Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe

[LovelyGemini]

Hi ladies,

 

Get comfortable because this is going to be a lengthy review!   

 

I got married at BBPD on Saturday, April 5th with a total of 84 guests. My WC was Aris and to say that she is amazing would be an understatement!! My fiance and I arrived with his parents on the 1st and met with Aris the following day. Our meeting lasted over 2 hours even though we were finalizing most of the decisions we had previously made over email. 

 

I took two suitcases full of tiffany blue colored napkins, palm fans (we wrapped the handles with tiffany blue ribbon) and tears of joy packets (handmade) for the ceremony, tiffany-blue themed table numbers with clip-stands/holders and place cards, small clear gems for table decorating, tiffany-styled gift boxes wrapped with white ribbon and filled with white and blue m&ms (we assembled these when we arrived) to decorate the tables with, small edible stones for the cake, small votive candles to accent the centerpieces and we had two different favors: a star-fish wine stopper and personalized glass coaster sets (2 in a set) that we bought in dozens and tied with white ribbon to create a set. We also brought a personalized guest book that I created on shutterfly that was set up on a separate table next to our cake with the wine-stoppers and a big tiffany box for gifts/cards. We gave all of this to Aris at our first meeting. 

 

At the meeting, we discussed the playlist we gave to the DJ (which she insisted was too short! Haha) but she was able to arrange a quick meeting with the DJ to go over things like our entrance, etc. We chose to use the Caribbean trio band for the cocktail hour so we could use our own music for the ceremony. We put it all on an iPod, gave Aris a list of the order of songs and she took care of the rest. At this first meeting we also met with Tropical Pictures who we were only using for the video. We chose to book Katyanova for our wedding photos even though we had to pay the outside vendor fee. They were more expensive than TP but we fell in love with their style and photos and splurged to have them.

 

We had our “welcome gathering” at Strikers the night before the wedding where we gave out small welcome bags. It is a very casual setting and one of our favorite bars at the resort (besides the pool bar!). It was perfect for such a large group as everyone was able to get as loud as they wanted, snack, grab drinks from the bar and take photos. I highly recommend it for large groups.

 

My hair and make-up were scheduled for 1pm and I ended up running a little late! Katya, her husband Rob and their apprentice Lacy tracked me down at the salon and let me know they were going to scout around a little bit for a location for my fiancé and I’s “First Touch” shoot before the ceremony. They were such sweethearts and since it looked like I would be a while, Rob decided to track down my fiancé and his boys to start to shoot some with them. I chose not to get ready in the bridal suite at the spa because we had booked the Grand Master Suite and it was absolutely incredible! My fiance got ready in his best man's room. We also had Aris set up our beach ceremony right outside our building, in front of building 6. It is so much quieter here with not as many onlookers and nosy ppl, haha. And it meant I just had to take the elevator down to the ceremony. My bridesmaids got ready and ordered room service there while I finished my hair and make-up. I also took my own make-up with me because I figured it was easier than having them try to match my skin color for foundation. It worked out well and cut down on some time. 

 

That morning, my husband and his mother met with Aris to take care of the payment. Usually it is done the day before the wedding but Aris was busy with another wedding that day. 

 

My bridesmaids had all woken up early to take a cab to the Eden salon located in the San Juan mall just 5 minutes outside the resort. The spa was very short-staffed the day I was getting married and they saved a lot of money by going outside the resort and guest services was nice enough to give me their phone number so I could ask them if they could accomodate my girls.. I was the only one who got my hair done at the spa since it was included in my wedding package. At about 4, I ran to my room to get dressed and found all my bridemaids, mother, godmother, Lacey & Katya AND the videographer from TP there. It was a full house! LOL. Even so, Katya found some time to catch me getting ready and stuff before they brought my fiancé to our suite where we would be having our “First Touch” shots. They had us on the balcony, standing back-to-back so we couldn’t see each other, it was an amazing moment!

 

Aris had all our guests and groomsmen meet at the Carey Lobby Bar where she took them all to the ceremony area to wait for the start. They were scheduled to meet at 4, an hour before the ceremony. This is something you should tell your guests as they arrive to the resort. 

