2013 bride here still deciding on a punta cana resort need serious help never knew the this could be soo stressful

[sosodj]

Originally Posted by mistyblues 

 

I stuck between Majestic Colonial Punta Cana and Gran Bahia Principe bavaro or Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana

 

1. my biggest concern is to keep quest travel cost down

 2. Private wedding reception

 3. Great photo graghy

 4. great selection of food

 5. lot of things to do for the guests

 

 

any tips advice from any specially brides that been to these resorts would be soo helpful

 

Have you decided in  a resort  yet?

[Katie121]

My fiance and I really want to get married at the Hard Rock. We have friends (our maid of honor and best man) and their family are going there for Thanksgiving this year, and since they are a huge part of our wedding, we want to get married there since their family is our second family; my dream is also to get married on a beach and not have to pay for it for the next 10 years!

 

After reading horror stories of the Hard Rock's communication skills, I would appreciate any help people can offer. Any ideas on travel agents or people to call to coordinate? I was looking into Destintationwedding.com as a sort of planner, but I am nervous planning my wedding when I know nothing about their agency. 

[maridr2012]

I went to Punta Cana in December to check out several options for resorts - here are my takes on each one I visited:

 

 

The Hard Rock Hotel is gorgeous, and the nightlife there is so much fun - we went there 1 night and I did alot of research on this property.  I didn't book my wedding there because although we would've been able to afford it, several of our guests definitely wouldn't be able to, and that was something we had to keep in mind.  

 

Melia Caribe/Tropical - We stayed here during our 1st night in Punta Cana.  Huge beautiful property, beautiful rooms, nice pools & beach, great customer service, wasnt crazy about the food, nightlife was ok. They share the property with Paradisus Palma Real.  Melia owns these resorts.  

 

 

Paradisus Palma Real:  same as above - gorgeous huge property, same as above for everything else. I wasnt there in the evening, only in daytime so I cant speak of nightlife.  However, what I do know is they're very pricey, and the feel of the atomosphere was a bit more formal.  I was looking for something with a more casual vibe.  

 

 

Paradisus Punta Cana resort.  This is where our wedding will be in November.  We stayed here for 3 nights.  It's an AI, and the guest rates I secured were $219 (incl. tax & transfers) based on double occupancy in a Deluxe Jr Ste.  I am having about 65 guests, and although I've tried to be budget savvy and cut corners wherever possible but still make the event very classy, elegant, and beautiful, I am looking at about $13,000.  This includes most of the decoration, a beach gazebo ceremony with cocktail hour and top shelf liquor and passed hors doeuvres, floral centerpieces, minister fee, my hair & makeup @ spa, DJ for 4 hour reception in a private space in the resort, customized cake, and several other things (that added up quickly if I had done a-la-carte).  Also, I was able to negotiate amenities, so I'm having a 90 min private "welcome party" cocktail party for my guests a few nites before the wedding, and I'm getting 3 comp'd rooms for 3 nights.   Here is a link to all the albums they have on weddings - all the decor, ceremony, cocktail hour, reception area options, decorations, etc.  It doesnt have prices, you would only be able to get that directly thru their "Romance Office" which books the weddings, but at least you can get an idea of what everything looks like:  http://picasaweb.google.com/romancebyparadisuspuntacana

 

Also, you should know PPC is a huge resort and its gorgeous.  LOTS of restaurants, beautiful beach, good food and strong drinks, nice rooms.  Customer service actually could use some improvement here -  nobody was rude or anything but we had to keep asking and reminding them about certain things during our stay.  I was especially annoyed because we were there on an official wedding site visit, and nobody at the front desk seemed to have a clue of what I was there for!  It all got cleared up though when I demanded to speak to the general manager on our 2nd evening there and did not budge from the lobby waiting for him in the lobby for an hour.  I was fuming.  

