RIU Palace Punta Cana 2013

[philanab]

HI ladies!  I am getting married at the riu palace bavaro in punta cana aug 3rd but I am asking anyone who has been married or visited the riu resorts.  I was planning on wearing and having my bridesmaids wear barefoot sandals for the beach ceremony.  Our ceremony starts at 600pm.  Some of my bridesmaids are worried the sand will be to hot to walk in the barefoot sandels.  I wouldnt think so being it will be 6pm but does anyone have any experience that could let me know if thats a good idea? Thank you and congrats to everyone! =)) Danielle

Hi Danielle, the beaches in PC are white sand so it does not get hot like the sand we have around here, it actually stays quite cool under your feet. Are you planning on having them wear barefoot sandals for the ceremony and then wear shoes for the reception dinner?

[ddrezek]

Hi, thanks for responding!  Yes I was thinking of these for the beach reception..

 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/150697325/barefoot-sandal-simply-elegant-white?ref=sr_gallery_17&ga_search_query=barefoot+sandals&ga_order=most_relevant&show_panel=true

 

We are planning an indoor reception at the italian rest so I was going to have the girls wear whatever they want and feel more comfortable getting their groove on in 

 

Congrats on your wedding!    Any advise to use future Riu brides?!  I heard the choices of cakes for the wedding were not as good, what did you think about them? 

 

Did you find a english speaking minister?  If not, how was the ceremony with a translater?  We might be out of luck as well, the few recommned ones are already booked.

 

Thanks again for all the helpful information!!

 

Danielle

[philanab]

Hi, thanks for responding!  Yes I was thinking of these for the beach reception.. http://www.etsy.com/listing/150697325/barefoot-sandal-simply-elegant-white?ref=sr_gallery_17&ga_search_query=barefoot+sandals&ga_order=most_relevant&show_panel=true We are planning an indoor reception at the italian rest so I was going to have the girls wear whatever they want and feel more comfortable getting their groove on in  Congrats on your wedding!    Any advise to use future Riu brides?!  I heard the choices of cakes for the wedding were not as good, what did you think about them?  Did you find a english speaking minister?  If not, how was the ceremony with a translater?  We might be out of luck as well, the few recommned ones are already booked. Thanks again for all the helpful information!! Danielle

Oh, I didn't realize they had the option to have your reception at the Italian restaurant...we were only offered the Brazilian or steak house. I would definitely recommend the steakhouse, it is the only restaurant close to the beach, but it is very open and they can close off part of the restaurant just for your party. I was pleased with our cake, the wedding coordinator will show you pictures of some options and flavors. We got a simple 2 tier, they put some flowers, and we brought our own cake topper. We did use the regular minister and translation and it all worked out pretty good. I would highly recommend the house photographer and DJ, and open bar option. And inquire about the fire show, it was well worth the $. If you PM me your email address I can send you any pictures I have from the WC. You can also add me to FB and see all my professional pictures from my big day.

[rafaelchloe]

Hi ladies I got married on October of 2012 at riu palace punta cana and I can tell you that you have nothing to worry about, I had exactly 196 guests at my wedding and yes there were some hiccups but they were minimal basically seating arrangements because of the set up of the steakhouse (private reception), I had magnolia as my wedding coordinator and I can tell you she is great! She answered my emails and crazy demands a year before the wedding, she was very patient and there was nothing that she would not do. I understand that now she is at the sister resort but still does weddings here, I would have loved to have my guests stay at the new resort but they were still under construction. It does tend to be a little pricy if you start adding stuff, flowers, linens etc. I spared no expense even bringing in a well known band to play at the wedding being that this was my request and the hotel had never had a band of this type play here they never told me no! They were so friendly and courteous, all my guests and I felt like kings and queens for the week! My package came with makeup and hair which I didn't use as I had booked an outside vendor for this, they were very accommodating and even gave me another room so they can do all my bridal parties hair and makeup no charge for this. Food for the wedding was amazing, wedding cake was amazing as well, for flowers I choose very tall simple center pieces, for bridemaids bouquets and buttoiners I had a family member bring them from a local florist as y family are Dominican, magnolia arranged them for me without a problem and set them how I wanted , I brought a lot of stuff from ny that i had shipped prior, from plate charges to all my stuff for my welcome bags, liquor for the wedding was also supplied by us. One suggestion that I have maybe this just happened to me because I had so many guests, a lot of my welcome bags went missing from reception as I gave it to them so they can hand to my guests upon check-in, I started getting complaints from my guests that they didn't receive their bags, when I questioned them they had no cue what I was talking about, I used the videographer from the hotel, I beleive it's Antillana, and they were horrible! The guy that was recording got sick and didn't record very important things, the actual DVD only played in my lab top no where else, it took me almost a year to get another one back. If you have any more questions I can answer and send you pics, email me at abreu_rosmeiry@yahoo.com. Happy planning

[rafaelchloe]

