robinkar

Okay, I have a very silly question. If we are getting the paperwork for the Dominican, is there any paperwork to be done for Canada. Do we need to get a marriage license in Canada or do we just submit some type of paperwork that we get from the Domician after the wedding.

This is the same location as our wedding reception in April 2010. The only part that we are worried about is the fact that since this is a daytime restaurant that they will open for a private reception is what about the bar situation. First I hear that we needed to purchase a bar package but considering that we are also paying for the blissful love package (expensive) and the private reception for ($ 750.00) we don't want to add another expense of the booze considering that this is an all inclusive. What did you guys do for the drinks.

Quote: Originally Posted by natashakc Hey ladies! We were married there November 16, 2009! We had a private reception at the Garden Grille (excellent choice). We chose this restaurant as it was the most "Canadian" of the options for our meat-and-potatoes kindda group:) We paid $750 USD for the private reception which was worth every penny. We were married at the Gazebo at 4pm, took pictures after that, then the reception began at 6:30pm. Don't worry about bringing your own centrepieces, etc. That is absolute insanity to me as they do a beautiful job with flowers, decorations, etc. They do up pretty menu cards at each place setting, which was a nice touch. Our menu: Chicken ceasar salad for starter Beef Vegetable soup Grilled chicken breast, roasted potatoes with veggies Chocolate brownie with ice cream They also had a beautiful wedding cake which was absolutely delicious! We brought our own IPOD with a dinner and dance playlist which I gave to the co-ordinator that morning and when we got there at 6:30pm it was all hooked up to the speakers and ready to go. That worked very well for our dance! The reception went until 10:30pm. Don't pay out extra for the bar, that is totally silly and unnecessary. Our guests couls barely take a sip out of their dinks without it beign topped up, without paying that dumb supplement. Anyways, any questiosn you ladies have, ask away!! I am so excited to hear that you were just married their recently. Are you planning on submitting a wedding review for the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro. I would love to read one. I could ask many questions but just don't know where to start.

Quote: Originally Posted by robinkar Do you not need to get anything translated for your witnesses. We are having family as the best man and maid of honour. I would have thought that if they needed our birth certificates translated, wouldn't they need theirs done as well. This may be a silly question but where do you get the single status affidavit to sign

Quote: Originally Posted by nsimpson No - they don't require your wedding party to have their documents translated. They may however ask for a regular photocopy of the picture page of their passports if they will be the ones to witness (sign the register) at your wedding. Also, I saw that you mentioned that you are having family as your BM and MOH; just so you know, your official wittnesses cannot be related to you! So you will have to find other people to act and sign as your witnesses. I've attached the webiste for the Dominican Consulate here in Toronto (if you choose to go to them to have your legalizations & translations done) D.R. Marriage Requirements Hope this answers your questions...good luck Wow, who would have thought that you are not supposed to use relatives as your official witnesses. We live fairly close together. We are in Caledon on Kennedy Road just north of Mayfield.

Which Gran Bahia Principe resort are you getting married at and what is the date. Our wedding is at the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro on April 15, 2010. We have choosen the Outdoor Piscis Restaurant but have not had to pick a menu yet. Just wondering what all you have had to pick out so far as we haven't had to do much at this point. Would like to compare notes. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Quote: Originally Posted by trance_angelx0x I got it done at the Dominican Embassy here in Ottawa. It costs $360 USD $100 to legalize the single status affidavit (one for you, one for your DH) $40 to translate each document (2 birth certificates and 2 single status affidavit) You can always opt to get the documents translated by a certified translator but the Canadian dollar right now is pretty good so it will maybe cost you $50 less not to do it through the Embassy. The documents are good 3 months following legalization. Do you not need to get anything translated for your witnesses. We are having family as the best man and maid of honour. I would have thought that if they needed our birth certificates translated, wouldn't they need theirs done as well.

