Grand Palladium Jamaica/Lady Hamilton - 2011 Brides!

[IrieBride]

Hi there - great pics, thanks for sharing! I was wondering if you wouldn't mind clarifying for me the difference between the LH side of the resort vs the other side? Is one far from the beach?

How private was your beach ceremony? One last one -where was your dinner - it looks like an amazing view!

thanks so much,

Sarah

[Alysia85]

Hey guys,

 

I was quoted $300 for airbrush makeup with lashes by an offsite makeup artist.

And another $100 for hair.

Add the resort fees and im looking at $520 for offsite hair and makeup.

Plus western union fees its $550.

 

Does this compare to what anyone else has paid for offsite hair/makeup??

It seems wayyyy overpriced to me but I have no idea.

 

I REALLLLLY want airbrush but the resort only charges like $250 for hair and makeup.

 

advice anyone????

[lindsayraz]

 

Originally Posted by Alysia85 

Hey guys,

 

I was quoted $300 for airbrush makeup with lashes by an offsite makeup artist.

And another $100 for hair.

Add the resort fees and im looking at $520 for offsite hair and makeup.

Plus western union fees its $550.

 

Does this compare to what anyone else has paid for offsite hair/makeup??

It seems wayyyy overpriced to me but I have no idea.

 

I REALLLLLY want airbrush but the resort only charges like $250 for hair and makeup.

 

advice anyone????

 

Personally, I was not impressed with how the Renova Spa girls did mine and my sister's hair. Based on that, I would not trust them to do my make-up.  Just my opinion...

[Alysia85]

 

Originally Posted by lindsayraz 

 

 

Personally, I was not impressed with how the Renova Spa girls did mine and my sister's hair. Based on that, I would not trust them to do my make-up.  Just my opinion...

 

Thanks for the heads up lindsayraz.

I ended up cancelling the offsite hair/makeup. I absolutely cant justify spending over $500 for hair and makeup for one day... especially when the resort charges $160 for both.

I typically always do my own hair and makeup for everything... i just wanted to be pampered on my big day. But oh well.. thats the way it works sometimes!

 I'm going to use the salon and if it doesnt work out I will just fix it myself. I'm gonna have some girls come with me to the spa to make sure they do EXACTLY what I want.

 

Thanks for the heads up though ...at least now I know what to expect!!

[Alysia85]

 

Originally Posted by lindsayraz 

 

 

Personally, I was not impressed with how the Renova Spa girls did mine and my sister's hair. Based on that, I would not trust them to do my make-up.  Just my opinion...

 

PS> I was just looknig at your pics and i think yuor hair and makeup are absolutely beautiful!!!! 

[Tara1760]

Did anyone feel like they got ripped off here? I am beginning to feel that way, and please correct me if you feel I am wrong. But the cost just seems to be escalating. I started to think about changing my mind about the venue, but I already have about 10 people booked and they did not purchase travel insurance, so I guess that is not really an option. I believe to have about 25 people going. First they said they could accommodate us in the restaurant, not they are saying it is not gaurenteed. I then decided to book the private reception, but after thinking about it, most of the people do not dance, so I canceled it. UGH, I must be driving them nuts. Then they had told me the only contracted photographer is True Colors, which I booked, but now that I been feeling this way I been prying around and they have some pretty bad reviews!

 

Maybe I am just being over paranoid. I guess since we decided on not doing the private reception I feel a little odd having a noon ceremony and cocktail hour right after. I mean is that it? I change out of my dress and its over. UGH, I just feel like I made a bad choice!

 

Please give me some input; good, bad or indifferent. Maybe I am going the dreaded BRIDEZILLA! AHHHHH!

[IrieBride]

Originally Posted by Tara1760 

 

Did anyone feel like they got ripped off here? I am beginning to feel that way, and please correct me if you feel I am wrong. But the cost just seems to be escalating. I started to think about changing my mind about the venue, but I already have about 10 people booked and they did not purchase travel insurance, so I guess that is not really an option. I believe to have about 25 people going. First they said they could accommodate us in the restaurant, not they are saying it is not gaurenteed. I then decided to book the private reception, but after thinking about it, most of the people do not dance, so I canceled it. UGH, I must be driving them nuts. Then they had told me the only contracted photographer is True Colors, which I booked, but now that I been feeling this way I been prying around and they have some pretty bad reviews!

