Married or going to be married at Grand Palladium Punta Cana?

[Jessica1005]

Yeah i was sent the symbolic packages also, which is still confusing, the silver package is $690 for 20 people, and the other packages are $1350 or greater for 8 people. Looks like you get less flowers and could always upgrade. I feel like an idiot trying to figure them out, im obviously missing something. I booked in november and got replies to all my questions fairly quickly, within a day or too. A couple months before your date youll get an email from the spa asking you to pay big bucks for their services, I got mine yesterday. All these destination brides say not to worry and that everything will be figured out when you get there, but i cant help it, i want a preview of the entire day, and i want it now At the very least, i want to know how to arrange the music, what those packages mean, why the beach bbq is so $$$, and i want my future stepdaughter to finally pick out a dress she likes lol.

 

Happy Planning!

[motoroats]

Yes I'm also nervous about the wedding packages.. our wedding date is tentatively Jan 27, 2014, and staying at GP Palace. Of course the 2014 package won't be released until June, and we can't book the wedding itself until March, so we haven't booked the trip or started collecting deposits.

 

Some of the comments on this thread have been mentioning that the beach after-party is an extra $300-$500 or whatever, but on the site, you can add the beach party for $1300, and that's for only 15 people.. How does that work out? And has anyone booked the Tropical Promise package? We're looking at about 30 people coming so will my package go from $3000 (for 8 people) and then have to pay $20 for each additional person? And what about your color choices? Are the colors really limited to  the 3 they provide for each package? If we didn't go for the Tropical Promise package, I'd still want to pick the mango color scheme.. Does a person have that option?

 

Congrats to you all on your weddings at GP!

[Jenn963]

Originally Posted by motoroats 

 

Yes I'm also nervous about the wedding packages.. our wedding date is tentatively Jan 27, 2014, and staying at GP Palace. Of course the 2014 package won't be released until June, and we can't book the wedding itself until March, so we haven't booked the trip or started collecting deposits.

 

Some of the comments on this thread have been mentioning that the beach after-party is an extra $300-$500 or whatever, but on the site, you can add the beach party for $1300, and that's for only 15 people.. How does that work out? And has anyone booked the Tropical Promise package? We're looking at about 30 people coming so will my package go from $3000 (for 8 people) and then have to pay $20 for each additional person? And what about your color choices? Are the colors really limited to  the 3 they provide for each package? If we didn't go for the Tropical Promise package, I'd still want to pick the mango color scheme.. Does a person have that option?

 

Congrats to you all on your weddings at GP!

Hey motoroats congrats....I was told the beach party is just $15/pp for open bar and then $300 for the DJ....and i was also given a $550 price for dj/mc/mic/speakers/audio system and robotic lights i believe.........i dont think there;s a min or max on this cuz it's just $15 pp so it depends on how many guests u have. And yes...for any of the of the packages (other than the silver one), it only includes 8 people, so guests over that amount is $20 pp.  I haven't heard of the color limitations for each package but i think that's something I'll look into later down the road. hope this helps  

[eberry]

Originally Posted by Jenn963 

 

Ya i had issues with a wedding specialist company....Absolute Wedsite....they were so very disorganized and I didn't feel like it was going to be a good next few months if i stuck with them....those companies probably have sooo many weddings at a time that you're basically just another number....I didn't want to feel this way so I cancelled with them, lost a small deposit, but saved myself the hassle of dealing with them.  Either way, I found an amazing travel agent and i already am in contact with Carolina so I'm more "hands on" this way I feel.....I have read that the booking part is the most stressful but after that it's a breeze So good luck to you and hope it all works out!! 

And I think you misunderstood me...i'm not goin to GPPC next month lol...i WISH but I can't.  We aren't leaving till NOV 4 and we are stayin there for the whole week.  Luckily, I got my wedding date confirmed 4 days AFTER we arrive so I have those days to run around and look at florists and get tips from other brides who have their weddings there before me (*WINK WINK NUDGE NUDGE*) 

I have not booked a photographer but this will probably be my next task after invitations are sent out! carolina emailed me saying they charge $500 for an outside punta cana photographer/videographer...so it's either i bring my own family/friend who does photography or i use their in-house guy....i have to check their work out....

OOT bags...no....i'm not doin one but i think i should because i have a few things in mind I already wanna buy (flip flops, custom labelled mugs, sunscreen, fans, etc).....I will have to check with the mister for a budget on that LOL 

 

I"M SOOOO EXCITED!!!!! 

that's too bad that Absolute Wedsite didn't work out for you, but at least your travel agent is making you feel better

I guess i did misunderstand you... i though you said you were going to check out the resort in February... ahhhh how nice would that be! Congrats on getting your date confirmed - it makes it feel that much more "real", doesn't it?

for the photographer, our wedding planner told us that most resorts wave the outside vendor fee if you have the vendor (photographer, dj, etc) stay at the resort for a few nights.  since our photographer would be staying all week, we should be able to get that fee waived - hopefully! but awesome for you for having a family/friend who does photography, that's a great way to save some $$.

