spaterson

Funny story on our DJ - To book DJ Mannia independtly I believe it was $900 plus the cost of a day pass $89. The hotel offered 3 main levels of DJ: 1. DJ Mannia 2. DJ with microphone and MC services 3. DJ with microphone and no MC services. I wanted DJ Mannia but decided based on costs, and having a friend whose a really good MC to do option 3. I figured it'd be a hotel DJ or whatever. Showed up at my reception, and guess who was the DJ? One of the DJs from DJ Mannia. HAHAH! SCORE! And saved a ton of money. Not sure if that's always the case or what but I laughed to myself when I saw his shirt and he gave me his card. I used the resort photographer and am happy with my pics and used HDC for my TTD session. Since we left the day after the TTD session I haven't seen the pictures yet. We get them on the 30th and I'm totally excited. I loved photographer and could tell he had a really artistic eye. I can't wait to see the pics!

OMG! I totally remember seeing you! And no worries on the photo shoot We took a fe breaks to let people up and down the stairs since we were blocking the stairway. Sorry about that! Everything worked out great except we got married on Friday - the day with lots of rain! So our ceremony and reception ended up moving inside. I was so bummed when we got moved inside but it turned out fabulous and was so gorgeous! Everyone agreed they had never danced so much or had so much fun at a wedding before. It was crazy! Which night was your wedding? Did you have the light purple chair sashes? I remeber watching one reception where all the guests took cover under the umbrellas during the rain. I totally wish we had more time there! We got in Monday, wedding Friday, left Sunday. If I could do it again I'd have the wedding within a day or two of getting there so I could relax the rest of the time. I was so anxious about the wedding that I didn't truly relax until Saturday.

Also- I'll try to make a ton of posts in the next week so I can get enough status to post pictures. Then I'm do a photo bomb so you can see what all we had. If that doesn't work I'll make an online gallery and post the pics.

Don't be nervous me. I know you don't know me but trust me: these ladies are proffesionals and experts at making everything come off wonderfully! 1. The weather was beyond gorgeous the first few days, overcast with evening showers the next, rained most of the day one day with a clearing during mid day, overcast the next and then gorgeous our last day there. The showers didn't stop the fun though and actually helped clear the air from the sticky humidity. 2. We had planned for a beach ceremony and a poolside reception but due to rain we did everything inside. The ceremony was set up in the foyer to the banquet hall (large wood doors, marble floors) and the reception was in one of the ballrooms. At first I was totally bummed about having it inside but once I saw it all set up it was beyond gorgeous!!! In hindsight I wish I had planned on the ceremony being outside (weather dependent) and the reception inside the whole time. The outdoor receptions I saw were beautiful but since the pool and beach were still open there was lots of outside noise. In fact one of the poolside weddings was set up right next to were a bunch of guys were having a drunken water polo game. The inside location proved much more intimate, we didn't have restrictions on noise or time, and since the area is a bit more confined everyone was dancing together versus having tons of space to spread out which actually made it really neat! 3. We didn't do the extra however the resort had a group of fire dancers the night of our wedding performing outside the banquet hall so we all went outside and watched them then returned to our party. We had thought about a cigar roller but glad I didn't pay for it since our party got moved inside - all the guys would've then been outside smoking versus enjoying the party. It's gorgous and you will have a blast!

Hey Ladies! I just got back from my wedding on Sunday and have to say that you are all in for a treat! I'll gladly help answer any questions you may have as well as this site was a life saver for me. Two big bits of a advice: relax and enjoy!!! I am a planner by nature so it was hard to not be hands on with everything and handeling it all by email. Trust me: the team down there is amazing and they made everything happened exactly to my wishes, no stress needed. The only other thing is that if I could do it all over again I would have my wedding at the beginning of our time there. We got there Monday, most guests arrived Tuesday and Wednesday, and the wedding was on Friday, we left Sunday. I spent the first part of trip getting anxious about the wedding! Then Saturday came, everything was done, and I got to truly enjoy the resort and all our friends. Don't get me wrong I had lots of fun leading up to the wedding but it wouldn've been nice to get there, have the wedding a day or two later, and then say 4-5 days of total relaxation! Happy Planning!

Just got back from our wedding at DPB two nights ago. It was amazing!!! I'll write more later but in short everything went great! We did get rained out and had to move indoors which I was not happy with until I saw what an amazing job they did. It looked beuatiful inside!

I just emailed you!

