Dreams La Romana

[Vancouver Bride]

Originally Posted by marji 

 

Congrats and welcome back Vancouver Bride! Thanks for sharing your reviews and pictures! They are beautiful! Would you mind sharing what happened with the extra venue fee? I believe something similar happened to another bride too. Can I ask how much you were charged for the fabric decorations on the gazebo? I think the flowers are not needed at all. 

Hello

 

The $300 fee is listed below under reception. Hopefully it has changed by now. In the end,we got an extra hour of the reception for free and other freebies from DLR, so I think it evened out  We also negotiated some extras (flower petals, free cake flowers, using the same speakers at reception and ceremony) instead of using the photographer included in the Dreams of Love Package (we brought our own). 

 

Instead of using the resort photographer included in the package, we asked the Dreams wedding planner to hold our own personal video camera  for us during the ceremony only (we provided camera, wireless mic, and tripod). We were happy with the sound and quality, it's not the same as a videographer, but cost us nothing vs. $400 for the video from Dreams. The resort wouldn't explicitly credit us the ~$400 worth of photography we weren't using but gave us some free extras and did the video thing above. They also offered to let us use the resort phototgrapher, but our out of town photographer said a second photographer would get in the way. 

 

My final bill was in pesos and spanish (annoying suprise!?), so this is based on the quote we signed before the wedding. It doesn't include everything and may not be upto date, but hopefully it will give other DLR brides an idea to budget (all in USD)

 

As of October 29 2012 for 24 people total (includng B&G)

Wedding Ceremony

Dreams of Love package $2199.00 (included cake and some flowers, see description on Dreams brochure)

Beach Gazebo decoration (white, no flowers) $160.00

Chair sashes (12 in coral, pink or yellow)=$36 ($3 each)

Officiant $60.00  I though this was included in the packge but it was not

Folding chairs (white) $7/chair X 24=$168 (reused chairs for reception)

Bridesmaids bouquets (tropical)=$74 each X 4=$300

Additional buttonholes (Groomsmen boutiniers)=$20 each * 5=$100

Corsages for grandparents and parents=$3 each * 25=$75

 

Reception at SSG

4 extra guests for silver menue (package includes 20)= $37.80*4=$151.20

Open bar (package includes 20)=$12.60*4=$50.40

Pink overlays for reception=$15 * 4=$60

Resturant area exclusivity $300 . We were told that Dreams La Romana was charging $300-500 for our reception fee "resturant area exclusivity" fee even though it was NOT listed in the brochure or online. We had our wedding planner (local planner not DLR's planner) talk to Dreams as well as the head office in California back and forth for a month and they reduced it to $300. I was very upset by this unexpected and in my mind unjustified fee, but we just paid it anyway. 

 

 

DJ(basic, microphone, speakers, comuter)=$350 for 3 hrs 

*We also only paid for the speakers once (they will initially charge you twice, once for reception and once for ceremony ~$300-$350 each)

 

I hope this helps!

[marji]

Thanks for sharing Vancouver Bride! I'm so glad everything worked out well for you. Did you receive this quote before you got there or while you were there? I am wondering if I should ask for a quote before the wedding to compare to the final bill. And final bill in pesos/Spanish - wow! I thought they accepted USD. 

 

This is the first I've heard of $60 for the officiant. I hope there are not too many other surprises like this! Who was your officiant and how did you like them? Did you write your own ceremony for them to read or did you just use what they had? I also thought I heard somewhere that they include speakers for the ceremony at no cost. I see this is not true! 

 

I truly appreciate your tips and answers to all of my questions that I can't find answers to anywhere else! Once I got my date confirmed and made the deposit, Jenny doesn't really respond to my emails anymore 

[jessicalynneh]

Originally Posted by marji 

 

Thanks for sharing Vancouver Bride! I'm so glad everything worked out well for you. Did you receive this quote before you got there or while you were there? I am wondering if I should ask for a quote before the wedding to compare to the final bill. And final bill in pesos/Spanish - wow! I thought they accepted USD. 

 

This is the first I've heard of $60 for the officiant. I hope there are not too many other surprises like this! Who was your officiant and how did you like them? Did you write your own ceremony for them to read or did you just use what they had? I also thought I heard somewhere that they include speakers for the ceremony at no cost. I see this is not true! 

