Any Gran Bahia Principe Runaway Bay Brides out there?

[soontobeawalsh]

For those of you who have used Michael Spencer in the past can you please help me out!?!  I am trying to contact him by email but it keeps bouncing back to me as un-deliverable ..here is the email address I have  [email protected]

 

Do I have the wrong one??

Edited March 11, 2014 by soontobeawalsh

[acw271011]

I just looked at the email address I have for him. Try capitalizing the "s" at the beginning: [email protected]  that's what I have as the email. Or I have this:

 

Spencer's Tour & Taxi - Michael Spencer: 876-842-0527 or 876-326-5436

 

Hope that helps. He is an absolute sweetheart and if you ask at the concierge desk right inside the hotel lobby, they know very well who he is.

[acw271011]

Hi all. I'm not sure who is still around besides me that has been party of this forum for quite a while, but if anyone remembers JayKay, she got married at GBPJ in January 2012. Well she had her first baby on Saturday. A little boy, Elliot Tyler and he is just gorgeous! Sounds like mommy and baby are doing just great!

[Camalli]

Hi ladies!

 

I'm back and want to post a review before I forget, these last few weeks have been crazy!! We got married on March 3rd, 2014 and it was absolutely amazing! My fiance and I arrived at the resort on February 25th so we had lots of time to meet with coordinators/photographer etc. and it was the best decision we made. We had 45 guests who all arrived on March 1st and we had all of our meetings and planning done by the time they arrived! I highly recommend going a few days earlier than your guests if you can do it.. Especially if you have a big group.

 

We met with Tamika and Ashani the day after we arrived and went over EVERYTHING and finalized payment. I ordered flowers for myself, bridesmaids and mothers from Tai flora. It was a bit pricey, but I had a specific look I wanted and I have to say they exceeded my expectations! The bouquets were more beautiful than I ever could have imagined! I brought a lot of my own decorations (table runners, chair sashes, etc) -enough for two suitcases full - and they took everything all packed up and said they would handle it! I gave them a picture of everything set up the way I wanted at the reception and they nailed it! They even packed all my decorations up for me afterwards.

 

The ceremony was at 2pm and we were about 20 minutes late! I booked Rashel Edwards for hair and makeup for myself and 6 bridesmaids and she did an amazing job, all the girls loved it! We started at around 9am and were on time until we tried to squeeze my mom and mother in law in and that's what ended up making us late! Still 20 minutes was not bad at all, no one had any complaints. Also the coordinators waived the vendor fee for Rashel, we just had to pay for her and her assistant's day pass which wasn't a big deal.

 

The ceremony was short and sweet, I have no complaints other than that it was super windy!! They aren't lying when they say 2 pm is the windiest time of the day! Still I wouldn't change a thing, the wind calmed down afterwards for our pictures and the overcast skies looked so beautiful:)

 

We went with the Romance Extravaganza package so we had cocktails and appetizers served after the ceremony. It wasn't quite an hour long because we were running late but I don't think any of the guests noticed. The steel drum band played the whole time and everyone loved it!

 

We requested Christopher Lee as our photographer and he did an amazing job! He had nicknames for everyone in our wedding party and it was so much fun! We didn't want the pictures to end! Unfortunately he did tell us he's leaving the resort it April to start with another company but he will be available to book as an outside vendor. We were told by Tamika that the vendors fee is only $200 now instead of $800 which is much more reasonable.

 

We also brought in a cinematographer from off resort, his name is Roxroy Gough from Your Day Cinematography. We haven't seen the completed work yet but him and Chris worked really well together! We have seen sample videos of Roxroy's and they look really good! The resort also waived the vendor fee for Roxroy since we were going with the platinum package for our photography.

 

We also booked the Piscis for our reception and it was gorgeous! It started at 630 and was just in time to catch a beautiful sunset from our seats. Our meal was from the Dolce vita and was delicious, I had guests coming up to me all night commenting on it! By the time we got through all the speeches and everything we only had about half an hour for dancing but it was a blast! Chris Lee was supposed to be done at 830 but stuck around til the very end because he was having so much fun!

 

I should mention when we met with the coordinators they told us the Piscis was $2500. I told them I was quoted $1700 earlier and they honoured it. I would have paid the 2500 if I had to do it again though! I also had brought thank you cards with tips for our bartender, dj and serving staff and gave them out at the end of the night. They were all wonderful and didn't seem to be expecting a tip at all.

 

I honestly could go on forever, the resort is amazing and our wedding day was absolutely perfect! I will do my best to keep checking this forum and answer any questions, there's probably lots that I missed still!

 

Here's a link for some of our pictures by Chris Lee. I can add more

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qhbqshff0o84a04/fLbGOMxHkH

 

Thank you sooooooooooooooo much for your great review. It has really helped to calm my nerves a bit. I also sent you a private message with some questions. Hope to hear from you soon!

 

Thanks

Cam

[klettore]

@medwards 

Thank you sooooooo much for that review!!!! It was very helpful!  I am getting married there on July 25, 2014.  We just found out this week that the Pisces is rented out already (bummer) so we booked the semi-private room at the Dolce VIta.  We are between the Romance Extravaganza and the Unforgettable package for 50 people.  Is the cocktail and canapes and open bar after the reception really worth the extra $1,500 plus between the two packages you think??

