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No problem! That resort is in my top two as well. We're thinking Gran Bahia or Palladium. What is/are your deciding factors in the Palladium resorts?? Also, have I mentioned that I'm so glad there are other DR brides??!!

I think that is totally normal. All girls in strapless wedding dresses, that I've seen, have a gap.

I would personally get a new dress and sell the old one on ebay.

Hi. Have you checked out Debbie's Dominican Travel Forum?? There is a couple on there that got married at Palladium Bavaro and their pics are AWESOME!! Here is his review of the wedding on Dominican Republic Weddings - Debbie's Travel Page January 2007 We stayed at the grand Palladium Punta Cana (GPPC) from January 6th, 2007 to January 13th 2007, and were married on January 9th, 2007 at the Grand Palladium Bavaro (GPB). We had already booked for our annual vacation at the end of June for the GPPC, we later got engaged in August. At that point we started to think that perhaps it may be a good idea to get married in January seeing 20 of our closet family and friends were already booked. We tried to get in touch with the wedding coordinator at the GPPC at the end of August and had no luck. We tried emails and faxes and had no responses. I eventually called Punta Cana and spoke with Lourdes Soto of guest services and she promptly sent me the wedding info. We then had her confirm that we could get married during the week we would be there, she confirmed it, and we then booked an additional 11 guests, for a total of 31. We basically planned the wedding in 3 months. I won’t review the hotel, just the wedding. The wedding package includes: Ceremony, decorated gazebo, bouquet for the bride and flower for the groom, and one bottle of champagne. This was $750 US. We also hired the Trio band ($75), and ordered 3 additional bottles of champagne ($90). We used WeDo for our documentation, we sent them FedEx and they were returned in 4 business days. I think it was about $280 US. We then faxed them to the resort to verify that everything was OK. We conversed with the resort via email the whole time leading up to our departure. We dealt with Carolina Beck and Lourdes Soto; both work at guest services at the GPB and provided excellent service always replying to our email with in a day usually with in hours. I can’t say enough about these two ladies. They are awesome. We pre-made reservations at the international restaurant before we left for all 31 guests. We met with Lourdes on the second day after we arrive at the guest services desk. Within 20 minutes we picked the Photo Package, Flowers, decided on table arrangements for the dinner, picked the wedding cake, and settled other details. We didn’t find out our wedding time, which ended up being 2:00 p.m. until the day before the wedding. Not a big deal except all our guests needed to know when to show up at the Gazebo. Everything about this wedding exceeded our expectations. The Gazebo was beautifully decorated, and they had red carpet laid over the brick path leading up to it. They had white chairs for all our guests and a waiter there serving water and wine (before and after the wedding). He would also go for trays of beer. When the ceremony was over he poured everyone a glass of champagne. The groom and groomsmen were picked up at our room in a large golf cart around two and then when the judge arrived about 2:20, the golf cart picked up the bride and bridesmaids. The ceremony took about 10-15 minutes and Lourdes translated it all for us. It was very nice. We then took all kinds of photos around the garden before going to the beach for more. We used the resort photographer named Duiexnor, and his work was phenomenal. The pictures are unbelievable and once again exceeded our expectation. I’ve included a link to our photos. The photo package we chose was a CD with all our 268 pictures, DVD of the day and an unbelievable photo book. This was $800 and worth every penny. While the photos were being taken and for hours after all of our guest stayed at the Gazebo and partied, until it was time to go for dinner which was just across the pathway. The waiter stayed at the Gazebo the entire time. Dinner was at 6:30 and they set up a traditional head table and 4 round tables in front of it. They served appetizers, and then we all ordered off the menu. The meal was very good and the service was top-notch. There was another Trio band here and they sang at each table. We had the entire restaurant to ourselves. We did say about 4 or 5 speeches at dinner, and had our wedding cake for desert which was excellent, and very nice. After dinner we went to the GPB lobby where there is a live band each night. When we arrived they announced it and we had our first dance. After that the entire wedding party had a dance, followed by the throwing of the bouquet and garter. We then went to the disco where we had a blast dancing, before retiring to our loft suite. All in all we would highly recommend a tropical wedding and the GPB. Link to photos: Ralph and Mandy Punta Canan 2007 pictures from entertainment photos on webshots

I think it's great!!! I would totally laugh as I read the invite!

