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mbrady, I also send her emails with about 10 questions! I'm sure she's used to it. Thanks for sending that youtube link, it was cool to see that. We are having the ceremony in the garden area next to their convention center. They have a garden gazebo but it looks sorta janky so we opted for the garden. We're doing our reception in an area called Bar Higuey - it's in the convention center but it's actually an open air space. Here is a pic of it that we took on our site visit. I don't really know too much about the DJ situation - Marlene has told us we can give her a word doc of songs to give to him and she will make sure he has the songs we want, or we can meet with him based on his availability. I'd like to give him a list, verify he has all our songs and offer to send mp3s of ones he doesn't have and also bring an iPod/laptop as backup. lol trivera, there are many options for the reception! You can do it in one of their restaurants, on the beach, in the Bar Higuey space that I showed above, and as you said, in one of the ballrooms. We felt the same way about the ballrooms, all the resorts have them and it's sorta like, you could be in a ballroom anywhere in the world. Also, there are a ton of options for ceremony sites too - an ocean gazebo, the garden gazebo, a pier (which actually looks really cool but it holds max 55 and we will have more guests than that), the beach, a really cool roof terrace that is surrounded by an infinity pool-looking fountain, and a Catholic chapel (which seems to be a big draw for some girls).

Mbrady, when you say you are working on the fixed menu, do you mean you are trying to get Marlene to give you a choice on entrees? That is someing we are not too thrilled about - the fact that all guests will eat the same thing. It's sorta frustrating how rigid the Barcelo seems to be on certain things. My fiancé has 2 older sisters who got married in Riviera Maya and my future mother-in-law has said aometimes you just have to keep harassing them until you get things done the way you want. Marlene had mentioned in an email that they are working on getting a catalog of flowers, etc. ready so they can show you ideas of what they can do, but it also does seem like you can send pics of what you want. I haven't picked out shoes yet either but a couple of good sites I've looked at are ninashoes.com, myglassslipper.com, and 6pm.com.

Sorry, I was mistaken - we are paying extra for the DJ. It's been so long since we did the invoice, I forgot what was included and what we are paying extra for. You can probably ask Marlene, or whichever WC you are working with, if you can bring your own centerpieces but we were fine having them do all the decorations since it was included in the package and it's less that we have to bring down. I still don't even have an idea of what I want and am not set on anything so this arrangement works for us. I doubt they would say no to you bringing your own, especially if it's included in your package since it's not taking money away from them.

trivera, The resort photographer is Tropical Pictures. They have a studio within the resort, so when you go on your site visit, you should make sure to stop and look at their portfolio. Unfortunately, the Barcelo does not allow outside photographers - you must use Tropical Pictures. The only exception is that if you bring your own down and they are a guest at the hotel. We were not super crazy about TP and are in the process of figuring out a photographer to bring down with us. We also did a site visit in September, right after we got engaged, and Barcelo was by far our favorite resort. I believe the 3 hour reception can be buffet or plated. Our package includes the DJ so we are planning on giving him a list and bringing an iPod as a backup. Barcelo also forces you to them for decorations only. You can bring your printed stuff like table cards and escort cards but I think everything else they do. It sorta sucks that they are so strict about this stuff but we still liked them the best. Hopefully you meet with Marlene when you are there, she was super sweet and knowledgeable. Email communication afterward is is a little spotty but she does a pretty good job of answering your questions. Hope that helps!

April 21, 2012 - Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe yay!

I like your idea of doing something just on the front, Janet, whether it be some bling or having a colored belt sewn in and ending at the corset tie-up. Thank you for the feedback, ladies!!

