Kel123073

Hi Brandy, We are getting married in Punta Cana, DR..... the reserve at paradisus palma real.....Love Love Love all your plans with the live music!!! That will be amazing, such an authentic experience!!!! Actually as I am looking at your pricing we kind of lucked out.... ours is definitely less, but they don't ofer a steel band because I would totally opt for that! I guess there are trade offs....lol They just got back to me with quotes on bouquets and not bad....so maybe we will acually go for the real.....$45 for callalillies bouquets for each girl....not sure if I spelt that correctly...sorry You are going to have an amazing wedding for sure.... A lot of the surgeons I work with travel to beaches in turks and caicos every year with their families and can't say enough about how amazing it is! I also have a friend who attended a destination wedding there last year and loved it! We were torn when making our choice because the airfare is usually higher to turks and a little less in DR. But this year the airfare is very high to DR overall...oh well We have been to Turks and Caicos and there is no place like it! and as a side note.....if u can go off resort to the Rum Bar.....it is an amazing afternoon!!!!!

What a great idea!!! I have a ballpark figure but not a definite headcount yet....and I didn't even send out all formal invites yet....We were handing them out slowly since they are message in a bottle and a little pricey to mail. They really are just more of a formality at this point.... I am pretty lucky most of my family is booked already that said they were coming from the getgo! Just a tip....and I am sorry to the travel agents on here and the resort but my family all booked on their own..... much better pricing then the group rates offered from resort directly, and the packages including air offer a much better discount... Most people paid about $3000 for two adults for a week with direct air from the nyc area! If your bridesmaid really wants to attend....just tell her to watch packages on expedia, bookit, cheapcarribean etc....Also those traveling with children as the year goes on...they have promotions that first and sometimes second child stays for free! Good Luck!!! The Palma Real is definitely one of the more exspensive resorts but this is our wedding! and we want people to really have an amazing time.... We have stayed at many all inclusives and this by far was our absolute favorite! Everything was amazing!!! Kelly

and if co workers throw a shower that is a different story..... it is out of your hands!!!!! so enjoy they are just celebrating your special occassion!

I totally agree.... anyone not on the guest list for the wedding should not be invited to the shower......I actually argued this with my mom.....at first we were inviting every friend and relative.....and then decided against that..... this was very special to us. We wanted it to be the trip of a lifetime for family and a few close friends who could come..... something that they would never forget.... Unfortunately, I have a ton of girlfriends who were all inviting themselves from the get go and their friends were jumping on. I have a huge family and my fiance has a small family, and he was really uncomfortable with all this, as was I. Some of the guests were making this a bit of a girls vacation.....when we wanted a smaller intimate family event! My fiance is divorced with two children and I have several nieces and nephew and they are all close! We finally decided to keep it immediate family only with a few friends..... So that meant I couldn't invite everyone to the shower, because that is just wrong. I know feeling were hurt but that was our decision and we are both okay with it.

Kkertz I am glad you had an amazing experience at sanctuary..... we didn't choose that resort because it was adults only when we were looking......and we have a lot of children included in our wedding. I am just a little confused why you would post on the paradisus thread about choosing another resort. I love DR have stayed at several differnet resorts over the years and know that I would be thrilled with a number of choices for a wedding.....I guess it just seems odd that you are promoting a different resort on our support thread!

Hey Ev thanks for the response! I know u understand and have been going thru soooo much! In the end I keep trying to remember the advice of a lot of other destination brides........when you are pulling up to the resort it was all worth while and that they loved their whole experience! Mysister is doing better.....off bedrest and just taking it easy....as far as my I fell and sprained my ankle pretty badly....lol it could have been worse.....I could have broke it! so I am trying to see the glass half full!! we are only having a symbolic ceremony..... I have friends of friends who got married in DR and they advised us it was too complicated to get married in the church there...... especially since my fiance is divorced! you should not be shelling out all that money for your bachelorette party..... and hoping and waiting to get it back.....that is just no ok...... I don't even want a bachelorette party but i am going to have one.....it is not planned yet...and I am letting my girlfriends plan that!!! again thanks for listening......and keep me posted on what is going on! I know in the end you are going to have a beautiful wedding...... kelly

You are so right! You will never please everyone...... and you guys enjoying your whole wedding experience is what is truly important! Staying the extra week would be amazing! I would def do the registry for the honeymoon then!! I should have elaborated further on our situation. My fiance is divorced and his two children ( ages 10 and 12) are staying for the whole trip with us...10 days. We initially thought they would go home with my family after 5 days or so, and have a couple of days to ourselves. His ex wife was insisiting we fly them back, even thought the kids know my family and have had local vacations with them before. I understand her point and I compromised with my fiance and we agreed we would do a seperate honeymoon at a later date! maybe we should have registered for that lol! but we didn't even feel like that was an option.... because we have no definite time picked yet! That is why it felt like asking people to pay for our wedding...... Best of luck and ENJOY!!!

Hiii I am not getting married at beaches in turks, but came across your thread and we are dealing with the same issues. Not sure about the DJ thing. I love your idea of having the live music and then a playlist..... We are going to consider that its a great idea! As far as flowers, I am awaiting quotes from my resort. It is frustrating, I worked in a florist years ago and decided to give it a try with the bouquets and I think I am going to make the girls....Mine are included but it seems like such a waste of money for a few minutes!!! especially when I can do it! best of luck and thanks for the ideas!!! kellly

beautiful job!!!!!!

