Brenners

We did not have to pay anything for the speakers or microphone. Just be sure to let your WC know that you will be bringing your iPod for the ceremony or reception or both. I would recommend booking them at the cheaper hotels as anyone staying at a lower price hotel can come to the wedding without having to pay a fee. Good luck and congratulations!

I think you said it very well. You will definitely learn who truly cares and supports you when you plan a DW. I am so happy that you had a wonderful wedding and the people who truly loved you were there with you!

If you are upgraded to Premium, then you receive discounts at the spa. I even brought members of our bridal party and my father-in-law and they gave them discounts because of my premium status since I was with them.

Wow! We only had to pay a $300 outside fee for the photographer - not the videographer. I love Barcelo but I think that is their one area of improvement - consistency in their policies and enforcement of them. However, that being said, an outside videographer fee may be new since we got married in February 2012.

I used the hotel spa for my hair and make-up. They did a fantastic job. I brought photos of how my hairstylist did my hair (with veil) here at home and also provided photos of make-up I liked. The spa staff speak very little English but do wonders when given a picture to go by. I have read many brides have used Adrian and loved him but I did not think the money spent was worth it when the spa did a fabulous job and it was already included in your package. My hair and make-up stood up all day without any issues. Good luck!

Congratulations! What beautiful photos and such a happy day!

Hi IslandBarbie, Yes, reaching out to a WC is the first step. They are very well-organized and they do their jobs well. They will work with you on planning decorations, ceremony, music, menu, etc...I am glad that you decided against a cocktail hour as that is VERY expensive and the Carey Bar in the Palace has plenty of snacks and drinks for your guests - especially if you plan to do pictures between the ceremony and the reception. We did not use the resort photographer/videographers. We were not impressed with their photos and decided this was one area where we would spend money but within reason. We chose Erick Rodriguez (Claudia Rodriquez's brother) as our photographer. If you head to the reviews section of BDW, then you will see plenty of bride's feedback on the photographers/videographers that they used. Also, we used Cancun Wedding Video for our videographer (Alex) and we were able to also book them through Claudia Rodriguez. We were very happy with both and you can see some photos that I posted from our wedding back in February. I think the question you need to ask is how important are the photos to you when that is really the only tangible reminders you will have of your wedding day after it is over. Barcelo did unfortunately raise their outside photographer fee to $500 (we were lucky and paid $300 as they raised their rates right before our wedding but we had been quoted $300). You do not have to pay a fee for the videographer - just the photographer and it is one flat fee - meaning you do not have to pay for their assistant(s). I do believe it is still a 2 night minimum stay at the hotel if you do not want to pay $500 but I am not sure how that math adds up if you are truly saving money that way. However, depending how long you have the photographer and assistant(s) there, you may need to purchase their reception meal as well. It is only fair as we had Erick and his assistant for 8 hours so feeding them was the least we could do. They went all out for our wedding and did anything and everything to get a great shot. We had them sit at our table with us which they said they had never been invited to sit at the bridal table before and we had a great time chatting with them. Plus, it allowed them to get great shots of us during the reception! Also, Erick offered to do a free TTD with us a couple days later so the price of our photographer was much cheaper than those who pay for their wedding day and a TTD session. Good luck!

We used our iPod as well and used the wedding dj app also. I set up a FB page and invited our guests to the "event" asking them to submit any reception song requests to the site. I organized my music by our entrance song (to the reception), dinner music, first dance, reception music and last dance. Super easy, sound was great and MUCH cheaper than a dj!

Julie, Our resort provided all of the decorations for us so we did not bring any of that with us. I would recommend finding out what is included in your bridal package wherever you are getting married. Etsy, Red Envelope, and Beau Coup are great online resources. Michaels, Joann Fabrics have well-priced decorations as well. Pinterest is a great way to find ideas for decorations, pin them then find stores that sell them. I caution against going too crazy buying things though as transporting can be difficult. Congratulations and good luck! Brenda