 

The ceremony was scheduled for 5pm with the cocktail hour from 6-7 and the reception at 7. We chose to have the cocktail hour on the rooftop for an additional fee only because our ceremony was on to be on the beach and I didn't like the idea of our guests eating on the sand. We had so many guests that we hoped the cocktail hour would keep them busy while we took photos after the ceremony and it worked out well. The ceremony started a few minutes late, but only lasted about 20 minutes, maybe less. We also hired Pastor York to officiate and wrote our own vows. I cried so much while saying my vows and there was not a dry eye in the house the whole ceremony. Security did a pretty good job of keeping onlookers from walking into the ceremony but there were at least one or two people walking along the water that I saw in some family members photos. No big deal for us. Even though we had a symbolic ceremony (we got married civilly back here in NY), many of our family members had no idea and he had us sign a certificate with our “witnesses”. 

 

The cocktail hour on the rooftop was absolutely beautiful, especially with the backdrop of the resort for the photos. The waiters brought us little snacks, which were delicious, especially the little chicken wings. I think everyone was grateful to have a snack and drink before the reception. The reception took place in the Mallorca Ballroom due to the number of guests we had and it was walking distance from the “Chillout Rooftop Lounge”. Aris made sure to guide everyone there so we could start the party on time, but since the ceremony started a little late, we were running a little behind schedule. She ushered all the guests in to the reception after they found their place cards right outside the ballroom door. The MC came outside to speak to us while we waited to enter and quickly reviewed everyone’s names and the order of the bridal party. His name was Jonathan and he was really sweet, even made sure to speak in Spanish AND English, which he spoke very well. 

 

After our entrance we did the mother-son, father-daughter dances and then our first dance. The cold fires during the first dance were perfect and surprised everyone. We chose to do the speeches/toasts right after the dances to get it all over with and then get the food out. Everyone talked about how delicious the dishes were. We chose the Caesar Salad with shrimp (the salad came in a little edible Parmesan bowl, it was so yummy!), Pesto Chicken and Crème Brulee. The chicken was white meat and so juicy. We only had a few vegetarians who chose to eat either sautéed veggies or pasta as their main dish, all of which were also yummy. With such a large group, we figured almost everyone would be fine with chicken and we were right. 

 

We asked the DJ to start the party music right as they were bringing dessert because at that point we only had a little over 2 hours of partying left, this was INCLUDING the extra hour we paid for in advance.  We held off on cutting the cake until later on since we figured most ppl were full from dinner. DJ Crisk was on point the entire night, he played every song we asked for and from that he played other songs that fit in perfectly with our tastes and with the group. It was such an amazing night and the extra hour was so worth it. Even still, after the party, everyone went to the rooms to change and we all met back up at the Disco until early morning and then stop by Strikers to feed all the tipsy/drunk people, haha. 

 

I cannot say enough good things about Aris. She is such a genuinely nice person and she makes you feel like a friend. Her and I communicated via whatapp while I was there instead of having to run to her office all the time. She made everything come together seamlessly and perfectly. The day before we left we passed by her office to pick up our cake-cutter, cake topper and other extra stuff. If anything ever went wrong that day, I never would have known, Aris is just amazing. She even carried a bag with all of me and my bridesmaid’s shoes that we wanted to change into for the reception and took care of figuring out the food situation for our vegetarians and kids without bugging my husband and I. We actually got to really enjoy our reception because she made sure to take care of everything. She was even so honest, she said, ugh, I really don't like how the cake turned out! LOL. I thought it was fine. I had warned her ahead of time that our families are wild partiers and she told me afterwards that she believed me now. LOL. She laughed at our craziness, even when we all went wild dancing a traditional Dominican "palo" song. 

 

Things I would do differently: I would’ve chosen to get my hair and make-up done a little earlier, as I had to rush and sweat to get back to my room before the ceremony. Also, I would’ve had the ceremony an hour earlier, maybe at 4. By 5, we were already losing a lot of the sunlight and it had gotten a bit windy. While that made it more comfortable for us and our guests sitting outside, we rushed to finish all our photos on the beach before losing the beautiful natural light and I was fighting with the blusher of my veil the whole time! Haha. Also, we chose the Star Package for video with Tropical Pictures and picked up our DVDs the morning before we left. If I could go back, we would not have allowed my now mother-in-law to pay for it. We were not happy with the end result, as the videographer really didn’t film very well. He didn't take any video of the ballroom décor or our guests, only of us. I also heard from my father-in-law that the videographer was complaining about our schedule running late, not like he wasn’t going to get paid either way! Another thing, not really his fault due to the wind on the beach, but you could barely hear anything from the ceremony. I think TP should have anticipated that and found a way to make the audio more clear. Lastly, I would have done a Trash the Dress shoot (or Rock the Dress as Katya calls it) the next day. Even though we were grateful to just sleep in and relax by the pool the day after the wedding, it might have been nice to have some extra photos privately on the beach or something at sunrise (Katya and Rob are known for their sunrise shoots).

