Karen Aucoin

Any other questions just feel free to PM me...we also did the symbolic ceremony. When you do your legal stuff at home you will get the paperwork you need from the JP right then and just have to bring it with you to your meeting with the wedding coordinator. I had Maritee and sad to hear she is no longer there. I had a great experience working with her even though everything about my wedding had to be changed due to the rain I did so much plannning and in a way I'm glad to have that all done with but wish I could do the whole wedding/trip again as it went by way too fast! Plus I would love to get away from the snow and cold!! Quote: Originally Posted by justgotengaged...nowwhat? Hi Karen! I actually just saw your pics on FB! They came out beautiful, congrats. Thanks so much for the info. I know I should be searching through the other threads on this site for ideas, so I appreciate your post. It's a little overwhelming for me right now! I have been just enjoying the engagement phase, now its crunch time.

My reception was suppose to be at the Parrot bar (but moved due to weather) and I had bought 10, 14" white lanterns from Ikea. It cost me $100 I believe. They do have some chair sashes to choose from, I brought my own. For other decorations for the table at dinner I bought table runners, large sea shells, starfish, and sea shell place cards settings for the table. Plus, we had one of our favors which was a square glass plate with blue starfish on the bottom filled with sea shell and starfish chocolates wrapped at each person's spot as well. They brought the flowers from the ceremony to the dinner and placed it in the center of the table and had lit cadles along the table. I bought plastic cups and napkins from Michael's that had, "Eat, Drink and be Married" in tourquoise for our reception and they hung the lanters and used some of our chair sashes and table runners there as well. I have lots of pictures posted on my Facebook if you want to add me or you can also find lots on the Facebook group, Majestic Colonial Brides. Good luck and happy planning!

Hey Cara!! Glad to see you and Drew picked Eldorado Royale!! Aren't you glad this site is here?!?! You'll find tons of info on everything you need. Karen

Update...garters and letter "P" are sold.

Erica, I LOVE your book!!! I’m so glad that someone steered me in the direction of this thread. I was debating which program to use and have decided to go with Blurb. I'm just about finished making my engagement party book and I'm wondering if you've had a chance to see a book with just the regular paper? We're looking at giving some as thank you gifts and wondering if it's worth it where we are ordering a few. We'll definitely do the higher quality for our wedding book. Thanks for sharing your day and your beautiful book. Karen Quote: Originally Posted by Erika J We will be happy to help, I would say there is like a 2 hour learning curve where you just have to play around in book smart. I hope oto see Andi's soon. She had over 80 pages so had to do regular paper, and I want to see if the diff is worth it!

Thanks for the feedback everyone. After much research I've decided to go with Blurb.com. I just finished making my engagement party book and thought it was good practice for making my wedding book. Easy to use, can't wait to see it!

Hey Ladies, So we're back from our destination wedding and I have some more stuff I could sell if anyone is interested. -Garter that is white with two blue rhinestone hearts intertwined that I bought and forgot to wear. (It was $20) I can't find the box though...Plus, I have an el cheapo one that is in the box to use to throw if you're doing the garter toss. $10 (for both) -White, 32" single tied veil. Simple; with beading around the edge. Original cost was $120. Open to offers... -Aldo jewelled sandals. I had planned on changing into these but I had gotten a blister on the side of my foot from a different pair of sandals and it would have rubbed in the same spot, therefore, never worn They are a size 39 so fit like an 8. I'm usually a 7 1/2 or 8 and these were perfect. Original cost was $50, asking $35 -Just Married Flip Flops - I forgot I had these until the last day and we didn't even make it down to the beach. They are a size small, I found the medium to be too big even though it's what was suggested according to my size. $5 Black or White Just Married Sandals - Weddingstar -Jeweled monogrammed letters "K" and "P" if you need one of these you can order whatever other letters you need from WeddingStar magazine (or online)Originally cost $25 each, asking $10 each Brushed Silver Monograms with Crystals - Weddingstar -Asian Wish/Prayer Lanterns. I have 7 of these left. We passed these out at our reception and guests wrote on them with markers. They can write a wish or prayer and then we went as a group to set them all off. It was a bit windy so we didn't do all of them but we live on a lake so plan to invite some friends over and set the rest off this summer. $15 (for the 7 of them) They are bio-degradable and we got ours from this website: Chinese Sky Lanterns That's all I can think of right now. I'm in Central Alberta (Sylvan Lake) but I'm in Calgary at least once a month. PM me if you’re interested. Prices do not include shipping. Thanks, Karen

Hey ladies, now that we're back from our wedding I'm looking at creating some photo books. I'm wondering if anyone has had good luck with a particular kind. I'm wanting something that easy to use and not too expensive as we're making quite a few. I've looked into Picaboo and Heritage Makers. Any feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

I'm trying to test out how to post a picture from Photobucket so I thought I would try one of what I ended up doing with my hair...

