Help Please :(

[jarmbruster]

Hi everyone!

This site is great, I have gotten so much great information already! We are getting married in Punta Cana November 2011 and we are having a horrible time trying to choose a resort. We want a beautiful wedding with a traditional, private reception.....but we also want somewhere that is affordable for our guests ($1300 range). Can anyone give any recommendations on resorts? Or some tips as to how you chose your resorts?

Also - how early did everyone book the actual wedding date with the resort?

 

Thanks....hope to hear from you! I am so frazzled with this whole process...LOL

[islandbride8]

My decision process made me crazy!  it's all down hill (for the most part) after making that decision- at least it was for me.  What i did was go to the apple vacation website and plug in tenative travel dates.  It gives you several pages of all the resorts.  i looked at the apple rating and compared that with the price.  i was able to narrow it down to 2-3 this way.  after i had my final contenders (really just majestic elegance and dreams punta cana) i went to the resort websites along with travelocity for resort pics and reviews.  I finally went with the ME because of the elegace club which is a section of the resort that is adult only. This way guests who prefer the "adult-only" feel can stay in the club, while those with children (or a tighter budget) could stay in the main hotel section.  Happy Planning

[richarsd]

We compared several travel sites (selloffvacations, itravel, expedia) for resorts in our price range (initially under $1750) then compared those to reviews on tripadvisor. We had several criteria we wanted filled (swim up bar, experienced weddings and positive reviews, lots of shows and activities, good food reviews, etc.). We narrowed it down to three then went to see our Travel Agent who specializes in destination weddings to give us group rate. We went with the cheapest, which for us was the Grand Palladium Bavaro. Making this decision is definitely the hardest part but after you do, it's easy! Goodluck!

[sebitasalejo]

We went to the DR to look at and choose a hotel. We did site visits of the places that were affordable for our guests. We talked to the coordinator, asked questions, took notes, pictures, and decided on Grand Bahia Principe Bavaro. I would have chosen Majestic, but the reception prices were stupid. The changed them recently tho. We ended up booking with La Barcaza for the reception. I have only read good reviews and can't wait to surprise our guests with an off-site reception. Every body is right. After you choose the hotel it all falls into place. The next hardest part for me was the invites. So many options! Good luck and happy planning.

[fmichelle]

Like everyone else, it was all about the reviews, my main source was TripAdvisor.com and doing a search with the resort name and "wedding review."  I went with what seemed the most consistent and since we knew we wanted an adults-only resort, there weren't too many to choose from.  We ended up going with Excellence because the package price seemed the best for the money and included a cocktail hour and reception for up to 20 people for a good price.  We booked the date back in August (ours is in April) and then booked our travel shortly thereafter.  I'm seeing some better rates now for April, which is good for those who haven't booked yet, but you never know if prices are going to go up or down.

 

I would say also check out resort reviews from brides on here specifically because you can ask them questions about each resort if there is anything in particular that concerns you.  Good luck! 

[CDNCouple09]

Another good idea is to look for groups on Facebook. I know the Majestic has a fantastic group with tons of wedding reviews. I would not be suprised if other hotels had the same. The majestic group is Majestic Colonial Brides.

[KCB2011]

I originally wanted to keep it around $1300-1500 per person so it was affordable for guests, and was looking in Punta Cana but I ended up at Dreams La Romana because I had heard great things about it, and most of the resorts that had the quality we were looking for were more than our initial budget.  In the end we couldn't get anything over a 4 star for that price and since it was my wedding, I didn't want a run down place - so it was Dreams Punta Cana or La Romana - just chose La Romana because it was a quieter area, more relaxing beach time and less partying time which is more like our personalities.

 

I emailed a bunch of different travel sites - selloffvacations, escapes.ca, etc all have actual travel agents that you can email inquiries to and they will give you suggestions - I worked with Wendy at escapes.ca and she was very helpful and honest about her suggestions (and even gave me a few of the "these are supposedly 4.5-5 star resorts but I wouldn't send you there if you begged me" type of suggestions as well.

 

In the end, you will probably drive yourself crazy trying to pick a resort because there are just SO many, and so many of them will be awesome!  I would suggest being a little flexible on budget per person as sometimes the difference between $1300 per person and $1450 per person will make a HUGE difference in quality of the resort but probably not make or break a decision for a guest to attend (if they are already spending that amount of money, the extra $150 is probably not a deal breaker for most)