trivera5521

Absolutely beautiful Sunny!! They did a great job!! Did they charge you extra to hold the cocktail hour in the garden gazebo, above and beyond the $10-$12 per person that is? THe train is sooo fkn cute LOL! One more thought the chicken dish seems like an really small portion....did you feel like your guests were still hungry? Would hate for our guests to indulge in an open bar on a semi full stomach LOL

Ladies now that I can FINALLY post pics...here is the dress I found on Shades of Pale website that I really love but after all I have recently read about their business I rather not use them. I cant seem to find who the inspiration dress or designer is =( HELP???

Natalie: Our wedding is May 18, 2013 and I just sent out my Save the Dates (see below) today =) I choose to go with magnets because the concept of the STD is for them to do just that, save the date. So I wanted to be sure they were in a place that it was always seen as a reminder to get it together and start putting some pennys away LOL. What better place than a refrigerator, we all love food. My invitations wont go out til about 3-4 months in advance but will only go to those who have shown a real interest in going and have made their deposits. I opted not to reserve a bulk of rooms through our TA for a discount because I dont want to be on the hook if I dont have enough people going. So my TA at liberty travel is organizing it and is allowing my guests to put $50 non refundable deposit down and pay it little by little over the next year. I also have created a wedding website. Your more than welcome to take a look if you want some ideas www.edgardandtamara.com. The wedding website is free to create on theknot.com. Its $20 for the year to purchase the domain so its a bit more personalized like mine instead and lot shorter then the generic one. As far as the DJ as Octbride previously stated its not included in any of the packages and is $488 for 3 hours. P.S. WOOHOOO!!! I can FINALLY upload pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ladies, as you know May is said to be one of the rainiest months in DR. We have our wedding planned for May 2013 and I am hoping to hear from brides that are down there this month. Has it rained?

We want to do this too! I have been having a hard time finding a good location from DR as well that isnt too expensive or that we dont have to fly in circles to get to a place, as in no direct flights. I look forward to the responses and thanks for posting!!!

What email address are you using for DHGate/Babyonline? I found a dress that I really like on Shades of Pale's FB page but no way will I use them after all this. This is the dress, anyone know who or what the inspiration dress is????

Sunny welcome back!!! OMG your review is the shit!! Thanks so much!! I am glad that you were happy with your day and Marlene's performance and involvment. So just a few questions: Did they upgrade your room at all? How was the weather, did it rain? Did you have a chance to see any beach ceremonies? I take it, it was very much like the gazebo...a show huh? WOW $50 extra per table for centerpieces, thats alot but very good to know! Did you ever consider bringing your own centerpieces or did Marlene shut that down also? After the reception did you guys continue to party, if so where? Photograhy/Videography did you do both pics and video? Did he pose you or where you on your own with that? If you dont mind em asking what did you spend on pics/video? Did you do a TTD session? If you could do it again would you change anything? Thanks again for you insight!! Its been so helpful!

Busybride: As far as the Beach reception is concerned, yes its an additional $65 per person which is outrageous! Although she did confirm with me if we get relocated to the beach reception they will compensate accordingly. Of course she wouldn't give specifics and kept it as general as possible. Just think we would still have to pay for a dance floor unless your good with dancing the night away in the sand? Also, I have no idea what exactly is included for $65 per person?? Not sure if anyone else has info on the beach reception as far as what is included in the outrageous $65pp cost??

JRM: Have you already paid for your cocktail hour? She has charged me $12.00 per person for the cocktail hour, not $10?? Although its only $2.00 it adds up when your talking 30-40 people. Can you please send me whatever she sent you with the $10 per person quote or invoice? That would be super helpful?! Our wedding isnt til May of next year so I have time to adjust however I have already prepaid 30% of the tangerine package, DJ and cocktail hour.

Your the best Oct Bride!! Can you please email me the PDF of the centerpieces as I do not have download permissions yet? [email protected] Also are these centerpiece options for the Tangerine package or are they an extra cost?

Thanks Oct Bride =) Woohoo I got my Vistaprint groupon too!!! I am so exciting and cant wait to use it! I will tell you guys that I did what you suggested, created some personalized things and left them in my cart and i received an email about a week later with a 50% coupon. I ordered our personalized t-shirts for the Welcome bags for $3.50 each!!!!!!! Thanks again for all the suggestions =)

Breathtaking!!!!!!!!!!

It depends on your package but see below: Blueberry Dream Over 10 people $10 per person Mint Breeze Over 20 people $20 per person Strawberry Passion over 25 people $50 per person Tangerine Sunset over 35 people $50 per person. There is a BBPD threat with a ton of information and pictures. I would def suggest going through it we are constantly posted on it with new info as we get it from the WC. Hope this helps!

Okay ladies whats your secret?! I can't tell you how many posts I come across that you guys are raving about Vistaprint. Yes, I know they are amazing but more importantly is you guys are always talking about how you got so many free things and items for a super discounted price. Am I doing something wrong or not doing something at all LOL? HELP???

Octbride, thanks for sharing! What do you think?! Looks like our only other option for an outdoor wedding reception would be the beach ceremony. She did tell me that if we had to relocate they would compensate us accordingly. I would hope that if they force us to move our reception that they wouldnt try and charge $65 pp for the beach reception. I suppose we will see what happens. I just sent in my wire deposit so I am officially locked in. Your wedding is this year, I think your safe...if they were having a big event in the convention center I would think who ever the vendor is would have been working on details by now.

