Oct 2012 Bride

I am currently working with Babs and I love her. She is great. She will help to make life so much easier.

I have been working with Babs since the end of Feb. We changed resorts in the DR and it was seamless. It didn't affect my guests at all. I had a recent issue with not being able to get a passport for my son and had to change the wedding from being in the DR to being in FL. She has been really great with my indecisiveness. I finally selected a resort in Ft. Lauderdale but it was not one that her suppliers have a contract with. She worked to have that resort added. And she even told me that if they weren't able to add it she would work with them directly without using her suppliers. This whole process has been really stressfull for me and it is great to have one less thing be stressfull. You will like working with Barbara. She has really been a life saver. She is also really good about her response time. I swear there were times we were emailing around the clock back and forth.

OMG Tamara that is sooooo exciting. You have got to let us know when it will be airing! I will be watching. That is a pretty dress. Oh you know what I forgot to mention to you that I loved the pics on your site. the Bun in the Oven pic was my favorite. But yes my two phrases that I believe in so dearly: "Everything happens for a reason" and "What's meant to be will be" I am completely in love with my FI, so I know no matter what our wedding will be magical. And for our honeymoon in the DR we can go crazy because ther will be no one around to catch us.

OMG Your dress is amazing. If you don't mind, how much does she charge to replicate? And how long did it take? She did an amazing job. It looks great on you.

Thanks ladies. You are all so sweet. Well. I got the best email today. Susan actually emailed me saying that they are going to refund the money and asked me for our wire info. Can you say happy and relieved. The past 2 weeks have been really hectic but it has been panning out. moving past square one. And getting excited about closing on our house next Friday. Ladies it all works out in the end. We will still be honeymooning in the DR so all is not lost. Just kinda rearranged a bit.

Hi Ladies I know I have gone from posting all the time to not posting or responding at all. To those that have PM'd me I have not been ignoring you. I have been going through a mini wedding crisis that has caused us to change everything. I have not been able to get a passport for my son. And his father who has not seen him in 3 years, being the that he is has refused to sign the paperwork to allow him to travel. I have been going back and forth with the courts and the passport office and have gotten no where. Through the courts it takes foooooooooooooor ever. I started this process back in November. But after a huge blow up with his father 2 weeks ago, I realized we are not going to have it in time. Now with saying all of that. We are not getting married in FT Lauderdale, FL and honeymooning in the DR. I'm sure you can imaging how stressfull, irritating and frustating this has become for me. We have been going back and forth with BBPD because the deposit is non-refundable and we want to have it applied to our stay instead so we don't just straight lose our money. But I have gotten nowhere fast with that. so we essentially threw away $900 that we will never get back. And seeing how we are paying for the wedding all by ourselves and we are closing on our house next month, now is not the time to be throwing away money. With saying all of that. I will respond to the PM's by this weekend. I have just been really busy, basically starting from scratch planning this wedding.

Terrihug- We had a small group to begin with. We only invited 37 people and we have about 20 total going. So it actually worked out really good. At first we were thinking about getting 15 rooms so we will have the group rate for everyone. But the more the thought about it, we decied to stick with our " we know with out a shadow of a doubt they are going" number of people. I think we are allowed to drop 2 rooms without a penalty. In addition our TA told us if we had more rooms than what we requsted then if it is still within a month or 2 later the rates should be the same. So we made sure to let people know the rate could/would go up if they don't reserve by the due date we gave them. That ensured the serious people paid. Anyone that waits too long, well they know not to expect to get the same rate. If they do great. But if they don't then they can't complain because we gave enough warning. Really the most important thing is how much can you afford? How much to do feel comfortable paying for? And what size is your group? If you have a large group then it adds up fast. And you might want to figure out something else.

We had to pay $1000 deposit as well. But we we did was pay it and not tell the guests that we were paying it. The way my family is, if they know something is paid for they are not going to apy you back at all. So on our website we told everyone a $100 deposit is due 3 weeks after they got the save the dates to keep the prices at the reserved group rate. We said we reserved 10 rooms and the price is a first come first serve basis. It worked out really good. People paid their deposits. But we also only resevered rooms for the ones we knew without a shadow of a doubt they were coming. In addition since we were staying longer than the guests the costs for our stay is $1000. As the guests pay their deposits then it is credited back to our costs. So we were comfortable with paying up to the amount of our stay. I hope this helps.

