LovelyGemini

haha I just noticed that! Compared to MissJali, who's a month before us, I'm definitely a little behind I think! Waiting on the completion of my invites that I am having custom made, hoping to have them sent out in August. I found my gown a couple of weeks ago and now working on the rest of the bridal party. Right now I'm also focusing on figuring out what I can use to make my own centerpieces. Aris sent me samples of what they have as far as centerpieces go, and I was NOT impressed, way over priced. Also hoping to start buying stuff for my OOT bags while all the summery stuff is still available! How about you?

What an awesome idea, I didn't even think of using waterproof labels! Thanks!

MissJali Where did you get your tumblers from? I'm trying to find an affordable option to put our logo or names on it.

Colored napkins are not included, they're $4 each, which adds up pretty quick! I'm trying to find cheaper ones to bring myself or just find another way to bring color to the table.

MissJali, I can't believe you're 8 months away already! You're only a month ahead of me and you've gotten so much done already. I need to pick up the pace LOL

Welcome!!! I think I remember reading a while back that you're also doing a large wedding like me??

Hey Mary, My fiance and I couldn't live without wifi while on our site visit last week so we paid for 5 days. It was VERY spotty outside of the room and lobby/common areas. It's also not the fastest speed even in the room on my Iphone web browser. My fiance tried to facetime his sister while we were in our room and the connection was lost at least twice.

Natalie, Good to know, I was thinking of doing the same! thanks a million and congrats again!!

Thanks Natalie! I read your review right before I left so I was doing a happy dance inside once I learned who I'd be working with! Did you choose any of the video packages or just photos?

AHHH I know. And that's the maximum number of guests we're hoping will go. Anymore than that I might just lose my mind. Haha

I'm back from my site visit!!! 6 days really just flew by! I'm going to try to keep this as brief as possible but I have to say, I think I need another vacation just to deal with the numbers for this wedding. The resort is just as beautiful as I remember from 2 years ago... I met with my WC on the 1st at 10 AM, the day before we were leaving. I was excited to find out Arise is going to be our WC, especially after all the great things I've read about her on here. (Her name is actually Arisqueylme, but she insists her name is way too long and prefers to be called Arise). She is such a sweetheart and so organized! Our meeting lasted a little over an hour, not because of lack of knowledge, believe me, all of you have been incredibly helpful and detailed, but because Arise was very thorough and suggested deciding on as much as possible (settings, chairs, menu, etc.) to minimize the number decisions when we return for the wedding in April. I think she also wanted to tackle as much as possible considering our wedding is very large (about 100-150 expected) !!! Sadly, Bar Higuey is not an option for us because of this. So we decided to keep the ceremony on the beach and the reception in the larger ballrooms they have. Once Arise showed them to me, however, I fell in love. The ballroom is absolutely gorgeous with incredibly tasteful lighting. And I'm sure my guests will appreciate the AC. Arise managed to convince my fiance to have the cocktail hour on the roof ($500/hour!!) simply because he saw one that took place on the beach during our stay and didn't like the setup. We are also considering changing the meal to a buffet style, at the suggestion of Arise. She is still working on getting me the pricing for it, but she explained that with such a large number of guests, the personal plate option could end up sucking up a lot of our party time because the waitstaff will be waiting for everyone to finish each course before distributing the next. Let's see what happens when she sends me the pricing for it! During the meeting, Arise also had us meet with Michaela from TP. While she was adorable and a complete sweetheart, the pricing for the video and photography packages left me so traumatized, I stopped at the first bar I found after the meeting! LOL. For a group like ours, she said the Bronze photography package (of course the cheapest one!) was not an option and we must choose from the Silver and Gold package. This was fine by me, because the Bronze package doesn't even include the negatives. But the video packages really disappointed me. $600 just to record the ceremony, which btw, according to Arise, is only about 15-20 minutes long! I'm not really sure it will be worth it. My last note as this ended up being longer than I thought... Extra hours for the reception, according to Arise, is charged per PERSON in addition to the cost of the DJ. The extra hour for the DJ, we were quoted $433 and then $15 per person for each additional hour. So for us to extend the party to at least 4 hours instead of 3, it will cost over $2000 We covered a whole lot of other stuff during our meeting so if anyone has any questions about anything, I will do my best to answer them! I am so excited... time is really just flying by! E

I am leaving tomorrow for my site visit. I'm a little nervous since the last time I visited the resort was 2 years ago. My meeting with my WC will be on Monday, July 1st and I only have a handful of questions, thanks to all of the detailed information you ladies have shared on this forum!

