Labebita911

Mine are fuschia and sage green!!! )

My concern is that not everyone has access to a computer to check our website...

Which travel compan did you use.???. that sounds like a deal!!!
 

Originally Posted by JayKay 

I agree, the trip is the most expensive part. 

 

Some of my secrets, well lets see:

 

-We chose a resort which offers a free wedding!
 

-We aren't doing many extras or bringing many decorations, just what is provided.

 

-Our travel, is our biggest chunk of our budget, but the travel company we are going with offered us a free trip if we had so many people booked (only 16), so we are only paying for one trip!

 

Other then that I dont really have any other secrets haha!

 

Veryy Cool!!!! We will def bump into eachother!!! Ihaent even started!!!! I havent even reserved the date i need to get on that asap!!!!!!!!!!!  The Royal Cancun is beautiful.. LOVE IT.Im hoping to visit the one in playa this time most def....Keep me posted on your planning!!!!!

Originally Posted by Katiegirl6429 

Hello!!

I am getting married at the Royal/Caribe on Wednesday July 11th 2012! I havent made too made decisions yet, but I am working on it!!

I would probably see you there!!

Getting nervous and never been to this resort in Cancun. I have been to the one in Playa tho. VERY PRETTY!

So I am trying to figure it all out by pictures, hope to share some more info soon!!

Katie 

My colors are fuschia and sage green... )

I feel the same way..  when i first got engaged i couldnt wait for my year mark to come to start planning but now i dread it.. im in the 1 yr mark in 2 days and have yet to book the venue!!. i do have the most important thing.. My dress!!!!! but i def think the fact that its a year away and the fact that i dont have a head count is a bit frustrating...

I love that first pic.. you look soooooo happy!!!!!!!!!!!!!! im glad everything turned out good and was the wedding of your dreams... and hope your enjoying your newlywed..... Cant wait to see the rest of the pics!!!!!!

 

Originally Posted by Bride2B22 

Ladies! I just had my wedding at The Royal in cancun almost 2 weeks ago! ceremony at the chapel and reception on the beach......It was the most amazing day of my life!!!!! wow! truly beautiful!!!! the hotel took care of absolutely everything! and organized all my ideas just how i had them envisioned........ they know what they are doing! I plan on writing a review and posting pics soon! it really was the wedding of my dreams!!!!!  I will post more photos when i get my pro ones in like 8 weeks...ugh!!

 

 

 

My BOUQUET From resort florist! included in my package!

 

 

 

 

 

Love Love Love the dress!!!!!!

Originally Posted by SMB2B 

mine.... worn on may 18 at secrets maroma beach. i loved it so much!!

 

its handmade..

 

getting dressed.....

 

 

Beautiful
 

Originally Posted by JessicaP2012 

After trying on what felt like a million dresses, I finally found it! I ordered it two weeks ago. Its not your typical beach wedding dress but I LOVE it. I ordered it in white (the dress is ivory in the picture). This dress is really big on me, the top is suppose to tighter.

 

absoloutly breathtaking!!!!!!!!! it looked perfect.. And that video.. wow.. it brought tears to my eyes.. you guys look soo in love and sooo happy. Congrats!!!!!!!
 

Originally Posted by megsosborn 

 

Adam and I just got back from our wedding in Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic.  All of our 22 guests and Adam and I stayed at the Paradisus Punta Cana and we held the ceremony and reception at the Jellyfish restaurant. 

 

The Jellyfish:

