Congrats brides! I just replied to a thread with the below but I also wanted to post this as a new thread in case it can help someone else.
I know picking the location to have our dream destination wedding was incredibly hard because we also had a budget.
We went all out with a 5* resort that our guests are still talking about. Everything was perfect.
We
did the actual wedding offsite at a restaurant next door - WAY more
personal than the converter belt of resort brides 3 times a day with
tourists gawking at them. We gave our guests the cutest beach bags
filled with goodies and we had photo/video for the whole thing. Best
part was that our guests loved the location so much that many chose it
for their next vacation...that is the best compliment. Between my
husband and I we have traveled to all the usual spots of Mexico (all
over), Cuba (all over), Florida (all over), Bahamas (Gran Bahama,
Nassau), Barbados, Bermuda, and Dominican and this is seriously the best
place where the people treat you well, the food is incredible and
plentiful, the entertainment is great, the beaches are gorgeous and the
price is right....
Details:
Location: Punta Cana, Dominican Republic
Resort: Luxury Gran Bahia Principe Esmeralda (superior service with butler included)
Ceremony/Reception Venue: Kukua Restaurant
Photographer/video: Blue Lagoon Studio
Honeymoon: Secrets Royal Beach (30 minutes away)
Guests giftbags: magicfeather.ca - they are presented to your guests at the airport upon arrival!
We were there total 12 days with the wedding week and 5 day honeymoon and it cost us $12000 for everything.
Hope this helps you! GOOD LUCK and enjoy the planning!!!