 

Some of the extras we just HAD to have were the LED lighting (it completely transformed the ballroom, highly recommend it if you choose the ballroom, the silver tiffany chairs and silver charger/base plates. 

 

I would do this all over again. It was such an amazing few days with our family and friends, it was like a weeklong party, hanging out by the pool all together, dancing (and on the bar stools!) by the pool bar, going out to the Disco almost every night. It's been almost a month and it's all anybody can talk about still! I'm going to include a flickr link that I've been using to share with our family and friends, just scroll past all the photos from our welcome gathering (unless you're a creeper like me, then umm enjoy?? LOL) and the link for our photo preview from Katya's blog. 

 

http://www.katyanovablog.com/barcelo-bavaro-palace-deluxe-wedding-erika-jeffrey/

 

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjXtLESi

 

 

Please feel free to ask any questions, I tried to be detailed in my review because I had so much to say and I loved reading reviews like this when I was planning our wedding. I am so grateful for this board and all the helpful brides on here.

Edited May 2, 2014 by LovelyGemini

[Reign14]

LovelyGemini:

 

Awesome review and lovely pics! you were a gorgeous bride! I think I have my ceremony scheduled at 4PM so we don't lose sunlight for pictures. But the dusk is beautiful too! Glad everything worked out and thanks for all of the tips.

[LovelyGemini]

Okay last link guys, LOL. I have received my official wedding photos from Katyanova. I am in LOVE and just had to share...

 

http://katyanova.smugmug.com/Weddings2014/Erika-Jeffrey/The-wedding/38878000_b4BwCR

 

If it asks for a password, it is: lovepuntacana

[Pao1]

Beautiful wedding, Congrats!!!

[Slaughter2be]

Any past brides got away with day pass for bringing in hair and makeup artist?

[LovelyGemini]

@@Slaughter2be I don't see why not. You're not obligated to use the resort salon. I think their outside vendor policy is really more for photographers.

[Slaughter2be]

@@LovelyGemini makes sense. I am already paying that vendors fee for my photo and videographer. Hope they allow just the day pass. Waiting to hear back from them.

[minigodiva]

Hi everyone,

 

Sorry, the last 2 months prior to my wedding was a little hectic because my wedding was a lot of DIY.  I will write my experience at the resort and the Wedding Day soon.

 

It was an amazing wedding and you all picked a good place to have it   My husband and I and our guests were amazed by our wedding and the resort.  I do want to write about a negative experience that I wish no one here will have.

 

I just had my wedding in Punta Cana on May 8, 2014.  It was an amazing wedding, but the only downside was the DJ company I used.  I used Dj Mannia because of the great things I've heard about them thru this forum.

 

HOWEVER, I have to let other brides know about my negative experience because for $1,300 US dollars I was very disappointed at the company, and I would not want anyone to have the same experience.

 

First of all, the people who I had e-mail correspondence with did not tell me that the DJ is also the MC.  I still went ahead with it because of all the positive reviews on this forum.

 

The people I had e-mail correspondence with named Amy and Carlos Martinez did not give my DJ/MC the music file for our FIRST DANCE (we did a medley of songs), so I sent my mp3 file ahead of time, so that they can download our music.  They replied to me on email saying they will let the DJ/MC know about this, but apparently they didn't because the DJ/MC did not have my song.

 

They also did not send the DJ/MC my wedding day timeline that I had e-mailed days ahead.

 

I was VERY DISAPPOINTED at this company, and would not recommend them because they made the DJ/MC so unprepared for my wedding and it basically delayed everything by AT LEAST 15 minutes because the DJ/MC came up to us at the beginning of the wedding and asked for our first dance and I said "you didn't download it?" he said whoever I spoke with did not give it to him.  Luckily, I had the song downloaded on my iPhone, so he attached it on the dock.  Then, he was going over the dj questionnaire about introductions, and I was thinking the whole time, how can our MC seem like he doesn't know the flow of our wedding?  I asked him about the timeline and he said he did not receive that either.  I have proof of all my e-mails and I have proof of sent e-mails on my yahoo account, so I know they received all these things.

 

The DJ/MC himself, German the mexican, was very nice and pleasant, but the fact that the company made him look unprofessional and unprepared was very disappointing at the very least (I could picture it as aggravating if you are not a laid-back bride like me).  I had to come up to him each time to explain what's next on the timeline.  I am in no means a bridezilla because I accommodate everything and yes, I still had fun at my wedding and so did our guests because luckily we are all laid-back people.

