EVKnowsitall

they are perfect! Just the wrong size

Haha Thanks VIKA your dress is gorgeous! I love it! And I like that you didn't sacrifice what you wanted just because its a destination wedding. I was kind of regretting that later. The salon convinced me I would want something lightweight for travel and heat (We are getting married in July so it is probably a valid concern) But in all honesty, I probably would have never considered my dress if it didn't meet those parameters. I wanted a big, poofy dress but I tried a few on and they didn't look right on me. It is going to photograph beautifully!

This is a great question! And this forum is a great source of information. I haven't read all the posts but it seems most people have destination weddings for the same reasons. Here are mine: 1) My fiance and I both LOVE to travel and last year, we went to Mexico and saw a destination wedding on the beach from our room balcony. We fell in love. 2) We started planning a small wedding stateside but ran into a few issues that turned me off completely- Most catering halls have a minimum that we could not guarantee. Although we have huge families, I wanted my wedding to be about the people who are actually involved in our lives- not some flashy shown for people related by blood, but not any other means. The lowest guest count we found at catering halls was a guaranteed 120 people. 3) Most of my friends married before me and they are either still paying for the weddings, complaining they didn't get to enjoy the day- eat drink or anything- because they were too focused on their guests- that seems so wrong to me. Didn't want that to be the case. 4) We budgeted a wedding in the states (I'm from NY- which was just revealed as the most expensive city to host a wedding) and it would cost us $45,000 for one day, 5 hours VS. a destination wedding costing us $25,000 and lasting an entire week. 5) You really cannot beat the beauty of a destination wedding. And its something your guests will remember and talk about for a long time to come. All my married friends have called us to tell us they flipped their lids when they received our Save the Dates. They thought we were pretty ballsy but they have all said they are looking forward to it and more excited for our day than their own weddings. We are the first of our friends to host a destination wedding. 6) I watch the TLC show Four Weddings and its funny because they put a DIY bride with a modest $25,000 budget against brides spending $100,000 and you know who usually wins? The brides who spend less. More money DOES NOT equal better wedding. 7) A destination wedding is the best way I can think of sharing the most important moment of my life so far with the people closest to us. And when the sun sets...we get to wake up and party again. I am buying a white bikini and white dresses for my stay lol I am milking the bridal thing for as long as possible hahahaha Good luck in your planning, no matter what you decide. It did cayse some controversy with our family but I feel that no matter what you do, someone will always be displeased. It's my wedding- better them than me. I deserve to be a little selfish about this one thing in my life and we are doing what we can afford and on our terms. I am so excited!

I cant see it either! I need 100 more posts before I am a junior member lol which is a long way to go. If the image is on your computer, you can just click the picture icon that is two icons to the right of the paperclip and insert the image in the post. That might be too much work though lol you don't have to. Anyway congrats!

Wow this is so awesome! How unique! You must absolutely love it!

Hey PPR Ladies- so KTU had a contest to win a free wedding and my fiance and I thought we would enter to have a reception in the states after our DW. If you have a chance vote for us! Click the link below, click Vote round 1 and find our picture- its the same as my avatar and I'm attaching it here. Or you can search for "Evelyn and Elvin". It will prompt you to register through KTU. You can vote once per day until October 9th. It's not a big deal, we just thought it would be a cool option for the folks who aren't coming to DR. There are two more rounds so maybe some of you can enter round 2 or three. We only plan to enter the first round. Thanks in advance if you can help lol http://www.ktu.com/pages/contest/wedding/contest.html Our pic:

I absolutely love the criss-cross ruching. It gives the dress a nice texture. It is very slimming and sexy with just the right touch of sparkle. It looks great on you congrats!

Hey Angel- that's about our budget. Lola thanks so much!!!! This is exactly what we need! Checking out your review now!

