We recently had our wedding at the Barceló Bávaro Beach resort in Punta Cana, and we had a wonderful time. The whole destination wedding thing was a great experience for our guests, and us as well. No stress related to organization issues or whatsoever: We truly enjoyed our wedding as a real vacation.

If your considering this resort, or just want to know more details about getting married in Dominican, please feel free to contact me at noler5@hotmail.com. I wish that I had someone to guide me when I started the planning, so I'm happy to help!
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I’m a little late in writing this review but better late than never.
After reading some reviews about the wedding I felt I had to write this review.

When we decided to get married, I was looking for something different. We did not want a big wedding, we wanted a stress free low key wedding, and that’s exactly what we got at the Barcelo. Traveling with 25 people ranging from 18 years old to 81 years old, we did our research. We chose the Barcelo beach because
A my husband and father in law play golf and wanted to play after the wedding
B had to be tons of activities for everybody included me (4 months pregnant at the time)

First let me say the beach is gorgeous, the rooms compare to a holiday inn room nothing special but hey you don’t spend much time in your room. The restaurant were all good (keeping in mind the culture and food are very different their) some of the peoples that traveled with us have been on many trips they all said was that “This is the most gorgeous beach they have ever seen.” . We stayed 2 weeks one with friends and family for the wedding the other was our honeymoon. Most of the planning for the wedding was done via e-mail and fax between us, our travel agent, and the wedding co-coordinator. The wedding was scheduled for the Wednesday, we met the co-coordinator on the Monday afternoon to finalized everything and see the spot for the beach weeding. She took care of everything we relaxed and enjoyed the beach they did the rest. We chose the steak house (by far my favorite restaurant) to have the receptions the wedding was held on the beach in front a palm tree arch, low key and exactly what I imagined it to be. Nobody got sick out of 25 people, and some of our guests stayed a different resort for the second week, and the liked the Bavaro the best. The restaurant and the resort had a surprise for us, we had our own personalized menu for the wedding and when we got back from supper and all the resort had left a bottle of rum and a big plate of fresh fruit (kina nice to have a little something from them)

The beach is groomed dally very early in the morning, and had no major problem.
With our whole group, we had people staying with us at the Beach, some stayed at the Craribe and others at the Golf, nobody had any complaints about their room, except the couple that stayed at the Caribe said it mostly hunger people in that building , so it a bit louder. We stayed at the Beach and I found it really quite.
The only thing to remember is that life is at a different speed down their, so if you remember that your on vacation and that there is no big rush for anything you’ll be okay we did do excursions we went snorkeling and swimming with the sharks and sting rays . We never got bored the resort is so nice we spend must of our time just walking around looking at the resort
So if your planning on having a different kind of wedding or even a just a great vacation this is the place to go
If anybody what’s more information or pictures here’s my e-mail segua@rogers.com
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We have just returned from our wonderful wedding at the Barcelo Beach Hotel so after reading a really bad review on your site, I wanted to share our great experience.

22 of us with ages ranging from 11 to 60 went out for two weeks and had an amazing time.

There is plenty to do to for all ages with lots of free activities.

There are four different pools plus the one at The Palace if you are staying there.

There is a buffett resturant at each of the five hotels which serve an amazing choice of good quality food plus the speciality resturants which were all very good. We ate at The Steak House, The Italain, The Mexican and had good meals at all of them. We were also lucky to get an invite to the 5* Spanish one as part of the wedding package, which was amazing.

We delt with a different wedding co-ordinator to the one previously mentioned. Mirtha Soto was really good. We had been emailing her prior to our visit to make all of the arrangments and had a brief meeting on our arrival to run through how everything would work.

She arranged a photographer, DVD and musical trio all of which were excellent and we had beautiful flowers to the exact colour and specification we asked for.

We got married in The Gazebo at The Palace Hotel which is set in pretty gardens and was everything we had hoped for. After the ceremony our guests enjoyed cocktails in the gazibo while we had photos taken in the gardens. We had a great meal, Champagne and wedding cake at The Italian Resturant-all the staff made a real effort. After dinner Mirtha had made us reservations for the Tropicalismo Show which we really enjoyed.

Your wedding is what you make it. You have to bear in mind you are in a foreign country and of course the Judge takes the cerenony in Spanish. We actually thought that was really lovely and all part of the experiance of getting married abroad. Mirtha translated for us and everything was fine.

We had a great experience and would do it all again tomorrow.
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I read the reviews on your website, and wish I had have listened. Last year we stayed at the Carabela in Punta Cana, we loved the island and the people, the hotel rooms were not great but we had got such a good deal, and the food and drinks were great, that we really could not complain. The hotel staff and food were wonderful. So we planned our wedding.

In March I contacted the hotel for a wedding in July, just 20 people. We stayed at the Barcelo Bavaro, trust me do not go to this hotel, and do not have a wedding there. Myself and my husband arranged our wedding in this resort, the wedding coordinator assigned to us was ******** Jiminez. From the beginning it was difficult to get a response from ******** unless we were looking to purchase something. I will try and not bore you with all the details!

We purchased a boat trip around the island with music drinks and appetizers as part of the celebrations. ******** forgot to let the security know some of our guests (who were staying at another resort) were coming, and it took her 1.5 hours to show up to correct the problem and let them into the hotel. They were sitting in a minivan with no air conditioning and the security would not let them off the bus. Eventually they had to return to their own resort as the children were getting sick. Hotel said she was having lunch. Then she insisted we eat the appetizers on the boat, even though they were sitting in the sun for 2 hours.

There was no wedding coordination whatsoever. 3 Days before the wedding she told us the justice of the peace cannot speak English and ******** will be the interpretor. Apparently this was the only judge on the whole island according to ********. She forgot to bring the photographer, DVD, or restaurant manager, to our one and only meeting as previously agreed. She told the photographer, DVD guy and restaurant manager the wrong time of the wedding and dinner. Therefore both the photographer and DVD guy had to leave early as they had other appointments. I went myself and talked to the restaurant manager (very nice) we give him $120 for himself to guarantee everything went well for the dinner (and it did). Our wedding flowers were the wrong color, ******** the wedding coordinator was seen on the beach the morning of the wedding for a few minutes, did not coordinate with myself or my husband. The groom, best man and guests were waiting on the beach for 1.5 hrs (85 degrees) and the justice of the peace was 1.5 hours late. To top it off, the photographer LOST - yes Lost all our wedding pictures. His name was Gigio. He told us he used a memory card, put the pictures on the computer, deleted them from the memory card, and then the computer crashed. The DVD was completely amateurish. It was awful.

I know previous reviews stated how bad the hotel rooms were, trust me I thought it may have been an exxageration. They were correct. It took 3 days to get a manager to state our grievances to about to the wedding. As they just kept hoping we would go away. Finally he agreed on a discount, but when we got the final bill on the morning of checkout, the overcharges covered the discount. It was once again so difficult to get the manager, our bus left for the airport. In the end we had to pay and get a taxi to the airport as we were just getting the run around.

On top of that all 20 guests got severe dirrahea and nauseouness, and the hotel charges $5.00 for one immodium! We did not have that problem last year. I believe it is the resort.
Beautiful Island, but not this resort.
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Sorry this extremely long. Feel free to skip to the summary and just look at pictures. I stayed at the Paradisus Palma Real from Nov 1, 2008 to Nov 10, 2008 our wedding was on Nov 6th. Derek and I went a couple of days early. Most of our guests stayed from November 3rd to November 10th. We did have a couple of guests come for only 4 or 5 days and each one were disappointed they didn't book for a longer stay. We had a total of 28 guests and 1 infant. It was the most beautiful resort I've ever been to. All of my worrying about whether or not I’d picked the right resort to have my wedding at was unnecessary, I made the right decision. There were a couple of hiccups but nothing major. Everything was fixed. I would go back there tomorrow; well if they allowed dogs I would go back tomorrow lol. I can’t leave my dogs for a while, I missed them too much.

I am back from my PPR wedding and let me tell you it was PERFECT. You have nothing to worry about Viviana and Carolina and the rest of the team could not have been more professional and accomodating.

I keep telling people HAVE A DESTINATION WEDDING! Not only are you not spending your life savings by inviting your parents friends you hardly know and people you’re not really that close to, but it’s the only way for your friends and family to actually get to know one another as they hang out by the pool for 3 days drinking together.

I wouldn't have changed a thing. The wedding coordinator, Kelly Hunt, was amazing. All throughout the planning, she was always quick to respond with e-mails. And when we arrived she greeted us and sent champagne to to room for us. We met with her the next day to go over where we wanted the ceremony and reception and what we needed to do. We used the resort photographer. He took great pictures. The reception was buffet style and all the food was deliscious. We used the DJ. He did a wonderful job! Everything was so fun and no stress!!! Even after the reception was over, some of us stayed behind at one of the tables to continue the celebration. They brought us cigars and bottles of wine!! Never once asked us to leave, just let us enjoy ourselves for a few more hours.

My husband and I just returned from the beautiful along with 31 guests who attended our wedding at the resort. This was our first visit to Punta Cana and the Dominican Republic. We stayed at the resort from July 4th – July 12th and had a wonderful time. We chose to stay in the Royal Service because they offer “The Paradisus Free Wedding Package” if the couple stays 5 or more nights in Royal Service, so it was worth it for us. We were in Room 2098 and had an excellent view of the ocean and royal service pool area. We were very happy with the resort and our room.

I am so happy that we choose the Paradisus Palma Real for our wedding. Everything was perfect thanks to Andrea at Destination Wedding Travel, who helped us choose this resort and made all of the travel arrangements for our guests, and Wendy del Rosario the Palma Real Wedding Coordinator, who did a wonderful job. We met with Wendy the day we arrived to discuss all the details. She is very organized and didn’t get annoyed with us when we changed the ceremony location several times. She set up a welcome dinner at Bana the evening before the wedding, for us and all of our guests. I was extremely impressed with the ceremony site decorations; it was more than I had ever imagined. There were beautiful flowers and white covered chairs for our guests. We had a close friend play the violin while we all waited on the Judge. The Judge was about 15 minutes late, but I had been warned and explained this to my guests ahead of time. I waited in my room with my Maid of Honor until Wendy called me to announce the Judge’s arrival, and then she came to my room and walked us down to the ceremony site. The Judge did the ceremony in Spanish and there was a gentleman who translated everything in English. After the wedding we had a champagne toast on the beach and then our guests headed to the lobby bar for a cocktail hour. After our pictures we joined our guests and then went to our private reception held at the Royal Service Restaurant – Gabi Beach. I was very happy with the way they set everything up. The cake was delicious and they did it exactly the way I wanted. Everything was above and beyond my expectations, I could not have asked for more. When we arrived at the resort we had champagne in our room, we got breakfast in bed the morning after the wedding, and had a dinner under the stars for the two of us after our guests left. The dinner under the stars was fantastic. We were right on the beach down by the ocean with two private servers, candle light and lanterns. They even had some one from the staff climb up a tree and direct the beach lights away from us. Everyone really went out of their way to make our stay special. Of course I can not forget the photographer. I wasn’t expecting much from the contracting resort photographer but I was absolutely amazed with the photos he took. Alejandro Galera with GB Studio & Media did an incredible job. He has a desk set up in the downstairs lobby so he is always out in the resort taking pictures of people. He was very pleasant to work with and was not at all pushy. He showed up about 30 minutes before the wedding to take pictures of me and my maid of honor and then walked with us down to the beach and stayed with us until the reception was over. The next day he let us take our time choosing which photos we wanted, and with a thousand pictures to choose from, it took awhile. He takes pride in his work and it shows - our pictures are AMAZING! We did have one small problem with our DJ at the reception. The music was fine during the dinner but when it came time for everyone to start dancing something happened with his computer programmed music and the first song kept starting over and over. He apologized over and over, and I felt bad for him but we ended up moving everything over to the Onyx Chill Out Lounge.

