Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[keriltz]

Ya i was uner the impression the chair covers are included in the package.  And when you pay $25 per person who is additional to the package they also cover those chairs.

[Marlena]

I have learned so much reading all of your posts! I'm very close to booking the gran bahia for november/11 for my wedding...I'm just looking for a few more 'tips' from you experts online...

 

1) are the only restaurants the grill and italian ? and it looks like from Trista's previous post that you get to pick closer to the date of the wedding and thats when they provide the menu....

 

2)if the reception is not at the gazebo, what other options are there ?

 

3) do you know how many weddings a day they have ? I just don't want it to feel like a production line....

 

 

Im just waiting to hear back  from my TA about flights and packages down from Toronto before we make a decision....

[tris]

Hey Marlena!

 

Okay, I'll do my best to help you out here.

 

1) Yes, those are the only two restaurants. If you look at previous posts there are pictures. It sucks that you have to wait until closer to the day to book one, but what can you do. There is the option of renting out one of the restaurants JUST for your group and having your reception there (but it costs $2500)

 

2) I'm pretty sure you can get married on the beach if you so choose... but most people choose the gazebo because it's really private and one of the biggest appeals of the resort.

 

3) WELL. In the beginning I was told that they don't do a lot of weddings and that was a big reason for me booking there... little do I know... they do 2 a day at times but I think they try their best to stick 1 a day... either way, if you read earlier posts you see the drama I had with my date getting double booked. She offered me the 1:00 time (if there are 2 weddings in a day they'll be one at 1:00 and the other at 4:00), and I declined so we did some back and forth and she pulled some strings and we're getting married at sunset (6:00ish). From what I've heard from every bride here that's gotten married there is that they never felt like they or their day wasn't important and that the Beverly and her assistant were super attentive in making it special (that's what matters to me )

[Marlena]

Trista,

 

Thanks for the tips! I started reading the postings on this website after I got engaged on November 11, and then thought that 11/11/11 would be a great day to get married...once I started doing a bit of research, I realized I wasn't the only one who thought of that! So I'm expanding my dates to the entire month of November and see what we can come up with. I didn't realize that I would have to start planning a destination wedding a full year in advance!! Oh well, it will be a fun time!

 

 

I am loving the location for the wedding....thats what I want to go there. It looks so beautiful and you won't have old men in speedos in the background of your wedding shots! I've emailed Beverly and she's given me some feedback on dates...Im just waiting to hear back from the travel agent about pricing, I don't want it to get too out of control since we expect about 40 people are definately going to book.

[tris]

Marlena,

Wow! That's a big group! We're less than 20... but it'll be perfect. Just close family and close friends. Neither of us are close with our extended families, save our grandparents, so no aunts and uncles or cousins, just parents, 3 grandparents, siblings & close friends. Good luck with the planning! I originally wanted 10/10/10 but the proposal took a little longer than expected, haha! SO after that our plan was May 2nd, then got pushed to April 28 because the flights were cheaper.

[keriltz]

Question for you ladies - Are you guys using the hotel photographer?  Or hiring someone else to come in?  I am really on the fence about this because i have seen past comments from brides saying the photographer that is included showed up half way through the wedding and the pictures weren't very good.  I don't want to spend alot at all on pictures because you really don't (well i wouldn't) print that many pictures and there will be a ton of pictures from other people but i do want about 25(or so) REALLY good pictures.  Opinions??

[tris]

Keriltz -

Photography is the one thing I'm splurging on so the hotel photog wouldn't do... I'm getting Sungold Associates to do the photography for me. 8 hours with 2 shooters + a TTD the next day for $2500. But the best part is I get a DVD of all the edited print quality photos... so I won't have to pay a ridiculous amount of money for prints, I can just do it myself

 

They had a lot of cheaper options too if you only wanted a few hours of coverage and Paula from Sungold is amazing. She gets back to you so quickly and is so personable.

[akua420]

I'm going to use the hotel photographer, the quote I got from Sungold was over $1000, NOT worth it for me because I only want a few prints.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the one who had the guy show up half way had a professional one as well, where as if they know that they are the main one, they will show up on time.  And you can haggle with the prices.   And if the resort photographer is going to be your main one, you can schedule him to take the getting ready pictures, or a few pictures before the wedding, you just have to tell them what exactly you want.

Spending $2500 for pictures is cringe worthy to me, there is NO WAY I could throw away that much money on 3 pictures.  I'm not a scrapbooker, I'm not going to have albums full of pictures, I want a few nice shots.  I'm only going to get one printed for the house, and send the same one with my canadian invites.  Plus my dad is buying a super expensive camera, so I'm sure he's going to take TONS, hahaha. 

[jennypenny23]

akua420- Im in the same boat! Positive thinking!!

[tris]

Well everyone's different... For example, I'd never spend upwards of $1000 on a dress I was wearing for one day (mine was just over $500)... for me, the pictures last a lifetime and are a lot more important. I'm also a  graphic designer and an amateur photographer on the side so it's something that's really worth the money to me, perhaps not to some.

Everyone has to find a thing or two that they want to splurge on for their wedding and be price cautious about the rest, that's my thinking at least.

I know a few other ladies on the forum had really good luck with bringing someone along with them who was just starting out and wanted to get a good head start on their portfolio... it's worth asking around good luck.