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Quote: Originally Posted by PuntaCanaNikki Ok.... So I just realized this today and I can't believe I didn't think of this when planning and booking..... sorry if this it TMI but I need some opinions.... I am going to have my period the week I'm in Dominican...RRRR I can't believe I didn't plan around this.... So I was wondering.... there is a medication called Norethisterone that can be taken 3 days before expected menstruation and will delay it for about a week... I want to ask my doctor about it.... Do you think this is a good idea or should I just tough it out?? Quote: Originally Posted by Bella30 awe that sucks...kinda personal but are you taking the pill at all?? I am off of mine now but I used to just keep taking them without skipping that one week of "sugar pills" to prevent mine from starting if I was on vacation etc... and it always skipped it for that week until the next time came around I've never heard of Norethisterone...but by the sounds of the name, I'd guess it is a high dose of estrogen (which would trick your body into not having a period the way the birth control pill does). Maybe ask your doc about it? But like Bella has said, if you are taking the pill, there is no harm in taking pill packs back to back (ie: skipping the week of sugar pills and just taking the real pills) BUT to do this you MUST be taking "monophasic" pills and NOT "triphasic" pills. Monophasic pills have the same amount of hormones in every pill so your hormonal levels are the same all the time whereas the other ones have different amounts with each week and those need to be followed as prescribed. If you're not sure which you take, check the box as it normally says or ask your pharmacist as they'll know. Hint: generally any pill brand with "Tri" in the name is triphasic. Hope that helps =)

That's true. Drink only bottled water, not from the tap. You risk contracting Hep A or other bacterial/viral infections from the local water supply because you wouldn't have the antibodies that locals would have since you haven't been drinking it since birth. You could brush your teeth from the tap (don't swallow) as it's not THAT sensitive of an issue but again, it's recommended to use bottled water just to be on the safer side. As for ice and juice and whatnot, all resorts have filtered water they use for that. I've been to the DR twice and have been fine, as are most people. But psychologically, if you're not comfortable even doing that, don't - no point in worrying on vacation =)

I have a question for those of you who did/plan to do a TTD session with the resort photographer: what are the prices?? One of our guests is a wedding photographer so she'll be doing our photographs on our wedding day but I thought about booking a session a couple mornings later with the resort photography since TTD is such a specific photography concept and she's never done that before. Anyone have the package prices from the resort for this? Thanks a bunch!

They're all beautiful but my fav on you is definitely #4. If I had to pick a second, it would be #2.

Quote: Originally Posted by sap Ok ladies I am leaving in exactly 7 days!! WOohoo!!! As promised here are some pics of projects I've completed. More to come!! Sap, I LOVE your fans...nice job! Did you order them plain from somewhere and do the details yourself or did they come like that?

I invited relatives I barely know knowing they would not come but did so anyway because they are my aunts/uncles or whatever and technically should still be invited. People can look at it different ways: By inviting them, they may think I did so just as a possible gift grab (even though that was NOT why I invited them) or they may think it's sweet that I thought of them even though they can't/wouldn't come. If I didn't invite them, they might not care or they might be majorly offended. Sometimes, ya just can't win with some people so with that in mind, I did what made ME feel good, which was to invite them...I know they won't come but if they did, well that would be a pretty cool surprise. Regardless, my conscience is clear. I think you have to do what makes you feel comfortable. Goodluck!

Ahhhhh the dress is amazing (well, I think so anyway. Hopefully the fiance will agree, lol). I don't want to describe it because sometimes he comes on here!!! BUT if any of you ladies would like to see it, send me your email addresses and I would be more than happy to send you a picture that way! Sheila 2011 - green stilettos!! That sounds hot! I take it green is your colour for the wedding? Bella30 - I plan to get the trio band for the ceremony. Figure I'll walk down the aisle to something they play too but I'm not too picky about that. I think it'll give the ceremony a nice "island flare".

Ladies, I just had to announce that I bought my dress yesterday!!! I am SOOOOO EXCITED!!! I want to post it so badly but I think I'm too paranoid, lol. But YAY!!! It's such a good feeling, eh?

Yeah, I know what you mean about that nice bonus of getting a free room or free wedding or some sort of discount if you have so many rooms/people book at the resort. Like you, my fiance and I worked (very hard) with a travel agent to get a very competitive group rate so we'd like people to take advantage of it. However, we're not counting on the free room...we're considering it a bonus but don't wanna get my hopes up if for whatever reason not enough people book with the travel company as expected. Honestly, you can't control what other people do...they have a right to spend their money how they see fit and if that means staying somewhere else, well, that's their choice. Having said that, paying for the cab to get there and the day passes is also their choice and I made it very clear in my travel info letter attached to my invitations that if people choose to stay somewhere else, don't expect me to take care of anything for them (Ok, so I worded it way more politely than that, lol). If they wanna do their own thing, that's cool...as long as they realize that they'll definitely be doing their own thing!

