces rented out as you are able to do your special speeches, your dances and have a private night with your guests. Photography: we used the resort wedding photographer. we requested Chris Lee as per the recommendations he had had from this forum. He was fabulous. He did a great job. I am not comfortable in front of the camera, and am not a fru fru bride and he did coaching with me, let me know what he was thinking, made me feel very comfrotable. he listended to what I wanted. and went with it. I wanted the girls first glance at dress pic, and my dads first look pic.  His pics were great. Ill add a few at the end. he stayed for the reception, left at 10. Great repception shots, greta journalistic shots of us and my guests. We got all the pics, well worth it, I was not bale to cut them down to the 75 which were in cluded in our package. I would highly recommend him. And it was much cheaper than having another come off the resort. We also got the videoographer for the ceremony, we had a small guest group,. and have alot of family we want to chare this with. Yea it is not a 4 minute movie trailor like some couples are doing now. But it is ceremony, and a few shots after, 21 minutes long and only $440. Compared to $3200 for 4 minutes. I wanted the ceremony to keep our memories of our ceremony forever, well worth it and a good deal to me. All in all it was a great day. Easiest way to get married in my eyes. Was not stressful, and needed much less of my time. They did a great job and carried it off without a hitch.  Here are a few pics

Thank you so much for your review! You looked beautiful Quick question...using the resort photographer Chris Lee, what was the overall cost? Did you find him pushy or did he work well with you...I don't want any added stress on the wedding day , lol!