2015 Grand Palladium Punta Cana Brides

[Mels84]

@@Jc14 I think it was this one...

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&alt=web&id=271609686040They come all smushed in a box but don't worry... They bounce back perfectly... They ship very well

[Kerrierf]

Sorry ladies - long weekend!

 

@@Jc14 We didn't miss the music at all.  We planned on meeting in the Lobby bar for cocktails the first night, but with the plane being delayed we all just ended up at the buffet at the Punta Cana hotel.  Afterwards it was a bit tiring because people kept asking me where everything was and what was next and I was like "you're on vacation! Do what you want!".  Also, it was hard because I didn't know much more about the hotel than they did as it was just our first night.  About halfway through the trip people started organically meeting up at the pool right outside our rooms around 3 pm daily for drinks and to catch up in the shade. It was perfect because it just happened naturally. Then people would split up to try the different restaurants for dinner. Most nights we'd meet again in the Sports bar (and TRY to convince them to get the Habs games... unfortunately they didn't have the channel, but if we'd had a cable to connect the phone to the TV they would have hooked it up for it).  Otherwise the group of "younger" people (aka our friends and cousins) would end up hanging out most nights.

 

For the flowers I didn't even explore it with her because I told her I brought my own and it was all taken care of, I just wanted to replace the package ones with small centerpieces.  Our silk/real-touch flowers were PERFECT. No one knew they were fake. Our friend's husband was running errands for us all day and kept asking if he needed to put the toss bouquet in water.

 

For our flowers we bought:

1 Bride: As Shown in Listing. Light Yellow Wrap. $125

1 MoH Bouquet: 7" Wide Matching Bride. $55.

2 Bridesmaids: 6" Wide Matchin Bride. $45.

3 Boutonnieres: **Green Orchid** with Grass Sprays and Ribbon Wrap. $8 each. 

2 Wrist Corsages: Matching Order. $14 each. 

1 Wedding Flower Girl Pomander

1 FREE Toss Bouquet

 

It came up to $350 with taxes, but without the exchange rate.  The flowers still look gorgeous, and the bridesmaids loved them (and have them decorating their offices or homes now).

 

 

Also, we didn't end up doing an excursion. After the wedding I was just jealous of everyone getting to spend time on the beach so that's what we did.  A number of people did the catamaran cruise and loved it - but it took up a whole day (they left at 8 am and only got back to the resort at 7 pm).

Ah, just found a picture where you have a better look at my flowers.

 

Edited May 18, 2015 by Kerrierf

[Jc14]

@@Kerrierf Thanks so much for all the info!

 

To all brides who had/are having a symbolic ceremony and are using Pastor Rick or Mark:

 

- did you book and pay through Carolina? or through the pastor?

- how much did you pay?

- did you have communication with the pastor prior to your trip, or only on the day of your wedding?

- is there a vendor fee for using a pastor?

 

The reason I ask is because I have heard 2 different prices now, so I want to make sure I'm not overpaying.

Asking this again in case it got missed..

 

I'm filling out the credit card authorization form and the wedding agreement form to send to Carolina once I'm back at work tomorrow.

 

- on the credit card form, is the booking or confirmation number the one from our TA once she books our trip?

- on the wedding agreement form, we haven't decided on the wedding package yet, nor do we have a confirmed number of guests (obviously). Did everyone just put an estimate in there?

 

Thanks!

[Kerrierf]

Sorry @@Jc14, I thought someone had answered already.

 

We did the legal ceremony, but it cost $600 for the officiant. Everything goes through the wedding coordinator at the hotel.  We didn't meet the judge until the ceremony itself, and did a rehearsal/run-through on our own without coordination from the hotel.

 

- Yes, the booking # is from your TA

- You can write approximate amounts. Carolina will send you an excel sheet to fill out that you submit 3 months prior to the wedding to confirm the details, and you go over it all again when you get there, so things can change.

[samilein]

To all brides who had/are having a symbolic ceremony and are using Pastor Rick or Mark:

 

- did you book and pay through Carolina? or through the pastor?

- how much did you pay?

- did you have communication with the pastor prior to your trip, or only on the day of your wedding?

- is there a vendor fee for using a pastor?

 

@@Jc14

I/we booked pastor Mark (through pastor Rick) via email - the fee quoted was $400 Canadian (yes he accepts Canadian ) for the ceremony - he emailed me two ceremonies and said that we can remove or add or combine -

Our deposit was $100 Canadian ... The balance we need to pay to pastor Mark (cash)

 

Carolina sent me an email and said that there is no outside vendor fee for pastor Mark or pastor Rick - but better email her and have that in writing just in case is my recommendation.

Edited May 19, 2015 by samilein

[Jc14]

@Kerrierf @@samilein thanks both for your responses!

 

@@samilein did Carolina tell you to book directly with Pastor Rick? Or did you just go ahead with that on your own? Did you pay Pastor Mark CAD as well or USD? Carolina had sent me the fee of $450US for a Pastor. Then I heard from Pastor Rick this weekend who said the fee is $400US. So now I'm not sure how to go about this? I would like to pay as little as possible, which would be $400CAD. Any advice here??

[samilein]

@@Jc14

 

I booked directly through pastor Rick (he then said that pastor Mark is available for our date)

He quotes in USD and then I emailed him back and said that I had been rendered to him by Kim Machan from Canadian destination brides Facebook page and understand that for Canadian brides he is helping us all due to the exchange, would he be able to do that for us - hope that helps.

I would suggest emailing him back and asking no harm done and every bit counts - I know

He emailed he and said he accepts Canadian so I did it via PayPal and the deposit with. $1 fee came to $101.00 cad.

@@Jc14

 

rickandsuzanneyork@@gmail.com

[Jc14]

@@samilein ok thanks, i've emailed him asking. Thank you!! i would not have known otherwise

[samilein]

@@Jc14

 

you're very welcome.

It's important for us all to help each other out where we can ;-)

I hope he relies back to you and will honour Canadian funds :-)

[Jc14]

Ok ladies.... So our wedding date and Pastor Mark have officially been confirmed by Carolina today! The ball is rolling! Because we are working with such a tight deadline, esp. for our guests to book within the next couple mths, I had no choice but to send out a STD email with all the travel agent and booking info. There just wasn't enough time for me to order STD, wait for them to be delivered, then send them via snail mail. That would have taken away 2 weeks from our guests within their timeline to book so I made an executive decision to send out a nice email instead. It's not as pretty and personal as I would have liked, but I'll get over it. And I still plan on sending out formal invitations in any case.

 

Now I hold my breath and wait to see who and how many people book their trip!!