CALLING ALL FUTURE GRAND PALLADIUM BRIDES .....MY REVIEW OF OUR WEDDING AT THE GRAND PALLADIUM/LADY HAMILTION 10/29/2010

[kasabre28]

We had our wedding at the Grand Palladium Lady Hamiltion on October 29, 2010 at around 5pm. As I write this we are sitting in the Montego Bay Airport awaiting our flight HOME It would not be fair to all up and coming brides who will marry at th GP if I have a short review NOW.......... instead i'll write everything down so I wIill not miss anything...and write a full review when I get home complete with photos I PROMISE!!!!!!!!

 

What I will say is we had NINA the "Supervisor" of the wedding deparrtment as our "Planner" at the hotel with that said I will worn you that If you have not Micro-managed your wedding with the hotel at this point, YOU MUST START, the wedding staff are very nice people but they throw your special day together quickly...and they are no were to be found on your wedding day if something goes bad... NOTHING WILL GO SMOOTHLY UNLESS YOU DO TWO KEY THINGS

1. Speak to the Maid of honor and Best man and let them know of the above information so they can filter alot of B.S that may happen.

2. Choose another person who Manages people well, make sure all of your helpers know what you want and what is suppose to happen at the ceremony and reception...

 

I know I know these are things that you expect your planner to do but SHE DOES'NT

 

I am a very positive person and the Grand Palladium is a very beautiful place.... and at the end of the day I am very happy to have married the man of my dreams in the beautiful country of Jamaica but  the GP has SOME SERIOUS ISSUES......I really wish we picked another hotel

 

 

I will post soon

[kasabre28]

REVIEW PART ONE

 

 I think I should start off by saying that I wasn't the carefree bride who paid the fee(s) at the Grand PALLADIUM/LADY HAMILTON and just let things be!!!...I felt like all brides that want not only what you pay for but ...you also want your day to go well..I know that things happen and not everything will go the way I want... I asked one million questions..I emailed all four planners that I had numerous times ...I saved every email and verified what I wanted each time the planner would change...I printed each email and had them with me when we arrived ....now with that said LISTEN UP!!!!!!

 

our plans were to have to have a our 40 guest at a 4pm ceremony on the beach on, Friday 10/29/2010 with a cocktail hour from 5 to 6pm while we took photos, then have our guest transported to the Poseidon for a private reception complete with a DJ 

 

We arrived at the GP on Tuesday, 10/26/2010 after eight months of planning by tail off we were checked into a room on the grand palladium side of the hotel the room was in villa 14 on the second floor..the room was very hot, and the bathroom was dirty also the bedroom walls looked as if they were peeling??? My fiance got a hold of the manager and he quickly came to our room and needless to say we were changed to Bungalow 30-54 which was a beautiful second floor bungalow that had an outside shower and a jacuzzi that would easily fit five people. We were very satisfied and happy that they did the right thing with our room.

 

We could not get in contact with Nina (who is our fourth planner) after Phylicia, Kimberley, and Sherice because she was very busy with another wedding I understood and agreed to wait until the next day to meet with her.

 

The next day on Wednesday, I continued to call and ask and attempt to meet with her but I kept getting the run around by the front desk staff and the person who answered the phone at the wedding office. So we walked down to the office and CAUGHT nina before she vanished again. while speaking with her we were able to clear up the order of events and what we wanted I informed Nina that we needed all of the bridal parties clothes picked up for steaming, I also informed Nina we had OOT gift boxes for all of our guest. Nina was very helpful and informed us that she could reserve an area for a welcome dinner in the Negril Buffet Restaurant on Thursday, 10/28/2010 were we could hand out our gift boxes, she stated that a letter announcing the dinner would be delivered to all of our guest rooms who already arrived and all of our wedding guest upon check in..Nina also stated that to speed up the dinner process at the reception she would need most of the food choices for our guest, therefore she stated that she would create a form for our guest to indicate their food preference and have a member of her staff retrieved that information from our guest at the Welcome dinner. We left the meeting feelin relieved and NOT STRESSED. I truly felt that all the BAD COMMUNICATION AND LACK OF ANSWERS HAD COME TO AN END!!!!

 

WELL THIS GOOD FEELING WAS VERY SHORT LIVED!!!!