I just replied to one of your other posts but I just wanted to let you know that I just got back from getting married at the Colonial in November so feel free to ask me any questions you may have. You can also add me on Facebook if you'd like to see any of our pictures, Karen Aucoin, Calgary network. (I'm in Sylvan, where are you?) Karen Quote: Originally Posted by Cortney Hello!! My name is Cortney and I am getting married February 12, 2010 in Punta Cana at the Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Resort. I am getting very excited as the count down is on, but am starting to panic with the final decisions we have to make. I look forward to hearing from others and appreciate any suggestions/comments. Thank you!!

We didn't do the private reception but we rented out the Parrot bar for our reception and I know you can do your dinner there as well. We actually moved everything inside due to the weather but overall everything was great. Lots of girls have done the Terrace, or the Wet Bar or the Parrot Bar depending on the size of your group and all are great options. The presidental suite is an option to but I know it's pretty expensive. If you check out the Facebook group, Majestic Colonial Brides you'll find tons of info on dinner options and get feedback from those whom have already had theirs. Hope that helps a bit. Karen

Wow, that is so amazing!! Brought tears to my eyes. Congrats on your engagment, sounds like you have a real catch!

I too cry at everything and on my recent wedding day I had no idea how I was going to be able to hold it together. I was feeling pretty good but since we were getting married inside (due to rain) we had to go up in the elevator. As we got in the elevator, my sister started to tear up to Faith Hill's Breath and then my other bridesmaid started, well, I couldn't hold it together. The door opened for us to come out and I was a mess. The pictures I have so far I look like I'm scared to death as I'm walking down the isle and I'm dreading getting those professional pictures of me walking down the isle with the "ugly cry" face!! I managed to compose myself and was good throughout the rest of the ceremony but I'm sure there won't be pictures of me walking down the isle that I choose to publish anywhere.

I got a nice dark purple leather one from Chapters and now that our wedding is over I'm going back and recapping from the day he proposed and including some pictures and little ticket stubs etc. in the journal. I started it on Nov.25th which was just after we got back from our wedding and exactly one year from when he proposed. I thought it might be hard to remember stuff but so far so good. I also bought a faux leather box to keep all my cards, cake toppers, photos CD's etc. and things from our engagement party, bridal shower, stagette, wedding etc. all together as a keepsake.

Quote: Originally Posted by FutureMrs.D Hi! What color is the veil? The veil is white...sorry, should have mentioned that.

Sorry, I keep finding more stuff...I also have 10 mini beach chairs that can be used on the tables (you can find them on the Weddingstar website or in their catalogue and I also have the jeweled monogrammed letters "K" and "P" from there as well if either of those are your initials. I did the initials, fake flowers and ribbon to decorate my cake.

Sorry, I have 10 of the bamboo fans and the lanterns have been sold.

Hey Ladies, So we're back from our destination wedding and I have some stuff I could sell if anyone is interested. -I have a really nice "Real Touch" orchid hair clip that I wore from Enchanting Memories as well as my veil. My veil was a single-tier 32" plain with simple beading along the edge. -Garter that is white with two blue rhinestone hearts intertwined that I bought and forgot to wear. (It was $20) I can't find the box though...Plus, I have an el cheapo one that is in the box to use to throw if you're doing the garter toss. -I have cream and chocolate brown programs from Micheal's that I didn't end up using. (40 I believe) -I have 6 bamboo fans left over. -Tourquoise chair sashes and table runners. (40 chair sashes and 10 tables runners, if that many made it back. I'd have to re-count now that we're home) -10 14" white paper lanterns from Ikea. -The Everything Destination Wedding Book and Weddingstar magazine. That's all I can think of right now. I'm in Central Alberta (Sylvan Lake) but I'm in Calgary at least once a month. PM me if your interested in anything and I can send pictures and we can talk about prices then. Thanks, Karen

