2015 Grand Palladium Punta Cana Brides

[prostar113]

Hello all,

 

I've been checking in and out of this thread for the past year as me and my wife are getting married on January 11th, 2016 (sorry, there was no 2016 Grand Palladium Palace Grooms thread).  There has been a lot of good feedback in here so I appreciate everyone who's posted in here.

 

First I'll kind of post what our plans are/have been.

Nov 28th (yup, just a few days ago) - We officially got married for a couple reasons.  1) Save time/costs and essentially a bunch of headaches with all that's associated in getting married legally there.  2) Since our grandma's are not coming to the DR, we thought it would be special for them to see us get married.  Had it in her small home town church and went wonderfully.

 

Jan 11th - Symbolic ceremony/reception at the Grand Palladium.  We have 46 guests including ourselves all staying at the Palace section.

 

Feb 13th - Another wedding reception....no meal but decorated tables/chairs, speeches, bar, DJ, midnight lunch, etc.  This was to accommodate about 100 invitee's that were not able to make it to the DR.

 

Since there were obviously costs associated with the Nov 28th/Feb 13th events, it took a big chunk out of our budget so not much is left over for the DR wedding.  And with the CAD->USD conversion just getting worse and worse, I am looking to save where I can.

 

So for us, the options we were planning on doing is the Crystal Package (website currently says $1180...that's 2016 price. Not sure if 2015 was different or what price we will actually get), Private reception (extra's sheet says $1060) and we definitely need speaker/microphone for speeches/dance following the dinner.  I know the $900 can get you the DJ for the night, but I think that's for the entire night including the dinner (6:30-11:30).  I've seen in here a couple different prices thrown out (as low as $350ish, high as $650ish).  But it's weird those prices aren't including in any information given to us.  I just sent out an email to Carolina asking about it so we'll see what she comes back with.  That is definitely something we'd consider as we do have a portable bluetooth speaker that should be able to be loud enough to provide at least some sort of ambiance music during dinner.

 

So roughly I'm looking at $1180 for the package + $1060 for private reception + $900 for sound system + (26*20 = 520 for guests over the 20 person limit) = $3660 USD.  And with our terrible conversion rate from CAD, it'll cost me close to $5000.  Which isn't too bad but it's pushing it.  Unfortunately I'm already getting basically the bare minimum in the wedding options available so.  I mean I could consider the semi-private thing but I'm pretty certain from everyone's responses that a private room is a must.

 

Anyway...after all this, I do have a few questions:

1. Anyone do the symbolic ceremony?  How long did it go?  Did you still have to sign anything after the ceremony?  If not, we'll have to make up something to sign after to get that official feel to it.  I saw the question asked but I don't think I really saw an answer.
2. Anyone do the ceremony on the beach?  We've been on the fence to have it on the breach or the Gazebo.
3. Did you really get to choose the location for the dinner?  Do you choose location/menu when you get there or do you have to do it beforehand?

That's all for now.  41 more days!

[Meandhim]

@@prostar113 I can answer most of those questions for you... I just got back yesterday... I hope to post my review and answer some of your questions tonight or tomorrow at work right now...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[prostar113]

@@Meandhim, awesome, I'll be looking forward to it.

 

I'm thinking back on the private vs semi-private options and now I'm starting to second guess myself.  Has anyone had a semi-private reception?  We have almost 50 guests.  To seat all those people, we'd have to have a pretty big section of a restaurant anyhow.  Would it almost have that private feel because of the larger number of guests?  And can we even choose any of the al la carte restaurants?  From the pictures they look pretty small (and from my previous experiences at al la cartes).  Lastly, if we do go with a semi-private option, does that mean we couldn't have the sound system set up?  As I feel it would disturb the other patrons at the restaurant if we did.

 

Just worried I'd be paying an $1500 for very little gain.

[ann123]

@@prostar113

 

Hi! Yay for another 2016 GP wedding. Congrats on your wedding!

 

I just noticed a couple of things...

 

The sheet Carolina sent me says the 2016 pricing for a private reception is $1113.00 USD and the price after 20 guests is $26 per person. So that'll make your calculations go up a bit

 

On that same price sheet Carolina sent, it says the 2016 pricing for speaker and microphone rental for 3 hours is 336 USD. It doesn't say anything about extra hours. The price she quoted me for four hours of MC service, professional DJ, DJ booth, sound system, wireless microphone, robotic lights and white balloons is $850. What I don't get is if you're allowed to use the restaurant from 6:30 to 11:30 pm, does the DJ just start setting up an hour into your reception? 

[LissaChic]

Hi everyone!

 

I just booked my wedding the Grand Palladium Palace for December 2016. Looking for reviews, especially if its worth having the private vs semi private dinner and what the beach bash it like? I heard of a 'white party' that takes place at the resort as well? Are there any other activities that are a must to check out with our group? Any tips and/or recommendations are welcomed!

[Jc14]

@@prostar113 We just returned from our wedding a few days ago. Here are some answers to your questions:

 

1. Anyone do the symbolic ceremony?  How long did it go?  Did you still have to sign anything after the ceremony?  If not, we'll have to make up something to sign after to get that official feel to it.  I saw the question asked but I don't think I really saw an answer.

Yes we did. I would say about 20 minutes. We signed a certificate at the end of the ceremony, as did 2 of our witnesses. I didn't realize we would need witnesses to sign too, since we had our legal ceremony at home a few days before we left, so I spontaneously asked both of our sisters (bridesmaids) since it made the most sense in the moment. Note that we had a Pastor perform our symbolic ceremony, so I'm not sure if the certificate was provided by him or our WC, so you may want to ask about it.

 

2. Anyone do the ceremony on the beach?  We've been on the fence to have it on the breach or the Gazebo.

 

We chose the gazebo. We saw a couple weddings that took place on the beach while we were there. While they were still beautiful, there were people everywhere and it def didn't seem as private. I would highly recommend the gazebo. The beach is not far off in the background. It felt more official as an altar/structure. And it felt more private, even though there were people watching from the bushes, but it was a bit funny and not at all intrusive.

 

3. Did you really get to choose the location for the dinner?  Do you choose location/menu when you get there or do you have to do it beforehand?

 

I asked for our preferred restaurant and it was always subject to availability, then confirmed once we arrived and met with the WC. We chose the menu beforehand. The WC sent me the options and we chose. They had a nice little menu printed out for each guest as well, which was a nice touch.

@@prostar113 Ours was private. We had 30 people. I'm so glad we did it that way. We had the whole buffet restaurant to ourselves, however we opted to section off just a portion of the restaurant and we are still saying how great of a decision that was on our part. It made it feel much more intimate and our guests commented on how great it was as well. We had a speaker , microphone, speeches and our own dinner music, which you cannot do in the semi-private option. 

Edited December 23, 2015 by Jc14

[Beachgirl622]

Hi all!  Just got back from our unbelievable wedding!  I will give a few review later but I am happy to answer any questions!!

[ann123]

@@Beachgirl622 Congrats on your wedding!! 

 

Looking forward to hearing your review  

[LissaChic]

@@Beachgirl622 can you tell me if the resort uses standard size key card? I'm thinking of buying key card holders for my guests. Thanks