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

[kimmy6540]

We're getting married 11.8.12! See you there!
 

[jennifer8913]

Hi ladies, do any of you know how the room upgrade works? like if you book the deluxe room, do you get upgraded to preferred club? we really want preferred club but its so pricey!

[Vizionme101]

Hi jennifer8913,

 

I booked a Tropical View room and part of the wedding package I was upgraded to the Preferred Club Ocean View.  Didn't even know they were going to do this.  And I booked a Travel agent rate and still got a wonderful room.  Ask for the 4th floor. The news are the best.  I noticed when I was there, they had the majority of all the brides, honeymooners and Aniversary couples on the same floor.

[Mayrose]

Hi everyone,

 

Congratulations to all the brides. I got married about a month ago in Now and it was great. I had Francina as my coordinator and she was amazing. Everyone in the Resort was super friendly. My wedding was supposed to be on the beach but because there was a tropical storm we had to change location and had the ceremony at Eclipse. It actually turn out to be really nice. I selected the Divine Package, it was the best choice for me. No regrets. They steam my dress and it came out perfect. If any of your guest use laundry service, if they need to steam or iron their outfit make sure that they DO NOT PUT DRY CLEAN, dry clean gets send out to another facility and takes longer. If is done in the hotel they will have it back within 24 hours. I used the hotel DJ and MC and they were great. We all love the MC, he was really fun. The DJ was great too and you and your guest can request songs. The hotel photographers were really good but they are very expensive. For the extra photos, outside of what's included, is $15 per photo and you get it on a CD. I contracted Huellas del Caribe, they were great!! I highly recommend them. They did my photos and video. This is the link to my wedding photos:

 

www.hdcphoto.com

click on customer access

username: isauraandsamuel

password: nowlarimar

 

I did my hair and makeup in the hotel salon and she was great. I told her how I wanted my make up and she did it just like I asked. If you know what you want for your hair, just take them a pic and they will do it exactly how you want it.

 

I loved my bouquet, I was just sad that I couldn't bring it back to the States.

 

I only tasted my cake, it taste good. It was too bad I didn't get to eat it I didn't get to eat my dinner either, I only taste it, but all my guest said it was delicious. Everyone enjoy the food and the desserts. 

 

I have one advice that was given to me by Francina and Mercy, things will happen and you can not always control it but you can control your attitude about it. It rain on my wedding day and it was windy, I had to change the location the day of the wedding and that was only one thing out of like 10 things that did not went the way I plan but I did not let nothing or no one ruin my day. At the end of the day is about you and your fiancé. Is about celebrating your love and your union. That is whats important, nothing else.

 

FYI: summer brides especially August, is hurricane season which means rain, tropical storm. Keep that in mind. 

 

Try not to stress, I know that is hard but things will fall in its place and many time things happen for a reason. Just always remember whats important.

Wish you all the best and congratulations!!!

[Skygirl]

@Mayrose, congrats on your recent wedding!what a lovely pictures,thanks for sharing with us!i agree with you as far as beeing flexible to make changes, i think things will fall in to place, im 2wks away from my day, and just cant wait! i wanted to ask you, did the planned timing went as planned, as far as the coctail hour and pictures time as scheduled?what time does it starts getting dark there outside?im worried about the light for the pictures... thanks

[inga]

Girls,

 

I have had no issues contacting the WC and getting answers. Few tips-

• be patient, give them few days
• be appreciative, but also demanding
• collect all your questions in one email, bullet point and categorize. This will help you with your planning later.

 

I am doing the divine package, it all pays off at the end. It took some time to understand that we will spend more money and everything is an extra charge.

 

I did e-mail corporate with comments regarding their policies and charges. I was, like all the brides, expecting an easy breezy wedding where the hotel does it all. I selected the top package because I wanted it all- decorations, upgrades and so forth. It was a big shock to find out how everything is still "extra" and "not included"!!!  Many of you can relate, picking a resort is not an easy task and it is heart braking to realize you did not book what you thought you did. I personally felt upset, even cried, when I kept hitting these resort extra charge walls. I felt cheated.

My e-mail to corporate:

• I would have paid 5000 or 7000 for a package as long as it would have been all inclusive. There is nothing divine about the current one. (eg. every wedding has bridesmaids, but bouquets are not included! )
• I dont want to see pictures online and then find out the walkway is 1500$.
• Why does a hotel that runs three weddings a day, have no special restaurant setting for this? Why do the brides have to "make it work" on terraces and by pools? No one in their right mind will pay 5000 for a restaurant location.
• Why are there so many limiting policies? like one plate for everyone, party only till 11 pm and so on.

 

I did pay compliments to coordinator, Merci. The WC cant change corporate policies and work hard to make our dreams come through. It is the corporate office, that with enough comments from brides, can finally change their money making attitude.

[Skygirl]

I agree with you Inga!, but nothing we can do at this point, after everything is booked and paid for!

[Mayrose]

Thank you Skygirl. 2 weeks away, very exciting!!!! ok so the ceremony is suppose to be 20 minutes long, cocktail is 1 hour, a 30 mins recess and 3 hours reception. My did not exactly went in that time frame. My ceremony was supposed to start at 6pm but got delay b/c some of my guests were late. Not happy at all!! TIP: emphasize as much as possible to your guests to be there before the start of the ceremony. We were delay about 20-30 minutes. It got dark around 7pm. I was not able to take pics outside b/c it was so dark. I don't know at what time is your ceremony, that would play a factor. Who is your WC?

 

@Inga Merci is a sweetheart. I got to meet her and she helped me with a few things. She will definitely do anything to make your day special, all of them will. Patient is a key element in a destination wedding.

 

Best of luck girls and enjoy every moment b/c it does go by fast.

[NowBride2013]

Hi Mayrose!!

 

Thank you so much for your review! Your pictures are beautiful!! I am glad I went with HDC! Is there any way I could see the Wedding video they did for you? I have booked them for my photos and video, but I have yet to see one of there videos at Now Larimar! Also, you mentioned that the hotel's DJ/MC were very good! When you didn't request any songs, was the DJ picking good songs? Did it happen often that you would request a song that he didn't have?

 

Thanks again!!

[Donna Hewitt]

Wow Mayrose! Thanks for sharing with us!! Your colours are amazing!!  And you look stunning!!  Beautiful wedding... Even if it wasn't exactly how you planned - it was gorgeous!  Lots of guests too!!  How did you get Castaways??  Was that because of the weather or had you planned it?