Barcelo Bavaro Palace Deluxe

[trivera5521]

Wow so it appears May is quite a busy month for weddings LOL! I apologize in advance for the lengthy review but here it goes. Check In / Rooms: My fiance and I arrived on Wednesday May 15th. We initally had reservations in the golf deluxe room and figured if we upgraded through our travel agent to a junior suite deluxe then we arrived at the resort we would be upgraded (per wedding package) to the club premium level. Um not so much, check in for all of our guests was easy breasy. There was a waitress walking around to greet all new arrivals with cocktails. Absolutely no delays for any of them and the lines werent long, however my finace and I had to wait about 40 minutes for our room since it wasnt ready. Keep in mind that check in is technically 3:00, we arrived at noon. I was a bit irritated but kept my composure. I was however disapointed to find out that the "free upgrade" from the junior suite went from a partial ocean view to a full ocean view. There was no difference in the size of the room, it was just the location that was different. That sucked too but whatever..we spent the first night in our regular room and the following day moved to the ocean front room. The room was beautiful, the beds were awesome and super comfy, the balcony had a jacuzzi and walked right out onto the beach and was literally 20 feet from the nearest pool with the swim up bar. Rememebr that this place is ginormous and the golf deluxe rooms and family deluxe rooms are all atleast 5-10 minute walk from the main area. I will say that a few guests complained to see roaches. I know it was pretty embarrasing and I hate to mention it but thought you should know. I mean it is the carribean so maybe it should be expected? IDK we didnt see any in our room but we did see a few on various nights we were out. One in the theatre and another hanging out in the lounge area outside the casino. Other than that we had no complaints of the rooms. We tipped our maids and they took care of us. Another thing to rememebr is tipping really does go along way, and not alot. A few dollars is a big deal as is spanish. So if possible speak spanish as much as possible. I think the conversion rate was like 41 pesos to every american dollar. Wedding Meeting: We had a 9:30 meeting with Susanna scheduled for Thursday morning and to our surprise she was unavailable and we dealt with Marlene. Which was fkn awesome since Susana and I just didnt see eye to eye. Ironically Marlene somehow knew we had some issues back in forth since she has been the one dealing with Susana's clients via email. LOL. We sat with Marlene and there was a bit of disorganization as I expected since she wasnt familiar with me and what I wanted but we quickly sorted through it. At this time I brought all my things with me and went over with her what I brought and how I wanted things set up. I will get into more detail later on that. We went over details of the cermony, cake choices, final #'s, food selections, flowers, costs, etc. We initally only had the basic DJ package and decided to upgrade to the MC package (I think it was $1200?) , we also extended the reception for the additional hour which was I think about $750. I brought my own real touch bouquet so the free bouquet with the package was used for the bouquet toss and to decorate the cake table. I purchased 3 bridesmaids bouquets from them for $30 each and didnt need boutanniers because I brought those with me as well. There really werent anymore hidden costs other than Susana telling me I could have 2 colored chair sashes at no cost. They were actually $7 per chair for the additonal one needless to say we only had one color. LOL. We finalized spa appointments here and went over the itinerayr of the wedding day, meet up points, etc. All in all I left there very pleased and 1,000 times more confident that they could pull of my dream wedding. Tropical Pictures comes in at this time and sells you their services. We brought out own photographer with us so we didnt need them for that but we did purchase videography services from them for $1100. Friday I met with the DJ to go over dance selections and song genres. The DJ didnt have much of a personality and I was a bit apprehensive hoping the MC wasnt as blah as this guy. I also prepared my centerpieces on Friday, since they required sand of course Marlene wasnt going to do that so I had to go to the beach and fill em with sand and bring em back to the office. A small price to pay for the amount of money I saved with doing them myself. Wedding Day: My hair/make up appointment was for noon and of course they were running behind schedule. I probably sat in the chair at about 12:45 or so. I didnt bring a picture of what I wanted with hair or makeup but they have a book and so I chose a great style that was exactly what I wanted. A girl named Maritza did my hair and makeup. Loved the makeup, it was light and really simple. I brought fake lashes with me but like a dumb ass left the top un topped and it dried out!! I sent mom on a wild goose chase b/c the salon didn have glue and $20 later she found a tube. Phew close one. The girl spend close to an hour on my hair and I just didnt like it, so she had to do it again. It wasnt even me being a bitch it just didnt look like the picture. She understood and gladly did it over. I got ready in the Bridal Salon with all my girls my mom, the 2 flower girls, my photographer, the videographer and the SYTTD