jessyg20

It was part of my planning, but we ended not doing it because of my entrance and sand ceremony positioning. I guess it also depends how many guests you have. WE had over 100.

Great article! Martha is always on the ball lol I love all her ideas, but I especially agree with #4 Give a warm welcom and #10, Host Daily Meet ups. We did the warm welcome waiting in lobby and giving out the OOT bags and our mugs with cookies in them. Everyone was happy to see us and loved the special hello. As for the the Host Daily Meet ups, we scheduled dinners/made reservations throughout the week at the resort's various restaurants. It allowed guests to enjoy their day time at their leisure but have dinner with everyone, including us. After dinner most usually hung around the main bar and mingled. It made them feel like they had control of their vacation but still part of wedding. Good luck!!!!

I agree. We did the "legal" ceremony in city hall just Hubby and I. We told our parents but that's about it. We expressed to them the "real" deal will be at our destiination wedding. They didn't make a big deal out of it because we expressed that wish to celebrate all anniversaries on our symbolic wedding date. It's your day and they will understand. As for your frineds, they will NEVER know unless you decide to tell them. Why go through the hassle of having a foreign "legal" marriage when you can make your life much easier by doing at home. Consider the $ you'll be saving as well. Good luck!

Hey ladies here's the latest link to this project, I researched it on Martha Stewart.com for all you crafty girls. I saved alot of $$$! http://www.marthastewartweddings.com...et?backto=true

Bride Loving CJ- Punta Cana is beautiful, you're guests will first only want to get in their bathing suites and enjoy the beach and pool, with a cocktails of course. Let them know bartenders love US Dollars!!!!! You can always organize a group with an excursion agency to do some activities, if you have enough people negotiate to have you or your hubby/hubby to be go for free (heh heh we did). We did one group excursion, the buggy ride. It's a few hours but it was fun. They take you to a ranch where you're given a buggy (go kart lol), then you're taken to a natrual spring water cave, then you go to a beach where you get to watch the sunset. It was amazing! Then you will have the crazy moments like the picture below, after the wedding and partying, 2am, no body, well the party people, didn't want to stop, so what better thing to do, go to the beach! lol My intentions were to stay dry and enjoy my wedding night with my husband, but we decided to go for it!

I agree with Laura...Photosouvenir! They were Amazing! They did a great job. Here's there website if anyone wants to see their work... Punta Cana Destination wedding photography

Congrats to all the ladies who are expecting and those who've had their bundles of joy already! This is a great thread, I haven't been around for awhile and decided to update you all...I'm expecting a "suprise" September 13th. Can't wait. I'm currently 33 weeks. I just had my baby shower and that was like planning my wedding, fun!

Quote: Originally Posted by Bride Loving CJ Thanks so much for answering the questions!! Is Favor Warehouse an online store or is local to you? My mistake, here's the site.... Paperboard CD Case : Unique Wedding Favors - Wedding Reception Favors - Bridal Shower Favors Good luck!

Quote: Originally Posted by Bride Loving CJ Hey Jesse!! Thanks so much for the wonderful planning thread! I hope you are still active on the forum (I see your wedding was 2 years ago) because I have a couple of questions: ~Did you pick your menu before you got to the resort? I was wondering how I was going to make menu cards ahead of time because I did not have a menu. ~Your CD cases are lovely! I have been looking for something outside of the standard plasic jewel case. Where did you get these? ~When was the first time you met with the judge/officiant? Thanks so much for sharing your knowledge and inspiration! Bride Loving CJ- Thank you for all the wonderful compliments. I can't belive it's been so long since the wedding, I had so much fun planning it. Now, I'm expecting my first born in September (Gender unknown and fyi if it's a boy his nickname will be CJ). So I'm excited about that now! Ok down to your questions... ~Did you pick your menu before you got to the resort? I was wondering how I was going to make menu cards ahead of time because I did not have a menu. **** I chose my menu before the wedding, about a month in advance. Everyone was served the same thing so it wasn't difficult to create the cards ahead. Just print, cut and paste on Card Stock. Lots of cutting and pasting! lol ~Your CD cases are lovely! I have been looking for something outside of the standard plasic jewel case. Where did you get these? I was very proud of the CD's. Between the CD holders and the easels to hold them on, it looked like I spent a fortune. I bought the plain white CD holders at Favor warehouse on sale. I decorated them with my monogram, satin ribbon, and printed the song list on vellum paper. The hardest part was punching the hole on the side for the ribbon, the rest was easy! ~When was the first time you met with the judge/officiant? I met the pastor via email and a follow up phone call when I arrived. Nice man, he's been living in Punta Cana as part of a Christian Mission group. He performed the ceremony in English. Speaks both english and spanish. HOpe this helps, let me know if you need anything else! Thanks, Jessy

HI! I took my travel steamer I purchased at Bed, Bath, and Beyond for some of those unwanted wrinkles. I also steamed it before I took it to DR and was very careful with the dress all the way there. My dress rode in 1st class, thanks to the friendly flight attendants of AA. Hope this helps.