We are having the wedding at the Gran Bahia Principe Bavaro on April 15, 2010. I just wanted to hear from other brides getting married at this resort as to what they have arranged or thinking of arranging. It doesn't matter how much we have already done, I keep thinking that there is so much more and I might miss something. So it would be good to hear from others. We have selected the Blissful Love Wedding Package. April 10th - arrive at resort in the evening. After the guests have had time to settle, thinking of arranging for a cocktail hour at the lobby bar for some drinks and a game to play April 11th - arrange to play the Amazing Race for the guest meet and greet. I just loved this idea but of course doing it differently April 12th - game of cups at poolside with guests April 13th - game of water volleyball April 15th - ceremony at 2:00 at garden gazebo, followed by pictures, guests will be asked to go to the lobby bar for some drinks where they can sign the scrapbook guestbook. Then will play a bride & groom game when everyone is together. 6:30 to 10:30 is the dinner and dancing at the Outdoor Piscis Restaurant. Music will be played from our Ipod (still selecting music). About 36 people have been confirmed at resort but expecting closer to 50 guests. Things completed: - bought two dresses - one long & one short (short one has to be altered) - bought bridesmaid dresses - some of the guest gifts In progress: - scrapbook guest book - different games to play - thinking of centerpieces AHR - having an AHR two weeks after wedding at Golf & Country club with about 150 guests (only cocktails and dancing - no dinner) - bought candle holder for centerpieces and shells - still need candles - started invitation process I wanted to arrange for a welcome dinner on the Sunday evening with our guests but have approached the resort and they are claiming that it will cost another $750.00 US. This seems odd since at an all inclusive, we should be allowed to arrange for a dinner at a restaurant. Anyone else having this issue. So much to do and so little time. Where is everyone else at.

Hello to all of the Cdn brides getting married in the Dominican. We are having the wedding in April 2010 and are thinking about getting the legal documentation arranged at the end of January. Where are you thinking of sending the information to be translated. For those who have already done it, who did you use and approximately how much did it cost. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Quote: Originally Posted by cogswellgray Just bring the same guestbook from your wedding to the AHR but you can add photos to it that each guest took while at your DW! Then the guests who weren't there can see more pictures and the guests who already signed a guestbook at your wedding don't have to sign another one. We originally were going to have only one guestbook but since we are doing a scrapbook with the pictures of the destination wedding guests it may not make sense. Not sure how the AHR guests will feel. We are having about 50 guests and about 150 AHR guests. It would be hard to get pictures of the 150 guests and I don't know how they will feel about signing in a book that had memories of the wedding when they weren't there. Still undecided.

Quote: Originally Posted by kerrij Hey All, I just wanted to share a fun idea that my friend and I as well as my FI came up with for our DW in Jamaica! We wanted to make sure that everyone meets each other so that there isn't anyone left out and make everyone feel like part of the group. so we are doing 2 different get to know each other events... 1. we all fly in friday afternoon so i'm going to send an invite for all our guests (about 50) to come Party at the Disco! with the invitation each person is going to get something, like beads or neon sticks or lais or something so we all stand out, but not too tacky. then everyone will be at the disco and having a few drinks and they'll see someone on the dance floor next to them or at the bar by them with the matching necklace and it'll be a good lead to start up a convo to those who don't know eachother. with a few drinks it's always easier to talk to a "stranger"! and who doesn't want to hang out and party your first night on holidays! hehehe 2. the next day around 2pm, after the hangovers are cleared, we are going to have an Amazing Race challenge! we are still working out the details, but basically we are going to team everyone up in about 7 groups of 6. each group will have 3 couples/friends who don't know eachother. eg, my bro/wife, FI's cousin/friend, our two of our good friends. so they all can meet different "groups" of people, so the trip doesn't feel clicky. each team is going to have Tie Dyed shirts that we'll make all of them, to make them stand out...and cause a bit of a show and make it a little more fun! lol we'll all meet at the beach and we'll tell them the rules etc. at each of the 6 Pit Stops, which will be a bar, will be one person from our wedding party! at the pit stop they will get to meet the person from our wedding party and have a drink and have a little timer so they can chat for a few mins and get to know each person of our wedding party. Then that way aren't just another face on the day of the wedding. then after a few mins of visiting they'll get their next clue, which will be like, take your picture doing a team pyramid on the beach with 2 strangers or go meet a house keeping lady and take a group photo with her...all clues have to be photographed. at the end will be the final pit stop where Blair and I will be...in the swim up bar! all teams will end up here and we'll have some great laughs over all the things they did and mingle in the pool! then we'll take underwater team photos which we'll send to them when we send our thank yous after the trip. it will be a great way to break the ice without any pressure and will give people stuff to talk about! So we'll just have these 2 events and then the day of the wedding hopefully people will all know each other better and make the wedding day/night that much more fun! I'm so excited for this trip, we are going to make sure everyone has a blast! Anyone else have any other fun ideas for the guests? Something different than the usual excursions, etc? It was great to see your note. We are planning what we hope will be some fun things that are more unique and not expected by the guests. On the first night we will have a coctail hour at the lobby bar of the resort. During the cocktail hour we are planning to have a - who knows the bride & groom. The bride and groom will have shots to give to the first person who answers the questions correctly. During the afternoon on two of the days, there are two events planned - flip cup at the swim up bar and then water ballooon volleyball. We also wanted to incorporate a reception line whereby the guests all get to meet the wedding party but without the formality and not the day of the wedding. So we will probably do some activities that incorporate your idea. We are thinking of having a trivia/challenge game. I really liked the part about having different clues and having the guests meet the wedding party at different locations. Let me know what activities you are planning for your Amazing Race. We have a couple of ideas but it is always good to hear from others.

