Now Larimar 2014 Brides

[LindsT]

I did receive an email today with ceremony pictures but not reception!! When I submit the form I am supposed to put down my choices, but I want to see the reception sites first. So maybe I will receive pictures once I submit the form, I was just hoping to see them prior to paying just incase I wasn't happy with the reception sites that are available. Thanks for your help!!

[Jahanee Conner]

@@PuntaCanaBride14 I haven't booked anything yet with the spa.They emailed me the reservation form but I have not decided what I'm going to get done or if my bridal party are deciding to get  their hair and make-up done.

[Kristina Simms]

Hello ladies,

 

Sorry for the long post! This is a summary of my recent wedding!

 

I just got home from my wedding at the NOW, on January 28. We stayed a week there and then a week next door at Secrets for our honeymoon. Our wedding coordinator was Francina and she was amazing. I truly think all of the ladies are great at their job. My biggest piece of advice is to relax and let them do their job! They perform about 3 weddings a day there so they definitely know what they are doing. Most of the planning gets done so close to the wedding, even when you are there so don't get too worried when all the final details aren't worked out with the wedding being 6 months away. Which I know can be nerve wracking for us women lol.

We had at least 3 other wedding coordinators assigned to us throughout the whole process, but we were booked almost a year in advance. The real work matters when you get there and actually meet with them. They all seemed so hardworking; we would see them first thing in the morning and then they would still be in the office working late at night. Francina started at 0930

With us on our wedding day, she stayed until the end 10:45, and was back in her office the next am. I cannot thank the entire NOW staff for giving us our dream wedding. I could never get such a beautiful backdrop for a wedding at home.

 

I definitely recommend either the NOW or Secrets resorts to stay at. Also staying an extra week after the wedding (and everyone else leaves) was the best idea. There's not much time to relax and just enjoy time with your new hubby the week of the wedding.

 

I will post some pictures when I receive some electronic versions. We had the divine wedding package. We got married at the fountain location and it was breath taking. We did the full fountain setup, it is more expensive but I am so glad I did. I would have regretted it for sure if we hadn't. I saw a few ceremonies on the beach and it was quite windy and not very private so the fountain was definitely the best choice for us as it was much more private. There are still a couple looky-loos and rude people that try to cross or watch, but the staff are pretty good at keeping them away from the fountain. We had hand fans for our guests which was one of the best ideas. Everyone loved them and used them the entire time. All the girls went to the spa the morning of and got hair and makeup done. I rented the bridal suite for the day so it gave us somewhere to hang out in between sessions and get dressed.

 

We had our cocktail hour on the grass at the fountain (so basically on the other side of the trees instead of on either side of the actual fountain). We were married at 3pm so this gave us some shady spots from the afternoon sun). We had the guitarist for the ceremony and he was fantastic.

 

Our reception was on the beach. It was at 6:30 so it was getting dark and no other people were around. There was a light shower that sent us running underneath the roof of the Castaways restaurant (luckily it was closed to the public that night). We rented the lighted dance floor (it's a must!) and the staff quickly dried it off and we went back to dancing. We rented the iPod/sound system. We didn't want to pay for a dj and are so glad we didn't. The sound system came with 3 guys to run it and they were fantastic. We just made a couple of playlists (reception/dance) which were more us and downloaded an app called Wedding DJ (for $2) which programmed specific songs into each category (first dance, cake cutting). We had a friend act as our emcee and she announced our entrance and the first dance/bouquet toss etc. Our wedding was small, only 24 people, so it was more informal, no big speeches or anything.

We rented a few extra tiki torches for light and we probably could of had even more. Maybe even more lights on the dinner table. I would recommend even bringing tea lights from home. We had the one included centerpiece on the table and I rented 3 vases so myself and the bridesmaids just put our bouquets in there for extra decor instead of paying for more flowers.

 

We had the fire dancers perform at the reception and they were phenomenal. It definitely added a little extra something special. My husband and I got to stand on the dance floor and they danced around us so I'm hoping for some amazing pictures!

We extended our reception by an hour so it was 6:30-10:30 and it still felt like it wasn't long enough. If you have a large party or a lot of speeches I would definitely recommend extending it even further.

Although we would have gotten rained out if we had extended out reception anything beyond the hour. Just as our last song of the night finished it started pouring. The timing was incredible. We were so lucky!

