jaj1230

So here it goes... Check in for us took about an hour.. our room was not ready (not a big deal). The front desk did however give me one of our guests receipts and vice versa and we were told we would get a new one to our room (never happend, but again not a huge deal). They upgraded us to the royal suites, to one of their newer villas, which was nice, however we were soooooooooo so sooo so osooooo far away from where our guest were going to be that after the first night we actually asked to be moved. we moved to a different part of the royal suites where the rooms were not AS nice but we were right next to our guest in the palace section so it was fine. They were very accomodating in switching our room though!! So we arrived tuesday and upon arrival we got our note telling us we meet with our wedding coordinator on Wed which was perfect because most of our guest werent arriving until late Wed. I was expecting to meet with Carolina and go over every single last detail of the wedding, from menu, to how we walk down the aisle, to color schemes, etc. This did not happen. We ended up having Kenia as our coordinator. She was very nice and sweet, but i had been in contact with Carolina for the past 12 months.. anyway she has a file with our information. I had my heart set on get married on the beach! That was the reason we were going to DR to get married - for the beach! Immediatly she steered me away from it saying how it is brutally hot on the beach and there is no covering for your guest and also that since it is not private you would have people in their bathing suits.. yes speedos.. lerking around and in the background of your pictures. So instead we were talked into the Gazebo which in the end was def the better choice!!!! It was beautiful, and more private, and we still took pictures onthe beach, but i have to say it was def atleast 10 degrees cooler on the beach. it was h-o-t hot at our ceremony. Besides that, we were supposed to have a private reception in one of the restaurants. Well that wasnt even an option, we were told that we would have it at La Uva which is an outside deck. Again, in the end this was beautiful and turned out perfect, but this is not what we had planned. It was hot and we wanted indoors with AC. Those two minor details being changed in the end was not a big deal because like i said it was perfect after all.. Now, the day of the meeting with Kenia we were also meeting with the photographer and DJ, and a big chunk of our guests were arriving, so to say the least my mind was in a million places. I just felt that Kenia should have asked me more questions and made sure i had everything covered, but she didnt. She showed us our menu (again, ended up being fine), we told her what color sashes, and that was it. If i had not previously filled out that check list with the flowers im pretty sure she wouldnt have even asked. I was expecting her to "reconfirm" and "explain" everything which didnt happen. We were done in about 35 minutes when her next couple walked in, who happened to be getting married tha same day as us , just two hours earlier. Needless to say after the fact i thought of a bunch of questions, concerns that werent addressed and couldnt get in touch with Kenia. When i called i was told she left and to come after 11 the next day. Well, we had more guest arriving that day and the wedding department is located on the other side of the resort and i couldnt make it there. When i called again same thing, they didn't want me to leave a message just to either call back or come and stop by. So now its friday, the day before the wedding, and my questions have still not been answered. My bridesmaids needed their dresses steamed, I wanted to change the bridal bouquet color, I had my cake topper and other things for the wedding that i needed to know when she would get it, in addition to not knowing how we were having everyone walk down the aisle because she said we didnt need a rehersal. I finally got in touch with Carolina who helped address some of these issues. She told me to leave whatever was needed for the wedding on the bed and Kenia would be there to pick it up the day of the wedding. I was also told my flowers would be delievered around 12 and left in my room. So now fast fwd to the day of the wedding... I was out all morning at the spa but stopped by between hair and make up to find that she did infact come to pick up everything i left for her. However flowers werent delieverd yet, i had table cards for her that she didnt pick up, and a few other things needed to be discussed. I tried calling the wedding dept several times and got no answer. The photographer went to my fiance at his brothers room at 1:45 to start with pictures of the groom getting ready... no flowers yet. They needed the boutoneirrs. Again, im calling Kenia - no answer. A little after 2 the flowers finally arrive.. perfect and beautiful.. minus the flower girls petals for her basket. This pissed me off that i couldnt get in touch with the coordinator, or anyone in the dept the day of the wedding. Any way, the show went on, we get to the ceremony, Kenia performed it and afterwards we took pictures. Our guests were taken to a nearby lobby for drinks and we met them there. We were told someone would pick us up and bring us to La Uva. the party was supposed to start at 6:30. Well at 6:45 were all still at the lobby. One of my bridesmaids walks over and she said they were still running around getting ready and Kenia told her we should all walk over. So we did... and when we got there everything was beautfiul.. except for the wine bottles with price tags placed on each table. Now, we were PAYING for open bar at an all inclusive which was ridiculous to being with, but now on top of it they put bottles of wine that needed to be paid for?!?! NOT ACCEPTABLE.... of all the little bumps (that to other brides would not be so little ) i bit my tounge... the fact that they were not prepared for our welcome dinner (yes thats another story), the fact that i couldnt get in touch with her, or that they never delived flowers for my flower girl, Or that they never picked us up from the lobby, or a few other things, i just didn't copmlain and went with the flow. This to me was tacky and disgusting, they should have asked us first and removed the price tags. I had my sister in law who speaks spanish go and speak to them and they immediatly removied them. After the dinner part of the party, Kenia was no where to be found. In fact, i never heard from her or anyone from the department after the wedding. Not a call to see how it was nothing... Just a standard note in our room with 2 t shirts. For those reasons alone, i was not impressed with the wedding department. In the end yes, everything was beaitufl, everything worked out perfect, but i was jsut not happy with the way we were treated. They 1000000000% do know what they are doing, and maybe thats why they dont feel the need to go over every detial with you, but to me, they should have went over everything and covered everything instead of me having to constantly try and get in touch with them. I will write my review on the other things like mannia, photoshop caribe, and Otium transporation, etc another time as that rant just took forever ... lol

