sunny55143

natalie, they charge the $500 as a location fee to reserve the entire rooftop for your party. It's sorta lame but we paid that and they were really good about keeping the riff raff out. I don't remember it ever getting super crowded any of the nights out there and it's so huge that our welcome cocktails party of 40some people only took up about 1/2 of the space. It's up to you if you want to pay for the privacy. Also, the children's show was going on during our welcome cocktail party and the noise was not that loud of obtrusive at all. In fact, it was sorta nice background noise. That was something we were worried about until we were actually there.

natalie, This was the info I got for the international bar (I hope I formatted it correctly - it was written as one big paragraph): Rum: gold, White, Brugal Añejo, Brugal Extra Viejo Vodka : Smirnoff Gin: Tanqueray Vermouth : Martini Rosso, Bianco, Semi dry Whisky : J&B, Jhonnie Walker E. Red, Cutty Sark, Dewars Liquors: Apple, peach, almond,Tia Maria, Kaluha, Cointerau, Amaretto The resort only serves Presidente beer. Here is the menu I had for the reception - it may have changed since I received it. It seems like you guys are getting much more info than I received when I was planning. SALADS Tomato salad with goat cheese pesto dressing Cesar salad Capresse salad Curried marinated chicken and tomato salad SOUPS Genovesse minestrone soup with garlic croutons Asparagus soup Chicken noodles soup Onion soup, parmesan cheese crostini MAIN DISH Pesto marinated broiled chicken Pan seared fish medaillon, parmesan cheese risotto, asparagus and red bell peppper coulis Glazed pork chops in old mustard sauce Beef tendeirlon with potatos and vegetables Sirloin steak parisienne coffee with vegetables DESSERTS Crema Brulée Luke warm half baked dark chocolate fondant Fruit cocktail with tequila and mint fruit jelly Black forest cake VEGETARIAN MENU • Mixed greens, tequila margarita dressing • Asparagus soup • Grilled mediterranean vegetables with balsamic dressing (Red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, zucchini and eggplant) We went with the Caprese salad, the chicken, the beef tenderloin and the cream brulee as our menu. They were all very good. Hope some of this is still accurate - someone else might have more updated info.

teena, We got in a week before our wedding, the Saturday before. We wanted to make sure we had a few days to get organized so that when our guests started arriving on Tuesday, we could focus on hanging out with them and not trying to tie up last minute details. I've heard that it's really only the resorts that want you to be there 72 business hours (3 days) before the wedding. But, as natalie said, Saturday counts. Apparently it's not a DR rule, the resorts just want to make sure that they can get all your paperwork together and that there is enough time to meet with you and plan everything out. I would just make sure with Marlene that your arrival is okay. Just be aware that they are usually swamped with weddings on Saturdays and don't work on Sundays so unless you can meet with her on Friday when you get in, your meeting might be pushed to the day before the wedding. That does seem strange that you guys are having trouble confirming your times. We also had a civil ceremony with the super popular judge but Marlene gave us a time right off the bat, which was at least 6 months before. A lot more people must be flocking to Punta Cana to get married now. Seems strange that they wouldn't get someone else to help perform weddings.

Marlene doesn't do anything related to your room upgrades. When we checked in for our Jr Suite, we were told there were no upgrades available - we specifically asked for Club Premium. The guy at the front desk said that the Jr Suite is usually what couples get upgraded to, from either Golf Rooms or Superiors - whatever that lowest level is. So we took our Jr Suite and thought that was it. The next day, Jeff's parents were getting in so we decided to try to front desk again since we were meeting them in the lobby. We thought that since it was Sunday a lot of people might be checking out of their CP rooms. They still told us that there was nothing available for CP but they could upgrade us to an Oceanview Jr Suite (we just had a plain old Jr Suite). They offered to send up a bellhop to help us switch rooms but we said give us 30 minutes since Jeff's parents were about to get there. When they arrived, they insisted that we take their CP Oceanfront Jr Suite. The front desk, however, could not understand this arrangement, since we still hadn't switched our original rooms and apparently this was new territory for them. So the 4 of us just switched rooms on our own without really telling the resort - his parents' names were still attached to the CP room and they had the CP bracelets, and our names were still associated with the regular Oceanview room. About halfway through the week, Jeff's mom finally convinced Club Premium to give us bracelets so we would get all of the non-room amenities like using their CP front desk, better booze for drinks (supposedly), free Wi-fi, etc. So, in the end, we sorta did get upgraded. But you have to take care of it on your own and it's based on availability. It was weird that they wouldn't let you just pay an extra fee per day on top of your room fee to get the bracelet. They insisted on having certain rooms set aside as Club Premium. I guess maybe it made it easier for the free room service associated with it? There was a convention going on the week of our wedding so I'm assuming why the rooms were hard to come by. Anyway, that is the story of our multiple rooms!

natalie, Not sure what you mean about Bar Higuey needing lights? You mean in addition to the ones already there? We did not ask for/bring any additional lights to what was already there. I think our centerpieces had little votive candles included (ah, I already don't remember - I knew the table decorations weren't worth worrying about even though I did but there was plenty of light in the space, and once the dancing got going, we turned out most of the lights and it was still fine.

