2013 Paradisus Palma Real

EVKnowsitall · September 30, 2012

Originally Posted by Suzhen

Hi girls!

We just confirmed our wedding date at the paradisus Palma real for may 19 2013. We are leaning toward garden gazebo ceremony and beach reception. I wanted to find out what you all plan to do for your cocktail hour in terms of location? Also is anyone doing a rehearsal dinner? If so are you doing private and where? I would love to hear the details of your selections, I am a bit overwhelmed by all the selections...

Thx!

Suzanne

Congrats Suzhen! I chose the Plaza Colonial for our Cocktail hour and we went with the Dominican Guitar trio because I thought guests should have some music. The DJ isn't going to set up in two separate locations I imagine, so we thought it was a good add in at only $250 for a 60 minute set. I like Plaza Colonial because our wedding ceremony is 5-6 pm and cocktail hour starts at 7. By then the sun is setting and Plaza Colonial has these awesome lanterns already there so it creates a nice ambiance. I wish I could have my wedding earlier in the day, unfortunately the priest was only available in the evening and I insisted on a full Catholic Church wedding.

I'm doing a rehearsal dinner. I planned on just having it in one of the restaurants. Since only bridal party attends it shouldn't be a big issue. I thought about doing La Barcaza, the boat, for a cocktail welcome for all our guests. Its $35 pp for two hours of music and drinks on the boat. But when I shopped the idea around, my friends and family said its silly when everyone is paying to stay at the resort and its an all inclusive. The consensus is- "we will meet you at the bar" lol so I might save us the headache and forego the cost. My TTD session is on Sunday and not all my guests are staying to same amount of days so I thought on Saturday (day after my wedding) I would have everyone meet in the buffet for breakfast and have a day after "brunch".

I'm really getting excited seeing everything fall into place. I have my moments of stress but I really can't wait. My fiance and groomsmen had their fitting last night at our place and now that he picked his suit I can proceed with the bridesmaids. I wanted him to pick his suit first because I didn't think it was fair for the bridesmaids to select a dress color and then he would be forced to match his suit to the color. It's his wedding too, I thought it should be the opposite. He picked a blue suit lol so that did have an impact on our color palette. But his suit is custom made by a friend of ours who owns a Mens Custom Clothiers business- Any grooms looking who live in NY let me know lol!

Here is a pic of Plaza Colonial:

Happy planning Suz- you are getting married before we are so I will rely on your reviews, feedback and pics! Cheers to happy wedding planning!

angelnjewels · October 1, 2012

Hi girls! We just confirmed our wedding date at the paradisus Palma real for may 19 2013. We are leaning toward garden gazebo ceremony and beach reception. I wanted to find out what you all plan to do for your cocktail hour in terms of location? Also is anyone doing a rehearsal dinner? If so are you doing private and where? I would love to hear the details of your selections, I am a bit overwhelmed by all the selections... Thx! Suzanne

Suzanne congrats!!! It's so nice to hear how things are coming together for everyone...

angelnjewels · October 1, 2012

Congrats Suzhen! I chose the Plaza Colonial for our Cocktail hour and we went with the Dominican Guitar trio because I thought guests should have some music. The DJ isn't going to set up in two separate locations I imagine, so we thought it was a good add in at only $250 for a 60 minute set. I like Plaza Colonial because our wedding ceremony is 5-6 pm and cocktail hour starts at 7. By then the sun is setting and Plaza Colonial has these awesome lanterns already there so it creates a nice ambiance. I wish I could have my wedding earlier in the day, unfortunately the priest was only available in the evening and I insisted on a full Catholic Church wedding.Â I'm doing a rehearsal dinner. I planned on just having it in one of the restaurants. Since only bridal party attends it shouldn't be a big issue. I thought about doing La Barcaza, the boat, for a cocktail welcome for all our guests. Its $35 pp for two hours of music and drinks on the boat. But when I shopped the idea around, my friends and family said its silly when everyone is paying to stay at the resort and its an all inclusive. The consensus is- "we will meet you at the bar" lol so I might save us the headache and forego the cost. My TTD session is on Sunday and not all my guests are staying to same amount of days so I thought on Saturday (day after my wedding) I would have everyone meet in the buffet for breakfast and have a day after "brunch".Â I'm really getting excited seeing everything fall into place. I have my moments of stress but I really can't wait. My fiance and groomsmen had their fitting last night at our place and now that he picked his suit I can proceed with the bridesmaids. I wanted him to pick his suit first because I didn't think it was fair for the bridesmaids to select a dress color and then he would be forced to match his suit to the color. It's his wedding too, I thought it should be the opposite. He picked a blue suit lol so that did have an impact on our color palette. But his suit is custom made by a friend of ours who owns a Mens Custom Clothiers business- Any grooms looking who live in NY let me know lol! Here is a pic of Plaza Colonial:Â Happy planning Suz- you are getting married before we are so I will rely on your reviews, feedback and pics!Â :shots: Â Cheers to happy wedding planning!

