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

[inga]

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. 

 

 

[inga]

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. 

[inga]

HERE! 

 

I had to post my review in pieces because the blog administrator blocks it and wants me to post else where. 
I wrote this for this blog, the future brides. I spend time to jog all the notes in hopes it will help you with the perfect wedding. Lets hope my notes get respected and not removed! 

[lucydanny]

Inga you was very beautiful, your pictures were very nice, but I don't agree with you about WBA. I saw their work and I liked it alot. Every person has their opinions about some things, I really don't want to be rude, but I dont think is apropriate to say that WBA sucks if you have another point of view.  Thank you very much for other things you posted, is very helpfull.

[jennifer8913]

Thanks Inga!!!! that was so helpful for me!!!!! I can not wait to see your pictures! I really appreciate the time you took to give your review!

[SusanMike2013]

Just a update to everyone...  the tax in the D.R increased to 28% Jan 1 2013

 

I just got a email from my W.C with confirmation of everything and I noticed the prices had increased, when I asked why she was prompt in replying to tell me about the tax increase.

 

also I am renting the sound system and wasn't aware of the 18% tax added...  all the pdfs i got said that DJ services were taxes extra,,,
 

 

Not a huge deal but will be if you have a lot of extra's.

 

 

 

:-)

[mrsterry1123]

I recently just got married at Now Larimar in November2012 and here are some of my tips/concerns/suggestions etc..... Honestly l was concerned with planning a destination wedding, having never been to the resort or even the DR, and after reading all the reviews about the resort online I was thinking of changing resorts all together!! My wedding coordinator wasn't the best and was REALLY slow at getting back with me, one week before the wedding she actually referred to me as Kimberly (not my name) so to say the least I was in PANIC mode. We had 25ppl joining us for the wedding , not many, so by obvious choice we used Apple Vacations to book our trip , they were pretty easy to work with and we had issues at the resort later on that they were extremely helpful with. Our entire party chose to do the preferred club, many reviews say its not worth the extra money, but it TOTALLY is, you have a lounge that is stocked with snacks and bottled water (which is hard to come by around the resort considering they don't want you drinking the water out of the faucet), separate ..quiet...eating sections in the buffet, also you have your own area on the beach and your own pools/swim up bar (they asked us every time our room number to make sure we were preferred, which most reviews I had read said they didnt). The actual resort itself is nice...the grounds are well kept and they constantly have men raking seaweed off the beach which is a problem if you walk by other resorts. The rooms were decent...our AC didn't work and they weren't really willing to move our rooms even though we had said we would downgrade from the "best" room they had on the resort, that was the least of our worries because who spends the whole time in your room when you're in tropical paradise! Some of our party did have to move rooms multiple times because of them being freshly painted, not what they had requested etc. Housekeeping did steal a cell phone out of one of the rooms & security accused our guest of hiding it, so they tore apart the entire room and rummaged through their baggage (phone was never found obviously and it was never dealt with even when we asked) The food on the resort was not good either. Most employees were friendly but not overly nice and there were definitely some very rude ones too! We've traveled to many all inclusive resorts and tips were discouraged at most and some they weren't even allowed to accept tips from us or it resulted in losing their job, but at NOW they expected tips for everything and if you didn't tip you definitely didn't get as good of service which shouldn't be the situation considering the price you pay to stay there. The rooms do NOT have a fully stocked bar either, they have a mini fridge with one beer, plenty of soda and a bottle of water. Also a few reviews had mentioned that NOW allows the locals to come in on the weekends to takeover the pool/beach which is NOT true! As far as the actual wedding we went with the now to eternity package (we didn't have a bridal party) we upgraded my bouquet, had a violinist, and the speaker/ipod hookup at the reception, honestly all the pricey upgrades aren't worth it. We chose the fountain area (most private) and it was so pretty around the gardens you didn't really need the extra expense of flowers etc, which is definitely not worth it because you can't take any of them back through customs. We chose the night club for our reception which was the best option, it's perfectly lighted, there's already a bar, and just in case of bad weather it was covered. The food at the wedding was the best meal i had the whole trip and the waiters/bartenders were awesome and so fun!! The cake was great, we brought a cake topper, place cards/favors and little printed out menus and that was enough! We didn't want to have to travel with a ton of stuff but there was enough for photos. Finding a good photographer was our biggest concern because seeing pictures from the included resort photographer were so amateur and not very good!! And that's really all you have to go on when it's over..it goes so fast!! We chose to use Severine from PHOTO SOUVENIR , she was great to work with, and the photos are absolutely AMAZING!! We had her for 8hrs on the wedding day and 3hrs for a trash the dress session which was worth every penny we spent!! I was a little nervous leaving the resort not knowing the language but the locals were beyond nice and so happy for my husband and me. It took about a month for her to edit our photos and get them up on an online album , which is awesome considering we had over 700 photos!! I can't say it enough they are AMAZING we're both kind of not so glam in front of the camera and she made it seem like we were super models All in all the actual wedding at NOW was great , the resort wasn't the best, and if you take anything from this post use PHOTO SOUVENIR as your wedding photographer ) & if you're still in the choosing a resort stage .....read tons of reviews, I thought only the negative reviews were people that just couldn't be pleased and they ALL turned out to be true!!

[mrsterry1123]

Im thinking of having my wedding at Now larimar as well..... I've been having issues with the wedding coordinatior in regards to answering questions has anyone had this issue at Now Larimar?? :confused:

I just recently got married there in November, and I had the same issue!! It would take a week or two to get back to me every time, but as soon as I arrived everything was in order just the way it needed to be, the people in the DR are on "island time" , also try calling, it was easier and a much faster response

[Skygirl]

i also did surf/turf. or steal only for those who doesnt eat lobster. resort will let you do it, Lobster and steak was excellent!

[Donna Hewitt]

Quick question ladies... Anyone know how much a taxi costs from the airport to the hotel?