Any ideas on resorts in Dominican Republic?!?!?

smlalwz

My fiance and I are wanting to get married in the Dominican Republic (we are thinking the end of October 2013)....anyone also getting married there or have suggestions on where to get married??  It appears that most resorts have similar packages so I am having a tough time deciding!  Also, does anyone know if the packages are adjustable (like if we dont want a reception can we add a video)??  Thank you so much!!!

nicolej518

Yay!! I am getting married at Dreams Puntaa Cana. There are a few other DR brides on here as well. Jen (venus909) got married in DR recently and went off the resort for her ceremony and reception (Jellyfish restaurant). I can let you know how Dreams is when I get back in October!!

I would speak with the wedding coordinators at the various sites you are looking at to see how flexible they are. We opted not to go with a package deal and just to have our freebies for getting married applied to a honeymoon package for our room. We didn't want everything included in the packages and wanted to customize it a bit more so it just worked out better for us. 

Let me know if you have any other questions!

smlalwz

Thanks Nicole!  I just emailed Dreams, Secrets, Paradisus Palma and Excellence regarding if my date was available and if the packages were adjustable.  What else do you suggest I ask before deciding a resort? Hope to hear from them soon!

I am new to this and am already stressing LOL!

aprileverett85

Yay I am getting married there too!!!! I am looking at Paradisus Resorts here is the link: http://www.paradisus-puntacana.com/

I actually just e-mailed them yesterday so I am waiting to here back from them but I can't wait! I also asked them if they could send me a tourism book, brochure or magazine that would have restaurants, activities, about the history and many more information for my self and guest. Once I hear back from them I can let you know what they say.  We are getting married April 12, 2014 I know still kind of far away and I was looking at there wedding package Tailor Made, but I even like the idea of not having package and just use the inclusive part I didn't even think if that. Any information you get could you share with me also and I will share anything I get too.

nicolej518

I got info on the price breakdowns for the rooms because cost was a big determining factor for us and our guests. I also asked about outside vendors. I heard some hotels charge as much as $1000!! Ours will just charge a regular day pass for our photographer and videographer. There are some on the resort but I didn't see the best reviews, and it was cheaper to go with another company (which I did not see a single review on!). I would also ask about the reception stuff (even if you are unsure of what you want). I think a lot of AI brides were surprised/shocked that we had to pay for liquor at an all inclusive. See what sort of set up fees are charged. 

Will you be getting legally married there? Make sure you also see that a judge is available. I originally was given a date, then told a judge wasn't available. It was ok since we are getting married here but that couldve been bad! In my personal opinion, it's much less of a headache to do the legal stuff here because of the costs and getting paperwork translated, etc.

Sorry for the long post. I am just trying to think of all the little surprises we received along the way!

ginadog

http://www.stylemepretty.com/destination-weddings/dominican-republic-weddings/

Style Me Pretty has a whole blog on just DR weddings!

They list the venue at the end of each wedding too.

smlalwz

April, will do, so far all they have sent me are the packages, which are online, so I am now waiting back to hear answers to some of my more specific questions.

Nicole, wow, when I read your stuff it makes me realize I have no idea what I am getting myself into LOL!!  Outside vendors, as in from back home, or from there in P*nta Cana??  If from P*nta Cana, how did you find these vendors and determine without meeting them that they were up to snuff for your wedding??  We actually just want to dinner after the ceremony bc we will be having a reception back home (and would rather save the money for that), so we are hoping that some resort will work with us on that.  As far as if we are doing a legal ceremony, we havent gotten that far, though I appreciate the advice on ensuring a judge is available in case (not something I wouldve thought of)!

How do you all get the timeline on the bottom of your posts??

Thanks ladies

venus909

Hello! 

I was just married in Puntaa Cana and I LOVED everything about my wedding!!!  I can't wait to go back! 

We actually had our ceremony and reception off the resort at the Jellyfish Beach restaurant and it was absolutely amazing!  The wedding planner there (Mayte) handles pretty much everything!  I had 3 outside vendors - the pastor, my photographer that I brought with me and the videographer that I hired from there.  I communicated with them via email and didn't have to make payment till I arrived (except for my photographer...I Paid her ticket).

The resorts are beautiful too, but if you want something more private and not cookie cutter the Jellyfish is the way to go.

Here is a link to some of the pictures from my wedding... I haven't gotten all of them back yet.

https://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.490544604293045.124222.145543862126456&type=3

and here is a link to our wedding video trailer:
https://vimeo.com/46639216

Hope that helps a little....

venus909

Oh... and for resorts

I stayed at Melia, it was beautiful but I'm not sure I would 100% recommend it.  I have heard great things about Excellence and Dreams as well as Paridisus if that fits in your budget.

smlalwz

Thanks Jen!  I have heard a bit about Jellyfish and will definitely have to look into it more as your pictures are beautiful. 

Any websites you can recommend on finding outside vendors?

evelyn0908

Has anyone heard or seen weddings at the Barcelo Hotels? I am planning on getting married there in 2014 but I want to hear peoples expericences.