 

i feel like wedding planning is the only thing on my mind these days. it's going to be a long 9 months!

[Jenn963]

Originally Posted by eberry 

 

that's too bad that Absolute Wedsite didn't work out for you, but at least your travel agent is making you feel better

I guess i did misunderstand you... i though you said you were going to check out the resort in February... ahhhh how nice would that be! Congrats on getting your date confirmed - it makes it feel that much more "real", doesn't it?

for the photographer, our wedding planner told us that most resorts wave the outside vendor fee if you have the vendor (photographer, dj, etc) stay at the resort for a few nights.  since our photographer would be staying all week, we should be able to get that fee waived - hopefully! but awesome for you for having a family/friend who does photography, that's a great way to save some $$.

 

i feel like wedding planning is the only thing on my mind these days. it's going to be a long 9 months!

oh really? I wasn't told that....I asked Carolina if there's any way around this high fee but she said that is the policy for the hotel..but she did not mention that if we book an outside photographer and have him stay at the hotel a couple of nights, they'd wave it...i'll probably email her about that :/.....but I think that way, it will be more pricey..

 

the friend we had in mind to do our photography cannot make it unfortunately so we are stuck with having to book a photographer there in Punta Cana.  

 

yes 9 months to go..but i feel as though they will FLY BY!!! 

[Jenn963]

this is random...lol but...i'm quite upset (and a tad jealous) that there are a bunch of facebook pages for brides at other resorts (see "majestic Colonial Brides" or "Dreams Punta Cana Brides") and NOTHING for the Grand Palladium  

[eberry]

We could always create a page

[jenmheadrick]

We actually had to change our date from April 16th as our flights were sold out so we are now planned for March 23, 2013 at 4:00pm, 6:00pm dinner and the 8:00pm beach party!

[jenmheadrick]

We booked the Symbolic ceremony at 4:00pm that is $690 6:00 dinner (which we pick the resteraunt upon arrival) The $550 Beach Party + $15 per person open bar, you do have to have a min amount of people in order to have the beach party And for photgraphy we pciked Eva Hadhazy from Hadhazy Photography in Ottawa. She does amazing work and is in Punta Cana ALL the time. It was $1650, this includes 2000+ images on cd. She has a ton of different packages though, We do have to pay the resort $60 until 6:00pm then $60 until 2:00am as she is at our resort from 11:00am until 2:00am taking photos, so a total of $120 on top of her fee but I feel like she is totally worth it. I was able to book all of this within 6 months of my wedding date by being really annoying lol Carolina said that I wasnt able to book anything Until January 2013 and our wedding was in March 2013 but I did email, email, email and email asking to book and she finally caved. If any body needs any extra info I am always happy to help as I know how awful it is when you wait two days and only receieve a two word answer from her. I have a ton of emails with extras, pictures of locations for ceremony and reception, the beach party, costs for all of the different wedding ceremony packages... Let me know :0) HAPPY PLANNING AND CONGRATULATIONS!!

[Jenn963]

Originally Posted by jenmheadrick 

 

We booked the Symbolic ceremony at 4:00pm that is $690 6:00 dinner (which we pick the resteraunt upon arrival) The $550 Beach Party + $15 per person open bar, you do have to have a min amount of people in order to have the beach party And for photgraphy we pciked Eva Hadhazy from Hadhazy Photography in Ottawa. She does amazing work and is in Punta Cana ALL the time. It was $1650, this includes 2000+ images on cd. She has a ton of different packages though, We do have to pay the resort $60 until 6:00pm then $60 until 2:00am as she is at our resort from 11:00am until 2:00am taking photos, so a total of $120 on top of her fee but I feel like she is totally worth it. I was able to book all of this within 6 months of my wedding date by being really annoying lol Carolina said that I wasnt able to book anything Until January 2013 and our wedding was in March 2013 but I did email, email, email and email asking to book and she finally caved. If any body needs any extra info I am always happy to help as I know how awful it is when you wait two days and only receieve a two word answer from her. I have a ton of emails with extras, pictures of locations for ceremony and reception, the beach party, costs for all of the different wedding ceremony packages... Let me know :0) HAPPY PLANNING AND CONGRATULATIONS!!

u are amazing!! lol so persistent..i like that!  if you dont' mind, would you PLEASE send me pictures of the reception dinner (where the private dinner is) please....i'm now wondering if we pay $1000 for the private dinner and it's ours from 630-12am...maybe we should stick with the reception AND party at the restaurant as opposed to a private beach party? i dont know.  My soon-to-be hubby wants to see the restaurant first and then decide

also, do you have pictures of the bouquets (for the symbolic silver package u chose) for bride? my email is [email protected]  

oh and i have more questions about your photographer......that's my issue rite now....i dont want to go with Photoshop Caribe they aren't the greatest....Carolina is not budging on waiving or lowering this $500 to bring an outside photographer so i may have to bring my own  

Email me please and THANK you! (i'm sure i speak on behalf of other 2013 brides )