natalieblev

Curls thank you so much!! Looks like a great site!! I think I'm going to ask my sisters and parents what they would like for a little feedback! I really want everyone to have a good time!

I have 40 guests booked so far and finally my maybe list is getting smaller so I can start ordering favors and things! I was just wondering if anyone has any ideas on new items to put in the oot bags? I have all the normal stuff- first aid, medicines, koozies, flip flops...but anything unique? We will all be there for seven nights do I want to make sure I am thinking of things they would want or forget etc or would be fun to do with other guests like cards etc.

I have a question for future or past brides...have any of you decided on excursions to do with your guests? Im trying to figure out what would be fun for everyone. We will all be there for seven days so I want them to have time to do their own thing, but also have some stuff planned out that we can do together. Has anyone done the shopping and into the city of Bavaro excursion or heard about it? So far i have a welcome cocktail meeting (not planned by the hotel, just meeting at one of the resort bars for our free drinks per the advice of a member on here! Thanks!) the rehearsal dinner all together and both the bachelor and bachelorette parties Also if any of you are having your bachleorette parties there what are you doing and where?

My TA is trying to get an answer right now, but she says not to worry that they have to honor what was reserved. (I mean in my opinion the "deluxe" rooms they are showing now on the website is actually the blue golf room which i think is alot nicer than the older deluxe room, however those rooms are pushed back onto the golfcourse and the others are closer to the beach. Also just an FYI when i talked to my TA about this she said she doesnt know why i think reserving at the adults only doesnt allow you access to the BBPD- she was just there in July and said that you are allowed access....soooo not really sure....but none of our guests are being directed to reserve at the adults only anyways...guess just incase for the people who have the deluxe room already.

After reading what COCO holly wrote about the deluxe rooms I went to the website to see what the deal was (because i already have guests who reserved that room and were believing it to be in the palace deluxe section) and the whole room description and pictures is not on the site anymore. Now a deluxe room if the blue golf suite...Im so confused and wondering would my guests who reserved the deluxe room be put in the adults only or would they be moved back to the golf area? Does anyone have any information on this switch?

Hey Miss Jali....Yes we are going to use TP. At first I had no desire to use them, but i they actually started updating facebook with new pictures regularly and they are so much better than the samples i got six months ago. I dont know if they hired new people or what. Also my TA has talked to them and they allow you to have a meeting and tell them what kind of photos you want, etc. We considered bringing in a photographer (i wanted to use a couple in PC but they will be on vacation during my wedding), but I finally just sort of gave up on that idea the more i saw the newer pictures from TP. I think they are expensive but currently my TA is checking into how much it costs to get the rights to all your pictures...as well as we will be customizing a package (I dont need 20 8 x 10's, etc) so hopefully it will work out just fine. Also we do have the crutch of my FI's family- his sister and his sister in law are both starting photographers we just did not want them to have to feel left out of the partying and fun to be on duty constantly. But honestly I think TP does pretty pictures and im not really that concerned about it anymore! Im much more aggravated at flower prices these days!

Congrats and have fun!! Cant wait to hear all about your special day!!

Hi Jamie I am getting married in 2013 so prices do change, but I have secured the DJ with MC but NO FIRE for 800$ I believe. Maybe 1000...but somewhere in that line. Im getting confused on prices now as i have spent the last few weeks booking and reserving things there and cant remember which is which. BUt if you dont need the fire works then i would just go for the dj and MC. I have seen where other brides have used a family member or friend to do the MCing and that could save you money. We just didnt have anyone in mind that would want to be in charge of that so we went ahead with getting the mc attached. I just sent Miss Jali above the 2013 prices i was quoted for Tropical Pictures. And I know it is frustrating that she wont really respond, but I am still having trouble getting any answers from them and my wedding date is booked as well as other things like cocktail hour, dj, photo etc. I have no answers on how much flowers cost (because i sent pictures of ones i want, not the typical ones that come in the package) and no info on food, cake, decor, etc. They say that until about six months out they really dont communicate. But Im just going to trust the other brides who have said it all worked out in the end and do as much as i can do on my own and with my travel agent. But about your date, I wouldnt worry too much. It seems pretty easy to get the date of your choice because they do i think 4 weddings a day there. Only prob I would see is if you pick a Saturday (seems to be the most popular day even for a DW wedding) or if you are certain you want a specific area for your reception because that seems to be where people get held up.

Miss Jali these are the prices for 2013 I was given for photography Gold Package $2500.00 Pre or post Wedding Photo session Photos of Bride and groom getting dressed Ceremony 1 Hour Photo Session after the ceremony Reception Coverage 150 Images Printed 6x8 (Presented in a mixture of Color, Black and White or Sepia 20 8x12 (Photos of the selected Images) CD with Digital negatives of the selected 150 photos DVD slideshow presention with Music of the 150 slelected images Silver Package $1750.00 Photos of Bride getting dressed Ceremony 1 Hour Photo Session after the ceremony 100 Images Printed 6x8 (Presented in a mixture of Color, Black and White or Sepia 10 8x12 (Photos of the selected Images) CD with Digital negatives of the selected 150 photos Bronze Package $1100.00 Ceremony 1 Half Hour Photo Session after the ceremony 50 Images Printed 6x8 (Presented in a mixture of Color, Black and White or Sepia

lalalal The disco is just the big club right on site at the resort. It would def keep the party going if you were looking to keep dancing/drinking and it's right there. and from what i have seen they have VIP areas so you could maybe even secure one of those sites for your party. We have more of a drinking/talking group than a dancing one so I plan to get the extra hour and then head to Strikers sports bar as a group where we can keep drinking, watch sports and have conversation....plus a bonus is they have american style bar food like wings/pizza/nachos that I know everyone will be wanting after four hours of dancing and drinking. My wedding is at 4 though, so reception doesnt start until 6 cause i also reserved a cocktail hour in between. So it will already be 10 by the time we head over to the bar. If you wanted to go offsite...you could look into the cave I think it is called. It is another disco type place that isnt far from the resort and they have hired vans that take you over there....it is an old cave turned into a club and they do all you can drink (it would be expensive if you plan to pay for all your guests though)...this is what my husband to be will do for his bach party while we are there.