Welcome!! Let us know if we can help you at all!

Quote: Originally Posted by TAMMYM I say if you can squeeze it into your budget, do the chair ties, however we at the DW forum now require that all brides that purchase chair ties put one on their head and take a picture. What the knot board has the "knot" so I think it's only fair we have something too.. lol I agree!! Those pics of Christa are some of the best on here!

Quote: Originally Posted by DREA14369 ok Mel... I'm going to be different...I really like #3. I like the wording and the font. Me too. I like #3 the best.

Hi! Welcome! I think that is where we plan to book ours too! So exciting to have someone else with the same potential location

Hi. We're thinking of doing an informal welcome dinner. Basically just to get everyone together to meet and what not. Or there are boat cruise dinners that we might consider also.

also, a great site for linen rental and ideas: Untitled Document

I would get them in hopes that my guests would get drunk and tie them around their heads like Christa did! As an event planner I think that chair ties are one of the cheapest ways to add a formal feeling to your event. Just my few pennies though...

I like all of those colors!! Are you getting married on the beach? If so you might consider which will look best against the sand and water. Personally, I'd probably go with the third one.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tlseege I'm not even engaged yet! Funny! But, I did buy a pack of fans from OTC. I wanted to see the quality of them before ordering more... and I had a coupon and free shipping... so what the heck! Nothing wrong with planning ahead!

lets try this again. i'm awesome at pictures on myspace, but suck at them on this forum!

from trip advisor traveler pics

Quote: Originally Posted by hln321 Yeah, we're finding that. My TA has an in with the Divi & Tam, and could get good rates for us there. But it'd probably cost the same as Riu Ocho Rios, which seems SO much nicer. I wish I could just make a darn decision already!!! Have you looked at traveler pics on Trip Advisor?? There are some pretty bad ones of the bathrooms at the Divi. Really old shower/tubs and curtains with mold on them.... but it does get good reviews.

Hey, I'm 99% decided on the Gran Bahia Punta Cana/Bavaro in the Dominican Republic. We're looking at November 08 and for a week it's 1500/person. I actually think it might be cheaper to fly out of Canada because the DR is more popular with Canadians than Americans. Not sure why! Not sure if that helps you at all, but just wanted to throw it out there. Good luck!

Aruba, hu? It's georgous!!! My parents are in the process of buying a timeshare there. Marriott Surf Club. Basically I just now the basics of the island. It only get 16 inches of rain a year. It's on the outter edge of the huricane path so isn't affected by storms. Also, a friend that went said that the water is so calm and beautiful that you can bring a floatie and pant yourself in the ocean and not have to worry about the waves or tide taking you out. You just sit and float. It sounds like paradise! And the sand. OH. MY. GOD. It's sugar. We're planning on the DR but since my parents have been researching and buying in Aruba we're thinking of switching (as to be expected as we can't make a decision to save our lives!) Do you want to get married on the beach?

What brand are #2??

My first purchase was a destination wedding magazine! That was a few months ago and I haven't actually purchased anything else...

Quote: Originally Posted by laura b Anyway, as far as down time, we've actually got like 8 hours between the two events, but I'm going to put some tulle in our wedding colors up around a few palapas, and just have our guests hang with us on the beach and drink margaritas. Then we'll all go and get cleaned up and meet for cocktail hour. It's not very traditional, but I just wanted the day to feel like a big party where everyone was important, not just us. I love the dress and your idea to put some of your decorations around the palapas!

Wow! You're on top of the ball - way to go! We'd love to see pics of your STD, dress, ring, etc. We <3 pictures

Hi. Welcome! I stayed at Moon Palace Resort and Spa over New Years this past year and it was AWESOME!!!! It's fairly large, but not crowded, tons of restaurants, best pool I've been to so far, awesome rooms, and friendly staff. I'd totally recommend it to anyone! Good luck with your planning!

So are you girls wearing a veil AND a flower?