Wedding Review @ Paradisus Punta Cana 4/19/08 -- **LONG but w/ PICS!**

[jarauz]

Tami, thanks for the great review. I'm so happy everything turned out great. I have been a nervous wreck ever since you left. I was sos eager to hear how everything went since I never been to the resort. I wasn't thinking about the beach reception but looking at your pics and reading the review I'm definetly thnking about it. I was just woriied about the wind and sand being all over the food..lol..lol..Well I am still worried about that $$$ BILL $$$. I really don't want to drag with lots of things there, but I thin I'm going to have to. Because everything extra is expensive......Well Tami, I'll be harrassing you from now til May 09...lol.....lol...

 

Thanks for the review.

 

Jessica

[Jenn3878]

Great review Tami! Again you look awesome! Congrats!!

[foxytv]

Quote:

Originally Posted by melody I do have a question though, what was the coordinator's reasoning as to the $6000 invoice discrepancy ? that's quite a difference!!!! (

I think part of it is that I dealt with more than one WC over the course of the planning process ... and some of the emails w/ pricing were from the former WC. However, I requested an invoice for the different things we wanted prior to our arrival, but did not receive it.

So, we cut out the digar roller (we were quoted $250 set-up fee plus $8 per cigar) b/c the set-up fee jumped to $450 upon arrival.

We nixed the Coconut Aisle leading up to the Gazebo b/c it was a waste of $100 when the gaxebo was so pretty on it's own.

The extra 3+ hours for the Mic/Speakers added $300+ to the inital invoice ... and we had requested a 1/2 hour pre and post cocktail reception at the Gazebo ... but again that pricing changed from what we had agreed to over emails.

In addition, it was supposed to be a $2500 flat fee for the beach reception, but they had it billed "per person" which had it up to over $4000 ... not including the alcohol. So, I just cut down the number of people who I told her would be attending (didn't vount the kids, said the photogs weren't eating, and any guests who didn't book thru our TA I didn't count). However, in the end we agreed to the original flat fee of $2500 for the reception AND drinks.

I hope that's not too confusing. :-(

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinkletoes Do you mind if I ask how you paid (cash/credit card)? I totally understand if thats TMI. Only reason I am asking is b/c I read somewhere that some coordinators try to get over by charging your credit card extra b/c its in dominican pesos instead of US dollars. And then some brides dont find out until they get home and see their credit card statements. So I am trying to decide how we should pay. I'm not sure I feel comfortable carrying that much cash around.

I would absolutely pay w/ credit cards. The exchange rate is easy 1 US$ = 30 RD$, so you can easily calculate to ensure your charges are accurate before signing.

Also, one thing I was remiss in mentioning about cash -- DO NOT KEEP LARGE SUMS OF CASH IN YOUR ROOM SAFE!!!

Another bride, who was married 2 days before us, told us that they had their laptop, camera and other valuables stolen from their rooms during the ceremony/reception. We were lucky not to have this issue (we locked any valuables inside a small suitcase that was inside a larger one w/ a TSA lock) ... but she said several of her guests also had money stolen from the safe. It seems they don't take it all, and take it from the middle of your billfold so you won't necessarily notice it right away.

My broher was missing $80 but they are the only one in our group who can't account for all of their $$$ -- and they realized it after their safe key wouldn't work -- as if a Master Key had been used to open it.

So, just be careful with your cash. We kept ours with us (in our beach bag which was always in sight, usually covered up by our beach towels) and had no issues.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Debs Great review Tam! ooo Mamajuana... this stuff was potent but good eh? LOL. Holy crap you paid alot of overage on your luggage! We thought $70 each way overage was crap, I guess we shouldn't complain! Don't ya just love those Big ASS Fans in the receiving area of the airport?! LOL. But funny how when you are leaving PC you are in a completely different area, it's like a totally different airport! Looks like you lucked out and got a great resort, congrats! Everything looked great! I wonder if it's one of the ones we walked by, we walked the beach nearly every day, in both directions.

LOL -- ah yes, we LOVE tha Mamajuana!!! I found Brugal Rum at a local liquor store today (he says they just started carrying it last week) ... and we bought one of the HUGE bottles of Mamajuana to bring home in the leather case -- so that is the "Signature Drink" for our reception this coming weekend! :-)

Yeah, we had 6 bags total, so two were $80 extra each, one was also oversized and overweight and the other was overweight. Luckily, we sent one suitcase home with my sister and left the oversized tuffbox at the resort -- so no extra fees coming home.

I LOVED the airport, and yes the incoming flights have a total different look than the outgoing flight area. I wish I had taken some pics entering the airport -- but I did take a few when we left.

I'm not sure where Ocean Blue is in relation to PPC ... but I know we went by it to drop off some guests after our Saona island excursion, so there is definitely a good chance you walked by the resort on the beach!

Quote:

Originally Posted by DanielleNDerek great review. How many guests did you end up having?

We had about 40 guests total, iuncluding 2 children. Our photogs stayed at the resort next door, and were able to sneak in w/o paying for the day passes, which was a huge help $-wise for them to save $95/per person. The ages of our guests ranged from 4 to 80.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarauz Tami, thanks for the great review. I'm so happy everything turned out great. I have been a nervous wreck ever since you left. I was sos eager to hear how everything went since I never been to the resort. I wasn't thinking about the beach reception but looking at your pics and reading the review I'm definetly thnking about it. I was just woriied about the wind and sand being all over the food..lol..lol..Well I am still worried about that $$$ BILL $$$. I really don't want to drag with lots of things there, but I thin I'm going to have to. Because everything extra is expensive......Well Tami, I'll be harrassing you from now til May 09...lol.....lol... Thanks for the review. Jessica

I would definitely bring as much with you as you can. I left some things with the WC -- they were very happy about that (I didn't leave a tip but thought perhaps the extra wedding stuff would suffice).

I've heard from others that their receptions were awesome in the restaurants, so I'm sure you can't go wrong, but the beach was perfect for us. The wind was not an issue for us ... didn't blow into the food or in our faces. It was just a nice, light breeze.

Just keep on top of the emails with the WC and request a final invoice well beforehand so you and FH can decide what you can do without or want to further negotiate if their $$ are off from yours.

We had to nix the cigar roller, pre/post ceremony cocktails, etc ... but it was a good decision on our part. There are so many bars nearby it really is a waste to pay extra for a private bar.

I'll be here, girl, so ask away and I'll have more pics as people send them to me!

Hopefully our pro pics (at least some teasers!!!) will arrive soon!

[RZurla]

GREAT REVIEW!!! Congratulations and the photos are fabulous!! I am having my wedding at the Paradisus on the 4th of July and I cant tell you how much this helps.

I look forward to the honeymoon review!!! Please tell all!!!!

 

9000.00 is a huge difference in a bill and I am making sure that I have everything printed and pricing settled before I leave - Do Not want that extra stress when I get there. Thanks for the great advice. THANKS!!!!

[LadyCheese]

Great review Tami...sounds like you had an amazing time and I cant wait to see more pics...I think this is the 2nd review (different resorts) where I read that they will try to charge you more than what was initially discussed. I am starting to print all my emails today.

[jmill130]

Great review, thanks for all your tips! I think you both looked great! It looked beautiful!

[jillhiggins]

Awesome Tami - I'm so glad to hear that everything went well - I've been dying to hear about it and see your pics!

 

[nikkianddean]

Great review Tami! Sounds like everything was great. Congrats!!!

[Bride010101]

Great review Tami. Everything looked amazing!

[Otis1230]

Great review!!! You summed it up perfectly!!!! Congrats!!! We missed each other but I meet a girl that got married the same day or before from NY and she said your wedding was great!!!