Jellyfish Restaurant

[Smithk79]

Hi ladies! I don't know why my first post didn't appear here! I have my date reserved for July 26th at the jellyfish for my symbolic ceremony and reception. We will have around 70 guests and we'll be staying at Majestic Elegance. Mayte has been very helpful and the Jellyfish just seemed like a place where we could do our wedding our way vs. the Elegance where the wedding planners were constantly saying no to a lot of our requests. I look forward to hearing from you guys and sharing our experiences and to start, I have 2 questions: 1) does anybody know the actual address of the restaurant? (not the short address that's on the website, that won't work to add it to my wedding website maps) 2) for any past brides; did you have your dance floor inside or outside? Was it really that breezy? Were there fans inside? I'm just worried it would be too hot in the middle of July, especially once people start dancing. Thank you!

Welcome! I dont know the address sorry! Getting married there December 9th so can hopefully provide information, etc when return. We are having the dance floor on the beach (using white wood) and have heard there is a good breeze on the beach :-)

[lmacl079]

Originally Posted by cnd29 

 

 

Private cocktail hour for the bridal party, what a great idea! Wish I'd thought of that ahead of time!!

 

 

 

This is a great idea!

[Annie1988]

Mady28- Yeah from what Mayte said I think Nuestra Senora Pilar may be a little more traditional and prettier but I am not sure I want to travel farther you know?  However I think if we stay at Barcelo it is a little closer to the airport and therfore to that church, I will ask Mayte and let you what she says!

[CamilaAF]

Great! Thanks! Yeah it sounds like she mostly suggests brides have their dance floor outside. I can't wait to hear how your wedding went, I'm sure the weather will be wonderful in December!
 

[Smithk79]

Weather is supposed to be mid.to high 80's day and 70's evening...perfect! I will make sure to write reviews on everything and please feel free to ask anything! :-)

[mimiq]

Anyone heard from Mayte lately?  Sorry, I usually find that question silly, but we leave in 2 days and I haven't heard from her in about 2 weeks and I have sent her a bunch of questions.  I'm not stressing too badly about it, but it is a little strange.  We haven't arranged our meeting day yet and it probably should be this Sunday!  Yikes!  

[mimiq]

Just heard from her!  she is swamped the poor thing!  all is good though!

[LindsayOO]

Originally Posted by ellie0717 

 

Hey ladies wondering if any of you could post your wedding day timeline. We are staying at Dreams Palm Beach and our ceremony begins at 4:30 at the Jellyfish.  I'm trying to figure out when to schedule our hair appts for the day of. We are not doing a first look but I'd like to get some pictures down at the pool/ beach with the bridesmaids and myself before we get ready and still have plenty of time to relax and do our makeup and take pictures back in the room, so if any of you have ideas of time frames I'd greatly appreciate any and all help in the matter. Thanks!!!

 

Ellie I just realized we are probably going to run into each other! Our wedding day is January 16th and having the reception at Jellyfish (Ceremony at the gazebo at Dreams at 4 pm) staying at Dreams Palm Beach January 13-20...I have a Canadian makeup artist/hair stylist who lives in Punta Cana for the winter coming to the resort to do hair & makeup and she suggested to be ready by 2:00 pm at the latest (so for a 4:30 ceremony 2:30 pm...that way you have lots of time to take pictures and not be stressed getting there in a rush...plus things always get a bit behind...she is coming to the resort EARLY...around 8-8:30 am..but she is doing hair & makeup for 5 ppl and just hair for 2...so she is going to do the moms first...then my sister & sister in law..then me...then the other 2 bridesmaids hair....hope that helps!

 

Our timeline is different because we are doing a first look and taking pics together before the ceremony but we are planning to be ready by 1:30...take pics with my mom/dad and bridesmaids..then she will take pics with the groom & groomsmen...then we will do our first look around 2:30  and have 1 hr to take some pictures and be ready for the ceremony for 3:30-3:45....ceremony at 4...ceremony finishes by 4:30 (we are having pastor York so he takes a bit longer) then take a couple group shots...wedding party will get on the bus to Jellyfish at 5...get to Jellyfish at 5:20ish and have another hour to take pictures around Jellyfish (sun sets around 6:30 pm)...bus is picking up the rest of the guests at 5:30ish and they will get to Jellyfish around 6...cocktail hour from 6-7 then dinner & party till midnight!

[AnyaM]

Hi ladies, this is my first post so I'm not sure how to use this. Hopefully I'll do this correctly...

 

My fiancé and I got back from our site visit in Punta Cana, DR. And while everything is still fresh in my memory, I wanted to share my thoughts with you…

 

Jellyfish Restaurant

It’s a very cool looking space. You probably can’t tell from pictures, but it’s not as big as you may think. It’s quite intimate and the vibe there is awesome. The beach in front of the restaurant is a bit removed from the water, so the people that walk around on the beach are far away. While standing at the canopy, you don’t really feel like anyone is in your “spaceâ€. There are no lounge chairs with people gawking at you, there are no half-naked people playing volleyball or soccer right next to the place where you are exchanging wedding vows (we actually saw that while walking up and down Bavaro beach in front of one of the hotels. It was awful!) With that being said, the section right next to the restaurant is open for public and the locals have set up shops there where they sell various souvenirs. They are not a bother once you are actually on the premises of the restaurant because that is a private beach and they are not allowed to enter it. But we were walking to Jellyfish from Melia Caribe Tropical which is literally a 2 minute walk down the beach. And we had to walk though the little shopping area. Every time we walked by we were literally harassed and hollered at to come into the stores, to buy this or that. The ladies sitting in front of those stores kept asking me to get my hair braided which I had to decline time after time (we went to Jellyfish about 4 times  - twice to meet with Mayte and twice to look at the wedding set-ups, which were all beautiful, by the way).