 

But if you want an organized wedding reception or if you are a perfectionist or simply want a good flow of things without you being stressed, or without any glitch, do not get DJ Mannia services.  I may be a rare case, but I did not know nor expect that DJ Mannia will mess up my wedding reception until they did it to me.  So for $1,300 I could've gotten a better DJ and MC service.  Not a good surprise.

 

Also, the youtube videos they put up as an ad is definitely not like the DJ they will send you.  They play off the playlist as if you are playing music off your computer or iPhone, so you still have to play DJ yourself and line up your songs you want in the order you want it played.  They also had poor transitioning.  No mixing involved.  The youtube video ads are misleading.  You think you'd get a quality dj like the ones you hear at clubs or radio, but it isn't.

 

I DO NOT RECOMMEND DJ MANNIA.  unfortunately this was my experience with them.  Find other DJs if you can in case the same thing happens to you.  The resort offers another DJ that has a separate MC for $1,300 and less if you don't want the MC.  OR you can just play your iPod during reception because it's basically what the DJ mannia company did.  Save your money or find another company.

Edited May 11, 2014 by minigodiva

[minigodiva]

Okay last link guys, LOL. I have received my official wedding photos from Katyanova. I am in LOVE and just had to share...

 

http://katyanova.smugmug.com/Weddings2014/Erika-Jeffrey/The-wedding/38878000_b4BwCR

 

If it asks for a password, it is: lovepuntacana

Thanks for sharing your pictures!  Beautiful Wedding!  Congratulations!  After last week, all my guests and me and my hubby want to go back already.  Such a great resort to have  a wedding!  best wishes to you!

We leave in 12 days and my coordinator Ramona hasn't been replying for 2 weeks now. I just got an email from Daniela saying that she's on leave. Justttt perfect! I'm hoping everything is still fine once we get down there.

Hi!  I also had Ramona.  Actually, I had Susana and she left because she had to take care of her newborn and kids.  Ramona was a gem, but unfortunately, she had her surgery, so she had to recover.  I hope she gets better soon.  2 weeks before my wedding, I received an group e-mail from all the Wedding Coordinators reassuring me that they will all help me, and Aris turned out to be my main WC for my wedding day.  She did a great job, so as long as you know what you want for your bouquet, bouttoniere, cake, centerpiece, how things should flow etc. your specifics, just let your new WC know and they will work with you.  I met Daniela, she is also very friendly and sweet.  Do not worry about the WC.  They will do everything to make sure you have a great day.  Our photographer (Milan) and videographer (Manuel) from HDC were also AMAZING!  I highly recommend them.  Again, the only disappointing things was DJ MANNIA.  sad how the people I e-mailed didn't give our DJ our timeline and first song that we sent ahead of time and that they said they received on e-mails.  I will write a detailed review soon.  Goodluck!

I have been stalking this blog for 9 months - and with ONE WEEK until my wedding, and 4 days until departure, I am overflowing with excitement and questions! The blog has been super helpful, so hoping that someone will have some answers about this:

 

My travel agent said that there is a "welcome gathering" for new guests on the resort. I have tried to get more info in order to include it in my 1-week-countdown email to guests, but not getting a very straight answer from them. I am thinking about just coordinating my own welcome gathering at Bar Carey as others have talked about doing. Any thoughts?

 

Also, Has anyone worked with Elizabeth? She is my WC but has not responded to me yet; and Daniela has been responding instead.. few and far between. Good thing everyone on here has said not to worry about the lack of responsiveness. 

 

Thanks Ladies!!! 

Hi!  I also met Elizabeth.  Again, it's because I pretty much was thrown into everyone's list to work with because my previous WC had to recover.  She seemed very nice as well.  I think the resort is very busy this month about 73 weddings in May?  Again, DO NOT WORRY because the WC will give you their attention at your meeting with them and the rest of the week you are there and on your day.  They are awesome!  Don't forget to tip!  LOL.

@MissJali thank you so much for your review and your pictures!! you were such a beautiful bride!! I leave Monday, April 21st for my week away at this resort and am getting married on April 25th. I promise to post my review soon after.

