Paradisus Punta Cana (PPC) Brides POST HERE!!

[jhartford19]

Mushra 2011,

I have a group rate package through a regular travel agent. I tried the wedding holiday place in Toronto,but they were horrible with their communication. It is much easier with a TA because my TA deals with everyone. I sent out a save-the-dates with information on how and when to book and from then on, I have only had to deal with a few people saying that they are going but not booking. As for the package vs a la carte, I originally was going to go a la carte, but we wanted open bar and it was cheaper to have it through the chill out package for 2011 then it was to do the a la carte thing. Plus with a la carte, I am pretty sure you have to pay for things like chair rentals...so think about it carefully. I am having my conference call in the next two weeks, so I will also post what I find out for you ladies

[kokonutte]

Hello again ladies! Just thought I would check in since it has been a while!  Bikegirl-Sounds like you are making some good progress on figuring out your wedding finally.  The reason I havn't been emailing my questions was that I wasn't ever getting a proper answer so I figured I'll deal with things as they come when I get down there.  Good to know I have an alternative that seems to genuinely want to help and save you money!  I just had a question about the open bar, people are saying that it's only $200 dollars more, is this a price as an add on or because the package price is $200 more...I thought Aqua was $3000 in 2010??  If it is $200 more then I think I will have to add that on.

I can't wait to see pictures and reviews from the recent weddings!!  It makes me so excited for mine!

[Glowwbug]

Hello ladies!

 

We have returned from our PPC wedding! The resort was spectacular. The grounds are breathtakingly beautiful, and the service and food were terrific. I wanna go back! I think it was only at 25% capacity because it seemed pretty empty, which was great. Beach chairs were bountiful and we had no trouble getting into any of the restaurants, even with large groups of nearly 20.

 

The wedding and reception were beautiful, but we did have a few snags. We met with the planners (Jennifer and Sharlin) a couple of days before the wedding and they were super nice. We went over all of the details and toured the grounds to choose our exact location, which was on the beach (and gorgeous), and to look at plan B locations, which were also beautiful. The day of the wedding we met with them to check the weather and to drop off the fans and bubbles we wanted handed out at the wedding. We also wrote down the order of who should walk down the aisle when and finalized all of the small details.

 

Fast forward to 4:20 (our wedding was scheduled for 4:30). My girls and I had our hair and makeup done at the spa (which turned out exactly as I wanted - they were amazing), and I was told we would be picked up around 4:15 to be taken to the wedding. At 4:20 I was told the judge was running late and to hang tight. Around 4:45 they said the judge had arrived and they were going to pick up the groom and then would pick me up. Meanwhile, they told us to ask guests to be there at 4, so everyone had been waiting for nearly an hour. I assumed the coordinator would tell them what was going on, but apparently this didn't happen. Also, Tony (groom) had arrived a little after 4 and had no idea what was going on. The fans and bubbles never got handed out, no one was directing who was walking when, etc. I finally arrived around 4:50 or so and it was fairly chaotic. No one knew the ceremony had started, so parents were sat with no attention. We then walked down the aisle and the trio we hired weren't playing, so there was no music. Of course at the time I didn't know that guests weren't informed about the judge being late and I was in my own little world so didn't even notice the music, but Tony was pretty upset about it all. We talked to Jennifer the next day and not only did she not apologize, she told me she talked with Miguelina (our ONE coordinator that we had) and everything went well. She also said her records showed the ceremony began at 4:15! So, we decided to let it go and enjoy our honeymoon. Then I sent a detailed review when we received our survey via email and I received a long email from Jennifer yesterday with lots of excuses (but no apology). They said Sharlin was sick, so that's why we only had one coordinator. What?? I honestly think all of this could have been avoided if there were two people - one to watch over the ceremony and one to prep the reception.

 

Anyway, the reception was beautiful and went really well. We hired the DJ (not the international DJ) and he was ok. It would probably be worth it to spring for the more expensive one. This guy wasn't receptive to me asking him to move through songs more quickly (no one really needs to hear 5 minutes of any song), but the song choice was pretty good. We did the beach BBQ and the food was great. The dessert table was fabulous and the wedding cake was tasty and beautiful.

 

If you purchase a package and plan to do an evening beach wedding, note that lights are not included and it will be pitch black dark. No one informed us of this until the day of the wedding and we ended up having to drop $350 for a silly string of lanterns.

 

I hate to complain at all because it really was such a terrific and enjoyable week, and prior to the wedding, everyone was lovely to work with. Unfortunately the only thing that was screwed up was our ceremony!! I'm still hoping they come through with at least an apology. I'll keep you posted.

 

In the mean time, I've attached a couple of photos. The professional ones are still to come!

 

Good luck with all of your planning and know that the Paradisus is really wonderful, and the best resort we saw while there.

 

Angi

 

[jkweddingday]

Glowwbug - thank you so much for the review above, and posting pictures! It was super helpful, and I'm so happy to hear you had a fabulous time. Too bad about the coordination issues, but at least everything else seemed to go off without a hitch. :-)

 

If you don't mind, I wanted to ask you a couple more specific questions about your experience which I've noted below.

 

- I see you got married on the beach (it looks absolutely GORGEOUS!!! by the way), could your guests hear everything okay? It looks like there's a microphone in one of the pictures. Did you pay extra for the microphone? I'm concerned that our guests won't be able to hear.....

 

- Did you have the cocktail hour/reception on the beach too? That's what I understood from your feedback, but wanted to double-check. How did everything go with that? Was it weird sitting in chairs and stuff on the sand?