Thursday most of our guest had arrived and had received the 7:00 pm welcome dinner announcement

 

The evening of the dinner the helpful Bell man staff came and picked up all of the boxes and took them to the Negril

We arrived at the dinner at 7:10pm and all of our guest were on one side of the Negril we quickly started to greet people and thank them after a while I noticed that the gift boxes had not arrived and walked over to the hostess and asked what was going on they informed me that they would call the wedding department and see were the food preference forms were and our gift boxes???

we waited so long that my fiance decided to just tell everyone to start and serve themselves... after everyone had almost finished eating the Hostess came over and stated that the apologized but our guest were seated in the wrong area of the restaurant ..the Hostess then walked me over to an area of the Negril were two large tables was set up with Flowers and our gift boxes presented on a display table ???WTF and No food preference form was given to them by Nina....the purpose of the welcome dinner was for us to give our guest information about what would take place on our wedding day, for everyone to meet and greet, received there thank you gift box and to get the food preference. IT ALL WENT TO HELL BECAUSE THEY TOOK THE TIME TO SET UP A NICE AREA FOR OUR GUEST BUT DID NT TAKE THE TIME TO INFORM THEM WERE TO SIT so everyone was all through the Negrill restaurant we had to scrabble and give out boxes, and get peoples food preference on napkins before they left because they were now done eating BY THEMSELVES and no one really got acquainted  Nina informed me that she couldn't stay for our dinner AT OUR MEETING.....BUT according to the staff she NEVER came to make sure the resturant staff had the food information sheet, our make sure that the staff knew were to seat all of our wedding guest who would arrive for our welcome dinner INSTEAD our guest came and informed the Hostess why they were there and she sat people in various areas of the restaurant instead of the area that THEY set up??.....I SHOULD HAVE STARTED TO PANIC FROM THERE!!!!...our guest were confused and looking around like "what welcome dinner"?...They messed up and we looked very stupied....I should have seen that Nina's lack of following through would cause serious problems 

 

To be Continued Part II "The wedding day" coming on 11/7/10

[msglave]

Wow! Congrats on being a MRS! I'm very sorry to hear that so many parts of your wedding trip was ruined due to the lack of planning/communication on the part of the resort.

[kasabre28]

Thank you I am in no way trying to belittle the GP it is a great vacation place with lots of fun and beauty but they have a lot of work to do in the wedding department as these types of wedding become more and more common..They have some really wonderful people who work there and I love Jamaica I just want future brides to make a informed decision before picking the GP to wed  

[mswhatever]

You looked beautiful on your wedding day. I am very sorry your destination wedding did not go as planned. I had a very good experience at GP for mine. 

[missgomes]

Wow.. I come back from a long weekend.... and boooo!!!  Food for thought!  Patiently waiting on Part II.

 

On another note... you look beautiful!!

[QueenDiva]

Oh you looked so pretty! Sorry about everything that happened... but you seem to have a good attitude. I'm waiting on Part II also!

[kasabre28]

Part 2 10/29/2010 Wedding day

 

After getting up "Happy" I make several attempts to contact Nina in the wedding office and at the front desk, to speak to her about the welcome dinner and remind her of little things from the meeting like I purchased white sunglasses for the group photo on the beach, so I wanted to make sure that the sunglasses would be placed on every chair at the ceremony and everyone knew about the photo, etc..but I couldn't get in contact with her??...I figured it was safe to get to my spa appointment with out running into my fiance leaving his message.

 

 

SPA

I head over with a close friend to the Spa and received my 60 minute message which I HIGHLY RECOMMEND  it was wonderful  ....After my message I went to get my hair styled only it came out great ..I'm sorry I didn't write down her name but she was a nice young lady who kept me laughing the whole time ....After my hair she started my make up....let take a second I am a girly girl I only wear a little bit of foundation and some lip color and not everyday I took all of my makeup including colors with me from MAC along with the face chart from MAC .....after finishing my foundation I glanced in the mirror and I couldn't recognize myself in the mirror....LOL..I laugh now but it scared me at first...she put sooooo much foundation on that I looked Casket Sharp...lol...like I mentioned she was an awesome girl and I didn't want to hurt her felling but I had to wipe 6 napkins of foundation off and I still think I had too much on when she was done..she did my eyes and other colors perfect...I forgot my Mascara and the spa had no water proof Mascara which I found odd?? I thanked her and tipped everyone and when to the desk to call a cart to my room to start getting ready for the Photographer..but when they called the bellman they had no carts available and didn't want to send one because the were having a high volume of checkin's i guess...Finally They were able to locate Nina who came with a cart and dropped me off to our Bungalow which was close to the ceremony location on the beach.

 

Side BAR

Two of the most important people in the world to me arrived... which are my oldest brother Bobby and his Wife Jewel, from New York at 10:30 I was very relieved that they were able to make it without any complication because my brother has always been the father in my life since my father died when I was a baby and my sister in law Jewel has been in my family before I was born.

needless to say Bobby was giving me away and Jewel was my Mat-ran of Honor. with that said .

