Now Larimar - 2015

[Montana]

I just spent over 2 hours reading this entire topic.. 8 pages or so. This has been so helpful to thing about things I need to do to cut down costs... I hope those marrying in February -July, remember to come back and let us know how it went at Larimar.

 

I wish everyone the best.... preparing, planning and on your actual day.

 

I am on 8.22.2015- I chose August because the prices a little cheaper outside of wedding season and end of summer. I've been going to the DR in August for about 4 years and luckily have had no major weather issues.

 

For those with more than the 20 guests per the packages, how much more has it been per person for each stage... that is where I feel the add ons become crazy.. ie more chairs at ceremony= more $, more people for the cocktail hour, semi private dinner, and the reception..

[kosrae89]

Hello Now Larimar Brides!

 

We are back from our absolutely wonderful wedding on Dec 19th and have so much to share with you! I probably have way too much information to include in this blog, so if there is something I do not address that you have questions about, please feel free to ask and I will give you any information I can.

 

First of all, let me start by saying that our wedding turned out to be even more perfect than we could have hoped for and we are so glad that we chose to get married at Now Larimar! We could not have asked for a more beautiful day or a more beautiful wedding. The resort is gorgeous and the wedding coordinators are amazing and will make sure that everything turns out perfectly! Whatever concerns I may have had about planning a wedding from a distance at a place I had never been were wiped away once I got to the resort and met with Yeomandry, our wedding coordinator. I would do it all over again if given the chance!

 

To start off with I will give you a little background information about what we had:

• We had 21 guests at our wedding (not including us)
• We had the Divine Wedding Package
• Our ceremony was at the fountain at 4PM
  • The fountain was such a beautiful area and we were definitely glad we picked it. We decided not to spend the $1500 to do the plank across the fountain and we were glad we did not. Walking down the side of the aisle was just as good and you still got to have the pretty fountain going at the same time. We had two standard flower arrangements for the gazebo with white flowers ($100 each). The area is so beautiful, you really don't need too many decorations. Our bouquets, corsages, and boutonnieres were also beautiful and just like we wanted. 
• Our cocktail hour was at the fountain at 5PM
  • Cocktail hour was in the grassy garden area right beside the fountain. The appetizers were pretty good, especially the spring rolls and meatballs. The music and the cocktails were also great. We were able to spend 10-15 minutes enjoying the cocktail hour, before we had to go finish our photo session.
• Our reception was at the carnival terrace at 6PM
  • The carnival terrace was a great space and it overlooked the garden and the fountain. During our tour of the sites with the wedding coordinator after our arrival. We made one addition to our wedding planner spreadsheet during this tour. The carnival terrace is on the balcony of the carnival buffet restaurant, which is open for dinner in the evenings, so people could look out the window of the restaurant and see us or we might be able to see them in the background of our pictures, since the sweetheart table was going to be right in front of a set of glass doors. So, we asked about curtains to cover the windows and were a little shocked by the price. The curtains, which came with lights would cost $450, however, it seemed like they would help make the event more private, so we decided to add them. Despite the cost, we were glad we added these in the end. They did what we had hoped and kept the area private and they were also added some nice lighting to the setting and looked great in pictures. So, I would recommend adding these if you plan on having your reception at the carnival terrace, if you can budget it in. At our reception we had the crab cakes, chicken consomme, pear with Chablis sorbets, steak and lobster, and the chocolate Kahlua cake along with our vanilla and lemon wedding cake. All of the food and the wedding cake were very good. It was one of our best meals at the resort! Also the flower centerpieces and cake were beautiful. We gave Yeomandry photos of what we wanted and they delivered. We only had 3 guest tables and a sweetheart table. So we had 3 centerpieces and we used 2 of the bridesmaids' bouquets to decorate our sweetheart table and the other bridesmaids' bouquet and my bouquet to decorate the guestbook table. We also had a bag of rose petals  that they used to decorate all of the tables, which made it look beautiful.
• We booked the resort photographer (WBA Photography) and got the Gold Secrets Photo Package
  • Claudia with WBA Photography was amazing! She was so great to work with and we were so happy with how the photos turned out. We booked the Gold Secrets Photo Package, which included coverage of the bride getting ready, the ceremony, a photo session after the ceremony, and the 1st hour of the reception. In order to get all of our events photographed during our reception, after our introduction we went straight into the first dance, followed by the father-daughter and mother-son dances. Then we cut the cake and threw the bouquet before starting dinner. You can see all of our wedding photos online at https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=D3FD341EAA0EFC54&id=D3FD341EAA0EFC54%21106 (the photos are still finishing uploading to the site right as I am posting this, so if you look at them right after I post this, they may not all come up yet, just fyi).
• We booked the resort DJ for the reception
  • The resort DJ was awesome! We gave him our song selections for our special dances and cake cutting and such and we also gave him a list of some song suggestions and music genres that we liked. They did an amazing job. Each of our selected songs was played at the right time and they even played almost all of our suggested songs, with a ton more songs thrown in that fit perfectly with what we wanted. The played a good mix of slow and fast songs and they seemed to read the crowd pretty well and responded to what songs everyone was dancing to. They even brought out a bunch of long balloons, which were unexpected, but were actually fun and got people moving and dancing. I would definitely recommend the resort DJ and their services.
• We had the saxophonist included in the Divine Package play at our ceremony
  • As the bride, I did not get to hear much of him playing, because we were still getting ready in the bridal suite when he started playing. I did hear from some of the guests that he was quite good though. I got to hear him during my walk down the aisle and during our recessional and was quite happy with our choice.
• We booked the Caribbean music trio for the cocktail hour
  • I thought the Caribbean trio were great and tied in some of the Spanish flair to the wedding. I know someone had asked about whether or not music was necessary at the cocktail hour or if it would be a good place to save some money. My opinion is that it is not necessary if you need to make some cuts to help your budget. I think the atmosphere and the food, drinks and conversation would be enough. If you do have room in your budget I recommend the Caribbean trio, because they added a nice backdrop to the cocktail hour.
• We reserved the bridal suite for the wedding day
  • I thought it was nice to have the bridal suite reserved for the wedding day. It made getting ready and getting our hair and makeup done much easier, because the bridal suite is right off of the salon where they did our hair and makeup. They had champagne and fruit plates in the bridal suite for us and it also made a nice place for pictures. It was also conveniently located near the fountain where the ceremony was, so we did not have to walk very far once we were ready.
• Five of the women in the bridal party and myself got our hair and makeup done at the resort salon
  • I thought the ladies at the salon did a phenomenal job with all of our hair and makeup. We were all quite pleased with the results and I would definitely recommend them. I booked a trial hair/makeup appointment with them a few days before the wedding, to help get an idea about what I wanted and I was definitely glad I did. Although I had a general idea of how I wanted to look on the big day, we were able to play with the hair and makeup a little and get it just right. It also helped speed things up on the actual wedding day because Johanny (the wonderful lady who did my hair and makeup) already knew exactly what I wanted and it took about 45 minutes to do my hair, instead of the 1.5 hours it took during the trial and it even looked better than the first time! So for those reason I would definitely recommend a trial hair and makeup if you have the time and the budget. And the nice thing is that you can get the trial hair and makeup for 50% off (because I was also getting my hair and makeup done as part of the Divine package).
• We brought the following items with us: Ceremony- Fans, programs, and chair sashes; Reception- Escort cards, photobook guest book, framed menu, chair sashes, candles, table numbers and table holders we made out of drift wood from HobbyLobby; we also brought welcome bags for the guests which we hand delivered to them on the day of their arrival and I brought silk robes that I found for the girls and me to get ready in
  • Of the items we brought, the only ones that had a setup fee ($0.75/each) were the candles and the chair sashes. Although they ended up not charging us for the candles (not sure if it was an accidental or intentional oversight) and they even used some our extra chair sashes and tied them around the cocktail hour tables free of charge, which was a nice surprise when we got to the cocktail hour and saw them.
• The week we were there was a lighter week for weddings. I think there were only around 7 others during the time that we were down there, although we only saw a couple in person. It really does not feel like you are just one among many weddings, they are really good about making each wedding feel special! 

 

I feel like I have said a lot and that there is still a lot to say. So, I am just going to stop here and I am happy to answer any questions you ladies have!

Edited December 29, 2014 by kosrae89

[Danamarielouise]

@@kosrae89 thank you for the amazing post, your wedding sounded perfect!!!  I could have "listened" to you write double that amount of info haha...  For some reason I can't see your wedding pictures link, is there another link anywhere?