So beautiful and tastefully done Natalie! I assume you took the jars over there yourself? I'm terrified of taking anything breakable in my luggage.

Hehe SPRING BRIDES!!!

Natalie, Congrats on your beautiful wedding, you looked amazing!! Such a relief to see those great photos from TP since I've been considering using them as well. Thank you also for the tip about Group Palmera. I would love to see pictures of your centerpieces and decorations as I also plan to bring most of my own decorations and materials since I've heard they seriously overcharge for anything other than the basic centerpieces. Congratulations again!!

That's really sweet of you MissJali! Thank you for offering. I have to get moving to be able to send mine out ASAP, considering my wedding is only about a month after yours. I'll probably invoke bridesmaid and MOH duties to help assemble them (my own little bridal party sweatshop, haha). Where did you find the materials for the actual passport book? Specifically, the outer cover and the interior pages? And you printed nearly everything on your home printer? I remember reading you got the flatcards printed through Vistaprint.

WOW!!! MissJali, they look AMAZING!! you can really tell how much work and time you put into them. I've been on the fence about doing this myself to avoid spending $500 on invitations. Do you feel like the savings were worth it?

Thank you for your reviews Teena84 and Trivera5521 and congrats! Teena, I love the idea of the surprise dance and I really appreciate your tip about the symbolic ceremony since I am having one there as well. T, thank you so much for your detailed photos, I was considering making my own centerpieces as well to save money and yours turned out great! It is also a relief to know that a beach ceremony can turn out beautiful as well. I am expecting at least 100 guests and according to my WC, Helen, the beach is really the only place they will be able to accomodate that many ppl. I am meeting with Helen during my trip at the end of this month and will be sure to post details from my meeting when I return. Thank you ladies for all your help, it really has made my life easier in planning a large wedding so far away!!

Thank you so much for your review pclama2013! I currently have Helen as my WC for my 4/2014 wedding. Now I will make sure to have a relative who isn't part of the wedding party stay on top of her to make sure things run smoother when we're busy taking photos!

MissJali, I think I've been having the same issue as you. I'm also a serial travel and I'm getting hounded by the future-in-laws and my crazy Dominican family on what would be the most cost-effective way of booking this. I look the idea of a TA like Apple Vacations to keep track of my guests but I don't like the idea of having to put another deposit. I've been looking into Delta Vacations because they offer a discount code to our friends and family after we book ours. I'm still new and trying to navigate this site, but have you tried a local travel agent like Liberty? I'm hoping they may have better pricing and give people the option of payment plans. I'm trying to decide all this before sending out invitations because I want to include the TA info on there.

Hi MissJali, I also live in NYC and I'm getting married less than a month after you on April 5th! Erika

JDunn, Thank you for your very detailed pointers and pictures! I've been kind of lurking on this forum for a couple of months as I've been started to really get into the planning for my April 2014 wedding. And I'm not even sure I've really figured out how to use this thing either! LOL I have just confirmed my date at time (April 5 2014 at 5pm) on the beach with Helen Carpio and we have just paid our deposit for the Tangerine Sunset package. We have a meeting with Helen in early July for details and to discuss how we're going to manage to accomodate our very large guest list (Invites approx. 200, at least 100 expected)! I experienced very good and quick responses from Helen, especially once I called after over a week of no reply to my email requesting confirmation (IN SPANISH) of my date. However, after we paid the the deposit, I simply got a response saying that the payment information has been forwarded to the appropriate department and that I would soon receive a detailed package with more information. This was about a week ago. Any idea what else she could possibly be sending? Perhaps a list of extras and information for the photographer, DJ, flowers, etc.? Also, I've read so many things about having the reception at Bar Higuey but I'm concerned about the guests' comfort, especially since I'm assuming the ballroom has AC and will keep us away from the blood-thirsty, vicious DR mosquitos Erika