natashakc

Let's hope Cinthya sticks around longer than the past ones have:) What the ehck? I wonder why there is such a high turnover at the resorts??

There is a new wedding co-ordinator at the GBP Punta cana/ Bavaro now (Cinthya) and she is wonderful! She responds so quickly to my e-mails! Apparently the wedding packages have been all updated, for for the better! She sent me out all the information, including all of the resort SPA brochures, photgraphy, etc. The great thing is now we can afford to do the private reception!!! YAY!! The Sunshine apckage was $1500 USD for 10 people and $85 USD each additonal person. Now, that same package is $1350 USD for 24 people and $35 USD each additonal. Then, if you want a private reception at one of the restaurants (less than 50 people) it is $750 USD. The reception goes from 6:30pm to 10:30pm, has a set menu, wait staff, etc. If you want to have speakers and microphone it's $150 USD extra. If you want a DJ, lights,etc. it's $400 USD. We have chosen the Garden Grill Terrace (Steak house) as the menu looks pretty "Canadian" (We have 40 Canadians who are used to chicken,steak, potatoes, etc) kindda picky:) I really wanted the private reception as I wanted to have the opportunity for all our guests to be together without the other hotel guests around. Plus, we want to do the first dance, a few small speeches, etc. and I felt that would be super weird with other guests listening in. Gosh knows we would have some drunk guest crashing our party! Get in touch with Cinthya for more info. She is wonderful. I only pray that she is the wedding co-ordinator by the time our wedding rolls around in November. I have already dealt with 3 in the past 6 months and she is by far the best/most accomodating. Plus, she seems to speak the best english which is imperative when I am trying to explain what I want/expect.

I am also having amazing luck with Cinthya now. Every e-mail I send, she gets right back to me! This is hard to get used to:) Plus, I am so excited that the wedding packages have changed from last year. They are way better! My Sunshine package that used to be $1500 USD for 10 people and $85 USD for each additional is now $1350 USD for 24 people and $35 USD for additional.

No problem:) I also have a hard time getting a reply from the co-ordinator at GBP. I heard Gildania is no longer there but I was in contact with her replacement. I recently submitted my completed wedding questionnaire but haven't heard anything back yet. t drives me a little crazy when I don't get ANY response to my questions:)

We're getting married at the Gran bahia Principe Bavaro November '09 and we're paying $1500/person flying direct from Toronto. $1500 was the absolute maximum that our guests were willing to pay, and even that I think is high. We went to Punta Cana to the Punta Cana Princess in January '09 and paid $1000/each and it was great. BUT, you have to make the choice: do you want a fancy resort, OR do you want your friends & family at your wedding?? Easy decision for me....

Quote: Originally Posted by jharish I am getting married there January 9, 2010 and flights are terribly expensive! Paying close to $1800....but we are flying through air canada vacations. Prices however should drop in a few months.... The wedding coordinator is no longer Gildania, she left! The contact person is Claribel, you can use the same email address Gildania left!!! Oh no! I am getting married there November 16 and have been dealing with Gildania for the past 4 months. I sure hope the enxt wedding coordinator knows all the details! This is SO not what I need to hear:) Oh, and we booked in February 2009 for November and flying direct from Toronto with Sunquest vacations is $1550 each for the bavaro junior suites. (Not club Diamond). The club diamond worked out to be about $30 extra per day.

Jenny24: I'm getting married at the GBP November 16, and I hope the hair stylists work out great! If your friend booked the appointments through the wedding coordinator, (Gildania) I would think she would have taken into consideration the time needed. From what I hear, it is best to book your appointment EARLY in the day. A girl I have been chatting to who was married there in March said she booked her appt. for 11am and her wedding wasn't until 5:00pm.

Wow! Great pictures! I love how your photographer put you into some casual scenarios (the market, bus, etc. Love it! And I love the one with all your guests but they are so caually dressed and you both are in your wedding attire. Really neat:) Congratulations!

Quote: Originally Posted by IMPPEARL Here are mine. All my girls concern was their middle section, this dress is very forgiving in this regard. And for $29 I couldn't be happier! Front Back IMPPEARL: You absolutely must tell us where you found that dress!

My mom is going with a long, flowy chiffon sundress with jewelled sandals and big jewellry. She got the dress at melanie Lynn in London, On. and the sandals at Towne Shoes.

We originally wanted to do a big pig roast for our after-wedding reception, but with our wedding being in November our families thought 6 months after the wedding was too long to wait. Bummer:) We have huge families so we have like 250 guests attending the reception. I loved the idea of a big tent, casual pig roast, salads, desserts, keep it fun and totally not stuffy. But being in Ontario, there sure as heck cannot be any outdoor receptions until at least June! The indoor reception is WAY more expensive, more formal, etc. Oh well. I guess I get what I want with the destination wedding:)

Quote: Originally Posted by August2010Bride Here's mine!! I made it today!! It's in my signiture! We finally decided on colors, Aqua, Lime, and Tangerine I love it! Would you mind posting the template for this one Thanks a ton!

