Huskergirl9

Hi Ladies!! We are back!! First off, thank you all so much for your help, advice, & reviews. They were all VERY helpful during our planning. Our wedding coordinator was Hildebranda & she was amazing!! She answered all our questions promptly via email & it was very nice to finally meet her & thank you her in person at our meeting. We arrived at BBPD the evening of Tuesday May 27th. (Unfortunately our luggage was lost...yes with my wedding dress & all.... but luckily I packed an extra set of clothes, swimsuit, & flip flops in carryon) Our luggage did arrive 24 hrs. later but during that time it did get a little stressful with the language barrier and the fact that the concierge was tired of seeing us. We did ask for the room upgrade with our wedding package and received a very nice room that had a walk out to the beach and a wonderful view of the ocean. We did not upgrade to Club Premium and were happy with the Junior Suite Deluxe Ocean View. On Wednesday May 28th, we met with Hildebranda to go over the wedding details. She had us fill out all the detail information & then finalized everything that day. (We had chose the Mint package as our party was small with mostly family) We also had chose to use Tropical Pictures and a representative from TP was at our meeting and we filled a questioner form from them as well. They are very detailed and want to make you happy! Afterwards we had our couple messages that was included in our package. (my only advice for this...wish we had scheduled on a day that we didn't feel rushed. The spa is wonderful & you could spend a whole day there relaxing...my advice would be to schedule early in the day, relax, and enjoy the amenities) Thursday May 29th, we spent with our families at the beach. We tried to welcome all our guests as they arrived. Friday May 30th, we played golf. One perk with this was if you purchased an item in the golf store your club rental fee was waived. We only had to pay for our cart fee. That evening our group met at the Hoyo 19. We did not make a reservation, as they do not require one there, but we did arrive around 7:00 so that we could be sure to get a table big enough for all of us. There were 19 of us & they were a little hesitate at first but after speaking with the manager they became very accommodating. The food is excellent at Hoyo 19, I highly recommend them! They are also not as busy as the other restaurants being it is a little bit of walk to get to it. It's located by the golf course. Saturday May 31st...Wedding Day!! We returned to Hoyo 19 for breakfast with our families. We then went our separate ways until the ceremony at 3 pm. My nieces and my sister in law met at our room to get ready. TP took prep pictures at this time as well. Hildebranda picked us up shortly before 3:00 and drove us to the Beach Shop in a golf cart. All the guests were there ready and waiting, it went by so fast I wish I could have stopped time and soaked it all in...it was absolutely beautiful and breath taking!! Everything was all that I ever wanted it to be. We had the trio band play during the ceremony and afterwards. I had originally wanted to play my own music but decided that the sound system there was not that good (no one would be able to hear much anyways, so I didn't mess with it) The Trio Band did an amazing job and we were very happy with them. TP captured all the moments that I wanted, after the ceremony he took as many pictures as requested and then as we did our "couples shots" the guests enjoyed the yummy appetizers on the beach. Afterwards we joined them & visited with everyone until our hour was up. We then met an hour later at the Santa Fe Restaurant for our reception. We did not have a big reception/dance, we were happy with the private room they provided to keep it quaint with our families. The wedding cake was DEVINE!!! My favorite was the white cake with strawberry filling....I could've eaten the WHOLE cake! YUM!! We then met at the Taino bar for a few drinks before heading to our room. (we spent most evenings here, it was a nice little quit place for our small group of adults to meet) Our room was decorated with rose petals and we had champagne & fruit waiting upon our arrival. Sunday June 1st: We did receive our breakfast room service which was nice. Hildrebranda did ask when to have it delivered during our Wednesday meeting and they were very prompt. Ladies, I will chime in just like all the other brides....DO NOT WORRY!!! They are there to make it easy and they want to do their best. I'm SO happy we chose BBPD and cannot wait to go back!! I know our wedding was very small but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Happy planning ladies and wish I could go back today!! Couple extra things: * Wifi can be purchased if you are not Club Premium. We purchased because most of our guests had iPhones and we were able to message each other. Wifi is spotty but works most of the time. 5 days = $35.00, 6 days = $40.00 ect. * most restaurants require reservations which fill quickly. Although Hoyo 19 did not require reservations and the food was very good. * We were able to group the photo package with our wedding package & pay by credit card at the welcome desk BUT any additional pictures we purchased outside of the package quantity had to be paid to Tropical Pictures. We paid in cash to avoid an additional 18% sales tax if paid via credit card. *If you have children with your party. They are given a wrist band upon their arrival for the Pirates Island Water Park. Keep in mind, which we did not know, they must use their free entry the following day. If they do not use it then, you loose it. It cannot be used later during their visit. *kayaking, wind surfing & paddle boats are all included with your stay

@@LovelyGemini, thank you so much! @@minigodiva, thank you for the reminder! We will contact our credit card companies. Thank you!

@@LovelyGemini, thank you for your helpful review! Congratulations! One question my FI and I have is on the information we received from Tropical Pictures. They require a cash payment or if we pay with a credit card they will charge an additional 18% tax fee to use a credit card. Is this true? Also, when you paid for the wedding package at the BBPD will they charge an additional 18% fee if paid by credit card? Seems like a ton of cash to carry with us if they are going to ding you with additional fee's for using a credit card... I appreciate you help in advance. Thank you! @@NatJ, we are curios ourselves. We also were curious about cost of laundry. @@AddyB, I would recommend booking a smaller package just in case your final head count is not the size of your package. If you book the Strawberry pkg (25ppl) it's an extra $60.00 pp. The Tangerine pkg (35 ppl) is an extra $70.00 pp. Our WC suggested to book the smaller pkg and then you can always increase. (you cannot decrease your pkg). Best of luck planning ladies! I leave in a week for BBPD and cannot wait!!!

@candacey - Thank you for the info, very helpful. Congratulations as well!! @MrandMrsBonitto2016 you can send an email to: [email protected]

Thank you ladies for the great info and reviews! I have two months to go as well, getting super excited!! After reading through posts, should I try contacting Hildebranda before leaving for BBPD? Sounds like most of our decisions will be made once we arrive. We will be arriving 3 days prior to the wedding. We have selected the Mint package on the beach. Pretty small group, so no dance reception. We will basically use what's included in the package. One question that has been brought up with our guests is: Does the Wi-Fi work well throughout the resort? We are going to pay for everyone to receive Wi-Fi as most of our phones will use this for messaging one another. Does anyone know the current pricing/room? Also, Has anyone noticed if the BBPD has changed their wedding package rates for 2014? All my info is from 2013 & I've noticed brides from years back post later that prices increase. Just curious, guess we are stuck no matter what. Thank you ladies for all your info, help, and advice. Looking forward to hearing from some more of you as you return.

Hello ladies! I have been following this forum since September. First off, thank you!! You guys have been a huge help in the planning process of our big day! Especially during the several change overs of WC. I have corresponded with Hildebranda via email a couple times. Mostly just to make sure that I still had a WC. My biggest hang up right now is not being able to proceed with decisions because we do not have a final head count. From what I have read, this isn't a big concern until right up to the wedding day. Mostly just wanted to say "Hello" & "Thank you"! Happy Wedding Planning!