Iberostar Bavaro 2013

[nicole1109]

Hi Everyone and Congrats!

I will be getting married at the Bavaro on July 26th and I am so excited!  Have you all started working on all the details yet, like what flowers, cake flavor, restaurant, etc?  I was going to do the legal wedding but decided I would save money and stress by doing the symbolic instead which will still be perfect.  

P.S. I heard the salon books up fast so book your hair appt at least a month in advance

Nicole 

[JBHHoops]

We are getting married in May at the Iberostar Bavaro.

Does anyone have input on the availability of something beachside for a casual outing the night before the wedding?

 

It's a little frustrating emailing with the folks at the resort because they kind of don't understand any of the specifics of the questions we ask, and just give real generic responses and attach the same files.

 

We'd like to have something that is not necessarily private, but is at least coordinated and more elaborate then something like "everyone meet at the restaurant and we'll go from there."

 

Does anyone have any insight that has done a wedding at this resort?

 

Thanks

[duchovny0901]

Hello everyone! I'm new to the site and first off wanted to say congratulations to all of the past and future brides! I'm planning on getting married August 30, 2014 and was looking into the Iberostar Bavaro. I liked what I saw online but the pricing wasn't available. I was just curious about the types of packages you all got and if you got any upgrades (or if you would definitely recommend an upgrade)? Were you married on the beach or in a gazebo? How was your DJ and photographer? I'm expecting 50 people and it's hard to get a price point for things when you're charged a few bucks per extra person for each little thing! LOL.

[JBHHoops]

Hi,

We got married at the Iberostar Bavaro in May 2013.  We had an awesome time, a great wedding, and we have very positive things to say about the resort.  To answer your questions, we thought the pricing was very fair.  They charge $14 dollars a person, even though they were staying at the resort, and thought that was excessive, but that was the only complaint.  

 

We did not have a DJ.  We just loaded our iPod with songs we knew we wanted and hooked up the sound system.  

 

We had a dinner in the cajun restaurant the day before the wedding, and in the steakhouse the night of the wedding.  Both were great.  The service was awesome, and they went out of their way to work it so that all 50 of our guests were able to eat with us.

 

 

Rather than do a full review, I'm going to mention some things that I wish we had known during the planning process.  

-The communication between us and the resort was very spotty during the planning process.  We now know that this was not a big deal, but we would often email our questions and go a long time without responses, and when we did, they were generally pretty vague.  It added some stress to the process, but in the end, I think that is just the way they do things.  You can plan and make arrangements before, but for the most part, you do it when you arrive and have a meeting with the wedding coordinator. 

-Laura was our coordinator, and she was awesome.  We had some special requests and she helped us with all of them.  She was all over the place the day of the wedding and was really helpful.

 

-It rained on our wedding day.  This was our worst fear going into it, and we were pretty bummed out when we were told that we would need to move it to the gazebo.  In the end, it very well may have been a blessing in disguise.  The gazebo was awesome.  It was very quiet and peaceful and the backdrop was great.  Pond, palm trees, etc.

We walked by a beach wedding while we were there, and there are people all over the place.  There can literally be people laying out within 30 feet of your altar, which is not a big deal, but the gazebo wedding was definitely more intimate.

 

-The photographer was awesome.  We were worried we wouldnt get the beach photos because of the rain, but Nicola met us the next day and went out of his way to take more pics with us.  We had to get dressed again, but we would have been really bummed if we weren't able to get those beach pictures.

 

 

The resort was great though.  We had 50 people and we had kids, we had people that wanted to drink all day, we had picky eaters, we had people that liked to get to sleep early, golfers, and everyone had a great time.  There was something for everyone.  

[jandl2013]

Originally Posted by JBHHoops 

 

Hi,

We got married at the Iberostar Bavaro in May 2013.  We had an awesome time, a great wedding, and we have very positive things to say about the resort.  To answer your questions, we thought the pricing was very fair.  They charge $14 dollars a person, even though they were staying at the resort, and thought that was excessive, but that was the only complaint.  

 

We did not have a DJ.  We just loaded our iPod with songs we knew we wanted and hooked up the sound system.  

 

We had a dinner in the cajun restaurant the day before the wedding, and in the steakhouse the night of the wedding.  Both were great.  The service was awesome, and they went out of their way to work it so that all 50 of our guests were able to eat with us.

 

 

Rather than do a full review, I'm going to mention some things that I wish we had known during the planning process.  

-The communication between us and the resort was very spotty during the planning process.  We now know that this was not a big deal, but we would often email our questions and go a long time without responses, and when we did, they were generally pretty vague.  It added some stress to the process, but in the end, I think that is just the way they do things.  You can plan and make arrangements before, but for the most part, you do it when you arrive and have a meeting with the wedding coordinator. 

-Laura was our coordinator, and she was awesome.  We had some special requests and she helped us with all of them.  She was all over the place the day of the wedding and was really helpful.

 

-It rained on our wedding day.  This was our worst fear going into it, and we were pretty bummed out when we were told that we would need to move it to the gazebo.  In the end, it very well may have been a blessing in disguise.  The gazebo was awesome.  It was very quiet and peaceful and the backdrop was great.  Pond, palm trees, etc.

We walked by a beach wedding while we were there, and there are people all over the place.  There can literally be people laying out within 30 feet of your altar, which is not a big deal, but the gazebo wedding was definitely more intimate.

 

-The photographer was awesome.  We were worried we wouldnt get the beach photos because of the rain, but Nicola met us the next day and went out of his way to take more pics with us.  We had to get dressed again, but we would have been really bummed if we weren't able to get those beach pictures.

