Dreams La Romana

[BridgetDLRBride]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nsimpson Bridget: I'm sure that you're not the frist bride to complain about Tiara's behaviour (in fact, I remember reading a VERY negative review about Tiara on trip advisor!!) Bridget I would like to know: 1 -- where you did your dancing (since your tables were set up on the deck) did you use the concrete landing that faces the gazebo? 2 -- Where exactly did you have the Dj set up? And what kind of music did he play? 3 -- Why you chose the pier for your cocktail site as opposed to having everything by the gazeebo? Nadia

I know I'm not the 1st Bride to complain, but I wanted all future Brides to know that I went into it w/ a good/realistic attitude and we still had an AWESOME time. I got the feeling from that Trip Advisor review that that bride was bad news from the beginning.
Anyway:
1) Location for Dancing: Yes - We had our dancing on the concrete (or stone-looking) landing that faces the Gazebo. It was a perfect location. If you remember, there are 2 bathrooms tucked away right there and it's very close to the SSG bar.
2) DJ Setup - The DJ set up on the concrete landing as well. He was located at the far edge of the landing to the right if you're looking at the ocean.
3) Cocktail Hour on Pier vs. Gazebo? - The goal was to be able to get the best view of the sunset. Since I had been to the Resort before, I knew that that would be at the pier. That would have worked out if Tiara had not set up the bar (and Caribbean Trio) close to the beginning of the Pier.

Other Question:
We didn't rent a dance floor. I haven't seen any good reviews of the dance floor and it is totally not worth it if you do dancing up on the concrete landing. The location of the "lounge-type chairs" and the DJ create a natural dancing area.

Please let me know if I can answer any other questions. I'll try to check back every few days or so for the next couple weeks.

[Pink_Petals]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BridgetDLRBride We didn't rent a dance floor. I haven't seen any good reviews of the dance floor and it is totally not worth it if you do dancing up on the concrete landing. The location of the "lounge-type chairs" and the DJ create a natural dancing area. Please let me know if I can answer any other questions. I'll try to check back every few days or so for the next couple weeks.

Hi Bridget; thank you for you wonderful review! Despite the few things that went wrong, Im happy to see and hear that you had a beautiful wedding Actually made me tear up *hehe*

I had two quick questions;

1. Since I have never been at the resort before, its hard for me to envision where the dancing would take place. I understand it is on the concrete landing, but is this tied to the SSG deck where the tables are set up for the reception?

Every time I ask tiara to send me pictures of diff. angles of the deck, she always sends me close up of tables on the deck which doesnt help at all.

If you have any pics which show both the SSG deck and the dancing area you used, that would be great. My e-mail address is:

[email protected]

2. My wedding is in September so the sun sets earlier; did you think that there was enough light at night on the deck for the reception? Did you hang any lanterns and if so; how? If you have pics of this; I would totally appreciate it!!!

Thank you so much again and Congrats once more You were a gorgeous bride!!!

[Sunandsand]

Quote:

Originally Posted by GEM Hi, Sunandsand=) Your decorations sound great! I love the natural colors, too. My girls are wearing turquoise dresses to match the water and hopefully they will be carrying and orange and yellow bouquets (at least I will be) to represent the sunset:) Are you mailing your centerpieces before hand or bringing them with you? They are going to look really nice on the tables...are you having yours at the SSG? We are having our reception on the beach...I am just going to go with the sand and water as my decorations, lol=)

Hey Gem, I'm hoping to take my decorations with me - branches and dried flowers. Hopefully I won't be stopped at the airport, because I do not want to be paying $75 for the hotel centrepieces.

[Sunandsand]

by the way, Thanks Bridget!

 

Your review was SOOOO helpful.

 

So now, based on the last few pages of comments, I am thinking I will write out a list of everything that has been agreed to with Tiara and send it to her the week before the wedding (and I will take a folder with all our correspondence).

 

And I will create my own timeline and send it to her to follow. I'll also designate a friend to help us stay on track.

 

We only have about 30 people too but I don't want to be worrying about everything that day!

 

 

BTW, my fiance just found that WestJet is having a sale for this summer going to Dreams La Romana - around 1300 with tax Just wanted to let you ladies know -- check out the website (I'm not sure if it's just from Toronto)

[GEM]

Hi, ladies! All you April brides are getting so close! How can you stand it?! Mine is still a little less than 3 months away and everytime I think about it, I get butterflies!! lol:)

 

Thanks, Bridget for the great review. I am having my ceremony and reception on the beach so I am not exactly sure how everything is going to look. When you were there did you see any other weddings? Like some of the other girls said, I am definitely going to set up a timeline of when I want everything to be and give it to Tiara and have someone make sure everything flows nicely.

