Hi everyone! My fiancé and I are planning on having our wedding May 27, 2016. We decided on Paradisus Punta Cana, however I have a lot of doubt. Within the last month we've taken 2 trips to the DR and this last time we took a trip outside of the resort and really took a good look at how overpriced things are at the resorts (common sense right). At PPC we opted for the Gazebo, and when we started to look at the outdoor receptions we were sadly disappointed with the options we were given:
the pool area where that guest will still be able to access during the reception
the beach located right next to the lobby, close to the beach chairs that they could not move but instead cover with palm trees.
So we came up with an alternative, have the reception in front of the gazebo, in the area that is cleared for pictures. This area will be large enough for our reception (around 50 ppl) however they'll have to set up the reception at the same time as the ceremony so the decorations will be in our pictures while the ceremony is happening. I thought I was ok with this, however I think the point of getting married on the beach is to have the ocean in the pictures--not the decorations. I also have a problem with the outside vendor fee's ($1000) and the outside visitor fee ($120) for guest who will not be staying at the resort with us. Although the location and resort is beautiful, the doubts and cost are making me lose sleep. If we went with PPC we are looking at paying close to $17,000 (as of now) with very minimal decorations.
We just came back from PC less then a week ago, and while we were there we visited a few restaurants: Jelly Fish & Huracan Cafe. Both are beautiful but the pictures that I saw from Huracan Cafe were stunning. Since being back I have been in contacted with Natalie from Huracan Cafe and the response I have gotten from her has been so refreshing, she's answered my emails very quickly (a nice change from what I've been dealing with). If we went with Huracan Cafe we would be able to customize our wedding much more and pay around $13,000. Everything sounds perfect right? The problem that I have with Huracan Cafe is that it's nestled in-between some other business as well as there being a souvenir market very close by. It also seems that another couple has reserved May 27th, so our only option is to wait to see if the couple does get married on that date, or we get married on June 3rd which may effect our guest count. Right now I'm currently waiting on a few more quotes from Jellyfish and Kukua.
We were about to order the invitations until this dilemma came up. I'm afraid I'm being too indecisive and that time is running out. I need a sound word here and some advice!
Brides/Brides To Be what have your experiences been?