The resort is absolutely gorgeous and words can not describe how pretty it is. I thought the food was pretty good for an all-inclusive resort. I loved the Royal Service and took full advantage of the aromatherapy pillows every night and we had two wonderful Butlers, George and Jefferson went out of their way to help us. I thought there was plenty to keep us entertained. Each night the resort did some kind of a show or party. The Monday evening Dominican party and the Thursday evening beach party were the best. Our group had a blast in the casino, several people won money. And our group was always in the Onyx Chill Out Lounge dancing and then we hit the buffet to end the night. I had a couple of massages and they were probably the best massages I have ever had - ask for Wendy, she doesn't speak English well but she is very nice and gives a great massage. The girls in the hair salon did a good job on our hair, they didn't speak much English either but I brought a picture so that helped. Overall everyone was very friendly to us and our group. We all did our best to try to make an effort to speak some Spanish even if it was a word or two. And I can't forget Jose!!! Jose is the BEST bar tender in Punta Cana and we were lucky enough to have him bar tending at our reception. Our wedding was truly a perfect week in paradise.

We used WEDO to prepare our wedding documents are they were extremely quick and everything was done right. I would definitely recommend using their services. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to see pictures. lisa_smyth@bellsouth.net
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Once we had checked in, I waited until the next morning after breakfast to see if the wedding co-ordinator had been in touch. As there was so much confusion at check in, I thought it would be best to go to guest services to find her. They managed to track her down on the phone and I spoke to her, she had an appointment booked with us for 2pm that day, so i breathed a sigh of relief, they knew we were here. I was thinking that if they didn't know we were coming at check, they might not know we were here for a wedding (paranoid I know but............)

I will start off by saying this was not our first choice in resort. In fact we looked at many others before we decided on this hotel. But, No one ever said that weddings were so popular down south, and that you should book a year in advance! To get the exact time and date you want. After picking this one, I knew we would not be disappointed. I was way off! It was amazing!! I loved everything about this place! The people, the staff (amazing service) the grounds, the beach. It was a paradise.

I dealt with Ana the wedding Co-ordinator by email. She was great. There is a little bit of a language barrier there. But she truly tries hard to get everything you want. I think I sent Ana a million emails as to what I wanted and how things should go. I was nervous about getting married there and not seeing anything before hand. We meet with Ana the day after we arrived, to go over everything. I was a little nervous because she just kept reassuring me everything was going to go well! We went over all our options again for food, flowers and location. We spend an extra $500.00 American for our extras. There are many nice little things included in your package if you book so many rooms, which was worth it! The couples massages, discount at the spa, romantic dinner (you have a chose, go for the dinner on the beach!! Truly romantic!!) ! Truly wonderful!!

We bought real flowers; your choice the style and colours of the flowers (yellow roses are included in the basic package, which I saw in a wedding later in the week, it looks really nice) you should bring a picture or know the flowers names. I forgot my pictures and don’t know flower names. My bouquet was just what I wanted! Plus we opted to buy real flowers for the groom, and our parents. We also got a centre piece. The flowers looked beautiful.

The dinner we upgraded our friends and family members to lobster, for those who wanted it for an extra charge. Everyone got to chose there own appetizers and main meals from a menu. Some of the food choices were not the fanciest but everyone enjoyed choosing there own meals.

Plus we bought extra champagne for the toast. We bought three extra bottles which wasn’t really needed, but we certainly ended up with way more then three.

We also paid for white chairs (well worth it!) The chairs are white plastic. If you buy pay for the extra charge they put chair covers on and it makes the hugest difference.

The morning of the wedding it was cloudy!! We got married on May 9th, 2006 which is rainy season. It was so cloudy you couldn't see any blue sky!!! I was so nervous, but I told myself I'll just get all stressed out! I joined all my girls for a buffet breakfast by the time we were done the sun was shiny!!! No clouds in site!! I went back to my room and changed and headed to the spa for a massage and milk bath. It’s a really nice spa. The only thing is they ran out of warm water! LOL and the milk bath really sticks

to your skin!! Not a good idea for your wedding day! I also got a French manicure done. It was really nice and cheap. Most prices are close to going to a spa at home except the odd thing is cheaper. I did my own hair; I was scared for them to do my hair!! They do a great job!! I saw others getting there hair done for weddings later in the week. The wind is so strong your hair can't last on its own!

The set up is done in the morning, most of it. So you can take look at it to see if you like it or need to change anything. Plus if you want to add any other touches to the set up you can. I had friends add a blue ribbon along the chairs the colour of my maid of honours dress, to give it a special touch. Plus I had them add a little table for our guests to sign a guest book.

I received my flowers just before we were to leave for the ceremony. They were late at phoning to let us know that the judge was going to be late. 45 minutes late!!! They run on Dominican time! We had wanted our ceremony at 6pm for sunset!! But the only time they had was 4:30pm when we booked, which turned into 5:15pm buy the time we finished the ceremony (7 minutes!) the toast and pictures it was almost dark and dinner time. Dinner was served on the restaurant on the beach. The restaurant was shut down to everyone else! So it was very private!! The only thing is the lighting is a little low for pictures. It was very romantic and like paradise.

The photographer was great. We had decided before we left that we would not pay for pictures. Well my husband had decided that. Until we saw them.

They took pictures for free, which were way better then any of ours. They gave us prints and a cd for a very good price. The only thing is the print sizes are not a standard size. I was nervous seeing all those people on the beach in our photos, but there is no stranglers in there photos! Video taping. We had gotten a camcorder for our wedding present, because I wanted the wedding taped. It was great our friend taped it, the only thing is the wind is so strong on the beach you can't hear anything.

The wedding certificate came by fed-ex. I was a little nervous about that. Ana contacted me by email when it came back to her to confirm our mailing address. It was just over 3 months before we had it. If your from Canada this is a good site to get all your documents translated, for the ceremony and after for your certificate. www.dominicanweddings.net

I sent a picture of a wedding cake to Ana, and they did a replica for our wedding. It's blue with sea shells, it was the first they have ever done, and it was beautiful!

The translator did an okay good. His English wasn't as bad as other people have written in their commits. It’s a little tough to hear, from the wind, or it was just me, thinking of how nice it was getting married on the beach. There is only one judge in Punta Cana, so chances are she will be late. The heat did not bother us what so ever. The guys wore linen pants with long sleeve shirts, and didn't complain once. The breeze is extremely nice.

It wasn’t the hottest day, but still warms enough.
All in all it was amazing. It was cheap. Everyone loved the resort. The honeymoon suite is certainly worth it. It is awesome. The service is great!!! The staff even called me by my new last name the next day!! Just little stupid things like that made it amazing. All if the elite staffs know you by name. The upgrades are certainly worth it, especially for the service, they wait on you all day! Plus they wrote our names in their newsletter congratulations on the wedding. Again stupid little things, that made it that much better! It was a dream!!! I couldn't have been happier with our decision. Ana works day and night to get everything right for you, and trust her. She did an amazing job!!!

If your thinking about getting married down south. This resort is a must!! You won't be disappointed!!!
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Arrival: March 14th-26th
My husband and I travelled to this resort with 45 friends and family the week of March 12th-26th and were married on the beach! I have nothing but fantastic things to say about the hotel.

The Wedding:
From the very first day of planning everything was fantastic. We dealt with the resort wedding coordinator Mildred. She was amazing and always very attentive to every detail!!!! We maintained frequent communication and she was always very diligent at making sure all my questions were answered and requests were fulfilled. Planning from so far away can be concerning for many, however Mildred was very professional and judging from the final product we recieved- very good at what she does.

We had a beautiful ceremony on the beach under a gazebo as the sun set. The beach was beautifully decorated with a gorgeous bamboo gazebo and beautiful flowers. We then were served with hor d'oeuvres and cocktails while we took pictures and prepared for the reception dinner. We had a full reception with dinner, Dj and dancing. The ballroom was BEAUTIFULLY decorated with large white calla lilly centrpieces, gorgeous linens, a beautiful cake among many other well chosen decorations. She was very good at capturing my vision for our wedding and putting it into motion!

My husband and I would like to thank Mildred and her entire staff for all their dedication and hard work. They truly made our wedding day a beautiful and truly special day that we will cherish for always.

The Resort:
We have nothing negative to say about this resort. The resort itself is beauitful, clean, very well kept. The gardens on the grounds are spectacular! It is true that there was construction going on at the resort while we were there as they extend the resort and work on renovating and upgrading. I read many complaints about this and I'm not sure why. Travelleres complain that the resort needs to renovate and upgrade but yet they complain when they do so. We have to remember that resorts are open year round and essentially there is never a good time to do this! Personally, we didn't find the noise to be a nuissance and spent every day on the beach right where the construction was. If it is a bother there is a large pool on the other side of the resort where its very quiet all day.

Check In:
Alright, so check in does take quite some time HOWEVER, keep in mind that on any given day bus loads of people are coming in at the same time. The front desk staff tried to do their best as quickly as they could. Check in was only at 3:00 and we arrived before that so we were given our bracelets and then ventured into the resort to eat and check out our new home for the next two weeks. Once we returned our rooms were ready.

Rooms:
Our room was SPECTACULAR! We were in the main building on the 4th floor. We had a beautiful room, with a king size bed and a bathroom that was almost the same size as the room itself. Our bathroom had a walk in shower, toilet room, and a large jacuzzi tub! Let's not forget the incredible view!!!! Ocean view right from our window!

Restaurants:
The food was fantastic! The buffet had a great variety of food on any given night. Every night there was a theme: Mexican, Seafood, Dominican, Italian etc. The a la carte restaurants were also very good. They have 3: Dominican which was the BEST one; Mexican also very good and an Italian one.

Staff & Service:
I have to say that the staff were all very friendly. There was never a moment where I would pass by a staff member without gettting an "Hola". They are all very nice and eager to please. I can understand that some travellers have mentioned having received some negative treatment HOWEVER i think they way we treat those that serve us goes a long way. I saw many guest rudely demanding drinks, rudely speaking to front desk staff and often forgetting their manners. Treat others as you'd like to be treated- a smile and some manners go a long way!

The Animation staff were also amazing. For many people in my group it was their first time down south at an All-inclusive resort. My guests were thrilled with the amount of activities that were planned through out the day to keep them busy. The Animation staff were always very kind, out going and understanding. A simple "no gracias" was enough when you didn't want to participate. These individuals work very long hours and are always expected to have a smile on their face and that was exactly what we saw. The nightly shows were also good and fun to watch at night. We didn't miss one the entire time we were there.

Final Verdict:
I would definately recommend this resort to a friend. We all had a fantastic time and truly enjoyed ourselves. I was dissapointed with all the negative reviews that I read prior to our departure and was eager to see for myself. Having been there, I have to say that some travellers must be very hard to please. When down south we always have to remember that things aren't done as fast paced as North America so sit back, relax and enjoy the ride!!!

saires14@hotmail.com

I have to say, my wedding was beautiful. We were married on the white beach at the Hamaca Coral by Hilton at sunset. My wedding planner Milie and Janna were so accommodating and lovely. My husband, a resident of Boca Chica, and I were in good hands from the word go. We met at Miss Coral (The Hamaca) and I had always dreamed of a wedding on the beach. I am from New York City.