The most important thing to know is that Mayte (mai-tee or my-tee) is unbelievable!  Right from the start of my communication with her I could tell that she knew what she was doing.  I had also heard from previous brides that Mayte always got their wedding visions right so I wasn’t worried.   I wouldn’t be worried if she doesn’t respond for a few days.  She is extremely busy.  In fact, she is so busy that she doesn’t get to spend nearly as much time with Luna as she wants to.  She knows what she is doing and is fully committed to each and every bride (I honestly don’t know how she does it).  To plan out how I wanted my wedding, I put together a word document that outlined each step of the ceremony and reception in words and pictures and sent that to Mayte.  We traded emails back and forth after that with more questions and specifics.  I did not send her a deposit beforehand.  Adam and I met with her the day we arrived in Punta Cana with the intent of paying her the cash amount we owed her, $2,400 but I ended up leaving in the hotel safe!  Mayte was such a sweetheart and said we could just pay her on the day of the wedding.  The $2,400 was cash for set-up and for the various vendors: restaurant decorations $400, ceremony set-up $400, bonfire set-up $200, DJ $600, wedding cupcakes $250, bouquet and boutonnière $400 and round-trip transportation from our hotel to and from the Jellyfish.  I’m sure all of these amounts vary with all weddings.  We had an open bar and had all of our guests (including our 2 photographers and videographer) order whatever they wanted for dinner right off the Jellyfish menu.  At the end of the wedding night we paid just under $3,000 for food and drinks including tip.  The Jellyfish DOES take credit cards the issue is that their bank is from EEUU and they are not allowed to charge more than $1,000 US on one card if it is VISA, but she can split it between more than one if you need to.  Mayte did say that they don’t have that same restriction with American Express.  Our wedding total at the Jellyfish was $5,400.  I did not pay the extra $1,000 to rent out the entire restaurant.  There might have been a few people eating dinner while we were there but we didn’t notice them because we had the entire downstairs to ourselves.  I would save that extra money and use it elsewhere J

When we met with her the first day in Punta Cana we set up some small final details and discussed the wedding day time-line.  We also gave her our wedding cake topper, so this would be a good time to give her anything that you have brought down specifically for the wedding and reception.  She also had the bartender make a few drinks for us to taste that would be served to our guests upon initial arrival at the restaurant.  We choose mojitos and pina coladas.  Adam and I asked Mayte her opinion as to where to purchase rum, coffee and cigars for our welcome bags and right away she called her friend and driver, Juan to come pick us up.  Juan was awesome and so much fun.  He took us to a small shop, which actually turned out to be close to our hotel where we purchased everything that we needed. As it turned out Juan was my driver for the wedding day J  Love it!  Oh, and I should mention that the whole time we were there at the restaurant meeting with her, Mayte was also getting ready and decorating for a wedding that was happening that same day! 

 

On the day of our wedding the bus for our guests was on time at 3:30 and Juan came at 3:45 for me.  When I arrived at the Jellyfish all the guests were lounging and mingling with drinks in hand.  All the decorations were beautiful and more perfect that I could’ve imagined.  While we were waiting for Pastor Rick York to arrive our photographers and videographer were taking pictures and everyone was relaxing.  The ceremony started at 5:05.  I didn’t have any music from the DJ during the ceremony (while I was walking down the aisle or walking back with Adam).  I had originally wanted people to stand around us for the ceremony but Mayte suggested pillows so we went with that and it was perfect!!!  The ceremony was about 20min complete with a sand ceremony.  For the next hour and a half our photographers took pictures, first with all the guests then just of Adam and I down by the beach.  During this time the guests stayed on the beach drinking in the lounge area that was set up (which was the same area for the beach reception after dinner) and Mayte served them appetizers.  Around 7 or 7:30 we sat down for dinner.  One of my favorite things about dinner was that we all sat at the same table since there were 27 of us (including our photo and videographers).  I loved this because everyone felt included J  All of our guests said that the food was the best of our vacation and we definitely agreed!  At this time it was dark outside and everything looked ethereal.   All the candles and decorations inside the restaurant were gorgeous and you could look out onto the beach and see all the twinkling lights of the candles and hanging lanterns.  It was breathtaking and I was just trying to take it all in. 

 

Our videographer suggested that we do speeches after dinner so that’s what we did.  After that it was shots of tequila and dancing under the stars!  I changed dresses into a short petal dress from BCBG and was happy that I did.  Mayte also set up a second bar out on the sand under the white tent, as per my request, which was nice because it was close to the dance floor.  I believe that we left around 11:30 or midnight on the bus back to the hotel, although Mayte had told me that we could stay as long as we wanted.  At that time Adam and I took care of paying our food and drink bill and we also paid our videographer.

