ablj209

Quote: Originally Posted by SonyaR Hi Amanda, Congrats on the booking. I recently discovered RIU Palace Punta Cana in my research and am seriously considering them to have our wedding. My FI and I are hoping to make a decision this weekend. Did you get pricing from the resort or just go by what is on the website? I'd like to know the prices for "extras". As well, most of our guests will be coming from Ottawa or Toronto area, did you get pricing for the all inclusive or are you waiting for this? Thanks and happy planning. Sonya I based the wedding packages by what was on the website for 2010. Since then, they have released their 2011 prices which are quite reasonable. The only difference is the amount of guests included in the package. For the 2010 Royal package, it included up to 40 guests, but for 2011 it dropped to only 15. This means I may need to upgrade to the Caprice or find out what the "extra person" rate is and figure out which way is more reasonable. I have gotten a few quotes from Sunquest and they came in at $1750 + $200 taxes for the airfare and Jr. Suite AI from Toronto. My TA mentioned that this is still quite high for them and suggested I wait another month or two to see if the rates drop. As for the extras, I haven't found a dedicated site like the ones they have for Majestic or Paradisus (with pics of all the centrepieces, bouquets, cake choices etc). But it sounds as though most everything is included and I don't really think I will need to purchase any extras Happy Planning!!! I'll try to post as much info as I can on this site for future Riu Punta Cana brides.

We got engaged after 4 years and will be together 5 years by the wedding

After playing around with some monograms.. this is my pick. What do you guys think?

March 2010 Melissa & Mark, March 3, 2010 - Iberostar Bavaro Jennifer & Cory March 13 2010- Palma Real Punta Cana Amy & Robert March 13, 2010 - Dreams Punta Cana Kim & Ron March 17, 2010 - Dreams Punta Cana Diane & Devin March 25 2010 - Paradisus Palma Real Anna & Lawrence March 26 - Majestic Colonial Erin & Pat March 27 2010 - Dreams Palm Beach JenP March 27,2010- Moon Palace Lindsay & Seth March 28 2010 - Paradisus Palma Real April 2010 Ken & Carla April 12, 2010 - Grand Oasis Marien Courtney & Michael April 13, 2010 - Grand Palladium Punta Cana Tracy & Mike - April 13, 2010 - Grand Palladium Royal Vanessa & Eddie April 16, 2010 - Majestic Colonial Steph & Jason April 16, 2010 - Grand Palladium Palace Punta Cana Alli & Darren April 19, 2010- Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Tammy & Ryan April 19, 2010- Grand Paradsie Bavaro(Alli were getting married next door) Mylène & Jenrené April 19, 2010 - Grand Palladium Punta Cana Crystal & Tyler April 20, 2010-Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana Jennifer & Trevor April 21, 2010 - Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana Helen & Scott April 21, 2010- Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana Dianne & Adam April 21, 2010 - Grand Palladium Punta Cana Jess & Aaron April 22, 2010 - Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Stacey & Eric April 22, 2010 - Dreams La Romana Holly & Shawn April 26, 2010 - Bavaro Princess Erin & Jeremy April 28, 2010 - Dreams Punta Cana Amanda & Craig April 28*, 2010 - Grand Palladium Punta Cana May 2010 Lara & Mike May 3 2010 - Majestic Colonial Jennnifer & Trevor May 11th 2010 - Majestic Colonial Nicole & Matt May 13, 2010 - Majestic Colonial (Hey Jennifer, maybe we'll see you there!!) Rosa & Larry May 15th, 2010 - Excellence Punta Cana Heather & George May 15th 2010 - Dreams La Romana mary & joey may 21st, 2010- dreams punta cana Christine & William May 24, 2010 Dreams Punta Cana Lauren & Nate May 18, 2010- Majestic Colonial Sara & Adam May 22nd, 2010 - Indecided, Punta Cana (Palladium, Dreams, Iberostar or Excellence) Iris and Mike May 27, 2010 - Majestic Colonial Rebecca and Hector May 27, 2010-Grand Palladium Punta Cana Shanelle & Michael ~ May 28, 2010 ~ Paradisus Punta Cana Susan & Roberto ~ May 28, 2010 ~ Dreams Punta Cana Valerie & Jake May 29, 2010- Dreams La Romana Melissa & Jason~ May 31, 2010 Paradisus Punta Cana June 2010 Heather & Grant: June 2nd, 2010 Majestic Colonial Bobbi And Tyler: June 4th 2010 Majestic Colonial Jen & Joe: June 5, 2010, Dreams Palm Beach Nikki and Stacey: June 10, 2010 Excellence Punta Cana Kate & Devon: June 12, 2010 Paradisus Punta Cana Lynette & Daniel : June 12, 2010 Dreams Punta Cana LaToya & Micah: June 18, 2010 Dreams Punta Cana Michelle & Wesley: June 19, 2010 Moon Palace Casino, Golf & Spa Resort Punta Cana, DR Sungoddess_08: June 28, 2010 Grand Palladium Punta Cana, DR July 2010 Natasha & Benjamin - July 2, 2010 Dreams Punta Cana Jessica & Hudson - July 5, 2010 Dreams Punta Cana SabBrew- July 6, 2010- Ocean Blue & Sand Asheley1316- July 8, 2011- Bahia or Majestic Lynette and Darnel July 13, 2010 - Dreams Punta Cana Tracy & George- July 16, 2010- Paradisus Palma Real James and Jessica- July 17, 2010 -Paradisus Punta Cana Laura & Zach July 15, 2010 - Majestic Colonial or Grand Palladium Palace Jenn & Andrew - July 21, 2010 - Majestic Colonial, PC Liz & Miguel - July 26, 2010 - Undecided location {Santiago, Puerto Plata, or Punta Cana August 2010 Jeanette & Julio - undecided Punta Cana, (PPC or PPR) Aug 2010 Linda & Robin: August 3, 2010 - Paradisus Punta Cana Jess & Eamon: August 7, 2010- Melia Caribe Tropical Denise & Julio: August 7, 2010- Punta Cana- Melia Caribe Tropical Ashley and Eric: August 31, 2010- Paradisus Palma Real September 2010 Nadia & Serge: September3, 2010- Dreams La Romana Jennifer & Elvin: September 4, 2010- Dream Palm Beach Diana & Eddy: September 3, 2010- Majestic Colonial October 2010 Autumn & Dominic - Oct 16th, 2010 - Dreams Punta Cana Michele & Andrew - Oct 19th, 2010 - Majestic Colonial Luciel & Emil - Oct 23th, 2010 - Catalonia Royal Bavaro Monica & Brandon - Oct 29, 2010 - Excellence Resort Punta Cana December 2010 Eliana & Miguel- December 1, 2010 - Dreams Punta Cana January 2011 Ashlee & Daniel - January 12, 2011 - Paradisus Punta Cana February 2011 Amanda & Jason - February 26, 2011 - Riu Palace Punta Cana July 2011 Ashley1316- July 8, 2011- Bahia or Majestic July 2011/ 2012 Yvonne and Andrew- last week of july 2011/ 2012 (money dependant), dreams la romana

