Mindy

Hello everyone- My husband and I recently got married at the Paradisus Punta Cana and it was amazing. Hopefully my review will help some of you in your wedding planning journey. FLIGHT: We flew out of Chicago O’Hare and had no problems. We had a short layover in San Juan and connected to Punta Cana. We had no problems or delays and all of our 5 bags made it to Punta Cana. I carried my wedding dress on the plane and it was fine. We put both my dress and my husband’s tux together in a garment bag and carried it on. The flight attendants hung it up in the closet on the plane and were very nice about it. We got off the plane and got our luggage pretty quickly. We prearranged a shuttle to the hotel so we found our shuttle, got on and got to the hotel in about 25 minutes. I will suggest bringing some smaller bills in cash. You have to pay $10 per person to enter the country (they call it buying your tourist card). You will need cash for this and if you want to tip the shuttle driver or anyone who helps with your bags. CHECK-IN: We got married on a Friday (October 30, 2009) so we arrived to the resort the Monday before in the evening around 6pm. The resort was very empty when we arrived. There were not many people around at all; therefore, check-in was very fast with no problems at all. They brought us a welcome drink and took us to our room with our luggage on a trolley. Later on we found out that the resort was only at 25% capacity when we were there. This ended up being very nice. We never had to make reservations for restaurants and the pool and beach were never crowded. At times it kind of felt like we had the resort to ourselves, which was nice. ROOM: I thought the room was nice. We were in room 1187, which is in building 18. This building is just off the pool right next to the Romantico restaurant. All of our guests were in buildings just off the pool, which was nice because those buildings are close to everything. The room was just a basic garden view room and was just fine. It had a nice bathroom, a big closet and a separate sitting area with a couch, a big chair and a desk. Unless you want something fancy I would say the standard garden view rooms are just fine. RESORT: The resort itself is absolutely beautiful. It is a huge eco-preserve with lush tropical vegetation everywhere, beautiful gardens, etc. The resort is very big so they do have trams that will take you from place to place. It is probably about a 10-minute walk from the beach to the front desk and is very doable. We walked most of the time, however, it sometimes was nice to just be able to jump on a tram that comes around regularly. They are constantly up-keeping their grounds, and it’s so beautiful. They have a guy who climbs up the coconut trees daily to chop off the good coconuts. And they manually use hatchets to trim the shrubbery. Amazing. There is a rock-climbing wall, zoo, tropical garden, archery area, and a gym… I can’t even name it all. But it’s all nicely laid out and all fits into the eco-preserve theme so nicely. WEDDING COORDINATOR: Before the wedding I communicated mostly with Inoska via email. She answered all of my questions and was really good. About a month before the wedding Inoska took another position at the resort so Migulina helped us from then on. She was great! She was very on top of things and got us anything that we needed or wanted. When we got to our room on Monday night we had a note under the door stating that we would meet with Migulina the next day at 5pm. On Tuesday we met with Migulina as planned. She was very nice and really did whatever we needed her to do. In our meeting with her we finalized all of the details. We figured out the exact menu, where the rehearsal dinner was going to be held and what the menu would be for that dinner as well as the location of our ceremony. After we figured out everything about the menus she took us around in a trolley (which are really like golf carts) and we looked at locations for the ceremony and reception. We decided on the wedding gazebo for the ceremony and poolside for the reception. After this meeting we felt confident that we had everything in order and were ready for Friday. The only things that we still had to do were to get her the copies of our passports along with copies of our witness’s passports and to pay at the front desk. REHEARSAL/REHEARSAL DINNER: Thursday was the day of our rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal was at 6pm at the wedding gazebo. We needed to have it as late as we could because we still had family coming in that night. Migulina took us through the ceremony and showed us exactly how everything would go. The pastor who was going to marry us was not there but that was fine. Migulina told us everything we needed to know. We walked through the ceremony a couple times and asked any last minute questions. After we were done we all walked over to Terra for the rehearsal dinner. The dinner ended up working out really well. They did make us do a set menu because we had such a large group but that was fine. We picked the mixed grill, which comes with a variety of meats so we figured everyone would have something they liked. They brought the entrees out individually and the sides they did family style. They set up two long tables of 15 to accommodate the 30 people we had at the dinner. WEDDING DAY PRE-CEREMONY: On the wedding day everything went as planned. We girls got ready in one of the bridesmaids room and the boys met in one of the boys rooms. A couple of us got our hair done at the spa and they did a really good job. We brought some pictures and they did our hair exactly like the picture. Migulina brought all of the flowers for us girls to the room and all of the flowers for the boys to the ceremony. When we were ready we just called for a trolley and they came and picked us up and took us to the gazebo. They took us in the back way so I could hide behind a nearby wall. WEDDING CEREMONY: Our wedding was at 4pm and the weather was perfect. It cooled down a little in the afternoon and there was a nice breeze coming off the ocean. It was still warm and sunny but the guys (who were all wearing a tux) were not uncomfortable at all. My husband met with the pastor before the wedding and went over any last minute details. One of my girls gave the sound person the music and everything was great. We made a CD of the music that we wanted to play for the ceremony. She explained exactly when to play each song. This same girl is fluent in Spanish, which really helped a lot! Not many people speak English there so she was a big help. This may be why we had no problem with the music and everything was played as planned. They set up chairs around the gazebo for guests and tables just outside the gazebo area with all of the appetizers and champagne for after the ceremony. We chose the Aqua package, which includes a cocktail hour after the ceremony. The Aqua package was a little more expensive but the added touches were nice. The gazebo and the walkway were decorated really nicely and so was the reception. At the time I didn’t really realize that it would have been cheaper to do things a-la-carte. I thought that the package was the cheapest way to go. However, looking back I did like the