"New Resort Opening May 1 2011" NOW LARIMAR ~ PUNTA CANA

[Paolalindsay]

 

Trash the Dress Photo Shoot in Punta Cana with Photographer Phil Steingard - Happy Happy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Paolalindsay]

Trash the Dress Photo Shoot in Punta Cana with Photographer Phil Steingard - Happy Happy

[inga]

Girls, my wedding in Larimar is now over I miss it already! 

 

I had a great experience! (but also a bad one) 

 

Here are some quick recaps: 

 

I had divine package, hired a DJ, fountain location, Garden terrace party, HDC photo, blue party lights

 

Resort itself- was very nice, guests loved it, plenty of dinning options and activities, upscale, friendly, one of the best for the price. 

 

Food- very good, great choices, restaurants had waiting time and took longer, but nothing to ruin a mood over 

 

Tip- have plenty of medicine for stomach, we had issues, not severe, but significant. I am glad I was fine through the wedding. Drink only bottled water and dont drink water in glass at restaurants. 

 

Room- get your upgrade! see Marcello, he was awesome! Confirm you got everyone in buildings you want. We loved closest to the ocean, one and two thousands. We had ocean front and loved it! Spend the money on preferred service, but your guests dont have to (you can take them with you into preferred). Work it ladies, dont forget the power of 20$ bills as tips! 

 

Rehearsal dinner - no issues booking what we wanted. Our group was small enough and we got to choose. Some hick-ups with tables and serving time, but nothing uncommon in Dominican. Just relax and dont worry, you are not on a hurry We had ours at the Italian restaurant. You can order two dinners if you like, men may like that. Food was great! 

 

Wedding Coordinator- I had Luisa. She was very sweet and very nice. She did a great job, except for few miscommunications that led to some stress later. 

 

Tip- control what you can prior and get EVERYTHING in writing. Sign very carefully. Because the coordinator smiles and is relaxed, I was relaxed as well and signed her document with some wrong tips. 

 

Tip- get all the pricing upfront! I got hit for extra stuff that is not even on their list. They charged me 150 dollars for set up fee, 95 dollars for 9 orchids (and I only got 3) 

 

Love your wedding coordinator, but know they make human mistakes and have communication issues sometimes. 

 

Wedding location - fountain side was great, very private, people kept away. My fountains were turned down a bit, so not so loud and great. Everything worked out perfect. 

 

Gazebo set up - upgrade to the white carpet walkway, it has thousands of white rose petals attached. Bring your own rose petals, but few bags is enough. I bought my own chair ribbons and matching fabric for the gazebo itself. Dont forget to get lots of color fabric for gazebo, it makes a difference. 

 

Decor - bring more decor, like fabric and ribbons, so the coordinator can use it as they please. They do a great job with that! They used my blue ribbons as napkin rings! 

 

Violinist - was worth it, and he went over time! So nice to have

 

Appetizers - very good, but you wont get to taste them lol you will be taking pictures while your guests will drink and eat. I loved blue drinks made to match my wedding color!!!!! Dont worry what to choose, just choose Its all good and guests will be happy. This is where Divine package pays off to have. 

 

Reception - we had terrace and it really worked for 17 people small party. Get the DJ and get the blue lights, they made ALL the difference. We chose rose in water centerpieces that were very pretty. I had submergible lights and it really made a difference. Note the centerpieces are 60 each. Unless you bring glass on your own, just pay it and dont sweat it.  

 

Tip- know what songs you want for DJ, but if you dont, he will do just fine and play good music. This is the resort club DJ and he knows his job very well. 

 

Tip - get the reception timing right. I wanted 7 to 10, but resort insisted it was booked 6 to 9. I was able to show emails with my time request later, but it was so stressfull! The resort manager came in and he was really mean and rude. I hate him to this day. this is the bad part - I got upset they wanted to end my party at 9 and cheat me out of an our. In total we spent 4200 on the day. Out of 3 hour party, an hour is a third!!!!!!! 

 

Reception food - steak and lobster was awesome, everyone loved it. If someone does not like, the buffet is right there lol on the way to the restroom! We had lobster tower. Food is really good. Dont sweat it, once again, just choose and dont spend more time than needed. 

 

Cake- it was huge! very pretty and very tasty. Everyone loved how tasty it was. We all had it again next day and there was still left over. I swear you could feed 50 people with that! I bought orchids and chose marble cake. The staff used my blue ribbon band and the cake was very nice, matched party decor. I got two levels. 

 

Tip- be ready for your cake to look different from what you may want. Just be ok with it, its not the most important and you wont even care later. 

 

Drinks - we had a bar, but we would not have even missed it. No issues. 

 

Service - awesome!!!! each table had a waiter and there was a supervisor. They did great job. 

 

Tip- we left 200 dollar tip with Luisa for all of waiters and her (I gave her 20 later just to add) 

 

Seating- I draw a chart of tables and names, split name tags in each bag for each table, with the chart. It worked great. 17 people had 3 tables and 1 bridal party table. We seated best man and moh near us at a table. It was more fun that way. The resort will seat you two alone unless you specify it. 

 

After party - you can go to the club or hang out in the plaza. No issues, plenty to do. We were wiped out from the day ! Everyone was. Party till 10 was enough. 