[kosrae89]

@@kosrae89 thank you for the amazing post, your wedding sounded perfect!!!  I could have "listened" to you write double that amount of info haha...  For some reason I can't see your wedding pictures link, is there another link anywhere?

 

I believe if you go to this link https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=D3FD341EAA0EFC54&id=D3FD341EAA0EFC54%21106it should work, but if it asks for login information my email address is [email protected] and the password is puntacana2014. Let me know if you are still unable to view the pictures and I can come up with something else!

 

If you want the "long version" of my post that I wrote in a word document I can send it to you, it was just a lot of pages and I thought it might overload the blog.

[abrinton8811]

I believe if you go to this link https://onedrive.live.com/?cid=D3FD341EAA0EFC54&id=D3FD341EAA0EFC54!106it should work, but if it asks for login information my email address is [email protected] and the password is puntacana2014. Let me know if you are still unable to view the pictures and I can come up with something else!

 

If you want the "long version" of my post that I wrote in a word document I can send it to you, it was just a lot of pages and I thought it might overload the blog.

 

Kosrae89 your pictures are amazing! You look absolutely stunning! I would love to read your long version of the post. I want any information I can get! My email address is abrinton8811@@gmail.com

[Danamarielouise]

@@kosrae89 Your pictures are gorgeous!  They just made me SO excited!  I was iffy on the bridal suite, but seeing those/knowing it's close may sway me to book...  

I would LOVE the long version too, basically as much detail as you'd have!  I'm sure I'll have qs after I digest it all if you don't mind  [email protected]  

 

@@kosrae89 and, not sure if you'll mention it or not...  but how close was the fountain to the beach walking-wise?  I've thought about doing first look pictures before the ceremony now which would get the bulk of our pictures done/allow for more group shots @ the cocktail hour...  but in my head I would have loved those to be at the beach?  But, also would love/need sunset pictures at the beach too...  

[kosrae89]

@@kosrae89 Your pictures are gorgeous!  They just made me SO excited!  I was iffy on the bridal suite, but seeing those/knowing it's close may sway me to book...  

 

I would LOVE the long version too, basically as much detail as you'd have!  I'm sure I'll have qs after I digest it all if you don't mind  [email protected]  

 

 

@@kosrae89 and, not sure if you'll mention it or not...  but how close was the fountain to the beach walking-wise?  I've thought about doing first look pictures before the ceremony now which would get the bulk of our pictures done/allow for more group shots @ the cocktail hour...  but in my head I would have loved those to be at the beach?  But, also would love/need sunset pictures at the beach too...  

 

 

Kosrae89 your pictures are amazing! You look absolutely stunning! I would love to read your long version of the post. I want any information I can get! My email address is abrinton8811@@gmail.com

 

I will definitely send you guys the long version once I have access to my computer, tomorrow, hopefully! 

 

The fountain really isn't very far from the beach, maybe like 5 minutes walking, maybe not even that long (depending on if you are wearing heels or not  ). And yes, the bridal suite was very conveniently located by the fountain, it probably took 30 seconds to walk to the spot where we started our processional. If we had gotten ready in our room, it would have been at least a 5 minute walk and in the heat, I probably would have been sweating before I made it to the aisle.   Although the only inconvenient part about the bridal suite is that you have to have all of your stuff out of their by 5pm, because the salon closes, so we had to get all of our stuff packed up before the ceremony and had to send someone back to be there when the bell boy came to take the bags to our room (they won't let them take your stuff to the room without someone being present for security reasons). So, after the ceremony, one of our family friends went and waited for the guy to get there and bring the stuff back to our room. Not a big deal, but something we hadn't considered until right before the ceremony.

[Drnelly910]

@@kosrae89. Thank you soooo much for all the information and wonderful pictures. Your post really helped to clear up a lot of anxiety that I had with my upcoming wedding. I can not believe that it is just about 6 weeks away. Thanks for the pictures, now I have a better understanding of a few things (like the table that comes with the ceremony, the door on the carnival terrace, etc...)

 

My wedding is on the beach, so I will have the other set up but it was good to see. I hope I get enough daylight to do pictures like you did, my wedding starts at 5. Quick question, did you have the pastor or did you get the wedding site to give you the officiant that is free with the divine package? Trying to save money, we are doing our own vows, but will be having a sand ceremony and that is the only reason that I wanted the pastor really.

