Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe

[natalieblev]

Originally Posted by Bjeantil 

 

Hi Natalieblev,

Can you ask the WC if we can use their MC For the reception without booking the entire Dj package?

Safe travels and hope everything turns out they you want and more. Can't wait to hear your review.

No problem will do! 

[trivera5521]

Hi girls!! I cant help but check up on you guys since your all like familia!!

 

Natalie: I cant believe your big day is so close, best of luck chicky! Cant wait to hear all about it as I am sure it will work out perfectly!

 

Bjean: I believe I asked way back when about hiring just the MC without the DJ package and I got shut down or the price was crazy because I still had to rent the sound system for the $470.  With what they quoted me for just the MC it made sense to just do the whole pacakge.

 

As you guys know I was so anti the MC during the wedding planning (mostly because of the price) but it really did make a difference and it was one of the better decisions I made. It made a big difference in the flow of the night, his energy and added humor was a huge benefit. Not to mention it allowed everyone in the party to enjoy themselves without assiging tasks to people and having to worry about making annoucnements and so on.

 

Another decision that was THE best decision I made was bringing our own photographer! Again during the planning process I was pretty anti Tropical Pictures but over the last few months they did step up their game. No pun intended to those whom are using them however for less than what most spent with TP I hired a local photographer and she covered the entire week! Amazing candid just random shots. She just put together a slideshow that I will show on Saturday durng our local reception but wanted to share it with you guys because there are so many great shots of so many areas of the resort including reception and beach. Added note we did use TP for the video services ($1200) and another great investment. Just to relive the day and hear your vows and see tears falling...sigh...just something about the real moment aspect of the video. Its like 40 minutes so I will try and upload it to utube soon for you all to see the quality. Anyway LOL I think I am done with my ramble!

 

Slideshow:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUTSBSBFHko

 

Happy Planning chickys!!

[trivera5521]

Hi girls!! I cant help but check up on you guys since your all like familia!!

 

Natalie: I cant believe your big day is so close, best of luck chicky! Cant wait to hear all about it as I am sure it will work out perfectly!

 

Bjean: I believe I asked way back when about hiring just the MC without the DJ package and I got shut down or the price was crazy because I still had to rent the sound system for the $470.  With what they quoted me for just the MC it made sense to just do the whole pacakge.

 

As you guys know I was so anti the MC during the wedding planning (mostly because of the price) but it really did make a difference and it was one of the better decisions I made. It made a big difference in the flow of the night, his energy and added humor was a huge benefit. Not to mention it allowed everyone in the party to enjoy themselves without assiging tasks to people and having to worry about making annoucnements and so on.

 

Another decision that was THE best decision I made was bringing our own photographer! Again during the planning process I was pretty anti Tropical Pictures but over the last few months they did step up their game. No pun intended to those whom are using them however for less than what most spent with TP I hired a local photographer and she covered the entire week! Amazing candid just random shots. She just put together a slideshow that I will show on Saturday durng our local reception but wanted to share it with you guys because there are so many great shots of so many areas of the resort including reception and beach. Added note we did use TP for the video services ($1200) and another great investment. Just to relive the day and hear your vows and see tears falling...sigh...just something about the real moment aspect of the video. Its like 40 minutes so I will try and upload it to utube soon for you all to see the quality. Anyway LOL I think I am done with my ramble!

 

Slideshow:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUTSBSBFHko

 

Happy Planning chickys!!

[teena84]

Tamara, OMG!!  I love your slideshow!!  You had a very good photographer as well - you were lucky to have her there the entire week to capture everything, wow!  Do you mind me asking how much you guys paid to have her there all week?  We have very similar engagement ring style, and what a coincidence that you and your husband's initials is also E & T like me and my husband (Engel).

 

Anyway, love love love your pictures.  I don't think we did enough couple shots, really wish we had more closeup shots at the pier =(  It was such an amazing day that I kidded with Engel and say, let's get divorced right away so we can do it all over again.  He was terrified..lol.

 

Thanks for sharing!  And I apologize if I offended you in any way for what I wrote in the past about centerpieces and MC.  It made sense for you to have MC because you had a bigger crowd and they all seemed like fun party people.  Our guests were more reserved..haha...would've been a waste for us to hire DJ/MC.  And had I had 2 years to plan, my centerpieces and everything else probably would've been more detailed too.  Ah well..still had a blast.