 

I truly appreciate your tips and answers to all of my questions that I can't find answers to anywhere else! Once I got my date confirmed and made the deposit, Jenny doesn't really respond to my emails anymore 

 

Marji,

 

They do accept USD - you just have to request it and sometimes pay in advance for it.  Be careful paying in pesos - definitely talk to your bank or credit card company ahead of time - most charge a fee for converting USD to pesos (anywhere from 3% - 12% of the cost, so this can really add to your expenses).

 

The officiant cost is included in one of the brochures they should have sent you - the regular officiant is $60 but if you are having an official legal wedding the Judge is actually a $500 fee I believe.  We had one of our friends marry us, because the officiant actually performs the ceremony in spanish and there is a traslator (the Judge does anyway, not sure about the regular officiant).  We wanted to write our own ceremony so this option was best for us.

 

We had the highest Dreams wedding package you could get (I believe $2999) and our speakers were included for the ceremony.

[Vancouver Bride]

Originally Posted by jessicalynneh 

 

 

Marji,

 

They do accept USD - you just have to request it and sometimes pay in advance for it.  Be careful paying in pesos - definitely talk to your bank or credit card company ahead of time - most charge a fee for converting USD to pesos (anywhere from 3% - 12% of the cost, so this can really add to your expenses).

 

The officiant cost is included in one of the brochures they should have sent you - the regular officiant is $60 but if you are having an official legal wedding the Judge is actually a $500 fee I believe.  We had one of our friends marry us, because the officiant actually performs the ceremony in spanish and there is a traslator (the Judge does anyway, not sure about the regular officiant).  We wanted to write our own ceremony so this option was best for us.

 

We had the highest Dreams wedding package you could get (I believe $2999) and our speakers were included for the ceremony.

 

Hello

 

Correction-the resorst do accept USD. I paid my final bill in US Dollars and my quote was in US dollars, but the detailed bill they printed for me was in Spanish and pesos. They converted the final amount, but not each item individually on the final bill. The Spa also gives you receipts in pesos. 

 

We had a symbolic ceremony in English. We were charged for the speakers and the $60 for the justice of the peace in addition to our package, but it's probably because we had a smaller wedding package than jessicalynneh. We didnt get the quote from dreams until about 1 week before the wedding (talk about stress!!)

 

Whichever package you get--try to get in writing what is and isn't included--don't assume anything is included and read all the fine print on the brochure.

 

We got a copy of the script from Dreams (PM me if you want it), but we edited very heavily and basically wrote 80% of it ourselves. We also wrote our own vows and added in a  We added in the sand ceremony script also. If it's not a legal wedding, I was told you can pretty much write whatever you want in the script. 

 

 

 

 

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[jessicalynneh]

We had our quote probably 7 months out from the wedding - and had it adjusted as we went as we added and removed things.  Are you working with a travel agent?  That might be helpful & might be why we got our quotes updated so often.  (They don't charge you anything - they are paid by the resorts. PM me for more info on this if you want.)  We also had a huge wedding (160 people) so maybe that is why also - we DEFINITELY wouldn't have been able to do a destination wedding not knowing our costs until a week before, I would have flipped out!

[marji]

Thanks jessicalynneh and Vancouver Bride! It helps to see both of your circumstances since you had such different size weddings. We are planning to get the complimentary wedding package and add on the things we want, and should have only around 30 guests. So far Jenny has only asked me for the date, time and location, and sent back a short confirmation letter. We still have plenty of time and don't have any guests booked yet, but now I will be sure to spell everything out and get a quote a few months before we go. We are working with a travel agent (Patty from this site) so I will also ask her if she can help. 

 

Vancouver Bride, did you like the officiant you got? I'm glad to hear they will perform the ceremony in English! This is one part I have not given much thought to yet, although it's a pretty important part! I would love to see the script they gave you. I will PM you as well. I also see that you added on the extra silver dinner and open bar, but not a cocktail hour. Did you do a cocktail hour before dinner? If so, did they set up the bar by then? I want to provide something for the guests to do for the hour between the ceremony and dinner but if we add on the cocktail appetizers I feel like no one will be hungry for dinner! But it would be nice to have the bar available at that time. 

 

I also have another random question for you ladies... did you tip the resort staff regarding the wedding? I have heard some people say you are not expected to tip at all, and some say you should tip 20% like we do in the US. I am wondering if we are expected or not to tip the coordinator, officiant, waiters, etc. on the day of.

 

Thanks!!

[Tomtom]

Can anyone provide more information on the cocktail hour? Also when you have requested extra decorations do they have a list of prices or can you request pretty much anything and they decide the price?