 

For the cocktail hour, what were the cold hors d'oeuvres did you have? Did you make any name cards for the food? were they passed? or were they just on a table?

 

For the carnival terrace, did you also cover the windows on the side? My mom and I are DIYers, and the whole wedding is litle projects, so we were thinking about making our own curtains, cuz we were not sure if we wanted the lights, did they give you a price with the lights and then without? Was there enough space to dance? I only have 30 guests, so very small.

 

I wouldnt mind having the longer version of your post as well, jsdtaylor910@@gmail.com

 

THANKS AGAIN, I am getting more and more excited with every new post.

[RebeLight]

@@kosrae89 Thanks so much for sharing all this info...it's soooo helpful! You looked beautiful! Quick question for you...was the fountain loud? I saw a YouTube video and it seemed like it was kind of loud.

 

Also, I saw that you brought your own sashes so you may not know the answer to this but I thought I would ask...how do they match your colors? I just picked out my bridesmaid dresses and I want to rent the chair sashes from the resort but I want them to match the bridesmaid dress color.

 

Thanks again for all your help and congratulations!!!

[kosrae89]

@@kosrae89 Thanks so much for sharing all this info...it's soooo helpful! You looked beautiful! Quick question for you...was the fountain loud? I saw a YouTube video and it seemed like it was kind of loud.

 

Also, I saw that you brought your own sashes so you may not know the answer to this but I thought I would ask...how do they match your colors? I just picked out my bridesmaid dresses and I want to rent the chair sashes from the resort but I want them to match the bridesmaid dress color.

 

Thanks again for all your help and congratulations!!!

Thanks!!

 

The fountain was a little loud during the ceremony. I had asked the wedding coordinator about it when we were doing our walk through and asked if there was any way we could turn the fountains down so they wouldn't be so loud. But she said we would have a microphone, so it wouldn't be necessary. However, during the actual ceremony, the minister was the only one with the microphone and it only picked our voices up a little bit. The guests didn't really have trouble hearing, but it was almost impossible to hear our voices on the wedding video, which was kind of sad. Although we used traditional vows, so we could at least hear the minister saying the words and then see us saying them, but not really hearing them too well. So, that was the only sad part about it, but all in all, it is still a great video memory of the ceremony and you can still see the emotion and the love, which is great! But I would recommend making sure that you guys either hold the microphone and pass it off to each other or at least make sure the minister holds it close enough to you to be heard.

 

I did bring my own sashes, however, when I was describing the ribbon color I wanted the stems of the flowers wrapped in, I just sent them a picture of my bridesmaids' dresses, so they could match it, and they did a pretty good job! So, I would recommend doing something like that.

@@kosrae89. Thank you soooo much for all the information and wonderful pictures. Your post really helped to clear up a lot of anxiety that I had with my upcoming wedding. I can not believe that it is just about 6 weeks away. Thanks for the pictures, now I have a better understanding of a few things (like the table that comes with the ceremony, the door on the carnival terrace, etc...)

 

My wedding is on the beach, so I will have the other set up but it was good to see. I hope I get enough daylight to do pictures like you did, my wedding starts at 5. Quick question, did you have the pastor or did you get the wedding site to give you the officiant that is free with the divine package? Trying to save money, we are doing our own vows, but will be having a sand ceremony and that is the only reason that I wanted the pastor really.

 

For the cocktail hour, what were the cold hors d'oeuvres did you have? Did you make any name cards for the food? were they passed? or were they just on a table?

 

For the carnival terrace, did you also cover the windows on the side? My mom and I are DIYers, and the whole wedding is litle projects, so we were thinking about making our own curtains, cuz we were not sure if we wanted the lights, did they give you a price with the lights and then without? Was there enough space to dance? I only have 30 guests, so very small.

 

I wouldnt mind having the longer version of your post as well, jsdtaylor910@@gmail.com

 

THANKS AGAIN, I am getting more and more excited with every new post.

 

I am glad my post has been helpful!! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! I know time flies and it's hard to believe that you are only 6 weeks away. Just wait, I swear the clocks speed up even more the closer you get to it.