little extras that were added in the Aqua package so I guess spending the extra money wasn’t too bad. The ceremony itself was about 15 minutes long. We had a Christian pastor (Pastor Rick York) marry us. I know it is no big deal but my husband was insistent that the ceremony not be in Spanish. So Migulina got Pastor York for us and he did a really good job. I emailed him prior to the wedding and he sent me two typical ceremonies that he does. He told us that we could pick one or the other or we could mix and match. We ended up taking part of one and part of the other. We just let him know what we liked and he did a great ceremony. He did the ceremony in English and afterwards we met with the judge. We thought to make it legal the judge was going to have to say some things in Spanish but all we had to do was to sign the papers. I was nervous about how all of that would work but it ended up working out fine. About 30 minutes after the ceremony was over Migulina told us that the judge was here. We got our parents and witnesses, stepped away for a minute and signed the papers. Very easy! After the cocktail hour was over everyone moved over to the pool for the reception. RECEPTION: The reception was scheduled for 6:00pm but they were ready for us a little early. We all gathered at the pool, which looked amazing. They set up the reception right outside of the Chinese restaurant and it was beautiful. They had a head table set up for us and the wedding party, the buffet area was set up along with a dance area and the DJ. They had the cake displayed on a little table along with all of the name cards. Since the DJ did not speak much English we had one of our friends introduce the wedding party. We did pay extra for a DJ. He did fine and played what we wanted him to play but this is one area that I would cut if you were trying to save money. He did not speak much English and really did not say one word the whole time. Therefore, we could have just as easily made a play list on an I pod and had the same thing. After we were all introduced we had dinner. The buffet was expansive and truly phenomenal. We did the Caribbean Menu …, which included chicken, beef, lobster, pork, rice, potatoes, veggies, salads, fruits, and desserts. It really was wonderful! And the set-up was great too. The cake was also very good! We picked a basic wedding cake that was part of the package so it did not have much on it in the way of decorations. So Migulina took some of our flowers and put them on the cake. It actually looked pretty nice and it was really good. We paid for 3 hours of an open bar from 7-10pm. Wine was served with dinner as part of the package so we figured starting it at 7 would be fine. We did have to pay a price per person for the open bar. However, we told them many times that we needed the price to be as low as possible so they offered us a discount on the price per person for the open bar. After dinner we did the usual speeches and started the dancing. Everything was great! We scheduled the reception to end at 10pm. At first we were skeptical because we wanted to go until 12 like most weddings do. However, this was plenty of time because after the reception was over we moved the party to the lobby bar and then to the disco. It was an absolutely perfect day! We both looked back and said that we would not have done a thing different! RESORT FOOD: We really enjoyed the resort food. For breakfast we did the buffet most days, which has a big variety and was really good. For lunch we also did the buffets. You can get pretty much anything you want so most people can find something they like. We did do Vito (the Italian restaurant) for lunch one day, which was really good as well. For dinner we went to Terra, Fuego, and the Chinese restaurant which all were really good. The only thing that I would say is if you have picky eaters with you they may not be happy. The food is very good but it is a little different. You are in the Dominican Republic and not in the US so it is going to be different (which was fine with us). If you have a person that is a steak and potato, American food only person they may not like it. You may want to prepare that person and tell them it may be a little different than what they are used to eating. Otherwise it was great! Also, included in the Aqua package is a breakfast that is delivered to the bride and groom’s room the morning after the wedding. This was really good. They brought us tons of food including two omelets, fruit, toast, and other things I am sure I’m forgetting. That breakfast was great! Room service is not all that great. If you are hungry at night it will do the trick but it is nothing special. POOL: The pool is awesome. It is very big and it sort of meanders through the resort. Like I said before we were there at a time when the resort was not crowded at all so there were always chairs available anytime we wanted them. We hung out there a lot, especially at the swim up bar and the water volleyball court. BEACH: The beach is beautiful! There is white sand and blue water, which makes it so pretty. There were plenty of chairs in the sun or the shade. We also did some boogie boarding. All you have to do is go and pick up a board at the hut and you can use it for an hour. It was tons of fun. NIGHTLIFE: Most nights we spent at the lobby bar. They always had some kind of live show and music going on. After that closed we went to the disco at the Fuego Restaurant which was open late. PHOTOGRAPHY: We brought the photographer with us from Wisconsin. This ended up working out really well. We hired a husband and wife team who had done some of our friend’s weddings in Wisconsin. We knew that they did a really good job so we asked them if they would be interested. We paid for their trip and in return they did not charge us for any of the photography or videography services. We do have to pay an additional fee if we want an album but it will be minimal. I was very torn about what to do about photography but this worked out great. I think it ended up being much cheaper than if we used the resort photographer and we knew that we were getting someone that does great photos. MISC: A couple other thoughts that may be helpful: I asked ahead of time about bringing flowers into the country and they said that it should not be a problem. So in an attempt to save money we got all of our boutonnières and corsages at a flower shop at home. They packed them up really good for us and my dad carried them on the plane. However, they got taken in customs. We found this out the day before the wedding so Migulina quickly contacted the florist down there and they got us flowers. Bringing flowers with would have saved a lot of money but I guess it might not be worth the risk. The resort offers to do welcome bags and to deliver them to your guest’s rooms but they charge quite a lot. We decided to bring our own welcome bags and just handed them to our guests when they arrived. OVERALL: Overall we loved the Paradisus Punta Cana. We had such a great time as did all of our guests (we had 45 people come with us). We had an amazing wedding day and we are so glad we chose the Paradisus. Feel free to contact me ([email protected]) if you have any questions, I would be glad to help.