Hmmm...I don't remember her ever saying it was only one drink, I think there was only one TYPE of drink though. They had these frozen blue cocktails for everyone but I can't imagine that they limited everyone to only having one. We also had champagne served after the ceremony so that probably helped too. I was taking pictures during the cocktail hour so I don't really remember - sorry!

Hi ladies, I also noticed that the wedding brochure says 25 people for the private reception but I'm pretty sure it's just a typo. We only paid the $50 per extra person and not anything additional for that mysterious missing 10 people. It was never an issue. Also, I had asked Marlene repeatedly about spa appointments as the day got closer and I was trying to finalize my day-of timeline. She initially had me and my bridesmaids scheduled for early afternoon which was not going to work since we were doing first look & pictures before the 5pm ceremony. I was on her for weeks to get this changed and she kept saying it was based on availability of the spa - sorta silly right? If there are weddings going on, they should staff accordingly. It wasn't until the day of our meeting that she gave me the updated schedule and we were all done with hair & makeup before 1pm.

Oh, that's good that you asked her and she was cool with him being a guest. My point was that if your agreement with Barcelo is that your DJ is a guest and staying at the resort, and you only buy him a day pass, it might be an issue if the day pass bracelet is noticeably different than the normal resort guest bracelet. My suggestion would be to see if they are.

I'd be careful doing that JRM. I imagine that whatever they give you for a day pass - maybe a different colored bracelet - will not look the same as a guest's. Their whole thing is that they don't want you to bring in local, outside vendors. On the other hand, it sounds like they've gotten a little more lenient with things since we started planning our wedding there. Maybe they'll be okay with it. Maybe do some research and see if the day pass is a normal guest bracelet (I can't imagine that it is or else you'd have people sneaking onto the resort and staying). If it is the same thing, then you would probably be able to get away with just the day pass.

Ladies, I'm pretty sure that as long as your photog is a guest at the resort, ie paying for a room there, they shouldn't charge a fee. They say no outside, professional photographers, but ours was clearly a professional with her 4 huge cameras and lenses and they didn't say anything or charge us. We had her stay for 6 days though. Also, for what it's worth, I get the feeling that real flowers are kinda expensive to get down there. We found this to be the case with Barcelo and with Jellyfish, where we had our rehearsal dinner. Just something to keep in mind as you are doing your budgets and picking decor. Just my two cents!

trivera, We only have our video on a DVD, sorry! As for my photog, her website is carolinedixey.com and she is from Chicago, like us. natalie, We had no problem talking them into a different ceremony location than what they normally do. We brought it up to Marlene in our meeting after we had scouted out the area by ourselves when we got down to the resort. After the meeting we went out to show her what we were thinking and she was on board. They did more or less what we waned - the main nice thing was that our guests were in the shade. We wanted the ceremony to be at the base of this hill in the garden but they had set up the "altar" at the top of the hill - was a little awkward to walk up! Not a big deal though because everyone said the light on us at that time of day looked great. I would recommend the ceremony by this hill - you will see what I'm talking about when you get down there. I honestly don't remember how big the space was in front of the gazebo, but when Jeff & I were playing around with the space inside the gazebo, we felt that it could adequately and comfortably fit 60 people in it. We had 72 so it would have worked but it would have been a tight squeeze. By the way, the gazebo does not have that god awful red roof anymore - they have painted it white - it looks MUCH better. Also, just to clarify - there are two gazebos: one by the beach which is right in the middle of the resort and gets all the speedo and thong traffic, and one in the garden which is super private and away from the main part of the resort in the convention center. Regular guests would have no reason to go there unless they were really curious while walking the grounds. We did not see any other guests during the wedding. I think you can rent out a restaurant but it's expensive. We had initially asked about a rehearsal dinner at one of them and they were $8000 to rent out ($10,000 for the French I think). Here was her email response to the rehearsal dinner question: Now if you want to have one of the restaurants private for the rehearsal dinner is $8,000usd with food, waiters, drinks. French restaurant is $10,000usd. this will be 100% private for you and having the confirmation from you on this we will close/block the restaurant for that night only from you. Jellyfish is super popular now and if you've been following the thread on this forum, I think they mentioned that Mayte (the wedding contact there) is doing something crazy like 20 weddings a month there. If you are considering them, I would contact her asap. We had our rehearsal dinner there and it was beautiful! disazaja, Taxes are included in the price (we did not have a separate line item for them on our invoice) but tips are not included and they don't add auto-grat onto the invoice so tips are at your discretion. We did not pay extra for a dance floor. It was just an open area in Bar Higuey. Not sure how they do it for the ballrooms. I'm not sure what you meant by your third question - if your wedding guests are staying at the Barcelo Bavaro Beach Resort (so, either the Palace Deluxe or the adults-only Bavaro Beach) you do not have to pay for a day pass.

