DEH83

I haven't received my marriage certificate yet either. It seems to be the ladies who were married the week before us got theirs, so I guess there was some sort of hold up. I emailed Carolina and asked her about it and she said she expects to have them in next week. And CONGRATULATIONS Military Mrs.!! That's so exciting!

I had the room in the Punta Cana section with the jacuzzi in the room, and I actually liked it better than the other rooms, since it meant we had a normal shower. I think too though I was just really happy with where our room was. We were in block 4 with the room closest to the beach overlooking the gazebo where we got married.

Jerzshortstuff, We stayed at Royal Suites our second week for our honeymoon, and Tracy is right - so worth it! We've decided that when we go back down south again (not necessarily the same resort), that we will be doing th upgraded service again. So worth it for us - absolutely nothing to worry about and more quiet. However, I'm happy that we stayed in the regular section the first week with all our guests. For us, it was nice that we were all so close together (we were all in the same 2 buildings), which cut down on arranging time and we hung out at one particular pool for most of the week. The Imperial Club is an upgrade with a particular tour operator - I can't remember which one - Signature Vacations maybe, but it wouldn't apply to you anyhow since it's a Canadian Company! And you will definitely get a restaurant! Just make sure they know your preferences and they will "try their best to accomodate you". We got exactly what we wanted - although If I did it all over again I would haven't requested the patio of La Uva but inside instead - it was really hot! We had our reception dinner at 8, and the restaurant actually seemed to be closed or something - there was no one else there, eventhough we didn't pay for a private reception.

It looks like most of us went with the same flowers! I didn't like the options that were included, so I went with lilies and the single lilies for the girls. I brought my own ribbon and they did a great job with it. It was a last minute pick-up and I'm glad I did! (the pin was something my Aunt had been saving for my wedding day for over 10 years. She passed away last year, so it was extra special when my cousin gave it to me)

Yeah, I was really lucky with a photographer. She was an old friend from High School, so it was extra special. We exchanged her services with the cost of her trip which was terrific since she wouldn't have been able to make it otherwise. She took photos from the whole week. in total, I have over 1000!! But it's a little overwhelming! We didn't pay extra or ask for the arch...it was just there...but it certainly was a nice touch. Rgonzalez, i just saw your wedding date! It's coming up! I'm so excited for you. You will really have a great time. Just relax and let it all happen is my best piece of advice. The night before the wedding, my husband and I stayed together because I knew I wouldn't sleep well if we didn't. We went to our room early that night to just relax and have some alone time - it was hard with all the guests. I found that very soothing and we slept really well. Then in the morning I went to the gym for a run which always calms me down. But concealer always does wonders!

Thanks for fixing my link! I'd love to see your dress! Mine was a Maggie Soterro. My Photographer brought the sparklers with her from Canada. (You're not supposed to because they're "technically" illegal to bring on a plane!)

Here are some of our photos. I'm really happy with them. Lets see if this works. Let me know if it doesn't. I'm new at this! http://www.flickr.com/photos/73283624@N00/sets/72157624060134470/

rgonzalez, we had the beef medalions and they were delicious. We also went with the caesar salad which everyone raved about. It was very authentic. i wish though we hadn't even picked a dessert. We originally were going to cut the cake at the gazebo after the ceremony, but because it had rained that day they were worried about transporting it and the humidity, so we did it at the restaurant after dinner, but everyone was full, so we really didn't get to enjoy it! Tracy - you received your wedding certificate already?! I really thought it would have taken longer to receive given the "Dominican time pace". That's great news because I'm starting a new job in a couple of weeks and would like to take care of the paperwork with my name change and such.

rgonzalez, We dealt almost exclusively wit Kenia. SHe was good and knew what she was doing. The only issue we struggled with during our planning session was that her english was not as good as Carolina's. We struggled with the menu selections and people's food allergies, but eventually we got there! She was on time and met us at the Punta Cana lobby later that day because we had forgottent o give her some stuff. I really woudln't worry about it. She seemed quite organized as well! We didn't have any issues with getting our stuff back. I think though it was because our room was so close to the gazebo. We were in the 4000 block with the room looking right onto the Gazebo and ocean, so it was probably easier for them to just drop the stuff off there than to drive it back to their office. All our stuff was in our room when we came back after the reception. But just to be sure, label all your stuff if you can! They have a lot going on there!

When we went to Punta Cana for our wedding. by husband wanted to play golf with his buddies as well. He researched like mad, and the cheapest he found was the White Sands and it was 150. The thing with the golf courses there is that you have to pay the green fee, but you also MUST rent a cart as well. In the end, they decided not to, and He was happy they didn't when we drove to the White Sands Golf Course and it was really shabby (thus how much cheaper it was than the other courses). My advice would be to either shell out the extra cash to go to a nice place, or not do it at all. Punta Cana has some of the most beautiful courses in the world, but they are really pricy.

Sheila - my biggest piece of advice for anyone who chooses to go away to get married - DO NOT FOCUS SO MUCH ON TRYING TO ORGANIZE PEOPLE! It was truly the most stressful part of the whole thing. I know it's easier to say now that I've done it, but honestly, once we were there and trying to organize people again, All we wanted was it for just to be us. Of course in retrspect we will be pleased that our loved ones were there, but in the end, I think I would have also been happy to just be us. But of course you want everyone to come. People we thought would come didn't and others surprised us. If i could do it over again though i wouldn't do a group booking unless your travel agent is amazing. It was a lot of work. We also got burned. We gave one of our free trips to a couple as a wedding gift (nice, huh?) and the wife didn't come! We only found that out when we got to the resort and she wasn't there. A trip that could have been given to someone else or for us. a complete waste. We found with our wedding we got to know the people who really were important to us and vice versa. Some people of course couldn't come for good reasons, but we really learned who our good friends were who made sacrifices to be with us on our day and it's something we wont forget when it comes to events in their lives.