Love it Erin they did a great job, how much is it costing you???????

Hi Amy! We are getting married May 2013, but we did site visits in February and BBPD was 1 of 4 resorts we visited. Sent me a PM with your email address and what other information you are interested in. I am more than happy to help =)

Have a great trip Sunny!!! We look forward to hearing all about your beautiful wedding!! On another note ladies, I received information from the WC in regards to the possibility of having our Bar Higuey reception relocated due to a big event in the convention center. If I have to relocate my reception, can I use the roof top area for the reception? No, we are not allowed to serve food it area. What are my other reception options if we cant use Bar Higuey? Beach or banquet hall. If we cant have Bar Higuey I guess we will opt to have a beach reception since the banguet room is not something we are in the least bit interested in, will there be some sort of compensation? Yes, in case that the hotel re-located us the hotel will give you something as compensation. When will we know if we have to relocate due to a big event in the convention Center? Does the vendor have to book that space a certain amount of time in advance? The groups department will advised me and then I will advised you, I really don’t know a certain time/date for you to let you know. If we are not re-located but they have some activities going on at the convention, you will be seeing people or both around the area. People will not be inside of the reception but outside “maybeâ€

JRM: I would say that sounds about right. They seem to operate on Caribbean time to the 10th power, I sometimes wait days for responses. I havent gotten to the point where I am working on details since our wedding isn’t til May of next year but she hasn’t been forthcoming with answers to my questions either. Just a few tips: Document EVERYTHING!! Get everything in writing and keep meticulous records. When you email her send all your questions in one email Be patient they suck at getting back to people in a timely fashion Good luck and keep us posted!! P.S. I am just curious where are you having your reception area? If it’s at Bar Higuey, did she tell you when you booked it that there was a possibility you could be relocated?

Hi!! I too live in CT and would be happy to meet up to take these items off your hands. Where abouts in CT are you???

Hmmm I am surprised you cant seem to find BPC on any travel sites. When I was doing my price comparisons I was able to find it and I found that BPC was cheaper than BBPD but honestly not by much. And when you factor in what you get at BBPD it's worth the difference in price. Just a suggestion you can call a local travel agent and they can give you pricing. I also did this to finalize my quotes. This will be a more "in your face" estimate. The reviews for BPC werent that great either but because it was soo affordable I still added it to my list of potentials. Like I said, once I saw BPC it was much too outdated and the grounds were not well maintained. If you look at a map BPC is located at the top of the strip, I found it to be sooo much windier here than at the other resorts not sure if it was because of the location or not. Which isnt a big deal and absolutely out of our control but with a beach ceremony it was a concern. Another thing I wasnt crazy about was the area it was located in. You have to travel through a not great area to get there, and its not a pretty drive. Kinda felt like our guest would have been like WTF, where are they taking us LOL?! The reception issue at BBPD is definateley an issue and I will be sure to update the other thread as soon as I hear back from the WC. Of course her claim to fame is that it just a possibility...either way I am not trying to hear that. Will keep you posted.

Sorry for the multiple emails but I am just trying to be proactive and think of Plan B reception location in case we cant use Bar Higuey. Has anyone had their reception on the beach? If so, how was it? What is the cost for a dance floor and can we add a bonfire for an additional cost? Thanks!

Thanks Ely!!! Hopefully we will all hear something soon!

OMG October Bride she sent me the same email last night and I was livid!! I feel like I have really been a "sweet" soon to be bride thus far with the planning process and this chick Marlene is seriously going to make me loose my fkn mind!! As you know I am in the middle of leaving a deposit to "Reserve" Bar Higuey for the reception area. Then she came with this craziness last night. Really so explain to me what the point of reserving a space?! I am shocked that there is a possibility of us being forced to relocate our reception after having put a deposit down, that is just absurd to me...whats the point of leaving a deposit? This is a huge factor and was never mentioned to us at any point including the 2 hours we spent at our site visit. What are our relocation options? When will we know that we cant use the Bar Higuey that we are leaving a deposit for AND is included in our package? I am not at all interested in having it in a Banquet room..we are not traveling to Punta Cana to have our reception in a *$(@(#&@(* banquet room!!! I sent her an email back last night and they seem to operate on a one email per day basis so I am hoping she will get back to me today. I will keep you posted and please keep me posted if you hear from her too. When we did our site visit there wasnt a whole lot of options for the reception area other than Bar Higuey, Banquet room and I think a restaurant. Either way we are not traveling to DR to have our reception in either a Banguet room or a restaurant! We really should have a "loosing your mind" smiley for times like this LOL!

Canadiandawn: No they are 2 completly different resorts. I will tell you that I visited both this past February and Barcelo Punta Cana doesnt compare to BBPD in the least bit. BBPD is by far a much better resort in so many aspects. On another note ladies, I finally got to the bottom of the reception/ceremony confirmation. As previously stated I was besides myself that BBPD was able to confirm the ceremony date was available however told me they werent able to confirm availability at the Bar Higuey for my reception "at this time". Well apparently in order to confirm the reception space as well you have to leave the 30% deposit. They can confirm your date is open for your ceremony for free but the deposit is required to confirm the reception space. So be prepared to leave the 30% if you want to confirm both the ceremony and reception space/date/time.