Hi Ladies!! We are back!!
First off, thank you all so much for your help, advice, & reviews. They were all VERY helpful during our planning.
Our wedding coordinator was Hildebranda & she was amazing!! She answered all our questions promptly via email & it was very nice to finally meet her & thank you her in person at our meeting.
We arrived at BBPD the evening of Tuesday May 27th. (Unfortunately our luggage was lost...yes with my wedding dress & all.... but luckily I packed an extra set of clothes, swimsuit, & flip flops in carryon) Our luggage did arrive 24 hrs. later but during that time it did get a little stressful with the language barrier and the fact that the concierge was tired of seeing us.
We did ask for the room upgrade with our wedding package and received a very nice room that had a walk out to the beach and a wonderful view of the ocean. We did not upgrade to Club Premium and were happy with the Junior Suite Deluxe Ocean View.
On Wednesday May 28th, we met with Hildebranda to go over the wedding details. She had us fill out all the detail information & then finalized everything that day. (We had chose the Mint package as our party was small with mostly family) We also had chose to use Tropical Pictures and a representative from TP was at our meeting and we filled a questioner form from them as well. They are very detailed and want to make you happy!
Afterwards we had our couple messages that was included in our package. (my only advice for this...wish we had scheduled on a day that we didn't feel rushed. The spa is wonderful & you could spend a whole day there relaxing...my advice would be to schedule early in the day, relax, and enjoy the amenities)
Thursday May 29th, we spent with our families at the beach. We tried to welcome all our guests as they arrived.
Friday May 30th, we played golf. One perk with this was if you purchased an item in the golf store your club rental fee was waived. We only had to pay for our cart fee.
That evening our group met at the Hoyo 19. We did not make a reservation, as they do not require one there, but we did arrive around 7:00 so that we could be sure to get a table big enough for all of us. There were 19 of us & they were a little hesitate at first but after speaking with the manager they became very accommodating. The food is excellent at Hoyo 19, I highly recommend them! They are also not as busy as the other restaurants being it is a little bit of walk to get to it. It's located by the golf course.
Saturday May 31st...Wedding Day!!
We returned to Hoyo 19 for breakfast with our families. We then went our separate ways until the ceremony at 3 pm.
My nieces and my sister in law met at our room to get ready. TP took prep pictures at this time as well. Hildebranda picked us up shortly before 3:00 and drove us to the Beach Shop in a golf cart. All the guests were there ready and waiting, it went by so fast I wish I could have stopped time and soaked it all in...it was absolutely beautiful and breath taking!! Everything was all that I ever wanted it to be.
We had the trio band play during the ceremony and afterwards. I had originally wanted to play my own music but decided that the sound system there was not that good (no one would be able to hear much anyways, so I didn't mess with it)
The Trio Band did an amazing job and we were very happy with them.
TP captured all the moments that I wanted, after the ceremony he took as many pictures as requested and then as we did our "couples shots" the guests enjoyed the yummy appetizers on the beach. Afterwards we joined them & visited with everyone until our hour was up. We then met an hour later at the Santa Fe Restaurant for our reception. We did not have a big reception/dance, we were happy with the private room they provided to keep it quaint with our families.
The wedding cake was DEVINE!!! My favorite was the white cake with strawberry filling....I could've eaten the WHOLE cake! YUM!!
We then met at the Taino bar for a few drinks before heading to our room. (we spent most evenings here, it was a nice little quit place for our small group of adults to meet)
Our room was decorated with rose petals and we had champagne & fruit waiting upon our arrival.
Sunday June 1st: We did receive our breakfast room service which was nice. Hildrebranda did ask when to have it delivered during our Wednesday meeting and they were very prompt.
Ladies, I will chime in just like all the other brides....DO NOT WORRY!!! They are there to make it easy and they want to do their best. I'm SO happy we chose BBPD and cannot wait to go back!!
I know our wedding was very small but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Happy planning ladies and wish I could go back today!!
Couple extra things:
* Wifi can be purchased if you are not Club Premium. We purchased because most of our guests had iPhones and we were able to message each other. Wifi is spotty but works most of the time. 5 days = $35.00, 6 days = $40.00 ect.
* most restaurants require reservations which fill quickly. Although Hoyo 19 did not require reservations and the food was very good.
* We were able to group the photo package with our wedding package & pay by credit card at the welcome desk BUT any additional pictures we purchased outside of the package quantity had to be paid to Tropical Pictures. We paid in cash to avoid an additional 18% sales tax if paid via credit card.
*If you have children with your party. They are given a wrist band upon their arrival for the Pirates Island Water Park. Keep in mind, which we did not know, they must use their free entry the following day. If they do not use it then, you loose it. It cannot be used later during their visit.
*kayaking, wind surfing & paddle boats are all included with your stay