Dreams La Romana

[hermosahoops]

Yanna

 

I know people get a bit aggravated with the wedding coordinators at the resort, but they have so much going on, I can’t say I blame them for taking a week+ to get back to someone whose wedding is 8 months away. They oftentimes have multiple weddings going on in one day, so they aren’t near the office much.  Even with all the weddings every day, Yanna still did an amazing job making our wedding feel special. I felt she really went above and beyond to make my requests come true.

 

 

She set up a rehearsal dinner for us at Oceana the night before the wedding and had them hold a table for us in the back. She also had them decorate it with our wedding colors and place flowers on the table. I would definitely recommend Oceana as a reception site over the SSG deck. The restaurant is nice, open and right by the beach. It isn’t air conditioned, but there are a ton of ceiling fans so the air moves around well.  I also think it is more private then the SSG as there aren’t any other restaurants right there.

 

[hermosahoops]

The Wedding Day!!

 

Spa

Due to the increased rainfall from Hurricane Thomas, we elected to have our ceremony at 3:30 instead of 4. My mom, sister and I started our hair appointments at 11:30 and we wrapped up around 2. I didn’t have the hair trial, but I didn’t have to worry as I loved what she did with my hair. It wasn’t anything like I tried to describe, but it still looked really pretty. Just know, if you bring a picture or indicate you like something from their books, they’ll make your hair look EXACTLY like that. I wasn’t able to say “the front like this, but the back like this†etc.

 

 

 

[hermosahoops]

HDC

 

We worked with Francisco of HDC Photography. He was great; super professional and right on time. He accommodated our request for more candid pictures rather than the formal poses.  Arnaud got the disc to us a few days later and we were able to pick our prints. The first time was a bit of a mishap; he gave us someone else’s wedding!   Not to worry, he dropped the right dvd off the next day.

 

[hermosahoops]

Ceremony

 

The wedding got off to a bit of a late start. Yanna came and grabbed me at my parents suite at 4ish and we made our way to the gazebo. I guess they couldn’t get the sound system to work so Hubby had to run up to the room and grab our personal ipod docking station.

 

We had Elke do the ceremony and she did an excellent job. She looked nice, spoke clearly and read what I’d written for her, but didn’t just stare at the paper. They brought our cake to the ceremony, which I thought was kind of funny. We didn’t eat it until later that night, so it followed us around for a while.

 

We didn’t have any decorations in the gazebo, but they did bring some flowers for the table in the middle. They also put the turquoise chair sashes on the chairs free of charge. Those were provided by Dreams.  They also had a side table set up with the champagne and the cake.

 

 

 

 

 

[hermosahoops]

Cocktail Party

 

After the ceremony, hubby and I took pictures with Francisco and everyone else went to the pier for the cocktail party. The spot was really good for us as it was pretty contained. We hung out there and had drinks and hor d'oeuvres for about an hour, hour and a half.  Yanna was in and out during the party and was around if we needed anything. My hubby put in a request for a case of Bohemia for after dinner and she had it brought out to us with the stipulation we bring back all the empty bottles. We had the three hot appetizer options but no one really ate the food except for me. I was staaaaarving after the whole big day and everyone else was more focused on the drinks.

 

 

Reception Dinner

 

We had our reception dinner in the wine cellar between the Italian restaurant and the French restaurant. I worked this all out with Yanna before the wedding. She made sure it was available and set up. This spot was PERFECT for us as it was private, but since the walls are glass, we still felt like there were other people around. We brought our ipod player in there and had soft music in the background. Some of the great things about the room were that we could be as loud as we wanted without disturbing the other patrons, we could do toasts and everyone could hear and we could order from both restaurants, so everyone found something they enjoyed. They did a beautiful job decorating the room with table runners and flowers. They also brought me a vase so I could use my bouquet as a centerpiece.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would HIGHLY recommend this to anyone with a wedding party 12 and less. They couldn’t have fit any more people in there, but 12 was fine.  Plus, since we were only 12 we didn’t have to pay any extra to have our dinner in there. It was included in the “all inclusive†price. You should think about this as a dining place in general. What I found about the restaurants at the resort; all you have to do is ask. The fancy/private looking dining spots are all available, but you have to ask about them specifically.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[hermosahoops]

Post Dinner Dance Party

 

After dinner we took our ipod player and our case of Bohemia down to the beach and had a little dance party. We did our first dance, father/daughter dance, and fun dancing down by the ocean. People could sit and chat on the loungers if they weren’t up for dancing, and we went over by a light so the area was lit nicely. Unfortunately, everyone in our group had been affected at some point with an intestinal bug so people were pretty subdued. People still had fun though, and once the parents headed to bed a handful of us went to the disco and danced until closing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The rest of the trip

 

I am so glad we stayed at the resort after the wedding. We had one more day with everyone and then 3 days by ourselves. It was nice to be able to really relax and not have wedding things to do.

 

We went to the Dominican Restaurant that is on the far side of the resort, down on the beach. I don’t think people generally get to it, but it was my favorite restaurant at the resort. I have a funny thing about treehouses and when I saw the platform table, I asked if we could eat up there. The girl didn’t bat an eye and seated us right away. My tip, request this spot; you face the ocean so it feels super private and it is only candlelit up there. Plus the food at the restaurant was great.

 

 

 

 

If you are interested in more photos, feel free to check out some more of the HDC pictures here: http://picasaweb.google.com/WorsfoldWedding/ForFacebook?authkey=Gv1sRgCParzqKHyqbIaw#

 

 

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you have any questions!

 

 

Rikki

[MissTaken]

Great photos and reviews Alla and Rikki! You both looked stunning, thanks for sharing! CONGRATS! xoxo

[dcairns]

Rikki,

 

Great review and thank you for the corresponding pictures. You were gorgeous and i'm so happy that it turned out well with the weather and such!!!

Thank you!

[Dressa]

Great Review Rikki!! You looked truly beautiful! Thanks for including the link to your picasa gallery..i love how genuine the pictures came out! Love them!! I also like your idea for the first dance..I may have to copy you on that too!

Congratulations Rikki!!

[hermosahoops]

Thanks Dressa. The beach dance party was great. Way better then I had hoped for and perfect for our group.