Train13

Brand new, never worn. Ivory satin bridal garter set with rhinestone accent. Stretches to 25 inches. $30 o.b.o.

I wanted to have sparklers at my wedding too. I was going to order them online and have them directly shipped to the resort. However, my resort (Iberostar Bavaro) does not allow any type of firework on their property. Do yourselves a favor and check with your wedding coordinators first, before attempting to get your sparklers there.

Katya, Thank you so much for the information!!! Life saver!

We are heading there in June- I am not recommending vaccines to our guests, but I am going to ask our pediatrician about our 15 month old daughter. We are big into hand sanitizers and bottled water, and I hope this is enough to help keep us healthy while we're down there. Maybe we should look into vaccines. It can't hurt to ask your PCP what they would recommend for your trip. Better safe than sorry.

I'm bringing in my own photographers as well. They are also "family friends" staying for a few nights, so we are able to avoid an outside vendor fee. I need to find out if there is a work visa requirement for them entering the country with their equipment? We don't want to have any problems in customs. Getting in contact with the US Embassy is becoming a royal pain. Anyone fly down there own photographers? Are there any specific requirements? Please help! Thanks, Shannon

BelindaChu- Thank you so much for the information. This will definitely help us Bavaro brides tremendously. Was Santa working at Iberostar Bavaro, or is Daniuska her replacement? I emailed Santa (if she's still there) yesterday about the bamboo gazebo- and I really like the way you had the linens covering all of it. She had previously sent me pictures, and I noticed a lot of green paint all over it, and it looked extremely tacky. The way you decorated it looked so pretty. What exactly was included in the "special wedding ceremony decorations"? What restaurant did you choose for your reception location? Thanks again, for all the feedback!

Emily- I just sent you an email of the package prices

Thank you!

Do you need a work visa when traveling to Punta Cana for a wedding shoot? Thank you so much for your help, Shannon

Update for Iberostar girls: Back in December, I emailed Santa about exchanging the "14 printed photographs" included in the wedding package with something else we could use. I explained to her that we had friends who are photographing us during the wedding and we wouldn't be needing the prints. She responded the next day that all services included in the wedding package could not be exchanged. Ok fine, no big deal. I'll take the extra prints. Fast forward to last week, I emailed her again about storing/steaming our attire, photography, and a few other things. I asked her if we would be able to store our attire and if they had steaming services. Her response: Yes we offer this service, the cost is, 30, 36, or 45USD, depending of the wedding dress. This would have been extremely nice to know from the very beginning of the contact process when I was sent an "Extras" Pricing List. I also wanted to know if our photographer friends would need a work visa. Since they are bringing a lot of their equipment with them, we don't want to run into any problems in customs. Her response: We kindly inform you that the hotel has a photo studio, this photo studio has exclusivity in the hotel, it means that is not allowed to use other photographic services. Our photo studio has a professional photographer, Mr. Nicolas, he works specially for wedding activities, his email is [email protected]. In attachment we are sending you the different photo packages in case you want to chose one of them. In reference to WORK VISA, please contact the Domonican Embasy in your country in order to get better confirmation. This was a big concern of mine, so I immediately sent her a response. My own wedding guests were offering to photograph my wedding, and they're not allowed to take pictures? That's just ridiculous. So, after contact with my travel agent and a written letter expressing my frustrations in communicating with the wedding coordinator at Iberostar Bavaro, the letter has finally made it's way to the hotel manager. Meanwhile, Santa has responded to my email saying that she will inform the studio of our two photographers. Completely different tone than what I originally received. I want to pass this information along to all of you. You may or may not have had similar experiences so far with your wedding coordinators at the resorts. I have found that they can be pushy at times and not entirely explain things like we do here. I was under the impression that Iberostar did not allow "outside vendors" after her response to my photographers, but after all, that is not the case. If it were, this information should have been addressed at the very beginning of the contact process. *An extra piece of advice: book your hair appts a month in advance. I just found that out too. Thankfully I ask stupid questions to her I guess, otherwise I wouldn't have know that.

After reading this...we have decided to switch to a symbolic ceremony also. We were locked in for a 2pm ceremony time, and like you mentioned JlAllen, our guests would be wasted for a 7pm dinner. I just sent Ivanova an email today asking to switch to a symbolic ceremony. This will definitely help eliminate the stresses of all the paperwork. We are bringing in our photographers, so I am trying to negotiate other extras in place of the 'photographs' on the package. Terilina- see if Ivanova will negotiate the price with you, or perhaps substitute other items for you also.

So far, for 5-7 nights at Iberostar Bavaro w/ flight and transfers from Chicago, it's ~1200. We found much cheaper prices for this summer, but that's what it's looking like so far for next. I'm hoping prices will eventually go down. Â Hope this helps you.

Iberostar Bavaro ftw! Finally another bride on here to represent. I'm getting tired of looking at the Dominican threads with no Bavaro love!

You might want to consider bringing up the fact that you're planning on a small, intimate wedding of just close family and friends to your coworkers. A secretary in my office is having her wedding in 7 weeks, and socializes with many of us on a daily basis. She made it very clear that she has a large family and can only afford so many plates, so none of us are expecting an invitation from her. I think it's more difficult when you have those certain coworkers who ask you if they're invited to the wedding- having to respond kindly without hurting their feelings. Good luck! I think you'll feel more at ease once you get your point across to them.