 

About the DJ:  When we get together with friends I’m usually the one who is in charge of all the music (it’s been this way ever since I can remember) so since I wasn’t sure what kind of music the DJ would play I went ahead and made 2 playlists on my iPod for the wedding and brought it with me to the Jellyfish.  One was for our cocktail hour and dinner and the other was all dance music for after dinner.  After the ceremony, while we were taking pictures the DJ started playing some music but I wanted to liven things up so I just gave him my iPod and told him to put it on shuffle: perfect!  After dinner I told him to put my wedding dance playlist on shuffle – of course it was all music that we loved and had a great time dancing the whole night!  We didn’t do too many traditional wedding things so there was no garter dance, bouquet toss, first dance or any slow dance.  J  So I don’t have any advice or comments about how the DJ handled those things…sorry. 

 

Photographer: Phil Steingard

This man knows what he is doing!  He is the complete package – I could not imagine having anyone else capturing the moments of such a special day.  Right from the beginning Phil was incredible.  He called me on the phone not even 10 minutes after I had filled in my contact information on his website.  We chatted for about 40 minutes but I was sold in the first few minutes of our conversation.  Phil is down the Dominican ALL the time.  He stays at the Majestic Elegance and does a ton of weddings there and is all over the hotel’s Facebook page.  Not only will Phil take beautiful pictures but he will help you plan out your wedding day, which is crazy helpful when you are trying to iron out so many details in a place that you have never been before.  The first time I talked with him we had already outlined my wedding day timeline!  He knows the best time for your ceremony, probably around 5pm, so you can take pictures on the beach during the sunset, when the light is the best….bottom line, Phil is the man!  He offers a great rate for his packages (wedding and trash the dress).  I think one of the best things that Phil does is gives you a complete cd of all of your images!  This is included in his price!!  Most other photographers charge you some ridiculous amount for this.  Phil retouches images and gives them to you – and it’s included!  We paid Phil about a month or so before we got down there and then scheduled our TTD session at his hotel, the Majestic, the first morning that we arrived in the DR.  I think this was perfect because we got to meet Phil before the wedding.  We had such a good time with him that morning; I think Adam was surprised at how much fun he had in front of the camera J  The day of the wedding Phil brought Jamie Dimitry as our second photographer.  I purchased hotel day passes for both of them from our resort that morning.  Phil stayed in my room taking pictures of the girls while Jamie took pictures of the guys.  During that time I made sure to order room service for lunch for all of us (including Phil and Jamie, of course J).  This was something that Phil had suggested since this is something that commonly gets overlooked the day of the wedding.  For the next couple of hours Phil and Jamie took pictures of Adam and I all around our resort then they got on the bus with all of our guests and headed to the Jellyfish. 

 

Phil and Jamie worked so well together taking pictures during the wedding.  It was cool because while Phil would be taking a posed shot, Jamie would be capturing some candid moments – they make a kick ass team!  They have really cool flashes and lenses that help them push their creative boundaries.  Both of them were so crazy talented and excited about getting the right shot.  They made our wedding even more incredible by just being themselves.  They both got along so well with all of our guests; I seriously wanted them to stop working and party with us.  Bottom line; they made our wedding day that much more memorable and not just because of their incredible photographs.

 

