cocoHolly

No I didn't end up having centre pieces - and to be honest no one really noticed!

i answered you above in red!

The kids in our group, age 6,8,10 had a blast! There is a kids pool, the beach is awesome, and there is also a pirate ship water park with slides and a wave pool, it is a lot funner then it looks, a bunch of my adult guests did it as well...it is $20 for the day, but you get a $10 off coupon in your checkin pack. It also includes the mini put. The buffets were prettly bland. They had "barci" sections which are kid sections in the buffet and the food trays are lower to the ground so kids can reach them and they have things like pizza and chicken fingers in them so I find it's pretty good for them. There is also a soft serve ice cream machine that kids and adults loved!! We also had 2 teenagers 16 and 17 who paid adult prices to go because they had to, but the front desk refused to give them adult bracelts so they were not served alchol. Luckily a couple of us were able to slip off our adult bracelets to give to them and then we jsut went ot the front desk and said they fell off in the ocean...no problem! My wedding day with photo and video came to $4500. I had the strawberry package, and had 45 guests so ended up paying 50x20 for the guests above the 25 limit. If you have a 15,000 budget then you will get tons of stuff!!

is your hubby in the military?? The tattoos and hair cut kinda make him look it lol! Mine is!

So the package I got for the video was the "Moon" package which was $450 originally, and when I got there they told me it went up $150 to $600. Needless to say I was not happy since I was also paying an extra $250 for the extra hour of videoing. However, the end product was so worth it and they ended up giving me an hour long video instead of a short 10 minute one! Pro: I have my whole wedding on film and the speeches etc. Con: I cannot post it online as it is way too long. I do plan to take it to a tech store to see if I can get mini copies of it made so that we can show friends 10 min videos rather than sit down for a feature film haha!! For the beach gazebo there is no way to control. It's in such a central traffic area they couldn't block it off. If you don't mind all the people around, and your guests not being able to hear you then I think the beach gazebo would be fine...but if that stuff matters then I would suggest either on the beach or garden gazebo. I did not have a welcome party, I didn't have the money for it (and also didn't want to spend it to be honest). I would suggest just organizing with your guests to all meet at the same place after check in like in Strikers or the lobby bar. I would also suggest you bring a paper and pen so you can write down everyone's room numbers so you can get in touch with your guests! I did not have welcome bags, but the reception had little things that they gave everyone at checking with keys and resort map/coupons etc...so you could ask to have them at the front and have everyone get one upon check in...something like that! I checked the weather everyday online and everyday it changed and I was going crazy. We had rain a couple days but it was always in the morning (or like 2-5am) and only every lasted a little bit. It comes and goes so quickly. And I found the weather would say 5mm of rain and thunder showers and that would all come and go within 20 minutes and then the rest of the day was gorgeous!