 

We went with True Colors Photography hired them to provide video services and photo services at our Ceremony and reception.. Mark informed me that he would arrive at my Bungalow at appox. 3:30 pm after taking some photos of my Fiance getting ready..He also informed me that I should put everything on except for my dress and accessories before his arrival. My Three bridesmaids, mom and friends had arrived to my Bungalow and we got ready while laughing ....all the while I'm trying to contact Nina for updates things and I couldn't get her???...The Photographer came and took photos and video of me getting dressed with my mom and bridesmaids ...when he is done he goes down to the beach <which I can see from my balcony, to take photos of guest and the beautiful set up,......

 

Now its 4:05pm....I start asking were why Jewel isn't there...,I guess my Friends and Family didn't want to tell me what was going on.....but  then I received word that the hotel had my Older brothers luggage and lost it possibly placing it in the wrong room....WTF.....He is suppose to walk me down the aisle with nothing to wear??? ...where the F**K is Nina???....no one knows....Finally she arrives to my room to tell me that she is aware of the situation and that she thinks that the Luggage may still be on the transportation bus that brought them from the airport?...Now I'm going crazy...but I start praying for calmness...Jewel comes to my room ,Thank God I had her dress, my bridesmaids help her get dressed ,Thank God she is Slim with small Boo bee's...lol, because we taped her up and go her dressed...problem solved.....but wait my brother still has nothing to wear .....I guess the grooms men tried to do the same thing for him because he came upstairs to see me and he had on a white dress jacket that was three sizes too big a pinkish shirt black pants and blue and white sneaker....I saw him and got dizzy...he looked like hell...meanwhile ...Nina's giving me no updates of what they are doing to solve this problem now its 4:48pm and we will be loosing light soon my other brother Charles who I loved deeply stepped in for my brother..."This Mess Up was Major' It hurt not to have my oldest brother walk me down and I know it hurt him too... now we go downstairs to line up to walk down the aisle..

 

Side Bar

During the meeting I asked Nina what about a rehearsal she stated that they didn't do rehearsal and that it would go smoothly because she would be there to navigate things... we also decided on what music we wanted ....OK

 

We line up my Bridesmaids are now asking what to do how should they walk you know "Step stop" or "Slow Walk" Nina looked frustrated and didn't really answer them instead I had to show them what I thought would be right I just instructed them to smile big and walk slow..everybody gets down the aisle without a problem...My mother is standing there with me and she starts to pray with me..when she is done she walks down....OK...now I feel better and calm...I requested here comes the bride in steel pan during our meeting with Nina...they start playing here comes the bride but not the version that we had requested...to tell you the truth I was mentally in another place so I didn't even notice until Nina turns to me with a grin on her face and says "Oh More Bad New, I couldn't find the music that you requested I thought I had it but couldn't find it"...I mean I didn't say anything about it why would she say that to me just before I walked down the aisle???....IS IT ME OR WAS THAT MESSED UP ON TOP OF EVERYTHING ELSE.....I mean it was very much within my rights to blow a fused when they put us in a dirty room when we brought 40 people to the resort for the wedding on top of all the money that they made straight from our pockets with extras and etc, or when they messed up the welcome dinner, or when they refused to pick me up from the spa and tried to have me walk to my room on my wedding day in full make up in the 90 degree heat, or when they lost my brothers luggage delaying our ceremony and stopping us from taking valuable photos which was the reason we wanted to get married in the Caribbean...but I kept calm they whole time....I never went off...So what type of planner says that or anything negative to a brides just before she walks down the aisle??.....please note I'm not adding a thing or taking anything away so your honest opinion is appreciated.....that bothered me but the feeling vanished when I saw my Fiance waiting on me with a big cheese grin on his face ...LOL

 

My brother Charles walked me down the aisle and during the ceremony the Pastor Butchered my name Ka-Sabre ...many times,...but he made it so funny and I really needed to laugh..so needless to say the ceremony and Sand Ceremony was wonderful   but we started to loose light because it was almost 6pm we rushed a few photos and my Husband  put a stop to the photos and the Photographer (Mark) who was wonderful agreed to move things to the reception and to come back the next morning so we could get some of the photos that we really wanted...And although Nina placed the sunglasses on the guest chairs like i requested no one told our guest about the photo that I wanted and my the time I mentioned it we had gotten lined up and situated for the group photo and I didn't want to have people grab the glasses and get back in place because it would have gotten darker ....Thanks Nina

 

