eri9384

@Soon2beJara Look back at my posts and you will see some before and after pics I posted of the makeup artist. If you cant find them message me and I will email them to you. @@Soon2beJara I carried a ton of stuff to DR with me and saved a bunch of money. One thing in particular were the colored napkins. The hotel was charging $3 a napkin for 80 people which would have been $240 but I bought 100 for $45 at www.Linentablecloth.com check them out maybe they have what you are looking for. In my opinion taking the sashes is not nearly as bad as taking the centerpieces yourself, which I also did I purchased a bunch of stuff online and surprisingly enough everything matched perfect. I left enough time so that I can order and return if I needed to, but i didn't need to return anything I bought.

@@JE0721 I had about 3 or 4 girls carry 3 large glass vases for me. They carried them by hand in a large shopping bag that fit right under the seats of the plane. I wrapped them all in bubble wrap so they wouldn't break. I also took an extra two of everything in the event something broke, but nothing did. No one had a hard time carrying these on the plane. I myself carried 12 glass plates for the vases to sit on as part of the centerpiece. Security checked my bag going but other than that there was no problem. Some stuff I left behind in the hotel (such as the glass plates) cause I just didn't want to carry them back. I told the wedding planner to keep them. It's a shame because I didn't any money back for it, but it would have cost a lot more renting the centerpieces from them.

@@JE0721 You can ship items to the Hotel. Elizabeth my WC gave me the information below. The way it works is that you have to send your package to Miami (costs not included in prices below) and the package is sent to the shipping company in Bavaro, Dominican Republic. The package sits with the shipping company until you arrive at the hotel, extra charges for this as well for the shipping copany to hold the package. You can then either pick up the package yourself ( no extra charge for this) or the shipping company will deliver it to the Hotel on the day you arrive (additional cost for this as well). I was trying to send a 50 pound box with my centerpieces and 60 beach bags that I gave out as welcome gifts. It was going to run me about $500 - $600 whihc defeated the whole purpose of taking my centerpieces. I ended up asking several people to carry suitcases with stuff and 4 people handcarried by centerpieces. Nothing broke and everything made it safely well before the wedding day. By CPS company charges $218.25 Dominican pesos per pound. When the value of the package exceeds US $200, customs duty will be charged. The client must contact the courier at 1-809-788-8872 before sending anything and inform us of the content of the packages as well as with regard to sending the invoices for customs. (Prices are subject to change). The address to be used is as follows: Barceló Bávaro Beach 1733 NW 79th Ave. PC-61110 Doral, FL 33126-1101 305-471-0000 Tel: 809-959-1173 / 809-788-8872 E-mail: anatdominguez.cps@@gmail.com / gmorel.cps@@gmail.com Once the package arrives in the country it will be kept at the shipping company. When you arrive, the package will be delivered to the hotel. Shipping and delivery costs will be paid for by the bride and groom.

@@KC143 The DJ played mostly spanish music that we requested, Salsa, meregue, and bachata. English music was current dance music and some older hip hop also that we requested. To be honest I actually don't remember all that well, it went by so quickly I do remember all of us having a blast though:) @@Reign14 The fish and pork were delicious. My husband and I tried both. The pork was actually better than the fish. We didnt get not one complaint from anyone, they all praised the food. Our Reception was in the ballroom because of the # of guests we had (82) also I didnt want the reception to be outside in case it was really humid, which it actually wasnt. My colors were Coral and Blue. See the attached slideshow done by Tropical Pictures. Just click no and continue. https://www.dropbox.... Day !.m4v?dl=0 My hair and makeup were done off the resort at a Salon called Miu Salon in the Plaza San Juan less than a 10 minute taxi ride. I posted some pics of the before and after makeup earlier. The makeup artist is wonderful. Shes originally from NY. The room I had was the Grand Suite Ocean Front Club Premium. To save money I originally booked the Jr. Suite Deluxe for 4 nights and the Suite Ocean Front for 3 nights. The Jr. Suite Deluxe was upgraded to the Jr. Suite Deluxe Ocean Front Club Premium, however at check in I realized that I did not want to change rooms in the middle of the trip, so at Checkin I asked how much it would be to upgrade the first 4 nights to the Suite Ocean Front so that I would be in the same room for all 7 nights. The problem was this room was not available for all 7 nights. SOOOOO, for $800 more in total, the resort gave me the Grand Suite Ocean Front Club Premium (2nd to highest room) for all 7 nights. we arrived to the resort on a Thursday, married Tuesday and left the following Thursday. I highly highly reccommend that you spend the minimum amount of days before the wedding and stay longer than I did after the wedding. I wish I had more time alone with my husband once our guests were gone. I figured oh the whole week is going to be like a honeymoon so I do not need to stay longer, but I was so anxious and nervous and running around before the wedding we never had time to relax. If you have more questions email me privately. My wedding planner was Elizabeth BTW [email protected]