 

We had Karina Jensen as our photographer and I highly recommend her. She is so sweet and got along with everyone so well. She worked amazingly with the kids. We did a trash the dress a couple days later with her on the beach. She was very organized, professional, and was always asking for our input. She showed us a couple sneak peeks as we went along and they look amazing. I'm so excited to get the rest from her. Her prices were very reasonable compared to all the research and comparisons I did of finding a photographer in Punta Cana and bringing someone there (from Canada).

We received the 24 free photos from the resort photographer with our package and we were quite surprised at how good they were. We did see another couple getting their wedding pictures done on the beach when we were (they were with the resort photographer) and they didn't spend nearly as much time or have many different poses. But it could have been the package they chose. I don't think it's a bad idea to go with the resort photographer, but I am very very happy with our decision to hire Karina. We were willing to spend more money on the pictures because at the end of the day that's all you have!

 

Just remember to relax and enjoy your day. Don't sweat the small stuff! Nobody knows exactly what you picked so if something small isn't right just let it go, it will all be beautiful anyway!

Feel free to message me if you have any other questions, I'm happy to try to offer some insight if I can!

Again sorry for the long post, happy planning ladies!!

[lisamarco413]

@Kristina Simms

 

Thanks for the informative post!  Good advice in there!

 

Hey Ladies - Does anyone know a good Dominican Republic candy?  I have these small place cards for everyone's names, and they are a kind of cylinder that can hold small candies, like M&M's.  I'd love to fill it with a local DR candy.  Any good options?

 

Thanks!

[bonafidelatina]

@@Kristina Simms Great review!!!! Did you go visit NowLarimar a few months before the wedding or was the wedding week your first time there???

 

My fiance and I have selected NowLarimar for 2015 wedding and right now working on locking the date in before telling our guests to start putting deposits down...so excited!!

We are also interested in the Fountain Area and then a reception on the beach....

[Kristina Simms]

@@bonafidelatina

 

We chose the NOW just by looking at pictures online. Our wedding week was the first time there. I really liked the wedding packages offered by the NOW/Dreams/Secrets resorts the best.

 

The fountain is so beautiful for the ceremony!! Congrats and good luck planning

[bonafidelatina]

@@Kristina Simms Thanks so much for your feedback!

[deelirious]

Hi everyone:) my name is Adrieanne and I'm getting married at Now Larimar November 18, 2014. I cannot wait and am happy to hear everyone's ideas and share some if my own:)

Hi Adrieanne! I'm getting married on November 19th so I'll be seeing you there. How's the planning coming along and how many guests will be going?

 

My guests are putting deposits down now. I think we're going to have close to 80 guests. I'm getting the Divine wedding package.

[Kaiden1215]

Did anyone receive the promo book 5 rooms get the 6th free? If so can you share how much your credit was? (How many free rooms and for how many nights) Ex: 2 free rooms for 4 nights each. Total of 8 nights free.

Edited February 16, 2014 by Kaiden1215

[PuntaCanaBride14]

@ Kristina Simms

 

Hello! WOW Thank you for your Wedding summary!   it's so amazing to hear that you had your dream wedding <3 and I can't believe the rain started pouring when your reception was all over. our wedding is in 10 short weeks and it was so nice to read your summary and reminder about relaxing and to enjoy the day!

 

I do have a few questions for you! (whenever you get a chance to chat)

 

1) Tell me about the Now Larimar Spa. I have my girls and I booked for hair and make up. Do they all speak Spanish? was it a lovely experience? Did you get exactly what you wanted to hair and make up?

 

2) What was the Bridal Suite like they offer for $150/half a day?

 

3) What evening did you have your rehearsal party? Do you book that time with your coordinator when you get there?

 

4) What time do you recommend getting ready with your Bridesmaids? They emailed me a schedule for hair and make up starting at 11am and by the time 8 of us get hair and make up done, there were still apts @ 2 & 3pm which is WAY TOO LATE! So I let the Spa know I would prefer to start the apts @ 9am. A lot of girls are choosing to do their own make up, so now I have to email and cancel apt times I want the day to be the longest and not have a care in the world with tons of time for laughs & pictures and getting ready with my girls. Let me know the details about getting ready the day of <3

 

Thanks so much! Looking forward to hearing from you!