Jessyg20's Edenh Real Arena Resort/ 10/25/08 Wedding-Long Review with pics

Finally, my review and wedding pics….

10-25-08 Jessica and Christian’s Wedding

Edenh Real Arena Punta Cana, DR

Packing and Luggage-When you arrive to Punta Cana, it pays to get a sky cap right away. They’ll stay with you and take your bags directly to shuttle. Otherwise, you can grab a cart but they won’t let you outside the airport with it. Then you have to drop everything and get a skycap anyway, unless you have 1 or 2 bags and you can drag them through rows of shuttles if you’re taking a shuttle yourself. I had 4 really big bags with me, so I had no choice.

I’m just glad everything arrived and intact! My cheap bags ($10-12) stuffed with plastic bins worked out great. The luggage I brought over only had the OOT bag stuff, which I needed in order to set them up and distribute. My other pieces of luggage (9 assigned to my family) filled with the centerpieces, favors, etc., were arriving 1 or 2 days before the wedding. Once those arrived we took them directly to the WC’s office. I’m very happy nothing came broken or missing. So, bubble wrap and plastic bins worked out great.

DR Customs-Never say you’re bringing favors or gifts, simply wedding décor!

Makes things less complicated.

Flight Information-I arrived a few days before the wedding, 4 days to be exact.

I had everyone’s name, flight numbers, arrival/departure times, record locators, even seat assignments in a spreadsheet separated by day of arrival. It seemed all the flights arrived at 1:20p-ish which meant all guests taking transfers to the resort would arrival at 3p (I learned that after the first day of waiting for guests and found I had nothing to do in the lobby for 2 hrs!).

Spreadsheet I created below:

Attachment 2800

Check-in at Hotel-We didn’t get a huge honeymoon suite or any sort of room upgrade, but it was ok, because they gave me a deluxe room on the 4th floor room with partial pool and sea view. What a view! They put a big “honeymooners†sign on the door. Really cute!

We also informed the front desk of our wedding and about all 93 guests, so they tried to accommodate our guests close to us. Not too close though! Lol

Upgrade your Booze-Since we visited the resort in August we knew all about the Paradise Club. So we waited until we arrived to the hotel to upgrade. It’s basically $50/pp per night for the pink band that gets you premium liquor. My husband and I like vodka, the kind that won’t make you vomit or leave you with a pounding headache the next day. So we upgraded in order to drink Stoli. Otherwise they serve you grain alcohol. I told my heavy drinking friends the same and they agreed. The “tough†guys were the ones with a major hangover the next day. They learned and decided stick to beer! Lol The pink band also gives you access to the 2 VIP pools. I love those pools. Small and usually less crowded. The bars at the VIP pools always have the premium liquor.

Room Upgrade-If you’re thinking about upgrading your room, I suggest you wait until you arrive to the hotel. It may be cheaper or you may feel like us, it’s really not a big deal. We had one of the girls at the check-in counter show us both types of rooms so we could compare.

The difference between a Paradise Club room and a Standard/Deluxe room is a wall and the placement of their whirlpool tub. The Paradise Club rooms have their tubs in the patio and those rooms have a wall that separates the bathroom from the bedroom. The Standard/Deluxe rooms have their tubs inside and no wall to separate the bathroom. For couples I recommend the Standard/Deluxe rooms. With an indoor tub you have PRIVACY. In a Paradise Club room you’ll have to be in bathing suits and on occasion have a few onlookers.

OOT bags for kids (the colorful ones)-I made bags filled with crayons, water games, floatation devices, play dough, baby sunscreen, kids band aids, coloring books, etc., parents were so happy I did. They forgot to bring toys for kids and my bags kept them entertained! I also had extra coloring books and crayons for the night of the reception. Those came in handy too.

OOT Bags (1 for every single adult, 1 per couple)- Everyone loved them. Those first aid kits came in handy. The cookies were a blessing in disguise, and the mugs, wow, they stood out and the bartenders made everyone who had one feel special. Everyone agreed, the mugs were better than getting the small plastic cups from the bar.

The production line …

Meet & Greet- We were the first faces our guests saw when they pulled into the resort. We had the bags in the lobby, labeled and ready to be distributed. I put condoms in the single guy’s bags and didn’t want to offend people, so I made sure I labeled the bags with the guests’ name. We didn’t mind handing the out the bags, it was fun! Otherwise the resort wanted to charge $2-3 per bag to deliver them to the guests’ room.

