ablj209

Just an update.. I have spoken to my mom a few times about this. She is starting to come around.. Inititally, she was trying to talk us into doing the legal day, but after considering that we would then be spending several thousand dollars for a "pretend wedding", she has come around. We have decided that if my dad has finished his treatments, but is still unable to attend, my mom will travel with my aunt - even if it's just for the weekend so that someone from my family will be there. We are still keeping our fingers crossed that my dad gets better and is able to travel!!!

Purple and Oasis (Aqua)

That was awesome!

Thanks guys! I am going to talk to my mom tonight about this. From our last conversation, they would be too worried about him getting sick and needing to be rushed back to Canada. I think it might be several years before they would be willing to take that risk (even when he finishes chemo, there are some further medical issues that would need to be addressed). Â My mom had mentioned that the beach would be okay if it were just the bride and groom. Essentially, that is what we are doing. A very small, casual wedding with only a few people (everyone was invited but only 4-5 have expressed interest in attending). Since the ceremony itself will only be 15 minutes and then just a casual dinner at one of the restaurants, I don't think they will be missing out on any of the formalities normally associated with a big, traditional wedding. Â The reception in April would be where the formalities come into play. The speeches, first dance, father/daughter - mother/son dances will all take place then and my parents will be there for this. Â I know they will be upset at first, but hopefully with time, they'll come around and understand that the beach wedding is what FI and I really want. Â

My FI and I were engaged on Christmas 2009. I have always dreamed of a wedding on a tropical beach so we began planning for Punta Cana for February 2011 in order to allow close friends and family time to save up money and join us. In May, my dad was taken to the hospital, had emergency surgery, and diagnosed with cancer. He has since healed from multiple operations, and began 6 months duration of chemotherapy. His chemo began in August and if he stays on track, will finish in January 2011. I kept ahead with the planning in the hopes that all would end well and he would be fit for travel come February. I mailed out the invitations last week and spoke to my mom the other day. They were very upset that I mailed out the invitations without talking to them first. They had apparently spoken to the doctors who informed them that there was absolutely no way my dad would be able to travel. Even if he did finish his chemo in time, his immune systems would still be weakened and he would be very susceptible to infection and the insurance cost would be astronomical. They have made it clear that they will not be able to attend. My mom assumed I would go ahead with the trip just as a vacation and then have a ceremony here when we returned. I can't do this, as it would be a miserable week thinking about what should be happening, especially if there is another wedding taking place that week. Â Options: 1) Do a legal day here before we leave and just have immediate family in attendance. I'm not a fan of this, I feel it would tarnish the whole idea of our wedding on the beach if the actual ceremony already happened at city hall. Â 2) Go ahead with the wedding as planned understanding that my parents will likely disown me (even though we have made it clear that we understand not everyone will be able to attend for various reasons) Â 3) Cancel the destination wedding and have the ceremony the day of our At Home Reception as we already have the venue booked and would just need to add the ceremony. Our AHR date is April 30th and since we live in Ontario, that early in spring would likely still be cold ~ completely the opposite of a tropical wedding. Â I'm really not sure which decision would be the best one.

@dominicana06 - congratulations! I am so glad to hear you had a fantastic time at the Riu Palace. Can't wait to see some pics!!!

My wedding is Feb 26th. So far, only the wedding party and 4 guests have booked.. 10 in total. The early booking bonus was quite high, but we were willing to pay it just for the satisfaction of "knowing" our trip was booked and confirmed. I know most other people are waiting to see if prices drop closer to the date. I've been checking and so far it has gone down about $100. My invitations are going out this week and I'm hoping that will motivate some people to start booking.

@Iamalldiva - Sorry, I haven't heard much info on specific pricing and discounts. So far, we only have a very small party joining us, so I think we'll be okay with the standard packaging. I am sending out invitations this week, so hopefully, when I receive my response cards, I'll have a better idea of how many people are actually travelling and whether or not I need to look into these details. Â @Dominicana06 - please share your review and pictures soon!!! we are all anxious to see how it turned out!!!!

Those look great! Very similar to mine!! Unfortunately, I had to pay the brokerage fees, but I love them and think they're definately worth the extra cost!!!

This is the dress I have chosen for after the wedding day dinner and also the AHR. Davids Bridal INT1060 Â

I'm still here!! Most of what can be done at this point has already been done. I just approved my invitations (starfish passports) and will post a pic of them when they arrive (hopefully in the next few weeks). I have had a bit of trouble getting a hold of the photographer, we've been trying to book Michael Weiler, but every time I try to get a response from him, they just send me to his website and attach a pricelist.. LOL.. At this point, I'm not too worried about it, but as the date gets closer, and the chance of him being booked becomes more likely, I may get more frenzied. All I'm looking for is a confimation that I have booked his services!!!! Â So far we still only have 10 people booked, unfortunately, my dad has received some bad health news and may not be able to attend. We are still crossing our fingers that he is given the green light. Â I'm waiting to hear back from DOMINICANA06 as she was married on Aug 6th!!!! I can't wait to hear her review!! Â Hope everyone else's planning is going smoothly!!

We will be staying at the resort for 14 days, most of our guests will be there for 4-7 days, so the 2nd week will be our honeymoon.

Those are all beautiful dresses... My top pick would be #2 with #4 as the runner up!

I agree that the wedding invitations should be formal with First, Middle & Last names. I have to question how he could be angry, did he not see the invitations before they went out? PS. I also know a friend of a friend, who, if she were to marry her long time BF, she would become Leslie Leslie... that's too funny!

wow.. those look great!

Hey, My budget is set around $20k for the wedding in Punta Cana, AHR in Ontario & flights/attire for my FI, SD, SS & myself... so far, I think I might come in close to that... but we've still got 8 months to go! Check out this thread for detail budgets that other brides have posted... http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/f9/budget-933/

Ok, I think I might be afraid to add this up at the end... Flights & Accommodation for FI & Myself (14 days) ~ $6500 Flights & Accommodation for SS & SD (7 days) ~ $3500 Bridal Gown ~ $950 Bridal Jewelry ~$150 RIU Royal Wedding Package ~ $1540 Photographer ~ $1000 STD's ~ $125 Invitations ~ $500 OOT Bags & Contents ~ $105 AHR (hall, decorations, food, drinks) ~ $4000 Total to Date...... $19,270 Still required to purchase... Groom's attire, Jr. Groomsman attire, Jr Bridesmaid attire, AHR DJ ... ouch

I would pick Friday.. Also, some resorts won't hold weddings on Holidays or Sundays.

FYI, if you're ordering from Discountmugs.com, just send them the JPG file and they will remove the background layer for you. I sent them a file with a white background and a purple image and just let them know that the image was supposed to be white (printed on purple mugs)... it turned out exactly as I expected.

Hi! I am getting married there on Feb 26, 2011. I have started another post which has some details and pictures of what's available at the Riu Palace Punta Cana. http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...-2011-a-56765/ You can also check out Wedding Packages by Destination. Honeymoon Holidays. Weddings by Riu for all the details offered for each of the RIU hotels.

Ordered 32 mugs from Discountmugs.com .. they shipped me 40 of them! Brokerage charge was $63, a little more that anticipated, but still definately worth it ~ I love my mugs!!!

Awesome website!

Welcome! I'm getting married in Punta Cana in February 2011! @ Riu Palace... you're going to love this site!!!

Those invites look FANTASTIC!! Great job!

I'm going for 2 weeks also. I think that with all of the wedding preparations and celebrating with family during the first week, we will need the second week to really sit back, relax and enjoy paradise as husband and wife!