2015 Grand Palladium Punta Cana Brides

[Kerrierf]

Hi everyone!

 

@@Meandhim Congrats on getting it settled!  We're going to have about the same number at our wedding too

 

Planning has slowed down quite a bit.  I've had asthmatic bronchitis now since early January, so everything is going at a much slower pace than I'd like... but that being said, I'm working on some signage and little details to personalize our day.

 

What I'm currently debating is doing the open bar for the beach bash.  One of my siblings tends to cause a significant amount of drama when he indulges, so I'm thinking not having an open bar could deter some of that... but I don't want the other guests to feel as though we're missing something.  Thoughts?

[Meandhim]

@@Kerrierf  

 

That's a hard one...I think I would go for the open bar, rather than make the other guests miss out for the sake of one badly behaved person...There must be another way to control your unruly brother!

 

I definitely think it will be missed because people are going to assume it's an open bar just because it is an all-inclusive resort...Most people wont even realize you have to pay extra for that.

 

But then again my family are newfies so drinking is a big part of a wedding for us...even though I don't actually drink...so maybe it depends on what you think your friends and family will miss.

[Everly]

@@Meandhim Yay booking deadline!! Is it like a big sigh of relief or like a starter's pistol cause now you can actually order things and plan and have real tangible numbers to work with??!!!

 

@@Kerrierf Urf! That is a frustrating situation. One of our guests can be like that as well. I wasn't worried about him during the wedding but just during the rest of the trip. lol. Its an all-inclusive so even if you don't have an open bar at the wedding site he will be able to find it close by. (unless you are doing it offsite?! ) So I agree with @@Meandhim, others will miss it and it might not help any. Hopefully he either keeps it within limits or he'll be so hung over from the night before he won't want to look at a drink! lol

 

As for myself...well.....had FI look at the different resorts and we ended up going with NOW Larimar! lol Nothing officially booked yet since it's going to be November 2016 but that's the plan right now! I'll still be peeking on this thread though as my almost resort and you know for tips and ideas!! 

[calgarybride2015]

@Meandhim@Candace88 We chose the Pure Paradise Package since it was the cheapest option. I wasn't hugely concerned about decor or flowers or a bigger cake so we just went with the base package for $1930, for upto 20 ppl, additional people are $22. They do not charge this for the kids. It was nice and simple. The backdrop of being in the Caribbean was enough decoration for me! I brought a sign that they posted at the wedding site that said "choose a seat, not a side, we're all family once the knot is tied". My husband didn't have a lot of family at the wedding so this suited our situation. Plus I had simple programs, and paper fans for each chair. Carolina happily obliged to have all of that put out.

 

Wedding day timeline: Our wedding clothes were picked up the day before the wedding for steaming. (Dress $30, husbands clothes $15) They dropped them off the day of the wedding right to our room.

8am: Carolina called to see if I wanted our room cleaned since we were having pics done in there. I declined.

9am: 2 bridesmaids went to the spa to get their hair done (power went out and the schedule was a bit screwed after that but I'll tell you what the planned schedule was lol)

10am: my mom and MOH went to the spa to have their hair done... other 2 bridesmaids went back to my room to have makeup done (I have a friend who is a makeup artist). As others finished hair they went back to the room for makeup.

10:30am: my hair appt

1:30pm: All guest plus groomsman and groom meet in the Palace lobby for a train ride to wedding site.

2pm: Wedding time.... So for this I waited in my room with my bridesmaids and parents until Carolina phoned the room. She waits until the judge is actually there before she calls for you. She sent a bellboy in a golf cart right to our villa to pick us up. The wedding was a few mins late to start but no big deal. The wedding is honestly 10-15 mins.. Then as you walk out of the ceremony you are met by a bartender with champagne. They deliver it to all your guests. We had one guest who doesnt drink along with a few kids so they accommodated that by having orange juice to toast with. We had pics with all the guests and our families at this time too.

3:15pm: The train comes back to the wedding site to pick up the guests and bring them back to the Palace Lobby. We continued photos with the wedding party all over the resort and beach.