 

I really love the pier and was thinking about trying to switch our ceremony location to there, we are currently in the garden gazebo (which i think will be nice cause it is shaded for the guests and I chose because i heard it is more private. We are bringing a photographer down with us, it was actually cheaper and better for us to do that than go with Tropical pictures. Our photographer said she takes pictures of all of us all week long so it will be nice to have a week full of memories in photos.

 

i am feeling a tad unorganized and overwhelmed with all the planning and i feel like i am missing things.  Did you bring your own table numbers or table number holders? I am certain i will forget a million things :$.  the weather also says rain almost every single day but i find that it tends to always say chance of rain in the tropics so fingers crossed that it doesnt rain every day or especially on the wedding day

 

Anyways, good luck with all your planning ladies, i will be sure to post my review and some pictures. If any one has any questions, feel free to ask!

Hi!  Make a checklist of things you need to bring.  I'll give you a piece of advice that my friends and fam who got married before me gave me:  If something does go wrong on your big day, take a deep breath, let your MoH or mom or your best friend or even your WC know of the situation and let them help you instead of you dealing with it.  Keep a smile on your face because in the end, none of your guests know if anything is missing or if anything went wrong. Our groomsmen were in a rush to get to the ceremony and forgot their bouttonieres (no one noticed they were missing)  

 

The biggest glitch to our big day as I told this forum was DJ Mannia not having our first dance and timeline for reception.  It was very disappointing but I just took a deep breath, told my husband, and he helped me to keep positive and smile.  NONE of my guests knew all of that happened, but just to relieve any anxiety, if any of you are using DJ Mannia, I just wanted to let you know that there is always that chance that they can forget your first dance or timeline, so be careful and again keep smiling on your big day

 

On may 7, there was a storm in the morning, on the forecast, it said 30% chance but it rained like it was 100% chance from 7am to 9am.  I thought of our plan B and tried to make myself accept that I might have to have my ceremony in the ballroom.  I ended up being fine with that but I looked on Pinterest for any rainy day photography outdoors.  They had cute ones too and the oceanfront suites had 2 umbrellas. I was so worried esp bc the forecast for May 8 (our wedding day) was 90% thunderstorm for the whole day.  I prayed and told my closest friends and fam to please pray for good weather.  That for some miraculous way, we will be spared even just from 1-4pm because our wedding was on the pier.  Luckily, it did not rain until 4:30pm for only 30 mins.  So don't worry right now about the weather because it changes.  Every Dominican person I asked on may 7 if it's going to rain said it won't.  I was glad they were right.  For some reason, when it does rain in DR it usually is just a 10 min downpour and then the sunshine comes out again.  I pray that you will have sunshine also but for now, don't stress about it just pray that weather will hold up. God is good.

[minigodiva]

Here's my wedding review. Might be a little lengthy:

 

we arrived on may 3 saturday and the wedding was on may 8 thurs. It was my first time in DR, so just a tip if it is yours too that there is a $10 USD per person tourist card fee that you have to pay at the airport before baggage claim. We let our guests know ahead of time bc they only take cash. just like what other brides said previously, if you don't have club premium (as we did not), check-in can take awhile, but the resort did a great job at trying to accommodate everyone asap. We booked a junior suite, so they automatically upgraded us to an oceanfront suite. The room was spacious and had a gorgeous view! We did have to wait for an hour bc they were cleaning the room, so they gave us our bracelets and we were able to eat at the buffet while we waited. Both buffets downstairs were closed so they directed us to a buffet at santa fe steakhouse. It was about 2:30 or so. The buffets do close around 11:30 or noon to clean up and maybe change food.

 

Anyway, monday morning was my meeting w/ Aris. She was my "fill-in" WC bc Ramona is on leave for recovery. Aris was really sweet. At our meeting though, her computer froze and would not print out anything, so we had to go back on Wednesday (the day before the wedding) to give her everything and let her know how to set up everything since we brought our own centerpiece. We had a travel themed wedding, so our invitations were passports, the centerpieces were wooden luggages with real touch flowers from hobby lobby and afloral.com. I made table numbers with maps from where I met or had memories with guests from each table and our favor/seat cards were luggage tags which my MoH made.

 

Our informal welcome party was originally at 5pm at Bar carey, but we went with some of our guests on a party boat/snorkeling excursion. They have two offices at the resort to book exursions: one is on main lobby vaccaciones barcelo and the other is downstairs in the corner that says guest services. So, we ended up eating at Strikers and meeting everyone there then afterwards went to Bar Carey to give guests their welcome bag, which had a welcome letter/ itinerary koozies from vistaprint, pepto bismol, advil, emergenC, first aid and cl solution/case, etc.

