Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe

[busybride2012]

Hi everyone,

 

I am so extremely relieved to find this site. I have been looking for quite some time for any information confirming the resort is as amazing as it claims to be. I am getting married at the BBPD in September and I have a whole new level of excitement after reading what the other brides have to say. I too have been a little discouraged with the speed with which Marlene replies to my emails. I booked my wedding and room reservation way back in November and Marlene has yet to get with me on any details other than confirming that I am having a beach ceremony. I'm a law student getting ready to graduate this weekend and take the bar exam only a month before departing for the Dominican. So, to say the least I am stressed to the max.Tonight I sent Marlene an email asking her about the Bar Higuey and a beach reception, I am doing the tangerine sunset package. I understand from site that Bar Higuey is included in that package. I am very happy to hear that. I would be thrilled with either the Bar or the beach, but I am not willing to pay an additional $65 per person for a bar reception. I read that in someone's message, am I correct that is the price with the Tangerine package? 

 

I expect to have between 40-60 people attend. Its really up in the air right now as so many people are currently on the fence about attending, but it is at least 40. If those of you who mentioned having pictures wouldn't mind would you please send them to me? The Barcelo website doesn't have much in the way of photos of any ceremonies or receptions, which I find odd. Anyway, my email is [email protected]. Thanks in advance!

 

[JRM426]

Hi ncordero6504,

 

The cocktail hour is extra:

 

1) Cost for cocktail hour, per person/per hour including drinks and hors d'oeuvres?

$10usd x person with canapes and a cocktail

$ 23 usd x person included canapes and national open bar for 1 hour.

 

I've asked Marlene about five times for the canapes menu, she has yet to respond. As for a children's menu, I think that's something you'd have to ask for specifically since I believe they don't have one.

As for the centerpieces, yes you're right; they have a strict policy regarding no outside vendors. However, you can bring other decorative items. We're bringing our own napkins as well as Chinese lanterns.

 

Hope this answers you're questions. 

Originally Posted by ncordero6504 

Thanks Oct bride. I love love love the bar higuey location for the reception. Thats where I most definetely want our reception to be. Its so perfect! I would just be so devestated if for some reason they had to change my location last minute! I was recently reading some reviews on trip advisor and one of the most recent mentions a wedding where they were relocated last minute. Also if anyone knows about the cocktail hour, what cocktails and canapes are served on the menu? (hopefully theyre not as sad as the dinner menu options) I wonder if they also have a kids menu?

[trivera5521]

JRM:

 

Have you already paid for your cocktail hour? She has charged me $12.00 per person for the cocktail hour, not $10?? Although its only $2.00 it adds up when your talking 30-40 people. Can you please send me whatever she sent you with the $10 per person quote or invoice? That would be super helpful?! Our wedding isnt til May of next year so I have time to adjust however I have already prepaid 30% of the tangerine package, DJ and cocktail hour.

[trivera5521]

Busybride: As far as the Beach reception is concerned, yes its an additional $65 per person which is outrageous! Although she did confirm with me if we get relocated to the beach reception they will compensate accordingly. Of course she wouldn't give specifics and kept it as general as possible. Just think we would still have to pay for a dance floor unless your good with dancing the night away in the sand? Also, I have no idea what exactly is included for $65 per person??

 

Not sure if anyone else has info on the beach reception as far as what is included in the outrageous $65pp cost??
 

[Natalija Harmon]

This is the information I received from my wedding planner several months ago:

 

2. How much extra would it cost to have the private reception on the beach? Would an Open Bar and a DJ be available at the beach? Do you have any pictures of beach receptions?

 

For the beach reception you have to pay US$15 extra per person included in the package if the person is not included in the 25 persons included in the Strawberry wedding package the price is US$65. Everything continues equal (open bar, dinner, Dj) the only thing that is going to change is the location.

 

Please be advised that for the beach reception the illumination is not included, in this case you can add illuminated tables, light equipment, illuminated bulbs, illuminated chairs, in order to make your reception unforgettable. Attached Pictures.