From the information I have been given it is like this- If you have any real flowers the hotel HAS to be in charge of those. They want your business and wont allow you to have whole arrangements made from another source. However if it is fake flowers or flowerless centerpieces they do not care if you bring those in and will help set them up for you. You could just double check through email though to be certain because sometimes I get different info then other brides on this forum about the same things and then have to dbl check and see the real allowances they make.

For the OOT bags I saw an idea that i thought was cute...its called an "Oh SHIT! Kit" and its just a DIY little kit that has pepto, pepcid, stomach type medicines...I may change mine to the Oh Crap Kit hah but i thought it was a cute idea! Also for smaller wedding parties I saw where a bride did a "wedding facebook" and basically she put together a little yearbook with each guests picture and then a small and funny description of who they were. She placed those in the welcome bags so everyone could "get to know each other" by looking through the facebook. I think they were both in techy fields so it was a cute idea! I think I may get my bags from weddingchicks.com. They have 10$ bags that are really cute and I really want my guests to be able to reuse them again. (Plus im doing one per room rather than per guest so it is cheaper for me, mainly cause I really dont think men will be wanting a LOVE tote )

I love your dress!! I had the same reservations after I purchased my dress...I kept telling my mom it just feels too fancy for a DW. But my sister said It is my day and if i picked a simple dress just because i was worried id be overdressed it would be such a mistake! Brides, no matter where they are getting married, should feel beautiful and you look gorgeous in your dress!! Oh and i vote long veil!!

This is a gorgeous dress!!! I even showed my FI and he loved it!

Thanks everyone for their reviews!!! So many beautiful brides and great news!!! Can anyone tell me how much they paid or are paying for the DJ? I got quoted 522 for just a guy to play our music plus another 250 to MC. That seems crazy to me...anyone have anything on the DJ cost?

Thanks so much!! I will search for them!

PS- I would love any ideas you ladies have for a kids table or things for them to do at the reception that I could DIY and bring down with me. We will have kids ranging from 6-1.

Hi Ladies!! I thought I better get in on this thread cause my mother keeps saying "You better start planning girl!" So far we have 35 guests booked, with a maybe list of about 15-20. For your OOT bags are you guys doing one for each person or each room? I think I am going to do one for each room to save money on the bags themselves (plus we have a lot of couples going and Im sure the men do not want or need a reusable bag) Still place things for two (or three) in the bag, but only do one. So far I have got my dress, picked out the bms dresses, picked my colors, reserved the DJ and photographer, reserved the reception location, decided on a "theme", sent out STDs with a wedding website, etc. Currently I am trying to work out flowers and prices with the resort (because I know this is another big cost and need to budget accordingly) so hoping that will be done soon! I like the idea to send out invites in Jan. I was thinking it was too early, but April is our blocked room cut off so I guess I better get going on those. Still havent decided whether to get them made or DIY. Right now I am working on fun themed do not disturb tags for the welcome bags...I have decided to make myself a brooch bouquet so I am in the first stages of that. I have my plans all written down and ready to go, however I am finding that my resort takes FOREVER to respond to anything (it took the last two months to figure out the photo and DJ which are hired through the resort) so I have to wait on flowers and prices for the cocktail party etc before i can really purchase anything else. But it will give my guests a little more time to reserve! Thanks for all the info here! I feel like i need to get moving today on my DIY stuff!! Oh Jamie we are getting married in the states first and just doing a symbolic ceremony...however I have hired a pastor (he is a missionary living in Punta Cana) to do our service so that I have the religious aspects that are very important to me! So I havent had to deal with any of the paperwork.

Just a heads up...my uncle just found a great deal on resortvacationstogo.com ....He will be getting the family duplex for him, his wife and their teenage son (the one with two bedrooms, two bathrooms) for six nights for only 540 a person! I am getting married in June so that is the down season, but I checked and they are running the deluxe room and the family duplex lower in price right now as a special on that site incase any of your guests are looking to book now. Not sure how everyone is doing it but just thought I would share cause that is a great deal!!

Thanks for the reply JRM!! Trivera- Noone has told me about that outside vendor fee (ofcourse!) I had no idea. Does anyone know if they have burlap runners and chair bows? Or if you tell them thats what you want can they get it for you?

I was thinking day pass, but I knew they had done pictures there before and so would know how to get around it in the cheapest way. I just emailed her from the blog and she responded within one day.

(those stars are blocking out *****

Sorry for the multiple posts, but I wanted to let anyone know who is still looking for a photographer...I found a couple who live part time in PC and their work is AMAZING. Beyond Amazing. I am so sad they will be leaving ONE day before my wedding for a trip out of country, but thought you guys might want to check them out. I almost considered asking the hotel to push my wedding date up by two days (cause ill be there for a week) just so have them. Also they have pictures of a recent wedding at BBPD so thought that might be helpful too. Here is their blog link if you want to check it out. http://www.*****novablog.com/barcelo-punta-cana-wedding-photographer-lysa-tanner/

Also anyone on here using Pastor York?

I have a question for those of you that have been to Bar H. When it is not done for weddings i have seen pictures that have lounge chairs/loveseats/cushions outside around the bar and that small pool area that is accessible because it is indoor outdoor. You know in the surrounding grassy area. Do they keep that lounge area set up during a wedding too? I would love that and think my guests would enjoy that if i did end up going with the cigar roller.