2013 Grand Palladium Jamaica Brides

[TaraHall]

Hello Recent Brides! These posts are really making me excited about Grand Palladium. I am excited about the cocktail hour with high top tables on the beach, the sky lanterns, and the bonfire on the beach idea. I have three questions for anyone who has recently visited: 1) Could anyone describe the beach at GP for me please? How long and wide? Is it rocky? Is it white sand? Is it crowded? 2) Is there a lively enough atmosphere for guests in there upper twenties? (Not a spring break party crowd, but enough activity that everyone will enjoy themselves) 3) For a reception on the beach, would they put a dance floor on the sand? Thank you so much for your help! I have this narrowed down to four resorts, and I am hoping to make my decision in the next week. Tara

[IrieBride]

Hello - does anyone have any ideas for the actual ceremony? Other than one reading we have nothing planned and I am worried it is going to be over in 5 minutes! Any ideas welcome!!

thanks,

Sarah

[kmonty4]

Originally Posted by IrieBride 

 

Hello - does anyone have any ideas for the actual ceremony? Other than one reading we have nothing planned and I am worried it is going to be over in 5 minutes! Any ideas welcome!!

thanks,

Sarah

Sarah, I got married two weeks ago....I did not add any extra readings to the ceremony, and it was definatley over in like 5-10 minutes... Afterwards you sit at the table and sign some papers, that takes like 5 minutes.  It was quick, but people were SO hot that it was better to have it short and sweet.  I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have!

[kmonty4]

Grand Palladium Wedding Review:

 

Hello!  I just got married in June at GP Jamaica, and we had an awesome time!   Despite a few mishaps, our overall experience was great, and we would definitely recommend the Grand Palladium for your wedding!  Here is a complete review of our experience at the resort and our wedding.

 

The Resort: 

 

The resort is beautiful.  The pool is amazing!  I was a bit concerned about the beaches….They are definitely not as nice as Negril, but they are still really pretty.  Negril’s sand is like powder, the beach stretches for miles, and the water is super aqua/blue.    The beaches at GP are smaller, and pretty rocky in some spots (when in the water)  However it’s still blue waters with palm trees- still gorgeous!  They have a sports beach where you can rent kayaks, paddle boats, etc.  This beach is NOT rocky and is where most of my guests hung out.  One positive thing about the GP beaches over Negril is you don’t get the people hassling you on the beach every few minutes!  I think I was offered weed 10 times while laying out in Negril for an hour, and people constantly try to sell you things.  GP is private and you don’t get any of that.

 

I read a lot of reviews about how HUGE the resort is, and people complaining about how far you have to walk to everything.  It’s definitely a big resort, but honestly it’s really not THAT bad.  And if you don’t feel like walking, you can simply call a golf cart to come pick you up…and they are usually there in like 5-10 minutes.

 

The staff for the most part was really friendly.  I have read a lot of reviews about how the staff was rude but we did not really find this.  I also read some reviews about people getting valuable stolen from their rooms.  We had 60 guests, and not one had anything stolen.

 

FYI MAKE SURE YOUR MALE GUESTS BRING PANTS!!!!  Most of the restaurants require pants, and they will not let you eat there in shorts!  It’s pretty annoying, but rules are rules.  Just make sure your guests are prepared, because I had some guests that did not bring pants.  Girls can wear whatever they want.

 

The restaurants were decent.  My favorite was probably the Italian restaurant..it was actually REALLY good!  Bubba’s steak house was also pretty good.  Poseidon was ok, and the portions were SUPER small.  Definitely get some Jerk chicken at the shack near the sports beach.  The Mexican restaurant was so-so.  The Asian restaurant was surprisingly pretty good!  FYI They don’t let you make reservations, and there were nights we had to wait 1-2 hours to get seated!!  This was probably my biggest complaint about the resort.

 

Another FYI, THE WIFI is terrible!  It is only free in the Lady Hamilton lobby, and almost never worked.

I went to the spa twice… Once for manicure, and again for a couples massage…Both were excellent.  And just so you know, there is a whole hot tub area behind the spa with a lazy river….This is available to everyone, even if you didn’t use the spa… but most ppl didn’t know about it.  There was one day it rained all day and we spent a lot of time relaxing in the hot tubs with a roof over our heads.

