Melia CaribeTropical Brides!

CanadaDiva · January 20, 2010

Hi!

Just wondering if the beach gazebo is worth the $$. Is it private at all? The garden gazebo sounds nice as I have heard it is more private.

Also, did you use the photographer supplied by the resort? Just wondering how much photos were and what was included. We don't want prints just digitals on a disk.

Thanks! Any info appreciated!

bluestarfishsea · March 2, 2010

I just got married at Melia Caribe Tropical last week and it was an amazing experience! I got the free wedding pkg but I paid extra for the beach gazebo bc I loved that it was simple and with the ocean in the background. The free gazebo is huge, more traditional style, and in a garden setting-and more private

The wedding planning was done in a 20 min meeting the day after I arrived. It was easy to choose a set menu, cake flavours, and decoration. Evelyn was great to work with and I found her English was much better than the main wedding coordinator-Laura. Everything went smoothly on the day and we had the reception in the Dominican restaurant -El Guarapo-it was a nice semi private location.

for photographers I used Jorge Allocco at the resort-he did a great job-he captured so many moments! and I did a trash the dress session with Micheal Weiler on an empty beach-I loved the rustic style of his photos. I would highly reccommend both of them-and if you can use both-its great bc you get 2 diff style photos.

to use a non resort photographer it is $95 daypass but worth it bc I've heard that the hotel photographers are not great. For the trash the dress I didnt have to pay the daypass as we went to an empty private beach. both guys I used charged $550 for a dvd of photos

If you have any specific questions-pls message me-I would love to help!

jerzshortstuff · March 3, 2010

do you know if the resort offers a beach ceremony NOT in the gazebo?

bluestarfishsea · March 3, 2010

yes they do-it costs an extra $300 but its beautiful-bamboo structure with white curtains and flowers on posts up the walkway

I think its lovely-but i was worried about swimmers being in the photos...choose your wedding time wisely

I had mine at 4pm in beach gazebo and still lots of ppl on beach were watching...but the gazebo is up higher and you cant see the ppl in the way

the phto wont seem to show up-msg me your email and i can send it

kschuman · March 10, 2010

Hello!!

I am new to the Destinations Forum and am thinking about the Melia Caribe. I am only in the very first stages of planning, so I am just trying to get an idea of what the costs are. We are thinking that we will likely have 40-50 guests. Do you have any idea what this would cost us?

Key things that we want are: good food, open bar, and a good place to dance the night away! Do you think the Melia Caribe would be a good place for this?

Also, would you have any suggestions about what times of the year would be best? Our schedules are pretty flexible as we're PhD students.

Thanks a ton!!!

Karina

Ginae618 · March 11, 2010

The beach gazebo in my opinion is a little plain. The garden gazebo is stunning, but you dont get the beach in the background. I just returned from there yesterday. I can answer any questions you may have.

bluestarfishsea · March 11, 2010

Hi Karina

For the free wedding pkg there-only 12 ppl are included and then its $25 pp (cost for the sparkling wine toast after the ceremony and the reception dinner)

I thought this resort was an amazing place to have my wedding! We had our dinner in the Guarapo restaraunt which fot my small group of 15 perfectly...for 50 ppl you would have to ask the coordinator where they could have it

heres Lauras email: [email protected] om

We had so much fun in the disco! I had planned to tip the dj to play some songs we liked but when we got there someone had already done so-and it was a lot of techno....which we tried to make the best of...not my fav-lol. I would suggest going to him the day before with a cd of your songs and a tip

The gazebo that is included is in a pretty garden setting and is huge-so it would fit your entire party. I paid $450 extra to rent the beach gazebo bc I really wanted to be looking at the ocean. Its much more simple-but theres seating around it-so they may be able to fit everyone--its a lovely spot!

This website doesnt seem to email me when a reply is made to my post-so if you have any more questions-just msg me! good luck

chrissytina924 · March 11, 2010

Hello.. I am also getting married at the Melia Caribe Tropical on June 26th, 2010 and I asked the resort to send me some pictures of each location (garden gazebo, beach & beach gazebo) bc we were so torn and after seeing the pics we decided on the beach gazebo.. it looks absolutely breathtaking!

smayo · March 11, 2010

Hi All,

I am new to the forum, we are also considering this resort. I was just wondering what you did for speaches and a reception if you had the dinner in one of the restaurants?

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

bluestarfishsea · March 12, 2010

Hi SMAYO

I had my reception in the Dominican Restaurant "El Guarapo" bc I had heard from the lovely ladies on this site that it is semi private and it was! I felt it was the best location for a small group (we were only 15). You dont have to choose dominican food-they give you a selection from all of the menus-we chose steak and it was soo good-but i was almost tempted to get the seafood risotto for everyone bc it was soooo yummy!

heres a pic of my reception: