NettyD

Quote: Originally Posted by MissJali See for my dates it's a 3 night minimum which comes out cheaper to just pay the $1k lol smh this is crazy Oh. Yep. I see that now. I thought I could be slick and just pay for one night like a regular hotel. Hmmm... back to the drawing board....

Quote: Originally Posted by MissJali But when would you book the room? Here in the states or out there? Ideally I would book it here via the BBPD website. I need the names of the photographer(s) assigned to our wedding to book it. I might have to pay for 2 nights (the night before and the night of the wedding) because check in is around 3-4pm and the wedding is at 5. This would make sure that they are considered "guests" in plenty of time and is still cheaper than the vendor fee. Am I crazy? Do you think that would work?

Not sure if this would work...but...if booking HDC (provided that the whole photographers staying as guests thing has been resolved) couldn't we just book a room for them and avoid the outside vendor fee? I mean BBPD couldn't have blacklisted the HDC photographers from staying at their hotel right??! MissJali- you were so right! HDC sent me their packages and they are wayyy better. More coverage and more pictures for much less. I was told by Arnaud at HDC that if we had to pay the vendor fee they would add one extra free hour to our package.

Quote: Originally Posted by SoonMrsD Send me your email and I can give you their rates, well what I have for HDC but the thing is that BBPD won't let you use them unless you pay the fee of $1000 for them being an outside vendor - Thank you! It's [email protected]. If we pay for a room for HDC would they still be considered an outside vendor? I would like to have more coverage and more pictures than what TP is offering but without the crazy pricing that TP charges.

Hi Ladies I read a bit of buzz on here about HDC photography. I may have missed it but does anyone have their rates? Thank you!

They're pretty slow at responding. I found Arise to be way better than Marlene was but I emailed Arise a week ago and still no response. I hope you get the same answer- that they are included. Let me know!

I have the tangerine. package also. is it just the bowls? or the actual bowl with the set up? Just the bowls and the flat mirrors underneath. I believe they are empty because I vaguely remember her mentioning that I could send my bridesmaids to put sand in it or something.

MissJali- I did book the tangerine package... maybe that's the difference? I don't know. They're so confusing. I know that going into my site visit I didn't think that they were included. When Arise said they were (and the mirrors) I asked like 3 times to make sure. I figured a bride left them there and they upgraded their basic centerpieces. She also didn't seem to think there was a charge for any Bavaro Beach guests not staying at the Palace (unless it goes over your 35 people- then there's that charge). PS. My comma button is broken! Sorry for the lack of punctuation!

MissJali- Sorry if you've already answered this but Arise told me that the fishbowls were included- so are you planning on just bringing the extra stuff? I think there's been some different answers coming from Bodas regarding what is actually included in the centerpieces. Arise said the flat mirrors are included also. I hope that's all true because those Christmas wreath things were terrible! lol

Hi Solo! I just realized you had a link and looked at all of your pictures. Beautiful!!! I hope you don't mind me asking but could you send me more info on your photographer? I'm interested to know if it is less expensive the way that you did it rather than using tropical pictures. I'd also like to see more of their work. They seem like a great couple to work with!

Hi Nat- Coming from Miami is going to be super easy for you! I want to make a recommendation though on the travel site. Try CheapCaribbean.com. They are super fair on their prices and they offer a split deposit plan. I used them for our site visit and everything went very smooth. They usually start their early summer sales in November/ December but right now the prices are really good for areas outside of Florida. I have looked up packages with them for my family in NY and Cali and can't believe how low it is right now. I have seen Florida rates cheaper- but that was in November/ December. The only negative thing I will mention is that the service they use for the airport transfers (optional) is also an excursion company so they are a little pushy on excursions. They kind of veil the excursion sales pitch by saying you have to meet them in order to arrange the return transfer. They aren't rude or anything but they did call our room a couple of times to remind us to come visit them. We did, filled out what we needed to for the return and made it very clear we weren't interested in excursions. The office is located in the downstairs part of the lobby area so it wasn't too big of a deal.

I didn't realize the opinion everyone would have on hair! I just tried dresses for the first time on Monday and I was completely outvoted in having my hair down! lol. But I agree... we don't want to regret anything in our pictures! MissJali- I do not have an "up-do" face either!!

Thanks Solo! A month isn't too bad. And we were both born in the US so hopefully that makes it easier too. Phew...that's a little less scary!

Hi NatJ- We might run into each other! I'm June 18th and I'll be there the 15th-21st. I would send in the reservation form prior to booking your vacation but the resort has a good bit of availability. I believe my WC (Arise) said they do about 3 weddings a day. Who are you using to book travel? We went with the tangerine because Bar Higuey isn't included in the Strawberry (would have been an extra $500) and we wanted the international bar.

Great review!!! Thank you! You looked beautiful! I didn't realize the paperwork side was so complicated! How long did it take you to complete? NatJ- When in June are you getting married?! Who is your WC?

Congrats NY Kat! Glad to hear it went well! Girls- any tips on where to get custom "welcome" bags? I know the summer is almost over and I'm slacking!!!

Hi Natalie! I forgot to thank you for this post! I have been so caught up in the "legal" side of the wedding that I lost site of what, or more importantly, Who brought us together in the first place! I appreciate your words of wisdom!