Hi ladies, I just ordered my dress yesterday! I am going to attempt to post the pics, but here's the link just in case (it's Da Vinci 8521): http://www.davincibridal.com/collections.php?cat=22&p=141&t0=f&t1=b&t2=c I had been scouring this thread for a while trying to find what I was looking for and you all had such good ideas and feedback! My question is, what do you think about tying a blue sash (wedding color) around my waist in this dress? I'm concerned about how it might look with the way the back is angled down. The lady at the store suggested maybe loosely knotting a sash on the front left side instead... Thanks for any feedback! Wish it was February and it was here now! Cynthia

My dad passed away about 7 1/2 years ago and I will definitely have my mom walk me down the aisle. I love the idea of having some sort of picture or something of his attached to my bouquet and leaving a chair open for him. My question for you ladies is, what should we do about the parent/children dances? My FI is the only boy with 4 older sisters so I am sure him and his mom would like to have a dance. But my mom thought the idea of her and I dancing together was weird - lol. Would it be weird do our first dance and then only have FI and his mom dance?? Thanks!

Has anyone had this included on their invoice? We are planning on having our rehearsal dinner at the Kukua Restaurant and they included a 16% ITBIS on our invoice. I looked it up and it seems to be some tax on goods in the DR but our resort didn't have that on our invoice. Just wondering if anyone else has run into this? Thanks!!

I am considering them for our invites. I just ordered a few samples to see the quality, so I can let you know!

Hi ladies, We are considering using La Barcaza for a day trip excursion the day before our wedding. Can anyone who has used them tell me about what the 3 hour tour includes. I keep reading about the "Natural pool" - are the guests supposed to get out and swim around, so we should advise people to wear their bathing suits and bring towels? Or is it more just everyone enjoying a boat tour and eating & boozing?? Thanks!

Congrats! We went down for a wedding site visit a few weeks ago and one of our stops was Ocean Blue. Very fun looking resort and the wedding coordinator seemed very accommodating. You'll love it!

Sorry, I should have been more specific - I was just wondering about the tweezers and the nail clippers. I've never had a problem with either of those. The creams and liquids were not the issue.

Hi ladies! We traveled down to the DR a few weeks ago to do our wedding site visit and in the airport on the way home, I noticed a sign that said you were not allowed to have the following in your carry-ons: Hair dryers Curling irons Straighteners/flat irons Scissors (any size) Nail clippers Tweezers Umbrellas Creams (more than 3 ounces) Liquids (more than 3 ounces) I had tweezers and nail clippers in my bag but was still able to get through. But the following week I traveled to El Salvador for work and they inspected everyone's bag at the gate and took my tweezers, so I guess this must be some Central America/Caribbean restriction? Did anyone else have a problem with this?? Thanks!

marirocks, I think we visited when they were setting up for your wedding! Were your colors pink and orange? It looked great!

Barcelo just felt a little more upscale than Ocean Blue and ME. Both were very nice resorts, and we actually stayed at an Ocean resort in Riviera Maya last February. They both look like great resorts for vacations, but we wanted a nicer place for people to stay for our wedding. Plus, we liked the wedding venue options at Barcelo more than what the other 2 had to offer. At this point though, we are still trying to finalize the dates so who knows, we may end up at one of those other resorts! Oh, also, the WC at ME said they don't have any availability for April or May either! Thanks for the info on the TA - I'll definitely check them out!

JRM, thanks for the info! We also visited Dreams Palm Beach, Iberostar (which we also liked but have a feeling it would be expensive for our guests), Majestic Elegance, and Ocean Blue and Sand. We stayed at the Grand Palladium Palace and also visited Kukua and Jellyfish restaurants (liked both). This is probably an ignorant statement, but I didn't realize travel agents were still relevant, but I guess this is a situation in which they are still valuable. Do you have to pay them a commission? Eva, their website has a weddings section that has a lot of info, the same info Marlene gave us at our visit. For the most part, she is also pretty good at replying to emails if you want to start contacting her directly (not sure if you have set a date or just have intentions of a 2013 wedding there).

Hi ladies, My fiance and I were just down in Punta Cana this past weekend for a quick wedding site visit. We checked out a bunch of resorts and Barcelo Bavaro was by far our fave! Marlene was super friendly and knowledgeable. We are really excited at the prospect of working with her. We are hoping to get married sometime next April/May and are waiting to hear back from her on dates. Our biggest issue was how we can get a good rate for our guests. Marlene seemed to think that we wouldn't be able to get a block of rooms set aside at a discounted rate, and that we'd have to check with a travel agent. Can anyone who is in the official planning process or has had their wedding here confirm this or share how you went about it? Thanks!!

