Symbolic Cereomny - Grand Palladium Punta Cana??

tomato01 · August 2, 2010

Hi Girls,

I know there's been lots of debate over Symbolic vs Civil Wedding - for me - I am interested in having a simple, hassell-free wedding so based on the discussion it seems the Symbolic/Renewal of Vows seem the right way to go for me to avoid issues with paperwork and added benefits of savings with the cheaper ROW package.

However I was interested if anyone has any info/have had their Symbolic Wedding at the GPPC? Is it obvious that the symbolic cermony is different without the presence of a judge? Who performs the ceremony? We don't want our guest to feel like they are attending a "fake" wedding so we are likely not going to tell anyone that it is a symbolic wedding.

Thanks in advance!

sap · August 2, 2010

We had the symbolic wedding and had Pastor Rick York do the ceremony which absolutely made it feel like a real wedding and no one had any idea that it wasn't "real" including us...he made it absolutely beautiful and simple. Like 20 minutes long. Carolina the wedding coordinator will do the ceremony for you if you do not have a judge or someone else in mind. She's lovely. Speaks English well, I'm not sure how the ceremony will go though. Check out the Grand Palladium thread...someone there has had Carolina do the ceremony. Good LUck!

tomato01 · August 2, 2010

Thanks for the advice! That's a great idea having Pastor York for the ceremony - how much does it cost for his service? When you had the symbolic ceremony - did the resort had any sort of papers to sign to make it look more "real"?

Cheers!

roxy1122 · August 2, 2010

Thanks for clearing that up SAP! Yes, I am curious to know how much Pastor York charges and how did you find him?

roxy1122 · August 3, 2010

Also, if you have a Pastor do your ceremony, do you have to fill out any paperwork or do any preparation with him before the wedding? i want to avoid the whole legal aspect paperwork, (especially having to get permission from your church part) and will be getting married in the US before I head down to Punta Cana, but would like to have a Pastor do my ceremony.

kitty25967 · October 5, 2010

I am so excited that Pastor York will be performing our ceremony! He has been so nice and quick to respond. He sends you the ceremony for you to review and edit complete with readings! It is perfect, and we are very happy. Below is his website with contact information and a link to his mission website. He is also on Facebook.

http://weddingsinenglish.com/

Kris2012 · July 30, 2011

We are so excited to have booked Pastor Rick York. We were all set on having a civil wedding until two photographers (Phil Steingard and Jamie Dimity - our photographer) both recommended him rather than doing a civil ceremony. We're getting married on April 18, 2012 and were quoted $350, you pay him the day of. He sent us a template of his ceremony and it brought me to tears...I'm seriously going to have to read it a million times so that I'm desensitized to it. You can add or change things to make it personal....but it already sounds personal...way better than having a Spanish ceremony translated to English. You also have more options to a time you want rather than being giving one by the resort. Hope this helps.

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