tricia-m

@@JJCB0418 I wasn't charged a fee for my videograoher or photographer. But I had to fight for this one. I think they were just in transition of changing their policy. Because I know brides in the past had no issues. I just explained that they were my guests which was technically true and they were there the whole week. After the ceremony we did photos from 3:30 to 6:00. From family, to entourage, to just us. It really did take all that time. You have to take into consideration walking from spot to spot. Its a fairly large resort and it depends where you want to take your photos. My guests just went and did their own thing. I didn't specify where to go. They had time to do whatever and met at the bar Carey for pick up for the reception. I am not sure how they calculate the per hour because we were originally quoted $17 per person plus DJ fees. But at our meeting she kept going back and forth with her manager and gave us a better deal. I think it ended up being $10 per person. But I think this is where you really want to create a relationship with your coordinator. Because they obviously will work a deal for you if they want too. When we came we gave her a gift right when we met her just to let know we appreciated her. And you are correct disco won't start till 11pm. I do not at all regret wearing a full gown. Even though it was a sweaty mess underneath. I would maybe have second dress to change in just for the dance part of the night. I thought at first that I paid all this money why change. But its not that easy to dance in the dress. Plus everyone just steps on it haha. I did not do any reception upgrades. Everything was finalized maybe 1 to 2 weeks prior. I was worried thinking I wasn't on top of things but you reconfirm everything again at the meeting. These wcs are really at the top of their game. Everything was taken care of. Hope this helps!

After a year and a half of planning, it is my turn now to write my review Get your popcorn ready, this is going to be a long read! We were at the BBPD from November 2nd to November 9th. My anxiety was at its ultimate peak when we were arriving because the weather forecast was for rain/thundershowers every day. Note to all brides, don't pay attention to the weather. Rain is not an all day thing; it's like half and hour or an hour or throughout the night type of rain. You will always have a great amount of sun throughout the day. We came from Winnipeg (Canada) to arrive in a very hot and humid airport in Punta Cana. I would bring an extra set of clothes to change in because the heat is no joke! I felt like we were melting. But in the midst of the snow right now, I wish I were there again! We arrived at the resort to check in with our 78 guests. My now husband and I were Club Premium (which I would HIGHLY recommend for the bride and groom). The perks/vip service was totally worth it. Check in was a breeze. The communication skills of club premium vs the rest of the staff was definitely varied but at the end of the day, you could typically communicate what you needed. We were booked into the Master Suite Ocean Front room. We unfortunately didn’t get the free upgrade because the room was not available. But our room was beautiful. The ocean view was surreal. And the room was HUGE. There was more than enough room for my ladies and myself to get ready in the day of the wedding. We met with Hildebranda the following morning. Let me tell you ladies, this woman is NO JOKE! She is AMAZING and ON POINT! From the day started emailing till the wedding day, she made everything as perfect as it perfect could be. Like all of the past brides have said, there is no need to worry. Everything will ALWAYS be taken care of. HIldebranda worked with every special request that we had. We gave her all of our decorations, centerpieces, giveaways, name cards and menu cards. Hildebranda and her team take care of everything for you. This meeting was no longer than 45 minutes. Wedding day was Wednesday. I have amazing friends that although makeup and hair was included in my wedding package, I had my own makeup artist and hair stylist. I got ready in my room along with my bridesmaids. Our symbolic ceremony was at 3 pm. It down poured an hour before our ceremony but it never phased Hildebranda in changing the location. Our ceremony was on the “Chill out Roof Top”. It’s extremely private and has the most amazing view. I did not meet with the officiant prior to the ceremony. His English was a little difficult to understand but the message came through. It didn’t take away from how special it was for my husband and I. The ceremony is quick, about 25 minutes I think? Which works out because it was HOT HOT HOT. Everyone was sweating buckets. You’ll see in the video I’ve attached, I wore a full on bridal gown. It was one sweaty mess underneath all that dress. Haha. We had our reception at the Bar Higuey. The train picked up our guests and myself and brought us to the adult side where the convention hall was. It was so beautifully decorated with all of our decorations. My only concern was that it was a little hot because its an open venue. But throughout the night it cooled down. It was perfect. We got the Caesar salad, sirloin steak and crème brulee. The food was great, I wouldn’t change anything about it. I had a tiny bit of the cake but it too was great! I was just too busy dancing to sit down and eat it. We got the dj package without the emcee as we had our own. We also requested that the DJ stick to playing off my brother in laws hard drive, as he is a dj himself. We wanted to make sure we had our hip hop and r&b. You’ll notice Dominicans, especially at the Disco, loooove their Latin music. Not that I have any problem with that but at our wedding I wanted to listen to our preferred music. My brother in law also dj’d part of the night, which they were totally cool with. We decided to add two additional hours. And I wouldn’t second guess spending the extra money. We wanted to keep everyone together and partying together. It was worth every $. Our guests had the time of their lives and so did we! I wish I could relive it over and over again! We did the facial and massage the morning after the wedding. It was a perfect way to just relax and be together. The facial was probably the best I’ve ever had. I was too nervous to had it done before the wedding because you never know how your face is going to react to it but she was amazing! She took her time and worked wonders on my face. I was very very impressed. My overall review is also very positive. The buffet was always an easy place to grab a bite. The places we went for dinner were the Seafood, Mexican, Steakhouse and Kyoto (tepayaki?). Kyoto was hands down my favorite. It was so entertaining and we went with about 30 of our guests. Everyone enjoyed this one the most. The resort was unbelievably clean, the employees were ALWAYS cleaning every where. They are also very pleasant. If you love to salsa dance, you’ll love the disco. They didn’t play too much hip hop or other styles of music so I could only handle so much from it. Most of guests used Strikers (the sports bar) as the usual meeting/chilling out spot. It had it’s own mini buffet perfect for when everyone was finished partying to grab a snack before bed. With the club premium we had room service. Which worked out really well. Especially the day of the wedding I ordered breakfast and lunch for my ladies. My only complain was that the food took a while to come but it wasn’t a big deal. Our son turned 5 years old the day after the wedding. We took him to the water park within the resort. I wish I knew there was a height restriction on the slides and you can’t go down with the child either. So he couldn’t enjoy the full experience. He did enjoy the wave pool. As a group we did a Catamaran, which I also would highly recommend. We booked this through the resort. We had a boat all to ourselves. I didn’t realize how seasick I got from it though. I had to take quite a bit of gravol and prescripted nausea medicine to help. But everyone loved snorkeling with the fish, the lobster lunch and shopping through the old village. At the end of the day, I couldn’t be any happier with the resort, Hildebranda and wedding. My guests already want to go back and so do we! We had our own photographer and videographer from Winnipeg fly up with us. Our photos and full video probably won’t be ready for months. But here is one picture from our engagement shoot the day before the wedding. This is a link to my photographer’s photography if you want to check his past wedding photos. http://www.joshdookhiephotography.com/ Here is a link to our “same day edit” of our wedding day. I normally don’t sound like that when I talk haha, I think the emotions got the best of me. I hope you all enjoy. http://vimeo.com/111388156 My husband did a surprise performance for me. And in return, I did a surprise flash mob with my girlfriends and bridesmaids. You’ll be able to be see a short clip of it in the video. I will try to check in and help answer questions. But ladies, it will be more than you could ever dream of. Don’t worry. https://www.facebook.com/133249073430785/photos/a.349352941820396.84737.133249073430785/730202653735421/?type=1&theater I"m not sure why the picture won't show up. But here is a link to it on my photographers facebook.