OH my. Where was this thread months ago?

After looking at them more we decided against them because the package does not include a private reception. I really like the Sheraton Beach resort.

It's cool. Thanks. I don't even want to stress about it anymore. It's also important to keep the price as low as possible for our guests.

I found some pics on this site http://creativefocusblog.com/2011/04/michelleandandy/ it loks really good. Below is another one from the WC. http://www.thepros.com/Wedding-Venue/Miami/B-Ocean

Hi kellykellz We decided today to get married there. I really like their package prices. it seems to be the best I have seen in the US. And from the pictures they look really beautiful,classy and high end. I hope someone else posts some information on them.

I might need to give her a call. That is a good price. Can you post or send me a picture of the arch?

Tiseege - I have full custody but not sole legal custody. And that is the issue. i have been going back and forth between the court house and the passort agency. I filled a motion to change the court order from full custody to sole legal custody back in Novmeber. But if you know how the courts work, then yo uknow it take forever. I have yest to be assigned a court date. They are not assigning date until the last week in August. I could attemp to push the wedding back, but I wouldn't know until after we finally went to court and the judge granted the change when I can get the passort myself. And even then I would still need to give my guest enough of a notice to allow them to make arrangement, and request time off from work. Since i have no idea when this will be finish. My best option is to change locations. Sandy Planner - We still need a get go to Mexico. Thanks ladies for your help and concern. We decided to get married in Fort Lauderdale and honeymoon in the DR. This way we can still have the beach wedding and we don't lose any of the money we already paid out to the resort in Punta Cana. The way I see it. When life gives you lemons. Then you turn around and make lemonade, lemon sherbert, lemon cookies, lemon candy and some lemon cake with lemon frosting.

Thanks. I'm a little more calm now. But it has definitely added to my stress level. He is really spiteful and likes to pay child like games. I am looking at both US Islands and FL. But the pricing is soooo much different that the DR. The non-US islands include so much in the price. Now with the US I have to add up each and every single cost per item and service. Just too much. But I'm determined to get married on the beach, and still be wonderful. We've decided to still honeymoon in the DR as planned.

The review was wonderful. But can any of the past brides provide me with some rates?

Hi brides. I need to Bump this thread up. My wedding is this October and I need to change the location completely. US islands are different than the other islands where everything is all inclusive. I really need help selecting a venue that is not going to cost us much more than what we were going to spend in the Dominican Republic. Our wedding size is 20.

Crazy. See they don't realize all that goes into the price of the stay. The groupons are great. But they don't include food or travel, trip insurance, taxes, etc. In addition as stated they are last minute deals. I looked at the groupons and they are just not worth it at all. I mean do they look at the resorts off the groupon site? Look at the reviews? See if it is even a decent place?

Hi ladies. Here is my issue. we originally planned to get married in the Dominican Republic. We reserved a room block, paid out deposits and everything. My sons father, who has not been in his life, refuses to sign the passport application. So now I need to go back to the drawing board and start over. I need to keep m,y costs no more than what I was spending before. I need help and ideas on resorts and wedding packages.

These are so beautiful. I love them. She's on Etsy?

Is Susan the new person emailing you? She is the new person emailing me as well. Haha you should have my email address stored somewhere by now. lol [email protected]

Trivera- Can you email me the swatches? So since we can send stuff down I'm asuming that means we can use our own decorations. Awesome.

Hey Trivera, I don't have any swatches. But I have seen the different colors and I feel like they are close enough to what we want. The shade doesn't have to be exact exact for me.

Trivera- Ok this is what I have. I added the huppa for my package and told them what colors I wanted. On my invoice it they did not charge me anything additional for the fabric. The chairs come standard with the white color and the colored bows. The reception comes standard with the runners. With the tangerine package it comes with the center pieces which I guess is the pine-cone thingy unless you upgrade. I have gone back and forth alot about what is included and what isn't. In addition to what decorations you can add. But you are fine. you are not behind in any way. I need to start working on any paperwork. brochures, seating cards, and whatever else I will be sending or displaying for my guests.