 

 

BEFORE THE WEDDING:

 

Communication before the wedding was definitely a pain.  You get assigned your wedding coordinator 2 months before your wedding.  Before then, it could take them weeks to respond to your emails!  Once I hit the 2 month mark, the coordinator responded usually within a few days.

 

So we arrived several days before our wedding.  We went straight to the wedding office to see when we would be meeting with the wedding coordinator (Nekeisha)  They told us that she would contact us to set up a time.  The next morning, we left our villa around 9:30 AM and found a letter at our doorstep, saying that we have a meeting scheduled at 10 AM with Nekiesha!  Had we slept in later, we would have totally missed the meeting.  Therefore, it’s probably a good idea to try and schedule this with your wedding coordinator before you arrive.  We met with Nekeisha, and she was very friendly and answered all our questions.  She took us on a little tour of our reception location, ceremony location, and the rain location.  We were supposed to get married on the beach…I had always envisioned walking down the isle in the sand… However, last minute I decided to take a look at the gazebo, and it was GORGEOUS.  It’s sitting on a cliff, with panoramic views of the blue/green water, with mountains in the distance….it’s more secluded and private, and more shaded.   The gazebo itself was so pretty, surrounded by marble floors.  We switched to the gazebo and we our SOO glad we did.  Everyone LOVED the location and agreed that it was way nicer than the beach. 

 

THE BIG DAY-  GETTING READY:

 

I started getting ready in my room around 11 AM  (wedding was at 4 PM)  I had my own hair dresser/makeup artist.   One thing I did not like was that they do not provide the bride with any food in her room.   I mean, it’s an all inclusive resort, you’re getting married and spending A LOT of $ there, and you’re stuck in the room for hours….the least they could do is send you some sort of food to pick on!  My parents went to the buffet and had to BEG to take food to bring to me.  I made a phone call to see if I could get some extra waters delivered to my room (you only get 2 in your refrigerator/day)  I figured since I had bridesmaids getting ready in my room, it would be nice to have water to offer them.  But once again, they first told me I was already given my “entitled two watersâ€.  After multiple phone calls, and my maid of honor FLIPPED out, they finally delivered me 6 waters.   Just a little annoying that you’re spending thousands of dollars and they can’t even bring you some extra water!

 

THE PHOTOGRAPHERS-  TRUE COLORS

 

So it’s around 3:15, and I realize that the photographer “True Colors†is supposed to be there taking “getting ready†pics.  I called the photographer and they tell me they never got all my paperwork, so they assumed I changed my mind.  A few days before I arrived in Jamaica, I sent them a form with the package info filled out, the wedding date, signature, etc.  They responded saying that I needed to send two more forms, one being the payment, which I emailed immediately.  I assumed they received them, however they claimed they never got them.  Now you would think that if they received the first form but not the other 2, they would have called or emailed to tell me they never received it, just to make sure.  But no.  They just assumed I changed my mind, and I almost didn’t have a photographer!

 

Thankfully, they responded RIGHT away, and were there within minutes.  They were very professional, and I felt like they did a great job.  They would show me pics on the camera as they were taking them, and from what I could see they were turning out great.  They brought me all around the resort and took a lot of great shots.  They told me it will take about 2 weeks for them to edit the images and send them to me on a CD.  I read pretty bad reviews about True Colors, but besides the email mishap, I was overall happy with them.  I will have to write another review once I get my pictures!  We got the cheapest package, “Island Deluxe†I think, which was photography for 3 hours.  I was a bit upset that I wasn’t going to have a photographer at my reception, but SO many people took pics, that I have a lot of great photos from all my family and friends. 

 

THE CEREMONY

 

Our wedding was at 4 PM at the gazebo, with the waves of Love package.  Just an FYI, the wedding coordinater sends a list of all your guests room #’s to the bell boy, so he goes around and picks people up in the golf cart 20 min before the ceremony.  This would have been nice to know, I would have included this in my welcome letter with the wedding info.  Once all the guests are at the location, the coordinator sends the golf cart to pick up the bride.  I had the Steel Drum Band play at my ceremony, and they were awesome.  DEFINITELY worth the 500 bucks for 1 hour!  And DEFINITELY better than playing an IPOD!  I walked down the isle to “somewhere over the rainbow†with my dad.  The ceremony itself was literally 10 minutes (maybe less!)  which for us was perfect.  They were supposed to have a microphone, which I refused because I have severe stage fright!  The ceremony was just fine without the microphone.  After you exchange vows, you sit at a table and sign some paperwork, which takes another 5 minutes.  They serve champagne to all your guests (in my case, blue champagne with the waves of love package)  The waves of love package was gorgeous, the blue flowers with the starfish was so pretty!  I did not upgrade my bouquet, and I was completely happy with the bouquet the package came with.  I got my maid of honor the bridesmaid hydrangea bouquet which was also perfect.  They had tried to sell me a “smaller version†of my bouquet, and I am happy I did not go with that.   We provided wooden fans (bought at Michaels) for all our guests, and almost everyone used them….Even the guys and children!  They were a big hit, especially since it was SOO hot and humid!  And people continued to use them at the reception.