JG Corona, Here are some pics we took of one of their meeting rooms when we did our site visit last September. I'm not sure if this is what they would offer you for an indoor reception location but it's not too bad - I thought the lights looked cool. Just so you have an idea before you head down there to see for yourself. nrbc, I believe the Mint Breeze package includes a cocktail hour after the ceremony, but it is only up to 20 people. In regards to the other properties, if you are just talking about the two resorts within Barcelo Bavaro Beach Resort (Palace Deluxe & the adults-only Bavaro Beach - which is confusing to name one of the resorts the same thing as the entire property), then your guests will be free to use everything, as someone else said. But if you are talking about Barcelo Punta Cana or Barcelo Dominican Beach, you might want to check with Marlene about day passes because those are not part of the same property, just the same chain. trivera, Barcelo is definitely against outside photographers but if yours is a "guest" of the resort then they allow it. If I recall, Trop Pics charges something like $2000 for full day wedding coverage? We spent less than that bringing our girl Caroline down for 6 days. Plus, we will also have her professional pics from our welcome cocktails, our boat excursion, and the rehearsal dinner. If you are looking into bringing someone down, I would look for someone who is maybe still trying to build their portfolio a little bit, like our photographer, because they might give you a break on the "fee" they will charge in addition to their travel expenses. Caroline had done maybe 10 weddings as the main photog, and many more as the secondary photog, and ours was her second destination wedding (the first one she did was our friends' Costa Rican wedding of 16 people, which was how we met her). So far, we're super happy with her pics! I'm sure Trop Pics is good (we were happy with the wedding video they did for us), but if you are really concerned about them and can't find other brides who have used them, I would consider possibly bringing someone down.

Lindsay, We did our rehearsal dinner at Jellyfish a month ago and had 72 people at tables of all different sizes (4-8 people per table) and there was still room for our slideshow & projector setup and a "stage area" for people to have give speeches and other "activities" that were part of the dinner (a friend played guitar, we had chairs set up for a "tea ceremony" - my family is Chinese). I think there should be space for dancing with 60 people. It was a little windy there, but it felt nice and was not distracting.

Trivera - I'll still check this forum once in a while so feel free to ask questions! I'm still sorta wishing I was planning and DEFINITELY still wishing we were there so I'm happy to vicariously live through you ladies We did not have to pay extra for the cocktail hour, beyond the $12 per person. I'm not sure if it's because we were having it in the garden gazebo - I can see them trying to charge you if you wanted to do it on the roof terrace or something. One other idea we had when we were down there was doing cocktail hour in the walkway that leads to Bar Higuey & setting cocktail tables up along the edge. Marlene vetoed that idea (shocking) and said she would be concerned about people spilling into the bar area of Bar Higuey, but I still think if we pushed for it, it would have been cool. In regards to the chicken dinner, yes, I agree that the picture makes it look kinda small. But I don't remember being unsatisfied with the meal. We also had the caprese salad as a starter and I was eating my face off all week so I definitely had an appetite! I don't remember people jonesing for food but by the time we were at the Sports Bar after the reception (11:30pm-ish), I definitely downed some fries. Most people had the beef tenderloin and I remember that being fairly substantial. I don't think the food quantity is an issue - sorry to raise questions with that picture! Oct Bride - I don't remember the DJ's name or where he was from but Marlene had mentioned in an email that we could meet with him based on availability when we were down there but I just forgot to follow up with her. We only had a DJ so he would play our iPod so I wasn't too concerned about meeting with him.