Hi Wagnergirls. I know what a dilemma this can be for some of us. Like you, I don't have the closest relationship with my Dad but we still get along and care about each other and all that but it's distant. I am way closer to my Mom. Honestly, if anyone was going to have the honour of walking me down the aisle, it should be her. However, I would never want to offend my Dad but just having Mom do it; I think he'd be quite hurt. I don't really like the idea of being "given away" anyway so I'd much prefer to just walk by myself. However, my Mom really wants to walk with me down the aisle. Therefore, so that my Dad nor my Mom are offended (it's partly their day too, after all), I'm letting them both walk me down the aisle. But if you can get away with just walking by yourself, I'd say go for it!

Quote: Originally Posted by chell44 I was so stressed with the ceremony timing as well. Mines will be at 2pm. I figured people can go to the bars or even the casino, or back to their rooms to take a nap. On another site a girl said she had a pool party before dinner, that sounds fun, but who wants to change and get all wet, mess up their hair and then dress back up again? Are you ladies staying in your gowns the whole day and night? My wedding is at 2 pm as well ("subject to change" but I'm not counting on it). I will be in my gown from that time until I go to bed at night. I don't see much point in getting all fancied up just to get undone after a couple hours...I'm sure I'll be seeking out shade and A/C, however, LOL. How many guests are you expecting? I think in another post you said that people are hounding you for info? It was the same for us. We sent out save the dates in January wayyyyyy before we booked or even knew the resort because group rates weren't available more than a year in advance. So our save the date cards basically just said "April" in "Punta Cana"...just to let people know what we were planning and that more info would be coming within a few months.

Quote: Originally Posted by PuntaCanaNikki Which place is best to do the Gala Dinner La Uva or International? By gala dinner, do you mean private dinner? Meaning you get a whole restaurant to yourselves and your group? If so, it's $1000 for 4 hours. I think you need min 20 people.

I only have two bridesmaids so it wasn't going to be a huge expense for me to pay for the dresses. They cost $150 each plus tax and I bought them at Le Chateau (here in Canada). I wanted to pay for the dresses since they are paying to come to the wedding. They will need to pay for any alterations they need. And they'll have to pay for any accessories they choose and their hair on the day of the wedding.

We are registering. I too said on my wedsite that "your presence at our wedding is more than gift enough" but for those who aren't coming, the option is there for them to still give a gift.

Quote: Originally Posted by nmurch LOOOOOVE it, as did u husband i bet. bwahaha ya i love boyshorts but when they get up in my butt, it's VERY unlady like when i take them out, rofl. i am b/w NONE, & seamless .. i dont have a VS yet here but were getting one in a couple months! and super excited, i'll have to check out the options they have when it opens.! Nmurch - La Senza makes a whole line that is basically an exact knock-off of the "invisible" Victoria's Secret line. I can't remember the name of the La Senza line..."IPEX" maybe but I could be wrong about that. Anyway, I have several (WAY too many to count) pairs of their thongs in this line and LOVE them. I bet you'd be hard pressed to find a more lightweight pair of undies and they will give you NO panty lines (totally seamless and no bunching on the hips), no matter how tight your dress. You can get lots of colours. My favourite, because they're a little sexy, are a turquoise-leopard print pair I bought there. So, you should definitely check it out.

I'm echoing what most have said by going with #2. It just seems to suit you the most

Quote: Originally Posted by jerzshortstuff I wonder how the times for the weddings are determined. I wanted 5pm but she said she only had 2pm (which I am a little sad about) but we are doing a ROV ceremony. I was going to email her and ask if she had the wording or how it worked. Can my dad still walk me down the isle and give me away? Anyone do the ROV that may be able to help me out? I "got stuck" with 2 pm for my ceremony too. We're having a legal ceremony (ie: judge is doing it). Basically, all the ceremonies are based around the judge's availability. There is one judge for all of Punta Cana so he usually has several weddings per day. What he says goes. Therefore, the legal ceremonies on the resorts take precedence. All other ceremonies, such as ROV and Symbolic, are then based around that. So we don't seem to have a lot of choice regarding times unless we luck out. I originally wanted 4 or 5 pm, and I was flexible on the day, but I was given the choice of either 2 pm or 11 am...I picked 2 pm!! Lol There's always the possibility of someone else cancelling and then you change your time if so.

