Paradisus Punta Cana (PPC) Brides POST HERE!!

[Janet1480]

Hi Mandy

 

Thanks, I am still going through all of my pics...there are so many! I am loving it

 

My pleasure to help, ask any questions you need....I will outline my day...it was perfect and stress free.

 

I started my hair at 11:30 with my mom (my mom got her make up done as well)....we were done by 12:50 and back at our room by 1:00. Keep in mind that i have A LOT of hair LOL so depending on your hairstyle and how much hair you have you might not need as much time. 

 

I got my make up done back at our room while the girls got dressed and did their hair. My photog was along for the ride for my hair and while i was getting my make up done....he left for a little while to go get pics of the guys getting ready. It probably took half hour to 40 minutes to get my make up done so it was 1:45ish by the time we were finished make up

 

We ordered room service for a light lunch. 

 

Had my make up slightly touched up after eating so i recommend doing your eating first LOL

 

At 2:45 photog came back and videographer came. So I started to gather my jewelry and garter and everything i needed. While i started to gather stuff my photog and videographer were taking pics of the details like flowers and dress and such in the background. They needed half hour to set up, take the detail pics of this stuff. 

 

I started to get my dress on at 3:15 and we were out the door at 3:50 for our 4:00 ceremony (my dress requires a lot of work to get on so i reserved half hour for this). 

 

I was a few minutes late (6 to be precise LOL) if you are in the reserve at PPC you need 5 to 10 minutes to get to the beach ceremony site since they are on opposite sides of the resort.

 

Our ceremony ended at 4:40(ish) and we ended the ceremony with a shell ceremony where everyone threw a seashell in the ocean to cast a wish for us so it was a perfect opportunity to take the group pics (the resort handed out champagne) we took all of our group pics and pics with who we wanted and then the bridal party came with us to take our pics while our friends and fam enjoyed the cocktail hour. Time flew by and before i knew it, it was 6:45 and time to go to our 7:00 reception. Depending on you (we wanted a lot of pics) you need at least an hour for pictures with your wedding party and on your own. you need half hour for your group photos. You have a smaller group so maybe shave 10 minutes off of each of those. 

 

The cocktail hour was from 5 to 6 (but the resort already had it all set up right after the ceremony) and then everyone could go freshen up before the reception

 

The sun was going away by 5:30-5:45 and was completely gone by 6:00ish

 

If you want daylight, the sooner the better so if you could set up for 4:00, i think that would be ideal. if thats the case you will want to move your hair appointment up a bit so you dont have to rush anything....more so in case there are any unforseen delays

 

hope that helps!

 

 

 

[Mandy5676]

Wow thank you that was exactly what I needed!!  That helps me get a better picture on how long everything takes and confirms that I definitely need to change my times. 

 

How was the wind on the beach as far as hearing and stuff?

 

DId you do reception at a restaurant or thru package? 

 

How was your weather?  It's calling for rain all next week but I am hoping it comes and goes!

 

I am sure I have hundreds more.  I thought I was done worrying but then I saw all your pics and it made me think of more!!

 

Glad everything turned out so well for you!
 

Mandy

 

 

 

 

[Janet1480]

I answered you in color

 

Wow thank you that was exactly what I needed!!  That helps me get a better picture on how long everything takes and confirms that I definitely need to change my times. 

you are most welcome and glad i could help

 

How was the wind on the beach as far as hearing and stuff?

We had no issues with hearing and the person marrying you will/should have a microphone but you may want to confirm to be sure are you using pastor york?

 

DId you do reception at a restaurant or thru package? 

I picked the aqua package as a base and customized from there and i selected the resorts carribean menu but i customized that as well. We had our dinner/reception poolside

 

How was your weather?  It's calling for rain all next week but I am hoping it comes and goes!

it called for rain all week when we were there as well. if and when it rained it was for 10 to 15 minutes and then it would pass. the only day we had rain all day was one Friday out of the whole two weeks we were there and it was due to a tropical storm

 

I am sure I have hundreds more.  I thought I was done worrying but then I saw all your pics and it made me think of more!!

Ask as many questions as you need. Everything will be fine, try not to stress. i know easier said then done but you need to enjoy your time there. even if little things go wrong, make the best of it. If you go in with the right attitude your experience will be amazing no matter what XOX

 

 

Originally Posted by Mandy5676 

Wow thank you that was exactly what I needed!!  That helps me get a better picture on how long everything takes and confirms that I definitely need to change my times. 

 

How was the wind on the beach as far as hearing and stuff?

 

DId you do reception at a restaurant or thru package? 

 

How was your weather?  It's calling for rain all next week but I am hoping it comes and goes!

 

I am sure I have hundreds more.  I thought I was done worrying but then I saw all your pics and it made me think of more!!

 

Glad everything turned out so well for you!
 

Mandy

 

 

 

 

 

[Mandy5676]

Thanks again!

 

We are bringing someone with us to do the ceremony.  I did hear that rain was pretty short there so i am glad to hear that. 