I will say this about Maggie Sottero dresses- I have been saving them on my computer for as long as I can remember. I called the salon where I bought my dress and had them pull the styles I thought I would love. I could have sworn that Maggie was my designer but when I saw the dresses in person they looked nothing like what the pictures depicted. The salon manager said a lot of brides get their heart set on a picture on the computer and see the dress in person and are disappointed. She said this was especially true for Maggie Sottero- which totally broke my heart lol. I am not saying you will have the same experience, you might very well find a Maggie you love- but I learned its best to have some non-negotiables about your dress (or desireables I should call them) and let the workers at the salon bring any dresses that fit that criteria to you. Mine were: It has to sparkle, it has to have some kind of a strap, and it has to be lightweight enough for travel without sacrificing the bridal look... lol All the dresses I THOUGHT I would love- I did not. So be open-minded. Good luck! It's totally the best part about planning the wedding haha. Make a day of it! I went with my mom, mother in law, and maid of honor and then we went to a Sangria brunch after. It was the best! Happy shopping!

Congrats Suzhen! I chose the Plaza Colonial for our Cocktail hour and we went with the Dominican Guitar trio because I thought guests should have some music. The DJ isn't going to set up in two separate locations I imagine, so we thought it was a good add in at only $250 for a 60 minute set. I like Plaza Colonial because our wedding ceremony is 5-6 pm and cocktail hour starts at 7. By then the sun is setting and Plaza Colonial has these awesome lanterns already there so it creates a nice ambiance. I wish I could have my wedding earlier in the day, unfortunately the priest was only available in the evening and I insisted on a full Catholic Church wedding. I'm doing a rehearsal dinner. I planned on just having it in one of the restaurants. Since only bridal party attends it shouldn't be a big issue. I thought about doing La Barcaza, the boat, for a cocktail welcome for all our guests. Its $35 pp for two hours of music and drinks on the boat. But when I shopped the idea around, my friends and family said its silly when everyone is paying to stay at the resort and its an all inclusive. The consensus is- "we will meet you at the bar" lol so I might save us the headache and forego the cost. My TTD session is on Sunday and not all my guests are staying to same amount of days so I thought on Saturday (day after my wedding) I would have everyone meet in the buffet for breakfast and have a day after "brunch". I'm really getting excited seeing everything fall into place. I have my moments of stress but I really can't wait. My fiance and groomsmen had their fitting last night at our place and now that he picked his suit I can proceed with the bridesmaids. I wanted him to pick his suit first because I didn't think it was fair for the bridesmaids to select a dress color and then he would be forced to match his suit to the color. It's his wedding too, I thought it should be the opposite. He picked a blue suit lol so that did have an impact on our color palette. But his suit is custom made by a friend of ours who owns a Mens Custom Clothiers business- Any grooms looking who live in NY let me know lol! Here is a pic of Plaza Colonial: Happy planning Suz- you are getting married before we are so I will rely on your reviews, feedback and pics! Cheers to happy wedding planning!

Sarah- I actually feel the opposite. I think the packages are great as is. I looked into a few other resorts and they were mostly a la carte. The Entice me packages are for certain dates only. Are you marrying during those times? I agree the Tailor made is not a good investment. I'd rather start with a lower cost package and add extras if I am under budget. I think the welcome party is a cool idea but Paradisus is not an inexpensive resort. I don't think its a wise investment to pay per head for a welcome dinner when I can just make a group reservation at a restaurant. Obviously the welcome dinner would be much nicer but its an unnecessary expense. I can take that money and use it for other upgrades. The other lure of Tailor Made is the massages- but I don't care about that. It also allows for 36 people versus the 24 you get with the lower cost packages. So I guess its a matter of doing your math. Paradisus only has one wedding calculator. They change the prices every year is all, but its one exhaustive 3 page xcel spreadsheet that has every cost under the moon on it haha. It was one of the things I liked- there seemed to be no hidden costs- everything upfront and honest and fully customizable.