[jessicalynneh]

Originally Posted by marji 

 

Thanks jessicalynneh and Vancouver Bride! It helps to see both of your circumstances since you had such different size weddings. We are planning to get the complimentary wedding package and add on the things we want, and should have only around 30 guests. So far Jenny has only asked me for the date, time and location, and sent back a short confirmation letter. We still have plenty of time and don't have any guests booked yet, but now I will be sure to spell everything out and get a quote a few months before we go. We are working with a travel agent (Patty from this site) so I will also ask her if she can help. 

 

Vancouver Bride, did you like the officiant you got? I'm glad to hear they will perform the ceremony in English! This is one part I have not given much thought to yet, although it's a pretty important part! I would love to see the script they gave you. I will PM you as well. I also see that you added on the extra silver dinner and open bar, but not a cocktail hour. Did you do a cocktail hour before dinner? If so, did they set up the bar by then? I want to provide something for the guests to do for the hour between the ceremony and dinner but if we add on the cocktail appetizers I feel like no one will be hungry for dinner! But it would be nice to have the bar available at that time. 

 

I also have another random question for you ladies... did you tip the resort staff regarding the wedding? I have heard some people say you are not expected to tip at all, and some say you should tip 20% like we do in the US. I am wondering if we are expected or not to tip the coordinator, officiant, waiters, etc. on the day of.

 

Thanks!!

 

Also make sure you tell her asap what specific spot you want for your rehearsal dinner (if you are having one, ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception - there are sometimes up to 3 weddings in a day and spots get taken.  (We booked our date over a year out but other girls getting married that day & weekend had issues with spots being booked bc they didn't know they needed to give this information so far in advance to guarantee them.)

 

I'm sure you can do a cocktail hour with just drinks, just ask Jenny.  We did chose our own cocktail hour and dinner (buffet) menu and they gave us a personalized price on both (its an outside vendor that does the food - it was excellent!) 

 

As far as tipping, there is a service fee included in the pricing, but we still tipped the Wedding Coordinator, servers at the rehearsal dinner ($20/ea - and two of the five stayed about two hours after the rehearsal after we tipped them and brought drinks to us and our guests on the beach while we lit sky lanterns and had a bonfire so that we didn't have to wait at the bar - so of course they got more tips!), servers at the wedding (also $20/ea, and I know a lot of the tables tipped their personal servers also - they were FANTASTIC! Literally one server per one or two tables and no one waited for drinks or really had to go to the bar too much unless there was a big group of us doing shots - and my crowd are all HUGE drinkers so I was shocked at how great they really were!)   It isn't required but their service is really unbelievable and they deserved it.

[jessicalynneh]

Originally Posted by Tomtom 

 

Can anyone provide more information on the cocktail hour? Also when you have requested extra decorations do they have a list of prices or can you request pretty much anything and they decide the price?

 

You can personalize your cocktail hour however you want - we had it in the Taino Gardens next to the Garden Gazebo (where we had the ceremony) and it was gorgeous - they put out couches and loungey oversized chairs and tables, it was beautiful.  We had 2 bars and it was great for guests to have the 2 bars and only have to walk a few feet from the ceremony to grab snacks! We also personalized our cocktail hour menu.

 

They have a list of some decoration prices, but you can literally have anything you want - we wanted  lantern centerpieces with candles and some flowers (we hate the tall ones that you can't see across the table through) so I sent them a picture, they gave me a price, and the centerpieces were PERFECT! The decorations come from an outside vendor so they will email them your request and give you a quote, but you really can do anything you want.  We had our reception in the ballroom (which was also beautiful and they did such a gorgeous decorating job) bc we didn't want it to end at 11 (we went until ab 12:45 then moved to the disco which is right next door).  We also had it inside bc we brought our own band, & that way we didnt have to worry about the noise levels.  

[JenWren]

Thanks for all the info, Jessicalynneh and Vancouver Bride! We are not planning to do a cocktail reception. We are only going to have 7 guests and they are going to want to follow us around and take pictures anyway, I think. We are just going to pick a bar to congregate at before dinner, I think. We are doing dinner on the beach - for those that have - how is the lighting after sunset? I requested some tiki torches and candles on the table, but I didn't give any specifics other than to use the "altar" centerpiece as the dinner table centerpiece. We thought about the wedding gazebo for dinner - how far is the main white gazebo from the rustic beach gazebo? It looks like it's all the way across the resort.