 

Our reception is in one of the restaurants.  I got the Fantasy package.  They will let us know when we get there where we can reserve and separate us a bit.  With such a small group it didnt make sense to pay for a reception for 24 when I only have 10.  Do you have one that you suggest was the best?

 

Miguelina is my coordinator so I am happy she did well with you.  I am waiting to hear back from her about changing my time but I believe I am the only wedding that day so I doubt it will be a problem. 

 

I didnt change much from my package so it should be pretty stress free when I get there.   I am so ready.  I would say you have no idea but obviously you know exactly!!  Any other suggestions on what to def do there or make sure we don't miss?

 

We will be there with family for 3 days then 4 on our own....

 

Mandy

[Janet1480]

Terra is awesome. Great Steakhouse with salad and desert bar...service there is great. The italian place is the same menu gabi at the reserve uses when its not buffet. The food is great. The Italian resto has a really nice set up (well half of it) its set up on a dock style over the water, really nice! And then Fuego was another favorite Difficult to recommend food though because everyone has their own taste, ya know but those were our picks. hubby and i ate at the steak house a lot

 

If you are going to book excursions dont book the dune buggies from Rafael. he is usually at the towel counter in the reserve during the day. 2 people in our group booked from him and when they showed up their Dune Buggies were ATV's and instead of being on the dirt roads and through the caves as advertised they were riding on the HIGHWAY and then the axel broke and back wheel popped off!!! Then the guy leading the tour tried prostituting a girl to my 13 year old nephew..... anyway NIGHTMARE..we were just glad they were okay.

 

90% of people with us booked excursions but we booked through our tour operators or in the main lobby at the resort they have a few people affiliated with tour operators there that will have excursions and no one else had any issues.

 

That was pretty much the only "issue" LOL and word of precaution i can fill you in about.

 

Other then that, I cant think of anything at the top of my head. Its wonderful and you will love it

 

 

 

 

Originally Posted by Mandy5676 

Thanks again!

 

We are bringing someone with us to do the ceremony.  I did hear that rain was pretty short there so i am glad to hear that. 

 

Our reception is in one of the restaurants.  I got the Fantasy package.  They will let us know when we get there where we can reserve and separate us a bit.  With such a small group it didnt make sense to pay for a reception for 24 when I only have 10.  Do you have one that you suggest was the best?

 

Miguelina is my coordinator so I am happy she did well with you.  I am waiting to hear back from her about changing my time but I believe I am the only wedding that day so I doubt it will be a problem. 

 

I didnt change much from my package so it should be pretty stress free when I get there.   I am so ready.  I would say you have no idea but obviously you know exactly!!  Any other suggestions on what to def do there or make sure we don't miss?

 

We will be there with family for 3 days then 4 on our own....

 

Mandy

 

[maridr2012]

Hi all.  I want to share with you all my thoughts and feedback on PPC, I just got back last night from a 3 day stay for a wedding site inspection there.  We wanted to check out several resorts before making a decision and committing to anything, and let me tell you, it was sooooo worth it!  Let me start by saying I kinda had my heart set on PPC, but after visiting all the resorts, it is definitely confirmed because none of the others could compare.  Over the course of 5 days, I visited & stayed at Melia Caribe, PPC, Ocean Blue, and NOW Larimar.  By far, PPC was the best. I dont really want to spend alot of time talking about the others but I'll say that none of them offered all of the restaurants, activities, landscape, ambience, customer service and food quality that PPC did. I probably sound like a show off but I've been to many fine resorts and I left PPC feeling great in my decision to book a wedding with them.  The grounds are beautiful!  Everything is so lush and green.  It is a large resort so you may need to take a trolley to get from one end to another, but they come every few minutes, and once you're there for a few days you get to learn the shortcuts so it won't seem that large and confusing in case you want to walk.  If you stay in the Royal or Reserve rooms, there are designated trolley carts specifically for you to transport you around the property.  Speaking of the Royal and Reserve rooms....I fell head over heels for the Reserve rooms.  The Royal rooms are actually more expensive because they are within walking distance to the beach..but the Reserve rooms are so much more beautiful!  We are booking our room at the Reserve for our stay next year, and we dont even have kids (which Reserve is more geared towards families). During our site inspection stay we stayed in a standard upgraded room which meant it had modern decor.  It was nice.  I only had 1 complaint and it was because the area rug under the bed didnt look vaccumed, and I later learned from one of the maids its because they actually dont use vaccums at all - they sweep & mop the rugs.  When I complained to the front desk about the rug they sent someone up to clean it better and the issue was resolved.  Another small issue I had was I paid for a Site Inspection which includes room upgrade (if available) and a fruit basket and bottle of champagne on 1st nite.  I didnt get an upgrade but they explained they were at capacity in upgrade rooms in Royal and Reserve, and the bottle of champagne and a fruit platter was delivered on the 2nd nite.  My meal tasting for the site inspection was great.  The food was DEELISH! The only thing I wasnt crazy about was the lamb dish (for seated menu)..it tasted gamey to me..but of course thats all subjective  We tasted the grilled lobster, veal chop, chicken with blue cheese...all wonderful and thats what we are serving for main entrees at the wedding.  Didnt get to taste any hors doeuvres.  The food and service at the other restaurants and buffets (11 in total!) were very satisfactory, but our faves were Fuego (latin fusion), Rodizzio (steakhouse), and the Japanese restaurant.  