It's ok. Comes with a destination wedding. I work as a HS teacher and I am the senior advisor and we went prom venue touring today and I had a slight tinge of destination regret- but thats because for prom a catering hall gives hugely different minimum guest counts and ppp. Example- The top notch nicest hall we saw is allowing my school a 50 person minimum because we agreed to a Monday and is charging 75 pp with service charge already in price for 5 hour plated dinner or buffet, use of beach and terrace. For a wedding- they want 150 person guarantee, $175 a person. Proof that weddings really have become wedding all about the business and less about the experience. We are not using Arrecife- Phil Steingard aka Photophil will be our photographer and yes- we are paying the obnoxious $1,000 fee plus a $140 day pass. Ridiculous.com but worth it to us for good photos.

My ideal location @ PPR is already booked by another wedding party. My options left are: Apollo Foyer The Beach (which we are leaning towards) The "Family Pool Terrace" (not to be confused with Olympus Terrace) Privatizing Gabi- which I feel is unfair since since I booked my wedding before the other bride and some sort of mixup happened in the requested space. I asked them to waive the fee- which was a shot in the dark lol. I was told it wouldn't be the full $9,000 because we chose the Aqua package- but its still a cool $4,500- and the mixup was their error so I'm not privy to having to pay an additional $4,500 for their error. I am looking for any past brides with pictures and/or feedback about any of the above locations. The foyer looks pretty set up, but it seems narrow , especially for our additional dance floor and DJ set up. The beach was my original consideration but I wasn't sure about everyone going barefoot. I'm concerned about the food being cold and the lack of consistent drink service, since its far from the kitchen. The resort does not have any pictures of the family pool terrace setup. My coordinator sent me pictures of it without a setup and it looks like a passageway by the pool. I'm worried about it but she claims its beautiful set up..."from what she's heard" which isn't very reassuring. This is the first blip in my wedding journey and its driving me bonkers. Everything else worked out but this is throwing me for a loop. Please help!!!! You can post the pics in this thread or PM them to me or email them to me @ [email protected] I appreciate any help.

To veil for me! All the way lol. I'm having a cathedral length because I had my heart set on a ball gown, even though I ended up disliking every ball gown I tried on. I ended up with a mermaid and loved it but felt it was missing something. When the consultant put the veil on me I was sold. I am getting married inside the church so its fine. I might take it off for the reception since it will be on the beach. I haven't purchased but the veil, but where I purchased my gown, they have veil trunk shows where you can try on your dress and try different veils so I'm looking forward to that.

Tink! Wear the veil for the trash the dress! I think it looks totally sexy when its wet and against the brides skin. You could always take a few pics with it and then take it off for the rest of the shots. I have seen some gorgeous TTD photos with veils.

Maybe a birdcage veil since your hair is short. I think with a long veil it might detract from your hair which frames your face. In the end, its up to you. I wanted the veil because it made me feel more bridal lol

OMG This ring is so amazing! I love sapphires too! It's already your something blue! I also love the heart detailing on the side. In other news I just figured out how to reply using original pics posted by other brides. Ha. so silly.

Well I posted my dress so why not my ring! My background story goes- my mother took me into Zales and her and I are Dave Tutera, Four Weddings, Say Yes to the Dress fiends- you know, been planning my wedding forever. Sad but true lol. So it didn't strike me as extraordinary. We tried on lots of rings and took pics. I totally forgot about it. Months later my fiance kept pressing me to go vacation in Mexico so I called my mom and said "I think he is going to propose" and he was...so she told him not to because I knew. I was so disappointed haha. But then at a random family brunch, in front of my family- especially my grandmother who has since passed-he proposed. It's a set- one I tried on and fell in love with. My mom went with him to Zales and let him pick. He picked the same ring set I wanted- only I liked the princess cut and he chose the round cut. She is holding the wedding band so I don't lose it, but every time I visit her, I try it on and stare at it. I can't wait to wear it! I know it's a bit much for some who like to keep it simple, but I have long "piano" fingers so I think it looks great on my hand. And yes- we have known each other for 11 years, been dating for 6, living together for 3- damn straight I am wearing the set. I know some brides stop wearing the engagement ring once they are married- but not me! lol

Thats awesome! I wish more people would travel with us. A lot of people said they would and now that Save the dates have been sent, they can't. Kind of upsets me! But I can see how it would be stressful in terms of cost. Congrats!