Vancouver Bride

I did a trial run at Sephora in Canada and bought all my makeup for ~$250. One of my bridesmaids was at the Sephora trial and then did a practice run and then the real makeup the day of the wedding. I used Makeup Forever HD primer and foundation and primer and a mix of eyeshadows(Nars and Urban Decay). Definetly use a face and eye specific primer and your makeup will last all day---I put mine on at ~9am for a 3pm wedding outside and it lasted until midnight+. The individual fake eye lashes I bought at Sephora wouldn't work in the Dominican heat because the glue dried in the 5-10 seconds before you could put it on your eye. I got a few to stick on the outer corners, but not the full eye. It looked ok in the end, but something to keep in mind. The salon was under construction when we were there in October 2012 so the hair and makeup were in a converted hotel room. Even if you hire a makeup artist outside DLR, I'd bring your own primer and foundation to make sure the colours match you perfectly. I'd recommend doing your makeup yourself if you have a BM you trust and can practice with. If you buy the right products, they should last the night and then you have makeup to look great the rest of the week and at the rehearsal dinner!

We mixed sand from the beach with coloured sand. The resort won't care but tell Customs that it is fake sand or they may take it. Also it helps to bring a small funnel to filter and pour the beach sand into the bottles.

Would it be possible to do your sand ceremony at the reception on the table next to the cake before or after cake cutting? That way your ceremony is shorter and you still have professional photos of the ceremony while your photographer is there and you are in your wedding clothes.

Yes-David's Bridal is a reasonable price and has a variety of dresses. It can be helpful if your bridal party lives in different cities or countries. Beware David's exchange and return policy is very limited strict and they won't take any exchanges unless they made a mistake (not even for store credit). Canadian brides--a new David's Bridal opened in Langley BC so we don't have to go to Burlington anymore!

Hello rachyork We also had 24 guests and our cocktail our on the SSG deck (reception inside SSG). We weren't initially going to book at DJ for the reception but somehow our planner worked out so the cost for speaker and mic were cheapter if they came with the DJ. We booked the DJ, speakers, mic for 3 hours-and they gave us a 4th hour for free!! (I'm so glad we added the extra hour--I was really surprised how much people danced, especially with 24 guests). We had the same DJ at the ceremony as the reception and no music at the cocktail hour. We gave the DJ our ceremony songs, about 2 hours of "dance music" and "filler music" on an iPod (I had back up CDs, but not needed) (P.S. Vitamin String Quartet is awesome modern filler music while people arrive and eat). In the end, we didnt choose enough music for 4 hours so the DJ added in his own choices which were all really fun! I think you would be fine with just an ipod--but make sure you have lots of music and choose someone to be the virtual DJ maybe. I'd also check on the cost for all the speakers and mic---it may be the same cost to get the DJ with the gear anyway? Vancouver Bride

Hello We worked with a Vancouver wedding planner and never directly spoke with Dreams LR or Jenny until the day before the wedding. Jenny held the video camera for us at the ceremony while our wedding planner did the wedding planner stuff. Officiant I am neutral about the officiant. She spoke very clearly in English and read the script exactly as we gave it to her so I was happy. I just PM'ed you the 2 script options we got from Dreams about 3 months before the wedding and the final one that my husband and I heavily edited. We aren't religious, so we removed most of that part, but each wedding is differet ofcourse. Cocktail reception--yes we did one, I just forgot to add it to BDW Yes we chose the silver cocktail menu off the brochure. We had it on the deck of the Seaside grille since the recepition was at the Seaside grill. It was nice to see the sunset outside then go inside for airconditioning. It included a full bar and champagne. Timeline for Ceremony I created my own timeline for the ceremony--and it worked! My husband and I had tons of time for pictures before and after the ceremony and we even made it to half of our own cocktail hour! We had 1 hour gap between end of ceremony and start of cocktail hour. I did this because we did tons of family photographs after the wedding-we wanted a photo of the bride and groom and each guest X 24 guests (gave photog names of combinations we wanted a month before wedding). We used these as wedding photos but also a chance for each family and couple to get updated pretty family portraits. We didn't want to pay for a cocktail hour nobody was at so we pushed it back an hour. While guests went to the cocktail hour, we did about 30 min more of B&G photos then joined them for a few cocktails. Tips Our Vancouver wedding planner included tips for all staff in our budget and gave it out-so I don't know the exact amounts. I'd ask Jenny and plan on giving them out ahead of time in envelopes so you don't have to carry around money or have a BM do it?

