The Hard Rock Punta Cana

[Tiffany095]

Thanks for the input!

 

LH Sunnie--my mom and grandma are insisting on the reception be in the ballroom because of the heat, so that's how it's going to happen so I'm not even thinking of changing it, however I'd like the ceremony & cocktail hour outside.

 

For the cocktail hour--I have my 85 yr old grandma coming along, so I don't want her walking up so many steps. Is the eclipse terrace a lot of steps?? What bout the other terrace? Is there any elevator access or anything like that? Otherwise does anyone have pictures of how their cocktail hour was on a terrace OR poolside or anyone else? Thanks!

 

RexandKia - I cannot find that on Facebook. I searched what you typed, but that link did not come up. Also, I saw those pictures you are talking about and there are only 3, and only one of those 3 show anything as far as set up wise. I'm really looking for how people set up their different festivities and decor.

 

 

As far as the video, I really don't want my family videoing. I rather them just relax, I'm also loving the video people that make those shortened "movie trailers" of clips of the wedding. It looks so cool! I found a guy down there that did it, but I'm still waiting to hear back for prices. If anyone has someone in mind please let me know. 

 

My colors are probably going to be salmon/ coral shades --but I'm not sure what accent colors. Any suggestions? I'm not sure how to set up the room either--I can't see doing coral linens I think that's a bit much lol. 

 

If there are any brides that got married this year that can send me a bunch of pictures that would be much appreciated! =)

[RexandKia]

Tiffany 095, 

 

Ok, not sure why it isn't coming up. It is a closed group, so you have to be accepted in, but it should still come up.  I looked back in my post and realized that I forgot an /s/ at the end of "resort," but don't think that should make a difference. Again it is "All Palace Resorts Brides-Past and future.  Anyone else a member of this group from this forum have any suggestions?

[RexandKia]

Oh, one more thing Tiffany095,

 

You can also try YouTube if you're looking for pictures of set up etc... The Hard Rock website did not give me a good idea about locations, so I found several previous weddings held there on YouTube. A simple search such as "Hard Rock Punta Cana Wedding 2012," often brings many videos. Just a thought.

[Lh Sunnie]

Originally Posted by Tiffany095 

 

Thanks for the input!

 

LH Sunnie--my mom and grandma are insisting on the reception be in the ballroom because of the heat, so that's how it's going to happen so I'm not even thinking of changing it, however I'd like the ceremony & cocktail hour outside.

 

For the cocktail hour--I have my 85 yr old grandma coming along, so I don't want her walking up so many steps. Is the eclipse terrace a lot of steps?? What bout the other terrace? Is there any elevator access or anything like that? Otherwise does anyone have pictures of how their cocktail hour was on a terrace OR poolside or anyone else? Thanks!

 

RexandKia - I cannot find that on Facebook. I searched what you typed, but that link did not come up. Also, I saw those pictures you are talking about and there are only 3, and only one of those 3 show anything as far as set up wise. I'm really looking for how people set up their different festivities and decor.

 

 

As far as the video, I really don't want my family videoing. I rather them just relax, I'm also loving the video people that make those shortened "movie trailers" of clips of the wedding. It looks so cool! I found a guy down there that did it, but I'm still waiting to hear back for prices. If anyone has someone in mind please let me know. 

 

My colors are probably going to be salmon/ coral shades --but I'm not sure what accent colors. Any suggestions? I'm not sure how to set up the room either--I can't see doing coral linens I think that's a bit much lol. 

 

If there are any brides that got married this year that can send me a bunch of pictures that would be much appreciated! =)

Try FB and put in All classy Palace resorts/hard rock brides- past and future.  I am on this one and this is a different group of people.

 

Eclipse has like 2 steps and in the main lobby where their is elevator access, but not anywhere near the beach. But would work out good for you since your reception is near the ballroom.  I had my welcome party there.

 

accent color- maybe champagne?

[Davis girl]

Thanks everyone for help and suggestions ~ I'm sure this won't be the last of my questions but grately appreciate input from everyone. LH Sunnie, you have posted so much information that was helpful and your pictures are beautiful...

[Tiffany095]

Thanks girls!