 

Maybe I am just being over paranoid. I guess since we decided on not doing the private reception I feel a little odd having a noon ceremony and cocktail hour right after. I mean is that it? I change out of my dress and its over. UGH, I just feel like I made a bad choice!

 

Please give me some input; good, bad or indifferent. Maybe I am going the dreaded BRIDEZILLA! AHHHHH!

Hey Tara - I am not as far as you in my planning at all, but I did talk to an acquaintance who had their ceremony earlier in the day and she told her guests to go enjoy the pool for the afternoon and that everyone was meeting back for dinner at X o'clock, and she got back in her dress etc... Hope that helps! Sarah

[canadiangirl]

Originally Posted by IrieBride 

 

Hi there - great pics, thanks for sharing! I was wondering if you wouldn't mind clarifying for me the difference between the LH side of the resort vs the other side? Is one far from the beach?

How private was your beach ceremony? One last one -where was your dinner - it looks like an amazing view!

thanks so much,

Sarah

we stayed at the GPLH side of the resort....i like the side we were on, only because it had that resort feel to it...wouldnt have changed a thing! the beaches are really close to both, walking distance for sure.

 

as for our wedding ceremony, we did it at the garden gazebo at the GPLH side, im glad i didnt do the beach thing..as ppl were watching and staring at other weddings i saw, the gazebo was very private and i only saw one couple watching our wedding..but they kept their distance lmao

 

as for our dinner, we did it at the blue lagoon...private dinner, and we went with BUBBAS menu SO SO GOOD

 

let me know if there is anything else i can help with

[canadiangirl]

Originally Posted by Tara1760 

 

Did anyone feel like they got ripped off here? I am beginning to feel that way, and please correct me if you feel I am wrong. But the cost just seems to be escalating. I started to think about changing my mind about the venue, but I already have about 10 people booked and they did not purchase travel insurance, so I guess that is not really an option. I believe to have about 25 people going. First they said they could accommodate us in the restaurant, not they are saying it is not gaurenteed. I then decided to book the private reception, but after thinking about it, most of the people do not dance, so I canceled it. UGH, I must be driving them nuts. Then they had told me the only contracted photographer is True Colors, which I booked, but now that I been feeling this way I been prying around and they have some pretty bad reviews!

 

Maybe I am just being over paranoid. I guess since we decided on not doing the private reception I feel a little odd having a noon ceremony and cocktail hour right after. I mean is that it? I change out of my dress and its over. UGH, I just feel like I made a bad choice!

 

Please give me some input; good, bad or indifferent. Maybe I am going the dreaded BRIDEZILLA! AHHHHH!

 

if you do your searching around you can find some really great vendors, who are off the resort....photographer...makeup...dj

we hired all of these ppl off the resort and my photographer and makup artist came together only costing me 300.00 for the vendor fee, then our W/C waived the dj vendor fee for us as well, if you want to see our wedding photos or if i can help in anyway let me know....i had the best time there as did our guests, and would have done it all again in the same place. i hope this helps you

[Alysia85]

Hey everyone... just got back from the GPLH!!! We were married on May 10.. ceremony at the gazebo and reception in the blue lagoon!

Very impressed with the resort and big shout out to wedding coordinator Nekeisha!!

The resort is beautiful and perfect for our group of 48!

 

My reccommendations:

 

1. STEEL DRUM BAND! Didnt hear any weddings do this for the ceremony but ours.. and it was soooo worth it! Our guests thought it was included and didnt realize we paid $500 for the hour.. but oh well.. it MADE the wedding ceremony. After all... we were in Jamaica!!! Was not a fan of the wedding using ipods and recorded music for the ceremony.. it felt too stiff and uptight.

 

2. ZURIELEMAKA (spelling?). This show was INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We decided to do this show after our main course and before dessert. It was nothing short of AMAZING!!!! They included guests and the bride and groom for a few things and it was definitely the highlight of our entire wedding!!!!!! People will be talking about it forever... and every one of our guests said it was the best show they had ever seen!!!!!! I can't say enough about the talent of these people and the culture they brought to our wedding. Fun, fun and FUN!!!! People from all over the resort were coming to try and watch it. Since we were in the blue lagoon we had people hanging over the railing from the Infinity bar above to watch it. Kind of annoying since we paid $900 for it and other people were photo bombing and video taping it... but oh well. we DEFINITELY made it a wedding to remember! We even heard random people talking about it the next day in the pool and the beach.