The day, the clouds, the clear blue water, the coral, the guests, the reception, the cake, the decorations were awesome. The planners answered every email, coordinated everything with the restaurants, guess passes for my husband’s family, the restaurant of my choice, flowers, tents, chairs, etc. All I had to do was have my passport, birth certificate and money.

My ceremony was in Spanish and English. My wedding walk was to any song of my choice. (At Last by Etta James.) And it was perfect. Because I chose to marry on the beach, my wedding was not private. The guess of the hotel watched and took photos as if we were all family. (Much like all the residents of Boca Chica, they treat you as if you are family.) I had a friend take photos to save on the expense but Miss Coral had their house photographer to the same. If you like the photo, then you could buy as many as you like. So I bought them all. (smile) The photos were amazing. I was so very happy on my special day.
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We had a 1 1/2 bus ride to the resort which is in La Romana. We were upgraded to a club room so had a beautiful view of the ocean and had wine and a fruit plate waiting for us. The rest of the group (24 people) were spread out over the resort, but is a compact one, so easy to walk around. The beach is so beautiful. The food at the restaurants was 5 star! We ate as a group of 20 or so each dinner and they made a huge table for us.

We met with Shirley Sanchez (the chief concierge and wedding coordinator) on Monday morning, she was so great, she had all of my emails since last October printed off and was totally prepared. We chose the Sunscape of Love package. We picked out our flowers, went through the ceremony, picked a horse and carriage and chose the meal and the music for the gala reception. We then went and toured the pier where the ceremony would be. We had our engagement shots done on Monday afternoon.

On Wed (the wedding day) the sky was dark in the morning, but then lightened up for the afternoon, which was a relief. My maid of honour and myself had our hair done, but with all of the humidity the curls did not stay. We brought our own photographer from Canada and as you can see from her pictures, she was fabulous. The horse and carriage was not working, so we went via minivan to the pier, which was fine. The ceremony was quick and easy and we said our own vows. We then had toasts and our guests blew bubbles and threw confetti (which we brought). We then went for an hour of pictures while the guests had a drink.

Reception
If you have the option of having a private reception, DO IT! It did cost more but was totally worth it. We had it on the beach in a secluded area. We chose a U shape table placement and chose the colours. We had a choice of grilled lobster or beef tenderloin. The meal and waiter service was fabulous. We had soft music going throughout the dinner. After dinner we had speeches. We had a dance floor set up next to the table with a DJ. We had our first dance and then a father daughter dance. I brought CD's with all of the music. We then danced until 12pm!! It was so much fun and decadent dancing on the beach under the stars. We closed the place down and then we headed to the disco and closed that place down!! The staff decorated our room with tons of roses, congratulations banners and a honeymooners banner on the door. We had a beautiful champagne breakfast in bed.

All in all, it was a great trip and experience.
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As a bride-to-be I found Debbie’s website invaluable and have decided to post my detailed wedding review in the hopes of helping others – even if just a little!

Caution:
This is a VERY long entry! I know how important LOTS of information is for a bride-to-be trying to make a decision!

My husband and I were married Saturday December 18th, 2004 on the grounds of the Riu Bambu @ approximately 4:30pm. We initially picked Grand Paradise Bavaro for our wedding and trip, but were extremely disappointed by their staff and the way they handled our inquiries. We decided on the Riu Bambu because of the wedding and resort reviews and the price was reasonable for our guests.

Resort
Our invited family members and friends all stayed at the Riu Bambu. Prior to our trip, I emailed the resort twice in regards to building # preference. However, upon our arrival we were placed further back on the resort grounds (Building #15 and 16). We could have complained, but were thankful to all have rooms close to one another. And it wasn’t that bad of a walk to the beach.

I suggest reading the many resort reviews on this website. There’s a lot of helpful information given by past travellers. Although we had the opportunity to visit other resorts on the complex, we were content staying at the Bambu most of our trip. The beach is amazing. Beautiful sand and amazing water. We spent most of the day between the beach and the swim-up bar. There weren’t many kids to crowd the pool and that was a major bonus! Food was great, dinner service was good, reception staff spoke english very well, Animation Team had fun games every day, and no one in our group had problems with their air conditioners! There really isn’t too much to complain about. It was a great resort with attentive staff.

Wedding Information
Preparation
We “shopped” around for resorts that still had December 18th still available for our wedding. Even though we hadn’t officially booked with the Riu yet, Magnolia reserved the day and time for us just incase. She was the main reason we chose the Riu because she was quick to respond to any questions or concerns, efficient and kind. That helped to put a lot of worries at ease.

Legal Documentation:
To be translated & legalized – Declaration of Single Status (notarized) & birth certificate.
Altogether, translation was $240 CDN and legalization was $452 CDN. We also included our photocopied passports to send to the DR Consulate in Toronto. For our Declaration of Single Status we used the template provided through Debbie’s website. We paid $20 CDN each for the notarization, but I’m sure we could have gotten it cheaper if we looked hard enough. Refer to the Consulate’s website for all paperwork needed, correct addresses and who to make your money orders out too. (Debbie’s website provides the link to their site.) We sent our complete package – via Courier and with a self addressed Courier envelope for quick return – on August 3rd and received it August 9th! Four business days! We were impressed!

Witnesses: Your wedding coordinator will request photocopies of your witnesses’ passports. This will be needed before the wedding day. We faxed copies of our witnesses’ passports to the wedding coordinator well in advance, just to be on the safe side. But looking back, giving the copies the day you arrive is advance enough. Note: Witnesses can not be blood related.

Attire
My husband wore a grey Ralph Lauren suit (minus the jacket) that he had previously owned. He also wore a long sleeved, white dress shirt with NO breast pocket and a pink tie. I wore a strapless silk, floor length gown. We both wore flip-flops. Surprisingly, neither of was uncomfortably hot in what we wore. The breeze from the ocean really helped. BRIDES: I wore MAC make up and highly recommend it. It’s a tad bit expensive, but worth it. My makeup stayed on the entire night and didn’t run once! I have long hair and I know putting it all up in a bun helped to keep me cool too.

Ceremony Location
The Riu Bambu offers 2 locations for a wedding ceremony to take place. One location is the gazebo. Before arriving to the resort I saw a picture of the gazebo and thought it was very pretty. However, upon seeing the gazebo in person I was quite disappointed. I just wasn’t pleased with how crowded the area felt. We really wanted to feel the sand on our feet too. However, the “beach” location was worse. Out of the whole beach area, it seems the resort decided on the most frequented spot. The “aisle” was walking up a wooden boardwalk to a restaurant, walking down a few stairs, crossing the boardwalk and standing on sand with absolutely no privacy. I can now understand why, in past reviews, the brides mentioned all the onlookers. Scott and I decided to scope out the resort and pick a spot ourselves. We found the perfect area of sand and palm trees in between the Mamajuana restaurant and the Children’s Day Care. We talked to Magnolia and she said that it was fine to use that location. I had packed our own ceremony decorations. I used tulle for the aisle and mosquito netting (used for a bed) was hung from the palms for out “alter”. We purchased the lowest wedding package ($500), so we were guaranteed decorations by the resort as well. Instead of flowers, we asked to have only their special palm tree leaf arches erected all around our small ceremony site. It was such a good idea! The 5 or so arches encircled our guests and us and looked like a privacy wall therefore eliminating all the uninvited guests. We would have had a lot of onlookers crowding us if it wasn’t for this “barrier”.

The Wedding
As mentioned, we purchased the $500 package. This package included: ceremony location decoration, judge, translator, and pianist. We were given champagne after the pronouncement even though it wasn’t (officially) part of the package. The only difference between the $500 and $700 package is the bride’s flowers and groom’s boutonniere. So, you’re basically paying $200 for flowers. Instead, I brought a silk flower bouquet from home. Not having a boutonniere wasn’t much of an issue considering it would probably have wilted in the sun. (Just a note: If you were to use real flowers from the resort and you wanted to dry them and take them home for safekeeping, you may be accosted at customs. You’re not to bring flowers and the like back into the country.) With the $1000 package you only receive 24 pictures from the professional photographer. Ultimately, we decided to go with the lowest package and spend the extra money on all the pictures from the photographer. For $350 US we were given the CD with all 249 pictures taken. I’m sure we could have bartered a bit with the photographer, but we weren’t too concerned. Michael was our photographer and he was excellent. He was very nice, had good photo ideas and was very prompt about getting our pictures to us (12noon the next day!).

Dinner/Reception
We decided to have our dinner at the Steakhouse a la carte restaurant. We originally wanted the Palace a la carte, but were given the run around as to why it was not possible. We didn’t choose the Mediterranean because the reviews were horrible. (Note: Some family decided to try on a different night and disliked the food a lot.) The Steakhouse was a good choice. The food was good and the orange crepe dessert was amazing. I had read in past reviews how Magnolia provided a wedding cake even if the package didn’t include it, but we weren’t one of the lucky ones. Luckily, my mom had brought down white marshmallow cupcakes that resembled snowballs and stacked them on a glass cake dish. Not that it mattered because everyone was full anyhow. The restaurant had placed our table at the back of the restaurant and there was a small divider acting as a privacy shield (and so we wouldn’t disrupt other patrons!).

Having a full-blown reception with all of the songs we love wasn’t an option. We also weren’t interested in going to the disco to have them play our CD. Instead, I surprised my husband by having some family members sneak out towards the end of dinner to set up an intimate location with tealight candles in white bags. The location was picked out the day before. We decided on the little “hut” that’s used for massages during the day. The family members removed the massage tables, set up the candles and had a laptop and speakers keyed to “our” song. We played our song and a couple of more (You know, The Chicken Dance and all those other common “wedding” songs). We packed up, caught a bit of the entertainment, and walked over to the disco and danced until the wee hours of the morning.

Overall
I was pleased with the way our wedding day turned out, but we had also done the majority of the work. I feel the Riu Complex should revamp the wedding packages they offer to compete with the other surrounding resorts. I feel they could choose better wedding sites and/or decorate them a bit nicer. I also feel they can greatly improve the wedding packages they offer. In comparing the packages with other Punta Cana resorts, I feel the Riu is sub-par. And this, by no means, reflects the hard work and dedication of the Riu’s wedding coordinator, Magnolia. She was wonderful. I guess it’s just a bit disappointing to feel like any other guest in the hotel when we have just gotten married and brought in a lot of business (family members and friends). I was expecting a bit more then just a warm plate of sliced fruit placed beside our TV. I wasn’t expecting the resort to roll out the red carpet, but they should be looking into improving what they offer in regards to wedding packages because they definitely have the potential.

In closing, this isn’t a terrible resort. The resort is wonderful. I don’t think anything could have ruined our wedding day. It’s when I read other brides’ reviews and see their pictures do I realize the need for improvement. Just a little!