Yeah, the lost ring is definitely a story to always tell. It wasn't free though! He was going to charge us 80 if he didn't find it and 150 if he did. My friend got him down to 50 if not found and 120 if found. So I was thinking - there goes some of my spending money. But just as we found out the costs - My husband's grandfather gave us an envelope with 250 in it of his extra cash he hadn't spent (the family didn't know at this time the ring was lost), and told us to "do something we wouldn't normally do". We had our ceremony at 5pm. it was about a half hour and we stayed at the gazebo until dinner at 8 at La Uva. After the band left, we grabbed one of the docking stations from our rooms and hooked up and ipod and danced and such till dinner. and when the server left. since the gazebo wasn't too far from the Punta Cana Lobby, friends took turns getting trays of wine and beer! It was great fun and so casual - just what I wanted. We went to the Punta cana Lobby bar, just because we tried to stay local and Hemminway's was further away. The night we got in we saw a beach party going on - maybe it was one of yours! We were pretty loopy from all the mamjuana and my girlfriend was in her bikini dancing outside of the fensed in area before we could shoe her away! So sorry if it was yours! I think if we had done our dinner earlier I would have liked to do the beach party. Our original plan was to go to the disco to dance, but we visited there for our girls night and boys night out and it was insane! i didn't think it was a good place for my 80 year old grandmother...

I'm trying to catch up on all of your ladies' posts! We got back to Ottawa late Saturday night and are just trying to settle back into normal life. We got married on the 21st and stayed an additional week for our honeymoon. I'm so glad we did, because as someone else said, it was a lot of work entertaining and coordinating guests. We had some pretty rocky moments the first week, starting with our flight there with a screaming child behind us the entire flight. Don't get me wrong - I love kids, and there were other kids on the flight who were wonderful "normal" children, but this child was unreal. We were on a larger than normal plane and he could be heard from every end. We also hadn't slept in over 24 hours, so needless to say it was painful. When we arrived at the Punta Cana airport - a piece of my luggage was missing - the one with all my hair stuff and make up - and birth control refill! (I know - should have packed it in the carry-on!) This held up the entire bus, so they were pretty mad at us when we got on until my uncle said the bride's lugggage was lost. Then they were pretty sympathetic. Luckily the day before the wedding the luggage was found. We actually got married by the judge in the morning before our actual ceremony. It took all of 5 minutes in Carolina's office, and really took the pressure off I found. It rained on our wedding day too, but luckily it had stopped for our ceremony. I was so relieved because I had been watching weddings at the gazebo all week! We had Pastor York do our ceremony and I am so happy we did. He was fantastic, and improved and everyone loved it. After the ceremony, the musical trip stayed around and the servers for a another hour or so and we pretied there. I loved the trio. We had the traditional cheesegrate like instrument and 2 spanish guitars. Completely worht the money for us. Honestly - after the gazebo party - I could have gone to bed happy! Since we had our festivities pretty late, we ate dinner at La Uva on the patio and went to the lobby for drinks - but people were pretty much done in by then. We did receive special room decor on the wedding day from our very sweet maid, and the rum, fruit basket, gifts (The t-shirts) and breakfast. And then less than 48 hours after our wedding my husband lost his wedding ring in the sand while playing volleyball! we hunted for hours in the sand with no luck. the activity crew were great at keeping people out of the area and called a guy with a metal detector. he was on the other side of the island though and didnt get there until the evening - 6 hours later. He did find it though - thank god! I was so excited when they found it though i was running down the beach to see Adam. There wasa couple having a romantic dinner on the beach with music. i tripped over the cord and ripped the sound system out of the wall! I was so embarassed, but they said they had been watching us all afternoon and asked if we found what we were looking for. They poured me a glass of champagne and had a toast with me! THey were really sweet about the whole thing. I think the best part of the vacation though was our second week there alone together. We upgraded to the Royal section, and it was fantastic! So worth it! Okay, I'm spewing too much info, I'm impressed if you got this far. I'll have to continue getting caught up on all your guys' updates and wedding details!

Oh wow! you gals are all really really close! I'm a little jealous - I'm ready to get this show on the road! Good luck to you ladies, I'm sure your weddings will be wonderful!

Hey Girls, If you go to the wesbite for Palladium Weddings, you will find all the legal requirements listed there. Legal Requirements - Palladium Weddings You DO NOT need to have your birth certificate legalized - only translated: Civil Wedding Requirements for a legal wedding in Punta Cana Please follow these instructions very carefully to avoid any delay on the process of your documents. •Valid Passport* •Original Birth Certificate* •Single Status Affidavit and Divorce Act**. (original and notarized by a Notary Public or a Commissioner of oaths when send it by mail) find a sample of the Single Status affidavit below. •A minimum of two witnesses and a maximum of 8 (2 of them must not be blood relative) aged 18 years or over. The remaining 6 witnesses could be members of your family as stipulated on the provision No. 659 of the current legal law in the Dominican Republic. Foreignness witnesses need to hold a valid passport. If you do no provide the witnesses the hotel will provide them for free. •You should be at the hotel 48 hours before the date of the wedding if no possible, please contact your wedding planner to help you in this matter. This rule has been place by the hotels in order to have your wedding well organized. It is no mandatory by the law. •Translation into Spanish of the Single Status Affidavit, Birth Certificate, Divorce Act and Death Certificate if widowed ( It may be done at the Dominican Republic General Consulate for a fee) •Legalization of the Single Status Affidavit and Divorce Act by the Dominican Republic General Consulate.