6:30pm: reception starts.

11:30pm: reception is over Basically they serve dinner and you decide the timeline after that. We had dinner, then speeches, then cake cutting, first dance, father daughter dance, mother son dance, wedding party dance.. then the party started.

 

The extras that we chose were:

Completely open bar for the whole reception. They originally told us it was $16/pp for this but that doesn't include dinner service. To have open bar at dinner as well its $24/pp. They use premium liquor for this bar. It was worth it for me since I dont drink beer and I didn't really want to have a wine hangover the next day lol. They also didn't charge this fee for the kids or our guest who doesnt drink which was nice.

Sound system: $320 for the sound system this was supposed to be just after dinner for the dance part but he ended up showing up before dinner started so he played our music all through dinner and didn't charge us extra. (I think to have the sound system through dinner as well was like $600 or something). They had an iPod hook up and a guy to play the music for us. I made it really easy for him by labeling the playlists. The sound system also comes with a mic for the speeches if you want. A few of our guests asked the guy playing the music to play some of his music at the end of the night so for the last half hour or so he played some more local music which was cool.

Steaming: as noted above $30 for my dress, 15 for his clothes.

 

Decorations for the private reception. I didn't bring any. Again I wasn't hugely concerned with decorations as the area is so beautiful on its own. I brought a seating chart, place cards and table numbers. I brought a guest book so they had a table for it as well. I brought the cake topper for the cake (the cake is plain white with some fondant stars around it) They provided the linens, and chair covers. I made my own bouquets so the bridal bouquet that was included in our package, Carolina arranged to have it broken apart into flower centre pieces. There were also candles for the tables. The tables were round and seated 8 people. I think I had the option for square tables as well. I don't have any photos back yet from the reception so I'll do my best to describe it. The restaurant we had our reception in was between the pool and the beach in the Palace section. It has a grass roof (that you can see from inside as well), no walls, the support posts are all dark brown, the chandeliers are a bunch of hanging sea shells (really beautiful) and they also have nice big ceiling fans. I really liked it. It was very tropical and very classy. I wouldn't have changed a thing. At first we wanted to do dinner on the beach with the beach bash afterward... I'm so glad we didn't spend the money on that. This was perfect and the breeze from the ocean gets quite cool at night so it might have been a bit chilly. We had a bit of a breeze where we were but it wasnt steady like it would have been on the beach.

 

I'll post some reception pics when I get some from my photographer but in the mean time I have a couple pics from the ceremony and pics from around the resort... There are so many places to have gorgeous photos!! The one of us lounging on the bed is by the adult only pool thats on the Palace Section.

Congrats. Love the pics.

I wish I had a pic of us and our bridal party walking hand in hand!!!

 

 

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[rebeccalane]

I'm getting married at the Grand Palladium Palace in Punta Cana in 3 weeks! I thought I should post and let everyone know if they have questions I can try and answer them. I"m sure I'll have better answers after the wedding but I know from experience, all the help and info you can gather can really make a difference

 

We have a group of about 70 people traveling from 5 different cites in Canada. We chose the Ocean Pearl package and are all staying in the Palace section. 

 

If you think I can help with anything let me know and I'll try to find some time to help out!

 

Rebecca

[Meandhim]

How exciting!!! Just three weeks!! I just had 44 people put down deposits from all over Canada....how many people did you have book after the initial deposit deadline? I'm trying to get a good estimate for my revised budget. Did you choose any extras? Private reception? DJ mania? Beach party? I really have so many questions I don't know what to ask?! But I'll be looking forward to your review and pictures after the wedding for sure!

 

 

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[samilein]

I'm getting married at the Grand Palladium Palace in Punta Cana in 3 weeks! I thought I should post and let everyone know if they have questions I can try and answer them. I"m sure I'll have better answers after the wedding but I know from experience, all the help and info you can gather can really make a difference

 

We have a group of about 70 people traveling from 5 different cites in Canada. We chose the Ocean Pearl package and are all staying in the Palace section. 