Hi Ladies, Our photographer posted some pics from our wedding last week and I thought I would share some with you that showed actual wedding things you might be interested in: Resort train decorated for the wedding - picked guests up at the lobby 30 minutes before the start of our ceremony: Cocktail hour setup in the garden gazebo: Music trio that played the ceremony and cocktail hour: Bar Higuey: Walking in to Bar Higuey from convention center Chicken pesto dinner: Candles lit along walkway: Cigar roller (forgot his name) - he was a big hit with the guests!

ncordero: - I can't remember the name of our DJ and I forgot to ask Marlene if we could meet with him beforehand, although she did mention we would be able to based on his availability. Just forgot to follow up on that. One of our groomsmen MC'ed the night so we went over the schedule of events related to the music with him before the reception and he made sure the DJ was in the loop. - I don't think we had any lighting other than what is already at Bar Higuey. I didn't really think it needed any additional strobes or colored lights. - We had one of the resort trains (which were decorated with white balloons) pick all our guests up from the front lobby at 4:30pm, 30 minutes before the ceremony was to start, and bring them to the garden. Jeff & I had gotten contact info for someone to bring us in a golf cart but the guy's "cinco minutos" turned into not showing up at all. Luckily, another random golf cart came by where we were waiting and I think he took pity on us since we were all dressed up and clearly about to get married - Ah, the 2 main courses. Yes, we had to pay extra. I think it was $16 per plate for beef or fish, $10 for chicken. So, we had 40something beefs and 20something chickens so we "officially" had beef as our main course and paid $10 x 20something extra for the chickens. They are NOT into credits or replacing things - it's all extras. I'm sure we could have fought for something though. - La Barcaza was awesome - we got picked up at the Barcelo pier which was sooo convenient. They took us out to the natural pool, let people swim around and hang out for an hour while they grilled lunch, then we ate while we toured back around. So much fun. The boat is great, the staff is fun, the food was yummy. I would highly recommend it. There is a thread for it on this site somewhere - it'll have all that info. TDawn, DEFINITELY send pictures of what you'd like. I'm not really sure what their official protocol is on what they can and are allowed to offer you, but at our meeting I brought a bunch of pictures of things I liked and Marlene said they would try to replicate. We had about 70 people total and yes, there are definitely some added expenses when you get down there but I think it was partially because we wanted some extra stuff that we had not originally discussed with them. I kept a budget spreadsheet so it wasn't like there were "surprise" expenses since I was accounting for them, just more because of what we wanted. busybride, I agree with you, I was pretty laid back with most of the details but then they definitely start trying to nickel and dime you - very off-putting. You can definitely see a difference between the way they operate and the way the American service industry does. I think they're just so used to the way they do things, since they are sort of a wedding factory, that they sort of get tunnel vision and don't realize there are other options and ways to accommodate you. I think that's also why it's so hard to get info from them over email. Something I thought to myself multiple times throughout the planning was that if I was working with an American WC, she would answer my question and then give me additional information because she could anticipate why I was asking and try to paint me a better picture. You don't get that with them - answers are generally just yes/no or a brief answer with little description. But when it's your day, they are all yours. The fee to reserve the rooftop terrace was $500.

Thanks ladies! Two of my fiance's older sisters had DWs in Mexico and they both did facebooks, so that's where I got the idea. Ours were definitely big hits and we had a lot of fun coming up with entries for people! I got inspiration for other welcome bag stuff from this forum too so thanks to everyone here for the great ideas!

I totally forgot to take pictures of our welcome bags at the wedding but now that we're back from the honeymoon, I took some pics of our leftovers. Bags from discountmugs.com - 50 for $2.99 each (+ $50 screen charge) Plastic cups & koozies from discountfavors.com - 80 for $0.50 each and $1.99 each, respectively (+ $50 screen charge) We printed the tags ourselves on cardstock from Target and bought ribbon from Michaels. Stuff in our "wedding week survival kit", which was put into a plastic bag with a label - Aloe Vera from minimus.biz - 80 for $1.41 each - Emergen-C from Amazon.com - 80ct box for $25.95 - Advil from Amazon.com - two 50ct boxes for $12.32 each - Pepto tablets from Amazon.com - three 48ct boxes for $16.13 total - Shout Wipes from Amazon.com - 80ct box for $21.60 - Sunscreen from Amazon.com - three 24ct boxes for $20.99 each (+ $5.99 shipping) - NOT SHOWN: hand sanitizer from Bath & Body Works - $0.41 each not shown * I used Amazon a lot because I had a $100 gift card. Otherwise, it might not have been the cheapest option. Our wedding "facebook" - printed and bound in my mother-in-law's office Inside cover with a welcome letter and photo sharing info Sample page - we had 72 guests so we made sure to get started on everyone's "profile" as soon as we knew they were coming! All of the stuff in the bag (not including the facebook) ended up costing us about $680 total. Each guest received one of every item except for the tote bag which was given to single guests & couples. A lot of people used the bags and cups around the resort which was a great way to identify people - all in all, a big hit!