Hi ladies! Up until a few weeks ago, I wasn't aware that there were other options for weddings other than the resorts in DR! Sooo glad that someone mentioned the Jellyfish restaurant in another thread somewhere. It looks AMAZING. I just spent the last few days scanning this whole thread (hello type A). So far, it sounds like a lot of ladies have 2012 dates that are not Saturday...was that because they are already all booked? I just got a response from Mayte and she said "we have some problems with the Saturdays". Just wondering if we are SOL for a Saturday wedding and may have to settle for maybe a rehearsal dinner instead? We are going down to the DR in 2 weeks for a scouting trip and are definitely going to try and make it over here. She wouldn't confirm a set time for us to go visit but said "For me is perfect at time you need, just call me at 809 307 73 61 and if I´m not there, I´ll be there in secons." Does it sound like we can just show up? Thought I would pose these questions here since some of you have had a lot of communication with her already and might be able to decipher I guess the main real question I have is, are most girls just relying on Mayte to provide the decor (both for ceremony and reception) based on photos you send her, or are you bringing your own things down too? Thanks in advance and looking forward to being a part of this thread!

Thanks for the responses ladies. Been super busy - started a new job and have been traveling nonstop, and we just got back from a trip to Italy (which funnily enough was what the boy led with when he proposed - how do you say no to that?? ;-) 140 was what we both did as a preliminary guest list to invite, but I think that just got larger - closer to 200, like you Manda. We decided we wanted to invite everyone that would be invited to a stateside wedding. I am trying to reconcile the fact that I can't have both the destination wedding AND everyone close to us there. Blerg. Also, we decided to try the DR instead of Riviera Maya. My fiance has four older sisters, two of which got married in Riviera Maya. So I think the idea of "following in their footsteps" became less and less appealing as planning became more real. So, I'm sorry to leave this thread because it has been TREMENDOUSLY helpful. But also looking forward to the next steps in planning. Thanks ladies!

Thank you so much for posting this! I'm sorta really excited about putting our OOT bags together - such a nerd!

Hello everyone! We got engaged about 3 weeks ago - which I guess is not really "newly" engaged. Everyone keeps saying to "enjoy being engaged" but we'd like to have a spring 2012 DW so I feel like I gotta get a move on! Right now, we are trying to decide between Riviera Maya (Mexico) and Punta Cana (Dominican Republic). We want as many of our friends and family to be able to come so we wanted somewhere that was easily accessible from the US (everyone's from all over) and have it at an AI resort. We are planning a site visit trip with our moms at the beginning of September and hoping to nail down a date and place then, and send out STDs. How did people choose their destination, resort? What sort of issues did you consider? I've heard that the final guest list is even less than you expect. How much have people's guest lists shrunk from an initial go around? When do you get a final head count? Do you just wait until people RSVP from the invites? Does our timeline sound reasonable? Are we being too ambitious with a spring 2012 wedding? Sorry about all the questions - I have no idea if I'm on the right track so far. Thanks for all the help - looking forward to being a member of this site!

Hi everyone! I literally just joined but spent the last few days pretty much reading this entire thread...phew! We just got engaged 3 weeks ago and as much as we wanted to just "enjoy being engaged" (as suggested by others), we would like to do a DW sometime next spring, and probably at GP so I'm feeling like I'm already behind! So, our plan is to do a site visit with our moms the beginning of September and book/pencil in/put down a deposit/whatever sometime between end of April 2012-mid May 2012. Our initial pass at a guest list is about 140, but that was being pretty stingy, and a lot of people have said that there will be less people than you expect. How did everyone forecast their guest count for budgeting/figuring out logistics for events at the resort? When does that need to be communicated to the WC, did you just wait until you got RSVP cards back? Also, am I being way too ambitious for not picking out a destination until September for an April/May wedding?? Looking forward to finally being a contributor on this thread. Thanks in advance ladies!