We went thru the same issues, we have lived together for several years and at first I didn't want a shower because I thought if people are going to travel for my wedding then I don't expect shower gifts... My mom was adamant she was throwing me a shower. She said it is your turn and you have always been so generous to everyone else! She also said this is a way for people to celebrate with you especially if they can't come to the wedding, they are still included in some festivities! Good Point mom, because I do have relatives that can't come for financial as well as other reasons. And it was nice to celebrate with them! I kept thinking we have everything we need because we live together already! We registered at Crate and Barrel, as well as Bed Bath and Beyond. I didn't want china! never have! plus we live in a good size rental in NJ but I don't have a china cabinet and I don't want one! lol I have nice dishes already for everyday from crate and barrel lol.... so I was like what are we going to choose?? Believe it or not We spruced up our place!!! table runner, napkins and napking rings, new sheets, new shower curtains, beautiful drinkwear etc..... I also would have loved cash but didn't know how to really ask for that..... wouldn't have gone over well in my family! and registering for the trip.....sorry I think its like asking everyone else to pay for your wedding since it is a destination wedding.....we didn't feel right about that at all! It definitely is a tricky situation kelly

Hi Ladies..... Well here are some of my DIY projects....and there are more to come...lol Thank you so much to everyone for sharing their ideas, and advice! This site has been amazing! so many talented people, and so much support for the whole destination wedding experience! My Message in a Bottle invitations, inspired by Venus, and too many others to name.... These were painstaking! I don't suggest this project if you have a lot of invitations to do.....it became extremely overwhelming at certain points but the end result is beautiful! I do have some extra boxes made up and bottle as well that I may put on here to sell! I can save someone part of the headache, since we narrowed our guest list a little bit! The wedding hangers were super easy believe it or not! I was a litte intimidated to try them at first, and almost ordered them off etsy. I googled a tutuorial for them and thats when I came across Philanab on this webiste. Great post with simple instructions. I wanted them for myself, my mom, and my bridesmaids so It was going to be a bit pricey from etsy! I got the hangers at Walmart a 5 pack for less than $5.00 and two rolls of 12g wire 5yards in the floral section at michaels for $3.99/roll ( use your 40% off coupons) and ribbon at michaels that was on sale maybe $2.00 each roll. I spend less than $15 on this, plus the cost of a bottle of wine, which my fiance likes to remind me of......lol The ring bowl for the ring bearer was something I kept checking out on etsy and was planning on ordering! I hadn't seen any posts on a diy for these but In my hunt of free DIY projects and just ideas in general I came across a website http://www.intimateweddings.com/blog/diy-ring-bowl-made-from-oven-bake-clay/ I headed back to michaels with another coupon and got started. The only thing I noticed was the amount they told you to purchase was way too large! I got the sculpey 227g (8oz) bar, and I actually made two bowls...the first one didn't come out bowl shaped enough.... tip make sure you use a bowl that is going to give it a bowl shape! my initial one was too flat! I bought a couple of stamps to use that were 40%off and I got some sand paper at walmart for less than $2.00 Any questions, just ask! I may be a little slow in getting back to you but I will .... had a couple of days off and it was wonderful to have some time to work on this stuff!!! we burned the edges of each invite by hand, and we ordered these rsvps on vistaprint with a groupon! We found the image on vistaprint!! Hope this helped some brides!!! xoxo kelly

we are doing oot bags too and it is all adding up to a lot of space! I am trying to keep it very simple though as far as having to do last minute things when we get there! I want to enjoy my time and RELAX before the wedding...lol Good Luck with everything Erica...omg your day is less than a week away!!!!!

Oh and congrats to all the new brides to be just starting their planning! in regards to registering..... We felt funny at first but we have a lot of family who are not attending and my mom still thru me a bridal shower, especially for people who couldn't afford to attend the wedding, she thought it was a nice way for them to be included in some of the festivities! We registered for a mix of things to update our home since we live together already and we were careful on prices. Since some people are traveling for the wedding we didn't want to go crazy with big price items. Pretty much there was something at every price point! Hope that helps!

Hi Ladies, I know some of your big day is fast approaching! I don't know about you guys but I am getting super excited as well as overwhelmed. I had my planning call last week. It went really well we covered a lot. Lots of food choices on the buffet menu with swaps allowed within reason. I have been finishing up my Message in a Bottle invites....the DIY from hell! so I hadn't done that much else. We are doing the chill out chic package...was wondering what kind of pricing you got for centerpieces.... everything adds up so quickly. We chose that package partially because we loved the decor and didn't want to have to add much! Anybody renting the bridal suite? I have a small party and not sure if it was worth it..... We are staying in the reserve so the suites are large.... I figured I could send my fiance and his son to get ready with my dad and nephew... Also, what is everyone doing in regards to music for cocktail hour? Bianca suggested having cocktail hour in the same location as reception so we could add the DJ for an hour, or use an ipod for the cocktail hour. Would an ipod be cheesy for the cocktail hour.....i think if we did a good mix ahead of time it would be fine probably... Plus we have a little situation....my sister who is my maid of honor is pregnant, her obgyn said it was fine to fly....she will be about 7 months in july! Only thing is she got put on bedrest for some issues last week.... I don't know if she will be able to come with her husband and my niece and nephew who are in the bridal party as well.. ahhh the stressors of a destination wedding.... I have seen some of you are going thru issues as well! We are trying to stay positive! The baby and my sisters health is most important!!!! kelly

Sorry for late response..... This was in the US