 

 

Ocean Blue Sands: I really wasn't a fan of this property at all.  The customer service was good, and the rooms are clean and well-maintained.  However, it was too small for my taste.  There weren't many restaurant options, I think only like 4.  The sites for ceremony did not impress me one bit - there were not private at all, not even semi-private.  One was just outside the main lobby where EVERYONE walks by, another was at a garden located along one of the main walkways and was too small, another location was on the beach (I'm just not a fan of getting married right on the beach, that's just me), then there was the pool location.  After I saw the pool location I pretty much mentally checked out.  There were 2 big pools, all surrounded my plain cement floor.  The space where they setup the ceremony at pool was sorta in the middle space between both pools, they would set up some sort of stand with shading, etc.  I'm sure it looks pretty in photos,but I couldnt imagine there is any sort of privacy or sense of intimacy there.  This was all surrounded by the buildings where guests stay at.  So, basically you could have guests seeing your wedding while sitting on the balcony of their room while lounging in their bikinis. LOL.  They did say they close the pool off so nobody would be using it but...I just shook my head.

 

 

NOW Larimar: I actually stayed here on my last night in Punta Cana.  I liked this resort for maybe a quick weekend getaway, but not for a wedding.  The food was decent, the spaces for ceremony and reception were nice too.  The customer service here was wonderful!  They didnt roll out the red carpet and give us a private butler like Melia did, but I didn't mind at all, I didnt need it.  I was so impressed with how they treated us even before we told them we were there to consider it for our wedding.  The drawback was we were already so in love with Paradisus Punta Cana that it couldnt be matched at that point, and NOW Larimar was definitely for someone with a smaller budget.  Which is totally FINE, we just wanted to make a great impression on our guests.  The other drawback here was the beach...  They literally had guards at the beach to shoo away the vendors because they really do harass you.  I'm not sure if this is something that happens on this side of Punta Cana or what because I didnt see any of that in the other resorts we visited, but I wasnt crazy about seeing that.   

 

Hope this helps, good luck!

[sosodj]

 

 

Originally Posted by maridr2012 

 

I went to Punta Cana in December to check out several options for resorts - here are my takes on each one I visited:

 

 

The Hard Rock Hotel is gorgeous, and the nightlife there is so much fun - we went there 1 night and I did alot of research on this property.  I didn't book my wedding there because although we would've been able to afford it, several of our guests definitely wouldn't be able to, and that was something we had to keep in mind.  

 

Melia Caribe/Tropical - We stayed here during our 1st night in Punta Cana.  Huge beautiful property, beautiful rooms, nice pools & beach, great customer service, wasnt crazy about the food, nightlife was ok. They share the property with Paradisus Palma Real.  Melia owns these resorts.  

 

 

Paradisus Palma Real:  same as above - gorgeous huge property, same as above for everything else. I wasnt there in the evening, only in daytime so I cant speak of nightlife.  However, what I do know is they're very pricey, and the feel of the atomosphere was a bit more formal.  I was looking for something with a more casual vibe.  

 

 

Paradisus Punta Cana resort.  This is where our wedding will be in November.  We stayed here for 3 nights.  It's an AI, and the guest rates I secured were $219 (incl. tax & transfers) based on double occupancy in a Deluxe Jr Ste.  I am having about 65 guests, and although I've tried to be budget savvy and cut corners wherever possible but still make the event very classy, elegant, and beautiful, I am looking at about $13,000.  This includes most of the decoration, a beach gazebo ceremony with cocktail hour and top shelf liquor and passed hors doeuvres, floral centerpieces, minister fee, my hair & makeup @ spa, DJ for 4 hour reception in a private space in the resort, customized cake, and several other things (that added up quickly if I had done a-la-carte).  Also, I was able to negotiate amenities, so I'm having a 90 min private "welcome party" cocktail party for my guests a few nites before the wedding, and I'm getting 3 comp'd rooms for 3 nights.   Here is a link to all the albums they have on weddings - all the decor, ceremony, cocktail hour, reception area options, decorations, etc.  It doesnt have prices, you would only be able to get that directly thru their "Romance Office" which books the weddings, but at least you can get an idea of what everything looks like:  http://picasaweb.google.com/romancebyparadisuspuntacana

 

Also, you should know PPC is a huge resort and its gorgeous.  LOTS of restaurants, beautiful beach, good food and strong drinks, nice rooms.  Customer service actually could use some improvement here -  nobody was rude or anything but we had to keep asking and reminding them about certain things during our stay.  I was especially annoyed because we were there on an official wedding site visit, and nobody at the front desk seemed to have a clue of what I was there for!  It all got cleared up though when I demanded to speak to the general manager on our 2nd evening there and did not budge from the lobby waiting for him in the lobby for an hour.  I was fuming.  