Mindy and Mark, October 30th, 2009, Paradisus Punta Cana

Hello everyone- Does anyone know if there is anyone in Punta Cana that will perform the ceremony in English. I know if it is going to be a legal ceremony it must be done in Spanish and then translated. We are thinking about doing just a symbolic ceremony but we would like it in English. I know we are being snobby about this since we will be in a Spanish speaking country but I thought I would see if anyone had any ideas and or suggestions. Thanks!

Thank you both so much for your insight. Your review is actually what put PPC over the top for us. I know you had some issues with them charging you too much but I figured we will just watch out for that. I do have one question. Is there an option of having the reception on a terrace? I thought I saw something in the information they sent us about an outdoor, covered terrace. Thanks again for all of the info. I'm sure I will be posting many more questions.

Is the gazebo at PPC at least semi private? I completely agree with you about the gazebo in front of the lobby. I wanted an ocean view and something at least semi private.

Hello everyone! My finance and I finally decided on Punta Cana for our wedding. However, we have yet to select a resort. What I really want is a place where the ceremony can be at least semi private. Some of the places we have looked at set up the wedding right next to the volleyball court on the beach or the gazebo is right by the pool. Does anyone have any suggestions about where to go? We also need it to be kid friendly. Please Help! Some of the places we are considering are: Occidental Grand Paradisus Punta Cana Majestic Colonial Dreams Iberostar Melia Caribe Tropical Edenh Real Thanks! Mindy

If you look at everything together sometimes it is a little cheaper. If you are planning on staying at an all-inclusive resort it can be pretty reasonable.

Thanks to everyone for all of the suggestions. I now feel like I know where to start.

Hello everyone! My name is Mindy and my fiance and I really want to do a destination wedding but we need to pick a place. We are finding that we really don't even know where to start. We want a wedding in the Caribbean, someplace that is easy to fly to from the Chicago area, is all-inclusive and is fairly reasonably priced. With this being said I will take any suggestions anyone has to offer. The only place we did not want to go to is Mexico (because our friends got married there last fall). We are thinking we want to get married in October of 2009 but do not have an exact date.