Hi ladies I got married on October of 2012 at riu palace punta cana and I can tell you that you have nothing to worry about, I had exactly 196 guests at my wedding and yes there were some hiccups but they were minimal basically seating arrangements because of the set up of the steakhouse (private reception), I had magnolia as my wedding coordinator and I can tell you she is great! She answered my emails and crazy demands a year before the wedding, she was very patient and there was nothing that she would not do. I understand that now she is at the sister resort but still does weddings here, I would have loved to have my guests stay at the new resort but they were still under construction. It does tend to be a little pricy if you start adding stuff, flowers, linens etc. I spared no expense even bringing in a well known band to play at the wedding being that this was my request and the hotel had never had a band of this type play here they never told me no! They were so friendly and courteous, all my guests and I felt like kings and queens for the week! My package came with makeup and hair which I didn't use as I had booked an outside vendor for this, they were very accommodating and even gave me another room so they can do all my bridal parties hair and makeup no charge for this. Food for the wedding was amazing, wedding cake was amazing as well, for flowers I choose very tall simple center pieces, for bridemaids bouquets and buttoiners I had a family member bring them from a local florist as y family are Dominican, magnolia arranged them for me without a problem and set them how I wanted , I brought a lot of stuff from ny that i had shipped prior, from plate charges to all my stuff for my welcome bags, liquor for the wedding was also supplied by us. One suggestion that I have maybe this just happened to me because I had so many guests, a lot of my welcome bags went missing from reception as I gave it to them so they can hand to my guests upon check-in, I started getting complaints from my guests that they didn't receive their bags, when I questioned them they had no cue what I was talking about, I used the videographer from the hotel, I beleive it's Antillana, and they were horrible! The guy that was recording got sick and didn't record very important things, the actual DVD only played in my lab top no where else, it took me almost a year to get another one back. If you have any more questions I can answer and send you pics, email me at abreu_rosmeiry@yahoo.com. Happy planning

[AmandaPadilla]

Has anyone had their hair done at the RIU salon? How did it turn out? What was the cost? 

Thanks!!

Amanda

[Mrsrowlands]

Hi I can't tell you how it looked but i have just paid $300 for my hair and my bridesmaids hair and makeup, bridal hair is $150 and bridesmaid $85 rest was makeup that was in the riu palace bavaro, I'm not sure if they share one but the spa email is paula@renovaspa.com and she gives you a full price list for palace bavaro spa, she also says if you book online you get 10% discount for booking early my price included this! Hope this may help Gemma x

[rafaelchloe]

They were pretty good they did my aunts hair and makeup as I brought an outside vendor for my hair and makeup and for my bridesmaids but since my package came with a free make up and hair I let my aunt use it and she looked fine.

[AmandaPadilla]

I just returned from my amazing 2 week DW and HM!!! It was awesome! We stayed at the RIU Palace Punta Cana for 6 days, and everything was amazing!!!!!!

 

I do want to say that I was not thrilled with the salon, I walked down, made an appointment in person 2 days before the wedding. I asked that the stylist come to my room around 12:00. That all seemed to go smoothly...until the day of the wedding. No one had shown up by 12:30 so I called them and they seemed to have lost my appointment (AAHHHHH!!) So I had to wait until 1 for someone to do my hair, and even though I showed her a couple of photos of the hair style I wanted, she kind of did her own thing. The hair worked fine, but it definitely was not worth the $80 I spent on it and then when she left my photographer and I tried to remedy it.... Word of advice... bring someone to do you hair down with you... don't leave it up to chance! 

 

I will write a full review soon. But one last thing! 

 

For those looking to have your wedding in the beach gazebo (though I did not get married at the resort), it is not what you would call private, or intimate, or ... dare I say pretty... the Gazebo itself is very pretty and if the surrounding beach was empty and the pool area was closed I would say go for it. But considering that the gazebo is smack in the middle of the beach where everyone has their sun chairs and there are topless women and men in tiny speedos wandering about, and the resort entertainment crew (who are very cool) do activities around 4-5 pm almost every night in the pool area. So you have so much background noise and randoms in your photos and it seems really distracting. Just my opinion, for what it is worth...

 

Check out the full review soon!!!

[KeissyS]

Originally Posted by AmandaPadilla 

 

I just returned from my amazing 2 week DW and HM!!! It was awesome! We stayed at the RIU Palace Punta Cana for 6 days, and everything was amazing!!!!!!

 

I do want to say that I was not thrilled with the salon, I walked down, made an appointment in person 2 days before the wedding. I asked that the stylist come to my room around 12:00. That all seemed to go smoothly...until the day of the wedding. No one had shown up by 12:30 so I called them and they seemed to have lost my appointment (AAHHHHH!!) So I had to wait until 1 for someone to do my hair, and even though I showed her a couple of photos of the hair style I wanted, she kind of did her own thing. The hair worked fine, but it definitely was not worth the $80 I spent on it and then when she left my photographer and I tried to remedy it.... Word of advice... bring someone to do you hair down with you... don't leave it up to chance! 

 

I will write a full review soon. But one last thing! 

 

For those looking to have your wedding in the beach gazebo (though I did not get married at the resort), it is not what you would call private, or intimate, or ... dare I say pretty... the Gazebo itself is very pretty and if the surrounding beach was empty and the pool area was closed I would say go for it. But considering that the gazebo is smack in the middle of the beach where everyone has their sun chairs and there are topless women and men in tiny speedos wandering about, and the resort entertainment crew (who are very cool) do activities around 4-5 pm almost every night in the pool area. So you have so much background noise and randoms in your photos and it seems really distracting. Just my opinion, for what it is worth...

 

Check out the full review soon!!!

Amanda,

 

I am looking forward to your review, since I am highly considering this resort for my wedding August 2014.  One thing that does concern me is the public gazebo, based on pictures it does seem like it can be a little unromantic with random people passing by.  I am having a catholic wedding so I have no choice but to do it under a gazebo though.  I am looking to have a private reception where my 50-60 guest and I are able to dance.  Did you have a semi-private or private reception?  Thanks in advance!