LovelyGemini

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