 

We did not do a cocktail hour….It was not worth it.  Everyone mingled at the ceremony and took pics…By the time they left the ceremony it was probably around 5:00 PM, and our reception started at 6 PM.

 

After our ceremony we continued to take pics with the photographers, just the two of us.  We were running late with pictures, since they got a late start.  After pics, the photographer called the wedding coordinator to arrange the golf cart to pick us up.  I saw the photographers call TWICE, and our gold cart never arrived.  So we had to walk ACROSS the entire resort, in 90 degrees, in my wedding gown and his suit, to our reception.  I arrived at my reception SO hot and sweaty, and PISSED OFF!  They should have a gold cart waiting there for you to finish pics, so you don’t even have to call!  RIDICULOUS! 

 

THE RECEPTION:

 

We had our reception in the Blue Lagoon and it was PERFECT!  We had a total of 60 people.  Our other option was the Poseidon, which is nice, but definitely more casual looking.  The Blue Lagoon is classier, larger, with GORGOUES views.  The Sunset was amazing.  The Poseidon would have been WAY too small for 60 people.  We brought our own centerpieces….we basically copied the vase with seashells and floating candles.  I actually bought plastic cannisters from walmart, when you take the lid off it looks just like a glass vase!  We filled each one with sea shells, and lit a floating candle….they matched the floating candle centerpiece at the head table perfectly.  They were super light to carry on, shatterproof, and only like 6 bucks each!  If you want the 3 glass vase/floating candle centerpiece that you see in the pictures, they charge you $45 each table!  Nekiesha arranged all our centerpieces for us.  For our entrée, we got the chicken stuffed with mushrooms/steak option for $45/each.  They did accommodate our vegetarians and lactose intolerant guests.  EVERYONE raved about the food, it was actually WAY better than I expected!!

 

DJ

 

We used the DJ for the last 3 hours of our reception.  We went with the resort’s DJ Irie Jamz, they did an excellent job!  We had plans on using our IPOD for the first hour for some dinner music.  I unfortunately forgot to give my dad the password for my IPHONE, so he was unable to play my wedding list!!  Luckily, the DJ was AWESOME and played some music for the first hour, at no extra charge!  He played great music, and had everyone up and dancing.  We did not get the MC, and I am glad we didn’t.  Just the DJ was enough.

 

AFTER PARTY

 

The reception ended at 10 PM, and we all went to the infinity Bar afterwards to continue the party.  Our plan was to go to the disco at 11….However we went there and it was scariness!  It’s completely pitch black, SOOO loud, not even fun dance music!  We were there for about 15 minutes, and called it a night.

 

I could go on and on, there's so much to write about!  If anyone has any questions for me, i would be happy to help!  This website helped me tremendously in my wedding planning!

[DanielleJasmine]

Thanks so much kmonty4, your review is so helpful as I'm having my wedding at the same exact locations with 70 guests in less then 2 months.

 

I did have a question about the sun at the gazebo. Our ceremony is at 3pm and we'll be doing fans, but was also thinking of parasols. Does the sun beat down on the guests sitting or do the trees block it some?

 

Also, how was your experience with the open bar? I read some reviews on them running out of stuff, which would be a huge issue for our group

 

Thanks again!

[Lene1112]

Your review was great kmonty. My wedding is August 17 and you answered a lot of my questions. I do have a few for you though. I have an outside photographer coming to us so I'm not worried about that but would you suggest anything since the girls are getting ready in my room. I also wonder if you suggest anything about the golf cart situation after you finished taking pictures. Can you talk to the wedding coordinator before the wedding so the golf cart will be available? I was also wondering about the same question as Danielle about how sunny it is at the Gazebo since that is where my ceremony will be. Thanks, Lena

[kmonty4]

Originally Posted by DanielleJasmine 

 

Thanks so much kmonty4, your review is so helpful as I'm having my wedding at the same exact locations with 70 guests in less then 2 months.