videographer. I think I lucked out a bit with the salon because they typcially dont let girls use the whole bridal salon with out renting it. I think since the show was there they wanted it to look good and made the exception. The girls and mom helped me get ready and we took a bunch of pictures and were good with our 3:45 go time for a 4:00 ceremony. Tropical Pictures went first to the grooms room at 2:00 then came back to the bridal salon to shoot us getting ready at 3:00. The groom and wedding party met at Bar Carey at 3:30 and went with the WC down to the cermony. We had our ceremony on the beach and it was picture perfect. The weather was beautiful!! The wedding party walked to "Somewhere over the rainbow" I walked to Canon D and the sand cermony was done to Kenny G's Forever in love. The Tangerine Package includes use of the sound system during the ceremony so I had all the songs on my iphone and designated one of my cousins to change the music since Marlene said she wouldnt have time and it worked out great. The cermony last about 20 minutes that included our own vows, the walk of the bridal party (3 bridesmaids, 2 flower girls and my son the ring bearer) we also did a thing called sand dollar wishes that I made up LOL. A fun kind of way to incorporate the group. I purchased sand dollars and had a table set up next to the cocktail hour and before the cermeony I had everyone write a wish on a sand dollar. After the cermeony we all walked down to the ocean and threw em in. It was perfect and so glad we did it! When I say I had 4 suitcases full of just wedding stuff I am not lying I brought a shit load of things with me LOL! Our cocktail hour started right on the beach directly after the ceremony. The Trio played at this time and everyone loved the food. We did our pictures at this time and TP also covered this. The trolley took everyone over to Bar Higuey for the reception and we followed shortly after. I was very pleased with the setup, it was just beautiful. I did bring with me 100 floating candles for the pool area that were never used. They said it was too windy which was BS b/c there was no wind at all. I just think they ran out of time. The MC was awesome and I am soo glad we added him because he really did make a difference. He announced the wedding party and played the music selections we had for entrances, we had our first dance and the firework flare things were really a nice touch that no one expected. We nearly chocked on the smoke though. It served as a nice LOL moment for us during our dance. We sat down and dinner was quickly served. During our meeting Marlene mentioned that they dod things rather quickly so the party can get started quicker and she wasnt lying. I brought my own centerpieces, menu's, table decorations, and linen napkins. The food was really good! We had the caprese salad, and choice of fish and chicken. We had 3 children and they had chicken fingers and fries at no charge. The presentations of the dishes were quite impressive. The creme brule was our desert choice and the cake was the strawberry with vanilla cake. We did however have a pretty big bump in the road. Once the party started our group is very much dancers and the shoes quickly came off. Including that of our son whom is 2. I went to grab him for a pic and looked down at my dress to see it covered in blood! He cut his foot with a piece of glass! We quickly rushed him to the on premised medical center and spent the next 2 1/1 hours of our reception in the ER. Devastated on so many levels, for having missed the reception that I will never get back and the fact that my baby was injured. Early in the evening there was a glass that was broken and they just didnt clean it up properly. $500 bill later and we returned to our reception with 15 minutes left. They wouldnt extend the reception and they wouldnt refund the money for the additional hour. In any event our attorney is dealing with them on that but overall the ceremony was perfect and other than the mishap with my son the reception area was well decorated, food was good, MC was awesome. They even had signature shots in our wedding colors which was a nice touch. I think thats it for now...let me know if you guys have any specific questions and I would gladly answer them. Also, keep in mind that this place is huge so its really important to find a central location for people to meet. Also, dinner reservations for groups of more than 4 are hard to come by so have your guests make them ASAP and as far out as possible. We ate at the Japanese (awesome) Steak House, Seafood, Mexican and Spanish. No complaints although I didnt feel to swift after the mexican spot. I gave out welcome bags and included the personalized insulated mugs, wedding tshirts and an oh shit kit. The bags were such a big hit! Everyone used them to carry their things in them so glad we did them, as were the mugs. Since they were insulated and had handles and covers they were perfect for our group that had liquid breakfasts, lunches and dinners LOL! I also found the advil and Pepto that came in handy. Everything else I had in there wasnt used much. Um I think I covered most of the important things, if anything else comes to mind I will circle back and I will upload a few pics shortly. Girls 2 years of planning and the day came and went so fast!! Soak it up because it really is memorable!! Oh and I did a TTD shoot the following day and it was sooooo much fun and I would totally recommend it!!