Quote: Originally Posted by sap Well ladies...I haven't contacted Carolina in quite sometime because I have this site to answer my questions and when I met with her last year it seemed that most decisions will be done when I get down there. That being said, she EMAILED me today to REMIND me that my day is coming. lol. LOVE IT! It's becoming sooo real now. She just emailed me to ask me to send her a list of my guests and their dates booked and I let her know that Pastor York confirmed 6:30pm for the ceremony. She emailed me right back "Ok, Perfect, Thanks!" I sent her my list, which she will also be receiving from my TA Dina (a BDW agent). I've just completed my chapsticks, my kids OOT sandbuckets, raffia fans wrapped with ribbon and added paper flowers, emergency kits and programs...I KNOW I MUST POST PICS!! Everything is coming out sooo awesome, FI loves it all too. MANY MANY thanks to all the wonderful brides and their ideas here on BDW!! I'm super excited! And I already don't want it to end! lol Sap - So exciting!!! do you have pictures of all the goodies you've made up for people? Would love to see!

Quote: Originally Posted by caribbeanLover Guess what!!!!!!!!!!! I got my review up!!! with picures!!!!! HA!! I know 2 months later lol but i got it done!! I'm so proud of myself (takes take me much to be happy with myself lol) check it out if you have time, as it's super long!!! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...9/#post1330535 Tracy, your review is awesome!! You certainly put a lot of work into it and it's MUCH appreciated! Your tip to have someone collect your belongings after the ceremony/reception (like the sand ceremony vases, cake topper, etc.) was a good point...I would never have thought of that until the last minute then panicked trying to designate someone to do it, lol. Question: the ceremony decorations, like the turquoise ribbons tied to the gazebo pillars and chair sashes, did you bring those? or does the resort have them? My colours are the same and I basically wanted the same sort of decor. Shan

Almost every dress I've tried on has been between $1000 and $1500, not including tax or alterations. There were a few around the $800 range but they were older stock I think so had been reduced. I think that's basically the price range for the majority of gown designers in my city...I thought about driving across the border to New York or Vermont and probably saving a few hundred but I'd rather just have the convenience of finding something nearby. My budget is $2000.

Quote: Originally Posted by Jane_A_J Hi Bella30 I thought that was a lot of money so I emailed Carolina the wedding co-ordinator to check thats what the cost is, and what you get for the money. She replied and said the price was correct and there was no negotiating the price. for $60 pp you can have an a la carte meal or bbq on the beach, the bar is included in the price and so is decoration and lighting. The DJ service is an extra cost! Thats why we have decided to leave it, plus we have under 20 guests anyway. Just wondering what to do now?? Just had a look at the jellyfish restaurant, it looks nice. If you decide to have the private dinner at one of the restaurants, you can have your after-party there as well, if you don't want to move locations down to the beach and have a private beach party. When you pay the $1000 for the restaurant, you get it for four hours. So That's enough time to do dinner, speeches, etc. then go into some dancing and music (you can rent the DJ for extra and he'll set up in the restaurant). I think we're going to time it so that our 4 hours runs out at 11 pm. If people want to continue partying at that point, we'll move to the disco.

Military-Mrs: Congratulations!!! That's such wonderful news Caribbeanlover: Goodluck today, thinking about ya!

Quote: Originally Posted by Miss Lighting Bug When you guys are quoting is that 1500-1700, etc per person or per room? Yup, per person...and that's tax included. From Ottawa we will be paying $1450 tax included in April.

Oh and by RSVP, I mean "you've booked and are definitely coming or not" and NOT "I want to come but am holding out for a better deal". It's totally ok to be specific with RSVPs for this type of wedding.

To "try" and avoid the stress of this situation, I set out STDs almost as soon as we got engaged and decided we wanted a DW...we didn't even know the resort at that point, or had a date, so the STDs had a very general "Punta Cana, April 2011". Basically it was just to let people know that this is what we're planning so if they think they'd like to come, start saving! Our wedding isn't until April but now that we've finalized the resort and date and got group rates from our (awesome) TA, I'm sending out invites this week with all of the travel details. Now, I expect some people will want to book last minute and we've had some outspoken (ie: borderline rude) relatives even tell us such because they think our group rate is too expensive (which it isn't for that resort at that time of year...they're just cheap!). But I refuse to let myself stress out over it. I am being very clear in the letter I'm attaching with my invites. Our TA arranged to have a whole bunch of rooms held up until 60 days before but after that, people risk not being able to get a room. I've been very clear that April is a very busy month and resorts are at full capacity. If they end up at another resort that it is totally their own responsibility to make their way to our wedding and pay the resort's day pass fee of $90. Frankly, I've put so much work into trying to cater to people to pick a resort that everyone will enjoy and at a price that is reasonable, that beyond that, I'm done. Maybe that's mean but if people want to do their own thing, that's totally fine...but that really does mean they're gonna be doing their own thing, lol. I am also asking for a Feb 1, 2011 RSVP (so that's about 10 weeks before) and have said upfront that if you don't confirm by then, then you won't be coming. People need to understand that it's still a wedding and requires some advance planning! Goodluck!!!