I started to ask the Hotel staff that was there for Nina because she was no where to be found,,,,CAN YOU BELIEVE IT...LOL... anyway a cloud started to roll in and I didn't want anyone to get wet plus it was beginning to get dark Nina informed me that the carts would be waiting to take our guest to the Poseidon for the reception BUT like everything else that wasn't true ...now please note that we only hired the photographer for one hour of our reception to capture key moments because everyone who attended had digital cameras anything more would have been a waste in my eyes ...plus I placed disposable wedding Cameras in the OOT boxes and on some tables at the reception so while our hour of the reception is ticking away......we had to wait over 35 minutes to get a ride to the reception...THATS RIGHT OUR GUEST were all waiting in the dark for carts to get to our reception.....WTF....I DONT REALLY UNDERSTAND??? they take your money and try to throw things together that dont work..it took for my husband, who was suppose to be feeling happy go lucky to blow a gasket for they to get carts there to pick everyone up....WOW..the guest are taken over.

 

Side Bar

During our meeting with Nina we picked a two tired cake that was very basic that was plain Vanilla and ivory/or white color with peach or orange flowers ill post what we wanted and and what we received with the photos...LOL

 

The Reception

 

We get there and get welcomed by our awesome friends and family and we have our first dance and started to unwind a bit...Still no Nina... the DJ came up to us and stated that he didn't receive the music sheet from Nina (Who wasn't there, or did I already say that already) a family friend had to run to our room and get the copy of the music sheet for the DJ ....

Mark the Photographer had the cake brought in LOL...it was a very pretty cake but not what we asked for....once again Nina does it her way.....

The rest of the reception was cool we danced and had fun and we even got the restaurant staff to join in on the dancing and singing (they were so much fun) I know some of the older guest were shocked but we pulled them on the dance floor and everyone was partying...we needed it as of now I only have the photos from true colors but in the up and coming week I will have everyone's photos that had a digital camera and I'll post some of those as well because I know they will help all of you get a feel for the resort..

 

We had a wonderful night the wedding was on Friday the 29Th and we checked out on Sunday the 31st and went over to Sandals Montego Bay ....WOW ..it was an awesome Honeymoon 

ll post some photos next time .....

 

Please think twice about having your wedding there...and If you do have a Plan A,B, and C and have people in place to see that it is done... or hire a planner here that can go with you

I will tell all of you that I know that I have read on these blogs that people are hell bent on hiring Sun Gold Photography but TrueColours photography was Fantastic I really had no Complaints and our photos came out beautiful .....

[delgadot]

Wow that review was crazy!! I am not getting married at Grand Palladium but I am sure your review was very helpful for the future brides who are!

[missgomes]

Metal notes galore!!

 

I am so sorry to hear about all of this. My honest opinions and concerns:

 

(1)  My eldest brother is also walking me down the isle and I would be devastated to have to pick someone else moments before!!!!  Devastated!! 

(2) I also would have been perturbed if I felt that her "grin" as I began to walk down the isle was malicious.

(3) Missing WC.....  the entire trip... would be nerve wrecking to say the least.   (and I like Nina out of all of WC's I've had over the last 7 months).

 

(4) Waiting 35 minutes for carts???  Luckily, Mark was understanding!

 

 

Here is a BIG BIG HUG!!!!  We plan for this day and its very frustrating (to say the least) when people aren't as dedicated as we would like them to be (or rather, they should be).I   believe when Phylicia left, Nina has taken the most of the work (unless this has changed recently).  From reading various reviews across the internet, I think its obvious that the wedding department needs some help.  Unfortunately, you have to have a bad ordeal for us to realize that although this is destination wedding, A LOT of work still needs to be done once we get there. 

 

Ok.. with that being said, I have a couple of questions for you and any other past brides who'd like to chime in....

 

 

1.  Do you think it would have been helpful to go to the Gazebo with your bridal party (say before the welcome dinner) and go over the plans at night while no one was there?

2.  Family photos done before or after the ceremony?

3.  Did you have any contact with the DJ prior to the reception?

4.  It seems as though cards arrive as they are available, correct?  There are no carts "reserved" for wedding ceremonies?

5.  Did you meet with the Pastor prior to the ceremony?  Did Nina ask how to pronounce your name?

6.  In your review, you stated Nina looked frustrated??? huh??  For what and why?

 

 

Mental Notes:

 

1.  Bring duplicates of anything that can be duplicated.

2.  Designate your own GPJ Wedding Coordinating Posse.

3.  Bring your Posse to the "meeting" with your GPJ WC.

4.  Request Bridal Party to use bring wedding attire as carry ons.  (I personally would just cry if my brother couldn't walk me... it symbolizes soo many things).

 

 

Did any of you arrive at the resort on Tuesday and attend the Manager's Dinner/Buffet event that is held?  Wondering if meeting the management staff holds any weight.