Pic of my bouquet: You can sorta see bmaid bouquets & boutonnieres here: The pinecone! What we ended up going with: Fruit sculpture at cocktail hour app table: Cocktails offered at cocktail hour - these were awesome! Cake pic I gave Marlene: Finished product:

Thanks trivera! - So, Club Premium is the perfect example of how much they like following rules. There are certain rooms that are CP and apparently they didn't have any of those left (there were 2 big conventions there the week of the wedding - not on Saturday though, thankfully). We already had a Jr Suite and they told us the best they could do was upgrade us to an Oceanfront Jr Suite (rm 1415). When Jeff's parents got in, they had reserved a CP Jr Suite (rm 1103) so they offered to switch with us. The front desk could not understand that concept, so we just switched rooms without telling them. ANYWAY, his mom finally convinced the front desk on Wednesday to just give us the CP bracelets so we could at least have the non-room perks but it was like pulling teeth from them because CP normally had to be associated with a room. It was silly. It was also pretty funny when his parents got back to 1415 after the wedding and they had champagne and rose petals on the bed waiting for them! We weren't even staying in 1103 that night, we had gotten a Master Suite (rm 5207) for the girls to get ready and for the wedding night, so his parents called the front desk and they went and did wedding decorations for us there instead. - Weather was perfect! When Jeff & I first got there the week before, it was SUPER windy - to the point where sand from the beach was blowing all the way to the pool. But it calmed way down by the end of the week thankfully. Each day there was a 30% chance of rain in the forecast but it only rained Sunday overnight. So don't be alarmed when the forecast calls for rain, we think it really only means overnight or early morning. - We didn't see any beach ceremonies. I would think it's a little less of a spectacle since the beach gazebo is literally right in the middle of the resort, but the beach is generally a little less populated. I'm not sure exactly where on the beach they do the ceremony either - maybe it's a little farther down on either end. - Yeah, $50 was a lot but at that point we needed something to get done. Plus, we had 3 guests cancel on us that week so we had a "credit" with the wedding dept since we paid the day before. I didn't really consider bringing decorations down since Marlene was adamant about using theirs and I figured it would be fine. I never really asked if they were against you bringing your own or using an outside vendor down there. Like I said, I just needed a centerpiece that wasn't completely crappy - it wasn't too important to me. - We paid for an extra hour of reception (ended at 10:30pm) and then went to the Sports Bar after. We had been out until 3am the night before the wedding (I know) so we made it a pretty early night - maybe 1ish? It's nice that the 24 hour Sports Bar and Casino/casino bar are right across from each other - makes for easy late nights. - We used Trop Pics for video (Star Package) and brought a girl down from Chicago with us for pictures. We paid less than $2000 for her travel and a minimal fee for her to be there from welcome cocktails to the wedding, which was less than what Trop Pics charge for photos on just the wedding day. We're looking forward to her pictures from our boat excursion on La Barcaza on Thursday and the rehearsal dinner at Jellyfish, in addition to the wedding. She did an awesome job scouting out some places for pictures during the week so we did our first look and then 2 hours of photos with the wedding party before the ceremony. No TTD. - Things I could do again? Hmm...get the table decorations straightened out with Marlene earlier so I wasn't worrying the week before the wedding when she sent me those pinecone candleholder pics, started the dancing a little earlier in the evening, maybe had welcome cocktails when it was still light out on the roof terrace. Not worried as much - it all worked out. There really wasn't a whole lot I would have changed! I'll work on getting some pics together...