Quote: Originally Posted by SheriB We are planning the wedding for November 2010 with the AHR about 2 weeks later. I really like the idea of cocktails & hors d'oeurves to start the evening off, dancing and then a late lunch. Anyone out there done this kind of AHR already? How did the timing work? Was it well received? All the weddings around here are pretty much the same: buffet dinner, reception program (with too many speeches), dance, midnight lunch. We want to be unique! I think that we have the same type of AHR planned. In May, 2010 we are having a party. It will start with cocktails and appetizers at 8:00 pm. At 8:30 pm. we will ask everyone to enter the room. From there we will have introductions, a slide show of the destination wedding and then start the dance. At around 11:00 pm. there will be a sweet table and hoping for a chocolate fountain as well. So basically it will be one big party. There will also be a section where the bride & groom will change and we have planned a hot salsa dance complete with lifts. It should be fun.

Wow, it shoulds like you have it really together. We still have a lot to do. We have a things in the works but not a lot finished. Its a good thing when you can finally say that things are DONE.

Quote: Originally Posted by calchik i just wanted to mention that they can customize your flowers they give you a book to pick flowers out of (i have a link to the pics somewhere, i'll have to find it when i get home then i'll post it) i picked a bouquet and asked if i could have purple flowers put in instead of the orange ones that were there, they did it no problem and no extra charge for changing the flowers. and i got offered 3 different boutouineers (however you spell that) as my WC didn't know which pink i would prefer and the flowers were more than enough for centerpieces imo, but then again i had one big long table instead of a bunch of little ones. Everywhere that I read about the wedding packages, it seems to mention that only the brides bouquet and the grooms flower was included. It seems that it will be an extra charge for the MOH, parents and best man. Do you know if they include flowers as ceremony decorations.

Quote: Originally Posted by KimmyG Ohh please share details... what kind of games What a cool idea! The first game that we are planning on having is a drinking game for the welcome cocktail party that we are hoping to have the first night at the resort since there will be guests coming from different parts of Canada as well as Scotland. This will give everyone a chance to come together as a group. We think that it will go like this: - the bride and groom will both have about 25 shots of a carribean type of drink - questions will be asked about the bride and groom - if the question is asked about the bride, the first people to get the question right will be given a shot by the bride - if the question is asked about the groom, the first people to get the question right will be given a shot by the groom - it will be them who will decide if one or more guests are entitled to the drink The second game is the bride & groom shoe game. We are thinking that this will be played during the cocktail party - the time between the ceremony (after pictures) and the reception. We needed to plan something since the ceremony is at 2:00 p.m. and the reception not until 6:30 p.m.