 

BTW--that other website on Facebook---I still cannot find it, however this one worked! --All classy Palace resorts/hard rock brides- past and future

 

Thanks LHSunnie for that one. I just joined, and today I'll surf around the group. BTW--I think I saw you on there that you are a member. Your pic looks beautiful! Do you have any other pics from the wedding that you could share of where you had your events? and did you do coral as your colors or is that red? I can't tell. lol I can't wait to surf around that group--I'm going to have so many questions, but all of this is helpful. I really need pictures of the various locations already set up different ways so I can get some ideas.Thanks again

 

 

BTW--so I've been emailing with caribbean celebrations--they are great, and have been responding quickly. She said that it's best to go directly through her-for decor-so I hope that won't be a problem.

[RexandKia]

Well there are so many face book groups, glad that you found one that can help. Best of Luck!

[deeSG]

Hi everyone! Ok, I am going to try to give a FULL review on everything I can in regards to the Hard Rock Punta Cana. Our wedding was on Friday, July 27, 2012. My husband and I got to the resort on Sunday, July 22^nd. We booked the wedding back in August of 2011 and chose the Amethyst package. We had to pay appx $2700 for the collection; the first half we paid for and the second half we used the resort credit to pay the remaining balance of the wedding collection. I made all original plans with Marlyn Tobon from the Miami office. She was ok – when I needed something or had any questions, she was fine to deal with. I booked an on-site visit for the first week of December 2011. There I met with our wedding coordinator Jacqueline. I have to say, she is amazing! Honestly, everyone I dealt with in the wedding office on-site was great and always accommodating, but Jacqueline has been beyond a pleasure to work with the past 8 months. Miami office told me the wedding coordinator would contact me three months prior to the wedding in order to make all the plans. However, since I had already met with Jacqueline in December, I had continued to email her any questions and decisions we were making in regards to the wedding. She confirmed everything as I emailed her items. Always a pleasure to speak with! Melina, the manager of weddings, was amazing also! Melina and Jacqueline were the ones who took care of any issues I had and were ALWAYS available to help me and fix any problems that arose.

 

 

Rooms/Group Check in: We had over the 75 nights required for unlimited private events booked by our guests for the wedding. My husband and I received 7 free nights stay (we stayed a total of 7nights, so our room was free) and since our room was paid for before getting to the resort, on the day before we checked out, we already had the credit for our stay. We used it towards the wedding fees we had to pay. Group check in was terrible! It was the one thing that had us going crazy all week. So many of our guests had problems with their rooms in regards to which building they were in and the type of beds they got. We were all supposed to be in the same building – as promised to us – and the resort did not deliver. They had some guests all the way on the other side of the resort. We were under the assumption when booking a group wedding contract that all the rooms would be in the same building. My husband and I were in building 5B and had guests in building 1A and 8A (opposite sides of the resort!). Then we left welcome bags for our guests every morning with the group check in for whoever was checking in that day and so many guests didn’t receive them. I would have to go back, get the bags and deliver it myself. They do not communicate over there and make empty promises. Group check in actually had me crying one morning because one of the employees was giving me attitude! Not what we needed to deal with. I tried to be understanding that it was a very busy time for them and they were 97% full, as I was told countless times. My biggest complaint would be the lack of communication in group check in. 

 

 

Welcome Bags: Our welcome bags included the following items: Bag, itinerary, disposable camera, activity book or deck of cards, monogrammed cup, key holder, and survival kit. The survival kit included a first aid kit, aloe vera, shout wipes, pepto, advil, off! wipes. The advil was the most used item. Plenty of our guests had hangovers throughout the trip!

 

 

Private Events: Wednesday, July 25^th we had a private moonlit pool party for our guests at the Eden pool from 8pm to 11pm. We had hors deourves and cocktails served. We surpassed the 75 nights, so we had unlimited events. We paid only for an ipod player and speaker so we could have music. This was amazing! All of our guests had a fabulous time and the set up of cocktail tables was so nice! It really surpassed my expectations.

On Thursday, July 26^th, we had a White night lounge party on the element terrace from 7pm-10pm. It was a buffet dinner and cocktails. The food was excellent. We had the BBQ buffet, which overall was very good. We had the DJ play for three hours from J&S Audio Visual which is the resort DJ. The décor was an extra cost of $3,828 and the food was no additional cost because we had unlimited private events. Another hit! All the guests enjoyed the party and the view!