@@MissJali thank you so much for your amazing review! Congratulations and best wishes to you and your new husband! Your pictures looked amazing!!!

@candacey That sounds so lovely to be away for 2 WEEKS! But at least our weather now is letting up and the sun is shining on all the lovely potholes we have. :s Omg, I cannot wait for the massage and facial! I feel like our time is so restricted since we are trying to do everything within the week that we are there. But I'll just keep telling myself everything will be fine. I am so happy that the resort catered so well to your small children. I am positive my son will not want to come back either. Haha. Thank you again for answering my questions. I am so excited!!!

@@llewald Congratulations to you and your new hubby! Thank you so much for the review. Wonderful advice about the dinner reservations! It's very reassuring that the food was amazing. You hear such drastic reviews about the food but awesome news that especially the food at the wedding was great. I am so happy that everything turned out amazing. It goes to show that us planning brides need to trust in our coordinators and that our wedding will be the dream we've always wanted. Thank you again!!! @@candacey Oh hunny, I think we are from the same bipolar weather city. I am glad you got to get away from it's depressing weather. Congratulations to you and your spouse! Hildebranda is also my wc, it eases my mind everything went so smoothly. We are booked in the Master Suite right now, I am crossing my fingers to get an upgrade! We are also booked with the Tangerine package, you mentioned the facial (totally excited for this) but you didn't mention anything about the couples massage? I know this is included in the package, did you guys do this? If so, when? Did your children enjoy the resort? Did your family go to the "water park" at all? THANK YOU AGAIN ladies, these reviews truly make our planning and nerves just a little more bearable. I can't wait! I am sure I'll come across a few more questions, but thank you again! Best wishes to you and your hubbies!

@@Tina G Omg that's sooooo exciting! I hope she posts a review. Hearing that really does ease your nerves. Just a little. Haha.

@@Tina G thanks love for listening to my rant. Don't get me wrong my wc (Hildabranda) is great. She responds ridiculously quick to my emails and answers all my questions. I now wonder how long does the dinner take. Because in the end this would take the longest party of the program. I am planning to bring and design my own centerpieces. I'll be making kind of a rustic chic tin can center piece with lace and simple flowers. Light and cheap!