Videographer: Diego Cores of Bright Light

Phil recommended Diego so right away I knew he would be good.  Come to find out Phil and Diego have shot a few weddings together, which is priceless because then you don’t have people competing for the right shot or video.  Diego was great from the beginning of our email correspondence and he always responded quickly.  We decided to make our own package and have him film the arrivals, ceremony, speeches and reception.  We met Diego at the Jellyfish on the day of our wedding.  Right away he started filming and didn’t stop until it was time to go.  I cannot stress enough how much fun it was to work with all three of these guys.  Diego is extremely talented and such a great person.  We had made a cd of songs for him to use for the final wedding video but we forgot to give it to him at the wedding.  We ended up leaving it at our resorts’ front desk for Diego to pick up the next day, only to have a mix up happen and Diego to leave empty handed.  I was bummed but Diego assured me that he had music I would be happy with – and boy was he right!  The day before we flew home, Diego met us in our resorts’ lobby where he sat down and showed us a few minutes from each section of our 40 minute video.  Adam and I were both in tears; all I could do was look at Diego and tell him how amazing he was.  I also couldn’t believe that we would be taking our whole wedding video home with us!  We didn’t watch the video in its entirety until we arrived home; I think we ran through the whole spectrum of emotions watching it.  From tender moments to funny ones, Diego caught so many special scenes of all of our guests and of Adam and me.   We were blown away by how perfectly he captured the exact feel of our wedding day.  In the beginning stages of wedding planning I wasn’t sure if we should spend the extra money for a videographer but I know now that we absolutely made the right decision and Diego was the best person for the job.  You’d be missing out if you didn’t hire him. Here are links to two short clips from our viedo:

 

http://vimeo.com/24528467

 

http://vimeo.com/24639000

 

Here are a few pictures that we took.  I can't wait until we get our professional photographs back from Phil and Jamie  If anyone has questions I'd be more than happy to try to help you!

 

Who did you use for photography , those who had wedding at Jellyfish?

Well its between The royal in MX or Jellyfish DR, we will def have dinner one night while in DR. Im from Boston (Jamaica Plain)..)
 

Originally Posted by Amorae84 

Ha, I didn't realize you could reply to the post so this is a duplicate:

We're going July 7 - 10 and we're staying at Dreams Palm Beach (our place of choice). I absolutely love everything I've seen so far, just gorgeous. We're also looking at Melia Caribe and Majestic Colonial but I really have my heart set on DPB. When are you going down? How funny if it was the same time. I saw you're booking at the Jellyfish too, so many people have been talking about it so I looked into it and it's so nice! We're definitely gonna have dinner there one night while we're in DR. I know, you're right, everyone is booking really far in advance. I actually have my date picked out but it's not until January 2013 so I doubt we can even put a deposit down in July while we're there. I think most resorts only do one year in advance which stinks cause realistically it's only a year and a half away. I'm originally from Lynn and my FI's from Everett but we live in Wilmington now. What about you??
 

 

 

COol . what a coincidence!!!! When in July are you traveling? Were staying at Majestic Elegance.. ), If it was up to me i would book the Royal but FI wants to wait and might as well but i just feel like im behind. I actually already seen a girl post that her wedding is the same date that I want at the same resort so that means people are booking weddings far in advance and i want to make sure i have the date that I want.. so hopefully when we return will definetly put down a deposit on a venue..... )  also where in boston?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amorae84 

Labebita911, you sound just like me! I'm from Boston as well (just got engaged in Feb) and we're planning a trip to DR in July to look at a few resorts. We were considering Mexico too (The Royal! haha) but ultimately decided the one trip we can afford for wedding venue and resort scouting is best spent in DR. We booked our trip at Dreams Palm Beach, our top resort of choice. Unless it's a complete disaster when we get there, it's probably going to be where we have our wedding. We're also considering Melia Caribe and the Majestic Colonial too.

COngrats!!!!!

Originally Posted by SarahE786 

Hi everyone!! I'm still working on getting settled and having the time to write a full review, but I just wanted yall to know that our wedding on May 15th at the Royal was AMAZING! Literally everything worked out perfectly (even the weather!) and it was more than I could have ever imagined...more details, pics & templates to come!

 

In following msglave's post above in terms of vendors, I used the spa for both hair & makeup and I think they did a GREAT job! We used Luz Maria Avila (local photog, outside vendor) for photos and I would recommend her in a heartbeat...and we used Marvin from Maya Diseno flowers for bouquets, bouts & centerpieces - awesome!