Hi Those weren't my BM Dresses, just ones on the Etsy sellers webpage advertizing the torquoise necklaces I bought for my BM. You can contact the seller on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/listing/88614852/chunky-turquoise-necklace-in-a-two and ask her for the email of the bride she got the picture from to find out about the dresses perhaps? I got my guava/coral BM dresses in different styles from David's Bridal. I think they had a tangerine colour too?

Hello Correction-the resorst do accept USD. I paid my final bill in US Dollars and my quote was in US dollars, but the detailed bill they printed for me was in Spanish and pesos. They converted the final amount, but not each item individually on the final bill. The Spa also gives you receipts in pesos. We had a symbolic ceremony in English. We were charged for the speakers and the $60 for the justice of the peace in addition to our package, but it's probably because we had a smaller wedding package than jessicalynneh. We didnt get the quote from dreams until about 1 week before the wedding (talk about stress!!) Whichever package you get--try to get in writing what is and isn't included--don't assume anything is included and read all the fine print on the brochure. We got a copy of the script from Dreams (PM me if you want it), but we edited very heavily and basically wrote 80% of it ourselves. We also wrote our own vows and added in a We added in the sand ceremony script also. If it's not a legal wedding, I was told you can pretty much write whatever you want in the script. body id="cke_pastebin" style="position: absolute; top: 351.40000915527344px; width: 1px; height: 1px; overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; left: -1000px; ">

Hello The $300 fee is listed below under reception. Hopefully it has changed by now. In the end,we got an extra hour of the reception for free and other freebies from DLR, so I think it evened out We also negotiated some extras (flower petals, free cake flowers, using the same speakers at reception and ceremony) instead of using the photographer included in the Dreams of Love Package (we brought our own). Instead of using the resort photographer included in the package, we asked the Dreams wedding planner to hold our own personal video camera for us during the ceremony only (we provided camera, wireless mic, and tripod). We were happy with the sound and quality, it's not the same as a videographer, but cost us nothing vs. $400 for the video from Dreams. The resort wouldn't explicitly credit us the ~$400 worth of photography we weren't using but gave us some free extras and did the video thing above. They also offered to let us use the resort phototgrapher, but our out of town photographer said a second photographer would get in the way. My final bill was in pesos and spanish (annoying suprise!?), so this is based on the quote we signed before the wedding. It doesn't include everything and may not be upto date, but hopefully it will give other DLR brides an idea to budget (all in USD) As of October 29 2012 for 24 people total (includng B&G) Wedding Ceremony Dreams of Love package $2199.00 (included cake and some flowers, see description on Dreams brochure) Beach Gazebo decoration (white, no flowers) $160.00 Chair sashes (12 in coral, pink or yellow)=$36 ($3 each) Officiant $60.00 I though this was included in the packge but it was not Folding chairs (white) $7/chair X 24=$168 (reused chairs for reception) Bridesmaids bouquets (tropical)=$74 each X 4=$300 Additional buttonholes (Groomsmen boutiniers)=$20 each * 5=$100 Corsages for grandparents and parents=$3 each * 25=$75 Reception at SSG 4 extra guests for silver menue (package includes 20)= $37.80*4=$151.20 Open bar (package includes 20)=$12.60*4=$50.40 Pink overlays for reception=$15 * 4=$60 Resturant area exclusivity $300 . We were told that Dreams La Romana was charging $300-500 for our reception fee "resturant area exclusivity" fee even though it was NOT listed in the brochure or online. We had our wedding planner (local planner not DLR's planner) talk to Dreams as well as the head office in California back and forth for a month and they reduced it to $300. I was very upset by this unexpected and in my mind unjustified fee, but we just paid it anyway. DJ(basic, microphone, speakers, comuter)=$350 for 3 hrs *We also only paid for the speakers once (they will initially charge you twice, once for reception and once for ceremony ~$300-$350 each) I hope this helps!

Hi We We got married at Dreams La Romana and honeymooned at Iberostar Grand Bavaro in Oct. Iberostar was definetly a 5-star ,smaller, adults only,and more chilled. It's very beautifully decorated. The lunch and dinner buffets are amazing (better than the restaurants I think)! All restaurants need reservations more than a day ahead so make any when you arrive. I loved Dreams for our wedding too-the main difference is Iberostar is an adults only crowd and Dreans is about 3 times as big. We didn't see any weddings while we were there,but I'm sure you'll find a bride from there on BDW! Their service at Iberostar was really great too-we got a personal bellboy