Recommendations
* Watch what you leave out in your room. My mom left the glass cake dish on top of the fridge and the maid took it. This happened with a few wedding items (vows written on a piece of paper, etc.).
* Bring a lot of sunblock. You’ll have to keep reapplying it too. I wore a strapless dress so it was important not to show ANY strap lines from my bathingsuit! I went tanning beforehand (I know, not wise) and therefore developed a good base. That way I didn’t need to sit in the sun and worry about getting brown enough to look good in a white dress! Tanning, for me personally, decreases my chances of getting burned too. You definitely don’t want to look red in your pictures either.
* We took the dreaded SkyService plane to Punta Cana. I was able to take my dress on board. It was counted as my carry-on luggage. It had to be stored in the overhead compartments. I was told to board the plane on the early call to ensure I had enough space in the bins so my dress wouldn’t get squished. When I got to the resort, I hung my dress in the closet and the humidity cleared my dress of any wrinkles.
* Be sure to talk to your wedding coordinator about every detail. I had emailed Magnolia quite often leading up to our trip, but failed to mention certain requests when I finally met her. An example: vows. I had forgotten to mention (again) that we both wanted to say something during the ceremony, therefore we never got the chance too. By the time we realized, we were being pronounced husband and wife and the opportunity passed. It’s best to talk to the coorindianor about the tiny details before your wedding day because the day of you’re focused on other things!
* Our photographer, as great as he was, never came to my room to take shots of me getting ready. I regret not mentioning it beforehand, but it wasn’t something I even considered. So, if you want those pictures be sure to request it! I printed off a bunch of unique poses I got from the internet and brought them with me for the photographer to use. We didn’t use many of the poses, but I was fortunate that he had ideas of his own. I feel showing him my researched pictures gave him an idea as to what we were wishing for in our photos. Just remember to be vocal if it’s important to you to have certain poses taken.
*We originally decided on a 5pm wedding, but were able to change the time of day the morning of the wedding. We opted for 4pm, however the ceremony didn’t begin until the 4:30pm due to the judge being a bit late. I personally suggest a wedding no later then 4pm. You may have the hot weather to contend with, but the sun goes down fairly quickly and you’ll miss those amazing pictures with the sun. We were fortunate to get some sun shots before it began to set (4:45pm). It is still light out after that time, but the sun is definitely not it’s brightest.

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to see pictures. I would love to help. I’ve been in your shoes so I know the anxiety you’re going through! Good luck in finding your perfect destination wedding location!

nicolekarma@gmail.com
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About us:
Abby (husband Carl): Married January 17th 2005 in the Paradisus Punta Cana
From: Bethlehem, PA
Age: 24 & 29 at time of travel
Hotel: Paradisus Resort, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Type of people we are: moderately athletic, drinkers, I am well-traveled, though my husband hates leaving home - I have stayed in everything from 1 to 6 star resorts and enjoyed cruises in the Caribbean, US, and Canada from Montreal to Cozumel, the UK including Wales, Europe, and the French Riviera, Nimes and just about everywhere in between.

The resort for the bride and groom & guests:

The Paradisus is a lovely place with helpful staff in a well-landscaped setting. The first thing I noticed upon arrival are the ponds with greenery - a little unusual in the over-developed areas of newer resorts in the Caribbean. We arrived on Thursday (arrival 48 hours prior to the wedding ceremony is required in the Dominican Republic). Some of our 17 guests arrived Wednesday, while others arrived Friday. A sign at the check-in counter welcomed the guests for our wedding. We did wait for about 30 minutes for our room, but our guests who had arrived the previous day left a message for us in the lobby with their room number (it is not provided by the front desk as a security measure - which I do prefer). The front desk personnel contacted them and we enjoyed sipping drinks in the lobby while waiting for our room to be ready.

Our wedding planner was extremely kind - she welcomed us upon our arrival Thursday, and it was very clear that we were the only marriage that weekend. This is a nice contrast to some marriage machine resorts where there are multiple brides on the same day!

The room we received was very nice - although I believe there was some miscommunication on the part of the hotel management - the champagne and rose petals plus additional decorations that were supposed to be in our room upon arrival were actually in my husband's aunt & uncle's room, as they checked in the day before us. No loss though - there was no time to spend in our room with guests to entertain!

We did wait for a short period of time in the evening as the waitstaff prepared large enough tables to seat 19 people - but there was no grumbling among the staff - each offered their congratulations to us before and after the wedding day. We did not wait at all during breakfast or lunch for a larger table, and we usually had 10+ people eating together.

We picked out our ceremony location and wedding specifics Friday morning - I choose pink roses for my bouquet and husband's boutonnière, and received exactly what I asked for. Maria, the organizer, was just that - organized and succinct in her communication. She spoke wonderful English and made me, as a bride, feel very comfortable. She went above and beyond in all aspects - she even provided photographs of the typical decorations and we were able to modify them to our liking. I picked an unusual ceremony location off the lobby - I didn't like the tent on the grass (the statues are a little odd) and I'm not a beach wedding type of person. There was no problem at all with this, and the decorations were precisely as I requested.

Maria contacted my husband and I when the horse-drawn carriage would come pick up each of us -- first, it picks up the groom and delivers him to the wedding site, then turns around and picks up the bride. My husband prepared in his parents' room and Maria kept track of where each of us was and was an excellent communicator. My husband and guests enjoyed drinks provided by the bartender at our own mini-bar by the ceremony site while they waited for me.

The photographer arrived with the horse and carriage, and took a few pictures before I got into the carriage. The carriage was well kept - about the same quality as those in NYC central park - with an attendant and a driver. The horse was lean but in good health. The attendant was very kind in helping me up into the carriage, and walked with the horse back to the ceremony site. The photographer walked along side. The truth about a wedding ceremony while everyone is on vacation - you feel a little overdressed, but appropriately so. At least 30 people waived at me and took my picture while on the way to the ceremony. When I arrived to the location, my dad helped me out of the carriage and the band started playing "Here comes the Bride." I'm not a huge fan of the song (something I forgot to mention to Maria) but I whispered to my brother who was taking photos and they immediately started playing Canon in D - one of my favorite classical tunes! It was the most beautiful moments of my life. As we had to walk through the lobby I passed several other travelers who were enjoying afternoon cocktails and they all applauded as I walked to the ceremony site.

The ceremony went smoothly - the judge was a woman (yeah!) who was wearing a stylish silk suit (she was wonderful - I wished I'd have my wits about me enough to thank her after the ceremony!) and they provided us with a script the day before in English for whomever we would like to read the ceremony in our language. We asked my Mom to read the vows - so it was as if she married us. As soon as we kissed, the band started playing again - an upbeat, Caribbean style music. We enjoyed champagne poured by the bartender right there, and our wedding cake was great - a slightly coconut favored cake - it was sooooo good! I still wish to this day that I had the sense enough to take it with us or have a full piece instead of one bite. The photographer took great pictures of the ceremony and of us signing the documentation. He took photos of our families, of the whole group, of us in the gardens, of us in the carriage, and anything else we asked. My only regret was not doing the ceremony until 6 - being January we had a limited amount of time before the light was lost. My recommendation is to plan the ceremony at 4 - if it is delayed for some reason (the resort cannot control the arrival of the judge, for example) you'll still have plenty of light. Maria advised of this and I was foolish enough to insist on 6 so that we could have dinner immediately after - then I wanted more time before going to dinner. You'll want to enjoy cocktails and cake before heading off to your meal! Also - it had rained that morning (our ceremony was almost moved into the lobby due to rain) and the carriage was a little muddy. The second time I got in (for our pictures) I got some mud on my dress and was a little upset, but it doesn't show in any of our pictures, and once we bustled the dress it couldn't be seen at all.

We chose a predetermined menu for our reception dinner and a few other nights (which was difficult - some of our party wouldn't eat seafood, others were vegetarians) - although I'm sure it made serving nearly 20 people at once a lot easier - and we received our meals at nearly the same time. We had dinner at El Marino Seafood Restaurant the night of the wedding because I loved the location - right on the beach. The chairs and table were covered in white linen, and the area was in a quiet corner, roped off from the other guests, creating a private setting. Usually one can see the ocean from the restaurant, but it was an unusually breezy night, so the staff lowered the flaps on the tent so that we wouldn't be blown about. We brought candles and decorations/gifts for our guests and the table was decorated with these and rose petals upon our arrival - a very nice touch. We also brought a small cd player with speakers and listed to jazz music, the crashing of the waves, and danced between courses. The menu was printed on beautiful paper and I have added it to my wedding book. It was one of the most beautiful weddings I've ever seen - in person or in a Bridal Magazine.

The staff was extremely accommodating to the requests from some of our guests for vegetarian and meat entrees -- communicated in Spanish. Luckily my father-in-law is fluent in Spanish, making it much easier/faster to get things done, but usually the staff speaks enough English to communicate the necessities. We did tip the restaurant manager $20 US upon our arrival, although I believe the service would have been good nonetheless. There was also plenty of champagne and wine for us, and we had a four course meal - including coconut flan for dessert.

Some of our guests retired immediately after dinner, while others stayed up dancing with us all night. We first went to casino night at the Hibiscus lobby because there was a live band. They stopped in the middle of their song when we arrived and played a few bars of "Here comes the Bride." The entire audience (at least 150 people) stopped, turned, and applauded us as we arrived. When the band stopped playing around 10, we moved onto the all night party at the discotheque off the lobby. Again, upon our arrival at the lobby, everyone applauded and cheered. The dj at the discotheque played our song (we brought along a cd) and we had the dance floor to ourselves. By 12 I was beat so we headed back to our room and let everyone to party.

Included in our wedding package was a champagne breakfast in bed. I wish I hadn't taken it - by 9 I wanted to be on my morning walk on the beach, and instead I was wasting daylight in the room! It arrived slightly late (we called Maria to ask about it and it was there 15 minutes later) but was very romantic - it was a very nice breakfast in bed. Don't wait around for it unless you plan on sleeping in - it's the same type of food as available at the restaurant, and I wanted to sit with my family before they left.

We received our photos and negatives the Tuesday after the wedding. They are beautiful. I got additional prints from the negatives once we arrived in the states, and the Photoshop admired the excellent photography. I was able to enlarge them to 30"x38" and maintain great clarity. They are better than most wedding photographs I have seen -- at a much lower price and a much better attitude than any photographer I have ever worked with in the United States at my sisters', dad's, cousin's, and friends' weddings. Additionally, one would never receive wedding prints within 3 days of the ceremony here. My only mistake - I packed the negatives so that they went through security (and the electronic scanning machines) on our way back. This detetoriated the quality of the film. I immediately had all prints scanned and put onto CD (the cost is worth being able to email them to friends and family and requesting prints online), but I wish I had carried them on the flight with me. Thank goodness for the photographer - most of the photos taken by my family did not turn out nearly as well.

On to the hotel -

Our opinion on the resort is very similar to the other reviews, so I will keep this as brief as possible in comparison to my above comments.

As stated, our room was very nice and well-kept. The housing staff, although they spoke no English, were extremely polite. Altough we brought back more than enough champagne to our room to keep me happy for the week - that was pretty much all I drank - our microfridge was never stocked with beer or cocktails (my husband likes his rum and cokes)- only sodas and water. We ususally tipped, but on the mornings we forgot I noticed no difference in the quality of service. It would have been nice to have beer in the microfridge. The bathrooms were nice - marble floors with a closet and full length mirror and enough space to hang a full wedding gown with chapel length train.

The beach here was the most beautiful I have ever seen - even nicer than Cozumel, Grand Caymen, the Florida Panhandle, Pensacola FL, the French Riveria, the Western French Riveria (near Nimes - actually much nicer than the riveria). If you would like to have a wedding on the beach, this is the place to be.