 

How are the bars in the Pueblo Principe square?  The piano bar, sports bar, etc.?  I've tried to find pictures online but couldn't find anything.

 

Thank you so much again for the wonderful review!!!

By the way your pictures are priceless!!!! We booked Christopher Lee back in December and just verified that he is doing our wedding this past week with the photography studio and after you said he's leaving, I'm gonna have to send them an e-mail saying I am not paying this vendor's fee because we already have him booked.

 

Hopefully this works out!

 

Thanks again!

@@kwiseman

You're getting married the same week I am!!!!

[soontobeawalsh]

@@klettore Please let us know what you hear from Arrecife studio, in regards to Chris Lee...I talked to them not too long ago after hearing that Chris was leaving, and they told me that he was still with them and I was booked to have him on April 9 2014.

But Chis told me on facebook that he was leaving sooooo I'm thinking that maybe he hasen't given his notice to them?!?

 

Its all very confusing since I had booked him well almost a year ago (May 2013).  I understand if he is leaving Arrecife but the communication is not the best and not knowing drives me nuts!!!

[MrsViolo]

If Chris is leaving, and you have the opportunity, it would be better to book him through his other photo studio (i think it's sungold) than through Arrecife. 

 

The photo packages through Arrecife do not provide you with as many photos as an outside photographer would. With our package we got 60 photos and we had to pay 11 bucks for each additional photo. With an outside photographer you get all the usable images (300 - 400 pictures). 

 

Also, due to the issues Chris was having with Arrecife at the time of my wedding in January, Chris was not able to edit the photos. 

 

Arrecife edited them and they were terrible! I had no idea how much of a different editing would make. It's important for the photographer to edit their own photos. Chris took fantastic images and then Arrecife did some really weird things to them when they edited them. In the end we got all of the raw images so we can edit them ourselves. 

@medwards 

Thank you sooooooo much for that review!!!! It was very helpful!  I am getting married there on July 25, 2014.  We just found out this week that the Pisces is rented out already (bummer) so we booked the semi-private room at the Dolce VIta.  We are between the Romance Extravaganza and the Unforgettable package for 50 people.  Is the cocktail and canapes and open bar after the reception really worth the extra $1,500 plus between the two packages you think??

 

How are the bars in the Pueblo Principe square?  The piano bar, sports bar, etc.?  I've tried to find pictures online but couldn't find anything.

 

Thank you so much again for the wonderful review!!!

By the way your pictures are priceless!!!! We booked Christopher Lee back in December and just verified that he is doing our wedding this past week with the photography studio and after you said he's leaving, I'm gonna have to send them an e-mail saying I am not paying this vendor's fee because we already have him booked.

 

Hopefully this works out!

 

Thanks again!

@@kwiseman

You're getting married the same week I am!!!!

 

 

We had a great time in the Bars in the square. It's a really cute area. 

 

The bars weren't very busy, but we had such a big party with us that our group was all we needed to make it a great time. 

 

It's really what you make of it i guess! 

 

The disco floors are gross! DO NOT WEAR YOUR WEDDING DRESS IN THERE! I wore white pants one day to the disco and ended up throwing them out. The floors gets really dirty with drinks and who knows what else and my pants were pretty much black when we left  

[medwards]

@@klettore

I agree with mrsViolo the square was really cute! There were tons of people there for the nightly entertainment, but finding seats was never an issue. I found the same thing still that the bars weren't too busy, but we had a big group as well so it didn't really matter.

 

We were between the Unforgettable and Romance Extravaganza as well. I knew I wanted a bartender at our reception since we would have the venue for a few hours after dinner, and Tamika quoted an additional $35 per person to have a bartender for three hours. For us that was the game changer for us since it would have cost around $1700 for a bartender... Or a very long walk to the nearest bar. If you're doing the semi-private there won't be a dj or dancing afterwards so it might not be worth it, unless you book the gazebo for the reception afterwards and use the bartender then! They serve wine, beer and non alcoholic beverages at the a la cartes.

 

The cocktails and canapés were a nice touch after the ceremony, but if we didn't have any I don't think anyone would have complained, no one was expecting anything anyways. They still will have the champagne toast after the ceremony:).

 

With regards to the vendor fee for Chris Lee, if you already had him booked I'm sure they would waive it. @@soontobeawalsh as well when we were talking with him he did mention that he had brides that had already booked him and were worried because he was leaving, he said he would be coming back to do the photography. Hopefully that helps a bit.. Still doesn't hurt to confirm and re-confirm! They do take a while to answer emails sometimes, I think that's the one complaint I have. I always felt like they were unorganized until I got there and realized it's the complete opposite and they really know what they're doing! Just not the best at communicating it sometimes!

[Meeks]

I'm getting married there dec 13th 2014

[dutchess]

2 weeks away from big day. I agree the photography stuff is confusing. I had requested chris lee. I hear he is leaving but who knows sooo I will just hope for the best. Resort says I either will have mr lee or mr davis depending on what package I decide on. Apparently both will be at our meeting im told. Im going with the platinum package as far as I know. I was having diner at the grill but switched to dolce then back to grill lol. My guests and groom voted on that one! Lol although I do like set up of dolce better but that was about it. I know alot of other brides on here will be there that week as well so best of luck to you all! See you down there!!