So like others have said this site had helped me so much while planning my wedding that I thought I would share our wedding experience. I'll start off by saying that we have been to Punta Cana twice before for weddings at other resorts and have had something to compare our resort/wedding to. The resort is beautiful and the staff are so friendly and helpful. Our check-in was a breeze and we were able to receive our upgrade and got a suite. This room is HUGE!! It was so nice to have the extra space and we even had a big get-together one night on our terrace with over 20 people. It was also nice for getting ready the day of the wedding with having so many people plus our photographers. My wedding coordinator throughout the entire experience was Maritee and she was wonderful to deal with. While communicating by email she was always very quick to respond and I tried to keep my questions brief and right to the point. We had arrived late on Saturday, November 7th and Maritee had arranged to come in on her day off to meet with us in order for us to get married on Monday the 9th. This was so sweet of her and I really appreciated it. Our meeting was set for 9am and went so quickly and easy my fiancé looked at me after and said, "That's it?" as we just went over the location and little details. I had brought a suitcase with things such as our sand ceremony set and chair sashes, table runners, place card holders and decorative shells and starfish and had the rest of our things back up in our room. I had planned to have a couple of our guests arrange things like our fans for the chairs and the cake decorations and topper, guests book etc. but Maritee said to bring it all to her and she would do it all. She added our ribbon to all the fans and had everything arranged perfectly. We did keep our favours and added those to the table just before dinner. When we had booked our trip I knew that November was the tail end of hurricane season but in what I had read and experienced in the past I wasn't worried about the weather. Any time I have been there and it's rained it rains hard for 10 mins and then it's done. Well, not the case this time. When we arrived on Sat evening it was pouring...again, all day Sunday and in our meeting Maritee said that the backup plan would be to move things inside. I didn't think much of it assuming that with all the rain surely by Monday it would be done. Not so much, I woke up Monday to more rain!!! I went up to deliver our Ipod to Maritee and she told me that with the forecast saying 60% chance of rain that we would need to move everything inside. I was really disappointed but it's the weather, nothing I can do about it. She told me that our ceremony would be in the lobby where the tour desks are normally set up and that our reception would be in one of the conference rooms. I was supposed to get married in the Gazebo and then have our reception at the Parrot Bar. I went to get my hair done at 11am and hoped that maybe the weather would clear up before the afternoon and maybe we could go back to the original plan. Spa appointment - I had booked appointments for my mother and I online and then went to the spa the day before to confirm our appointments. My mother and I had both brought pictures from home and we were both happy with the outcome. I would have liked my hair to be a bit more loose and flowy but with the weather I understand that lots of hairspray is, and was, required. I had my nails done prior to arriving. Left the hair salon in the rain and went to my room to get ready. Room Service - On the recommendation of our photographers I ordered room service for all us girls and our three photographers around 12:30. It arrived after 1:30 which was fine for us but if you're on any kind of a timeline keep that in mind. (I find room service at any hotel to be slow so I wasn't too bothered by this) I can't tell you if it was any good as I didn't eat any of it because I was addicted to the thin-crust pizza from the buffet so grabbed a couple of slices and brought it to the room after my hair appointment. Ceremony - at 2:30pm is finally stopped raining. By this time everything was set up in the lobby and our guests were gathered and ready to get this show on the road. The groomsmen were all going to start grabbing stuff and moving it down to the Gazebo but ended up leaving things as it was maybe because those darn black clouds were still lingering. It was better than I had expected and my only complaint was that the songs we had chosen to walk it to were all now cut so short as it was a much shorter walk than it would have been it we had gotten married in the gazebo. Also, I had seen in someone's photos how they had brought chair sashes and then there were some yellow ones still attached underneath. I actually had one of my guests in charge of taking off the yellow hotel ones if they were still on the chairs with the sashes I had brought and when I walked in I was surprised to see both. I later realized that they are permanently attached and therefore cannot be taken off so it looks like there are two on there. Overall our guests said that they were glad they were inside and had a bit of a breeze and that it was still set up beautiful. I still wish I had had my "outdoor wedding" but it wasn't so bad. In the end I still got married and had my friends and family there to celebrate with us and that's what matters. Pastor Rick York - Pastor Rick made our ceremony so personal and I loved having our guests involved in our ceremony by doing readings. We also incorporated the sand ceremony and had so many compliments on how it was such a nice touch. Our ceremony was approximately 20-25 minutes and I could not have been happier with the decision to use Pastor York and do our paper work here at home just before we left. Dinner - Our dinner was supposed to be at the Steakhouse and was moved to the other side just in case it was still raining. The Seafood side provides a bit more shelter from the rain blowing it. I hadn't been to these restaurants before so didn't even know the difference. Our meal was great and the table looked awesome. Our table runners were set up and we had shells and starfish that we had brought as well as our sea shell place card holders and our glass starfish plates and seashell and starfish chocolates. The meal was surf and turf with the Chateaubriand and Grouper. From those who had the lobster throughout the trip they actually said that they preferred the grouper. The lobster is very different there than here at home. Reception - We were supposed to be at the Parrot Bar and then the conference room was our back-up plan but Maritee had called me earlier in the day to say that our reception would be in the Sports Bar. In the long run this proved to be awesome as they gave us an open bar and a DJ which we hadn't planned on doing. They had it decorated with our lanterns and chair sashes and our cake looked awesome. It was great and I wasn't disappointed to be inside at all. Photographers - Based on the reviews and photos on this Facebook group I had booked Phil and Michael Steingard. Anyone who has been on this site knows that their work is unbelievable so I don't need to say much except I was so happy to have had them. I even had one of their co-workers Jamie join them for the day and all three were so great to work with. The time flew by and I can't wait to see all of our amazing pictures. My guests went on and on about them all week and everyone is really excited to see the final outcome of all those shots! Flowers - I had decided to go with Enchanting Memories for our flowers again based on the reviews and pictures on this site. I was so happy with them and can't say enough about how easy Pat and Debbie were to work with. They looked so real that one lady on the plane was saying how nice they smelled and my sister handed my mother the bag with her bouquet just as we came into the Punta Cana airport and my poor mother got stuck at customs as they didn't believe her that they were fake! Everyone commented on them and I'm now able to keep my bouquet as a souvenir. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I have a ton of pictures but I don't know how to add them into this review, so you can add me on Facebook: Karen Aucoin, Calgary Network or you can PM me and let you know what type of pictures you'd like and include your email address. Happy Planning, Karen

Quote: Originally Posted by echo2_62 Karen - what a crappy experience to start your vacation!! I was dropping my parents off at Pearson for one of those early, early flights to DR a few years ago and I totally remember sitting and waiting to see them through customs safely until that 4am time with all the staff slowly rolling in. And we sat on the floor too! Of the few layovers that I've had to do before, the ones with westjet have always been seamless so that's the direction that I'd lean if you can find a travel agent that will be able to help you work with them. SheriB - From the sound of it, finding a good travel around here takes some work but in the end is totally worth it. I'd tried a couple and was never happy so we didn't bother using a travel agent in the end, which seems to be working out fairly well for us! If you don't like the TA you have, maybe look around at a few others. Luckily it was on our way home but still, it just sucked to have to go through all that. If I could do it again I would use a travel agent that specializes in Destination Weddings or none at all. We went through Sears travel and the first girl we had left so we got passed on to another...who then got pregnant. I just felt like they weren't sure of things, some things got mixed up (my husband's flights were booked under his middle name, not his first) The guys wanted to know if our reservation included one round of golf and when Sears they looked into it we were told it did. We had four guys bring clubs only to find out that it wasn't included and it was pretty expensive to play so they lugged their clubs there and back for nothing. Oh well, live and learn I guess.

Quote: Originally Posted by VBVB I was just wondering if anyone has thought about it, or even gone ahead and gotten legally married at home first, then doing a 'Symbolic Ceremony' at the Majestic? My fiance and I are planning on doing it this way, that way we don't have to wait 5+ months for our marriage certificate/documentation to arrive from the D.R.. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how long before we depart we should be legally married here? We live in Alberta, Canada. Thanks!!! We did our paperwork here on the 1st, left on the 7th and did the symbolic ceremony on the 9th. I'm glad now that I did it that way. We used Pastor Rick York for our ceremony. He is a pastor from the States that lives there and his ceremony was awesome!