The meals, although more European-style, were simple and good with a 4* quality and variety. I did not like the Japanese style restaurant (I guess I'm spoiled with ultra fresh fish and experience of sushi/sashimi and hibachi chefs from NYC) but the other restaurants were very good. The steak house was excellent - some of the best lamb chops I have ever had in my life, although the French restaurant was not as good as one would assume. I do suggest sticking with what you like and not forcing yourself to see absolutely everything - it was not possible, even during our 11 day stay. The room service was good - the pizza was great after a long night of drinking, and room service delivered wine if requested. The drinks were not super strong - try asking for "Rum Blanco" -white rum - when ordering a rum drinks. The dark rum was far too spicy compared to Bacardi. White Russians were a big hit in our group - the parmalat milk helped ease stomachs after overindulgence at lunch and dinner.

For those travelers who want an absolutely top-notch travel experience, this is close to it, but as always, you get what you pay for! We paid $2350 per person including airfare from Philadelphia for a 10 night, 11 day stay, and additional for wedding fees. This was much more reasonable (one of the purposes of selecting this resort) than the true 5* resorts, which are approximately $5000 per person for the same stay. For the complainers out there, I suggest being realistic and patient, as is necessary in any country where you do not speak the native language. A smile and a dollar or two goes a long way.
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A group of 18 of us in total visited Grand Paradise Bavaro from January 24-31, 2008 as my wedding party. 16 left from Toronto and 2 from Edmonton. I am happy to speak for them all when we say we had a blast! This is an excellent, high-class resort that deserves every one of its four stars and we recommend it to anyone looking for a relaxing, worry-free getaway.

We recently got married (Feb 28,2007) at the Grand Paradise Bavero in the Dominican Republic and would like to tell you a little about it. The wedding co-ordinater was pretty good. I emailed the co-ordinater before we went to find out how to pay for the wedding and I was told visa was accepted but what he didn't tell us was that the wedding photographer was to be paid in US cash, which we did not bring that much with us. We assumed that the photographer could be paid the same as the hotel with our visa, we had to get a cash advance to pay for the pictures. The co-ordinater claimed that he was not aware of this policy but being the wedding cor-ordinater he should be aware of everything to do with the wedding as that is his job isn't it? We ended up getting a big discount on the pictures because of this. The photographer's pictures were ok, I felt he rushed to do his job, and in alot of the pictures we are not always positioned very well and they look unprofessional. We were hard pressed to pick 37 pictures(min pkg) as they were not very impressive and we could of gotten the same pictures from our friends camera's as they were the same. We had our wedding near the beach, close to the steak house on the patio, it was a beautiful location. We were married at 1:00 pm and standing on that patio was very bright and the wedding party was squinting in all the pictures and I was holding my hand over my eyes to cut the glare(as shown in my pictures)my eyes were watering and my mascara was running(waterproof), I would suggest that they put a canopy of some sort above the bride and groom so that there something to stop the sun being in your eyes, I might suggest a gazeebo or a white tent.
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June 2009

We got married at the Jellyfish Restaurant in April. We did everything there the wedding ceremony and the reception. We had 43 people from New York who flew in for the wedding. I was very confident that Mayte would be able to handle everything so I had no stress at all on the day of the wedding (prior to my arrival at the restaurant). We had met with Mayte the Wednesday before to pay in full the rest of our invoice. I do NOT RECOMMEND this at all.

The Good:
The food was excellent and the bottom portion of the restaurant was decorated beautifully. The waiter, waitress and bartender were very nice. We had a great time thanks to our guests and making the most of everything. That’s it, I would never in a million years recommend to have your wedding here.

We upgraded EVERYTHING, food, alcohol and every other service that you could imagine. We also bought 6 bottles of grey goose and top shelf liquor since they only had absolute. We spent $10,000.00 here on 43 people to make it really fabulous. I was certain that everything would go smoothly having met Mayte and eating here the August prior since we flew down to check out the facilities before booking.

Here is a rundown of what went wrong:
When my husband arrived the restaurant was not set up… It was clear that they had served lunch that day and were running way behind. I paid $1,000.00 to reserve the restaurant for the wedding, they should have had it set up before we arrived at 5:00pm with all of our guests. There were people drinking and making out in front of the ceremony (again still part of the lunch crowd). Mayte should have had the restaurant set up and any outsiders gone at that point. I arrived at 5:30 and waited in the parking lot with my father and a dog for 20 minutes so they could set up. My husband was FRANTICALLY trying to get the boutonnieres on the kids, have the tables set up and get some kind of order. We hired a musical trio who did not show up, the minister did not show up and the DJ did not show up. After everyone was seated I headed into the restaurant before the ceremony and Mayte said the trio was in a car accident. Fine but she had really crazy circus music playing. Finally she changed the music and I headed down the aisle for my wedding ceremony. The minister who filled in was a NIGHTMARE. Really I was so mortified I had to laugh the entire time or I would have cried. It was one of the most embarrassing moments of my life - really. It was such a disaster that I had to have a stiff drink immediately after because my nerves were shot. After our ridiculous vows we headed back into the restaurant to give the DJ the song list. Well we then found out that we had no DJ. Thankfully I made 4 hours worth of music on my ipod. So now we have no MC to announce us in or for the first dances.

Mayte was absolutely useless, she actually left in the middle of the wedding to go home and shower because the restaurant was having another party there that night at 1:00am. Honestly things happen, I am aware of that but when the entire s**t was hitting the fan Mayte basically quit and left my husband and I to fend for ourselves. If she had at least made an effort to do something, ANYTHING I would have not been so mad!

Other things that went wrong were that the restaurant let a random lady in to use the bathroom in the middle of my reception and she had diahria ALL over the bathroom, everywhere floors and walls. Then she left her disgusting underwear in the sink. At one point both bathrooms would not flush. The upstairs of the restauranrt was never cleaned from lunch so when guests went up it was filthy with plates still up there. Again my husband and I were on our own because Mayte left…

My guests never received coffee with the awful tasting wedding cake. Mayte and the owner offered my husband 300.00 for the troubles at the end of the night. I was not only insulted but FURIOUS and told Mayte that we would be back the next day to discuss. When we arrived the next day Mayte had a slew of excuses, cried and went on and on about how hard the day was for her. Guess what it was my wedding, I cried myself to sleep that night from disappointment and embarrassment and guess what, this is her job! Since we had paid in full it was a MAJOR battle to get any money back from them. We paid $10,000.00 for a wedding and received a dinner with my ipod playing music. In the end we got back $1,500.00 after an ugly battle by phone with the owner.

Girls maybe this was just one case of a wedding going wrong there but I had to let you all know about my HORRIBLE experience. I would think long and hard before having your wedding here. I am willing to answer any questions that you may have.

I also plan to post reviews on the Melia, La Barcaza Yacht (rehearsal dinner on here) and my photographer that we hired from Santo Domingo. All of these reviews are fabulous so I will keep you all posted.

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Got back on Monday June 6 from a wonderful week at the Riu Merengue in Puerto Plata .

The wedding co-ordinator Nerys Reyes met us the day after we arrived and showed us the flowers we could choose and told us where the groom and best man had to meet her {in the main lobby} but told us the Judge was usually late, or as they prefer to call it, 'on Dominican time'. We ordered the extra's we wanted [well worth the money] and then went back to the pool. Just as well as it was very hot all week. Definately in the high 90's with the humidity.

Extras: Video $300 US {turned out excellant and set to the music we wanted as we gave them a CD with a few of our songs on it}

3 Guitarist :$100 US {honestly, they didnt play for long, but it gave the proceedings a little 'flavour'!}

Bridesmaids Bouquets: 2=$18 US

Extra wrist corsages for the mums and grandmothers: approx $5-$6 US each

The day of the wedding, {11am} the groom and best man and guests were taken from the lobby to the gazebo which was decked out in lots of flowers and the table and chairs for the bride and groom had long cloths covering them , it all looked really beautiful. At 11.15 the Judge arrived and Nerys came to get me and the bridesmaids. She brought the bouquets with her and they were exactly as the photos in her book . I loved them. We walked to the gazebo and just the bridesmaids appeared in view of the guests the guitarists started playing "Here Comes the Bride". The Judge spoke softly as Nerys translated into Eglish. It was over very qickly and we had asked one of our witnesses {family friends} to speak the words of the 'Sand Ceremony' rather than the two of us say vows to each other.

The Sand Ceremony is really an alternative to the lighting of the Unity candle. We each had a glass of sand and at a certain moment of the ceremony we each poured our glasses into one big glass, symbolizing two individuals becoming one. Ahhh!!!!!!

Drinks were passed around to the guests after the ceremony and two bottles of champagne were popped and poured for the wedding party. The photographer took lots of photos [you only get 24 4x6 of the ceremony only in your package]We had the first dance right there on the grass with all our guests watching . The guests all went off back to change and go to the pools whilst we went off to the beach to have more photos taken and the videographer did this thing too.

The Merengue gazebo is nicer I think than the one at the Mambo as that one although more open is part of the bar area and has a more travelled walkway right behind it which is seen by the guests and Bridal couple. The Bachata gazebo although beautiful and set in a lovely location is VERY WINDY and the path around it where you guests would be standing is not paved and rocky and uneven. To get to it you climb a quite a few steps and walk along a pathway with a fence on either side. The Merengue gazebo is set back from the main paths in the resort but is on a pathway going to various rooms, but it also is surround by palms and flowering bushes. Take a look at the photos on the link below and you will see what I mean. Its much more private than the other gazebo's.

The evening dinner reception was beautifully set up. We had asked for white tablecloths instead of the regular blue as it didnt go with the colours chosen for the wedding. There was no problem with them doing this. The waiters also offered to set out the placecards and wedding favours but my mum and future mother in law and my nanny did this . The staff were always asking if they could do anything for us all during our vacation. The Steakhouse menu was excellant. We started with a variety of shrimp, calamari, tempura battered veggies and chicken fingers, then soup, then the main course. I can recommend the Beef fillet! The waiters served white,red and rosa wine all evening, as many glasses as you wanted. Wedding cake was brought out at the end and cut and served as dessert. As we had the later seating {8.30 pm} we stayed for ages and eventually everyone drifted off to the bars between 11 and midnight. A lovely end to a happy day.

The upgraded suite was lovely {room 1106] and there was a huge flower arragement sent by the wedding co-ordinater , Nerys. We had a sitting room attached to the bedroom and it opened up to a balcony overlooking the ocean.

We went jet skiing which we rented from the sports beach. $60US for two for 25 mins. We had so much fun we rented them a couple of days. Also went swimming with the dolphins and bought the video to show we did it. Thats a lot of fun and worth spending out the $145US to do it.

Link to photos: http://community.webshots.com/user/bridesmom
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I was married at the Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana/Bavaro on Tuesday 20th January 2009. I am from the UK and travelled with First Choice. We stayed at the resort from 8th - 22nd January - and was married only a couple of days before coming home. We had a party of 57 people with us and everyone one of them loved this resort and didnt have any complaints whatsoever!!

We have chosen the Gran Bahia Principe for our destination wedding. I am sorry to hear about the bad experiences of those who wrote the last couple of wedding reviews at the resort. In contrast to these, we have had an amazing experience and have nothing but positive things to say about their wedding coordinators and assistants, wedding packages, and the resort itself. Please let me preface my review by saying that no, i am not some laidback, anything goes bride (do these even exist??). and i am not going to lie and say it was completely stress-free either since i put a lot of work in the pre-wedding phase.

Destination weddings are wonderful as long as you don't have high expectations of detail and circumstances that occur because of language barriers and the "Dominican Way" which is when they get around to things!! They do not operate like we do...and get away with errors and mis-communication and once you are there and have paid your money it is too late to complain!!