Those are great. Believe me your guests will love them and find them really handy. I know ours did.

Quote: Originally Posted by Msbettybernier Wow! Thx Jesse for the review. All of the information is truly appreciated. The pics are really helping my fiance and I make a decision. The grounds of the hotel look beautiful. I didn't get the email with the old prices, but today, I finally got a response from Marianna Vilchez, the WC with the costs, costs for extras, pics, etc. I have a couple of more Qs for her so I am going to email her in the morning. I've been reading TripAdvisor reviews and was getting a bit worried when the emails I sent were bounced back to me. The prices aren't terrible. LR Friendly---Thx and feel Better! BTW-the email you posted is the email address for Mariana, as she responded to me via tht address. Jesse, it is ppl like you that make BDW.com an invaluable resource! Hey MsBetty- Just wondering if you ever got through to the resort? I'll be going there Sept 17th (to celebrate my birthday) for a week and wondering if you needed anything. Let me know. I'll have free internet access (thanks to the Paradise club computer room) so I'll keep you posted.

Great colors and great bags. Great job!!

Wow, Turkey?! Awesome! Where in Turkey? Would love to hear about your planning as well. Good luck!

Jocy- I really hope your WC can get you the cigar roller, that sounds great. Just in case, here's the website of the Domincan cigars we bought in Punta Cana. All our guests really enjoyed them, even those that had never smoked a cigar before. We even bought extra bundles to take home because my husband LOVED them so much. Cigar Home and Lounge Punta Cana

PARADISE CLUB SUITES....OCEAN VIEW (I dont have pictures of the inside but i hear they are huge!) PARADISE CLUB DELUXE ROOM STANDARD DELUXE ROOM (This was the the Standard view with the incredible view) (excuse the mess in this pic...we were packing...I think lol...but it's the same room except it has an open area to the bathroom vs. the wall in the Paradise Deluxe Room)

I voted for chicken. Safer choice.

Wow, that's an awesome book! Good job, I love it!

I confess I'm glad my single friends are out of my circle. They decided I'm the bad friend for not making specific time for them and for not ditching my husband to hang out with them alone. I never thought things would change the day you get married but boy, they do! I confess I actually prefer hanging with other married couples. Wow, I thought I would never say that!

I too did the sand ceremony in DR with Pastor York. I used a picture frame from khols but used a special glass glue (purchased at Michaels) to seal the glass. I wrapped the frame in bubble wrap and it made home fine. A little was mixed but the majority stayed in tack!