 

 

[nfeix1]

Hello Everyone, I just began my search and I'm a bit overwhelmed, I just wanted to know if you ladies are using a travel agency and if so who would you  recommend

 

Thanks

[Oct 2012 Bride]

Yup the beach reception is $65. I asked about that in the past as well. But I have a question and would like to know if anyone has any info. Does anyone know who the resort uses as their DJ? I'd rather have someone I can contact myself instead of relaying the info through the wedding planner. Our music style is a little different and I want to be sure we have music that we like played. It makes me nervous just giving the WC my music list.

[ncordero6504]

I want to say BBPD uses dj mannia but I'm not 100% sure :confused: I can try looking into it.

[sunny55143]

Alright, I have finally had some time to sit down and review the wedding.  It was an absolutely amazing time even though there was a lot of initial planning and worrying involved.  I think that definitely made us able to enjoy our guests once they arrived and not worry about loose ends.  And, yes, the worrying was probably not all worth it – it all works out in the end, seriously.  You and your guests are in paradise and will have a great time no matter what.  And that is a lot for me, a type-A planner, to admit.  Another disclaimer: as you will read in my review, there were a lot of details that I was just never concerned with that it seems like other brides really care about.  So for me, as long as our options were not completely crappy, I was fine with what we had. 

 

Resort

The resort is great and I won’t bore you with details since this is my wedding review.  Everyone is really friendly, even if they don’t speak a lot of English.  The buffet is so-so, but all of the a la carte restaurants are really good.  Just make sure you make reservations as soon as you check in.  Pools are great, there are usually chairs available in the morning.  Chairs on the beach are always available.  We were hoping to get upgraded to Club Premium but they kept saying there were no CP rooms available.  Jeff’s parents finally convinced them to just give us the bracelets with the non-room perks like free wireless and being able to use the CP desk, where they are much more helpful than the front desk.

 

Meeting with Marlene

We had our meeting with Marlene and Vanessa from Tropical Pictures on Tuesday afternoon.  We basically went over the wedding questionnaire item by item and created the day-of schedule.  It was really interesting because when we met with Marlene last September for the site visit, she was super friendly.  Then, the email communication was frustrating, as you all know, and it was very difficult to get info out of her.  THEN, she was all business during the meeting, and made sure to go over all of the details.  While it wasn’t like she completely forgot about any of the things we had already talked about, we had to go over a lot of the previously agreed-upon details with her again.  I would suggest printing out all of your emails so you can reference things if needed.  We didn’t really have any discrepancies but I printed everything out just as a precaution. 

 

One of Jeff’s sisters got married at the Iberostar in Riviera Maya 3 years ago, which is Spanish-owned, and his mom says they were super rule-oriented about everything.  I believe Barcelo is also Spanish-owned and they are definitely the same way.  It’s like they are trained to say no to new ideas that are not what they’re used to doing.  But you just have to keep harassing them or show them why it’s a good idea.  Or pay extra – that’s usually how you get what you want, unfortunately.  Just something to keep in mind as you continue to plan with them.

 

Welcome Cocktails

We paid to reserve the rooftop terrace on Wednesday night for welcome cocktails.  We also paid $10/person for 1 hour of drink service.  It wasn’t absolutely necessary since the theater bar was a 30 second walk across the walkway, but we thought the service would make it easier for our guests to mix and mingle.  One of the other WC’s, Liani, manned the entrance to the roof terrace and turned people who weren’t with our party away.  It doesn’t get super crowded on most nights on the terrace but it was nice to have it all to ourselves.  I would say the only bummer about the welcome cocktails was that it was a little dark on the roof terrace at 8pm, and there are minimal lights around the perimeter.

 

Spa/Salon

The day before the wedding, I made mani/pedi appointments for myself and my MOH & 3 bmaids at the salon.  It’s nice that it’s set up so that you can all be in the same space during both the manicures and pedicures.  The girls at the salon spoke very little English so if you don’t know basic Spanish it can be frustrating to communicate with them but you can get by with gestures and pointing.  Not the best French manicure I’ve ever gotten, but, no one was looking at my fingers and toes, right? J

 

The Tangerine Sunset package included a facial and couples massage.  Those happened to be scheduled right after my manicure and pedicure so it was a nice spa day for me!  The facial was pretty relaxing, no painful extractions or anything, just a smoothing treatment.  The couples massage was soooo nice, and I think Jeff really enjoyed it as he had just gotten back from a deep sea fishing excursion with the boys.  We were able to sit in the relaxation room after.