Yes we just got married last weekend, may 3!!! They weren't terribly off but she never gave me a breakdown of what the costs were for. One example is the open bar--- we had a private reception so you have to pay a price for open bar. Well the price they give you is for 3 hours, yet you have the reception for 5. So the price I ended up paying was 2$ more a person then what was told to me and maybe 3$ more than what was on the website. Not a huge deal but we had 72 people so 2$ turns into almost 150$

They def make up their prices because prices the gave me were different from the prices on their website, and prices i actually paid were different then the prices she told me prior to meeting with her.

Photoshop Caribe was AMAZING!!! i was very very pleased with them!

Just got back from our wedding and it was amazing!!! I will try and write a detailed review when i have the chance but if any of you have any questions or concerns please feel free to ask, as i was just in your shoes not too long ago! I will say this, there were some minor issues that i had to let slide, i was not so impressed with the wedding department at the grand palladium, DJ MANNIA and our photographer (Photoshop Caribe) were the two best investments!

So i know that in the resorts it is not necessary to tip as a guest.. but what about when it comes to weddings? Here in NY you tip, everyone and anyone when it comes to a wedding. I just want to be prepared as to who we should be tipping, and how much. So far i thought -Wedding Coordinator - DJ -Photographer who else? do we tip wait staff and bartenders? what about transportation we have set up for to and from airport? Very confused.. please help

Im getting ready to head down for our May 3 wedding. We are living on Tuesday, so we have just a few more days to get everything together. - These OOT bags became such a headache. I never reazlied how difficult it would be to pack all the stuff to take with us!!! Anyway, I am still not happy about having to do one meal for all our guests for a private reception, but i wanted it in a restaurant rather then the beach. I wish there was a way to do the buffet option in the restaurant or something. One thing you girls should be aware of, I made appointments for my bridal party for hair/make up and was told they would need a 50% deposit... and that all services would be on the same bill. This means i am getting stuck with the $800+ tab for hair and make up for everyone!!! If i would have known i would have just told all the girls to book separatly! Still nervous and anxious how things will pan out. i hope it all goes smoothly!

Hi All!! Im getting married in just under a month and i would love if some of you ladies can asnwer some of my questions.. 1- We are having a private reception and i am not loving the idea that we all will have the same meal. Is there anyway around this? 2- How were the tables set up for the private reception. Is it one big table or indivual tables? do i need to make place cards? 3- why is carolina telling me that drinks are including and in the same sentence it will cost $$per person for open bar? can someone please verify the alcohol thats included and why we would have to pay additional? 4- hair and make up... were you guys pleased with the way they did hair and make up. i would love if someone could send me pictures so i can see the finished product. 5- flowers.. im so confused on flowers. Flowers for bouquets, boutinneirs, centerpieces.. HELP! jenny

I am having my wedding at GP in just a bit under a month. When i first started chatting with Carolina she assured me many times that we did not need to leave a deposit. This seemed weird to me as im from NY where everything requires a deposit. Since i felt so worried about this, i would randomly ask her and about 2 months ago she notified me that starting this year they changed their policy and they do in fact require a deposit to secure your date. From what i hear that have gotten very busy with weddings so maybe that is why. For any other past brides out there... did you get your hair and makeup down at the spa? im a bit nervous about that!

I have a lot of the same questions as you! I am getting married in may 2014. I have not done much on the planning end so this is a great thread for me to follow. I hope people has some good responses on here. We too are using photoshop caribe. I saw some post of people that used them and were happy so hopefully tht works out for us too.

Many people have advised us not to ship down anything (decorations, welcome bags supplies) and to just travel with it. My question is this: does anyone know if they need receipts or if there is a limit on how much we can spend. I just wanna know what/if there are limitations.

Hi everyone! i am planning a destination wedding in Punta Cana, DR for next year. I have been in contact with the wedding coordinator at this resort for the past couple of months but i still have that unsettling feeling. I have sent out save the dates, we have reserved the date, but they are telling me they dont require a deposit?!? Maybe im just used to how things run over here in NY but leaving a deposit is what secures everything. Ive asked the WC numerous times and she keeps saying no deposit is required. Have any brides out there experienced the same thing? Im terrified that we, along with all our guests will arrive to the resort, and they won't have us scheduled in. Also I have been very confused and have no recieved straight forward answers for some of my questions, if there are any other Grand Palladium (either bavaro, palace, punta cana, or royal suites) brides past or present, i would appreciate any advice or feedback.