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?