Alright, I have finally had some time to sit down and review the wedding. It was an absolutely amazing time even though there was a lot of initial planning and worrying involved. I think that definitely made us able to enjoy our guests once they arrived and not worry about loose ends. And, yes, the worrying was probably not all worth it – it all works out in the end, seriously. You and your guests are in paradise and will have a great time no matter what. And that is a lot for me, a type-A planner, to admit. Another disclaimer: as you will read in my review, there were a lot of details that I was just never concerned with that it seems like other brides really care about. So for me, as long as our options were not completely crappy, I was fine with what we had. Resort The resort is great and I won’t bore you with details since this is my wedding review. Everyone is really friendly, even if they don’t speak a lot of English. The buffet is so-so, but all of the a la carte restaurants are really good. Just make sure you make reservations as soon as you check in. Pools are great, there are usually chairs available in the morning. Chairs on the beach are always available. We were hoping to get upgraded to Club Premium but they kept saying there were no CP rooms available. Jeff’s parents finally convinced them to just give us the bracelets with the non-room perks like free wireless and being able to use the CP desk, where they are much more helpful than the front desk. Meeting with Marlene We had our meeting with Marlene and Vanessa from Tropical Pictures on Tuesday afternoon. We basically went over the wedding questionnaire item by item and created the day-of schedule. It was really interesting because when we met with Marlene last September for the site visit, she was super friendly. Then, the email communication was frustrating, as you all know, and it was very difficult to get info out of her. THEN, she was all business during the meeting, and made sure to go over all of the details. While it wasn’t like she completely forgot about any of the things we had already talked about, we had to go over a lot of the previously agreed-upon details with her again. I would suggest printing out all of your emails so you can reference things if needed. We didn’t really have any discrepancies but I printed everything out just as a precaution. One of Jeff’s sisters got married at the Iberostar in Riviera Maya 3 years ago, which is Spanish-owned, and his mom says they were super rule-oriented about everything. I believe Barcelo is also Spanish-owned and they are definitely the same way. It’s like they are trained to say no to new ideas that are not what they’re used to doing. But you just have to keep harassing them or show them why it’s a good idea. Or pay extra – that’s usually how you get what you want, unfortunately. Just something to keep in mind as you continue to plan with them. Welcome Cocktails We paid to reserve the rooftop terrace on Wednesday night for welcome cocktails. We also paid $10/person for 1 hour of drink service. It wasn’t absolutely necessary since the theater bar was a 30 second walk across the walkway, but we thought the service would make it easier for our guests to mix and mingle. One of the other WC’s, Liani, manned the entrance to the roof terrace and turned people who weren’t with our party away. It doesn’t get super crowded on most nights on the terrace but it was nice to have it all to ourselves. I would say the only bummer about the welcome cocktails was that it was a little dark on the roof terrace at 8pm, and there are minimal lights around the perimeter. Spa/Salon The day before the wedding, I made mani/pedi appointments for myself and my MOH & 3 bmaids at the salon. It’s nice that it’s set up so that you can all be in the same space during both the manicures and pedicures. The girls at the salon spoke very little English so if you don’t know basic Spanish it can be frustrating to communicate with them but you can get by with gestures and pointing. Not the best French manicure I’ve ever gotten, but, no one was looking at my fingers and toes, right? J The Tangerine Sunset package included a facial and couples massage. Those happened to be scheduled right after my manicure and pedicure so it was a nice spa day for me! The facial was pretty relaxing, no painful extractions or anything, just a smoothing treatment. The couples massage was soooo nice, and I think Jeff really enjoyed it as he had just gotten back from a deep sea fishing excursion with the boys. We were able to sit in the relaxation room after. The same girl who did my facial and massage also did my hair and makeup so we had some rapport with each other already. Definitely bring pictures of what you want, they will be able to work off of them, which is what my girl did. The first attempt of my hair was NOT GOOD (I think I used the words “Amish helmetâ€) and at first I was gonna let it go but my bmaids convinced me that it was the one day that I was allowed to be difficult so I had her redo it more to my liking. Even though there is a language barrier, the girls in the salon are pretty willing to work with you and they ended up doing a great job on all 5 of us. Flowers I had told Marlene I wanted a tropical flower bouquet for myself, yellow and white bouquets for the bmaids, and yellow boutonnieres for the groomsmen/corsages for the moms. Marlene had sent me pictures of bouquets they could do and there was one that I was fine with so we went with that. Apparently it’s very difficult for them to get orchids in Punta Cana, so that’s something to also consider. The bmaids’ bouquets seemed fine too. The only slight issue I had with the flowers was that they gave Jeff a big sunflower for his boutonniere which seemed really awkward, especially when the other boutonnieres were yellow roses (I think), which looked much better. Centerpieces We had some huge issues with the decorations before leaving for Punta Cana. Apparently the decorations that were included in the package were these pinecone-looking candleholders with greenery around it – they literally looked like Christmas decorations. Not cool. So of course we knew we’d have to pay extra for something else. I sent Marlene a pic of a basic vase filled with water and a flower submerged – she said it would be $20 per table and that they were only “for rent, not to takeâ€. Then, at our meeting, they had a centerpiece set up in the office that we liked and actually went along pretty well with our loose theme of deck chairs. It was weird because Marlene didn’t know if they had enough