 

I will definitely email you the longer version of my post, but I figured I would respond to your questions here, so that everyone else could see it too. I will also send you our excel spreadsheet, so you can see what our costs were for everything, in case that is helpful.

 

As far as light goes for pictures. For us, the sun was pretty much set by 6 when our reception started. By the time of your wedding the days will be a little longer and you will have a little more sunlight, but you might not have much more than an hour for photos after the wedding. It is definitely doable though, depending on the number of different shots you want with guests and with your husband. Or you may want to see if they can do some of the photos before the ceremony.

 

We added the minister service for $250. We had our own script that we wanted read and according to the excel spreadsheet you have to add this service if you want more than the standard script, although I never actually verified that with the wedding coordinator to see how lenient they were, so it might not hurt to ask and tell them what you want and see if it is possible to do what you want for the included price. It never hurts to ask!

 

For the cocktail hour, we had the smoked salmon canape, the manchego cheese canape, the salami canape, and the ham and pineapple canape. They were all pretty decent. The had a table set up that had both the hot and cold hors d'oeuvres on them. The hot ones were in metal warmers and the others were on plates. We did not bring name labels for them, although I believe the catering people did have labels by the different items.

 

For the carnival terrace, when we asked about our options for the curtains she told us that they came with lights, which lead me to believe that it wasn't possible to do them without, although I do not know that for sure. It might not be a bad idea to bring some curtains. They will most likely charge you the 25% setup fee for it, but even still that would only be like $112 instead of $450. We probably would have brought some if we had know ahead of time that we would need them and how much they would be. The curtains covered the main windows/doors into the restaurant. I do not believe the side windows were covered, however, it really wasn't noticeable like the main window would have been. We had 20 guests and 2 kids at the reception and there was plenty of room for dancing. With 30 it might be a little tight if absolutely everyone was on the dance floor at the same time, but I think it's big enough for 30.

 

If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask! And get excited...your weddings will be wonderful!!

 

If you are booking your salon appointments at the resort salon all you need to do is fill out the form 2-3 months out and tell them how many people you will have and what services they will be receiving and they will give you the times based on your ceremony time. My ceremony is Dec 19 at 4pm and I have 6 ladies doing hair and make up and they have 3 doing hair at 11am and 3 at 12pm and then 3 for makeup at 1pm and 3 at 2pm.

 

I will be leaving for the DR this Sunday morning and will be there from the 14th-23rd. So if you guys have any specific questions or want pictures of areas of the resort or anything please let me know soon and I will be happy to post them along with details of my wedding when I get back! This blog has been so helpful to me and I would love to have the opportunity to help others the same way! So excited to be only a week away from the big day!

 

 

 

If you are booking your salon appointments at the resort salon all you need to do is fill out the form 2-3 months out and tell them how many people you will have and what services they will be receiving and they will give you the times based on your ceremony time. My ceremony is Dec 19 at 4pm and I have 6 ladies doing hair and make up and they have 3 doing hair at 11am and 3 at 12pm and then 3 for makeup at 1pm and 3 at 2pm.

 

I will be leaving for the DR this Sunday morning and will be there from the 14th-23rd. So if you guys have any specific questions or want pictures of areas of the resort or anything please let me know soon and I will be happy to post them along with details of my wedding when I get back! This blog has been so helpful to me and I would love to have the opportunity to help others the same way! So excited to be only a week away from the big day!

 

 

 

kosrae89,

 

That is awesome! I bet you're so excited. Any recommendations you can give when you get back would be much appreciated! Let me know who you photographer is and how you think they did. Also, if you happen to stop by the eclipse terrace can you take a few pictures from all the angles so I know what I"m working with. We are having our ceremony there!!

 

Thanks in advance and I wish you the best!! Enjoy!!

 

Jamie

 

Jamie,

 

I am so sorry that I was not able to get pictures of the Eclipse terrace for you while I was down there. The Eclipse Nightclub is only open late in the evenings, so I wasn't able to get any pictures of the space in the daylight. Although I know when I was preparing for my wedding I emailed my wedding coordinator and asked for more pictures of the carnival terrace, so that I could get an idea and she sent me a ton of pictures of the space from other weddings, which really helped me get an idea of the space and of how things would be set up. I hope this is helpful and that you are able to get some good pictures from them to help you!

 

I apologize again for not being able to get you any good pictures of the area!