Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe

[natalieblev]

My wedding is in June, but I still really havent been asked any questions from the WC at the resort.  No questions on food choices, cake choices, flowers, colors, upgrades....the only thing set is Tropical pictures, the DJ and when and where the day is happening....Should i be worried or is this pretty normal? 

[trivera5521]

Thanks Natalie! What is the cost for the extra hour? From what I gather that is normal, my wedding is in May and I havent been asked anything yet it either. It appears from all the past brides that all this remains undecided until you meet with your WC the few days prior to your date to work out details.

 

Did you opt for the full DJ service of $700 something?

[Curls2013]

Alright ladies...........here goes! First and foremost I am extremely type A and I plan weddings for a living so keep that in mind as you read this. We had a total of 63 people from 8 states come down to Barcelo. I'll give you as many details as I can and feel free to message me with any additional questions.We got in on Saturday a few things to note.....

• Customs to get in the country as super easy, but be sure all your guests have $10 cash. That's all they care about!
• My biggest advice is to be SUPER organized and SUPER nice! They deal with bridezillas everyday and they don't speak our language so simply being kind goes a LONG way! I had a list of every guest arriving by room and date they were coming in as well as put labeled names on the welcome bags and when I brought everything down they said "No Problem!" I tried to tip them and they wouldn't even take it. The welcome bags were in everyone's room when they arrived.
• I HIGHLY recommend getting Club Premium if you don't have it. You basically have a personal concierge at your fingertips the entire trip. They will make calls for you, give you change, and basically help you with anything you need. The regular front desk doesn't speak as good of english and can be extremely difficult to communicate with. Club Premium = VIP 
• I met with Club Premium on Sunday morning to discuss details. I was extremely patient and planned all our dinners for the week. My husband's birthday was Tuesday so I had my wedding coordinator reserve 2 hibachi tables for me. Highly recommended we had a great time! I also suggest you make your dinner plans for the entire week the first day you get there or you can't get one until super late. Again I think it was just being nice, but she told me to come back at 3PM to see if she could get us upgraded. (I tipped her $20 too.) She got us the Oceanfront Master Suite and it was fantastic! We spent the rest of the day moving and hanging poolside until dinner later. 
• I planned all our excursions through an outside company called Group Palmera. The owner's name is Anders and he lives 5 minutes from Barcelo. We texted when I arrived and he met me in the Club Premium lobby on Sunday to finalize all the details. He is extremely organized and speaks fantastic English. We scheduled Bavaro Runners for Monday, a private catamaran for Wednesday, and deep sea fishing for the guys Thursday. He made me a sign-up sheet for my guests that I emailed to everyone before I arrived. We actually charged everyone $10 more than he was charging me for the private catamaran and it paid for our excursions. (Business lady in me.) We ended up cancelling the deep sea fishing and he was totally cool. He even arranged transportation for us to our honeymoon resort from Barcelo. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
• Tuesday I met with Marlene because Susana was out of town........honestly the meeting ended up with me telling her how they could run wedding more effectively. I'm emailing her my wedding information packet and told her all about this website. I told her the more information she can include in a packet the less busy work she will have to do answering the same questions. She was super sweet. We verified everything.......she showed me the beach location and Bar Hughey. I also paid for everything and spoke with the photographers. I negotiated 170 pictures instead off 150 and decided against the additional photo shoot. They also agreed to do a picture I really wanted of everyone in the group in a heart shape with us in the middle from an aerial view. (Check it out on FB.) I can't say enough good things about Marlena with Tropical Pictures. She is the biggest sweetheart and was so excited to do it. 
• I paid for all the girls in my wedding to get their nails, hair, and make-up done the day of the wedding. We basically took over the spa because I had 8 bridesmaids. The Bridal Room is small, but they pulled a couch in for us and everyone used to it get ready. The only part that sucked was they wouldn't deliver room service and you couldn't have alcohol. They give you a book of coupons when you get in and I definitely used them for like $150 off. It was perfect. Be sure you keep receipts for everything and double check all their numbers. Ex. They tried to charge me for all my stuff and its included in the Tangerine Package. I just had a folder and notebook where I kept everything in my beach bag.
• I'm really proud of myself, but as a surprise I got a spider monkey for the reception. They charge you like $15/picture at the pool and I got them to bring one to my reception for an hour for $350. It was AWESOME! Everyone used it as a party favor and they let me keep all the pictures. We have a monkey in our cake cutting pictures........fantastic. 
• Let's see.......what else. I didn't pay for any additional decorations. Unless you REALLY care nobody remembers what your centerpieces looked like anyway. 
• I also didn't pay for any additional hours up front for the reception, but they quoted me $1050/hour before and we ended up extending it 3 hours for $650/hour. It was totally worth it and the DJ didn't charge us any additional.
• The day of the wedding I asked Susana to get pizzas delivered to the reception at 9PM. She didn't promise anything, but definitely came through. 
• I guess my biggest suggestion is DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT. If you are nice, organized, and easy going they will make sure you have the wedding of your dreams. If I think of anything else I'll post it, but it was unbelievable. 
• The only thing that sucked was at least 30 people got sick at one point. We couldn't figure out was it was, but even I did. It was about 3-5 hours of puking and then you felt better. I know you don't want to hear it, but bring Pepto Bismo for sure. I emailed the Director of the hotel and he assured me they are up to standard. I would just stay away from anything you don't know. 