We just got back from our vacation and wedding at the Gran Bahia Principe in Punta Cana and we have nothing but dreadful things to say about this resort!

Well, the actual events leading up to the wedding were the biggest disappointment of our trip. The actual wedding itself went off just fine. However, everything leading up to it was so unnecessarily stressful.

It was beyond our expectations! And stress free! We started planning this wedding a year ago and I was a little worried as communication via email to the wedding coordinator was lacking at times. Like I mentioned, we arrived on Thursday. On Friday morning, Mariana had placed a note under our door with an appointment to meet her on Saturday. Everything was arranged in our 45 minute meeting. She had a book of different bouquets and flowers, There was a choice of white or chocolate wedding cake. Choice of music (we chose the musical trio for $100 – you must choose these guys…they are well worth it!!!!) Choice of father and/or mother walking me down the aisle. I chose to have a dance with my father and with Kris. I also asked for a Unity Sand Ceremony to be included and for Kris’ brother to read a poem. Everything was fully accommodated. These coordinators do 4 weddings per day. They know what they are doing, so if you have any worries or concerns at all…just let them go….it will all be taken care of when you arrive.

Brant and I arrived on Jan 30th. We ended up in Villa (1) 1210 – We could see the ocean from our balcony and we stepped out directly on the beach. The entire trip was perfect. We had 19 family and friends joins us on Feb 3rd and everyone went home on Feb 10th. No one had any complaints. This was my 3rd trip to Punta Cana but my first stay at the Bahia. No one had any stomach issues. The food was great. I had mugs made for everyone. This was a big hit as the bartenders would fill them with what ever they wanted and it kept the drinks cold. We all were booked with Apple Vacations – everyone choose the upgrade to the golden club. We were glad that we did. The 19 guests that came in on Sunday all were checked in at a private reception and had Al Cart dinner reservations already set up as a group before they arrived. We had access to a private pool and the entire resort. They also gave us 6 Al Carts rather then the 4 our packaged include. All of the Al Carts were for the entire group so we got to eat together every night. Golden Club let us make changes to the times and restaurants with no problems.

Yes, we got married there! It was...uhm...a nice experience. First of all we had to have papers translated and legalized here in Canada, so that was a little costly. Second, we were experiencing problems with communicating with Francelia the wedding coordinator in setting up the wedding logistics prior to leaving. When I say problems, I mean that she was not fast at returning emails (3+ days) and then would only answer 1 question out of 6. This was frustrating for us as we are used to communicating quickly and efficiently through email. Then 3 weeks prior to leaving, Francelia sent us an email informing us of a new DR government fee for the judge - an additional $360 US to the already $950 US wedding fee. We were not happy but had our hands tied at this point.

The Wedding
The Wedding was at 4 pm on Monday April 26. We had the wedding ceremony at the gazebo beside the spa and then had pictures taken on the beach. We choose the gazebo in the gardens by the spa rather than at the beach because we wanted a little more privacy for the ceremony (we did not want bathing suit clad people in the back ground), and because it is a little windy at the (we did not want the sand to become a problem). We had our Wedding Dinner at the Italian Restaurant for all 31 of us. We had a great time the meal was wonderful. The staff at the restaurant was amazing, we had the last seating (8:30) so that there was not a time limit. The staff was very accommodating to anything we asked such as when we asked for the music to be turned down for speeches, it was done without question. Very professional group.

Wedding Co-Ordinator
Our Wedding Co-Ordinator was Gabriel who works for the Princess Resorts (Bavaro Princess, Caribe Club Princess, Tropical Princess & Punta Cana Princess) he was very professional. Before we left for our trip we had allot of e-mail and he was very prompt at answering a very nervous brides questions. Once we got to the resort there was a letter in our room to arrange a "Pre-Wedding" meeting to ensure that all the choices we had were confirmed. We had pretty much settled everything over e-mail (such as the Cake, the time, the date, ceremony location, picture location, the video, the photos, the restaurant etc.) I had to choose from a photo album my flowers (which were delivered to our room the day of the wedding and were gorgeous) when we made a request to change the restaurant to another there was not a problem it was settled immediately. Because of Gabriel’s excellent attention to detail the wedding went off exactly as planned and we could have not planned this without him.

Wedding Photographer & Video
Our Wedding pictures are stunning, the photographer was professional and knew exactly what he was doing. He made us feel very comfortable. We had 25 pictures and negatives included in our wedding package and we had the option to purchase more pictures (and negatives) for an extra charge. The day after the wedding (yes that quick) the photographer met with us in the lobby of the resort and gave us time to look at all the shots taken and to choose only the photos we wanted there was absolutely no pressure. There is also no bartering for pictures as the photographer is hired by Princess Resorts who own the photos & negatives, but the prices with negatives are very fair. We also choose to purchase the video; this was ready 2 days after the wedding including editing and music inserted. (You have the opportunity to choose the music you would like to have inserted) We requested just one song to be inserted (our wedding song. >From this Moment by Shania Twain) and the other music we left the videographer choose. The only thing that we regret about doing this is we had included in the wedding package a live trio for 1 hour and they were excellent...if we would have known we would have requested that that portion of the wedding video not be edited over with music because the trio music was beautiful on it's own, now we cannot hear them on the video. (Thankfully Tracy's brother also has video) Very well worth the money, it's only 27 minutes long but holds allot of nice memories.

We would go back in a heart beat and hope to for a future anniversary but this time we might not bring the group!

Cheers
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April 18-25

Our wedding was great! It all went so fast though. A few small glitches but it made it more interesting and made for some stories and laughs!

My fiancé and I along with our guests arrived at the resort at 11 AM and were told we could not get into our rooms until 2:30 - 3, I was pretty upset at first but then our guests seemed to not care too much. We had to leave our luggage at the front of the lobby but it was ok because they have a few security guards there at all times. I did however not want to leave my dress with my luggage so I went to guest services near the check in counter and they put it in the office for me. I just picked it up later that day.We were all tired and had been up since 2:30 AM but we were so excited we just changed in the washrooms and went to the lobby bar, had a few drinks then ate at the buffet just off the lobby, then went out exploring for a bit and in no time it was 2 PM and my room was ready as well as the others.

When we got to the resort, I told the front desk we were having our wedding that week and they gave us a folder. Make sure you tell them this as they may forget to give you the folder. There was coupons in the folder - one for your hair, one for your complimentary dinner at the Licey restaurant, one for a massage and some other details. In the folder, there was a letter telling us to meet Francelia the day before the wedding at 11 AM to discuss the details.Because I told them at the front desk we were getting married, the lady upgraded us from a Junior Suite to one of the bungalows. When we were able to check in, they sent a bellboy with me to our room and it was really nice. It smelled musty but we brought a candle and once you've been in the room for a few minutes you don't even notice. Plus we expected the musty smell anyways, it is very common down south.

Long before our trip, I gave Francelia (our coordinator) information such as extra items we wanted at our wedding. We had favors and candy sprinkles, our own wedding cake decorations etc. I had informed her we would be having more then 20 people (they are supposed to charge $10US extra per person above 20 people for champagne and cake). When we met with her, it took no time at all, just went over the flowers, room numbers, what time we had to be ready for our trolley's to pick us up, what time the flowers would arrive, we also went over the menu for our restaurant (more on that later).. it went very fast. Just bring your notes with you to the meeting. We were told we had to pay extra for my maid of honors bouquet, plus 2 boutonnieres for the boys. On a side note, My fiancé asked his brother to be his best man but then later found out blood relatives could not sign the register so we had to ask a friend. I also gave Francelia our favors and candies to sprinkle on the table, at the dinner, and some fake flowers to cascade down the cake because I didn't want their cake topper (more on this later). Francelia at this point also needed our originals our Spanish documents.

A half an hour later we met with the manager of the Photoshop to discuss photography. That was pretty straight forward. They need to know roughly what you want pictures of, if you want them to come to your room too and what package you will be getting (we just got the 15 included in our package but ended up buying 2 more for $20US each). They need to know all this so they know how much time to allot to your wedding.

The day of the wedding was beautiful! Very hot. My Maid of Honor and I had hair apts at 9 AM, the two of us took 1.5 hours for our hair then the hairdresser helped us put fake nails on. Went back to my room to get ready. At some point around 11 I managed to lock us out of my room because I left the door opened when I was on the deck and the wind blew it shut. I called from a nearby room and someone came right over to let us in! Flowers arrived at around 11:30 AM, the wedding was at 1. The trolley came to pick us up around 1 and the driver called our room to tell us they were out front. The trolley was all decorated with pink flowers, really cute. The ride there was so fun! I had my mother and brother give me away so they were in the trolley with me and my maid of honor and my sister in law who was with us doing our make up. My fiancé and his brother also got a lift in the trolley just before we did.

The wedding was really quick. The trio was awesome and stayed for about an hour and played music. Everyone enjoyed the delicious cake and champagne and there was a lot of it! they even let us take the extra champagne to drink later in our room (four bottles) and found out later that Francelia didn't charge us for the extra 9 people!! Make sure if you want beach pictures with your crew to specify this with the photographer. Things went so fast and he had to leave after a while and we only took photos near the trees. They were still beautiful. oh.. and the cake had the funny 80's style plastic cake topper on it WITH my flowers, but we just took a moment and removed it which turned out to be funny in the pictures. The cake was beautiful and one of the best I've ever tasted. The trolley will come back to pick you up again if you need a ride but we wanted to stay down by the gazebo longer and then go to the buffet, which was really fun in your wedding clothes. Lots of congratulations from strangers and fun photo opportunities, how often do you see a bride and groom in a cafeteria! and the bar tenders kept giving us drinks the whole time. I should also mention that a lot of strangers will watch the wedding and even take pictures but I didn't mind at all.

After we ate at the buffet, we took our own photos on the beach (my sister and a friend are photographers by hobby and did an awesome job!) Then we went around the resort and took more photos. We went back to our room to relax before supper. The maid's had made a path of flowers up to our bed where they made a design with the sheets and they had filled the jacuzzi up with water, bubbles and flower petals. So nice!

Then we headed for the Bella Pasta restaurant for 6. We were told we would have it for 2 hours to ourselves but it turned out to be 1 hour. This wasn't a big deal because we couldn't do speeches or anything there, the acoustics are bad and even though we were alone with our guests we couldn't hear much unless you were close to the next person. It wasn't too bad, just not good for speeches. So I had to make an announcement that we would meet in the lobby around 9 PM and find a quiet corner to do speeches, toss the flowers etc. Francelia, my fiancé and I had looked over the menu at our meeting the day before and we picked one salad, one soup and one desert for everyone, and they had their choice between 3 pastas. When we got to the restaurant they had made special little menus for the table that we got to keep.
I had the lasagna and it was delicious. Everyone else enjoyed theirs as well.

I must say we were a little disappointed that when we went to get on the resort trolley to get to the lobby, it was so busy we couldn't get on and had to walk back. My dress got really dirty. The only place we could find was next to the small pool near the hotel part. We put some pool chairs together in a big circle and did out speeches and it was awesome! so unique and private. So after the supper, we met in the lobby but it was too loud there as well.