The second floor of the restaurant is really cool. It’s small, but has a very lounge-y feel. There were couches up there, and it kind of made up want to reserve the whole restaurant so that we could use the space upstairs. If our budget allows, we’ll be definitely doing that.

The food – amazing! The best food we had all week! For appetizers we tried fried calamari (very fresh and soft), mozzarella sticks (very tasty), seafood hot pockets (I wasn’t a huge fan but my fiancé liked them), shrimp kebobs (yummy shrimps and veggies), tempura shrimp (the shrimp was very large!), and chorizo (cute presentation. I’m a vegetarian so I didn’t taste it, but DF said it was really yummy). Caprese salad – great presentation and tasted very good. Arugula salad with shrimp – they didn’t have arugula so they used regular lettuce – it was nice, nothing too special about it, but all ingredients were definitely super fresh. Then we tried the chef’s pasta and it’s awesome – it comes with chicken, so I just tried the pasta and the creamy mushroom sauce. YUM! My fiancé tried the steak – said it was great. I tried sea bass in passion fruit sauce – delicious! The sweet sauce definitely adds a very unique touch to the fish. For sides we tried grilled veggies, rice and potatoes – all very good. So yes, don’t even worry about the food, you will not be disappointed!

Last but most certainly not least – Mayte. She is one of the biggest reasons why we finally decided to go with Jellyfish. She is so sweet and genuine. She’s not a sales person at all! She will work with you, and will make you feel special. Throughout our meeting she said a few times “Don’t worry, everything will be JUST the way you want itâ€. And that made me feel so at ease and so confident! Our wedding reception will be customized a lot in regards to food and decorations and she totally saw our vision. She said that she will make everything happen. I fell in love with her from the first moment that we started speaking. There is just something so comforting about her way of talking - she really knows what she’s doing.

We ended up putting down our deposit and securing our date of November 24, 2013. So excited!

 

Now, if you are interested, here is a quick review of the pros and cons of the resorts that we visited.

 

Melia Caribe Tropical

PROs – very large, expansive resort (this can also be a negative if you are afraid of “losing†your guests or if you are looking for a more intimate feel). The grounds are plush and very green. Landscaping is immaculate. The rooms are very large and nice, even the standard ones. Lots of bars, restaurants, definitely enough things to do on the premises. The proximity to the Jellyfish is definitely a plus, especially if you want to run over to see Mayte or finalize any details on short notice.

CONs – the beach was dirty. And I don’t mean just sea weed – there was trash in the water, like paper and plastic cups. The resort staff said that they clean the beach twice a day, but it really didn’t seem like it. The pool area has a lot of palm trees, so it’s hard to see from one end of the pool to another. If you want to hang out with a large group of people by the pool, it may be hard.

The food was OK – not good, not bad. From what we hear, it’s pretty standard for all-inclusives. So, I’m not really sure how to categorize that one.

 

Paradisus Punta Cana

PROs – the nicest looking resort of all the ones that we saw. Very modern, very sleek. Rooms were amazing, especially the upgraded and renovated ones (about 60% of rooms at the resort have been renovated in the past year). The grounds were very nicely kept, interior of restaurants was tastefully executed. The beach and the pools were beautiful.

CONs – the resort offers rooms at 3 different price points (standard, the reserve, and royal service). Depending on which room you get, there are amenities you can and can’t use such as restaurants, bars, and pools. We really hated that segregation. We were afraid that our guests that didn’t pay top dollar for their rooms would feel left out or would feel bad because they would not be able to dine at the same restaurants or use the same pool areas. Similarly, people that will pay for more expensive rooms may have to “downgrade†in order to hang out with other guests at the areas where everyone can be together.

 

Dreams Punta Cana

PROs – very small, homey resort. Nice beach area, although the sand is not as white as in other hotels. They have only 1 pool but it is the largest one in Punta Cana that goes through the whole resort. Very nice views from restaurants and a lot of private patios. The view from the lobby onto a mountain range is breathtaking.

CONs – the resort is small, especially comparing it to Melia or Paradisus. Some of our guests will be coming from Europe and maybe staying for 10 days or 2 weeks. We were afraid they will get bored at a small resort. Rooms were outdated, and overall décor of the buildings and inside the lobby was a bit outdated.

 

Bahia Prinicipe

PROs – great pool and beach areas. Very large resort, but trains go back and forth all the times, so we didn’t have to wait to get picked up at any of the stops. The cleaning staff makes cute arranges from towels on the beds and in the bathrooms every day – very nice attention to detail. The resort provides lots of entertainment options – they have a few stages where different shows happen, there is a cute shopping area…etc.

CONs – rooms were standard, pretty outdated I would say. We spoke to some people that were staying there, and they said that the food is not good. But again, that’s just a matter of taste so I don’t know how much to believe that.

 

Sorry this is so long. Please feel free to ask me any questions, I’ll be happy to answer! Happy planning!

[Lauren Bouchard]

Hi Ladies! 

I was wondering if anyone had any idea how the amount of music that was needed for the processional march. I was hoping that I would be able to use one song for the wedding party, and another song for my father and I. Im just worried that the isle that the jellyfish will be too short for this. Thanks Ladies!