Calling all Ocean Sand/Ocean Blue ~ Brides ~

[GPBride2009]

Hello Ocean Sand/Blue Brides!

 

My wedding is quickly approaching, May 12, 2009, and I was wondering if there are any previous brides that can provide any advice/feedback? Do's and don'ts? It would definitely help out us future brides. I don't think there are a whole heck of alot of us out there, which is why we need to stick together!

 

Any info would be appreciated!

 

Karen

[blushingbride]

Hi Karen, congrats on your upcoming nuptials. I'm not getting married @ any of the Ocean Hotels, but I went to a wedding @ Ocean Blue last July. If you want to see any pics, feel free to holler.

[GPBride2009]

Hi Rosa,

 

Thanks for the congrats! This year just zoomed by... everyone was telling me that after Christmas the wedding will be here before I know it, and man they were right. But I think I'm pretty much prepared.

 

I would love to see pics! Did you enjoy the wedding? The food? Feel free to post pics here or you can message me, either way.

[blushingbride]

Karen,

 

I still have a little over a year left, so i don't feel the pressure...just yet! All of your hard work will soon pay off, so hang in there. Is this your first time in Punta Cana?

 

The wedding was very nice. They were married on the beach and everyone had such a good time. The reception was held in the Carey side of the buffet restaurant. The cake was soooo good, everyone kept raving about it. I'm not sure what flavor she had. The hotel was very accomodating. The couple had a bonfire the night before the wedding, and it was only scheduled for an hour but since everyone was having such a good time, they let us stay for another hour and a half, no extra charge. The food at OB was good. Wide selection at the buffet, there are two sides to sit but it's the same buffet restaurant. The only issue we had was the slow service, but we were informed that new management had taken over about a month before our arrival, so they were all still trying to adapt. In the end, it was no biggie. We tried all the a la carte restaurants there since we were there for a week. Our faves were the Margarita Mexican rest and La Casa de mi Abuela which is Dominican cuisine. They have a cute cafe which you have to try. Very nice if you want that "starbucks feel." The grounds are beautiful and very well kept and the place is huge so they have shuttles to tote you to and fro. We stayed in bldg 10 and in the humid, sweltering heat we hopped on the shuttle a few times to the lobby.

 

The rooms and the grounds were very clean. Everyone kept commenting on that. The only thing we found annoying was the timeshare sales guys but my family is from DR, so I was able to speak "dominican" and they left us alone. You just have to be firm with them as soon as you arrive that you don't want to be bothered with sales pitches.

 

They also give you a free voucher to go bowling for an hour, totally recommend if you're going with a big group. We had a blast!

As far as bars go, the one by the pool and the beach were our favorite ones. We are both drinkers, so they sneak in extra if you tip generously. If you haven't tried it, I recommend trying the Dirty Banana (Dirty Monkey). It's so yummy!!

 

PM me your email and I'll forward some pics.

[GPBride2009]

Hi Rosa,

 

Thanks so much! This is my second time to Putna Cana, the first time was for a wedding! It was at the Melia Del Caribe (I think that was the name, it was 4 years ago).

 

How are your plans coming along? Still a bit early

 

Thanks so much for the inside scoop We are getting married at the Garden Gazebo but I hear the beach is so beautiful in front of the Ocean Sands so I think we will wait until we get there to decide. Thanks for the heads up about the time share guys, I hope they will take no for an answer and not pressure anyone into something they don't want. That would be annoying, especially since we are all going there to relax, not to buy a time share.

 

Did you try La Brasa? I think that's the beach restaurant, also with Dominican cuisine? We might be having our reception there. I actually didn't realise that the resort was so big that there was a shuttle service, from the pics it doesn't seem that big but this is good for the guests we have that like to wander and explore, that'll keep 'em busy! LOL I will definitely try the Dirty Monkey! Last time I was in Dominican, I was addicted to Miami Vice's... if you've never had one, you should! It's a mix of Pina Colada and Strawberry Daquiri...mmmmmm.

 

Definitely I would love to see pics! I'll message you my e-mail address.

[blushingbride]

Karen,

 

When we were there, La Brasa was closed for renovations. The restaurant is very centrally located as it has a nice view of the beach. I'm sure your reception will be fabulous there. I have tried the Miami Vice as I am very much into fruity drinks (although they do sneak up on you). I also tried Blue Coral at another resort I stayed at in Punta Cana 2 years ago...that was also very good.

 

I've heard lots of good things about Melia Caribe. They were one of our top choices for our wedding, but they didn't have everything we were looking for in a package and in the end the adults-only factor at Excellence won us over. We are still a year away for our wedding, but I'm trying to gather as much info as I can in the meantime. I would hate to be running around like a madwoman when we only have a few months left for our wedding. Although, I'm sure that'll happen anyway.

[Debs]

Here is my review of my wedding at OB

 

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t20918

 

I can't believe it's almost been a year!! OMG!

 

Believe me, you will want to get married on the beach, it's ama-zing! We had thought about the gazebo before we went down there but changed our mind as soon as we arrived.

 

Please let me know if you have any questions after reading the review... it's quite comprehensive! LOL.

[GPBride2009]

Thanks Deb! Great review! Although I am now a little nervous because we are flying Air Transat Keep your fingers crossed for me that we get home the time that we are scheduled to get home!

 

In terms of the beach ceremony, did you find it was a private area of the beach or was it very public? I don't mind having people around watching, but I just wanted something a bit more intimate, and we are already having 40 guests.

 

I am so glad that you had your dream wedding there, it is very reassuring!!!

 

With the ala carte restaurants, do you know if they were sticklers on 3 reservations for the week? I read on a different website that reservations were not required, but on most websites, it states that there are 3 restaurant reservations per person. And did your wedding reception count as one of those dinners?

 

Sorry for all the questions..

[Debs]

I'm sure the Transat thing was a one-off, once in a life time thing. I hope, anyway! Just be prepared to be cramped, the seating is CRAMPED!! You can go online and reserve what seats you want, if there are a bunch of you going in the same plane. It does cost money I think though. It's on the transat website.

 

The ceremony was right out in the middle of the beach, so not private at all, but they did help with moving people out of the way when it came time for the ceremony. But there will be people watching for sure. There are a number of really nice areas around the resort to pick if you want it more intimate. Pretty much anywhere if you ask, they will set you up where you wish.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by the reservations. Things might have changed since I was there last, because we didn't need reservations at all except for the one dinner that came with the honeymoon suite package (which was the steak house or seafood by the ocean). You might have to check with the other girls on that one.

 

My goodness, less than a month! You must be bustin!!

[GPBride2009]

Oh okay, that's good to know about the restaurants. I read your review and you went to every restaurant, that's awesome! I read somewhere that we were only allowed 3 ala carte restaurants and that we had to make reservations.... I wonder if that's only because we're going through Signature Vacations?? Well either way, if when we're down there we can just walk in and have dinner, then I guess it won't matter who our tour operator was. I was already having a hard time trying to pick three restaurants, they all sounds great!

 

Good to know also that you set up your tables in a U shape at la Brasa, I hope I can do the same thing with 40 people. LOL. That would save me the hassle of having to do a seating plan which I was trying to avoid.

 

Question: during your actual ceremony on the beach, did you book any music with them? They offer a musical trio, a pianist, etc.?

 

Getting so excited now!!! Look at my ticker!!