Grand Palladium Jamaica Wedding Review- January 28, 2013

[AndrewandEmma]

Hi Everyone,

 

We just had our wedding at the Grand Palladium Jamaica on January 28, 2013, and I wanted to post a quick review! I've tried to put information about prices in as much as possible, because that was something I had a hard time finding ahead of time.

 

We had an absolutely great experience. During our one hour planning meeting with the coordinator (Loraine, 2 days before the wedding), she had a file on us which contained all of the information I had sent her ahead of time. She literally had had every detail written down. She showed us the ceremony location (gazebo- beautiful!), alternate rain location (atrium- also beautiful) and reception locations (Poseidon- we had originally wanted Blue Lagoon, but it was booked, but ultimately were very happy with Poseidon).

 

The morning of the ceremony all of my bridesmaids and I had our hair done at the spa. They did a great job- everyone was happy with how it turned out. They also did my mom's (short) hair, which was not good at all, so I would discourage anyone with very short hair from having it done there. For myself, 6 bridesmaids, my mom, and his mom the total cost was $742.00

 

Our flowers were delivered about 30 minutes late (Island time!), but were gorgeous and exactly what I ordered. I bought bouquets for all 6 bridesmaids and upgraded my own, so it was pretty pricey ($900 for 7 bouquets, 2 corsages, 8 boutonnieres). To offset this cost, we opted for the Sapphire Wedding package ($1800 + $20/guest over 8 guests). Essentially the only difference I could find between this package and the more pricey ones was the colour of the aisle runner. We still had chairs + chair covers, a white aisle runner, and two arrangements at the end of the aisle, a 2 tiered cake, champagne toast for all of the guests, sound system, and the officiant. 

 

They sent a cart to pick up the bridal party and we went to the ceremony (2pm). The gazebo was gorgeous and very quiet and private. I also saw a number of weddings at the beach site through the week- they were also gorgeous but a bit less private and WAY more windy (and therefore somewhat hard to hear during the ceremony).

 

We did a cocktail reception hour at 5pm at the infinity bar because there was such a long break between the ceremony and reception. The food at this was not super great but there was TONS of it. It was nice to have a private area for our guests and a private bar.

 

Then we headed to Poseidon for dinner. I had wanted the Blue Lagoon because it looks fancier, but I actually was really happy with Poseidon. It is very private, with a beautiful ocean view. We had mushroom stuffed chicken breast and strip loin for dinner, which was only so-so. I've heard that the wedding food is never as good as the a-la-carte restaurants (which were delicious)! 

 

We hired a DJ for the last 3 hours (the first hour just played our iPod). The DJ was excellent, and played fun, mostly Jamaican music like we'd asked for. The wait-staff at the restaurant joined in the dancing at the end, which was amazing. 

 

That's it! Hope it's helpful! We brought our own photographer with us (I would DISCOURAGE using the resort's "True Colours" photography- they are pricey and the photos they were taking while we were there seemed really formal). Take a look at our photos on our photographer's blog here:http://wmacphotography.com/emma-andrews-jamaican-wedding-in-montego-bay/

 

Please feel free to message if you have any questions!

 

Emma

[Marverlous]

Hi AndrewAndEmma,

 

Firstly like to say amazing photos looked like you guys really had a great time, your phtographer was really good.

 

Thats one thing we were worried about is the hair stylist. Luck enough my fiancee aunty is a wedding stylist and she's going to be doing everyones hair as the resort price seems quiet pricey.

 

 You for sure got a upgrade on yoru Sapphire Wedding package? As your ceremony looked nicely decorated, the chair seat covers where upgrades? We are having to ceremonies and have chosen Bliss Of Bloom and Pure Paradise.

 

I agree on the resort photographer I've not liked a single picture they have taken.

 

I've heard they have quiet a few gazebos but I really liked the location of yours, which one was yours?

 

Was your DJ the resort one? If so would you recommend them?

 

Great Blog

[AndrewandEmma]

Hi,

 

As far as I know, everything we got was included in the Sapphire Package (except the bridal party's flowers which we paid extra for). We definitely did not pay anything extra for seat covers, the floral arrangements at the gazebo, or the aisle runner.

 

They have multiple small gazebos, but all of the wedding are held in the gazebo you saw in my photos. I think the other gazebos may be used for vow renewals, although I'm not sure of that.