Quote: Originally Posted by Msbettybernier Jessy Thanks for keeping my hopes up. I will b calling DR tomorrow in an attempt to reach someone. Jessy since you are my only resource rt now, please answer these Qs if you can: 1) I tried to dwnload the Word Docs detailing the Wedding packages offered at NH, but I could not open them; thus, can you pls post them? It matters not that the prices may be outdated bc at least I'll have something to gage from; 2) How do the rooms/suites look? Spacious? modern? clean? working air conditioning? Double sinks? Closet space? No major bug issues(I know its the Caribbean) 3) Can you please post pics of the suite if you took any?*** 4) Was your reception Private or semi private? 5) Top shelf liquor offered at hotel? At your reception, were drinks served? Hi! Ok here we go... I Sent you a seperate email with the packages back in Jan 08. I'm sure it's all changed now. The Rooms: Well, on my first visit I decided to upgrade on arrival to the Paradise club. I thought it was great. Then on my actual wedding weekend we hoped we could be upgraded but the really nice suites were not available. Only the deluxe Paradise rooms or the standard deluxe rooms were available. So the receptionist told us: “to be honest, its not that big of a deal!†Boy was she right. She took us to compare the Paradise deluxe room and a regular room with an amazing view. We took the regular room. Here’s why: Paridise Rooms have the tub in the balcony. Not very private! On our first visit we had onlookers gazing at us when we were in the tub. The regular rooms have the tub inside, so much nicer!! So for couples I recommend the regular rooms. Now for your guests that are not couples, those sharing a room for double occupancy, I recommend they upgrade their rooms to Paradise Club. That was the only complaint some of my friends who were sharing rooms had. The lack of privacy in the bathroom is an issue in the regular rooms because there’s no wall separating the beds to the bathroom, only a frosted glass. Everyone joked that their bodily functions echoed! lol The paradise Club rooms do have a wall that enclose the bathroom away from bedroom. I found it less expensive to upgrade your room on day of arrival if you decide to go that route. In my opinion the Paradise Club Suites are beautiful! We just thought it wasn’t worth the money to us since we had SOOO much going on around the resort and we weren’t going to enjoy the room as much. (Sad, but It made us eager for the Honeymoon even more! lol) Now….if you are a drinker, at least upgrade to wristband that allows you the premium drinks. This also allows you to use their Paradise Club lounge and private pools. That was worth the $50/day extra for booze vs. $150/day for room and booze. That’s just my suggestion. The rooms are clean and the AC is great. ALL the rooms have a spacious layout. As you can see in my picture with all my luggage and assembly line of bags and cookies, i had room to work with. The closets are ok. I’m pretty organized so I took all my clothes and stored in the dresser and some we hung. The bathroom is great too. Sink was fine. Shower is great too. Bugs? Well, not inside the room but those suckers (mosquitoes) do get you once in awhile outside. So do take some bug spray! PICS: All my pics are at home and I'm stuck working til 9p with no access to photobucket, ugh… I will post later on tonight! Reception: My reception was private. We had it in the Italian Restaurant. It was closed to the public. The private reception is worth it IF you have a large guest list. We were 96. So we HAD to. The restaurant was closed the whole day, so decorating it was easy. The staff was wonderful too. We also had a semi-private rehearsal dinner at the buffet lounge. They close off a wing of the restaurant for all 96 of us, and it worked out great too, for free (well we tipped the manager and servers and they were hand and foot for all of us). Liquor: Most of my guests did not upgrade to the premium but that’s because they were beer drinkers. Those that did were happy they did. As for the booze at my reception and cocktail party: Yes, we used premium liquor that we purchased outside the resort. We asked for bartender service at the reception (since it’s not included) and they gave us the cocktail hour bartender for free (so they say, lol). So we had the resorts regular liquor plus the bottles we added of our premium stuff for whoever wanted the good stuff. Again, it depends how many guests you have on what you want to do. The Alizos bar is across the courtyard from this restaurant and if we had a small party, maybe I would have not considered serving booze for the wedding, but with 96 crazy family & friends that love drinking and dancing, I had to. A smaller group you can get away with people walking in and out to get a drink, but not 96. The majority of my guests were adults. The resort also gives you choice to serve the bubbly wine during reception or during cocktail hour. We used this wine for the toast but it’s an option. Or you they can serve the house wine and beer. Wow sorry so long, but I think I answered all your questions and some!

Quote: Originally Posted by jmb0902 Hey Jessy- I was wondering a few things - 1. What is included in the Edenh wedding? Is anything (cake, setup, etc.?)? 2. Where did you order your cups from? ... they were fantastic! Thanks so much! hi! Well, in the Edenh wedding package the cake and setup is included in the number of people that particular package you select is based on. The majority of the packages I think are based on 15-20 guests. So in my case, i had to pay the difference for the additional guests. The cups were awesome! I bought them on Ebay but I cant find the orignal seller, but i seached and found these guys...check them out: 75 - 20 oz Custom Personalized Printed Beer Stein Mugs - eBay (item 360177091407 end time Aug-11-09 08:05:03 PDT) Good luck!

Thanks Paige- I tried finding the vendor that I went through but couldn't find them on ebay anymore. I did do a search and found these guys...check them out: 75 - 20 oz Custom Personalized Printed Beer Stein Mugs - eBay (item 360177091407 end time Aug-11-09 08:05:03 PDT) Good luck!!!

Betty, Dominican Republic works on "island time". It took awhile for me to ever get through to them last year, and it's still the same now! I had to call the resort and speak to someone a few weeks ago. They finally gave me a sales rep's email address only so I could send them proof of my *anniversary gift. *I'm not sure if they are still offering it, but I was given a 4 day, 3 nights complimentary-stay voucher, so I could return within the year. I'm going back September 17th-23rd to really enjoy the resort. This will be my 3rd trip to NH and I can't wait.

Ladies here is the email I used in the past for elizabeth, it's also on the direct website: For more information contact: Mariana Vilchez & Ana De Los Santos Wedding & Groups Coordinator NH Real Arena Ph: 809-221-4646 ext 7659 Email: [email protected] ************These are other emails i found on the NH official website, try these: [email protected] [email protected].