Ok so here will be my day by day little run down, and then I will give you more info regarding wedding specific things! Saturday: Arrived at 9pm, check in was as bad as they say on trip advisor. They are very slow and speak little to no English. We had problems as the hotel screwed up and had down that my grandparents were the bride and groom so we didn’t get upgraded that night, and had to fight like no other to get it the next day, and eventually we were only able to because our travel rep spoke Spanish. The front desk people are nice, but when you come to them with a problem or question they don’t understand they become grumpy quite fast. Spent the first night drinking and eating a Strikers the sports bar and it was good food and really fun! Sunday we went back to the front desk to deal with our room situation. Had lunch at the buffet…it was ok. Spent the afternoon in the pools which are amazing! They have what we started calling “bubble pools†they are just like hot tubs but are the same temperature as the pools and are a lot of fun to sit in! Went to the Mexican a-la-carte. My dinner was delicious! Warning: do not order the “cheese fondue†it is a bowl of baked cheese with cut up hot dogs in it! Hot dogs are all over this resort haha as our Russians, we could not get over how many Russians there was – and they are all rude and very pushy and speak no English so watch out!! Monday we had breakfast at Hoya 19 which is an a-la-carte that does not require reservations or dress code and is decent! Warning: they do not have bagels, if you order one you will get a bun with a hole cut out of it! Monday night we went to the steak house and it was amazing! I recommend the new York strip! But don’t expect to get rare…they have 2 settings, medium and well done lol! We spent most of Monday in the adults only pool that’s on the palace side. It is a big circular pool that has cabana beds all around it that you can rent all day for $10. The middle of the pool is a bubble pool and me and my friends spend most of our days there as there is also a bar there. Santa and Mira the bartenders were amazing! I also had my meeting with Lianny my WC on Monday and it was an awesome meeting. She spoke amazing English, and we went through everything. They have a bunch of flowers and can paint them any colour for your bouquets! I had gerbera daisies which I love and lilies. The WC’s really know what they are doing, so I know the e-mails kinda suck…but when you finally meet with them you will feel a huge sigh of relief…I know I did! Tuesday we ate at the Japanese tapenaki and omg the food was amazing and the experience was even better! The chefs are soooo much fun, make sure you sit at the hibachi tables!! Wednesday was my wedding. I got to wake up to a call from Lianny letting me know the judge had moved the wedding up by 30minutes so I had to scramble to make sure all my guests know! But my hair appointments stayed the same..so the wedding ending up taking place at 3 anyways because I was half an hour late! The train took all my guests from the lobby to the garden gazebo since its on the far end of the resort. We had the wedding, then the photo session, and then the reception. I had my reception in a ballroom as the Bar Higuey was booked…but I didn’t mind as its soooo humid at night it was nice being in the a/c! The reception food was amazing! We had the Caesar salad which came in a bow made of cheese haha and was a huge hit! Then the beef tenderloin with vegies which was also sooo good and the crème brulee for dessert and again it was amazing! For the wedding cake I had a vanilla cake with strawberry filling and white icing. I did not upgrade it, but oh my god it was so moist and the best wedding cake I have ever had! After the reception we went back to the lobby bar, I went to bed early as I was exhausted but my hubby and friends stayed out till 5am partying in the disco and lobby/rum bars! Thursday we had our breakfast in bed which was stone cold sadly. Then went for our couples massage which was heavenly and hung in the spa for a bit. Then we walked to the market which is just on the other side of the adults only section, if you don’t want to walk you can take the train to the adults side and just walk over. The people are realllllly pushy, so you have to be firm and tell them no…otherwise they try and sell you everything! Thursday night we went to the seafood restaurant and it was again amazing! I had the beef and lobster and omg yummy!!! Friday night we did the Spanish and again it was so good, and the chocolate cake there was to die for!! Saturday we just ate dinner at strikers as we left the resort at 6pm So overall, the a-la-cartes are amazing! The buffets…not the best, but there is a lot of choice. Rooms: Very nice, comfy beds and good maid service! Cleanliness: This is the cleanest resort I have ever been to, the bathrooms are cleaned all the time, there’s never dirt anywhere, we were very impressed! The beach is awesome but not a lot of room for swimming. The pools are amazing! The employees speak little to no English and can be rude, but if you try and speak Spanish they get much happier and try as well to help you. There were shows every night, the broad way and Michael Jackson ones were amazing! The shopping on the resort is decent too, quite a few shops and boutiques. Ok so tropical pictures. First thing I want to stress is that they people they have working the shop at the resort are not the people who do the weddings. The people in the shop are rude, and very unprofessional and all about making a buck. I almost didn’t use them after booking them because of a bad experience I had in the store, but when I met with the manager during my WC meeting she explained they are different staff, apologized and through in some extras for me! The video and photos I got were amazing, and I am very happy overall! Also, they prices for videos went up last week..that was a not so fun surprise to be told!! Oh and one last thing….I would recommend NOT getting married on the beach gazebo. It is right in the middle of the 2 main pools and you will have tons of drunkards all around you and no privacy/intimacy at all! The garden gazebo is honestly the way to go!!! So that’s my novel….I have a lot more info but am trying not to overload…let me know if you have any questions!!!

Ok so I obviously have a lot more pictures but I just want to share a few to give you an idea of the gazebo, and the quality of the pictures tropical pictures takes!

Hey ladies, Just got back from my wedding and omg it was amazing!!! We have definitely picked the best resort!!! I will post more info and pictures later when I have time

I have not stayed there (going this weekend to BBPD) but I know for a fact as told by my agent and the resort, if you are staying on the Adults only side, you only have access to the resturants that are in that section, you do not have access to the ones on the Palace side. Also, we had originally planned to book the "Deluxe Rooms" and we had, then all the deluxe rooms became part of the adult only, and we found out that they are old and so ont as nice as the suites or even the deluxe golf rooms!

I am leaving in 5 days to head to the BBPD for my wedding - can't even wait!!! Starting to get so nervous/anxious and I am driving my fiance crazy making sure we have everything packed that we need/want!! It feels like just last week it was over a year away and now it's only just over a week away...eeekk!!! careful ladies...the time leading up to your weddings is going to fly by!!!

Hey Ladies, What food have you had at your weddings at the resort? I am trying to pick my menu ahead of time to make menu cars, but i won't be going down for a tastng ahead of time so i am wonderin what everyone has had and wat they thought!

Well I am planning on bringing an ipod docking statioon that goes really loud and finding a mic that will work with it for speeches...and she can try and shut it off haha...I will have my bridesmaids and mc gaurding it lol and she may get a bouquet shoved somewhere unpleasant haha!!!

Aquatrice: I am a fellow Canadian bride getting married in December on the 12th! I am arriving on the 8th so maybe we will see each other!