 

The same girl who did my facial and massage also did my hair and makeup so we had some rapport with each other already.  Definitely bring pictures of what you want, they will be able to work off of them, which is what my girl did.  The first attempt of my hair was NOT GOOD (I think I used the words “Amish helmetâ€) and at first I was gonna let it go but my bmaids convinced me that it was the one day that I was allowed to be difficult so I had her redo it more to my liking.  Even though there is a language barrier, the girls in the salon are pretty willing to work with you and they ended up doing a great job on all 5 of us.

 

Flowers

I had told Marlene I wanted a tropical flower bouquet for myself, yellow and white bouquets for the bmaids, and yellow boutonnieres for the groomsmen/corsages for the moms.  Marlene had sent me pictures of bouquets they could do and there was one that I was fine with so we went with that.  Apparently it’s very difficult for them to get orchids in Punta Cana, so that’s something to also consider.  The bmaids’ bouquets seemed fine too.  The only slight issue I had with the flowers was that they gave Jeff a big sunflower for his boutonniere which seemed really awkward, especially when the other boutonnieres were yellow roses (I think), which looked much better. 

 

Centerpieces

We had some huge issues with the decorations before leaving for Punta Cana.  Apparently the decorations that were included in the package were these pinecone-looking candleholders with greenery around it – they literally looked like Christmas decorations.  Not cool.  So of course we knew we’d have to pay extra for something else.  I sent Marlene a pic of a basic vase filled with water and a flower submerged – she said it would be $20 per table and that they were only “for rent, not to takeâ€.  Then, at our meeting, they had a centerpiece set up in the office that we liked and actually went along pretty well with our loose theme of deck chairs.  It was weird because Marlene didn’t know if they had enough of all of the pieces from their suppliers for that table set up and didn’t know how much it would cost off the top of her head.  Why would they set up an example table in their wedding office and not know what it would cost and if they could do it??  Anyway, we paid an extra $50 per table for it, and they ended up looking fine.  Again, I wasn’t too concerned about table décor since no one ever remembers what they look like, but I felt that there is a bottom threshold for how crappy the centerpieces could be for people to start negatively remembering them.  And those pinecone shaped candle holders were below that threshold fo sho.

 

Ceremony

The garden location where they usually do ceremonies was toward the back of the convention center and next to the parking lot.  When we brought Jeff’s parents to scope out the area, his mom suggested doing the ceremony next to the gazebo, with this hill and cool tree stump as the background.  It sounds pretty boring but it was actually really nice, and in the shade at 5pm.  We were able to have the chairs set up in a semi circle around us instead of multiple rows too.  Not sure why they have never done ceremonies there, it seems like a much better location than what they currently offer.

 

Music Trio

We weren’t sure what to expect from the music trio – all Marlene told us was that they play “romantic music, merengue, and bachataâ€.  I forgot to tell Marlene to tell them not to play Here Comes The Bride or Canon in D (I’m sorta anti both for wedding ceremonies) but they did a good job, and the guests thought they were a nice, appropriate touch.

 

Cocktail Hour

We had the buffet and champagne station set up in the garden gazebo.  I think they also passed around some cocktails but we were busy getting more pictures taken so I didn’t really try the apps – I think there were some beef and chicken skewers and some fried little dumpling things.  Marlene said she wasn’t able to give us a list of the apps ahead of time, they were just “up to the chef’s selectionâ€.  I think they turned out fine, and they had these nice fruit sculptures set up at the table.

 

 

Reception

Bar Higuey was great – they put candles along the walkway in, the draping was nicely done, there are additional chairs and tables set along the perimeter.  We opted to not go with candles in the water and it still looked great.  It was sorta windy and during dinner, one of the fans came slightly unhinged and seemed like it was going to fall on our table!  So we turned the fans off since they were rocking back and forth – it was a little warm all night but better that none of our guests were decapitated!