 

I witnessed several weddings while I was there, all of them on the beach gazebo which you have to pay a non-refundable deposit to get it since they only do 1 wedding per day at that location.  Well worth it..it provides perfect amount of scenery and intimacy for you and your guests.  I also saw 2 wedding receptions at the pool (also my fav choice). All were set up just beautifully, I am so looking forward to my own!  All of the locations for pics were amazing too.  So much beautiful scenery!  Miguelina, the wedding coordinator at PPC is wonderful, she is so informative, on top of her game 100%, and is just a sweet doll.  I am confident I can trust her to pull off my wedding arrangements perfectly.

 

Lastly, the ambience at PPC was the best in my opinion. This resort seems to be more of a beach crowd...everyone wanted to be at the beach.  The pools were practically empty..they were beautiful but the beach was the happening spot.  There were people of all ages....mid 20s to mid 60s and some early 70s.  Everyone was so respectful...no crazy obnoxious partying but fun all the while.  A few topless women....which can be amusing lol but not vulgar by any means.  And although there were a few vendors trying to sell their cigars, jewelry, or even excursions, they were all very respectful and if you told them you're not interested they immediately left you alone.  I loved that.  This was a sharp contrast to NOW Larimar where they literally had guards on the beach yelling at the vendors because theyre not supposed to be within 60 meters of guests...and over there the vendors really did harass you.

 

I will try to post some pics over the next few days.  Im sharing this because I was extremely nervous about picking a resort for my wedding...we have about 70 guests coming (all from Westchester NY which as some of you know can be a bit snobby)..and I know for sure this resort & wedding ceremony/reception will make a lasting impression on all.  

 

Countdown to 11/9/12!!!!  : )

 

 

[heavenone]

Congrats on finding your resort maridr2012! Although I'm getting married at PPR, hearing glowing reviews about it's sister resort PPC still makes me feel more comfortable with my choice (I did originally want PPC but my date wasn't available!). 

[trivera5521]

Maridr2012 thank you so much for your insight!! We heading to DR for a site visit 2/11-2/15 for our May 2013 wedding and of course PPC is top on my list of resorts (and it sounds like it will be the one). I am so excited just by reading your review!! Did you rent a car to get to and from the resorts? I cant thank you enough for the full review! We are from CT and our guests are coming for CT, NY and Westchester as well. Did you use a travel agent for your guest packages or did they do them on their own? Of course a concern I have is making it affordable for my guests, do you have an idea what the cost per guest is, as we will be flying out of NY as well? Melia Caribe and Ocean Blue are also on my list, however I will send you a PM to discuss if you dont mind? I dont want to bore everyone with those reviews.

[maridr2012]

@ Trivera 5521:  I'll send you a private message with detailed answers..but I do want to answer in the forum for all regarding the car rental.  My parents are from DR, and although this was my first visit back in decades (last time I visited I was 8 yrs old), my parents and extended family go back every few years. I always hear from everyone how the drivers are crazy in DR, and so I was very nervous about renting a car versus cabs to and from location.  Since we had appointments at so many resorts, we knew we'd be spending alot of $ to take cabs, and our travel agent recommended just renting a car since many of them were within close distance.  So...we rented.  BEST decision.  Here's the thing, Punta Cana really isn't that big. The furthest resort we were going to visit was Dreams Punta Cana which wouldve been about 1 hour away from the airport, or approx 45 min away from PPC.  We eventually decided not to even visit Dreams, but that's just to put it into perspective for you.  The maps the car rental agency (right in the airport) will give you are very easy to understand, and if you speak Spanish (which I assume you do), it'll be even easier.  A word of advice:  only ask directions from the hotel personnel or your travel agent.  We were warned and ignored the warning about asking some locals for directions if we got lost...and got even more lost after the locals in the street gave us directions, lol.  I dont think they purposely gave us wrong directions, but they were simply giving us their shortcuts which were confusing.  Use the map.  The driving is a little erratic, there aren't alot of lights to direct traffic...mostly just stop signs, and even in the few intersections with lights, most people ignored them.  Here's the thing....if you're a savvy driver, and have experienced driving in NYC...you will be just fine...no different, haha!  One last word of caution...there are alot of speed bumps....which really should be called speed mountains.  And these speed bumps often have the paint faded so you sometimes dont see them coming.  Please keep your eyes out for them because you will be taken by surprise each time...they hit hard!  Look for my private message!

[thePYT]

@maridr2012 thank you so much for posting your thoughts! I can't tell you enough how useful and reassuring it is. I'm headed to PPC in May for my wedding and reading feedback from other brides who you know are really giving honest and thoughtful feedback is the best. I can't wait to see your pictures and thanks again!