Yippee!! I got my email confirmation that my date has been booked! Legal ceremony on the beach at the Riu Palace Punta Cana.. Feb 26, 2011 @ 4pm. Now all the real planning can begin! Monograms, wedding colours, decorations, photographers here I come!!!

Oh wow! I hope the dress turns out okay! I agree with the previous posts, I wouldn't pay this woman for mangling your dress, even if she did hem it nicely.. you should send her the bill for the 2nd seamstress!

I have the same issue. My wedding will be in February 2011. I have a lot of relatives in Scotland/England/Australia that most likely will not be joining us in Punta Cana. If we have the AHR shortly after we return, the weather in Canada in March would not the best for their vacation. First step is to get some numbers together and figure out how many overseas relatives will be coming to either the wedding or the AHR. I think if we have an AHR at all, it will be in June.

I did this!! I started in August 2009 and ran my first 5K in October 2009!!! My time was 35 minutes.. not too bad for my first race. I have since run 4 more 5K's with my best time being 30:57. Yesterday, I started on a new program.. well, really I am toying with 2 .. Gateway to 8K and from 30 minutes to 1 hour. I think I like the idea of the one hour runner program better. We shall see which one sticks. Good luck to everyone running the C25K!

I used to collect spoons from everywhere I went. Now I collect those sand jars from the beaches of my travels!

So far, I have only 1 uninvited guest. My MOH's mother has invited herself to Punta Cana. As she explains, it's a public resort, anyone can go at any time. This is fine, however, we have informed her that she will not be participating in any of the wedding events. She will not attend the sunset dinner cruise the night before the wedding, there will not be a chair for her at the ceremony or the semi-private reception. As for the rest of the week, if she wants to hang out with her daughter and the rest of us, then that's okay!

Those cups are awesome! Your guests are going to love getting them!

I have a small sun on my shoulder. It took about 30 minutes to do and didn't hurt at all.. I agree with the "tickled" comments, it kindof vibrates and goes numb. I have been talking about getting a butterfly with a tribal band around my ankle, but so far, it hasn't happened. I think I just want another one so that I can see it. Since this one is on my back, I usually forget it's even there!