Natalie, I hope this isn't a dumb question but if Pastor York does the ceremony, is it legal as well? I already have a judge booked for the exact date and time that I wanted because I was under the impression that unless it was in the Catholic church on property, a religious ceremony would not be considered legal. Unfortunately, my fiance is previously divorced, so as much as we'd love a Catholic wedding (both raised Catholic), that can't happen. It is important to us to have religion in our wedding, so we may get married in another church we found outside our Catholic parish here at home, but we'll see. I'm torn because I want my family to witness the "official" wedding since this is my first. I'm going to send you a friend request on facebook! I want to see the rest of your pictures! I had been a little iffy on Tropical Pictures but am very impressed with how yours turned out!

Congratulations Natalie! You look beautiful! Did you have your hair and makeup done at the resort spa?!

Hi Reign! I totally agree with Miss Jali- it is your day! Where will your beach ceremony be located? If it is in front of the pools, then the rooftop bar is pretty central to that. If it is more towards the adults only- then it is a little out of the way, but it's so beautiful there that I don't think anyone will mind the walk. You can definitely take pics there either way. I agree with you- the rooftop is beautiful. Of all the locations, the rooftop is my favorite.

MissJali, Your invite is genius!!!!

Hi ladies! I have not posted much on here but I want to say that I greatly appreciate the reviews and all of the help this forum has provided! I think I've read every single one of the posts! I had my site visit/ vacation from the 14th-18th. Congratulations to the two brides who got married on the 15th!!! I watched one of the weddings in the morning on the beach, but I missed the second one! The first bride is not on this forum (yes, I asked!) but I believe the second bride is! So, congratulations!! My coordinator is Marlene, but she wasn't available for our first meeting on the 15th or the tasting on the 17th. So, Arise took over. The initial meeting was in the main Bodas weddings office where we sat and looked through pictures of locations, flowers, settings, colors and then had a short meeting with the photographer. My fiance and I wanted to see each location site so we hopped aboard the golf cart and got the tour. We settled on a beach ceremony. For those of you who are having a beach ceremony, let me recommend having the ceremony in front of buildings 1-3 or 4 (closer to the adults only resort) it is much quieter. The beach ceremony I saw the morning of the 15th was in front of the pools and I personally would have liked it more private- but that's me! We then decided on a cocktail hour at the garden gazebo since it's right next to Bar Higuey. And Bar Higuey deserves all its positive reviews! It's so cool!! I loved the open air feel, and even though we were there in the early afternoon (1 ish) it was still tolerable with a nice breeze. Our reception isn't until 6:30-7 so I am not worried about it being too hot. I really wasn't too hot the whole time we were there (granted, I live in Florida...but I did grow up in NY!). We also decided on the rooftop lounge for our "Welcome Cocktail". It is an extra $500 for the space (per hour!) so we are only using it for an hour. Cocktail hours are $12/pp which includes your choice of 4 appetizers. That goes for both a Welcome cocktail and a regular pre-reception cocktail hour. Please note that Cocktail hour means one type of cocktail. I am assuming you make the decision on which type you want. I am trying to convince the WC(s) to allow my guests to have more than one option. We elected to do the food tasting ($50 pp), which allows each of you to select one dish from each course. We tried the Caprese and the Onion Soup (the soup was a dumb idea- too hot for hot soup). The Caprese won. The presentation is beautiful! We tried the fish and the steak parisienne for our main course. Didn't like either one. Please also note that the resort doesn't seem to do a good job on seafood. I tried the lobster in a couple of different restaurants and it was blah. We tried the black forest cake and the creme brulee and went with the black forest cake. My fiance also tried to convince Arise to make our wedding cake a black forest cake. I tried to convince her to make me a tower of chocolate covered strawberries instead of a cake. I think he won. As for the resort... the grounds are impeccable. Beautifully maintained. The beach is amazing...water is clear and like bath water! White sands, tons and tons of chairs (don't worry about getting to the beach early!) and lots to do. The staff is friendly. We had champagne on ice brought to our room twice! The rooms are ok... not fantastic but certainly not bad. I would have liked the terrace jacuzzi to be a little more private, but the garden/ side ocean view was pretty. Some bars made better drinks than others. Coral (seafood place) kinda sucks. French restaurant is awesome (included in club premium and about $20 pp without), Chez Gourmet (adult side) is awesome. Japanese place just ok... show was good We found that the adults side had a better buffet and better drinks. We think we will check out of the Palace after our wedding and move over to the adults side. We spent the last day of our trip over there and it was quieter. We only saw one show- a Cirque type show and it was very entertaining. We missed the MJ show by one day (so disappointed!) but if it is the same guy I saw last time I was in the DR- don't miss it because he was amazing!! The whole time we were at the resort, all we could think of was how much fun our families and friends will have next year. I wanted a place that would fit everyone's budget and have a 5 star atmosphere while not quite being 5 star I can't say enough about the beach and the setting. This is a little long for the site visit review! If you have any questions, please ask and I'll do my best to answer them!

Hi Girls! Does anyone have any prices for a cocktail hour between the ceremony and reception? I know the welcome cocktail on the rooftop was about $1000. I think that was because of the site rental if I remember right. Is a cocktail hour before the reception included in any of the packages? Also- does anyone know what kind of alcoholic beverages are included with the reception? Thanks!

MrsShoreytobe That is the funniest emoticon I've ever seen! And so fitting!!!

Hi Candacey We won't be having a Catholic ceremony... but would really like it to be a legal ceremony if at all possible. I couldn't keep it a secret if we got married legally before we got there! lol The idea of having to arrive a whole 6 days before the wedding (weekend days don't count and neither does the day we arrive is what my WC/TA told me) is crazy! I have already asked Marlene and still waiting on a response...go figure. Thank you for your help!