[trivera5521]

[trivera5521]

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[trivera5521]

[trivera5521]

 

Centerpieces...bad pic but they really did look great!

 

Sand Dollar Wishes =)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fans w/ Tears of joy packets sat on everyone's chairs and they all used em 

 

 

Cake

[teena84]

Hey Trivera5521!

 

So it was you who my MOH and I (the girls with the white tote bags) ran into at the spa when you were getting ready to have your hair/makeup done on your wedding day!!  I somehow knew from the vibe I got off of you that you might've been from this forum, but I don't know what stopped me from asking that.  Your wedding was beautiful to watch on the beach.  You might've not noticed, but if you did, the topless kid with a camera around his neck taking pictures of your wedding was my brother.  I kept calling him a creeper, and said maybe he should start a new trend...topless photographer..hahahha..

 

Anyway, I'm glad everything went well for your wedding, minus your son's (who was the most adorable ring bearer) unfortunate accident!!  Is he okay now?

 

I'm anxiously waiting on my photographer to finish editing the pictures so I can share them with everyone.  The bar higuey was amazing, wasn't it?!!  I was soo worried about the weather, but it was perfect for our wedding.  You had beautiful weather too, so that was cool!

 

Love your pictures, btw!  I kind of wanna do TTD from looking at yours now, but I don't think it would've turn out as well as yours because my dress didn't have much of a train.  It's a very simple lightweight dress - I posted a youtube link in my previous post if you're curious.  I had my bridesmaids wore baby blue dresses, with pink tissue bouquets that I made, and my husband was in a custom tailored gray suit and white shirt with fuschia skinny tie.  All the groomsmen wore white shirt, fuschia tie, fuschia boutinneire, black belts, gray pants, pink socks, and black shoes =)
 

[trivera5521]

Teena wow what a small world!! Lol thanks for your kind words and lmao at your topless brother I'm so glad to hear your day was perfect and thanks, yes Kayden is much better now! Bar Higuey was a perfect reception venue and as worried as I was about the weather it was gorgeous! I'm looking forward to your pictures! Great color schemes! I'm glad to hear you brought your own photographer although TP does great work bringing my own photographer was the best decision I made! She captured every singles moment of our entire week! I feel like I can relieve every second of the experience through her pictures! Not to mention the savings and amount of coverage we got. I'm going to try and upload our TP video to utube but its a bit long. In making my decision to do the video it was tough bc there weren't a whole lot of videos to view of there work. This forum was my savior the last 2 years and I couldn't have planned this wedding without it! Thanks again to all the past, present and future brides!!!

[natalieblev]

Hey Tamara! Great pictures and thank you so much for the review. Your dress is stunning! And the weather looked beautiful for the wedding! 

Sorry to hear about your little boy! That just sucks all around. Hopefully they will rectify the situation. 