Just to show how helpful they can be at the resort:
When we were at the Bella Pasta, my brother asked one of the waiters if we could borrow a guitar to have a sing song later that night. The guy did not understand and called Francelia thinking my brother meant we were mad the trio wasn't at our supper. Francelia called to find out what was going on and my fiancé said we hadn't complained. We figured it out later that there was a miscommunication. Later in the week when I ran into Francelia, I explained to her the mix up and she said basically she would try and get us a guitar and have it delivered to where we were all eating on our last night. Sure enough! a guitar showed up at the restaurant on our last night and some of the staff at the Japanese restaurant hung out with us as we sang and played the guitar and as they were closing the restaurant they would listen to us singing and they had big smiles on their faces. It was really awesome!!

Our photos were beautiful, very colourful and clear, although they did over-photoshop a couple. Make sure you get all the ones you picked, they made a mistake and I had to go back and have them change it but they were really good about it.

I would not hesitate to recommend this resort for a wedding. Francelia has been helpful and sweet and everyone seems to want to make sure you have fun and are accommodated. I know some people have complained about a number of things but I think that a lot of people will only give a review to make sure others know they had a bad experience. People that would give a good review don't bother taking the time. I talked to two other brides that week and their wedding went great. One thing I must say, I would not book the Chopin restaurant for your supper, it's another buffet and you have to get up to get your food. We ate there another night and It was fine to eat there (good shrimp and potato salad!) but not for a wedding. I hear Licey is expensive (it is not included in your package) and so is the beach party.
It's nicer to be waited on for all your courses at your wedding. I would probably recommend the Seafood restaurant over the Bella Pasta as the acoustics and decor are more appropriate if I remember correctly. If you have any questions or would like to see any photos, please don't hesitate to contact me at gaudetlaurie@hotmail.com

I also want to point out to you to take time to relax and enjoy your day. Before we left for our trip, I was bogged down with details and things to do with the wedding i.e. favors, flowers, handouts for guests etc... but when you get there and everyone including you is having so much fun in the heat etc.. you almost don't care anymore as long as you are at the alter on time and put that ring on your finger. Things are so easygoing there,.. after a few days you won't care if the cake is ugly, wonder why you fussed over favors and details.. I would never go back and have a big wedding, it was awesome!!

Overall, we all had a great time and loved the resort. I would definitely come back to this resort and I wouldn’t change one thing about the wedding. Everything turned out great and went by too quick. If anyone has any questions or would like to see pictures, please email me at rupertsara@hotmail.com.
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If you have any doubt, please forget it, if you decide to get married there... you´ll never forget your WEDDING DAY
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All in all, a wedding for the record books in my mind. No matter where you decide to have your day, there will be some bumps. The difference between a fantastic dream and total nightmare is in perspective. If you are looking for a well timed, controlled, traditional North American wedding, my advice is to stay in North America. If you can shrug off the little stuff, I say dance the meringue and cheers with a ridiculous amount of rum at The Bavaro Princess.

We arrived late night on Saturday Sept. 30/06 and our wedding was scheduled for Tuesday Oct. 3/06 @ 5pm. Upon checking in, my husband and I received a “Wedding Portfolio”. In the Wedding Portfolio it had documents for the following:

a) Wedding Package, listing all the items and inclusions that you are SUPPOSED to receive with your package. We chose the Princess Package.

b) Rehearsal Agenda, outlining the time and day that the Wedding Planner (Francellia) meets with the Bride and Groom

c) Itinerary of the actual Wedding Day

Vouchers for the A la Carte Restaurant and the Spa Treatments (For the Bride and Groom - as indicated in the package). d)

e) Comment Cards

We met with Francellia the day before the wedding and brought all the original documentation, the 2 passport photocopies of the witnesses, payment for the wedding, **guests dinners are $35.00 USD

Francellia charges extra costs to your room and you pay @ the front desk**. We also gave Francellia decorations for the cake, our own cake knife and lifter, and sparklers for the reception. Make sure to designate someone responsible to hold on to your belongings or they will go missing!!! I would like to point out that Francellia was not able to get the flowers I wanted (Calla Lillies and Cymbidium Orchids). She informed me that she needed 2 months in advance to order them even though I requested them with attached photos in the Wedding Registration Form four months before the trip?!. Thankfully, I was prepared for this situation and I brought my own artificial flowers from home and they were absolutely fabulous.

Please inform and remind your guests of the ceremony time, location and where the reception will be held as soon as you confirm with the wedding co-ordinator. It will save you headaches and constant phone calls to your room when you are trying to enjoy your vacation!!!

The day of the wedding the guys went golfing before the ceremony while me and the girls went to get our hair done @ the Spa, my updo was free and they had to pay $35.00 USD for their hair. The hairstylist did not take well to suggestions and always wanted her way, she also spoke very little english but I managed to understand her because I grew up with the Spanish language. The hairstylist was the only one working on our hair so book your appointment well in advance to make it to your wedding on time!

Around 4:30 pm a horse and carriage pulled up to our villa (#354) The driver nodded to us to get in and took us to the Gazebo. We got to the area and no one was there just Francellia and a few helpers. She sent us back in a hurry in the decorated tram @ high speed trying to avoid the guys who were just a stones throw away in Villa #321. As me and the girls waited to be taken AGAIN to the Gazebo, my mother-in-law flew past us on her way to the ceremony area in the decorated tram. Apparently, she was taken on a scenic route to the Gazebo when she was suppose to be picked up WITH my husband and groomsman to the ceremony. As it turned out, the guys had to walk to the Gazebo, and the decorated tram never came to pick them up! Me and the girls showed up @ 5:30 for the ceremony. The Gazebo was decorated with vines and flowers and the seating area for the guests were blocked with palm leaves for privacy - very pretty. The ceremony was short and sweet - 10 min long and the photographer was pushy to get the photos taken because the sun was setting quickly. We had 15 photos for free and the remaining photos were $8.00 USD. You do not receive the negatives but instead get a CD with the pictures - the resort has not yet made the changes in their advertisement. The photos were ready 2 days after the wedding and can be picked up at the booth where you can purchase other photos taken at the resort. The photos are glossy and 8x6. I requested sepia tone but got mainly colour photos.

During the short photo session the driver of the carriage was letting other guests use the horse and carriage for some cash. We paid $250.00 USD to use the horse and carriage and we were promised to have a tour of the resort in the carriage but unfortunately it was cut short because it was too dark for the horse to see according to Francellia. So basically, we paid $250.00 USD for 30 min and for other tourists to use...very upsetting!!!

The reception was a big disappointment. Since the ceremony was late , our reception started late. We had our reception at Licey Restaurant and the dinner was 5 courses. The first course was served an hour after we arrived and the wait in between each course was 45 min to an hour. We did not get a chance to eat the last course because it was tooo long so my husband and I started handing out our wedding cake. There were only 2 servers for the entire restaurant including our reception area. The service was terrible but the food was amazing. Our reception was soooo bad that other guests in the restaurant complained to the manager of the poor service that we were getting. To make matters worse, the air conditioning was not working so it was like an oven in there.

Don’t bother getting breakfast in your room the day after the ceremony. The breakfast showed up 45 min late and very cold. I guess they assumed that everyone likes their eggs sunny side up because that is what they delivered to the other people that got married the same week. Definitely make a request of what kind of breakfast you want!!!

We never did receive our keepsakes, and our bathrobes for the week were non-existent. We complained to Francellia Perezz, the wedding co-ordinator and the General Manager of the resort - Federrico Espinall and we were told that there was nothing that he could to compensate for the numerous mistakes that occurred at the wedding and reception. Francellias’ office is by the bank machine (only dispenses pesos) , the door has the word “VENTAS” on it. If you can’t get a hold of her by guest services then go her office. The guest services people usually lie to you!!!

Overall, Francellia did make efforts to make our special day run smoothly but I would advise anyone who wants to get married at the Bavaro Princess Resort, to go to a different resort unless you want an unorganized, disastrous wedding.
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A package with wedding info is normally left in your room upon arrival that specifies when your appt with the coordinator is,. Nothing had been left in the groom’s room or mine, so on Sunday we asked about it at Guest Services and they knew nothing about it or about the wedding. The coordinator was not available until Monday and we had to reschedule for that afternoon (we had already booked a group excursion with our guests during the scheduled appt and could not cancel).

We did not receive a king size bed upon arrival, so my husband inquired on Sunday. They said no beds were available (this is part of the honeymoon package) although all the other couples in our group were given king beds. We kept inquiring and were finally given one 3 days later.

We arrived on-time for our appt with the coordinator and waited almost an hour before we had Guest Services finally call and see if she was still coming. She arrived immediately thereafter. She was very pleasant and spoke excellent English. We asked for white and stargazer lilies for the bouquets, ordered two extra bouquets for the bridesmaids ($40 US each) and requested the unedited version of the video ($350, it’s the same price whether you want it edited or not) because we were worried portions would be deleted or that the trio would be edited over with other songs (like previous brides have described in other reviews). We were assured we would get the unedited version and I saw her write it down.

We had requested the Magical Package and were given coupons for the spa appts and for our dinners at Licey. After the meeting, we were told to go pay for the wedding at reception, make the spa appts, and go back to our rooms as they would pick up the tux and dress for steaming at 5 pm. We tried to pay for the wedding, but it had not been charged to our room yet. After making the spa appts, we went back to the room as directed and waited until after 7 pm for our clothes to be picked up, but no one ever came. We finally had to leave because of another appt. (On Wednesday morning, two days later, my husband was woken up by the Laundry dept asking if we wanted our clothes picked up. We were pretty frustrated and didn’t trust giving them our clothes one day before the wedding). The coordinator called after he hung up and asked again. Literally seconds after he hung up after speaking with her, Laundry personnel were knocking on the door. We steamed our own clothes with the travel steamer my mother-in-law brought along.

Thursday was our wedding day. Several of the girls also made spa appts so we ended up with two manicures, three up-dos and my make-up getting done that morning. Our esthetician/stylist was Deyanara and she was lovely. I had brought pictures of how I wanted my hair done, and she did well. My maid-of-honour was able to fix the portions I was unhappy with prior to the wedding. Overall, we were happy with the spa (technically not part of the resort). I had to run back to reception in between appts to finally pay for the wedding (it wasn’t charged to the room until Thursday, and there’s no wedding if you haven’t paid).

The flowers were delivered 30 min before the wedding was scheduled and they were beautiful – exactly what we had asked for (although my groom’s boutonniere was a closed lily that never opened! Oh well, it didn’t matter in the end)

Although we were repeatedly warned the wedding would likely be late, it actually started on time. A decorated trolley picked up my father, my two bridesmaids and myself. It was a pretty fun ride to the gazebo. The guys were also picked up in a decorated trolley.

The decorations they provide consist of candles in red glasses perched on stands wrapped in palm leaves that form the aisle, chairs from Licey (white covers with burgundy bows in the back) for your guests, and two covered tables holding the register, your cake and the champagne. If you want other decorations (like balloons, etc) bring your own. We thought it was perfect the way it was. We brought our own cake topper and dropped it off with the coordinator prior to the wedding.

The ceremony was about 10 minutes long. We brought our own vows and my maid of honour had a short blessing that she read. Unfortunately, the guests were seated too far away to hear anything, but I think they got the gist of it.

We had the Caribbean trio included in our package and they were excellent (they even play a cheese grater with a hair pick). They played a first dance for us and made us try the merengue (very tricky in a wedding dress). My father purchased a CD of theirs.

The photographer took photos during and immediately after the ceremony and he did a good job. They were ready for pick-up on Saturday, which is pretty quick! We bought an additional 20 photos on top of the 25 that were included in the package, and that cost $160 - much cheaper than a “normal” wedding!