1. How old are you? 32 2. At what age did you/will you get married? 33 3. Do you have children? None - FI has 2 (boy & girl) 4. Did you think you would marry the person you are with now? absolutely 5. Were you ever engaged or married to someone other than the person you are with now? no 6. Do you want a garden wedding, beach wedding, or the traditional church wedding? beach 7. Where did you/will you get married? Punta Cana, Dominican Republic 8. First dance - classic waltz, slow and sexy, or fast and spicy? not sure yet.. probably classic waltz, FI and I are looking to take ballroom dance lessons this summer 9. How many guests did you/will you have? 16 and counting (probably end up with 25) 10. Do you want/did you have an extravagant wedding or a simple wedding? simple 11. Vows - traditional or something you make up on your own? traditional 12. How many layers of cake did you/will you have? hopefully 2 or 3, whatever the hotel provides 13. Is/was your wedding/reception at a hotel? yes 14. When did you/will you get married - sunrise, mid-day, sunset? just before sunset (4pm) - need time to get in those pictures!! 15. Did you/will you have your reception outdoors or indoors? at an open air restaurant on the beach - technically outdoors, with a roof 16. Plan every detail down to the napkins or let someone else decide? i'm going to let the WC plan most of the details 17. How did/will the bride enter? down the sand aisle 18. Song to walk down the aisle to: Canon in D?? 19. Song to make your exit: not sure yet 20. Will you/did you have a solemn ceremony or a light one? light & casual 21. At what age did you think you would get married? 25 22. Who to invite - practically everyone or a select few? practically everyone ~ the more the merrier! 23. Wedding menu - fine dining or simply delicious? simply delicious 24. Champagne or red wine? champagne 25. Honeymoon right after the wedding, awhile after the wedding, or no honeymoon? we are staying at the resort for 2 weeks.. hopefully the schedule will work out that we have a full week alone for our honeymoon after the wedding 26. Was your/will your honeymoon be at a place special to you both or somewhere brand new to you both? it's the only tropical place we've traveled to.. punta cana! 27. Who will pay for the bills? mostly me for the smaller items such as invites and OOT bags, the big ticket items will be 50/50 28. Living together: Not before marriage or absolutely before marriage? absolutely 29. Anything else about marriage you'd like to say? It can take quite a while to find the right "one," but when you do, you just feel it.

February 2011 here! FI and I are hoping for the 26th, but we the judge won't confirm availability until April. My dress has been ordered, and my save the dates that say Punta Cana, Dominican Republic February 2011 have been mailed (the local ones have already been received, the overseas will take a bit longer). I'm so excited!!

pepper = green

#1, 4 & 15 get my vote... wow, those are some amazing pictures.. congrats!

I like option B .. I immediately think of sand and sea with the colour transition.. beautiful!

My Turn!! The Model Me in the sample (of course, I was talking when my mom took the pic!) I'll try to post a better picture when I go back for the fitting!

This is my dress!

My FI picked out my E-Ring!! I had commented a few times about the style I liked, the multi-stone as opposed to the solitaire. Plus, I work a lot with my hands and didn't want a really big "skating rink" as I was afraid it would get damaged. I love it, it's perfect for me!!! On the side of the 3 larger stones, there are cutouts of little hearts! This is the matching wedding band that I will get to go with the e-ring.

I ordered them from savethedatemagnet.com.

They are 2" x 3.5" in size. They say it takes 3-4 days to print them and then they'll ship to me. I got them to print the return address with a flower on the back of the envelopes, we just need to print the guest mailing address on the front and send them out! FYI, you can upload a spreadsheet with all the guest addresses and they will print them for you for a small fee.

Yay, I got the email proof back from New & Blue. They look awesome. I had ordered a sample (non-personalized) and they were so cool! The come in a little plastic protector attached to a cardboard magnet holder!

I've seen a ton of threads for Dreams, Majestic, and others, but very few posts for the Riu Palace. Has anyone gotten married there or planning to soon? I'm looking book a ceremony for February 2011, but the sales agent told me the judge isn't accepting requests for Feb 2011 until April 2010. If anyone has any photos or reviews of the Riu, I'd love to see/read them!

Since we will be arriving in Punta Cana on Tuesday, then I'm assuming planning/prepping/being very busy until the wedding on Saturday. That would only leave 3 days to relax and enjoy our "vacation/honeymoon". We have decided to stay at the resort for a second full week!!!! As far as I know, our guests will only be staying 4-7 days, so that will give us a full week for some quality alone time!