Hello DLR Brides!! We are back from our wedding on 29 October and settled down after the Holidays. Here are a few photos to help you with your descisions on locations for the dinners, ceremony, and reception. Overall I was impressed and happy with Dreams La Romana . Pictures by Daniela Ciuffa I'd like to give a shout out to our amazing photographer Daniela Ciuffa from Vancouver who not only took amazing pics, but also gave us digital copyright so I can share them with you! Check her out at Daniela Ciuffa http://www.ciuffaphotography.com/ A note on decorations We had to cut our decorations budget last minute becaus DLR charged us a $300 venue fee (in addition to the food fee) for the welcome/Rehearsal dinner that was supposed to be free and a few other costs (loooong story). So the ceremony and reception decorations are quite minimal. We got some unexpected freebies (extra hour of reception, flower petals, bigger cake) so the costs evened out. TTD coming soon... We paid a cab and did our TTD at Alto de Chavon about 10 km away----totally worth it!!! I'll post the pics and info in the TTD thread later. I'll also post in the "what I would and woulnd do again" thread when I have time. Don't stress Most of the details like flowers and decorations and such weren't finalized until a week or 3 days before the wedding--apparently this is normal. It all worked out and I only wished I hadn't stressed so much! They are pros and know what they are doing. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Congratulations to the other DLR newlyweds and good luck planning to those yet to come! ~Vancouver Bride Welcome Dinner/Rehearsal Dinner at El Patio (indoor/outdoor). It wasn't too hot or cold, yummy food! Private Beach Gazebo--this is the rocky beach behind the gazebo Here are photos of the ceremony at the private beach gazebo. It was very private and is located in front of the preferred section but at least ~200 feet from any other people or building. We had 10 wedding party+14 guests=24 total.We didn't add flowers to the gazebo to save $ and it still looked great I think. We had the cocktail reception at the Seaside Grille deck This was taken at the infinity pool of the main area of the resort (5 ft drop behind us!) This is our wedding party on the beach directly behind the Beach Gazebo This is the main beach infront of Dreams. It's about 5 feet wide Wedding Reception at the Seaside Grill. We chose this because it was airconditioned and had the most neutral colour pallet (Portofino and Bordeaux have bright strong colours that wouldn't match our turquoise and coral) Cake The cake was not a priority for us so we went with the standard one that comes with the package for 20 people. They added the flowers for free. We only paid for 1 tier cake and got a 2 tiered half chocolate half vanilla cake that was yummy!

Hi Andreanna Were you in a ball gown style dress? I saw one bride while we were doing our rehearsal on the 28th and she was around the white gasebo then another bride between the 30-2nd (I think the BM dresses were teal or aqua on the second one?) Too bad we didn't get to bump into each other at Dreams! Vancouver Bride

Custom Cufflinks We ordered these cufflinks from various sellers on Etsy for each GM's personality. Cost-Ranged in price from $25-50 ($50 for the Groom's others were around $30) PM me if you want the specific sellers (I don't know right now-need to ask husband who ordred them) Top left: inside of a watch (to match his wristwatch) for the Groom Top centre: Square QR codes that link to the GM facebook page Right: hockey skate and stick Bottom:flattened real bullet Left:Norweigian coin (GM's girlfriend was from Norway)

Bridesmaid Jewerly Seller: Mealine from Bijoux Designs Studio [email protected] Link:http://www.etsy.com/listing/88614852/chunky-turquoise-necklace-in-a-two Cost: ~$52/ necklace and earring set; $209 USD for 4 necklaces and earring sets (free shipping special at the time) I bought these as Bridesmaid gifts for my 4 BM to wear at our Dominican wedding with guava/coral dresses. They looked absolutely amazing with the dresses and really showed up well in photos. The beads have weight which makes them feel more substantial and dressy but not too heavy. I liked them so much I bought my own set to wear for the rehearsal dinner. I saw that the seller now offers the necklaces in 8 different colours too.

Real Touch 4 inch Hair flower from TimelessWedding http://www.etsy.com/listing/105408777/wedding-hair-flower-real-touch-rose-clip Cost: $45 Shiping:27 (it was very rushed shipping so that isn't the normal cost) Size: 4 inches diameter -The original flower was crystals only, but the seller added pearls to match my necklace for a small additional fee (cost of pearls). -4 inches was a good size I thought. Big enough to show up in photos, but not too big -If you choose a fake flower, I'd only go with the "real touch". It looks and feels extremely realistic! Colour or white? I went back and forth on this one, but I am SO happy I chose an ivory flower. It looked amazing in the photos and I think it looks pretty without competing with your bouquet like a colour flower might. I wore the flower to our at home reception and 2 different Christmas Parties this year and received so many compliments. I couldn't have worn a coral flower again with different outifits in my opinion. Here is a photos of the flower in my hair