of all of the pieces from their suppliers for that table set up and didn’t know how much it would cost off the top of her head. Why would they set up an example table in their wedding office and not know what it would cost and if they could do it?? Anyway, we paid an extra $50 per table for it, and they ended up looking fine. Again, I wasn’t too concerned about table décor since no one ever remembers what they look like, but I felt that there is a bottom threshold for how crappy the centerpieces could be for people to start negatively remembering them. And those pinecone shaped candle holders were below that threshold fo sho. Ceremony The garden location where they usually do ceremonies was toward the back of the convention center and next to the parking lot. When we brought Jeff’s parents to scope out the area, his mom suggested doing the ceremony next to the gazebo, with this hill and cool tree stump as the background. It sounds pretty boring but it was actually really nice, and in the shade at 5pm. We were able to have the chairs set up in a semi circle around us instead of multiple rows too. Not sure why they have never done ceremonies there, it seems like a much better location than what they currently offer. Music Trio We weren’t sure what to expect from the music trio – all Marlene told us was that they play “romantic music, merengue, and bachataâ€. I forgot to tell Marlene to tell them not to play Here Comes The Bride or Canon in D (I’m sorta anti both for wedding ceremonies) but they did a good job, and the guests thought they were a nice, appropriate touch. Cocktail Hour We had the buffet and champagne station set up in the garden gazebo. I think they also passed around some cocktails but we were busy getting more pictures taken so I didn’t really try the apps – I think there were some beef and chicken skewers and some fried little dumpling things. Marlene said she wasn’t able to give us a list of the apps ahead of time, they were just “up to the chef’s selectionâ€. I think they turned out fine, and they had these nice fruit sculptures set up at the table. Reception Bar Higuey was great – they put candles along the walkway in, the draping was nicely done, there are additional chairs and tables set along the perimeter. We opted to not go with candles in the water and it still looked great. It was sorta windy and during dinner, one of the fans came slightly unhinged and seemed like it was going to fall on our table! So we turned the fans off since they were rocking back and forth – it was a little warm all night but better that none of our guests were decapitated! I know we are all a little underwhelmed by the dinner options but it was actually pretty decent. We had the caprese salad, the beef tenderloin/pesto chicken, and the cream brulee. All were tasty. We had stickers on the escort cards to denote the main course choices and everyone got what they wanted. Videographer We got the Star video package and our videographer was Oliver from Tropical Pictures. He seemed to be pretty present throughout the night, he even had a second camera set up at our ceremony so he could move around for different angles from his own camera. We decided the day we left that we wanted to get the raw footage from the entire wedding, in addition to just the 40-60 minute edited version. We stopped in the Trop Pictures studio at the resort, they tracked him down for us and he agreed to give us all of the movie files for an extra $100. We thought he was just going to email it to us but he came to the resort with the SD disks and we started copying all of the movie files onto Jeff’s laptop. The first of the three disks took thirty minutes and we had to catch our shuttle to the airport. Oliver’s home/office was 2 minutes from PUJ so he agreed to meet us at the airport to finish the transfers. So while we waited in line to check-in, he sat on a nearby bench with our laptop and waited for the files to finish transferring. We’ve only had time to watch a handful of the files, which are in 30 second to 10 minute clips, but they look good so far. And even though we were already paying him extra, it was nice of him to meet up with us again and come to the airport. DJ We got the DJ basically just to play our iPod. We had him play our dinner music playlist on shuffle and at one point, I felt like there were songs being played that were not on our list. I went over to talk to him and for some reason he had started playing music from his own laptop. It was very obvious when our iPod said Mumford and Sons, but Bob Marley was playing that something was wrong. We switched it back over, but I’m still not sure why he just switched over in the middle of our playlist. During the dancing, the speakers started getting staticky and went in and out a few times but otherwise, the music all worked out. Cigar Roller We got the cigar roller and he was a big hit! We were 4 songs into our dance playlist and Marlene came up to Jeff & I and said to stop the music so the cigar roller to give a 15 minute intro. We were like, uh….that’s not necessary, we’ll just let people go up to him on their own. That worked out muuuuch better. Again, one of those rules they think they have to follow until you show them a different way. He had a pretty sizeable crowd all night and everyone had great things to say about his spiel. There were 20 cigars included in our package and he gave us the 5 extra at the end of the night. Cake We chose the vanilla cake with strawberry filling. I brought pictures of what I liked to Marlene and they did a decent job of replicating the picture. I wasn’t too concerned with the cake – it looked fine and tasted fine. Again, another detail I wasn’t concerned about. PS Not sure if any brides are considering the beach gazebo for the ceremony, but I will be honest with you, we saw 2 weddings there during our stay and it is literally a show. While they do a good job of keeping people back, there are people in their thongs and speedos taking tons of pictures of you nearby. The beach gazebo is an absolutely beautiful location but just be aware that it is not private or intimate. Sorry for the lengthy and probably a little disjointed post! I will try to get some pictures together of our wedding that friends have shared. I have probably forgotten a lot of details but let me know if there are any other questions I can answer. In the end, Marlene runs a tight ship and she will get it done for you. I am jealous of all of you still planning and anticipating! It will all be worth it in the end and you will all have amazing weddings, I promise!