 

If you think I can help with anything let me know and I'll try to find some time to help out!

 

Rebecca

Hi Rebecca

Congratulations!!! Your big day is just around the corner now...you must be getting excited.

 

Would you be able to share a little detail on your package inclusions and or if you chose any decor extras...and whether you're opting for a buffet, a semi private or private restaurant?

Would you be comfortable sharing an estimate of the final cost with 70 people?

Based on the information I've receieved back, I'm estimating approx. $10,000.00 and im just trying to get a true guide...having said that I had asked for a piano rental for ours and a few other bits and pieces -

 

Really excited for you and your husband to be

Can't wait to see some pictures of your big day if you'll post some...

[rebeccalane]

@@Meandhim Most people deposited before the deadline, we had a couple stragglers that my TA managed to get the group rate for still and a handful that have booked last minute. So I'd say we pretty much knew the final numbers by the deposit deadline, maybe plan for a handful more? It's also a pretty expensive time to travel so it was unlikely that people thought they would get a better deal by waiting so that might have helped more people book early.

 

We wanted to keep costs down and from all the destination wedding folk I've talked to and all the ones I've been to, at the end of the day, you're in paradise and the little things don't really matter or get noticed. Don't get too caught up in those things is my best advice. I've had to remind myself of that often cause it's easy to get caught up in it all and get stressed out on Pinterest that your wedding won't live up Just remember, its a beautiful location and everyone is just happy to be on vacation. Nobody remembers the centerpieces  

 

Our package comes with most of the things we'd need and a few perks. I liked the colors of the Ocean Pearl package but I could have easily gone with a cheaper one. We had to pay $22 per person above the 20 the package includes. We opted for a private reception at one of the buffet restaurants near the beach. It isn't set it stone but I can't imagine why we wouldn't get it. We are going with whatever centre pieces are included. The private reception is $1060 for the use of the restaurant. We are getting the DJ for all 4 hours of the reception with a lights and balloons and all that for $900. There is a cheaper option with just a basic music setup, no lights etc for $550 I was told.

 

Additional costs include bridesmaid bouquets that will be between $25-$40 each for us based on what I asked for (yet to be picked) and the boutonnieres and corsages for groomsmen and parents, about $25-$35 each. And we are going with the resort photographer which will be around $650 I'm estimating. I just couldn't justify the amount to bring in an off resort photographer. We wanted costs low and at the end of the day we only need a handful of good shots. And who doesn't have a camera these days, i'm sure we'll have plenty to choose from

 

The only decorations we're bringing are some little paper things for the tables, small cards for our seating plan, table numbers and holders and a guest book alternative thing. We are opting out of the bouquet and garter toss and doing an anniversary dance instead so we bought a small gift for that.

 

The next biggest cost for us was our OOT bags. That is costing us about $850 for all the guest and a handful of kids. And also our bridal party and parent gifts, totaling about $1400 (we went a little overboard

 

@@samilein That's a pretty good estimate. The killer for us is the terrible canadian dollar right now The wedding costs at the resort are around $7k but with the exchange we'll be pushing $9k. On top of that cost is all the extras (decorations, dress, clothes, guest gifts, miscellaneous mr and mrs items, bridal party and parent gifts etc )

 

Of course you can spend more very easily. There are lots of centre pieces to choose from that range from $12-$200 each, beach bash (sounds great but seemed too pricey for us), photography, flowers etc. Lots of places to save though too!

 

Just remember, it's a beautiful piece of paradise and doesn't need a whole bunch of decoration. Just let that and your and your new hubby be the focus and it will be great!

 

Let me know if I can be more specific about anything, I know I looked here quite a bit for some guidance so I'd love to be of help to others!

[samilein]

@@Meandhim Most people deposited before the deadline, we had a couple stragglers that my TA managed to get the group rate for still and a handful that have booked last minute. So I'd say we pretty much knew the final numbers by the deposit deadline, maybe plan for a handful more? It's also a pretty expensive time to travel so it was unlikely that people thought they would get a better deal by waiting so that might have helped more people book early.