 

I'm jealous you had a ring boy and 2 flower girls!!  I should've rented one of your flower girls, haha.  None of our guests had any little kids so that was kind of a bummer. 

[trivera5521]

Thanks Teena, and girl please no hard feelings once so ever =) Your wedding was just as beautiful if not more so, we each have our own style and personal touches that make each of our days unique. I am glad everything worked out well and it was a pleasure to meet you in the spa LOL! As far as centerpieces and MC just my personal opinion...but hey like butt holes we each have one right LOL.

 

E & T...love it! How funny about the divorce j/k. We actually bartered with our photographer. We just covered all her expenses in exchange for her covering the week including the TTD session. We covered transportation for her to and from CT to NY, her airfare, and accomodations. She had not done a destination wedding before so this was a great oppty for her as well. It worked out as a win win situation. I would say in total it cost about $1100 or there abouts. What really screwed us up was the airfare from NY to PUJ..it was sooo expensive. Nearly $600 roundtrip so that was where our biggest expense came in. Needless to say it worked out perfectly and she really is part of the family now =)

[MissJali]

T!!! I miss you!! I hope you're ok with me bugging you for the next 9 months! Thanks in advance! Lol I haven't gotten to see the slideshow yet but from the photos I've seen, I kinda wanna steal Heather your photog!! LOL

[Bjeantil]

Thanks Trivera! I may do the whole package but I already paid my DJ flight. I wonder if they will let me do the whole package but let my DJ do his thang. LOL The slide show is beautiful and you were gorgeous! I am actually going to order my TTD on that website you recommended.

 

Right now, I dont have a flower girl beacuse her mom is not sending her and its last min. My 8 month neice will be there and  I was thinking of having my ring bearer pull a wagon that was decorated with my niece in it. I have to find out if they have such a thing at the resort or can make it happen.

 

Time is flying by and I have 50 days left and will be meeting with Susana on the 24th of this month.

[swtsimplicity]

To any future Barceló Bavaro Palace Deluxe Brides:

 

I recently had my wedding there on June 8th and I just wanted to share some information with anyone who may need it.

 

The Barceló Bavaro Palace Deluxe Resort is indeed beautiful and very pristine. Its beaches are truly amazing and one of the best beaches I have ever seen. The resort is one of the nicest resorts in the area, however there are some definite flaws.

 

We had the grand master suite room for our stay. It was a luxurious room and had a beautiful view of the picturesque ocean/beach. We did see a few bugs and lizards in our room though. The maid service kept the room clean, but we never actually saw them to personally thank them. The beds were comfortable and there were robes and slippers in our room.

 

We did have the power in our room go off three times and some of our other guests had the same problem. This made it very difficult to stay/sleep in the rooms because there was not any A/C and the climate of the area is hot/humid.

 

As far as customer service, it definitely could be better but I'm not sure if it was due to a language barrier or because the majority of the guest at the resort do not tip due to the all-inclusive nature. The service in the restaurants and buffets were ok. Sometimes at the buffet we would not receive any drinks and would have to ask two or three people. The variety of food is good, but the quality of the food is probably a 6.5 out of 10. At almost all the restaurants, there were several items that are hit or miss. Our favorite restaurant was probably La Fuente because it was flavorful and tasted more gourmet. However, the restaurant La Comedie, which has an additional surcharge, left much to be desired and would not be worth the extra cost for non Club Premium members.

 

We did not get sick from the food, however we did have 3 to 4 guests that were having several nights/days with digestion issues. They went through several bottles of pepto bismol and Imodium tablets.

 

As far as drinks, their drinks were fine. The pina coladas were delicious. However, some people might say that there wasn't too much variety to the drinks, but our guests were fine.

 

There were a variety of activities and lots of shows. Our guests definitely loved their stay. Having non-motorized water activities was a huge plus! There was also a disco and casino there, but we didn't go to those.

 

Our biggest complaint came with attributes from the Wedding Department and Club Premium Service. We did pay more for better services and we were hoping that our wedding and stay would be smooth. There were several times where we had to take matters in to our own hands.