We were told the video would be left in our room early the following week. On the following Thursday, I left a message asking about it as we were checking out on Saturday and still had not received the DVD. The call was not returned. I finally contacted the coordinator late Friday morning. The video arrived at Guest Services an hour later and we picked it up that afternoon. We had no way of viewing the video until we returned home, and then found out they had edited it. The Caribbean trio was cut out entirely, my walk down the aisle was cut out, and the music they used to dub it over certainly wasn’t music we selected (Wonderful World and Unchained Melody – not opposed to them, but we had brought our own music for that purpose until we found out we could get the video unedited. We planned to have professionals back home do it for us). In addition, the videographer interviewed my husband’s friends and inserted their well wishes at the end. That would be great, except that none of my friends were interviewed and it’s a lot of “He’s the greatest, I hope she knows how lucky she is” and leaves you feeling a little left out of your own wedding. We immediately sent an email to the coordinator asking to have the unedited version sent to us. That was a week ago and we have not received any response.

We had our wedding dinner at Licey and it was phenomenal. It’s definitely the best restaurant for such an occasion – much more private, air conditioned, and the food was excellent. We had over 15 people, so we had to choose a set menu (the menu given to us earlier by the coordinator was an old one, but we were able to clear that up quickly). The wedding cake was brought to Licey but we had forgotten about it so everyone was pretty full. We ate it anyways and it was delicious.

Overall, the wedding itself was beautiful and our guests had a good time. With that said, we had a few hiccups and felt dissatisfied with several issues. In particular, we had asked for the Magical Package but did not receive the welcome fruit basket or the bathrobes that you are supposed to be given for the duration of your stay. In addition, we did not receive several items from the honeymoon package, namely the fruit basket, bottle of rum, nightly turn down service (we had turn down twice in 9 honeymoon nights), floral bouquet, romantic dinner for bride and groom, special cocktail, and photo souvenir. We did receive the king size bed after several days and also received late check out without any hassle.

We were told the wedding certificate takes approx 6 – 8 weeks and we were not given a photocopy for temporary proof.

All in all, the resort is beautiful and I would highly recommend it. We had a great time at Bavaro Princess and so did our guests. However, even though our wedding was beautiful, I would not recommend this resort for a wedding as there were just too many mistakes that could easily have been avoided.

If you have any questions or would like to see pics, email me at rhonner21@yahoo.ca
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defineatly would recommend it. We are going in April to be with friends of our when they get married there
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Getting married in the D.R. is the best decision we could have made. The memories will last a lifetime! Thank you to all the staff at the 3 Riu's who made us feel like Superstars the entire 2 weeks we were there!
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All our photos and information are available on our website www.krystaleandedwin.com. Our wedding was perfect and I mean perfect. We had the royal treatment as soon as we arrived. Ocean view rooms with king size beds, marble floors, marble walls in bathroom, cherrywood accents. We were very pleased. We met with the wedding planner two days before the wedding. I picked my flowers, declined the 150$ for a three piece music act, or extra photos. 24 'ceremony pictures were alloted. I did buy one thing extra two flowers for our mothers. That was all I really had to do, oh and pay 100us government fee which was originally 300 so I can't complain. They made me a beautiful cascading bouquet of flowers, as well as 10 matching centerpieces for our resteraunt dinner. They used these flowers also to make an archway in the back of our table for the ceremony. The day before and that morning it was raining heavily. I had heard one couple cancelled their wedding the day before, but not me. I had a rain poncho on over my dress ready to go. Just as we walked outside it stopped raining and the sun came out it was beautiful. They had already moved things inside so we went with it. They had all our guests line p to make an ailse for us to walk through. The 20 or so foot door were on a trigger and opened automatically to reveal us to them. There is alot of kissing in this spanish ceremony, probably ten or so. My wedding planner was amazing and she was also our translator. The photographer took alot of nice pictures which we got to pick from at the photolab. I had all my pictures back and my marriage licence before we left 1 1/2 days later. The wedding planner stopped the bus as we were leaving to give us the licence instead of mailing it.

I guess you get what you pay for we had been previously booked at breezes in peurto plata but they somehow cancelled our reservation and our group was too large to rebook. The Riu bachata was the more expensive of the three RIU resorts but it was well worth it. We have plans to return on our honeymoon next year with another couple who wants to get married there.

Just remember there is no such thing as a free wedding, there is about 1000$ minimum in fees, somethings are not included like getting you hair done, flowers for attendants,and extra photos can cost big money. take you own pictures as well as theirs, and just try to exhibit their laid back culture on you wedding day. Mine was absolutely stress free, wouldn't have changed it for the world.
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Preparing for the Wedding
I started researching on the Internet the reviews of other brides (this website was one of the best!) and wedding packages from various resorts. I wasn't concerned with the wedding package costing us extra (some resorts offer them for free but cost more to go to) as long as our guests didn't have to pay too much. I talked to our local travel agent and she sent me her recommendations for Mexico, Cuba and Dominican Republic. She also had us immediately apply for our long-form birth certificates. We chose the Dominican Republic because we have traveled to Mexico and Cuba before so were excited to go somewhere new and the prices were very reasonable. We chose the Riu Mambo in Puerto Plata because there are two sister resorts next door where you can enjoy all of their restaurants and activities. It is so stress free to marry in the Dominican. We only have to do the following: Long-form birth certificate (apply early because there is no guarantee of how long it could take), declaration of single status - have birth certificates and single status declarations translated into Spanish, send out invites, and show up! I believe that if you've been previously married there is more documentation needed.

I informed the travel agent of our choice of resort and the dates (January 18-25) and she immediately got our group rates and created a package for me to send with my "Save the Date" letters. I also printed some colour pictures of the Riu Mambo and of the Dominican from the Internet to include with my Save the Date letter. I wanted to excite my guests with the beautiful colours of the Dominican. Once I knew who was booked (the travel agent always kept me updated on who had put down deposits), I sent out an envelope with Travel Tips, Web sites to check out (this one included), and info on the Dominican Republic. Just wanted to keep everyone excited!

Arriving in Puerto Plata
Well finally the day arrived for us to fly to Puerto Plata. The flight went very well - a bit of turbulence but nothing major. Bring snacks for the flight because it's a long day of traveling and they don't serve much on the flight. Everyone (especially those regular travelers) were so impressed with the arrival at the Puerto Plata airport. We were off the plane, had our luggage and on the bus within 20 mins. Hardly any lines to wait in.

The Resort
We arrived at the Riu Mambo for our one week vacation/wedding/honeymoon and everyone was oohing and aahing at all the tropical plants, huge rock formations, and rolling hills surrounding the RIU property. It was great having the three resorts to use. It provided so many varieties of food, activities, people, and shops. Caribbean Street is a beautiful little street lined with brightly coloured shops. They had an Internet Cafe, many souvenir shops (didn't barter much), Photo Shop, Billiards Room, Spa, Fitness Room (very modern equipment), a couple of high end jewellery shops, and Cigar store. The casino is also located there.

If you didn't feel like shopping there , there are beach vendors at the Riu Mambo and Riu Bachata (ends of the beach). They are little blue huts with local people selling their wares. Bartering there is necessary or you will be ripped off. A good rule is to split their price in half -at least. Everyone bought some really neat stuff for good prices. They have pareos, wooden carvings, stone carvings, multitudes of jewellery, canvas paintings, etc. So much to look at.

The food at the RIU's was wonderful. So many varieties. Seafood, pasta, salads, pork, veal, chicken, beef. My only 'beef' about the food is that most of it is fried. It was still very delicious but slightly greasy at times. It didn't stop me from eating lots and lots.

Being with a group of 31 we went on a few more excursions then we normally would. A bunch of people did the Deep Sea Fishing - didn't catch anything but still enjoyed the experience, a bunch of us went on the Puerto Plata City Tour/Sousa -Rum factory & Amber museum included, Paradise Island Snorkeling tour, and a few went to Ocean World Adventure Parkto swim with the dolphins. I haven't heard a bad word from anyone about any of the tours. Everyone was pleased. Some tours we did through the tour operator and others we did with Martin Espinal (he's got a link from this site I believe) the taxi driver. Enrique and Danny were our guides for the taxi tours. They were so incredible. They brought drinks along, gave us a Spanish lesson and made everything so fun. They work for Martin and I highly recommend them.

We had good weather for the week that we were there. There was one day of rain but we still swam most of the day and enjoyed ourselves. If you can't stay dry you might as well stay wet! Even at night the weather was warm. On a previous trip to Cuba I would wear jeans and a sweater at night but not on this trip.

The Wedding
We met with our Wedding Coordinator , Juana, on the Monday after we arrived. She showed us a photo album with pictures of flowers for us to choose from. I wanted brightly coloured flowers with lots of greenery. She also went through the list of extras that aren't included with the wedding package to see want else we might want. We hired the musicians (They are incredible and look so good in the pictures) and bought some extra bouquets, and boutonnieres. We then paid her and went back to the beach. What stressful planning!

Our Wedding took place on Thursday January 22, 2004 at 3pm. I spent the morning at the Spa (wedding present from some great friends), every bride should do this. They are so incredible at the Caribbean Street Spa. Afterwards I had my hair done at the local hairdresser along with my bridesmaids then back to our Honeymoon suite to get dressed and wait. As warned, the wedding didn't start on time :) Our wedding coordinator, Juana, told us to wait in our room and she would call us when everyone was in place. Due to a wedding at the Merengue, the Judge and Photographer were running late. No big deal, we just sat and enjoyed some Bahama Mamas (My favourite drink all week). We finally got the call that everything was a go so the flower girl, bridesmaids, my father and I headed down the path to the gazebo. We arrived at the gazebo (Beautifully decorated with the flowers I had chosen) and my father handed me over to my fiancee. The musicians were playing their guitars and they really set the mood. We walked up the path formed by our guests, and stood inside the gazebo with our wedding party. The judge then performed with ceremony with Juana translating. There was a little mix up with the name of my fiancee (They asked if I would marry his father) which got many chuckles when I said no I would not marry him. Everything got straightened out and Chris & I were married. It was a quick ceremony but with the hot sun it was okay with us! We walked down the path while our guests through rice and blew bubbles at us. We then danced our first dance as Husband & Wife and then posed for multitudes of pictures. Most people (included Chris & I) changed and headed to the beach to cool off and then changed back into our wedding attire for the supper. We had our supper at the Steakhouse. They had brought all the flowers from the gazebo to line the tables, it looked wonderful. We all enjoyed some fabulous supper, toasts, champagne, and wedding cake. It was a wonderful day. Later after supper, the flowers were delivered to our hotel room as well as a fax from our Travel Agent hoping all had gone well. She also mentioned that it had been -32 degrees that day at home.

Our pictures were ready to be looked at by the next day (all digital) and we picked out our favourites. We picked them up the next day (Saturday) along with a disk to make copies and enlargements in Canada. Our marriage certificate (in Spanish) was also available to be picked up Saturday. I haven't had any troubles changing my name over using the Spanish certificate. I had worried I would have to have it translated and certified in Canada but I worried for nothing as I've had no problems.

Conclusion
All 31 of our group were pleased with the Riu Mambo and the two sister resorts. That's saying a lot too because our group had age 5 to 82 -quite the range of interests. The rooms were spacious and nice, shows interesting and full of talent, food delicious with lots of selection, beach was rock-free and always raked clean, beautiful mountains surrounding the property and the grounds were all so immaculately cared for. The wedding was everything I imagined and more. It was so beautiful and so stress-free. It's defiantly the way to go. All in all it was a perfect week.
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