 

Any questions let me know. 

[Feb2013wed]

Hello ladies we leave in 3 weeks and was wondering if we can do a lot of the deciding once we get there like the center pieces and other things cause it just seems like they are very busy right and don't respond for over a week thanks ladies

[aquatracie]

Ladies the 3 hours we had in our Package for the DJ was not long enough, we ended up getting the extra hour while we were there because people were just getting into the groove of dancing and digesting dinner!!  It ended up costing $500 extra because it included the Reception Location plus the DJ....  But the 4 hours was needed and the Disco does not open until 11pm!!  Our Wedding was also at 4pm and adding the extra hour made us run just in time to go to the Disco for opening!

[aquatracie]

Originally Posted by Feb2013wed 

 

Hello ladies we leave in 3 weeks and was wondering if we can do a lot of the deciding once we get there like the center pieces and other things cause it just seems like they are very busy right and don't respond for over a week thanks ladies

Feb,

 

 

You will be able to choose the centre pieces/ flowers/ and other unanswered details with your wedding coordinator once you have your meeting, everything will be perfect and they will be waiting for you!  It may not seem like it now but it will go perfect on your meeting day!

[natalieblev]

Curls where did you get your mugs with the handle? I cant find them anywhere and FI says it has to have a handle! 

 

Trivera I have asked my TA probably ten times how much the extra hour is going to be and still no answer, but Im just going off what Tracie says and planning for 500. Im not sure on the DJ...all I know is that we asked for him to emcee, play our iphone, and she asked me if i wanted fireworks for extra and i said no...so who knows. I feel like i have been doing all this planning and still really confused on everything.

[natalieblev]

Sorry didnt finish but the total for the DJ is 800-which is just for the three hours, so Im assuming 1050. 

[aquatracie]

Originally Posted by natalieblev 

 

Sorry didnt finish but the total for the DJ is 800-which is just for the three hours, so Im assuming 1050. 

I think thats what it is Natalie!  They are so confusing there, remember in my review I said at the Reception Lianny told us it was $250 extra at $10 a head when we asked for the extra hour.... we said deal for $250... it was when we checked out it was $250+$250 and she came to the front desk so we could speak to her and she said that she told us it was $250 for the reception room and $250 for the Dj............. which she did not say beforehand... Just budget for the extra.. is all I can suggest  .... we ended up paying $1000 total for extras at checkout of random wedding stuff......... I believe this was not my fault but all do of the lack of communication we deal with...... so have a extra cushion  if you are uncertain of things before you go to be safe!

[natalieblev]

Curls thank you for sharing your pictures! They are all so fun and beautiful! I showed my FI and he is so excited too! What excursions did you guys do? Seems like a lot of fun stuff!