 

We had Welcome Boxes for our guests and asked the wedding department to deliver the boxes to our guest. There was a $2.50 fee per box. We agreed to that fee and were expecting our guest to receive the box upon check in to their room. This was not the case. Majority of the boxes were not delivered until 7 or 8 PM, a lot later than we had anticipated so none of our guests knew where we were or how to find us. This was very difficult for communication. We had guests arriving on different days so I went to the wedding department and expressed that I needed the boxes delivered earlier. They said ok we can do that. I find out later that this problem still was occurring. I then expressed my concern with the Club Premium services and they said they would take care of it. They only had 1 box delivered at 4 PM and the other boxes were delivered incorrectly still.

 

There were several problems with us also trying to locate our guests. We called the service desk to ask if our guest had arrived and they said they could not locate them in the system. This was not true as our guests told us they arrived 2-4 hours ago. We only found them because we happened to run into them. Speaking to customer service several times a day wasted a lot of our time.

 

Another problem came with our romantic wedding night room decorations/Jacuzzi bath... there weren't any the night we were married June 8th. I tried to call customer service regarding the situation the next day, but I couldn't because our phone stopped working in our room. We had to personally go to customer service and ask about the situation. They said it would be taken care of and we would have a romantic evening that night. We came back to our room and still had nothing. Our phone lines were up and running so I called to complain again. I did not have an answer as to why we were not given a service included in our wedding package. They apologized up and down and promised to have it the next night, but by that time I did not even really want that service any longer because my husband and I should not have to beg for a romantic evening that was supposed to be included. We did receive it the 3rd night, but by then we needed to pack our luggage because we were leaving the resort the following morning.

 

As far as the wedding department, they are fairly accommodating and helpful however there were several price changes between the time we confirmed our wedding date and the time we paid for our package. This makes it hard to stay on budget.

 

Check-in and check-out was pretty smooth and not confusing at all.

 

We did see some of the other resorts in the area on the way to one of our excursions. Barceló Bavaro Palace Deluxe is definitely more luxurious in décor, size, and location on Bavaro Beach. I am not sure if we will return to this exact resort, but we would love to visit the area again.

 

I think if we did not have the stress of being hosts to several guests or did not have our wedding here, our experience would be much more memorable. However, since we booked a higher class room and were special guests because we were having our wedding at the resort, I did have higher standards as far as customer service and help to accommodate our guests. We would rate our experience at the hotel a 6 out of 10, but since we loved our wedding it increases to an 7 out of 10.

 

My wedding coordinator originally was Lianny, but she quit. So then I had Hildebrabda as my coordinator. I think this change affected the service and also the pricing I was expecting. We ended up paying $700 more than what we expected. We only had our ceremony there and the pricing is as follows:

 

Minister: $300

Chill Out Roof Top Location: $500

Bouquet: $85

Rose Petals: $20 per package

Canapes/Cocktail Hour: $12 per person

Color Chair Sashes: $7 per chair

Wood Huppa with Décor: $385

White Runner: $85

6 Flower Vases: $118

Silver Photo Package with Tropical Pictures: $1250

 

I would highly recommend Micaela with Tropical Pictures. She does a fantastic job.

 

We had our reception on La Barcaza Wedding Boat. Their crew and foot is amazing! We brought our own decorations and had them set it up. Everything was great but we had a little hiccup because our tables weren't set up correctly and there weren't enough seats for our guests. But they fixed it for us so it was fine.

 

Photographer: $500

Mix Grill Dinner: $85 per person

Decoration Set Up: $100

 

If anyone has questions at all, please feel free to email me at [email protected]

 

Good Luck to you all and congratulations!

[nykat57]

Hi ladies,

 

For those of you who have spoken with Susana on the phone can you please share her number.  I've tried calling the hotel and asking to be transferred but I'm never successful.  I would appreciate it. 

 

 

TRivera: your pics are sooooo beautiful.  I'm SUPER excited after seeing your pictures. Your son is gorgeous, you should put him in modeling.  

 

Natalie: I wish you all the best.  Safe travels and enjoy!

[Bibi]

Hello Ladies!!!! I haven't posted much on this site but have alot of threads and must say that this forum has been very helpful with my planning. I have one question with for future and past brides. How did you guys coridnate the ceremony with with the judge or minister who is doing your ceremony. I asked my wedding planner for a format of the ceremony that they do and she told me that they do not have one. I would like to cordinate with what the minister before i got there. Was anyone able to speak to the minister before the wedding?