 

Hope everyone's wedding planning is going well! Try not to stress too much! :-)

 

Sarah

When i travel to DR in July were staying at Majestic Elegance but im looking into Jellyfish Restaurant for wedding venue as a choice if not it will be at The Royal Cancun which i LOVE that resort and actually got engaged there... ) 

Im from Boston.. PLanning a July 2012 wedding.. Still unsure as to where its either Cancun or Punta Cana.. Me and FI traveling to DR this July to see if anything beats our current interest in Cancun to decide.. Then its on to planning.. I already have my dress though.. i picked it up this Saturday!!!! SOo excited!!!

Now im even more frustrated,.. I expressed how I wished she wouldve come with me.. and her response... NOTHING. Ignored my email like nothing.... uurrgghhh

I'm planning on getting married next year and i have ordered my dress already because i fell in love with it and decided it was the one although my wedding isn't for another 15 months at that time.13 months now. Any who.... when i went looking for dresses my MOH came with and she agreed the dress was it.and beforehand she had been soooo excited about this wedding but since then has had some unrelated drama but that's another issue.. well my dress is in and I'm picking it up this Saturday for my first fitting.. but I'm a bit upset/sad that my MOH hasn't offered to come with.... When the dress came in I immediately texted her since i was out of the country when i got the call... and her reply was just "cool" so since then i have hinted that i will be picking it up this Saturday and she just doesn't reply to that she ignored it.. She ended up emailing me asking what are my plans for the weekend? and i replied "I'm going to go for my fitting and getting the dress" and she just replied reg other things.. I don't want to be a nag or anything but my grandmother is out of the Country and my mom lives out of the country also so I'm alone you can say in this process and her being my MOH isn't that was she supposed to do.. and she knows this... Shouldn't she want to come to my FIRST fitting..? I asked some of my friends and they agreed that she shouldve said a lot more than Cool.. u got your dress... and i believe the same.. if it was the other way around and i was her MOH i would be soooo excited that her dress is in she wouldn't have to ask me to go with her I would say.. "what time were going" ?? Am i over exaggerating???? I mean I can also ask her to come but since she showed no interest i don't even wasn't to ask her... Who went with you to your first fitting?????

How exciting 5 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wanna see lots and lots of pics!!!!

 

Originally Posted by Bride2B22 

As far as the menus go, you can def mix and match!

 

I heard the musis is def back.....but i can 100% confirm in 5 weeks! lol

 

 

another question.. sorry i should have only posted one reply but i keep thinking of new questions.....

Anyone who has recently traveled to The Royal CANCUN... Did you notice music poolside??????

another question... I dont really like any of the set of menus can i mix and match ???

Hey Everyone,

I just thought of a question .. i was looking a la carte options how do they calculate people's beverages? liquor? whats the cost?

Kathy,

Your wedding was BEAUTIFUL!!! Congrats.. Im soo glad everything turned out perfect for you and i love your color combo.. very nice..  so you pretty much booked the free wedding and just added things to it, do you think yousaved by doing this?, I was thinking of this also since me and FI uisually book the Swim up masters and that comes with a free wedding but wastn sure if worth it.. You also brought down your centerpieces how did you manage that??  Again congrats!!

 

Originally Posted by KathyW 

Ok Ladies I finally got my prof pics back and posted a review. Im not sure if this link will work but if not just go under reviews of the Gran Caribe posted today... Hope this is helpful

 

 

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/products/gran-caribe-real-resort-spa-all-inclusive/reviews/4491 

Question, Do they allow you to bring your own liquor?..

I absolutely LOVE IT!!!! Its gorgeous!!
 

Originally Posted by CdnBeatPrincess 

Finally, after years and years of going to plan a wedding, then holding it off, then going to plan again, then holding it again, I'M FINALLY DOING IT.

 

Funny thing is, I bought the dress before our official date is set. I can't get the picture to attach at work. So here is the link for my dress. Maybe someone can post it for me. 

 

http://www.allurebridals.com/index.php?id=3&product_id=615   It's ALLURE 8876. I LOVES IT!!!!

 

I went with my friend to the bridal shop to look for bridesmaid dresses for her wedding in Sept, then I told my Mom to tag along. 2nd Store in, put it on, & I was DONE! Yayy!!!!