 

I know we are all a little underwhelmed by the dinner options but it was actually pretty decent.  We had the caprese salad, the beef tenderloin/pesto chicken, and the cream brulee.  All were tasty.  We had stickers on the escort cards to denote the main course choices and everyone got what they wanted.

 

Videographer

We got the Star video package and our videographer was Oliver from Tropical Pictures.  He seemed to be pretty present throughout the night, he even had a second camera set up at our ceremony so he could move around for different angles from his own camera.

 

We decided the day we left that we wanted to get the raw footage from the entire wedding, in addition to just the 40-60 minute edited version.  We stopped in the Trop Pictures studio at the resort, they tracked him down for us and he agreed to give us all of the movie files for an extra $100.  We thought he was just going to email it to us but he came to the resort with the SD disks and we started copying all of the movie files onto Jeff’s laptop.  The first of the three disks took thirty minutes and we had to catch our shuttle to the airport.  Oliver’s home/office was 2 minutes from PUJ so he agreed to meet us at the airport to finish the transfers.  So while we waited in line to check-in, he sat on a nearby bench with our laptop and waited for the files to finish transferring.  We’ve only had time to watch a handful of the files, which are in 30 second to 10 minute clips, but they look good so far.  And even though we were already paying him extra, it was nice of him to meet up with us again and come to the airport.

 

DJ

We got the DJ basically just to play our iPod.  We had him play our dinner music playlist on shuffle and at one point, I felt like there were songs being played that were not on our list.  I went over to talk to him and for some reason he had started playing music from his own laptop.  It was very obvious when our iPod said Mumford and Sons, but Bob Marley was playing that something was wrong.  We switched it back over, but I’m still not sure why he just switched over in the middle of our playlist.  During the dancing, the speakers started getting staticky and went in and out a few times but otherwise, the music all worked out.

 

Cigar Roller

We got the cigar roller and he was a big hit!  We were 4 songs into our dance playlist and Marlene came up to Jeff & I and said to stop the music so the cigar roller to give a 15 minute intro.  We were like, uh….that’s not necessary, we’ll just let people go up to him on their own.  That worked out muuuuch better.  Again, one of those rules they think they have to follow until you show them a different way.  He had a pretty sizeable crowd all night and everyone had great things to say about his spiel.  There were 20 cigars included in our package and he gave us the 5 extra at the end of the night.

 

Cake

We chose the vanilla cake with strawberry filling.  I brought pictures of what I liked to Marlene and they did a decent job of replicating the picture.  I wasn’t too concerned with the cake – it looked fine and tasted fine.  Again, another detail I wasn’t concerned about.

 

PS

Not sure if any brides are considering the beach gazebo for the ceremony, but I will be honest with you, we saw 2 weddings there during our stay and it is literally a show.  While they do a good job of keeping people back, there are people in their thongs and speedos taking tons of pictures of you nearby.  The beach gazebo is an absolutely beautiful location but just be aware that it is not private or intimate.

 

Sorry for the lengthy and probably a little disjointed post!  I will try to get some pictures together of our wedding that friends have shared.  I have probably forgotten a lot of details but let me know if there are any other questions I can answer.  In the end, Marlene runs a tight ship and she will get it done for you.  I am jealous of all of you still planning and anticipating!  It will all be worth it in the end and you will all have amazing weddings, I promise!

[trivera5521]

Sunny welcome back!!! OMG your review is the shit!! Thanks so much!! I am glad that you were happy with your day and Marlene's performance and involvment.  So just a few questions:

 

• Did they upgrade your room at all?
• How was the weather, did it rain?
• Did you have a chance to see any beach ceremonies? I take it, it was very much like the gazebo...a show huh?
• WOW $50 extra per table for centerpieces, thats alot but very good to know! Did you ever consider bringing your own centerpieces or did Marlene shut that down also?
• After the reception did you guys continue to party, if so where?
• Photograhy/Videography did you do both pics and video? Did he pose you or where you on your own with that? If you dont mind em asking what did you spend on pics/video? Did you do a TTD session?
• If you could do it again would you change anything?

 

Thanks again for you insight!! Its been so helpful!