 

Sunandsand, I actually have decided to bring some decorations, as well. I got nice fake flower bouquets for the girls this past weekend and they are going to double as the centerpieces. I'm just going to put them in a little vase with crystals around them- just to have something on the tables:)

 

Maybride, you mentioned you are having a sundae bar?! Thats awesome! How much extra does it cost? I love that idea!

 

Thanks, everyone!

[Pink_Petals]

GEM, it turns out I will also be bringing decorations with me for my centerpieces after Tiara gave me the prices LOL

 

This is what I wrote her:

 

You said that the prices for the centerpieces vary. Can you give me an idea of how much flowers cost? (from cheapest to most expensive...such as roses, orchids, etc) The cheapest price will be USD 70.00. And orchids centerpiece will cost you around USD 200.00.

 

$200 for orchids for one centerpiece?? IS SHE CRAZY?? and I would need at least 6 of those....so yea...

 

Then she attached pics of different centerpieces other brides have used and they just looked like a bouquet you would buy at a supermarket for 10 dollars which was then thrown into a vase. I have pics of centerpieces that Tiara sent me if anyone is interested.

 

Here are two examples she sent me which cost more than $70 USD:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now Im just looking into putting together my own centerpieces. I have a few ideas so I was thinking for all of us ladies to post ideas of what our centerpieces will look like.

 

Here are two which I love since real flowers are not an option anymore *tear*:

 

1.

 

For this one you would need a nice vase and preserved flowers....so something like this:

 

a)

 

AND

 

 

 

 

 

The second idea I like is using a vase with a big candle and preserved flowers or petals. But you risk the chance of it being windy and for the candles to be blown out by the wind.

 

[BridgetDLRBride]

 

1. Since I have never been at the resort before, its hard for me to envision where the dancing would take place. I understand it is on the concrete landing, but is this tied to the SSG deck where the tables are set up for the reception?

 

Every time I ask tiara to send me pictures of diff. angles of the deck, she always sends me close up of tables on the deck which doesnt help at all.

 

If you have any pics which show both the SSG deck and the dancing area you used, that would be great. My e-mail address is:

 

[email protected]

 

2. My wedding is in September so the sun sets earlier; did you think that there was enough light at night on the deck for the reception? Did you hang any lanterns and if so; how? If you have pics of this; I would totally appreciate it!!!

 

QUOTE]

 

1. The place that we used as our Dancing Area is outside. It is part of the SSG. It' is "connected" to the SSG Deck in that you can walk from the concrete area, down the stairs, and be standing on the SSG Deck. There is a change in elevation from the landing to the SSG deck. I know it's probably hard for you to imagine, but it really was a great place to have dancing. IF you need your guests to be able to see you at all while they're sitting at their seats on the SSG Deck, i do NOT think they'd be able to see you up at the concrete landing. (We did our 1st dance after dinner.)

Unfortunately, I don't have any pics of the overall view of the deck, but since you aren't getting married until September, I would be more than happy to share the pics from my photographer once I get the rest.

 

2. By the time we were eating, the sun had set. There was enough light. I will say that I bought a bunch of Pillar candles to be scattered on all the tables. It was too windy at first to light them but half way through dinner the wind died down and the Staff was able to light them. That was nice b/c it gave everything a serene glow. Even without the candles though, there was enough light, although it was a little on the dark side.

Some paper lanterns were hanging from the trees immediately in front of the SSG. They didn't have any lights in them. None of our lanterns had lights in them. The Staff hung them for us. Again, no pics yet. But when we get our photographers' pics back I will def share!

[KPEG]

Does anyone know if there is music while eating at the SSG? I wasn't planning on hiring a DJ, maybe just bring some CDs but no player either. Would they have something to play CDs on or do we have to bring that too? Also I'm wondering the same for the ceremony. I wanted to bring a CD of our wedding music but will we be able to play it while I walk up the aisle?

[dolfinluck]

I am buying the bose portable iPod docking station to use for the ceremony and reception, i heard its pretty loud.

[jenne]

Holy Crap we will be there in 2 days from right now! I am so excited it's not even funny! Anyways, here is what our wedding plans are so I will be sure to post a review as well when we get back:

 

There are 30 of us going in total. We have booked the Dreams Ultimate Wedding Package and also booked HDC Photography for our wedding day and Trash the Dress shoot. We are having our ceremony (legal) and cocktail hour in the wedding gazebo and our reception on the Seaside Grill Deck and ordering from the Gold Menu. We are getting a DJ for the reception. We are not bringing our own decorations, but we are bringing favours and the bridesmaids bouquets. All I want is for everyone to have a great time!

 

If there is anything else any of you want to know let me know and I will try to find out for you while we are there! We'll be back on the 25th.