chasingjaime, no need to apologize for the questions. That is why this forum was created! Our ceremony was at Coral Beach (4:00 pm) and our reception was at Playa Azul (6:30 pm). We LOVED them both! Coral Beach is at the north end of the beach and it is pretty solid and rocky in some areas. This is great because no one sunbathes there so you do not have half-naked gawkers staring while you get married. This is also a great location because the reservation restaurants are located on this end and they do not open until 5:30 pm so you do not have people passing by on their way to eat. Playa Azul was perfect for our reception because by the time we had our reception, it was dark and all beach-goers had left the area. There are also no restaurants near the beach there so you have no traffic going by or interrupting what should be a private party. I am not sure where Playa Palmerus is located, however, once the sun started setting, the beaches started to become deserted so I would not worry that there will be people there for your reception. What I can tell you is that the beaches further north of Playa Azul do have passersby, but I think that people are very respectful when walking by and it seemed that the wedding party had no idea of what was going on around them as they were having too much fun. As for the wind, there was a little wind for our wedding but nothing too bad. It actually made for a sweet moment during our ceremony as the wind blew some of my hair in my face (I wore my hair down) and my husband swept it back. We have that on our wedding video and I love it! There was a light wind during our reception as well but really nothing too bad. I was worried about the lighting at Playa Azul and we asked for some additional lights (we requested 10 extra lights) and the lighting wound up perfect. I have to admit that I do not remember if I posted pictures from the reception so let me know and I can send to you so you can see the lighting. Carey bar is the best option since it is right next to Coral Beach. Coco Bar closes early - like around 4:00 or so - so you cannot rely that it will be open after your wedding ceremony. Also, the Carey Bar has a beautiful balcony overlooking the ocean and beach so your guests can sit outside, have a drink and there are also snacks available there. We had the Strawberry Passion package so my husband and I were upgraded as part of the package automatically. It was nice as we went there to make restaurant reservations, they were always less busy than the Front Desk for any questions or concerns and they also had drinks, snacks, and computers available there for use. None of our guests got the upgrade but they really did not care. Only one guest had an issue and I was able to resolve it for her at the Front Desk but would have gone to the Premium Club if the Front Desk hadn't been able to assist. We used the Premium Club for lots of things but the concierge service was used by our guests and they thought that worked well for them. Good luck planning! There

Hi corriexoxo, We got married February 11, 2012 at Barcelo. Do you have anything planned for your guests after the wedding? The ceremony lasts about 30 minutes, there is a champagne toast after then that leaves about 3 hours for your guests to kill before the cocktail hour if that doesn't start until 5:00. That is a really long time unless you have activities planned for them to do while you are taking pictures. Our wedding was at 4:00 but we did many pictures beforehand and had pictures afterward. We skipped a cocktail hour and had a reception at 6:30. That left only about an hour before the shuttle picked up our guests to take them to Playa Azul where our reception was held - our wedding was at Coral Beach and all of our guests stayed at the Palace. Our guests went to the Carey bar for an hour and that was fine. Ask your WC for her opnion as well. She has planned many weddings and will give you great advice. I asked questions on BDW but also asked my WC as well and she NEVER steered me wrong! Good luck!

Chasingjaime, we did not have a signature cocktail but I can tell you that the bartenders at Barcelo are FANTASTIC! They know what they are doing. How far in advance of your wedding will you be there? You could sample some different concoctions - ask the bartenders to make something of their choice - and you could decide from there. Also, the Unofficial Barcelo website, has lots of information there regarding drinks that are specialties at Barcelo. You could check that out as well.

Congratulations MexicoHereWeCome and Juliboley! Those are beautiful pictures! Looks like you both had wonderful days! Our 1st year anniversary is coming up in February and while I do not wish to go back to the stress of planning, I just really wish I could go back! Our friends and family had a fabulous time as did we. We plan to go back at some point to just relax, hang out and watch the other brides and grooms enjoy their special days. Barcelo is an amazing place to get married and their WC's really know what they are doing. Barcelo knows the importance of having a good name so they only employ the best. Good luck to all future brides!

This is a great thread. We haven't heard from any brides on this thread for many months so I think more recent thoughts would be helpful to new brides. Please remember to post after your wedding as this was a big help to many in the planning process! We need to remember to give as well as receive!

Missfreckles, You truly only need one meeting with the WC once you are there. You make all of your decisions via emails with the WC and the meeting is just to verify the information and to pay. I know it is difficult to not worry, but it really does all work out! Trust me! It is ok to send a quick email back to the WC if it will make you feel better just to ask about the process in getting started with the planning. When my husband and I met with our WC (we had Lillian) we were so impressed with how organized she was and knew everything that we discussed. I brought copies of our emails and our spreadsheet that we sent back and forth just in case (you can certainly do that to make yourself feel better) but I did not need them. Barcelo truly has the DW thing worked out and a finely tuned machine! You chose well with Barcelo and will definitely have the wedding of your dreams. Good luck!