Story and Recommendation- On the first day guests began to arrive, we had family members (cousin, wife, and 2 small children) arrive to Newark airport, only to find out AA changed their itinerary. Their flights were now leaving from JFK. They ended up missing their connection and were diverted to Dominican Republics’ capital city, Santo Domingo. After a 4hr bus ride in uneven dirt roads, they arrived to the resort (around midnight). We don’t know who to blame, travel agency, airline, or them. They booked 6 months in advanced and a lot can change with the airlines schedule. I recommend either yourself or travel agent stay on top of this for you the sake of your guests! They’re trip was not ruined by this incident, thank god!

Another Recommendation- A la carte restaurants

Since I arrived on a Tuesday, I was able to book all the a la carte reservations for the entire week based on the number of guests I had each night. This worked out great. My guests did not have to worry about making the reservations or worrying about eating every night at the buffet. We were a big group, so sometimes we had to split up. For instance, the Sunday after the wedding, we had 48 guests remaining, so we booked the Japanese restaurant. We used 3 Hibachi tables (12 each) and the rest were sitting close by on regular tables. Not everyone showed up but the majority did and enjoyed it. All the restaurants we reserved gave us excellent service!

The rehearsal dinner- The day before the wedding, we asked the manager in charge if he could accommodate 93 guests in the buffet, simply separate a section of the buffet area with tables of 12 for us, and he happily agreed. They did bend over backwards for us. Then again, we happily compensated them often. It’s amazing what tipping can do. Hint hint anything is possible (at least at this resort)!

Guest Arrival Information List.xls

Day of the wedding-Saturday 10-25-08

Setting up- I created an album with pictures of all my decorations and favors, in order to show Elizabeth (the WC) everything. We reviewed it together before everything arrived. I think she went home and studied my book! She knew exactly how I wanted my tables to be arranged, how each seat in the ceremony should be arranged, she knew how to put what favors where, etc….she actually didn’t need me! I insisted though, so the morning of the wedding, Elizabeth, myself and my wedding party helped decorate all of the tables. I was happy to be part of the production. It turned out exactly how I envisioned it.

Ceremony set-up- Edenh Plaza

The resort has a creative director for weddings. His name is Angelo. He’s fabulous!

He said he had a vision for my ceremony and I let him use his creative license!! He was great. I loved his ideas and the final product was amazing. I have to say, Elizabeth and Angelo both surprised me. They even added a bubble making machine to the ceremony. It looked so adorable. I was surprised!

Rain- It rained twice on my wedding day. It began raining in the morning around 8a, then in the middle of the day when they were setting up my chairs. They raced to get tons of chairs under some time of cover. We are talking about 90 chairs with seat covers and bows!! I heard it was hectic, especially since they were almost done with the set up. I was having my hair done around that time, and I saw the dark skies. Once it began raining, I started praying. Everyone said they prayed for us. At 2p we started taking pictures, there were no clouds in the sky. We had BLUE skies and sunshine throughout the whole ceremony. I was blessed!

Hair Salon- If you decide to do your hair at the salon make sure you book Jacqueline. She was sooooo good. I loved the way she did my trial, so I immediately booked her for myself and my wedding party. Since we were 4, they had to add an additional stylist. I don’t remember her name but she SUCKED! Yes I said it. In the pictures below you’ll see my poor niece (Jr. Bridesmaid) with a miserable face and my Maid of Honor. Jacqueline had to finish both of them after doing my hair and my bridesmaid’s hair.

Not only did she do our hair but our make-up too. She’s awesome!

We went back 2 times for touch ups without a problem.

My hair and makeup…

My Bridesmaid done by Jacqueline…

This is Jacqueline:

My Jr. Bridesmaid suffering thanks to other stylist…

Other stylist:

My Maid Of Honor with a funky-do which later had to be finished by Jacqueline….

Final Hair…

Pastor York-He was great. If you are thinking of having a symbolic ceremony but would like a pastor, he’s great. His fee was only $250. He sends you exactly what he’s going to read and gives you the option to change or add anything. He includes a few readings and the sand ceremony reading. I had my other sister read “These are the Hands” poem.