 

So I have Susana as my WC, and have heard she will not be there....so did the things you reserved/discussed with Susana take any like showing of emails, records keeping to have Marlene agree? I worry as I have made some plans with Susana that aren't exactly by the book so I just didnt want to have any surprises when I get there.

 

Would you say the Lobby Bar is a good and fun place to meet up for the first night just to welcome everyone? Is there food there (snacks)?

 

Did you ever eat at Hoya 19? 

 

Did you guys do any excursions? Anything fun on resort that shouldnt be missed? 

 

For the day of and decorating, do you leave it completely to them and dont have any family or yourself helping decorate anywhere? Just want to make sure I am where I need to be.

 

Did you guys get vouchers upon checking in? I see online where you can get coupons for the spa/waterpark etc, but my TA wont confirm it.

 

We have the DJ with the MC as well, and I know you missed most of your reception (SUCKS!) but from a few past reviews it sounded like the reception was basically just dinner, toasts and a dance...I was hoping to have like two hours of dancing...and it sound slike your party was able to do that...did you opt out of things like father-daughter dance and toasts or was it just more organized with the MC so faster?

 

I know you brought two dresses with you? Any problems carrying them on? 

 

About how long did it take you guys to go through customs at PC airport? My FI keeps saying its going to take two hours, but I just cannot believe it!!

 

Okay, sorry I know that is so many questions! And I have more sadly hahah! My wedding is in three weeks and with Susana gone and a couple bad reviews im getting a little more nervous, so thank you for your review! Made me feel better. And your cake is the prettiest I have seen there! I was hoping to get that big bottom layer like you, but wasnt sure if they would be able to do it! But thanks again for all the info and you guys all looked wonderful!! Your son is just too cute! 

[Reign14]

Hi TRivera....congratulations on your wedding and thanks for the review!!! I know it was a long time coming and I'm glad everything turned out great overall. It's hard not to have all of these expectations when we read everyone's amazing stories on here, but I plan to keep mine low so I can be pleasantly surprised rather than disappointed if the slightest thing goes wrong (i.e. roaches, upgrades, etc.). It's almost inevitable. You have to tell me when your SYTTD episode will be airing!!! Love that show.

 

So glad your son was OK and I'm sorry you missed part of your reception. I can't believe they wouldn't accommodate you with an extension. Bad customer service, especially since it was partially their fault for not cleaning all of the glass up. But as long as your guests had a good time that's what matters. Glad to hear the food was good and the DJ and MC did a good job. Thanks for all of the heads ups about reservations, distances to walk, extra charge for second color chair sash, etc. Good things to know.

 

Love love love your pictures!!! You guys look beautiful together (your son is adorable) and the underwater shot is epic.

 

A few questions:

• Can you share a pic of Bar Higuey during your reception, with table settings? I love your colors...curious how they all came together on the table.
• I see you had your ceremony on the beach. I think I want the same thing (going back and forth b/w beach and rooftop) even though some are saying it's not very private. Question....did you say your cocktail reception was on the beach too? I hadn't heard of that. Was it a good location? Can you share a pic? If we do the beach ceremony I was thinking of doing the rooftop reception. But if the beach is a good option I'll consider it.
• Is that the caprese salad in the picture? Looks great! What was your dessert? Trying to decide b/w the creme brulee and chocolate forest cake (or whatever its called).

[nykat57]

TRivera, Congrats!!!

You were such a beautiful bride! Looks like you guys had a blast except for your son's boo-boo! Thanks for the review. I was also hoping for the upgrade to the premium room, but I guess that isn't going to happen...thanks for the heads up.

 

I had some questions but Natalieblev already asked most of them, however I had a couple more:

1. Did you check out the kids club at all?  I keep hearing about a $10 for a "water park" do you know anything about that?

2. Did you get to check out the disco at all?

3. Did they charge you extra for the group dinner at Japanese restuarant?

4. Where did you get those bowls for centerpieces?

5. Do you happen to have Marlene's email address? They should've sent something out to brides to keep us informed!

 

Thanks again,

Katty