 

 

The resort was great though.  We had 50 people and we had kids, we had people that wanted to drink all day, we had picky eaters, we had people that liked to get to sleep early, golfers, and everyone had a great time.  There was something for everyone.  

Hi JB!,

 

Congratulations on your recent nuptials!   I am so happy to see your post.  I am getting married next May, and I decided to go with Iberostar for the same reasons...picky eaters, various age groups, etc. Because of the communication I've had with the hotel, I have been thinking about just getting married at the Jellyfish restaurant since I was going to have my reception there anyway.  It has just been too stressful trying to get the information I need...and I speak Spanish so I was definitely getting  frustrated with the vague answers.  I think i'm going to have the ceremony and reception at Jellyfish and then have a welcome/thank dinner at Iberostar the day after the wedding which will also serve as a mini bday party for my dad and my MIL who will both be celebrating their 60th birthday.  I asked for a beach bbq rate and they quoted me a crazy rate of $40+/person so we'll just eat in one of the restaurants and call it a day. 

 

They told me that they could not accommodate more than 30 ppl for the gazebo wedding.  They also mentioned to me that if I have ppl staying in the Grand or Bavaro then they don't have to pay to attend the wedding but if they stay in the other hotels like the Dominicana or the Punta Cana resort then we would have to pay a small fee for those guests.  For this reason, I'm trying to keep everyone in the Bavaro and let my guests know that if they choose to stay in the other resorts we will not be responsible for the fee (I hate doing this but we might have a large crowd so we can't afford to pay a whole bunch of money for this).  Did they try to make you pay for ppl that were also staying at the Bavaro???

 

I am going for a site visit with the FI in September so we should be able to get more clarity when we are there to make a final decision.  In the meantime, my save the dates only have the city and country location and date.  My invites are about to be started and I have a surprise location listed for the reception.  I figure if everyone is already at Iberostar then that's fine if I end up at Jellyfish for the wedding itself because we'll transport everyone to Jellyfish via bus.

 

The photographer that you used is with Iberostar or was it an off-site one?  I know they discourage the off-site vendors and want to charge a big fee for that so that's the other reason i'm leaning towards Jellyfish since they don't charge. 

 

Would you mind sharing some pictures with me if you have a moment?  That would be great if you have some.  Thanks again for all of your input.  Congrats again!

[JBHHoops]

That makes sense about the limited number of people in the Gazebo wedding.  It was a very tight squeeze, but we really had no other option because of the rain that day.  We had friends cornered in small sections without any room to spread their legs, or even extend their knees.  It was ok though, since it was so short.

 

We did have to pay extra for each person that came to the wedding, regardless of where they stayed.  I think it was 14$ pp, and as far as we could tell that paid for just champagne and cake for the extra people.  Pretty expensive, but whatever.  

 

We actually had our entire group stay at the Bavaro.  I had one friend that wanted to save the money, and booked the Dominicana, but after staying there one night, he ended up switching and paying the extra.  The big difference was the ability to eat off the menu at restaurants, where at the Dominicana, it was all buffet.  

 

We used the photographer on site, Nicola.  He was great, but he was a little bit similar to the wedding coordinators at the resort.....harder to reach before the wedding, harder to pin down on prices and plans, but once we got there, it was all good.  I'd be happy to share some pictures with you.  I'll send you a couple privately and if you have any questions let me know.

[jandl2013]

Originally Posted by JBHHoops 

 

That makes sense about the limited number of people in the Gazebo wedding.  It was a very tight squeeze, but we really had no other option because of the rain that day.  We had friends cornered in small sections without any room to spread their legs, or even extend their knees.  It was ok though, since it was so short.

 

We did have to pay extra for each person that came to the wedding, regardless of where they stayed.  I think it was 14$ pp, and as far as we could tell that paid for just champagne and cake for the extra people.  Pretty expensive, but whatever.  

 

We actually had our entire group stay at the Bavaro.  I had one friend that wanted to save the money, and booked the Dominicana, but after staying there one night, he ended up switching and paying the extra.  The big difference was the ability to eat off the menu at restaurants, where at the Dominicana, it was all buffet.  

 

We used the photographer on site, Nicola.  He was great, but he was a little bit similar to the wedding coordinators at the resort.....harder to reach before the wedding, harder to pin down on prices and plans, but once we got there, it was all good.  I'd be happy to share some pictures with you.  I'll send you a couple privately and if you have any questions let me know.

Thanks for responding.  This insight has been really helpful to me.

 

I had a feeling that they might not be able to accommodate everyone in the Gazebo, but I assumed they had other locations outside of the beach. 

 

I have a room block at both the Grand and the Bavaro because I have people interested at staying in both hotels but that's also great to know so I can explain the difference to my guests.

 

That would be great if you can share some pics with me.  My email is [email protected]

 

Thanks!

[avbarnes]

Hi! Will you send me the price information that you have on the Iberostar Grand Bavaro, especially for extras?? Email: [email protected]

 

Thanks,

 

Ashlee
 

[adembeck8]

Hello ladies,

 

I am seriously contemplating choosing the Iberostar Bavaro as the resort for my wedding, hopefully in May 2014. I was just wondering what made you choose the Iberostar over the other resorts in DR? Any other tips you can give me would be great. I am the first of my friends to have a destination wedding so I am nervous about planning everything from so far away. Thanks for your input!

[chulzle]

Hi is there anyone getting married at iberostar bavaro grand here December 1-6??? Please email me if you are!! I will be there those days. [email protected]