I did receive confirmation on the location. The incentives were part of the contract with our travel agency. Who did you book through? They should've giveny ou freebies in your contract.

I contacted the head concierge at the resort for the boat trip: "Jose Abreu" <[email protected]>, I believe it's $750 for the boat up to 8 guys. They can quote you prices if you have more people and need a bigger boat. The girls and I are going to spa while the guys are on the boat. Some opted out and are just going to lounge by the pool which is totally cool too. They can arrange tours for you while you're down there but since we wanted to charter our own boat for the fishing and the snorkel/party boat I went ahead and made the arrangments ahead of time. Basically they just booked it for us and then we'll pay when we get down there. The snorkel boat holds up to 45 people and costs $45 a person. We are only going to have around 25 on it but they said it's still only $45 a pop, can't beat that!!! For the other pool location there is no cost. If you go on their website and look at the live webcam it shows a pool area; that's the pool area we ended up with. The nice thing about it is that you can see the ocean from there without having to be on the actual beach. As for incentives, we get one free room for every five rooms booked (up to three free rooms), and one free upgrade for every 10 rooms booked. In the end we get 3 free rooms and the upgrade however it's interesting the way they do it. I thought that mean that we just wouldn't pay since our room was free however we still pay and then after the wedding they reimburse us the cost of the 3 rooms. So basically a few weeks after the wedding we'll get a check for a nice little amount

Jillbu1- YAY! You're the day before me!!! Congrats! They told me I can reserve the space ahead of time and now that the pool island got mixed up they have me at the other poolside location. We have 36 people coming down. Our week itinerary is as follows: Wednesday 8:30am: Deep sea fishing for the guys - I worked with the head concierge and chartered a boat for about 8 of the guys to go out fishing. 7:30pm: cocktail party at Rendezvous - I deicded instead of paying for a cocktail party that we'll all just meet at one of the hotel bars instead. People can just get drinks from the bar. Is that cheesy? I'll probbaly start passing out the OOT bags then. Thursday (You're wedding day!!!) 6:30pm: Rehershal dinner at World Cafe - Again, not paying for a private set up but they made reservations so our group will all be together 7:30pm: Beach party!!! - We're doing the bonfire set up and having a stereo system for music. I was going to do a bar set up but had to cut costs so people can just go to the nearby bar. It's not that far. Friday (My wedding day!!!) 5:00pm: Beachside ceremony with Pastor Rick 5:30-6:30: Cocktail hour 6:30-9:30: Reception at poolside location with DJ Mannia For OOT bags I got tote bags too and am making "Dominican Republic Survival Kits" with sunscreen, aloe vera, hand wipes, tylenol and pepto bismo. The totes will also have playing cards, sunglasses and squirt guns. Where did you order your mugs from? I want to get some but everywhere I've seen has huge minimum orders and we don't need that many. Are you getting super excited?!!!

If you haven't already contracted with a travel agent go with Patty Jordan at Wright Travel Agency. She is working the travel for my wedding and has been amazing!!!

I would be really offended if I was asked to pay for my own food and drink at a wedding. If you can't afford it then maybe you need to find somewhere cheaper to get married or limit your guests.

Personnally I think you're sending your invites out WAY too early. You're definitely excited which is awesome!!! However the point of the save the date is for people to start planning. If they got the save the date they'll get the invite. Early save the dates are great so they can start arranging travel, vacation, saving money, etc... Nothing is stopping them from booking now so let them book away! Maybe put all your information on a website so they can start planning. The invite is more of a formality and should go out closer to the wedding. Since you sent the save the dates no one should get hte invite and say, "darn! I wish I had known!".

Awesome! These look so good!

Sorry for chiming in since I'm a 2012 bride not a 2013 but I'm also getting married at DPB and wanted to comment on kelly 1218's question: Based off my experience I would HIGHLY recommend workding with someone who specializes in DWs. I'm using Patty Jordan from Wright TA and she's amazing. Not only is she super easy to work with the best thing about her being specialized is that we get extra stuff that normally wouldn't be included if you just have someone booking your rooms. For example we get one free room for every 5 that are paid for, one free room upgrade for every 10 rooms booked, etc... And the contract she got for us came out to be WAY cheaper then they're listed prices and still cheaper than any of the travel sites (expedia, etc...). We paid a deposit up front to hold our block of rooms and then that money went towards the cost of our trip. It worked out really well! Ok just my two cents. Happy planning!