 

Reception dancing - it took us a while to get main course, so we danced a bit before getting the dinner and it was a perfect dance break. Remember no one was very hungry after appetizers at the ceremony. 

 

Wedding timing - we had ceremony at 4 pm, dinner at 7 pm. It was very little time for pictures. Get more time in between. I would do it at 2 pm and have reception at 6 pm (they want to close down by 9 and will take DJ away! DJ plays at the club at 10 pm). The nice part about 4 pm- it was not hot any more and the sunset hit our faces directly, making pictures awesome! (best pictures with sunset light, and at the fountain sun hits direclty). 

 

Sun - I worried about sun being in my eyes, but afternoon sun will be behind you. So, it is the groom blinded, not you At 4 pm, it was not intense and all good. We got lucky with no rain! 

 

Hair and makeup - I had it done at the resort spa. They did a great job for me and MOH. Make appointment early, before you go to resort. Get your bridal party get hair dues, that way they can help you with advise on your hair. I did not have pictures with me, but they have two big books. I did not spend much time choosing and they did very well! They do it all the time and know the job. The girl worked with me on makeup- make it an effort of you two, know what you want and bring some of your make up. They use MAC, so its great quality and comes out really nice. 

My hair and make up appointment was at 1 pm. I got to the room at 3 pm. I would schedule it at 12 pm now, needed bit more time for photographer in the room. 

Makeup stayed all evening! 

Tip- sephora eyelashes- bring the package of small eye lash parts from sephora, have the make-up artist put a few on edges. Really makes an impact and looks natural. Practice before to make sure it is for you. 

 

Romantic beach dinner - It was very nice and needed, best lobster we had. It rained, but they put us in a cabana and it all worked out. 

 

Tip - dont forget to tip. I tipped 5 dollars for special services (massage, makeup, hair, romantic dinner). 

 

Alcohol drinks in resort - mixed drinks are weak. If you like stronger, order a shot at the same time and place the shot in the drink. Be careful before wedding, sugar will make you puffy. I drank white rum-soda-cranberry juice, it was refreshing and low calorie. 

 

Before the wedding day - take care of your body- dont eat sugary drinks, dont try new foods, stay as safe as you can, limit alcohol, stay out of sun, wear strap free swimming suit. This way you will feel good on your wedding day, no matter how hot or humid it could be. Ours wasnt bad in terms of heat or humidity. 

The wedding party got red for the wedding. If you want a nice groom, slap SPF on him and assign someone to do it as you will be busy .

 

The three days in the resort I spent time with coordinator and planning. I did know everything I want from the research on this blog. Do the same and you will have more free time at the resort. Even when you know what you want, still plan on 2 hours with coordinator. 

 

WBA photo - it sucked! dont use them. I did not like the pictures they took. There were few that were amazing, but most made me look foot taller than groom and fat! (i am neither lol). We went with divine package 24 pictures and hired outside vendor HDC. The video from WBA was very nice. Dont refuse the service, but dont expect anything. 

 

HDC photo - cant say more good things about them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! they were worth spending 1000 dollars on, great value, great pictures. I get so many compliments! The photographer was fun, professional, very hip and friendly. They captured our moods perfectly, knew poses and were efficient. They made the day! Really recommend them. They have all great reviews and they deserve it! 

 

That about sums it up If you have questions, ask away! I cant upload pictures until after Christmas (bandwith stuff), but will remember to do it. 

 

Advise - take a deep breath, your wedding will be very nice and happy. Do your homework now. Adjust your attitude- resort will always want to charge you for everything, spend some money if you can, dont penny pinch too much. Be ready for some details out of your control, it wont ruin you. 

 

My top 5 take aways: 

1. Get HDC for your pictures and get 6 hours for pictures. Leave at least 4 hours between dinner and ceremony. 

2. Get blue light and the DJ- makes big difference. Resort DJ is great and not expensive. 

3. Take the Divine package and upgrade things- white runner, centerpieces. Bring your decor for personal touch. 

4. Take it all in - it goes by fast! 

5. Do homework and choose everything prior. Book wedding location, reception location, choose dinner and appetizers, book Spa appointment, book DJ, book photographer. Then, when you get to resort- relax! Its all done and decided! Have your vacation! 

 

Good luck girls!!!!!!!!!!

 

Inga

[inga]

Oh, and amazingly, the coordinators do read this blog! I wish we could get them to blog and get involved! 

[inga]

Another fun fact - 5 minutes in Punta Cana is really 20 minutes, now ir 10 minutes later, 30 minutes is an hour and so on Fun fact! Make sure you dont expect superb service, its relaxed there. You will get what you need, but it may take some patience sometimes. 

[jennifer8913]

@ Chrisdeluca, I'm glad you found something!!!
 

[jennifer8913]

@ Inga, LOL Thanks for the heads up!!!

[inga]

I wrote a long review from my wedding, but this blog wants to clear it first before publishing. I had such an amazing wedding! But the resort does miscommunicate and is very un-flexible in terms of party hours. They caused me stress during the wedding day by changing my party time to 6 instead of 7. 

[mandycross]

I am still in the process of writing my review as well. I agree with Inga... my wedding was amazing but the resort was a bit of a pain in the butt to deal with for a lot of it!

[Donna Hewitt]

I'm looking forward to hearing these reviews, and are there any suggestions of what we can do pre-wedding to reduce the stress... Month to go for me!  The less stress the better!