 

We went with the resort's DJ, and they were excellent.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Emma

[jambride2013]

Congratulations Andrew and Emma!

 

Thanks for the detailed review.  Looks like you all had a blast!

 

Our wedding is Nov. 2013.  I am leaning towards the Island Pearl package but after seeing the great photos of the Sapphire Package I think we may have to reconsider.  The website says one tier cake and doesn't say chair covers so I had no idea it would look like that.  We are considering the Posiedon and may have about 30 guests.  Did you have to pay $20 pp extra for children also if any?  I want the Zurielmaka show but we are trying to stay within budget so maybe if I lower the package we can add it.  Did you have a DJ or steel band for the wedding?

 

Our wedding is at 4 so we may skip the cocktail reception or we may do the cocktail reception and have our speeches and dancing there and then do the a-la-carte for dinner after wards.  So many decisions ;-)???? We are so excited?  Did you use a travel agent or did you just have your guest book on their own? From the pictures it looks like you have quite a few guests so I was just wandering if it may be easier to get a travel agent?

 

Thanks....

[AndrewandEmma]

Hi!

 

Sorry for the delayed reply.

 

I'm not sure why we got the chair covers and bigger cake- I asked when we got there and they said that came standard with the sapphire package. The $20 fee is for the guests at the ceremony, and you do pay for kids. Dinner (if you want private) is $45/person (for the cheapest meal choice!) and you do not pay for kids. They made chicken fingers and fries for the kids, which was nice.

 

We had a family friend play guitar at the ceremony (the resort provided a microphone and stand), but we saw another wedding with the steel band and they were great. 

 

We had 60 guests (yikes!) so did everything through a travel agent- we just picked the resort and the week, she figured out which airline offered the cheapest package and all of the guests booked through her. I would really recommend doing this- it was super easy and really simplified things for us. We just contacted the flight center (travel agency) near us and asked if there was anyone who specialized in booking destination weddings.

 

If you have 30 guests, you could definitely do one of the a- la-cartes (non private) and save lots of money. We saw a few birthday parties of 20-25 guests and they were all seated together and it still seemed quite private.

 

Hope that helps!

 

Emma

[mrserickson0812]

Originally Posted by jambride2013 

 

Congratulations Andrew and Emma!

 

Thanks for the detailed review.  Looks like you all had a blast!

 

Our wedding is Nov. 2013.  I am leaning towards the Island Pearl package but after seeing the great photos of the Sapphire Package I think we may have to reconsider.  The website says one tier cake and doesn't say chair covers so I had no idea it would look like that.  We are considering the Posiedon and may have about 30 guests.  Did you have to pay $20 pp extra for children also if any?  I want the Zurielmaka show but we are trying to stay within budget so maybe if I lower the package we can add it.  Did you have a DJ or steel band for the wedding?

 

Our wedding is at 4 so we may skip the cocktail reception or we may do the cocktail reception and have our speeches and dancing there and then do the a-la-carte for dinner after wards.  So many decisions ;-)???? We are so excited?  Did you use a travel agent or did you just have your guest book on their own? From the pictures it looks like you have quite a few guests so I was just wandering if it may be easier to get a travel agent?

 

Thanks....

 

My wedding is also Nov. 2013 - November 5 at 4 pm on the beach. When is yours?

 

I am just starting to get into the planning process. We are going to be doing a vow renewal because we would like one of my fiance's friends to be our officiant; it didn't seem like this was possible with one of the wedding packages.

 

I think the Zurielmaka show would be a lot of fun! My fiance isn't much of a dancer, so I think this would take a lot of pressure off him to always be on the dance floor. Plus, it would just be something cool and different to have.

 

What I'm getting stuck on is what to do for flowers and centerpieces. Have you figured that out yet?

[mrserickson0812]

Thanks so much for the review! It's making me that much more excited for my wedding!

[Tininha]

Thanks for the review! I have a question about the spa, did you and the BM show them a picture of what you wanted? And did your hair stay like the picture? I´ve only heard bad about the spa until I read this review. Hope to hear from you. 

Thanks

[Ywilliams315]

Thank you for the review you have really helped. I'm getting married 20th May 2014 and getting very excited xx

[Stiller]

Excellent! Thanks for the review! I am May 3, 2014 and am getting suuper excited!