 

 

Ocean Blue Sands: I really wasn't a fan of this property at all.  The customer service was good, and the rooms are clean and well-maintained.  However, it was too small for my taste.  There weren't many restaurant options, I think only like 4.  The sites for ceremony did not impress me one bit - there were not private at all, not even semi-private.  One was just outside the main lobby where EVERYONE walks by, another was at a garden located along one of the main walkways and was too small, another location was on the beach (I'm just not a fan of getting married right on the beach, that's just me), then there was the pool location.  After I saw the pool location I pretty much mentally checked out.  There were 2 big pools, all surrounded my plain cement floor.  The space where they setup the ceremony at pool was sorta in the middle space between both pools, they would set up some sort of stand with shading, etc.  I'm sure it looks pretty in photos,but I couldnt imagine there is any sort of privacy or sense of intimacy there.  This was all surrounded by the buildings where guests stay at.  So, basically you could have guests seeing your wedding while sitting on the balcony of their room while lounging in their bikinis. LOL.  They did say they close the pool off so nobody would be using it but...I just shook my head.

 

 

NOW Larimar: I actually stayed here on my last night in Punta Cana.  I liked this resort for maybe a quick weekend getaway, but not for a wedding.  The food was decent, the spaces for ceremony and reception were nice too.  The customer service here was wonderful!  They didnt roll out the red carpet and give us a private butler like Melia did, but I didn't mind at all, I didnt need it.  I was so impressed with how they treated us even before we told them we were there to consider it for our wedding.  The drawback was we were already so in love with Paradisus Punta Cana that it couldnt be matched at that point, and NOW Larimar was definitely for someone with a smaller budget.  Which is totally FINE, we just wanted to make a great impression on our guests.  The other drawback here was the beach...  They literally had guards at the beach to shoo away the vendors because they really do harass you.  I'm not sure if this is something that happens on this side of Punta Cana or what because I didnt see any of that in the other resorts we visited, but I wasnt crazy about seeing that.   

 

Hope this helps, good luck!

 

 

Originally Posted by maridr2012 

 

I went to Punta Cana in December to check out several options for resorts - here are my takes on each one I visited:

 

 

The Hard Rock Hotel is gorgeous, and the nightlife there is so much fun - we went there 1 night and I did alot of research on this property.  I didn't book my wedding there because although we would've been able to afford it, several of our guests definitely wouldn't be able to, and that was something we had to keep in mind.  

 

Melia Caribe/Tropical - We stayed here during our 1st night in Punta Cana.  Huge beautiful property, beautiful rooms, nice pools & beach, great customer service, wasnt crazy about the food, nightlife was ok. They share the property with Paradisus Palma Real.  Melia owns these resorts.  

 

 

Paradisus Palma Real:  same as above - gorgeous huge property, same as above for everything else. I wasnt there in the evening, only in daytime so I cant speak of nightlife.  However, what I do know is they're very pricey, and the feel of the atomosphere was a bit more formal.  I was looking for something with a more casual vibe.  

 

 

Paradisus Punta Cana resort.  This is where our wedding will be in November.  We stayed here for 3 nights.  It's an AI, and the guest rates I secured were $219 (incl. tax & transfers) based on double occupancy in a Deluxe Jr Ste.  I am having about 65 guests, and although I've tried to be budget savvy and cut corners wherever possible but still make the event very classy, elegant, and beautiful, I am looking at about $13,000.  This includes most of the decoration, a beach gazebo ceremony with cocktail hour and top shelf liquor and passed hors doeuvres, floral centerpieces, minister fee, my hair & makeup @ spa, DJ for 4 hour reception in a private space in the resort, customized cake, and several other things (that added up quickly if I had done a-la-carte).  Also, I was able to negotiate amenities, so I'm having a 90 min private "welcome party" cocktail party for my guests a few nites before the wedding, and I'm getting 3 comp'd rooms for 3 nights.   Here is a link to all the albums they have on weddings - all the decor, ceremony, cocktail hour, reception area options, decorations, etc.  It doesnt have prices, you would only be able to get that directly thru their "Romance Office" which books the weddings, but at least you can get an idea of what everything looks like:  http://picasaweb.google.com/romancebyparadisuspuntacana

 

Also, you should know PPC is a huge resort and its gorgeous.  LOTS of restaurants, beautiful beach, good food and strong drinks, nice rooms.  Customer service actually could use some improvement here -  nobody was rude or anything but we had to keep asking and reminding them about certain things during our stay.  I was especially annoyed because we were there on an official wedding site visit, and nobody at the front desk seemed to have a clue of what I was there for!  It all got cleared up though when I demanded to speak to the general manager on our 2nd evening there and did not budge from the lobby waiting for him in the lobby for an hour.  I was fuming.  