Eastern Dominican Christian Mission

Photographer-Reno from Photo Souvenir was patient and amazing. He let us have fun.. Great pictures, I loved them all. We did 8hrs of photography but no video and we are happy we did so. Pictures say a lot and we actually enjoyed all the shots he took. Photo Souvenir is a great company to deal with. I only have good things to say about them.

Photosouvenir Punta Cana, Wedding Photographer Dominican Republic

Music-I took a cd of the songs and in the order I wanted them played for the ceremony. I had a variety of instrumental, English, and Spanish songs. I reviewed them with the WC, and she knew exactly when I wanted them to play, when to fade, etc. She’s so good! That came out perfect.

I had everyone in tears with my entrance song “From this moment” by Shania Twain. I allowed the 1st minute of the song to play before I came out, which is her talking. It was perfect.

Cocktail Hour- Since I chose to have the open bar for 4 hours, the resort allowed me to have an open bar for the cocktail hour for no additional cost at the Tantra Bar. So while the Bridal party took pics, the guests enjoyed the h’ourdervs and free booze (I know it’s an all inclusive but this bar is closed at that hour, so they serve booze ONLY for your guests and nobody else, so you’re basically paying for the service)!

The other choice was to have h’ourdervs and my sparkling wine served. I don’t understand nor like that idea. I saved the sparkling wine for the toast inside the reception.

Reception-Cinque Terre Italian Restaurant fit perfectly with our wedding colors (Chocolate, Teal, and White). That’s why when Elizabeth showed us the restaurant back in August we knew the party had to be done there. We used the upper level for the tables and seating and left the center for the dance floor. The outside terrace was where we setup the bar. The DJ was tucked away in a corner just outside the dance floor.

The food was great. I’m happy with the choices we picked. I’m still hearing everyone tell me how good the Minestrone soup, eggplant parm, and the veal were. Since they asked everyone how they’d like their meat cooked, it did take an hour for the main course to come out from the time the appetizer were served. Not a big deal since we, the bride and groom, went around saying hello to everyone at their tables and took pictures with them. The bar was a popular spot also to kill time.

My Wedding Cake- Oh, my cake!! Wow did it taste good!!!!! I chose the Dominican cake with Rum filling. You could taste the rum!!! It was good. I took my teal and regular chocolate melts along with my seashell molds and made the seashells that lay on the cake as decorations. My sister gave me a chocolate fondue pot. It’s a mini crock pot looking thing that melts chocolate quickly without burning it. It’s usually used to melt chocolate and then dipping strawberries. Very small and practical! It got the job done. We had to do 1 tray at a time so it’d fit in the mini bar fridge. After 20 mins we do another tray. We also had some pre-made chocolate sea shells but I wanted to give the chef some extras just in case. I’m glad I did because my cake was huge.

The only negative thing I have to say about the cake is that my cake topper sunk in a bit. Oh well! That wasn’t the worse part. The worst part was when someone knocked down my cake topper and decapitated the groom and left him handicap! Lol I laugh now, like I laughed when Elizabeth told me. She was able to glue the head, but he remained handicap, no hands. It was our day to shine so we didn’t make a big deal of it.

Before-

After-

Open Bar-The boys’ hangout! Outside in the terrace is where all the boys drank and smoked cigars. We decided to do 4 hours of open bar, national drinks. We asked about buy just a few of their premium liquors (Stoli Vodka, Black Label, etc.) and the charge per bottle was too much. So we decided to outsource a few bottles. We picked a few bottles of Grey Goose Vodka, Black Label, Malibu Rum, etc outside of the resort. They had no problem serving it. They actually gave us a few extra bottles we had left over. Of course the Grey Goose vodka and Black Label were gone!

I honestly couldn’t imagine making my 93 guests (actually only 80 were of drinking age)constantly run outside to the nearest bar (which is across the plaza by the lobby) to grab a drink during our*4 hour reception. We are party people, we drink and dance. We actually dance better after drinking! It was worth the money.

*It was actually 6 hours at a charge of 4. Remember that same manager we tipped once? Well, we asked him if we could stay longer since the food took a while to come out and we didn’t want to party only for 1.5hrs, so he agreed and let us stay until midnight. We had Open Bar and DJ until midnight for no additional fee. Didn’t I mention anything is possible??!!!!!