 

- Was the one string of lanterns enough or would you recommend budgeting for additional lighting on the beach? Did you have to get lanterns for the actual ceremony or the reception?

 

- Did you order anything extra for your ceremony or are the pictures above the basic chill out chic package set-up?

 

I think that's all for now, but I'm sure there will be more questions as things progress.

 

Thanks again for sharing! [Most] Everything sounds F-A-N-TA-S-T-I-C, and the pics look beautiful! :-)

[ymarte]

hey

i am also planning on booking my destination wedding at PPC. i just went there on august 2010... and falll inlove with the place..

i am planning to do my wedding in august 2012.. but have no idea how i go on booking it.. can you guys give some idea.. do i book myself or go to a travel agency to do everything... i would loveto the chill-out-chic.. do you any idea of what this package include and not include..for this package if is the reception at the beach? or you can pick..

please any info that can help me on planning my wedding please email me at yahairamarte@hotmail. or here... i lover to get some more information

[ymarte]

here are some pictures from reason trip to PPC

 

http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=2190356028/a=1380125028_1380125028/ 

 

[Glowwbug]

 

Originally Posted by jkweddingday 

Glowwbug - thank you so much for the review above, and posting pictures! It was super helpful, and I'm so happy to hear you had a fabulous time. Too bad about the coordination issues, but at least everything else seemed to go off without a hitch. :-)

 

If you don't mind, I wanted to ask you a couple more specific questions about your experience which I've noted below.

 

- I see you got married on the beach (it looks absolutely GORGEOUS!!! by the way), could your guests hear everything okay? It looks like there's a microphone in one of the pictures. Did you pay extra for the microphone? I'm concerned that our guests won't be able to hear.....

 

- Did you have the cocktail hour/reception on the beach too? That's what I understood from your feedback, but wanted to double-check. How did everything go with that? Was it weird sitting in chairs and stuff on the sand?

 

- Was the one string of lanterns enough or would you recommend budgeting for additional lighting on the beach? Did you have to get lanterns for the actual ceremony or the reception?

 

- Did you order anything extra for your ceremony or are the pictures above the basic chill out chic package set-up?

 

I think that's all for now, but I'm sure there will be more questions as things progress.

 

Thanks again for sharing! [Most] Everything sounds F-A-N-TA-S-T-I-C, and the pics look beautiful! :-)

Hi JKWeddingDay,

 

Thanks for your compliments! It really turned out to be a lovely event.

 

To answer your questions, they have a sound system set up on the beach so everyone can hear. Just tell them to check the microphone batteries before the ceremony! They had to change them mid-ceremony during ours (grrrr...). We had the cocktail hour and the reception in the same area in front of the Gabi bar, and it was great. I would recommend having your dress hemmed a little bit higher than you would for a normal floor though to make it easier to walk. We told our guests to not wear shoes, and everyone loved it! The one string of lanterns was plenty to light the area. However, I saw Mrs.Lamb's setup the night before ours and it was GORGEOUS. They had some type of structure with white curtains and beautiful purple/fuschia lighting and it was in the same location as ours. We did also get the DJ lights for the "dance floor" (we just danced on sand), but that was more for the fun effect than actual lighting of the area. Our ceremony was early enough that there was no need for lights, but if it were at night you would definitely need lighting. Our ceremony setup was all basic chill out chic. We just opted for ivory linens instead of brown (though you can see they still put up brown ties on the ceremony area - whatever). The additional things we paid for were the flowers, DJ, extra people, guitar trio and lights. We opted for the 2011 package so the open bar was included.

 

Hope this is helpful!

Angi

[PJKirbs]

Hi Glowwbug!

 

Congratulations, and thanks for posting your pictures and your review.  It is really helpful for future PPC brides such as myself.  I am getting married at the PPC on Saturday, October 15 2011.  I have invited about 50 guests (not sure if they'll all make it).  I am going with the Chill out Chic package.  Your wedding on the beach looks gorgeous. As of now, i chose to get married at the Gazebo.  However, these beautiful beach weddings are making me second guess that.  

 

You mentioned that you changed out your all your linens to Ivory.  I actually plan on doing the same, b/c i'm not crazy about the brown linens they provide.  I was told this was no additional cost.  Can you tell me how much you paid for your DJ?  If you want to PM me this info, that is fine as well.  Also, how much did you pay for your photographer?  I am trying to factor in the additional charge for these so i can budget accordingly.  Oh, one more thing...did the Chill out Chic come with center peices for the reception? If you have any pictures of the reception that would be great! 

 

Any information you can lend would be helpful.  Thanks so much and congratulations!!

 

P.S. My fiance and I are also from Brooklyn, NY!  Born and raised!  We currently reside in Charlote, NC...but missing home dearly

 

Best Regards,

 

Porschea

[Dmitri_Markine]

 Yes, there are options to get married in different parts of the resorts. There's a wooden gazebo just off the beach then there's a portable gazebo that they bring anywhere(beach,garden,etc). Some also get married around the main lobby area

[mushra2011]

Thanks so much Glowwbug for sharing your review and your pictures.  They looked awesome and I can tell you guys had so much fun.  I can't wait to see more of your wedding pictures. 

 

Dear PPC brides,  my TA is quoting me $834 for three nights for double occupancy for June.  I am about to sign the group contract and  I was wondering if you think this is fair.   Bikegirl, did you get the same rate, if you don't mind sharing? 

 

thanks so much./