Paradisus Punta Cana (PPC) Brides POST HERE!!

[deesanders33]

On the cake we are just doing half chocolate and half vanilla, didn't even think about asking for different flavor fillings. 

[jocel26]

Hi ladies!!

 

this forum is awesome! i have learned alot!! i just gave my deposit today for PPC for wedding date 1/23/13. it is unfortunate to hear about the outside vendor fee though i dont like being forced to use this photo vendor, i like to have options. but if we can get away by getting the vendor one night room, then i think it will still be worth it especially since the rates for the on-site vendor are a bit pricey.

 

for brides that have already gotten married at PPC, did anyone use arrecife? if so, how did your pictures turn out? do they also do video?

they sent me a quote and it also mentioned the item in blue below. did anyone purchase additional photos from them and if so what was this discount.

 

thanks in advance!!

 

Regarding to the packages, we have 3 different packages:

• Small: 34 pictures in a CD (ceremony and beach) $400 USD.
• Medium: 50 pictures in a CD (room, beach and ceremony) $600 USD.
• Big: 70 pictures in a CD (room, ceremony, beach, 2 hours reception) $840USD.
• Trash the Dress: 20 pictures added to the package you want (small , medium or big) $200USD 

Days before the wedding we will have a meeting and we can talk  about all your expectations and info confirmation for that special day.

One of our photographers will be attending to your wedding, he will take around 300, all in color and then he will choose the best ones to edit them and show you the next day(s) of the wedding.

The photographer can leave between 100 to 200 photos edited, (depending on the time he spends with you) he will show you the selected and edited photos and will present to you various options, all edited photos, originals, DVD slideshow for a good discounted price.

 

 

[Janet1480]

Hi there

 

congrats on picking your resort and date...its very exciting and you will LOVE PPC!

 

I was married this past October at PPC and i absolutely loved everything. 

 

I personally found arrecife to be very rude and pushy and to boot, expensive!!!!!!! I brought an outside photographer and got my day of pics, all day and night, Trash the dress and a regular photo shoot around the resort (i used these as my engagement pics since we never had any done)...my photog also included my boudoir shoot here in Ottawa. On top of that i got ALL of the pics on a usb drive (i ended up with about 3000 between all the photo shoots) he edited his favorite pics (200 pics +) and i was able to go back if i had other favs i wanted him to edit. It cost me the cost of his trip and that was it! I highly recommend you shop around. If you can make arrangements to pay someones trip, you will get so much more for your money and you wont have to pay the vendors fee 
 

Originally Posted by jocel26 

Hi ladies!!

 

this forum is awesome! i have learned alot!! i just gave my deposit today for PPC for wedding date 1/23/13. it is unfortunate to hear about the outside vendor fee though i dont like being forced to use this photo vendor, i like to have options. but if we can get away by getting the vendor one night room, then i think it will still be worth it especially since the rates for the on-site vendor are a bit pricey.

 

for brides that have already gotten married at PPC, did anyone use arrecife? if so, how did your pictures turn out? do they also do video?

they sent me a quote and it also mentioned the item in blue below. did anyone purchase additional photos from them and if so what was this discount.

 

thanks in advance!!

 

Regarding to the packages, we have 3 different packages:

• Small: 34 pictures in a CD (ceremony and beach) $400 USD.
• Medium: 50 pictures in a CD (room, beach and ceremony) $600 USD.
• Big: 70 pictures in a CD (room, ceremony, beach, 2 hours reception) $840USD.
• Trash the Dress: 20 pictures added to the package you want (small , medium or big) $200USD 

Days before the wedding we will have a meeting and we can talk  about all your expectations and info confirmation for that special day.

One of our photographers will be attending to your wedding, he will take around 300, all in color and then he will choose the best ones to edit them and show you the next day(s) of the wedding.

The photographer can leave between 100 to 200 photos edited, (depending on the time he spends with you) he will show you the selected and edited photos and will present to you various options, all edited photos, originals, DVD slideshow for a good discounted price.

 

 

 

[lmazz729]

Ladies,

 

It's been a really long time since I posted here. We have just done an AHR last Saturday for local guests and some of the ones who were at the actual wedding. We did a modified wedding package in off-season and got a pretty good rate , if anyone is thinking of that.It was very nice, the food was awesome, but it was very loud and the time went by so fast.