DJ-Well, he started good, but killed my party at the end. The majority of my guests were of Hispanic background, but even we get tired of just Latin music! We like variety. He just didn’t have it. We kept telling him (and in Spanish) and he’d agree to whatever we asked for, but never play it. I got upset at him and told him he basically was killing my party. He finally understood and got the crowd going again. I guess he didn’t care because he wasn’t getting paid for the extra 2 hours of music he was going to play. He told us he’s contracted for a flat fee by the resort. So he could be there for 8hrs and still get paid the same. Figures!

My suggestion, take current and favorite songs on CD’s and an IPod. This DJ had all his music on his laptop and some CD’s. Not all DJ’s are high tech though. Oh, and a DJ in Dominican Republic is not also an MC like we’re use to. This guy did not speak English. So I recruited my sister’s boyfriend. My husband wrote everything he needed to say for everyone’s entrance, for the first dance, mother/son dance, bouquet toss, garter belt, etc.. And what songs to play for each event, and he did really good!! My sister’s boyfriend was a riot! So always have a back up!

Cigars-We had an option to give out cheap cigars to our guests. My husband didn’t like that idea so we decided to go with Lucas de Meester Premium Cigars. We ordered 200 robusto mild cigars and EVERYONE that had one loved them. We called him up and he delivered the cigars to us. He’s a nice man and he does have quality cigars. You can work out a deal with him if you order a nice amount as we did. We only displayed 50 at a time in the bar, the rest are in my husband’s Humidor (my wedding gift to him).

Lucas De Meester Cel: 809-415-3952 or email: [email protected]

I displayed the cigars in a Cigar box I brought from home. I walked into a cigar shop and asked if they had empty cigar boxes, and the guy gave me 2, for free!

I glued my Monogram on the top and a quote on the inside.

The days after- We decided we wanted to relax the day after the wedding and asked our guests if they wanted to join us for an afternoon of fun in the sun. Everyone came out to the pool with their mugs and enjoyed the day with us. Some guests ventured to town or on excursions. We met up again, as always, for dinner at a restaurant and the after party was always at the Alizios Bar. Alizios Bar always had a great DJ every night after 11p. Sunday nights at the Edenh is Karaoke night from 9-11p, so we had fun with it.

My 13yr old Niece singing “Hopelessly Devoted” to you…

My sisters and I singing ” We are family”….

Excursion-In my opinion, as a bride, you really have no time to take an excursion before the big day. There’s always something to do and you don’t want to get a bad tan?! We decided to take an excursion, The Dune Buggy excursion, 2 days after the wedding. Our guest list by that time was 20, and only 12 of them decided to go. It’s hard to get such a big group to agree on doing something outside the resort, so I recommend you just let your guests do whatever they want during the day but arrange to meet up for dinner so they feel they are there for you and welcomed. If they want to take an excursion it’ll be up to them and at their time. By the way, if you do get a big group to go on an excursion, ask about you or/and your husband going for free. I did and it worked!

Tipping-Tipping goes a long way in Dominican Republic. I recommend you take plenty of dollar bills and tip the staff from time to time. These people work hard! You’ll see that same server for breakfast and then for dinner.

The staff knew my name and Chris’. We were celebrities but it’s only because we appreciated they’re service. They really work hard!! I have no problem compensating someone when they truly deserve it.

Wedding Coordinator- Elizabeth is such a wonderful person. She’s great! Her patience and attention to detail really made my day extra special. She really worked hard for our wedding. We were really grateful to her. She knew what she was doing and that made my wedding day go by so easy. I really didn’t worry about anything. I knew it was going to be perfect, and it was thanks to her.

To sum up, the resort was fantastic. We still have friends thanking us for inviting them. Everyone had a great experience there. Edenh Arena Real is a resort that will cater to you and your guests. Go with an open mind and you’ll have fun!

Here's a link to my PRO pictures...

http://www.pictage.com/client/eventP...folder=1524035

Congratulations and great review!!

Everything looked very pretty and well coordinated.

Wow...nice picture you are very beautiful and very good and detail on the review. I will not have a big wedding but sure I could use some of your tip.

Thank you and congratulation again.

Irma and Michel

Congratulations! You were a beautiful bride and I love all the set up and colors you chose. It looks like everything turned out great!