Hi Ev, Wow plaza colonial looks so beautiful. Will they decorate the area? It actually looks beautiful as is especially if the sun is setting at that time. About the trio.. My fiancÃ© and I are thinking of adding them to our list. I would love to get your feedback after your wedding. I thought it would be nice vibe. You are right the DJ may also have trouble going back and forth. I am living in the NYC area. Does your friend have a website. Are the suits expensive? It is going to be difficult to rent suits for all of the guys especially if we are planning to stay longer than a week. I would like my fiancÃ© to choose something he likes as well that fits perfectly. This could be great for him to wear at the reception when we come back from our wedding. I am planning to get a white/ivory dress for the reception. All of this sounds so exciting. I am happy things are working out for you! Angel

MissyBee · October 1, 2012

I agree that the $1000 fee is ridiculous. I am trying to decide whether or not it is worth it, and have been waivering back and forth.

JennyAdele · October 1, 2012

Hi PPR brides!!

I'm still trying to decide on location, but Punta Cana is my front runner. The Paradisus resorts are the ones my Fiance and I are leaning towards. I already asked the PPC brides how they chose that resort, and many of them say it came down to cost. I prefer PPR and my Fiance prefers PPC!! Has anyone done a DW and accommodation comparison between the two? My guests would like to stay at the same resort, so its important that they find it affordable as well.

I just need a ball park idea of the cost difference...

Thanks ladies!!

MrsEVGarcia · October 2, 2012

Angel,

It is beautiful! And really doesn't require much to decorate but since we are purchasing the Aqua package, they are decorating with the aqua high boy tables. Thats really all I'm willing to put in for as far as decorations because I'm saving those for our reception!

I will def post a full review after my wedding complete with pics! I keep looking for ones on here and have only seen one and it was from a while ago. More PPR brides need to post and help each other out! LOL This is stressful!

My friend has a website but I don't know it. If you have a FB page you can look up her company its called Jakob Custom Clothiers or you can look her up and her name is Nikki Anand. The prices vary according to what the groom wants. She isn't terribly expensive but I don't know what your budget is. My fiance considered getting his 3 piece suit from Express and even that was costing a cool $700. The mens warehouse also charges $800 and the suit is not even customizable. With her, at least you get to do cool things- Like under his collar it will have both of our names and our wedding date embroidered, so when he pops it up we can snap a pretty groovy pic lol. And all his groomsmen got different linings- he let them pick the lining for the inside of their suits (his is champagne colored with blue paisley lol) and they got their shirts monogrammed on the sleeve and picked the color of the thread and the font.

And she will travel to you, so if your groom and groomsmen wanted to host a "fitting night" like we did- its a cool time. I cooked dinner and everyone brought wine and we turned it into an activity for the bridal party. I'm not plugging her because she's my friend- she does good business. She makes suits for Jets, Patriots, Giants players but does a lot of destination grooms as well.

She doesnt "Rent" suits which is a cheaper alternative- reason being is that the suits are customized and made from scratch. I would say bridal party members might not be game- but its def good for the groom. Especially if he is wearing the suit twice! Well worth the money!

lolanroxy · October 3, 2012

Hi Ladies,

I just came back from our wedding in Sep at PPR. Posted my review here if you're interested. Feel free to message me if you have any questions. Happy to help where i can to help with your upcoming wedding planning.

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/products/paradisus-palma-real-resort-all-inclusive/reviews/6500

angelnjewels · October 3, 2012

Hey ladies, Ev I will check your friends website! Thanks for all of the help. The more I read about PPR the more in love with it I am... I am super excited!!! Lolanroxy, thanks for your review. Your pics look great and I love your dress. Thanks for your help. My fiancÃ© and I are still working on a budget... I Don't know what a budget should be for a destination wedding. I think we will do 25-30k since we are also paying for my parents to attend, purchasing our flights, invitations, gifts for bridal party, the aqua package and add ons (viiolinist, fire show-maybe, etc) I hope we can come up with somethin. This way we can also focus on our reception in the states. Thanks ladies!!!

EVKnowsitall · October 3, 2012

Hey Angel- that's about our budget. Lola thanks so much!!!! This is exactly what we need! Checking out your review now!

EVKnowsitall · October 3, 2012

Hey PPR Ladies- so KTU had a contest to win a free wedding and my fiance and I thought we would enter to have a reception in the states after our DW. If you have a chance vote for us!

Click the link below, click Vote round 1 and find our picture- its the same as my avatar and I'm attaching it here. Or you can search for "Evelyn and Elvin". It will prompt you to register through KTU. You can vote once per day until October 9th.

It's not a big deal, we just thought it would be a cool option for the folks who aren't coming to DR. There are two more rounds so maybe some of you can enter round 2 or three. We only plan to enter the first round.

Thanks in advance if you can help lol

http://www.ktu.com/pages/contest/wedding/contest.html

Our pic: