ebredhawk

the whole photographer thing is definitely a matter of personal preference and budget. pictures are something we really place a lot of importance on so we made extra room in our budget to fly someone down with us. we'll get a cd of all of the pictures she took and she was there for the whole she-bang. if your budget is limited or you like the resort photog's look, then absolutely go with them. just make sure you go in knowing the information that jennifer shared above about them not being around for the reception. they definitely take good pictures though. they are always super bright and vibrant.

i am having SO much fun looking at everyone's pictures!! everything for everyone just looks gorgeous and perfect! it's making me impatient for mine! of course, she has to edit about 2000 pictures, so i'm willing to wait!

sarah.. my opinion, just based on being there, is that the resort photogs take great pictures, they are very pretty and colorful, but they are extremely difficult, if not impossible, it negotiate with. you will get exactly what comes in your package and nothing else. nor do they really process the pictures or edit them after they are taken, besides maybe switching between b&w and color. it completely depends on the experience you want and your budget. either way, you will get beautiful pictures!

misty - just responded to your email!! as far as the kids group though, the 2 kids that were with us never actually went to the explorers club. we saw them ALL over the resort though and the kids seemed to be having a great time. my stepdaughter had to do homework twice a day, every day, so it would have been hard to have her go there. i never once read a bad review of it though. we had fully intended to have them go there, but it worked out perfectly with them just hanging out at the pool with us!

nat, you will be more than happy.. trust me!! i posted my review finally! i could have written 10 more pages, so if anyone has any questions, please let me know!! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...4/#post1283191

Excursion: Bavaro Runners Ziplining Tour My disclaimer is that the bus ride alone is not for the faint of heart. It takes about 45 minutes and half of it is on the “Dominican Highway†which is basically a dirt road. You feel like you’re on a mechanical bull! The bus is open though, so it’s not horrible. Once we got there, it was a little overwhelming to see how high up we would be. The guys there are great though and we were 100% fully prepared. Honestly, the worst part was waiting. Once I would get on the zipline I could look around and see how truly beautiful the mountains, trees and rivers were! The trip took exactly 4 hours and was definitely worth it. I can’t say I would go again, but that’s probably because I’m a big wuss! Dreams (for weddings) and our WC Deyanira This is the part of the whole thing I’m most passionate about. I was definitely a planner ahead of time.. we had every little thing figured out, even though they tell you that you’ll meet with your WC once you arrive to figure out the details. In hindsight, I could have just planned some decorations and done everything else once we got there. There is something about the air or the environmnent that just makes you want to have a good time and not care about all the little details anymore! For that to happen to me, you know it’s gotta be something powerful! After being set on a beach wedding, we switched to the gazebo because of the beach location (we decided we wanted to be more private) and everything was just beautiful. Deyanira did a fantastic job. DO NOT let any delays in communication worry you.. she will get back to you and know all of the details when you get down there! We did not do a rehearsal. The boys had to be to the gazebo 15 minutes before and Deyanira picked up the girls in our room about 5 minutes before the start. We had our Best Man play the processional on the guitar and you could hear it beautifully. Deyanira handled the rest of the ceremony music and it was perfect. The ceremony (performed by Pastor Rick York) was only about 10-15 min. long and it was just right! We had champagne afterwards and had the perfect amount of time for pictures before the bus for La Barcaza picked us up. (Ceremony was at 4 pm) Pastor Rick York If you’re having a symbolic ceremony, don’t hesitate: book him NOW! He was so nice and really personalized the ceremony and let us have a say in it all. Dreams doesn’t even charge him the day pass fee anymore because he comes so much. La Barcaza There are 3 decisions during wedding planning that I think were the best we made, and choosing to have our reception on La Barcaza was one of them. We met with Flori the day before the wedding, paid our remaining balance and gave her all of our decorations. The bus picked us up at the resort and drove us to the boat (which is docked right by the Jellyfish restaurant). The crew met us on the beach and ferried us to the boat on smaller motor boats. Once we got on board we hooked up our iPod and had some music while dinner was cooking. They set everything up perfectly for the reception and the tables and chairs are really nice and beachy. Once we were anchored in the natural swimming pools, we sat down to eat dinner. The meal was probably the best we had the whole trip. We got the Wedding Grill and it was chicken, beef and veggie kebabs and a homemade salsa that was to DIE FOR! After dinner we cut our cake (also yummy) and then the dancing began. The crew didn’t just hang out… they participated! Jorge was a big man who danced with all of the grandparents and moms the whole night and they loved them! The open bar with just beer, fruit juices, soda and rum was perfect… we didn’t need anything more. There is plenty of room for dancing or for people to just hang out. Just be careful because the humidity makes the deck a little slippery! Wasn’t a big deal at all though! Also, the 3 hour cruise was plenty. Photographer & Videographer: EyeSpy Photography and Clam Lake Films Besides Dreams and La Barcaza, bringing Stephany Wieland (EyeSpy) and Nick Kesler (Clam Lake) with us rounds out the 3 best decisions we made. They became part of the family when we were down there and listened to everything we said and wanted! Their vision is unparalleled and they were able to catch the beauty in everything in a way I could never imagine! They made us feel completely comfortable the entire time and I can only hope the friendships that we made with them will continue beyond the trip! See below for their links.. Nick also filmed the promo video that is at the top of the EyeSpy blog. eyespy photography Home

See my reviews below for Dreams as both a resort and for weddings, our Pastor, La Barcaza for our reception and EyeSpy Photography and Clam Lake Films. I will post a more detailed review of our photographer and videographer later as well. They were too amazing to not get one! Any questions, send me a PM or ask me here! Links to my personal albums on Snapfish: (you may need to create a quick Snapfish account, but it’s free and worth it) Snapfish: Share:Registration Snapfish: Share:Registration Dreams (as a resort) Our group had 24 people including 2 kids. I honestly can’t imagine that we could have found a better resort for us. We were spread out over a number of buildings, but it was never a big deal. Everyone would meet up for breakfast at World Café, then go to “our area” of the pool and everyone could make it back to the rooms to get ready for dinner. Room location didn’t matter at all. The trip from the airport to the hotel is not a deal breaker at all. It’s not all that fun, but do not let that be your deciding factor. It’s either 25 min or 50 min, it doesn’t make that much of a difference and is such a small part of the trip! None of our guests had any problems with their rooms. Our room (honeymoon suite in building 6) did have some tiny ants on the bathroom sink, but it didn’t bother us at all. Here’s a warning: if your sliding door isn’t closed ALL THE WAY, your AC won’t work. We had one couple have this happen and their room was warm the rest of the trip. Just expect everything to be semi-damp for most of the trip. You are in the Caribbean! The pool was simply amazing. Perfect for our group since there were big groups of chairs with umbrellas that we were able to block off every morning, although there wasn’t a rush. You can get extra towels from the Entertainment shack by the tiki bar. Also, bartenders walk around constantly asking if you want anything to drink. Give them small tips consistently and they’ll keep coming back! Most of our meals were tasty… the World Café buffet was definitely our favorite. We also went to El Patio, Bordeaux and the Seaside Grill. We never got to go to Himitsu, which made me sad, but we were always well fed. For lunch we either went to the grill on the beach and brought it back to the pool, or we went to World Café. DH and I got massages the day before we left because it was a spa special that day. If you think you or your guests will want this, find the spa people on the first day and see what the specials are each day. Another of our guests got the Dreams Massage, which was 80 minutes, and you pick two different styles. Also, if you get to the spa early (about a ½ hour or so) before your massage you get to try out the hot tub, all of the baths, the sauna, etc. It is a really neat experience! Plus, the massage rooms are the only ones on the resort that have dehumidifiers!! Steer clear of the guys walking around the resort trying to get you to go on excursions. The tour operators outside of World Café are your best bet. The other ones charge way too much and are pretty shady! The beach is nice, although there is a lot of seaweed when you go to the right. If you walk out on the beach and look to your left, down a little bit out on a point there is an area of sand that stays shallow and goes out into the water. That was our favorite place to be on the beach since there is also some dead coral around there and you can see fish. Everyone agreed that the pool was better than the beach though. Easier to relax and find shade! The night life isn’t that great, unless you make your own fun. We had a blast just hanging out by the veranda bar (by the gazebo and where they show movies every night). For heaven’s sake: BRING BUG SPRAY! Regular stuff won’t cut it… it has to have Deet in it. Not everyone got bit, but myself, my brother and my MOH’s boyfriend were completely covered and we used Off. The staff and everyone was exceptional. We got to have our favorite bartenders and waiters and we felt very well taken care of. You’ll get very used to saying “hola” to everyone you see! They love it when you try out Spanish too.. even if it’s a little rusty! Our one complaint about the resort: Tropical Pictures, the resorts photographers. My step-daughter got her picture taken with several of the animals. When we went to pick out some of the pictures, they wanted us to pay $60 for 8 just on a cd.. not even prints! They were rude when we tried to negotiate and we ended up trying 3 different times before we ended up just getting 1 picture printed (for $15! Yikes!). That is the absolute only complaint we had about the whole trip.. which means we had a great time!!

sarah - just be persistent with emails. after having met deyanira, i can tell you that she will keep everything that you send her and will know everything by the time you get there. our meeting took no more than 5 minutes because had all of her notes in line, even things that she didn't respond immeditaely to me about. every time i passed the weddings dept it was chaotic, so just know that you will get taken care of, it's just not always in the time frame you'd like. honestly, i could have planned the entire wedding down there just in the few days we were there before the wedding. i had my chair sashes and the sand ceremony vases and that's all we needed!

we are home!! of course i will write up a full review (that will be super long, as usual) at some point this week, but i wanted to let everyone know that everything went perfectly. it's incredibly the change of perspective you have once you make it down there. as soon as we got to the hotel, i couldn't care less if everything was perfect, i was just so happy to be there and just wanted to have a good time with everyone. we actually ended up changing to the gazebo once we got there and saw the beach ceremony location (not bad.. actually very beautiful).. for some reason we just suddenly decided we wanted the privacy more! and oh my gosh, la barcaza was probably the 2nd best wedding decision we made!! absolute perfection the whole time. the centerpieces weren't set up exactly how i wanted, but they were still beautiful and, like i said, it didn't matter 1 tiny bit! i put up all of my pictures on facebook (if we're friends) and i'll also post a link to my snapfish album once i manage to get that done!

there is NO way that i'm going to be able to go back and catch up, so i'll just start from here on out! just wanted to jump on real quick to let everyone know that we got back at about 1 am today and i already want to go back! i'm pretty sure that everyone in our group is going through some form of vacation withdrawal! i posted my pictures on facebook and i'll post a link to the snapfish album once i get those loaded! i can't wait to catch up with everyone and hear how everything went for whoever got back while we were gone!

good luck to all of the girls getting married this weekend and next week (especially date twin mel!!)!! i'm going to be running around like a crazy person today and we leave tomorrow, so i wanted to get in my well wishes early!! thank you girls SO much for everything. i couldn't have done 99% of what i have without you all!! i can't wait to see everyone's pictures once we're all back and share mine with you all too!

lety.. i have NO idea where she got that image! she makes some amazing invitations, so i imagine she has a big stock of images like that to use. it may be worth sending her an email and seeing if she still knows where that came from.

i know we're all full of information since so many DPC brides have been married recently, but if there is anything else you guys want pictures of or want to know, please let me know! tomorrow will probably be the last chance i have to check the forum before we leave saturday!

oh jodi, i was hoping that you didn't get affected by all of that mess! i am really hoping that your wedding in cyprus will be just as beautiful and then you'll really get the chance to enjoy jamaica in the future!! i'm definitely glad you'll still be an april bride, and now you and suzy are date twins! natasha, i won't get to wish you a happy wedding day, so i'm doing it now!!! i hope the wedding goes perfectly and then you guys have an amazing time on the cruise! tracy, that is so horrible for your friend from ireland... for him and for you having to try to balance everything while also dealing with your chron's. i hope you really get to enjoy your last few days! my living room is currently a mess of piles of things that need to get packed. my strategy is to just lay it all out on the floor, assess what we have and figure out how in the world it's going to fit in the bags we have! i actually have a job interview today, then pedicures tomorrow with my MOH and BMs and then we leave saturday! YIKES! i better get packing!!

thank you ladies! i was so glad to get that thing posted!! i take everything from trip advisor with a HUGE grain of salt. i'm not letting it worry me too much. nothing we can do until we get there, right? plus, you know that i'll come back and give you the real deal!

nat, they were in boxes of 50 indi. packs i believe. my mom found them and i have no idea how.. she was my OOT bag magician. she made things i didn't think existed materialize out of thin air!

also just posted my planning thread! it's about time! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...barcaza-58128/

my planning thread is up!! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...barcaza-58128/ jenna, i'm on my way to spy on your pictures!

Flower girl pail & petals: The petals are from weddingstar.com (cherry blossom), and I also purchased white pails from Gift Basket Supplies - Discount Gift Basket Supplies. I don’t have pictures of those done, but I put pink ribbon around them and will attach a large finger starfish to each when we arrive Chair sashes: Purchased for $1 each from eBay Store - ELEGANT PERSPECTIVES: Satin Sashes, Table Runners, Chair Covers. If you see a color you like, but don’t necessarily want 100, just send her a message. I got an order of 30. Ceremony: Beach ceremony. We’re using the huppah instead of the standard arch, and not including any decorations besides the simple white fabric that already comes on it. Officiant: Pastor Rick York. He has been great to work with and he let us completely customize our ceremony. Here’s his mission’s website: Eastern Dominican Christian Mission Music: We will all walk down the aisle with the Best Man playing Rise Against’s “Swing Life Away†on an acoustic guitar. The recessional after the ceremony is “Hotel Yorba†by the White Stripes. Sand Ceremony Stuff: Bought the vases and sand at Hobby Lobby. We are bringing the epoxy and will plug the top of the big vase with it once we finish filling it up. Hopefully this will keep it safe during travel. We just bought the epoxy from our grocery store. It was in the hardware/light bulb-type aisle. Reception: The reception is going to be held on La Barcaza which is a catamaran that sails along the coast of Punta Cana. They will be picking us up at the resort, driving us to the boat, we’ll cruise for 3 hours and have food, an open bar and dancing, and then get driven back. The WC there is incredible and I HIGHLY recommend them! Wedding Punta Cana. The best Wedding in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. Centerpieces: Our centerpieces include black table runners from efavormart.com, a pack of votive party pack from Hobby Lobby (very cheap, like $3 for a dozen), a pack of glow sticks and a vase filled with rocks, one of 3 flowers and topped with a floating candle. Below is the set up and then the two other flowers (we’ll have 3 tables so each will have its own flower) other vase “Guestbookâ€: This is in quotes because it’s not technically a book. We bought a map of the DR from maps.com and will have our guests sign this at the reception. Information Book: My pride and joy is this book that I made and had printed for each of our guests. I attached it so everyone can see it as well. It is a compilation of all sorts of information I learned here as well as on the Dreams forums. There are several of our guests that haven’t travelled by plane recently, let alone internationally.. so I call this one “wedding micromanaging at its finestâ€! OOT Bags and Contents: We had our bags custom embroidered with our stargazers and “Punta Cana, Dominican Republicâ€. Each bag (one per couple or single person) also included: -2 blue towels (from Beach Towels wholesale manufacturer of custom embroidered monogrammed bath towel for corporate events) and embroidered with the same pattern as the bag -luggage tags and keycard holders (both made with holders that I don’t really recommend… not very easy to open) -Bubba Kegs -Funky personalized flip flops for the ladies -Pool floats from Walmart -First aid kits (containers are the cool Rubbermaid snap ones with tablets of Immodium and Advil purchased from Costco, bandaids and mini Tide Pens) -Decks of cards (from Michaels) -Posts and pens -Gallon-sized Ziploc bags Wow! I am so glad I have been planning this thread for so long, otherwise that would have taken me forever! Hope you enjoyed looking at 14 months worth of work! It’s really neat to see it all together like this! Hopefully the wedding and trip will come together just as smoothly! Info Book Draft.pdf

Wedding Party Gifts: The bridesmaids got makeup bags that I designed and bought the fabric for and my mom’s friend made, the starfish necklace they will wear in the ceremony (purchased from Kohls) and tank tops that I made on Customized Girl. Flower girls got cinch bags with goggles, aviator sunglasses, hats, their flip flops for the ceremony, a disposable camera and their necklaces for the ceremony (the pink, orange and green beads, made by FI’s aunt). The groomsmen got flasks and “I’m On a Boat†tshirts (not shown, but purchased since our reception is on a boat) Mom & Dad Gift: The one thing I didn’t take pictures of. We got only my mom and dad presents because they paid for pretty much everyone to go and we felt that it was important to pay tribute to that. We got my mom a 3-opening collage frame from Kohl’s and included a picture from their wedding, one of my brother and SIL from their wedding and then an opening for one from ours. We got my dad a shirt from Tommy Bahama to wear in the wedding. BD Pics & Book: Again these fabulous pictures were thanks to the work of my photographer (Eyespy). She also made me a book that I didn’t take pictures of, but this is a link to the thread with some of the pictures: Best Destination Wedding Forum ~ The Ultimate Destination Wedding Resource Flowers: My flowers are all real touch and were purchased from a number of different sites (stargazers from save-on-crafts.com, orchids and mini calas from usifloral.com). I actually changed my flowers in January to have a more tropical feel, and the lady who did them was amazing. She is a friend of my mom’s who does flower arrangements already, but is trying to break into the wedding business. She really turned what I had in my head into reality. I couldn’t be happier with these! GM bout FI bout BM bouquet My bouquet

Makeup Inspiration: This is actually one of my BD pics, and I loved what the makeup artist did so much I asked her for the names of everything she used. We picked it all up at Sephora, so this I can have the same look for both the ceremony and TTD. Old, New, Borrowed & Blue: Blue – my BMs, MOH and mom will be writing on the bottom of my sandals in blue marker New - dress, jewelry, etc. Borrowed – the silver travelling starfish from this thread: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...-thread-19677/ Old – My mom’s garter from their wedding almost 30 years ago Flower Girl Dress: Purchased from Gap Kids. We gave the girls coordinating flip flops in their bags. Bridesmaid Attire: They have each picked out their own black dress. When they were looking, favorites included all of the convertible dresses from VS. They are so flattering! They will also wear these black flip flops from dessy.com: Wedding Flip Flops | Bridesmaid Flip Flops | 50+ Colors: The Dessy Group I gave them all starfish necklaces in their gifts (below) and I made them each (along with the flower girls) hair flowers from our leftover real touch orchids. Groom Attire: Fedora is from Express, shirt is a white Kenneth Cole shirt (the picture shows a black shirt), shorts from My Cuban Store and flip flops from Old Navy Groomsmen Attire: They will be wearing the same flip flops and shorts as the groom, but with this black shirt