@Soon2beJara The taxi was $10 per ride (one way) for 4 of us. The other taxi had 5 people and they paid $14 I think. You should contact Cynthia directly for the salon. Tell her I referred you. She'll remember the wedding party from NY. Hopefully she can get you the hookup for the hair cause the owner Nicole was a bit pricey at first. I did a rehearsal breakfast in HOYO 19 its a restaurant on the golf course next to the chapel and the kids water park. It's a sit down restaurant where you place orders (rather than buffet) and they offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. For breakfast and lunch you do not need reservations. Since there were more than 20 people in my party I would have had to pay for a rehearsal dinner and I did not want to pay extra, so I had everyone in the wedding party meet at a certain time and we all ate together. We then walked to the chapel for rehearsal. If you use HOYO 19 I would suggest getting there a little early to have the wait staff put some tables together for you. We went on a Monday morning and it was pretty much empty. Or you can stop by the day before and let them know you are coming. If your nice to them (anyone in the hotel for that matter) they will give you what you want. Hoyo 19 is far from the other buffets so you most likely will not run into anyone else attending your wedding. The sports bar also has a buffet 24 hours a day so you can do something there too. Its less crowded then the main buffet. I also did a welcome party which I did pay for. I used a travel agent for my guests and because more than 10 rooms were booked through the TA I got a free cocktail hour. So the welcome party was two hours (two cocktail hours) the first hour was free and the 2nd hour I paid $12 per person. It was at La Palapa which is a small hut off the pool area and the beach. I paid an extra $350 or $400 to rent it. We also had a tipical Dominican Band (Perico Ripao) playing for the two hours. A cocktail hour does not include beer or open bar. I asked well in advance for beer which the wedding planner threw in free of charge. The original plan was to have people bring duty free liquor bottles from the airport (by the way the hotel sells duty free liquor in their shop) but Elizabeth the wedding planner threw in an international open bar for the two hours at the last minute. I was very happy she did that. Shes awesome and super sweet. I have a friend who worked at a flower shop years ago and she did the bouquets and boutineres for me. I bought all the flowers on sale and with coupons from Michaels and AC moore. Joann's should also have. I had one of the bridesmaids take them as her carry on in a tote bag, like a supermarket bag the ones that are recycleable. They made it to the hotel just fine. I was being a little cheap so I booked two rooms originally. A junior suite for the first three nights and a master suite i think for the last three nights. When we got to the hotel the upgrade was already applied to the first room, but after spending days packing and distributing suitcases and what not to family i realized i did not want to switch rooms mid trip so at check in I asked how much would it be to upgrade my first room to the master suite so that I am in the same room all 7 days. Well the suite wasn't available, and after the staff spent like 20 or 30 minutes in the back room they told me I can be upgraded to an even bigger suite for all 7 days and it would just cost be another $600( we used some coupons that were provided to us) I was sold immediately!!!!!! so we had an awesome room and in the scheme of things not for that much more. I do not think it would have been that cheap through the Travel Agent. BTW the TRAVEL AGENT, she was awesome BUT my guests found the rooms cheaper directly through the hotel website. So out of 82 people maybe 25 booked through the agent and everyone booked on their own. Other than the free cocktail hour using a travel agent wasn't necessary. The hotel asks for a listing a few weeks before the wedding and they put everyone in the same area. I did do a seating chart because I had to provide Elizabeth a list of who was eating what. They want you to pick one meal for everyone and I refused to do. Like 80% of my guests ate fish and the other 20% ate pork so I had to pay $10 more those eating pork. In my invitations I gave a choice of the two food choices and had the guests select one on their RSVP's. Other than the welcome party and rehearsal I also planned a boat trip for all the guests. I didn't pay for this though. I set it up through a tour company right on the beach and haggled a price of $35 per person. I told everyone the price and gave them the option to come or not to come. 60 poeple showed and are still telling me they had a blast. The tour company is located right on the beach. It you go to La Pina ( a bar on the adult only side of the hotel) it is a blue house literally like 10 steps away. They offer same tours as the hotel for half the price. I can keep going on on LOL !!!! if you have any other questions let me know, I'm happy to share my thoughts.