I have to say that there is absolutely no comparison to the gorgeous destination wedding you will all have at PPC. My daughter's was so beautiful and perfect that I can't even explain it. We had 36 adults, some of whom didn't know each other, and all had an incredible time. Also, Miguelina, Elizabeth and Jessica do such a fantastic job that I couldn't say enough about them.

Having said that, I need to say that Miguelina also told us about the free 20 people and the $15 per person charge over that to arrange dinners for the wedding guests. That seemed ridiculous at an all-inclusive! We arrived on Tuesday and on Wednesday made dinner reservations at Luna for Thursday night, 35 people. There was no extra charge for this. We had the back section of the restaurant set up with three long tables and our own servers and menus. Since my daughter and son-in-law chose the seafood buffet for the reception dinner, we did seafood on Thursday, steak at Terra on Friday for the rehearsal dinner (also no extra charges) and the Buffet on the beach at the wedding.

As for the photographer: I was not impressed with the photos from Arrecife and also thought that they were terribly overpriced. I heard about HDC through this forum and contacted Arnaud to inquire about his packages. He replied very promptly, was extremely reasonable, and the photos are beautiful, artistic, and worth every penny! We did not have a video, but my daughter got a slideshow CD with music as part of the package.

My daughter stayed with the cake that was part of the package. She added blue flowers down the side(an extra $90 for real blue orchids), which looked beautiful with the sparkly initial cake topper.(She also added blue orchids to the rose bouquet that was included). Honestly, there was so much to eat and drink that I don't remember what it tasted like!

[maridr2012]

Im so glad to hear your daughter's AHR went well and you were still happier with PPC's reception in comparison.  I'm also very happy to hear that you were thrilled with HDC's photography.  I am doing a deposit for photography and videography with them next week.  My FI wants me to hire Arrecife for pre-wedding pics/rehearsal dinner which I think is just silly...but I'm going to let him have a look at their photos and then compare to HDCs.  I think that should settle the matter, lol. 
 

Originally Posted by lmazz729 

Ladies,

 

It's been a really long time since I posted here. We have just done an AHR last Saturday for local guests and some of the ones who were at the actual wedding. We did a modified wedding package in off-season and got a pretty good rate , if anyone is thinking of that.It was very nice, the food was awesome, but it was very loud and the time went by so fast.

I have to say that there is absolutely no comparison to the gorgeous destination wedding you will all have at PPC. My daughter's was so beautiful and perfect that I can't even explain it. We had 36 adults, some of whom didn't know each other, and all had an incredible time. Also, Miguelina, Elizabeth and Jessica do such a fantastic job that I couldn't say enough about them.

Having said that, I need to say that Miguelina also told us about the free 20 people and the $15 per person charge over that to arrange dinners for the wedding guests. That seemed ridiculous at an all-inclusive! We arrived on Tuesday and on Wednesday made dinner reservations at Luna for Thursday night, 35 people. There was no extra charge for this. We had the back section of the restaurant set up with three long tables and our own servers and menus. Since my daughter and son-in-law chose the seafood buffet for the reception dinner, we did seafood on Thursday, steak at Terra on Friday for the rehearsal dinner (also no extra charges) and the Buffet on the beach at the wedding.

As for the photographer: I was not impressed with the photos from Arrecife and also thought that they were terribly overpriced. I heard about HDC through this forum and contacted Arnaud to inquire about his packages. He replied very promptly, was extremely reasonable, and the photos are beautiful, artistic, and worth every penny! We did not have a video, but my daughter got a slideshow CD with music as part of the package.

My daughter stayed with the cake that was part of the package. She added blue flowers down the side(an extra $90 for real blue orchids), which looked beautiful with the sparkly initial cake topper.(She also added blue orchids to the rose bouquet that was included). Honestly, there was so much to eat and drink that I don't remember what it tasted like!

 

[lmazz729]

Maridr2012,

 

You are going to be so happy with HDC! I wish now that I had added on another 2 hours - to the beginning and at the end of the wedding day.

They were so awesome, and so reasonable, especially compared to what you pay in the States! Definitely have the FI compare the two. I've heard that Arrecife is rude too. I also saw them taking pictures on the beach for a wedding the day after my daughter's. Everyone was very stiff and posed, not at all what my daughter wanted.

If you are using the spa for hair and makeup, make sure you leave plenty of time between the appointment and the ceremony. We had a mad rush across the resort in the cart (Elizabeth drives fast !) because the appointment wasn't done until almost 4 and the ceremony was supposed to start at 5. We didn't have the bridal suite and it was still fine.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I was so impressed by all the help I received from this forum... I would like to do the same for others.