 

 

Ocean Blue Sands: I really wasn't a fan of this property at all.  The customer service was good, and the rooms are clean and well-maintained.  However, it was too small for my taste.  There weren't many restaurant options, I think only like 4.  The sites for ceremony did not impress me one bit - there were not private at all, not even semi-private.  One was just outside the main lobby where EVERYONE walks by, another was at a garden located along one of the main walkways and was too small, another location was on the beach (I'm just not a fan of getting married right on the beach, that's just me), then there was the pool location.  After I saw the pool location I pretty much mentally checked out.  There were 2 big pools, all surrounded my plain cement floor.  The space where they setup the ceremony at pool was sorta in the middle space between both pools, they would set up some sort of stand with shading, etc.  I'm sure it looks pretty in photos,but I couldnt imagine there is any sort of privacy or sense of intimacy there.  This was all surrounded by the buildings where guests stay at.  So, basically you could have guests seeing your wedding while sitting on the balcony of their room while lounging in their bikinis. LOL.  They did say they close the pool off so nobody would be using it but...I just shook my head.

 

 

NOW Larimar: I actually stayed here on my last night in Punta Cana.  I liked this resort for maybe a quick weekend getaway, but not for a wedding.  The food was decent, the spaces for ceremony and reception were nice too.  The customer service here was wonderful!  They didnt roll out the red carpet and give us a private butler like Melia did, but I didn't mind at all, I didnt need it.  I was so impressed with how they treated us even before we told them we were there to consider it for our wedding.  The drawback was we were already so in love with Paradisus Punta Cana that it couldnt be matched at that point, and NOW Larimar was definitely for someone with a smaller budget.  Which is totally FINE, we just wanted to make a great impression on our guests.  The other drawback here was the beach...  They literally had guards at the beach to shoo away the vendors because they really do harass you.  I'm not sure if this is something that happens on this side of Punta Cana or what because I didnt see any of that in the other resorts we visited, but I wasnt crazy about seeing that.   

 

Hope this helps, good luck!

 

 

Originally Posted by maridr2012 

 

I went to Punta Cana in December to check out several options for resorts - here are my takes on each one I visited:

 

 

The Hard Rock Hotel is gorgeous, and the nightlife there is so much fun - we went there 1 night and I did alot of research on this property.  I didn't book my wedding there because although we would've been able to afford it, several of our guests definitely wouldn't be able to, and that was something we had to keep in mind.  

 

Melia Caribe/Tropical - We stayed here during our 1st night in Punta Cana.  Huge beautiful property, beautiful rooms, nice pools & beach, great customer service, wasnt crazy about the food, nightlife was ok. They share the property with Paradisus Palma Real.  Melia owns these resorts.  

 

 

Paradisus Palma Real:  same as above - gorgeous huge property, same as above for everything else. I wasnt there in the evening, only in daytime so I cant speak of nightlife.  However, what I do know is they're very pricey, and the feel of the atomosphere was a bit more formal.  I was looking for something with a more casual vibe.  

 

 

Paradisus Punta Cana resort.  This is where our wedding will be in November.  We stayed here for 3 nights.  It's an AI, and the guest rates I secured were $219 (incl. tax & transfers) based on double occupancy in a Deluxe Jr Ste.  I am having about 65 guests, and although I've tried to be budget savvy and cut corners wherever possible but still make the event very classy, elegant, and beautiful, I am looking at about $13,000.  This includes most of the decoration, a beach gazebo ceremony with cocktail hour and top shelf liquor and passed hors doeuvres, floral centerpieces, minister fee, my hair & makeup @ spa, DJ for 4 hour reception in a private space in the resort, customized cake, and several other things (that added up quickly if I had done a-la-carte).  Also, I was able to negotiate amenities, so I'm having a 90 min private "welcome party" cocktail party for my guests a few nites before the wedding, and I'm getting 3 comp'd rooms for 3 nights.   Here is a link to all the albums they have on weddings - all the decor, ceremony, cocktail hour, reception area options, decorations, etc.  It doesnt have prices, you would only be able to get that directly thru their "Romance Office" which books the weddings, but at least you can get an idea of what everything looks like:  http://picasaweb.google.com/romancebyparadisuspuntacana

