Hi Everyone!!! We are back and the wedding was AMAZIINNNGGGG!!!!! Seriously Amazing..
You can visit my facebook page for pictures Sarah Bristow (Douglas)
Ok on with the review:
Our wedding coordinator was originally Claudia, she has since left Barceló... we then started with Marlene who to be honest wasn't that great with communication. When we arrived and had our meeting, we actually met with Estriella, as Marlene was away on business. THIS WAS A GODSEND!!!! Estriella was AMAZING.. I cant even tell you... she was there from beginning to end. I literally handed over all my centerpiece stuff, my ipod with the play lists, our décor that we brought down, our message in a bottle and guest book stuff, place cards, seating chart, EVERYTHING. And it was set up perfectly and exactly how I imagined. She was amazing.

Location:
We chose the coral beach (cliff area) on the palace side. We were told that we would have to pay 15$ extra per person to have the ceremony there (we were guests at the tropical)... I told them that was ridiculous and our wedding planner decided to wave the fee for us :) We chose this spot because I saw previous weddings that week and did not like how there is no traffic control for who is behind you in the water, and also the coral cliff was SO private. Perfect for 34 guests :) We had our champagne toast shortly after the ceremony on the cliff area while taking group shots. it was fantastic. there was music that we chose from my ipod being played by one of the barcelo workers... everything was perfect.
It was threatening to rain that day, overcast weather, and while that is fantastic for pictures, it is NOT fantastic for dancing on the beach if it rains. So we were given the option to be in the Mariachi open air grill area. I absolutely do not regret this decision. In my mind I had wanted to be in the grill, because there is a huge fan, there is a good floor for dancing, and there are bathrooms and the bar in the center. They hung paper lanterns for us, they put strings of lights up the poles, and the DJ (700$ for 3 hours, but he stayed for 5 in total--no extra charge to us) brought lights as well which helped light up the entire room. We had 4 square tables, and a head table, dance floor was in the center. Mint green chair sashes and runners. Centerpieces were clear glass plates with sand and shells with a candle. It looked amazing and I am so happy we chose that area. It wasn't super dark and I wasn't stressed about wind or rain :) We were completely private as well :)

Food:
We chose, Cesar salad (SOOOO GOOD), Minestrone soup (YUMMM), Beef Tenderloin Wellington (huge hit, it was a great steak), and Chocolate Mousse (it was weird... but pretty to look at).
We chose a 1 layer chocolate cake. OK, so they said that we should get 2 tiers because 1 tier only feeds 15 people???? that cake was HUGE!!!!! Seriously, it could feed AT LEAST 50 people. Don't waste the extra money on 2 tiers... you only need 1. And by the way, get the chocolate, it was the best chocolate cake ive ever had.

Drinks:

The bartenders danced with us, they gave us shots while we were dancing, they were fantastic and made the night even better. All of the servers and bartenders were great and worked SO hard to make sure we had a fantastic night

DJ:
Originally I did not want a DJ. We were just going to use my ipod, which would have worked out fine. But my dad wanted someone to do all the music so we wouldn't have to worry about it. It was 700$ for 3 hours, but Estriella got him to stay for the full 5 hours for 700$... it was WORTH IT. He played all my music, mixed and blended it, put some of his own into there... it was well worth it. Plus the cool lights that were part of the package really helped with dancing atmosphere as well. This is the Barceló DJ, not an outside vendor, he was great :)



HAIR AND MAKEUP:
Everyone warned me not to go to the spa at the resort for hair. It was part of my wedding package, and I knew that there was no way I was going to pay 300$ for an outside person to come in to do my hair. So I went to the spa with my 2 bridesmaids.
They did a supurb job. I have NO idea where the bad reviews came in. I showed the girl pictures of what I wanted, she put my extensions in, she did an AMAZING job. I would recommend the spa at Barceló for hair.
They also did side curled hair for my bridesmaids with their extensions too, their hair turned out exactly as asked and we were all very happy!
I did my own makeup and my bridesmaids makeup... (something I am very particular about) I wore Estee Lauder Double wear light foundation, Nars creamy concealer, Makeupforever eyeshadow with primer underneath, Stila waterproof pen liner, Sephora Mink False strip lashes, MAC lipstick with YSL gloss overtop. For powder I used Urban Decay Naked Powder. Eyebrows are makeupforever pencil. Nars Orgasm Blush, Nars contour palette in Olympia, and Makeupforever powder highlighter...and then Urban Decay All night set spray. My makeup did not budge. It lasted through crying, sweating, wiping.. :) Check out these products if you need makeup that wont melt.
TRANSPORTATION:
Everyone met in the lobby at 2:30, Estriella picked up our 34 guests at the main lobby via gold cart train, and brought them over to the ceremony site. They were shuttled back to the lobby bar for cocktail hour, and shuttled to the Mariachi Grill for reception.

Myself and my bridesmaids, mom and dad, were picked up at 2:50 at my room to be brought to the ceremony space, the ceremony started at 3pm.
OFFICIANT:
We filled out the paperwork at home in Canada... we had a symbolic ceremony. With that being said its not much different, you just are signing a unofficial certificate at the ceremony. the officient costs $300 US CASH. This is collected before the ceremony. I actually did not speak to her before the ceremony, but my husband did. She did a fabulous job. We did our own vows, and a sand ceremony (the resort provided the sand ceremony as part of our package).
PHOTOGRAPHER:
My family friend took all of our photos. He is not a professional photographer and does it as more of a hobby. With that being said the photos were great and we are so happy with them. There was no outside vendor fee obviously because he was a guest at the resort for a week with us. As well, I wasn't announcing him as the photographer.

OUTSIDE VENDORS:
We used none... Why would you pay 500$ to have someone come in... when the Barceló staff and what they provide are great??? Our wedding was $5400... we stayed on budget, and it was amazing. PS... I know that dance floor is tempting, go for the DJ instead with all the lights, same thing, just cheaper... and I saw the dance floor the night after, it was very small
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS:
BEST NIGHT OF OUR LIVES!!! There were no hiccups, no bumps, no issues... it was fantastic... THANK YOU SO MUCH BARCELO!!!!!!