 

We wanted to keep costs down and from all the destination wedding folk I've talked to and all the ones I've been to, at the end of the day, you're in paradise and the little things don't really matter or get noticed. Don't get too caught up in those things is my best advice. I've had to remind myself of that often cause it's easy to get caught up in it all and get stressed out on Pinterest that your wedding won't live up Just remember, its a beautiful location and everyone is just happy to be on vacation. Nobody remembers the centerpieces  

 

Our package comes with most of the things we'd need and a few perks. I liked the colors of the Ocean Pearl package but I could have easily gone with a cheaper one. We had to pay $22 per person above the 20 the package includes. We opted for a private reception at one of the buffet restaurants near the beach. It isn't set it stone but I can't imagine why we wouldn't get it. We are going with whatever centre pieces are included. The private reception is $1060 for the use of the restaurant. We are getting the DJ for all 4 hours of the reception with a lights and balloons and all that for $900. There is a cheaper option with just a basic music setup, no lights etc for $550 I was told.

 

Additional costs include bridesmaid bouquets that will be between $25-$40 each for us based on what I asked for (yet to be picked) and the boutonnieres and corsages for groomsmen and parents, about $25-$35 each. And we are going with the resort photographer which will be around $650 I'm estimating. I just couldn't justify the amount to bring in an off resort photographer. We wanted costs low and at the end of the day we only need a handful of good shots. And who doesn't have a camera these days, i'm sure we'll have plenty to choose from

 

The only decorations we're bringing are some little paper things for the tables, small cards for our seating plan, table numbers and holders and a guest book alternative thing. We are opting out of the bouquet and garter toss and doing an anniversary dance instead so we bought a small gift for that.

 

The next biggest cost for us was our OOT bags. That is costing us about $850 for all the guest and a handful of kids. And also our bridal party and parent gifts, totaling about $1400 (we went a little overboard

 

@@samilein That's a pretty good estimate. The killer for us is the terrible canadian dollar right now The wedding costs at the resort are around $7k but with the exchange we'll be pushing $9k. On top of that cost is all the extras (decorations, dress, clothes, guest gifts, miscellaneous mr and mrs items, bridal party and parent gifts etc )

 

Of course you can spend more very easily. There are lots of centre pieces to choose from that range from $12-$200 each, beach bash (sounds great but seemed too pricey for us), photography, flowers etc. Lots of places to save though too!

 

Just remember, it's a beautiful piece of paradise and doesn't need a whole bunch of decoration. Just let that and your and your new hubby be the focus and it will be great!

 

Let me know if I can be more specific about anything, I know I looked here quite a bit for some guidance so I'd love to be of help to others!

@@rebeccalane

 

Thank you so much for sharing such a detailed breakdown ...it is so easy to get caught up in all the extras for sure and Pinterest - there's a whole new world of ideas for every event imaginable ☺...Pandora's box!

And yes...the Canadian dollar right now doesn't make anything any easier either...

For the private dinner - it is a set menu that you will confirm upon your arrival?

starter, main and dessert - then the cake or cupcakes ?

 

For the welcome bags, would you mind sharing what you included?

I've been on the fence because I was thinking of doing a welcome letter at check in, fans to lay out on the chairs for the ceremony and then having edible favours ...I'd love to do a welcome bag but am a little lost as to what to include that wouldn't quickly add up ...how did you keep yours at approx. $12/$13 each?

 

I'm am really excited to hear all about your wedding and wedding week and to see pictures of course... toasting you and your husband to be from afar!

[samilein]

@@rebeccalane

 

Sorry ...one more question ...looking back through a few emails between Carolina (WC at GP) she mentions a $16/pp charge for open bar - is this something you've come across as well?

I'm trying to determine if that's for a private bar but then the restaurant would be private already with 70 people and the $1060 private dinner fee or?

I can't quite work out that quote she added in...