[maridr2012]

I do have another question actually regarding HDC...did they do any finishing touches/edits on the pics?  And how did you guys go about selecting which pictures you wanted?  Or did they just give u guys a CD with all of the pics and u then took them to a photo print shop back home to do finishing/touches etc?  All these questions keep swirling in my head about photos, because it just seems like that's the one thing you'll have after 20 years from the wedding..pics.  Have you started sending out Thank You cards or Wedding Announcements (for those who werent able to attend or werent invited) with printed pics?  Who are you using for that?

Originally Posted by lmazz729 

Maridr2012,

 

You are going to be so happy with HDC! I wish now that I had added on another 2 hours - to the beginning and at the end of the wedding day.

They were so awesome, and so reasonable, especially compared to what you pay in the States! Definitely have the FI compare the two. I've heard that Arrecife is rude too. I also saw them taking pictures on the beach for a wedding the day after my daughter's. Everyone was very stiff and posed, not at all what my daughter wanted.

If you are using the spa for hair and makeup, make sure you leave plenty of time between the appointment and the ceremony. We had a mad rush across the resort in the cart (Elizabeth drives fast !) because the appointment wasn't done until almost 4 and the ceremony was supposed to start at 5. We didn't have the bridal suite and it was still fine.

Please let me know if you have any questions. I was so impressed by all the help I received from this forum... I would like to do the same for others.

 

[lmazz729]

The wedding was on Saturday and Arnaud came to PPC on Tuesday with the photos on a CD for them to take home. The photos were already edited.Some of the most impressive ones were the black and white and sepia edited photos, but I have put almost all of them in an album because they are all so beautiful! We got the Silver Package and there were over 300 pictures on the CD. The pictures were also on the website for 60 days. My daughter and son in law chose the pictures, e-mailed him their choices, and he sent the prints and slideshow by mail from Miami. We were also able to take the CD and print out whatever we wanted from there. I even copied the CD for other family members.

As to your question about the Thank You's, they were waiting until after the AHR to send those out.They will use a group photo for those who attended at PPC and another for those who came to the AHR only.

[johnm]

 

Since our wedding is two months away and I've been gleaning so much helpful information from this site I thought I'd give an update of our progress. Glad to answer any questions and will add any new updates as we get closer and of course once we're back provide a good follow up.

 

Here's where we're at....

 

25 guests attending all staying in The Reserve and we're staying in Royal Service.

 

Welcome party - we're doing a cocktail hour at the beach bar for our guests with 4 cold and 2 hot hors d'ouevres followed by a group reservation for dinner. They do charge $15 per head over 20 people. Since that's only 7 people extra for us we decided to do it and not try to reserve it when we get there and see if we could avoid the charge. 

 

Wedding Ceremony

Beachside Gazebo ($500 to reserve)

A friend is playing ceremony music for us on his ukulele. 

Pastor Rick York is performing our ceremony 

We are having the full civil ceremony and I'm in the midst of all the paperwork now

 

Cocktail Hour

We're doing our cocktail hour next to the gazebo and then will have a little down time before our reception since our ceremony is scheduled for 2:30. Music will be via iPod.

 

Reception - Poolside

We've selected the Chill Out Chic package and made a few adjustments including adding napkin covers. Our tables will basically look like the photo linked below including the centerpieces but with the standard Chill Out tablecloth 

https://picasaweb.google.com/caribbeancelebrations/CENTERPIECESCENTROSDEMESA#5687125287178404210

 

For food we picked the Caribbean buffet and we're going with the standard cake but adding some flowers for decoration (TBD). Cemone suggested one string of lights ($320) for the reception. Again we're going with iPod for music but undecided about renting sound system or bringing our own.

 

Photographer

We're going with HDC for a 5 hour package - 90 minutes before the ceremony, ceremony, cocktail hour, and then photo session after the cocktail hour since we have some time before the reception. This way we can actually enjoy the cocktail hour.

 

Invitations

We went with Serendipity Beyond Design and Ginger was absolutely great. The invitations were amazing (passport style) and I'll post some pictures ASAP. Can't say enough about the quality and design. http://www.serendipitybeyonddesign.com/

 

That's where we're at still working on our guest (OOT) bags but we are doing Bubba mugs as the main item in them. Still need to work out details on our favors, guest book ideas, and some other things.

 

 

 

[cdc150]

I leave in 6 days!!!  I can't wait.  I will post a full review upon our return.