I am just needing to vent and get this off my chest. I am a little frustrated that the cost for an extra hour is so much. I was quoted $17pp which would be close to $1200 for our 70 guests. Hopefully we dont get anymore. I've spoken to other brides who had destination weddings and to add the extra was no more than $100 to $400. One bride extended for an additional 3 hours for $400 with over 80 guests. I know you can't really compare since they were at different resorts but its hard to wrap my head around. By the time the guest finish dinner and the program people will only be dancing for hopefully 1.5 hours. Just did not invision our wedding reception to be so short. I know its as easy as heading out to the club after but we have so much family, including my son that I would rather be partyung with than at some bar. Ok. Rant over. Sorry ladies.

On the hunt for this myself. I haven't purchased anything so far but www.afloral.com seems to have what I want. I worry about the shipping charges but they email me different coupons every now and then. So hopefully it will cancel each other out. It makes it a little more expensive since it's shipping to Canada.

We are getting married in Punta Cana @ the Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe November 2014. It's coming up fast!

Congratulations! Always great running into Winnipeg brides! Have you picked your destination and date yet?

@@MissJali Wow that must nerve wracking! It's great that you've made contact with Dj Mannia and they know your interested at least. Not to worry, soon enough you'll be there with your family and friends without a care in the world. I am so excited for you! 2 weeks will go by quickly!

@@MissJali did you get your answer about the mics? Also, which dj did you book and did you do it with your wedding coordinator?

@@jsums18 Yahoo! Congratulations! The date is quickly approaching!!!

@@bonafidelatina Top 3 reasons: 1) Family friendly: I have a son and I have families coming and I wanted to ensure they were well accommodated. 2) Casino/shows: The older generation probably won't have too much fun at the clubs but my family does love the casino and I heard the shows each night are amazing. 3) Price: It has everything we were looking for at a reasonable price. We were deciding between the Majestic and Hard Rock and the Barcelo came on top. Since booking, we know another couple from our city that chose the Barcelo. So it must be doing something right! I am excited for all the brides who's wedding date is quickly approaching. lt's been a while since I've been on here (stupid change). But 2014 is finally here! Woohoo! PS. Waiting for RSVP's sucks.

@samantha2 CONGRATULATIONS to you and your new husband! Thank you for the wonderful review and beautiful pictures. What a lovely intimate ceremony and reception! Great tip about the welcome drinks on the roof top. By chance, do you know if they allow children there?

Quote: Originally Posted by prostar9999 Hi tricia. I am a Winnipeg bride planning cancun/riviera maya november 2014. Havn't picked resort yet. How about you? @prostar9999 congratulations! yes, we're getting married November 2014 in Punta Cana @ the Barcelo Bavaro.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tina G Tricia_m thank you so much for the link! I will definitely use it for some inspiration. I heard back from Laura today that the priest confirmed his availability for 10.11.14 evening ceremony. I am very excited and nervous at the same time. @Tina G That's awesome! We're traveling there from November 2nd to November 9th, when will get there? We might actually see each other there.

YAHOO! 150! LADIES IT IS POSSIBLE!

Quote: Originally Posted by Tina G Hey Tricia! I am glad to hear that we can bring our own stuff/center pieces. I was going back through the threads and was a bit confused. Do you know if they will put the center pieces on the table or will someone from your wedding party do that for you? Originally I wanted to have this modern glamourous wedding but my vision has changed since I bought my dress. My dress is lhas alot of lace detail and is very romantic so I am going to incorporate a lacey romantic feel info our DIY center pieces and decor. Who is your wedding planner? Have you ever been to BBPD? @Tina G From what I am aware of, you give your decorations and centre pieces to your WC with VERY specific instructions and pictures. They will set it up for you. My WC is Hildrabranda and she has been amazing so far. She's answered all my questions in a timely matter. No, I've never been to the BBPD. But interesting enough, I've spoken to a few other couples (from my home town) who are planning destination weddings and BBPD was #1 on their list as well. That and this website has confirmed our decision to have our wedding at the BBPD with full confidence. Here is a link for possible inspiration for your wedding. I personally love every bit of it and definitely using it as inspiration for our wedding. Happy planning http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/77751/vintage-destination-wedding-inspiration-with-pictures

Glad to join ladies! Can't wait to read the information! Any Winnipeg brides out there?!

Quote: Originally Posted by jreist I just posted this in another forum, but I ordered sunglasses from DHGate and they are awesome. About 75 cents each from this seller http://m.dhgate.com/prodetail.do?proid=ff80808138a2df180138b847813a04bc They shipped fast and come in awesome colours. @jreist thanks for all the information! I ordered a dress for my bridesmaids off dhgate. I hope it comes looking like the picture. Ordering bridesmaid dresses from the stores are super expensive!

Quote: Originally Posted by flo628 You can search "Real Touch flowers" on here and there are lots of suggestions. ALso, someone said they were going to Costco and doing their own flowers. Not sure if there was a costco by you where you are getting married or not... @flo628 Thank you, I've found such awesome information in regards to looking for flowers. I hope to start ordering them in the new year. Wish me luck! I doubt there will be a Costco nearby our resort in the DR.

Quote: Originally Posted by JenniferM I was so excited that I'm almost at 100...then I realized I need 150...Whah whah whaaaahhhh @JenniferM keep at girl! we all started somewhere!