Quote: Originally Posted by SheriB Karen - sounds like a great time! I have been wondering how I am going to get my FI to the TTD the next morning... I just know he will overdo it! Have you posted a review of your wedding on here? I am thinking of Punta Cana and have considered the Majestic. Question for you being from Sylvan - I am in Red Deer and was orginally pretty convinced that I wanted to go to Punta Cana but then got lookin at flights and am now thinking that Puerto Vallarta might be a better/easier option. Did you have direct flights? It seems like there are more options from Calgary & Edmonton to Mexico than DR or Jamaica. Good question!! I did so much research into this...let me tell you, I do a lot of traveling and have spent my time in airports but our layovers/connections on our way back were AWFUL!! I knew it was going to suck having a long layover but thought that I would be able to just go to the gate and have a nap. Well, not the case. We flew with Air Canada Vacations and while I'm not an Air Canada fan (Go WESTJET!!) I was overall happy with our trip until all this nonsense went down. We arrived into Pearson at 1:30am and our next flight wasn't until 8:00am. I had thought about getting a room at the Sheraton but they charge so much and I thought by the time we got our luggage, went through customs etc. there wouldn't be any point. Plus, there was a bunch of us so whatever. We did the layover last year when we flew Westjet and it wasn't so bad. Well, we arrived on time at 1:30, breezed through customs and went to where you normally take your bags and just place them back on the carasol and go to your gate. Do to the time there was no one there so we had to take our luggage outside of the secure area and go to the Air Canada counter to check it in again. They were closed...didn't open until 4:00am. Awesome...so now we look around and there's nothing open, no place to sit, nothing. There were other people waiting before us and were taking up the few seats that were there so we sat on the floor. Not a cushioned floor, just the floor where you would be if you walked up to the Air Canada counter. Since there was our group and another group from Red Deer they allowed us to check our bags in around 3:45am but them we still had to wait for security to open to check through the golf clubs and be able to get through the main security area. At 4:15 we're listening to the workers that work where you check the oversized stuff through chitchat and having their coffee and my now husband is pissed. I look at him and say, "What, are you in a hurry or something?". Around 4:20am we now get our clubs through and move on through security and are able to make the way to our gate to wait to board at 7:30am. And to top it all off our IPods were stolen from our room at the resort so I can't even listen to that. In the long run I wish I had been told that all this would take place and maybe I would have coughed up the $300 to stay at the Sheraton for that time. I went and talked to the manager at Sears Travel and just told her how I felt about the whole situation, not expecting anything, but just to make her aware. We had family and friends that flew with Air Transat back to Edmonton and friends that did Westjet back to Calgary and even through Toronto had much better times/layovers. Sorry about my rant!! Anyways, if you want to get together sometime let me know and we can chat. I did post my review under Majestic Colonial and Elegance Brides post here and also on the Majestic Colonial Brides Facebook site. PM me if you'd like to get together for coffee in Red Deer. Karen

Quote: Originally Posted by amybermuda Welcome Lauren! And congrats on getting engaged I started by wanting my family to fly direct where ever we got married, so I went to the BWI website and checked out all the destinations where the airlines flew direct from Baltimore. I was going to do Bahamas but then found the Riviera Maya - south of Cancun in Mexico. Then you only need to pick the resort! We picked the Azul Beach b/c there was a cocktail hour where they bring in a donkey with barrels full of beer. LOL We both HAD TO HAVE A DONKEY AT OUR WEDDING and the decision was made! Happy hunting!!!! HAHAHA! Your comment about the donkey made me laugh out loud! I'm sure if my husband and I were reading about the resorts and came across that info we'd both look at it each and be like, "hell yeah, that's where we're going", cause what's cooler on your wedding day then a donkey bringing you beer?!?!

Okay, I can finally vent!! I have three: -the socks...which I'm seeing is a theme on here but the worst part is we have two dogs and so they'll find one of these "said socks" they run and play with it, present it to me as a toy and when I go to grab it to play fetch I realize that I'm grabbing on to a dirty sock!! Gross! -when he tells me to "chill out" or "relax" I become enraged! -his lack of memory. I could ask him to pick up three things at the store: bread, milk and eggs and he might, and I say might, remember to stop but will come home with juice, margarine and chips and look at me as if to say, "Did I do good?" Haha, I laugh just thinking about it. He tries I guess.

We were going to go with Tungsten but decided to go with white gold in the end as we didn't like the idea that if he jammed his hand somehow there's no way to cut off the ring. Not all hospitals have the right cutters and it just wasn't something we wanted to worry about. Just a thought but if you live in a bigger city you may not have that worry. Most jewellery stores at our mall carried at least a few options for Tungsten.