As promised attached are the before and after makeup photos from Miu Salon. 1st was my trial then actual wedding day next is my mom and then one of girls the last is Cynthia the makeup artist

Hi Ladies, This is the first time I'm posting anything on here and happy to say that I got married at BBP about three weeks ago. This forum was extremely helpful during the past year so thank you to all who posted reviews comments photos etc. Click the link below to see my photos from Tropical Pictures. They were awesome by the way I have no complaints for the photographer Mika or the videographer. There' s so much to go over so I will try and keep it short. To start I had a large group of 82 people attend the wedding and about 20 in the wedding party. The hotels salon was a little pricey for my girls so my girls and I (10 in total including mothers and one grandmother) all got our hair and makeup done at MIU Salon less than 10 minutes away in the Paseo San Juan, it's a $10 taxi ride from the hotel. The makeup artist Cynthia was amazing and I promised her I would spread her name on here. She speaks perfect English and Spanish and used to work at the Macys on 34th St. in NYC. I will post before and after pics in a separate post. Her instagram is CC_23MAKEUP, you can email her at [email protected] or send her message through whatsapp at (809) 608-1892. Check her out. I believe she is trying to start her own makeup business in Punta Cana so she will prob go to if you want rather than directly through Miu Salon. I did use the hotel for my free hair and makeup that was included in the wedding package for the night of my welcome party. I personally think the hair from the hotel and the Miu Salon were equally good. The makeup in the hotel was good, you should not be disappointed but Cynthia's makeup I thought was awesome. My girls had no complaints what so ever. She contours and everything which I do not believe the hotel will do. The Miu salon charged $89 per girl which included hair and makeup (we negotiated the price down bit). I thought they were expensive for DR but overall cheaper than the hotel. The salon even does gel manicures at like $10 or $15 while the hotel charges $40. I worked with the owner Nicole (i believe she is English speaking but i am not certain). If you want her contact info message me. You can follow them on instagram at MIUPC As for the wedding everything turned out wonderful. Food was delicious as many girls on here have said. We had the goat cheese salad, amazing, fish and pork chop (i paid extra for those who wanted pork chops cause I did not want to choose one dish for all 82 people) both were delicious and the creme brulee as the dessert. The wedding cake was all chocolate and delicious. The DJ played good music, my guests were on the dance floor all night. The only complaint I have is that he played full 3-4 minute songs which seemed long and for the last 15 minutes or so of the wedding he started mixing, We wish he would have mixed from the beginning. We had the MC which I wouldn't go without, he controlled the night in terms of making sure everything went in a smooth order like when food should come out when the speeches should happen first dances etc. We paid for the extra hour which I thought was worth it because I felt like the 4 hours felt short so I can only imagine the 3. My wedding planner was Elizabeth. Originally I had Hildebrenda but she went out on maternity leave. Elizabeth was awesome, an absolute sweetheart. Again like many girls on here have said they are fully prepared. She had copies of every email every photo that I sent her. To save money i took the centerpieces, table numbers, and colored napkins from home along with a cake cutter and toasting flutes. I even took all the bouquets and boutinneres from home. Elizabeth followed my pictures and set it up just like I wanted. Since I chose two entrees I had to provide seating charts and who was eating what. I gathered all the food information on my wedding invitations. I had those who RSVP'd select their food choice at that time cause Elizabeth needed a count. I know I'm leaving out tons of information but if you guys have any questions just let me know. Hopefully you can access the link to view my pictures. Happy planning everyone and hope your day turns out beautiful!!!! https://www.dropbox.com/s/dk0b9sqr0n6u6ny/Wedding%20Day%20%21.m4v?dl=0