 

Also, you should know PPC is a huge resort and its gorgeous.  LOTS of restaurants, beautiful beach, good food and strong drinks, nice rooms.  Customer service actually could use some improvement here -  nobody was rude or anything but we had to keep asking and reminding them about certain things during our stay.  I was especially annoyed because we were there on an official wedding site visit, and nobody at the front desk seemed to have a clue of what I was there for!  It all got cleared up though when I demanded to speak to the general manager on our 2nd evening there and did not budge from the lobby waiting for him in the lobby for an hour.  I was fuming.  

 

 

Ocean Blue Sands: I really wasn't a fan of this property at all.  The customer service was good, and the rooms are clean and well-maintained.  However, it was too small for my taste.  There weren't many restaurant options, I think only like 4.  The sites for ceremony did not impress me one bit - there were not private at all, not even semi-private.  One was just outside the main lobby where EVERYONE walks by, another was at a garden located along one of the main walkways and was too small, another location was on the beach (I'm just not a fan of getting married right on the beach, that's just me), then there was the pool location.  After I saw the pool location I pretty much mentally checked out.  There were 2 big pools, all surrounded my plain cement floor.  The space where they setup the ceremony at pool was sorta in the middle space between both pools, they would set up some sort of stand with shading, etc.  I'm sure it looks pretty in photos,but I couldnt imagine there is any sort of privacy or sense of intimacy there.  This was all surrounded by the buildings where guests stay at.  So, basically you could have guests seeing your wedding while sitting on the balcony of their room while lounging in their bikinis. LOL.  They did say they close the pool off so nobody would be using it but...I just shook my head.

 

 

NOW Larimar: I actually stayed here on my last night in Punta Cana.  I liked this resort for maybe a quick weekend getaway, but not for a wedding.  The food was decent, the spaces for ceremony and reception were nice too.  The customer service here was wonderful!  They didnt roll out the red carpet and give us a private butler like Melia did, but I didn't mind at all, I didnt need it.  I was so impressed with how they treated us even before we told them we were there to consider it for our wedding.  The drawback was we were already so in love with Paradisus Punta Cana that it couldnt be matched at that point, and NOW Larimar was definitely for someone with a smaller budget.  Which is totally FINE, we just wanted to make a great impression on our guests.  The other drawback here was the beach...  They literally had guards at the beach to shoo away the vendors because they really do harass you.  I'm not sure if this is something that happens on this side of Punta Cana or what because I didnt see any of that in the other resorts we visited, but I wasnt crazy about seeing that.   

 

Hope this helps, good luck!

Did you go to the Gran Bahia Principe esmerelda?

[maridr2012]

No I didn't, I was only there for 5 days so I had to narrow down my choices to visit before I got there. I visited Melia Caribe/Tropical, Paradisus Punta Cana,Now Larimar, Ocean Blue & Sands.

[sosodj]

Wow it looks like you really made the most of your time, thanks for the detailed review, this is really helpful
 

[TammyWright]

Originally Posted by Katie121 

 

My fiance and I really want to get married at the Hard Rock. We have friends (our maid of honor and best man) and their family are going there for Thanksgiving this year, and since they are a huge part of our wedding, we want to get married there since their family is our second family; my dream is also to get married on a beach and not have to pay for it for the next 10 years!

 

After reading horror stories of the Hard Rock's communication skills, I would appreciate any help people can offer. Any ideas on travel agents or people to call to coordinate? I was looking into Destintationwedding.com as a sort of planner, but I am nervous planning my wedding when I know nothing about their agency. 

 

 

 

You might want to try one of the BDW Travel Agents.  We Specialize in Destination weddings and work very closely with Palace and Hard Rock Resorts.  You can contact us HERE!

 

If you do not know what TA you want to work with, just fill out the form Contact a Destination Wedding Specialist HERE and I will direct you to the best agent that fits your needs.

 

You can contact us:  Contact a Destination Wedding Specialist HERE and I will direct you to the best agent that fits your needs.