I just love your bridesmaid dresses-where did you happen to find them? They would be perefect for my girls but in pink Great Review!!

Quote: Originally Posted by roo66 ive just got back and am wondering if you can just do the buffet and ask/pay to have a corner.Im not sure if you could do the wedding speeches here although i dont see why not if you didnt use a mic.Personally i think thats what i would try and do.We booked three of the restuarants and only went to the mexican we prefered the buffet but dont let me influence you too much there.The garden grill was right by our pool the night we booked michael jackson was the entertainment so we didnt go.I am wondering about the las olas beach restaurant i loved it here because it overlooked the ocean.I will post pics later. Roo66: We don't plan on doing a private dinner (Too much money!!) From what you saw, where would we do our first dance? I'm wondering if the only way that would work is to have the private dinner and then the restaurant is just for us. That's alot of money to shell out just to have a first dance (not in the lobby!!)

Bing & Win Win: Check out this review by Noob. It includes the package details and prices. http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t41427

Quote: Originally Posted by roo66 There there on page 2 check them out it took ages haha XX Im surprized you missed them after all we all love wedding pics.Have fun looking xx Im off to bed now so if you have any questions ill be back tomorrow evening Hi! Thanks so much for the review! Unfortunately, I'm having troubles opening your pictures. Darn! I'd love to see them! There doesn't seem to be many brides that have been married at the GBP Bavaro/Punta Cana, so any info is much welcomed!!

Hi there! I am getting married at this resort November 2009. I have been dealing with the wedding coordinator Gildania and her assistant Leslie. Here is their contact information: Gildania Pilarte weddings coordinator Hotel Gran Bahía Príncipe-Punta Cana Email:[email protected] Tel: 809 552 1444 ·Ext:13013 Fax: 809 468 4780 Carretera Arena Gorda Macao Bavaro Higuey · Provincia La Altagracias Rep. Dom. I know they do the renewal of vows option and I think it's around $600US. The standard wedding apckage that covers 10 people is $1500US. I think their package prices are pretty standard.

That's wonderful news! What a great way to start off your new life together!

Quote: Originally Posted by Natashak I live in Milton, Ontario As if you are NatashaK and I'm NatashaKC! How funny is that?! I'm from London, Ontario!

Quote: Originally Posted by BEACHBRIDEMA Hey girls I picked up my BM dresses yesterday! They look great. I went with seafoam colour and I was kind of worried how it would look, but its almost like an aqua blue colour. I will post some pics later! Sarah Sarah, I absolutely LOVE the colour of your dresses with the pretty pink roses. I also LOVE your flowers! Super pretty!!!

What a great idea! I have been debating how to wear both the veil and the flower in my hair, and you really made it work beautifully! I mean, when else in your life do you get to wear: A). A diamond tiara . A veil A girl's gotta take advantage of these princess opportunities!!

Moy, I absolutely LOVE the colour combination you chose. The bright pink & orange look so happy and festive. Everything was gorgeous!!

Quote: Originally Posted by KJT1985 We're planning our wedding for Feb 2010 and are having the hardest time picking a resort!! We stayed at Paradisus Playa conchal in Costa Rica back in August and I think we got spoiled. We weren't charged for the in-room safe and had unlimited dining at the a la carte restaurants (so we ate there EVERY night). These were things we really enjoyed and don't want to settle on for our wedding. We'd love to go back to CR but think the Paradisus is just too expensive for our guests. We're also trying to stay away from Mexico (which kinda bite since there's a million nice, affordable AI resorts there). AND my fiance's sister will be 16 at the time so adult only resorts are out as well. I don't particularly like the really tall hotel looking resorts (makes me feel cramped and doesn't seem relaxing to me). Has anybody come across a nice resort that fits our requirements while being less than $1500 a person/week? HELP! I know we're being picky and will have to settle on something.... I completely understand your frustration!! It took Joe & I about 3 months of hard Trip Advisoring, internet surfing, and talking with travel agents to finally decide on the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro in Punta Cana, DR. We had alot of the same concerns as you: we really wanted to stay at a luxury, adults-only resort for our wedding, but if we wanted any of our friends & family to actually come to our wedding, we had to find something more reasonable. Our budget was $1500 CDN as well, and the GBP came in right at that. It is made up of 3-storey Villas, so you don't feel like you are in some jumbo sky-scraper style hotel. The restaurant selection is great, the only downfall is they do not offer premuim liquor/beer for free. Not so great for all our Labatt beer drinking friends who cannot bear the thought of driking Presidente all week long:)

Bridesmaid dresses (Sour Lemon embossed beach dress and ribbon flower belt from J Crew) I LOVE the yelloe dresses! I am also going with yellow for my girls (as of yesterday). I have to laugh...I found my wedding gown within 10 minutes on my first shopping trip, but these bridesmaid dresses will be the death of me! I was really lucky on the weekend to find a beautiful strapless, tea-length chiffon dress through SEARS CANADA. I couldn't believe it-and it's only $79.99!! I ordered it and I'm crossing my fingers:)