islandbride8

I would definately opt to say nothing. You may be pleasantly surprised later, but I don't think you should expect it and i certainly don't think you should ask for it. If your parents are paying for the majority then you do know that you're getting help. Traditionally it's the bride's family that cover most costs although that's etiquite is getting pretty outdated anymore as I think most couples are paying for their own weddings (just in my experience). Ask your FI if he thinks his parents will be contributing, but definately don't expect them to if your parents are already covering most of the expenses.

Congrat's and Welcome!!! I'm sure like most of us here, you'll find this forum to be invaluable to your planning process! We're doing our dinner in the Steakhouse and I asked our WC Stephany about the whole music thing. She said they will not allow you to play music at the Steakhouse and can't have mic's or anything like that. She said they play their own music in the restaurant and there's no way for them to play mine. I was upset when i learned this, because we are having a very small group and aren't having a private reception. what we decided to do was have a cocktail hour at the Piano Bar before dinner. You don't have to pay for the location and it's already at the bar, so drinks are free and from what i've read the piano bar has the best top shelf liquor selection. Appetizers are pretty reasonable too. For around 20 guests you can do it for under $200. Stephany said she couldn't promise anything, but we should be able to play some music there (we are taking a cd player though bc you can't rent the sound system for this). Your WC will come to your room and get you when it's time. i believe they go get your FI too. We are on a very tight budget, but things are really starting to come together. If you're interested you can PM me your email addresss and I will send you the appetizers list with pricing.Good luck in your planning and have fuN~

I'm pretty sure that $55/pp is the cheapest buffet option. I know, their private dinner prices are just plain wrong! That's why we opted for dinner at the Steakhouse. Good luck planning!

Cocktail hour location doesn't cost anything and can be held at the piano bar in the lobby or on the terrace at the See & Sea. they do charge a per person fee for any appetizers you want. it doesn't come out right when i try to copy/paste the appetizer list on here, so if you need it PM me your email address and i will send it to you

We have a TA. I think i'm going to shoot her an email today!

I'm starting to panic... on the majestic website whenever i try to price a trip now it says: We are sorry to inform you, that the hotel is no longer available for this period. Please try with other options. So the only people currently booked are me, my fiance and my parents.... there are still rooms on expedia, but i'm starting to freak out that the resort will sell out. Our wedding is June 29, i didn't think i'd have to worry about this in the summer!

Last summer i received a gift from my great aunt. it was a used pair of white leather keds! she was going to try to sell them (yes you read that correctly), then she reallized we wear the same size! She was really excited to give them to me. i know she had good intentions and was trying to be nice (bless her heart!). I felt too bad to just toss them out, so they are my gardening shoes, lol.

You just made my day with this one

That's exactly what we're doing. My fiance's father is very sick so his parents can't come to our DW so this kinda worked out for the better. We're having our parents come with us too, but that's it. no one else know's we'll already be married (not even siblings). Pastor York is performing our ceremony and he's bringing a wedding certificate for us and our witnesses to sign, so it looks legitimate. We will celebrate our anniversary on our DW date. We aren't exchanging rings before DW, we're just going to walk through whatever motions/say what they want us to say at the courthouse. I'm just going to act like it's something we have to do before our real wedding

Check out this post: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/66580/help-they-arent-sending-me-my-marriage-certificate-melia-punta-cana This is the reason we switched to a symbolic ceremony. i was completely against symbolic at first, but after reading this i didn't think twice about switching! Good Luck

Great tip! thanks for sharing

I asked about this b/c we're having our dinner at the steakhouse. My WC (Stephany) told me i can't bring music to play during dinner. I was bummed, but the more i think about it, if i bring speakers and my ipod they wouldn't even hear it in the main part of the restaurant would they???

if it weren't for bdw i would've thrown the towel in a LOOONG time ago and ended up at the justice of the peace!

I'm pretty sure there are different ones for each side. I believe you can eat at the buffets of either side, but the rest are resort specific

We're doing something similar as well. Looked into the polaroid thing, but I'm not spending that kind of cash on something I'll use one time! I'll have my digital camera on the guest book table with a DIY whiteboard (large picture frame with plexiglass from home depot instead of the glass with fabric behind it). Guests can write their message on the dry erase board and have their pic taken with it. We will assemble it when we get home

1. How old are you? 27 2. At what age did you/will you get married? 28 3. Do you have children? No 4. Did you think you would marry the person you are with now? Yes I did! We met in high school and have been inseperable ever since 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- Gazebo 7. Where did you/will you get married? Majestic Elegance Punta Cana, DR 8. First dance - classic waltz, slow and sexy, or fast and spicy? Slow and sexy 9. How many guests did you/will you have? Approx 20 10. Do you want/did you have an extravagant wedding or a simple wedding? Simple and intimate 11. Vows - traditional or something you make up on your own? personalized traditional 12. How many layers of cake did you/will you have? 2 13. Is/was your wedding/reception at a hotel? Majestic Elegance 14. When did you/will you get married - sunrise, mid-day, sunset? Midday 15. Did you/will you have your reception outdoors or indoors? Outdoors 16. Plan every detail down to the napkins or let someone else decide? Planning every little detail with a LOT of help 17. How did/will the bride enter? Walking down the aisle 18. Song to walk down the aisle to: Isreal Kamakawiwo'ole "Somewhere Over The Rainbow-What a Wonderful World 19. Song to make your exit: undecided 20. Will you/did you have a solemn ceremony or a light one? Light 21. At what age did you think you would get married? 24 22. Who to invite - practically everyone or a select few? select few 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? Right after! 26. Was your/will your honeymoon be at a place special to you both or somewhere brand new to you both? Brand new 27. Who will pay for the bills? The two of us and my parents 28. Living together: Not before marriage or absolutely before marriage? Living together now 29. Anything else about marriage you'd like to say? It's easy to get wrapped up in all the fun planning... I'm trying to focus on having a great marriage first and an AMAZING wedding second!

Getting married at ME on June 29, 2011 at the gazebo. Having a cocktail hour, dinner at the steakhouse and reception at the wet bar. My WC is Stephany and she's been great so far! Patty Jordan is our TA (she's a bdw TA) and she's been great so far as well. I'm having cream roses for my bouquet. I bought chair sashes and table runners (turquoise). Looking into the freeze dried flower petals... excited to hear more ideas!!!

I'm not paying for anyone's travel arrangements. I guess if you have the $$$ for it, that would be a nice gesture but I definately don't have the budget for that!

I copied this from the Events Decoration Package my WC sent me. Decoration Package for the ceremony (up to 40 guests): Sashes for the chairs, tulle for the Gazebo, White aisle runner, crystal vases with flowers for the aisle. Additional guests US$5.00 each.

I did some investigating on this matter and we can all breath a sigh of relief!!!!!! i just read the wedding was in la romano not punta cana, at a resort called casa de campo. the resort food was not used, food was provided by an outside caterer (hired by the bride and groom) who did not use proper hygiene. the caterer had nothing to do with the resort. no guests dining on food from the resort were affected!

Oh man... I haven't even thought about this! Guess that's one more thing to add to my checklist! looking forward to everyone's posts

I tried to figure out what the heck that mat is for the LOOONGEST time. I've concluded that it's a placemat. I've googled bamboo placemat and lots of great options come up

Oh this will encourage all of our guests to book!

This is the inspiration pic for my centerpieces. We aren't doing OOT Bags, but a couple weeks before we leave we are going to mail pre-travel packs (if that makes any sense, lol).

Great tip! Thanks for sharring let us know how it goes please