Wedding Day: The day of the wedding was wonderful. Perfect weather and mostly everything went as planned. I had my hair dresser and makeup artist with me, so I got ready in my room with no problems. Jacqueline had the tram car vehicles ready to pick up the groomsmen and bridesmaids to bring them to Isla beach where we were having the ceremony. Then there was a golf cart to bring me there last once they were all set up. We had the guitarist playing at the ceremony. Everything was great. The cocktail hour was on Isla beach also. Some of the guests didn’t like it outside, but there was a very nice breeze so the heat wasn’t bad. After the ceremony we took photos on the beach, first with all of our guests and then my husband and I. So by the time the guests finished taking photos, there weren’t at cocktail hour for that long. Then Jacqueline had the tram cars available to transport most of the guests to the reception, which was in the Fillmore ballroom.

 

 

Salon: Many of the girls had their hair/make-up done at the salon for the wedding, and overall, great results. One or two girls didn’t like the style, but for not being at home, I think everyone’s hair was really done well. And they were all on time!, which is important. I had a polish change and pedicure done the day before the wedding and they really are very organized and do a great job in the salon.

 

 

Décor: The décor was provided by Creative Punta Cana. The drapery was perfect! They did an excellent job! We had one wall (behind the bride & groom table) with the star drapery and the rest of the room in white drapery. The centerpieces were beautiful, even though I would have wanted the actual flowers to be fuller/bigger, but it was already done, so couldn’t worry about it.

 

 

Food: We chose the International buffet. I had originally wanted the reception indoors so we could have a sit down dinner (can’t accommodate sit down dinners if you choose to have the reception anywhere outdoors).  BUT, for the sit down dinner, you can only choose ONE appetizer, ONE entre, ONE dessert for ALL of your guests! Obviously we cannot force everyone to eat the same meal. So we went with the buffet. It was fine. Throughout this process in planning a destination wedding, I realized I would have to choose my battles wisely lol.

 

 

J&S Audio Visual:  We had the same DJ for our white party and reception. We really had no complaints about them. Besides the MC at the reception, the DJ was good. The MC was all over and was more worried about being social than being somewhere when I needed him.  I provided them with CDs of Albanian music (I am Albanian and my husband is not) which they played well and mixed into the music for the night. For specific slow dances and any specific dances we had, I put all the music on a CD for them, just to make sure we had it. They wrote everything down and it worked out well.

 

 

HDC Photography: We decided to go with an outside vendor for photography and videography. THE BEST DECISION WE MADE! The resort charges $500 for an outside vendor, WELL WORTH THE MONEY! Side note: With our wedding package came a photo book with 36 photos from the resorts photographer. Since we had HDC for the wedding, we used them at our white party. The photographer was too busy drinking by the bar and I always had to call him over for photos. Then I just received my photo book from them in the mail the other day, straight from Shutterfly! And they did a tacky job with the layout. From my experience, STAY AWAY FROM HARD ROCK PHOTOGRAPHER! Now back to HDC. Milan was the photographer and he was amazing!!! HDC was worth every penny. They have sent me the photos already so I can download and then can order or print them. But with my package came 300 prints and a coffee table book, which I am in process of choosing the photos for. The pictures and moments that Milan was able to catch are amazing! And we barely noticed him throughout the reception. Milan and the videographer were in all the right places at the right time. Still waiting for the video, so I can’t comment on the quality of it yet.

 

 

Oro Nightclub: Went on Saturday night and paid a $40 cover. Lucenzo was performing. The cover was high, but we had a group of ten people who wanted to party one more night before leaving. We had a blast. The DJ was ok, but we had fun with our group. So it all depends on who you are with and what you want to do while at the resort.

 

I hope I gave a detailed enough review on everything. I will try to upload pictures for everything. Any questions, let me know! Good luck to all the future brides! 

[deeSG]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Eleni776]

Thank you so much for your post. My wedding is in September 2012 and I am having the worst time getting the answers I need in a timely fashion. I have been working with Renee and it takes forever to get responses. I just received confirmations for my locations which were none of the ones I had put on the location request form. By chance did you take any pics of the Toro Terrace or the Isla Beach? I am hoping that once I get there that the process will be easier. How much did they charge for the guitarist to play at the ceremony? That sounds awesome!

 

Thanks again for all your help!