After constantly watching for new planning threads during my whole planning process, I’m so excited that I finally get to do my own! Plus, today is our legal day, so what better way to celebrate?? A great majority of what I’ve done would have not been possible without the help and support of my Dreams PC and April brides, along with the countless ideas I got from tons of other ladies on the forum. My FI and I got engaged on Valentine’s Day in 2009, although we’d never really celebrated the holiday before. Apparently the ring was taunting him so he got up early and had his daughter wake me up and get me to come to the living room. With me half-naked in my PJs and the dogs barking at the back door, he asked me to marry him! My engagement ring and wedding band: FI’s bands: Black tungsten from overstock.com We also flew our fantastic wedding photographer in to take engagement pictures… here’s a link to that thread: Best Destination Wedding Forum ~ The Ultimate Destination Wedding Resource Photographer: Stephany from EyeSpy Photography (|| EyeSpy Photography || high fashion seniors || fine art animals || commercial ||). She has become a friend throughout this whole process and I only came across her name because another BDW bride (tvt… thanks Tara!) had posted a review. Video: I'm also bringing a videographer who is good friends with my photographer. His name is Nick Kesler and he's the owner of Clam Lake Films in MN. If you go to the eyespy blog (eyespy photography) he made the promo video at the top! Monogram: the amazing Becks did ours (my avatar) and went above and beyond to include our theme of the stargazer lily. Invites: Since we were only planning on inviting close friends and relatives, and they already knew about the date, etc., we didn’t send STDs, but just did our DIY boarding pass invites: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...details-44417/ Location: Dreams PC… we picked an island and the resort pretty quickly. I was very happy with how easy that process was! Wedding Dress: Nicole Miller… this picture is from the first time I tried the dress on and picked it out.. almost exactly 14 months ago! Since then we added a halter neckline (starting in the middle of the bust line, looping around my neck and coming back to the same spot). We did this just because the dress is pretty low cut and sweetheart necklines are tricky if you are “generously-sized†in the bust area! I absolutely love my dress though, and it’s now my own custom gown! Wedding Shoes: Bought these from Express last year… our ceremony is on the beach so no heels for me! Wedding Jewelry: Since we added the halter strap to my dress last minute, I decided to ditch my necklace and just wear earrings. I bought these Briolette Cluster earrings from Etsy seller lulidesigns: Etsy :: BRIOLETTE CLUSTER Earrings (Golden Shadow) Hair: My MOH left life as a CPA and went to cosmetology school just in time to do my hair and makeup for the wedding! I told her what I wanted for hair and she came up with this “boho chic†type look with an off-center, low bun and braids coming from both sides. Hair pieces: My photographer also has a company that creates custom hair pieces (posh | rebel… www.poshrebel.com) so she made me one for the ceremony and one for the TTD. I can’t wear a veil for the ceremony since the beach can be windy, so we decided to use that one for the TTD instead. (TTD shoot will be ½ on the beach and ½ in a small town about 40 minutes outside of Punta Cana called Higuey)

jenise, i know the feeling 100%!! last summer i was worried for the day when i wasn't planning anymore because i didn't know what else i'd do with my time. then all of a sudden i just didn't want to keep thinking about the details! you can only think about so many details before you lose your mind! people keep asking if i'm nervous, etc. and my honest response is that i'm pretty much just tired of all of this information in my head! i want to let it go and just enjoy everything!! i think the whole mentality is pretty common when it comes to planning!

tracy i am so glad that you had a beautiful ceremony (as if there was any doubt!) even though it wasn't what you first thought it would be!! i can't wait to see all of your pictures once you get back!! michele, those pictures on your photog's blog are GORGEOUS!! the one with the sunset is perfection!! today is legal day!! i'm trying to not make such a big deal out of it, but it's pretty cool still! i managed to even look a little fancy at work for the occasion! did anyone start to get ridiculous questions from frantic guests before they left? people are really worried about not having some sort of "official document" for their plane tickets, but that's how it is now. even people who have travelled like this recently are worried! i just want to turn my phone off until we all get to the airport!!

toya the dress is GORGEOUS!!! how happy are you that you decided to go with that one?