 

3. GAZEBO. This is the BEST location for the ceremony. Our room was right above the beach location.... which was really small and the entrance for the bride is really awkward and short. We watched a few weddings here from our balcony and soo many people were photo bombing it. We actually did too without realizing it. We went out to the reef behind the beach location to take post-wedding pictures and there was a wedding going on...so im pretty sure we photo bombed their ceremony.. but oh well we were on a schedule too!!! The gazebo is VERY private and secluded in a garden.. right on a cliff between the adult beach and sunset cove beach. The aisle was very long and the walk was just beautiful. Gave everyone enough time to take pictures and me enough time to control the tears and take it alllllllll in!!!!! The guest area is partially shaded by trees. Our ceremony was at 2pm so it was blistering hot and part of the guests were in the sun. A 4pm wedding would be mostly shaded here.. which is a huge factor to consider for your guests.

 

4. Blue Lagoon. The ONLY 2 restaurants i would reccomend for dinner would be the blue lagoon as #1 and poisedon #2. Poisedon is great and VERY private...it would be best if you can rent out the entire restaurant...cause it gets realllllly cozy if you dont. the sun sets directly infront of the restaurant and you will get amazing photos!!!!! I really liked how private and secluded this place is... but be aware you WILL need to shuttle out here... its a far walk for guests... esp. if staying on the jamaica side. The blue lagoon was fabulous!!!!! We did a sweetheart table (head table of just bride and grrom) and then we had 7 other tables infront of us. The wedding party and guests sat directly infront of us with parent tables on each side. we had direct access to everyone. It was perfect. We used the other wing for dancing and the zurielemaka show. Be aware... however... that the Infinity bar has a reggae band EVERY night... and they start up around 9pm... so you WILL NOT be able to hear ANYTHING other than this band. We didnt know this.... and our first dance and ipod music during dinner was realllllly affected. Our speeches were also slimmed down and if we would have known how loud the reggae band was... we TOTALLY would have changed our schedule. My dad had a huge speech written and could only say part of it. Also.. our first dance was pretty bad.. no one could hear the song which made it hard for guests to pay attention. We knew though.. so i didnt care!

Note that you ONLY have until 10pm... and they WILL start ripping everything apart at 10pm SHARP. TIMING IS HUGE!!!!! We started dinner at 7pm. I would DEFIINITELY recommend dinner at 6:30pm at the LATEST. Due to the show our dinner ran later than expected and we had to move our first dance over to the side because they had started ripping our reception down. So that was distracting too but everything worked out.

I also would NOT recommend wasting ANY MONEY on a DJ. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO not worth it!!! There really is ZERO time for one... and trust me you will be very disappointed for wasting a boat load of money when all you need is a playlist and ipod during and after dinner.

We also didnt use a microphone or rent a MC ... we just yelled and spoke really loud for speeches and it was PERFECT. Our bartender helped out huge and acted as an MC too .... so im very glad we didnt waste mmoney on that becaues they did it anyway!!!!!!!!! They announced our bridal party for entrances and announced the show and the cutting of the cake. It was awesome!!!!

 

5. FLOWERS. Okay... so I actually had fake f,lowers made before we left. I paid $200 for my bouquet, 1 bridesmaid and 3 bouts .... NOT WORTH IT!!!!!!!! I ended up using the resorts FREE one.. it was STUNNING.. and my bridesmaid bouquet.... ha! we ended up piking flowers from the resort and shoving them into her bouquet to cover up the fake ones. The tropical flowers around the resort matched her dress PERFECTLY! we were laughing because it was one of the FEW things we tried to pre-plan.. and it wasnt worth it!!!

DONT WASTE MONEY on fake ones unless you absolutely want a specific type. I didnt use my bouquet at all... haha what a waste!

 

6. REMEMBER: NO WORRIES MON!!!! NO PROBLEM IN JAMAICA!!!!!!!!!!!! Everything WILL work out and EVERYYYYTHING is done on JAMAICAN TIME!!!!!!!!

Its amazing how much i learned in jamaica. If you have never been...like us.... it is a country of peace and no stress. The people are beautiful and the island is beautiful.

Jamaicans are VERY polite and respectful. They are hilarious and veryyyy relaxed. I was NEVER stressed out about anything before during or after my wedding... and once we got to Jamaica my guests started to understand why. No worries. Everything is IRIE!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

If anyone has any questions pleae let me know! ill try and get some pics up too...