MrsTrussell2B

Quote: Originally Posted by limon_b Thanks so much for sharing. I am using Juan also for photos. The wedding looked lovely....which package did you choose? Thanks! I chose the photographs on CD only and the video package.

Quote: Originally Posted by Vane Hey Carla, where is the Ciel Bar? I have been on the website often, but I don't recall the Ciel Bar. oh sorry on the website its called the Sky Bar. When Vivianna first told me the guest would meet there i had no idea where it was. Then i think i found out that ciel is Spanish for sky. Outside right in between the the Buffet (Naos) and the Market Grill. If you wedding is on the beach it is only steps away from the beach where the ceremony is held.

Quote: Originally Posted by DanielleNDerek I've booked Bana for our Welcome Dinner, i saw that you did too. viviana recommended us doing the festival menu there. If that's the same menu you had, can you tell me if there's some choices for vegetarians that do eat seafood? I dont remember vegetarian choices at Bana BUT i will admit half of the time we had no idea what they were serving us. I do remember 2 salads but i know at least one of the two had meat. I didnt like the festival menu. It wasnt bad but it didnt feel like dinner it felt more like a cocktail menu. There was plenty of food but i cant remember any of it sticking out in my mind as being wonderful (just OK). and I had suspected that guests would leave there and go to the buffett. and i was right about 1 hour after the dinner i found several of the guests at the buffett. But no one complained about Bana because the staff was great and they knew that they could go to the buffett afterwards so i dont regret holding the dinner there and i would definitely have it there if i had to do it over again.

Oh my goodness! WE met!!!!!!!!!! I had no idea you were on this forum when we met! you were sitting in Viviannas office doing your seating arrangement and I was there for my meeting. You told me that you were using Juan and to not worry that everything would be fine. I saw your set up that night it was beautiful. I wish i would have known you were a member of the forum. We should have taken a picture together.

here is my fan the white spots you see are where i blurred the names (im so paranoid now after watching Untraceable) :-)

I made these candles to use a favors and placecards my guests loved them. We used the very small tealight candles. Suprisingly it worked out well. Some people accidently forgot their candle the night of the wedding (too much to drink) and they were asking the next day if anyone picked them up

ooops sorry i should have put the link in here Juan Guzman-Wedding Photographer in Dominican Republic carla and kevin

oh we used Apple Vacations. We didnt have any problems and we were the only people out of 38 with a direct flight becuase USA 3000 is owned by Apple so they fly direct to Punta Cana

Im sure i will leave things out so feel free to email me with questions. So the day of the wedding this were pretty smooth. They began setting up hours before the wedding so my local wedding coordinator viewed everything. she saw a few things that werent right (the linens for the bride/groom table did not match the linens of the guests tables; the seating chart was incorrect) she let Viviana know and they were fixed. TIP: have a friend act as your "coordinator" in Punta Cana. They will be able to work with viviana to handle things you are unalbe to handle. Juan arrived right on time and so did his videographer. As a matter of fact i had no idea that they arrived early and took photos and video of the hotel. So we were scheduled to start at 5:00 at about 4:50 I left my room and walked to near where the wedding would be located so Juan could get shots of me on the way. Vivianna had me wait around the corner from the Ciel Bar (this is where she will have your guests meet about a half hour before the wedding) so no one could see me. I started getting antsy because i couldnt believe that they were making me wait. Finally as i had a bridezilla moment she came to get me (i found out later that they were still setting up the PA system). We had our own minister so she led the ceremony. Once she was done Vivianna led my guests to the Gabi Beach terrace for the cocktail hour and we continued to take pictures. If i had to do it over again i dont think i would have paid for the cocktail hour. The guest could have easily gone to the Gabi Bar and waited for the reception to start. And when i passed the food at the cocktail hour there seemed to be plently left. Plus there was soooo much food at the reception that is seemed that the cocktail hour was a waste of money. So if your party is small consider telling them to all meet at the Ciel Bar while you take pictures then give them a time to report to the recption. Anyway by the time we arrive at the cocktail hour it was almost over so i didnt get to taste any of the food (plus i was tooo excited) For the reception we were pretty much on our own. We didnt have a DJ so i had a friend act as MC and another friend man the Ipod. My coordinator pretty much directed the entire reception (this is why i said above to have a coordinator) Vivianna checked on us periodically so im not sure if she left becasue she knew i had someone helping or because this is the standard practice. She let my coordinator know that the wait staff would address any issues which may arise. This worked out fine. The staff was amazing and the food at the reception was wonderful. I had sevarl people comment on how good it was. I highly recommend the Beach BBQ! Sorry ladies i hope this was useful info. I really want to answer all questions because I know there arent many PPR brides. I have 400 pics from Juan. I will post them in the appropiate spot

Quote: Originally Posted by limon_b Thanks for the info. I am unsure how to do the welcome/rehearsal dinner also. I think we will just make reservations at a resturant also. Do you guys ever feel that you are leaving something out? It could just be my day to freak out, but today I am thinking I have not organized enough. I know, I should just chill, they do weddings everyday, but my analytical brain thinks I need to know exactly how everything flows. Or I am hungry and just need to eat I had a lot of days like that!!! so you are not alone. What finally got me on track is when a co-worker gave me a list of everything i needed to do and she gave me deadlines. I walked around with that list for weeks checking things off

Quote: Originally Posted by DanielleNDerek thanks for the info Carla. I'm on the fence about even having a rehearsal dinner. I would like just to have our immediate families at dinner before the wedding, but i wasn't going to do it if i had to pay for it. I'll have to talk to Vivianna see if she can make me reservations at on of the restaurants for it. I only wanted immediate family and the wedding party at the rehearsal dinner but people kept asking if they could come. Since i didnt have to pay for it i felt bad saying no so in the end almost all of our guest came to the dinner. It worked out fine and I would not have had it any other way. Vivianna had no problems making (and changing our reservations) the only limit you will have is the size of your party. Passions definitely is for a small group. We never made it to Vento and for Bana because our party was so large we had to do family style. But no matter where you end up i think you will like it. Plus you start to think how even the food at the buffett is wonderful so you wont want to pay for a private event. Oh BTW we were the only people in our section of Bana so it seemed semi-private!!!

Danielle we did not pay for the rehersal dinner. Vivianna (or maybe Kelly at the time) made us reservations initially at Vento but because everyone wanted to come our party was too large for Vento and they couldnt accomidate us. So thats why she changed it to Bana. I loved the fact that it was included. I couldnt fit it in our budget to pay for a seperate one and we really didnt need it. Because it would have been tooo much like the wedding reception.

Juan was very reasonable. I need to find the link to his blog/website that has the prices. I am sooo glad i used him. he made me comfortable and i felt beautiful

Thanks! if your paradisus is anything like the one in the DR you will never want to come home!!!!!!

PS if u want to see some of the pics go to Juan Guzman-Wedding Photographer in Dominican Republic and click on Carla and Kevin