 

I did have a question about the sun at the gazebo. Our ceremony is at 3pm and we'll be doing fans, but was also thinking of parasols. Does the sun beat down on the guests sitting or do the trees block it some?

 

Also, how was your experience with the open bar? I read some reviews on them running out of stuff, which would be a huge issue for our group

 

Thanks again!

 

 Actually for my wedding it rained until about 3 PM, and then it was pretty cloudy, so the sun wasn't really an issue.  (but still SO hot)  However i went to the gazebo on a sunny day at 4 PM and half of the area is completely in the shade ( the right side, which i guess is usually the groom's side) and the left side was completely in the sun, so the bride's family is pretty much screwed!   If your guests use parasols during the ceremony, I think everyone would have a hard time seeing around them.  Plus, the ceremony is literally 10 minutes long, and then everyone is up mingling, and they can go stand in the shade!  Two free parasols come with the wedding packages.....We gave them to our moms and they didn't even open them.

 

We did not have any issues with the open bar.  They definitely had plenty of alcohol (trust me, my fam drinks a ton!), and the bartenders were excellent!

[kmonty4]

Originally Posted by Lene1112 

 

Your review was great kmonty. My wedding is August 17 and you answered a lot of my questions. I do have a few for you though. I have an outside photographer coming to us so I'm not worried about that but would you suggest anything since the girls are getting ready in my room.

 

I also wonder if you suggest anything about the golf cart situation after you finished taking pictures. Can you talk to the wedding coordinator before the wedding so the golf cart will be available?

 

I was also wondering about the same question as Danielle about how sunny it is at the Gazebo since that is where my ceremony will be.

 

Thanks,

Lena

My aunt bought us a couple bottles of champagne, so that was a nice touch to have when your'e getting ready  And like I said before, you guys are gonna be stuck in the room for awhile, so i would have someone smuggle you some food from the buffet!

 

So our photographer was apparently supposed to call our wedding coordinator, and she was supposed to send the golf cart. I saw the photographer call twice, however the coordinator said they never called her.  Maybe they called someone else...who knows!  Is your photographer from Jamaica?  If so, I would just make sure the photographer has the coordinator's phone #, so they can call her directly when you are finished.  If you are taking pics anywhere near your room or near a phone, you could also call the golf cart # directly, it's 8300 i believe.  However I feel like the wedding coordinator should be able to have the cart arrive faster than you just calling yourself.  I would have a conversation with you coordinator and tell her you want to ensure that you don't get stranded like i did!

 

See my response to Danielle regarding the sun at the gazebo

 

Kristin

[Lene1112]

My aunt bought us a couple bottles of champagne, so that was a nice touch to have when your'e getting ready  And like I said before, you guys are gonna be stuck in the room for awhile, so i would have someone smuggle you some food from the buffet! So our photographer was apparently supposed to call our wedding coordinator, and she was supposed to send the golf cart. I saw the photographer call twice, however the coordinator said they never called her.  Maybe they called someone else...who knows!  Is your photographer from Jamaica?  If so, I would just make sure the photographer has the coordinator's phone #, so they can call her directly when you are finished.  If you are taking pics anywhere near your room or near a phone, you could also call the golf cart # directly, it's 8300 i believe.  However I feel like the wedding coordinator should be able to have the cart arrive faster than you just calling yourself.  I would have a conversation with you coordinator and tell her you want to ensure that you don't get stranded like i did! See my response to Danielle regarding the sun at the gazebo Kristin

Thanks Kristin. I contacted Loraine and she said since my reception is at the Poseidon, it's really close to the Gazebo so no one has to worry about the golf cart problem. My photographer is Jamaican. I'm using Merrick Cousley. I was wondering and this question is for you and another other brides that already had their weddings. My fiancé' and I are trying to decide whether we need to get the extra lighting from the DJ. I know it looks nice, but is it necessary. How nice was the lighting even though your reception was at the Blue Lagoon? And if any Bride had their reception at the Poseidon I would love to hear your input! Thanks, Lena

[Lene1112]

One more question, Loraine told me it would cost $200 for someone to put my center pieces on the table. Did anyone else encounter this? I told her I'm not paying this and I'll figure out how to put it on there myself. That is ridiculous!