Hola ladies! We just got back from the DR and the rehearsal dinner at Jellyfish last Friday was AMAZING! We would have loved to do the wedding there too, but they didn't have any Saturday dates. The restaurant is beautiful, the food was delicious and Mayte is just awesome. I sorta enjoyed working with her more than our own WC initially Like Kirsten said, she is super busy but will do an amazing job when it's your turn. She told us she had a late night wedding until 3am one day and then had to be ready for a 7am sunrise ceremony the next morning - she is a rock star. We still want to be there it was such a great week! Good luck with the rest of your planning, I wish we were still anticipating our fabulous time!

Hola ladies!! We just got back last night and had the most AMAZING time. There is so much to write but we leave for the honeymoon tomorrow and there are mounds of laundry to do! I'm sorry to hear about your frustrations about reserving Bar Higuey. I know exactly how you all feel with the email communication but when you get down there and have your meeting with Marlene, you will feel better. And then when you see what an amazing job she does and the tight ship she runs, you will be so glad you got married there! This won't be my actual review - just laying the groundwork: we met with Marlene for two hrs on Tuesday and she was all business. We basically went over each line item of the wedding questionnaire that they will send you closer to your date and the schedule of your wedding day. We came up with a revised invoice and paid it at the front desk. We had welcome cocktails at the roof terrace on Wednesday night, and then the ceremony was on Saturday in the garden area by the convention center. It was not where they usually do those ceremonies but in a location my mother-in-law suggested earlier that week next to the garden gazebo. We had a cocktail hour nearby with the champagne and apps in the gazebo and then went over to Bar Higuey which was amazing for the reception. We had treated our guests to the La Barcaza boat cruise and rehearsal dinner at Jellyfish this week and they were still blown away by the wedding. I know you will all be happy with this decision, it's just so hard to visualize now and I totally get that - I'm a type-A planner too. It all works out I promise! I'll try to get a review going soon while everything is fresh but I can't promise it won't be until the end of next week -sorry Good luck planning!

Flying out today!!! Have a great week ladies and i'll talk to you again on the other side!

Oct 2012 Bride, thanks for posting those pictures! Hi March2013 Bride and welcome to the forum! I'll try to answer as many of your questions as I can, based on my own experience. I'm sure other brides can give you more info too. 1. We used a local travel agency that my mom uses to book a lot of her own travel. Basically how it works is that the TA will work with some sort of tour operator (ours used Gogo, there's also Apple Vacation and Funjet) and get slight discounts on the room rates. If you put a deposit down on a block of rooms, some will give you a free room with every 25 rooms booked. (or it might be 1 free night for every 25 nights - can't remember). We had a handful of guests use our TA, which is convenient because their room rate included an airport transfer. We also had a handful of guests book their whole trip through Orbitz or Expedia vacations. 2. Bar Higuey is an outdoor, open-air but covered area in the Barcelo's convention center. Sounds like it's very popular for their receptions. It was included in my package (Tangerine Sunset), but I think they extra charge might be $500 for it? Maybe another bride would know that. Here is a pic we took when we visited (sorry it's super large!): 3. I'm pretty sure you can do a beach reception, not sure about the extra charge. 4. We are using the roof terrace for welcome cocktails next Wednesday (wow - that's crazy to say!). Basically, you pay $500 to reserve the area and that's all you get. We are debating whether or not to get drink service there for $12/person/hour. They won't put a bar on the terrace, they'll only have waitstaff go back and forth and take orders. I'm sure you could just have an impromptu gathering there for free but you obviously won't be guaranteed space. It seems like it would be a hot commodity. 5. We have 70 guests and are paying for the extra 35 over our package. I think some other brides like Oct 2012 Bride are also doing the Strawberry package. If you have more than 25 guests, that's what it seems like you have to do. 6. I have heard that the full 3 day stay is not a DR requirement, but rather, something that resorts enforce to make sure they have all the documents. 7. I'm pretty sure they don't do Sunday weddings. Marlene said none of the wedding staff works on Sundays. Hope some of that helped! Good job on numbering all the questions - I've found that's the best way to email with the WC's!