Dominican Ally

So ladies, I was thinking just to make it easier to keep straight - we could do a little posting like I've seen on some of the other resort's forums where we keep track of our dates?! What do you think? I'll start with mine, and if you want to add yours in to the list (in date order) - just add it and repost....that way we know who's wedding is coming up and if any of us will overlap etc. DominicanAlly (Alicia) Wedding: April 11, 2013 Travel: April 6-20

Awesome! I didn't check her out...now I wish maybe I would have! LOL!

I think going with a dinner reservation is totally fine! Your guests can gather after dinner in the lobby bar, and then to the disco if you want to dance the night away Especially since you are having an AHR! We have a really good portion of our family and friends joining us, and if we have an AHR it will literally just be a backyard bbq type thing - very casual and inexpensive. So - for me, my only real reception will be down there - which is why we're doing the Sand Ext. package. My family is spread out around the country, so the AHR will just be for some of the local family and friends who didn't end up coming down south with us..... I think the beauty of a destination wedding, is that you can do it any way you want to, which is perfect!

Aww - thanks guys! I just remember how frustrated I was trying to find out all of this info, and narrow down my choices! This forum was oh so helpful to me, so I'm more than happy to help others out! Now we can all help each other out over the coming months, and count down together!

Yay! Congrats on getting your date! It feels great, right?! We'll definately be seeing you down there! I think there will be a few of us down there overlapping - we'll have to have a drink!

Thank you for posting this! Your dress was gorgeous!

Do you have pictures of the hair flower, and bracelets?

OOPS! I found it - just sent you the email

If you can PM me your email address - I can send you everything I have for extras/pricing etc. I just got the updated 2013 pricing list a few weeks ago, so I can forward it to you via email.

Cheryl - can you PM me your email address? I can send you all of the pricing and extras I have for Ocean Blue thanks!

She's an independent travel agent with her own agency....but we ended up going through Transat for our packages. If you want her contact info, PM me and I'll give it to you She's not local to me, but I wasn't happy with local travel agents, and she came well referred.

We're doing the Dominican in April 2013, but we are also doing Transat. Flight schedules aren't out yet - but our TA was still about to get us pricing and secure a group booking over a month ago for April 2013. Transat gave us dates, and will hold 30 spots for 90 days with no deposit other than just the bride/grooms. I don't see why some travel agents get pricing, and some seem to not be able to. Mine recommended doing the pricing now, as she said it may actually be better than waiting until later this year when official pricing comes out. We also get a one time price drop assurance....so if prices do go down - they will match the lower price.....however if they are higher, we still get our quoted/deposited rate.

That is great to know! I think I'll try to schedule it so that the cocktail hour and reception are back to back somehow. Maybe I'll do cocktail hour from 530-630 and move the reception to 630-1030 The gardens that you did pictures in before the ceremony were gorgeous! Your BM dresses looked amazing with the tropical flowers! Thanks again!

Or....maybe we could go to cocktail hour after the family pics just to grab a drink/bite to eat......and then go off to our solo pics and meet everyone at the reception if we don't end up making it back in time to cocktail hour.... Oh the decisions...LOL

Your photos are gorgeous! You were a stunning bride, and I LOVE your dress! Your decor was awesome, and I especially loved the centerpieces! Thank you so, so much for answering my questions and for sharing your pics! You have no idea how much it helps me out to visualize things. One more question....for now...I'm sure I'll have more...LOL! It looks like you did some photos prior to the ceremony, right? As of right now, our plan is to not see each other until the ceremony....so we'll only be able to do some getting ready pics before, and the girls/guys (seperate)......so, right now we have our timing set like this.....ceremony 4pm, reception 7-11. I was thinking we can do cocktail hour from 5-6....immediately after ceremony/toast we can start the full bridal party pics, some family pics, and then the guests can go off to cocktail hour and we'll join them once we get some solo pics done....thinking we'd make it there about half way through........do you think that would work? We have about 40 guests (I think) going...so I want to make sure everyone gets some pro pics of their individual families as well...which shouldn't take too long I don't imagine. Again - congrats on your day, and thanks for the help! Alicia

I'd be happy to send you everything I have - could you PM me your email address? Thanks

Hey There! Congrats on being married! It sounds like you had an awesome time, which is great to hear! Thank you so, so, so much for posting a review of everything - it helps a lot! I have a few questions, if you don't mind 1) You said the beef was good (which is good to hear - I think this is our choice for main), but what other food choices did you make for app/dessert, and cocktail hour? 2) What time was your ceremony? What was your wedding day timeline like....as far as ceremony/cocktail hour/reception etc. Just trying to guage how we should space our day out. 4) How far was the dive centre (for the cocktail hour) from ceremony location. Did they go over your options for this when you were down there? 5) Did you use the hotel's hair/makeup? If so, what was it like, and what time did you have your appointments/how long did it take? 6) How many guests did you have, and was there plenty of room at La Brasa for dancing as well? Were you on the terrace? Ok - sorry for all of the questions! Thanks in advance for the help! If you're up for posting some, I'm sure we would all LOVE to see some pictures! Thanks!

Thanks for the tip! I think that Transat has the same 60 day policy, but I'll be double checking and staying on top of it! Glad to hear that you at least got something out of it! Good work!

Just my suggestion - but if you want to mix two colours...I would either completely mix them together.....or I would line both sides of the aisle with the one colour (blue) and put the other colour up the middle (yellow) or vice versa.....

I am trying to think of ideas for something like this myself. My FI's mother passed away 2.5 years ago (just before I met him). I don't want something too emotional, as I don't want to upset him before the wedding, but would like some sort of nice little touch. I'm also thinking of incorporating her into the ceremony somehow. I was thinking of reserving a chair in the front row (next to the aisle) and having the FI place a single flower on the chair when he walks in. It would be a silent gesture that would mean something to him, and I thought it sounded sweet.... I think he may also do a dance with my mom since we can't really do a mother/son dance... I feel so blessed to have both of my parents attending our wedding, but my heart goes out to my FI as I know that it's not going to be an easy day, since her presence will be missed.

I have pricing for both Caribbean Emotions, and HDC if you're interested just let me know. They are both very comparable which is why I assume many brides end up coming down to the two of them for their weddings

I wasn't overly impressed with their site either (Caribbean Emotions) but after seeing many pics from other brides on this forum, their facebook group, etc.....I love their photos. Their website is fairly outdated for some reason, and they seem to use the FB site for their recent work. Just a tip There are also fantastic reviews on this site for them - they are #3 for all photogs reviewed on this forum. HDC is also great - and it came down to just about a coin toss for me between the two. As for the resort photographer, I'm really not sure. I think I found very limited info on him on the Ocean Blue facebook group....but couldn't really find an official site, or sample pics. I was turned off of the resort photographer right away anyways, just based on the pricing that the resort sent me, and the lack of flexibility in the packages. Sorry I couldn't help very much!

I think I'm going to do one per couple, and if singles are sharing rooms (ie: my brother and cousin are sharing a room just for the double occupancy) I would give them each a bag. In the couple's bags I will double up on mugs, keycard holders, etc.

I can't speak for everyone, but my guess, and my own personal reasons are that they are fantastic for using at all inclusive resorts. All inclusives use flimsy 8oz plastic cups, which aren't very eco friendly, nor do they hold much. The travel mugs allow you to keep your drinks cold longer, keep sand out of them, and they hold more liquid, which equals less trips to the bar. I'm choosing not to personalize mine, and we're using Bubba Kegs (which are pricey, but very popular/good brand) so that our guests will definately use them again afterwards. Hope this helps

I was just looking on shopbubba.com and it looks like they have purple....just so you know