 

Our rehearsal dinner was supposed to be in a small banquet hall with a choice of a la carte restaurant food. we had chosen the La dolce Vita food, but Aris booked the Santa Fe Steakhouse, and it actually worked out to be better We had 27 people and each guest was able to choose from the entire menu instead of just having one dish for all guests. We also had a private area. Aris did a great job suggesting a U-shaped table arrangement. Seriously, trust your WC. Eventhough I wanted the la dolce vita food for rehearsal, she showed me that the choice could be better and it was!

 

On the big day, my family, bridesmaids and I had breakfast at Hoyo 19. They have good food in general at Hoyo 19. Just don't be weirded out if their bagel is a burger bun with a partial hole on top. Do order it to see It was still good, but maybe I'm just easy to please. Afterwards we went to U-spa to get hair and make-up done. we were scheduled at 11:00 am. Some bridesmaids only did hair and some only did make-up, so we were pretty quick. Again, bring pics or your pinterest ideas. Ibeliza? did a great job on copying the hair I wanted. The Groom and groomsmen had breakfast at the buffet and then got ready in our room. HDC Photography and videography came to take getting ready photos of the girls then they went to the guys. I highly recommend them.

 

Ceremony was on the Pier at 3:00pm. It was good that they set up a ramp so that we didn't have to go up steps and we were all fine walking on a little sand in heels. Pastor York did a terrific job. He was enthusiastic and the guests loved him and the ceremony. I had my mother in law read one of the readings that Pastor York and we added a filipino tradition of coins, veil and cord. He is very accommodating with any traditions you might have for ceremony. At the end, we had a gift bag of donations for his school as well that some guests brought in. There were still some bystanders watching on the shore, but it didn't reallt bother me or anyone. It was still private bc we were at the end of the pier and they had a security guy by the shore, too.

 

We didn't have the formal cocktail hour. Our guests went to Bar Carey after a few pictures on the beach, and us and our bridal party took more photos. Aris met up with us at Bar Carey. All the guests enjoyed bar carey bc they can order whatever drink they want and they have some snacks like peanuts out and the cigar and rum place opens around 4 or 4:30 and had desserts that you can take to bar carey.

 

Our reception was at Bar Higuey at 6:00. Again, it didn't start right away because of the mishap with DJ Mannia. Anyway, we didn't let our guests know about any of that and just tried our beat to have fun, which we did The cold fire was a good touch because it surprised everyone after our first dance. It actually even surprised me because I forgot. LOL. The food was great! we had caesar salad. the cheese bowl was so good and it had anchovies then we had beef tenderloin with potatoes. i only was able to eat half and got up and the server took it away i wanted to eat more of it. haha. then we had the creme brulee. We did put the chocolate initials on the dessert just to personalize it. I will show pictures once I figure out how. The cake was also good. We had 3 layers but we didn't eat all of it because everyone just wanted to dance. Our flavors were chocolate w/ strawberry, vanilla w/ strawberry and chocolate w/ guava. You can bring your own knife or they supply you with one. We extended our reception one more hour, which I thought was a better choice than spending it on cocktail hour. It was $236 for the dj then $15 per adult.

 

We headed back to palace deluxe around 10:15? and had an after party at Disco Bavaro, which opens at 11pm. When we got back to our room, they had flower petals on the bed and hot tub and had champagne and fruits.

 

My husband and i and our guests really enjoyed BBPD and even our guests who stayed at bavaro beach enjoyed their stay and the wedding. They kept saying it's the prettiest place to have a wedding and I think so too! There will be some things that may not go your way on your wedding, but keep positive and everything will turn out great The other cons we had was the phone in our room was broken no matter how many times they said they would fix it, so I was glad we just bought the wi-fi. if you don't have club premium and want wifi, you buy it at the gudt shop downstairs. It's $45 for the week. Also, they never gave us our breakfast the morning after

 

Oh well. Overall, I like BBPD. Your guests will have fun. Only 2 people had stomach issues out of the 57 guests and the food was actually good unlike what some tripadvisor reviews said. My fave was the kyoto restaurant. it was so entertaining. santa fe was good. la fuente was a little too salty for me. I heard mexico lindo was good but me and my husband didn't have time to eat there.

 

I miss this place! There's so much to do, but so little time. We did salsa dancing in the afternoon by the beach, rode on pedal boats, banana boats, some friends did yoga on the beach, etc. Definitely recommend HDC for Photography and Videography and BBPD for weddings