2015 Grand Palladium Punta Cana Brides

[Kerrierf]

Way to go @@Jc14! We sent out Save the Dates a year in advance without a set hotel or a specific date, just a "Hey we're getting married in May in the DR" so that people could start saving if they needed to.  As soon as we confirmed with our TA our hotel and date (end of July), we ordered our invitations from http://preciousinvitations.com/and had them within 2 weeks (in English and in French).  They were sent out by mid-late August, and we had people RSVP by booking their tickets by the end of September.

[Jc14]

@@Kerrierf Nice! Yea I wish I could have done that but we just got engaged 2 weeks ago, so it just couldn't really work out timing wise with getting all the quotes from the TAs. I'm happy I got it out one way or another though! I think Booking my venue, wedding date, officiant, confirmed guestlist, engagement photos done, and getting my STD emails out all in less than 2 weeks is a pretty big achievement lol. So I'm ready for whatever comes next now! 

[shevette925]

@@Jc14 Congratulations on getting so much done in such a short period of time! We are using Pastor Mark too. He sent us a copy of his tradional ceremony vs a more contemporary version. We were told we could pick either version and personalize it as much as we like. I can send that too you in case Carolina didnt pass that info on.

[Jc14]

@@shevette925 Thank you!! Ohh yes, could you send it to me please? Pastor Rick said he's going to send it to me soon but I'm impatient. Will you post on here or do you want my email?

[Jc14]

Hi All!

 

Questions:

 

- does the private dinner become mandatory depending on how many guests you have? i.e., if i choose semi-private, but i have enough guests to fill a restaurant, does it become private by default?

- which restaurant is the best for the dinner reception? Bohio?

- i've heard of HDC and Caribbean Emotions. any other photographer recommendations?

- is DJ Mannia the resort dj? 

- what are the best meal choices? i read it a while back in the 300 page GPPC thread, but I can't remember. is it onion soup or caesar salad, beef medallions, and brownie?

- can someone please confirm again the reception decorations that are there for free? candles? flowers? chair covers?

- i read a while back that Carolina does an itinerary for when your guests arrive, and also menu cards for your reception tables. is this still true? does she do table numbers as well?

- for the symbolic ceremony, do u still have witnesses like u would at the legal ceremony? do they give you all someething to sign so it looks/feels like the legal ceremony?

 

Thanks!!

[Kerrierf]

@@Jc14 - WOWZA!  You managed in 2 weeks what took me MONTHS - you're amazing!

 

- Good question... I think if your group is large enough they'd make you pick a restaurant that was larger rather than automatically make it private... but I'm not sure.

 

- I think the restaurants depend on your size of group.  In my opinion, the Tapas (tapeo) and the Japanese restaurants had the best food.

 

- It depends on what look/vision you have for your photos.  I didn't particularly like the resort's photographer because I found the photos not particularly creative.  HDC does a lot with lighting and colours, and while I loved their shots I thought I'd want something a little more traditional.  After looking at a few others (http://www.photosouvenirpuntacana.com/), we considered the prices and realized it cost the same to pay for the trip for a photographer from home.  My cousin and her husband are professional photographers, so we paid for their trip and it added a little extra sentiment.

 

- I read the beef medallions and the brownie were good too.  Our chocolate cake at our wedding was AMAZING (and like I said I'm not a cake person).

 

- Reception decorations are more elaborate for the head table. Besides that it's just what the restaurants are set with, otherwise it's extra (to my understanding).

 

 - They did an itinerary for us and delivered it to guests, but I asked if they could because our ceremony time changed.  I don't know if this is standard, but they didn't charge us for it.  There were little cards at all the dishes that listed what it was (we had a buffet), and there weren't table numbers.  I also didn't have an assigned seating chart, but if you have one they'll set it up for you.

 

- We did a legal ceremony, so can't help there- sorry!

@Jc1 Oops, I wanted to attach this for you. It's the price list for Photo Souvenir, https://2011photopackages.wordpress.com/ 

(Note, it cost us about $2900 for ours, but we didn't pay an outside vendor fee and they shot for almost 12 hours, AND did an extra "Just Married" shoot.)

Edited May 21, 2015 by Kerrierf

[Meandhim]

Wow! looks like I've missed a lot!

 

@@Jc14

Looks like you got all of your questions answered but I'll throw in my 2 cents!

 

I'm doing a symbolic wedding but it was my understanding that Carolina will officiate it for free...I am torn between that and having a family member / friend do it. Neither my FI or I are religious so having a pastor is not important to us...plus its saving us money.

 

I think @@Kerrierf is right....The dinner will not become private by default but you have to have a fixed menu if you are over 14?? people....and I THINK the fixed menu is the same as the private dinner menu so it wont matter what restaurant. Also if the Dinner is not private I don't think you can have a DJ.....unless you are having a beach bash after dinner.

 

I'm making up a fake licence to sign just because I want it  to be more like a real wedding. Not sure what exactly I'm doing with that but I saw a few ideas on Pinterest and Etsy.

 

The head table Decor is free everything else costs money...I can send you the list she sent me if you PM your email.

 

The DJ is DJMannia as far as I know.

 

For the Photographer I am Bring my own...just as cheep and I like her pictures better

 

What package did you end up going with?

 

Confirm my answers with Carolina though....she is your best resource for accurate information... and at least then you have it in writing from her....some people end up get stuff for free some people pay...me and @@samilein sent her the same picture for a quote on a centrepiece but got two very different prices. So the information isn't always consistent and what Carolina says goes.

 

 

@@shevette925 if you could send me the ceremony options I would love to see them to use as a base as I maybe making up my own ceremony script.

 

@@Mels84 Glad to see you are back!

Edited May 21, 2015 by Meandhim

[shevette925]

@@Jc14, I just sent you a PM. @@Meandhim I can also send you a PM. Don't want to ruffle any feathers by posting directly in the message board

[Meandhim]

@@shevette925 that would be great

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jc14]

@@Kerrierf thanks!! re: the restaurant, i was asking about the next one for the reception dinner in terms of atmosphere, etc. the chocolate cake sounds really good! i wonder if they can do half and half..

 

@@Meandhim we are doing symbolic too. Carolina def does it for free, but i just like the "officalness" that the pastor adds.. we are not religious either, but as you can see he can alter the ceremony to your liking For the DJ, i'm assuming he started at 8ish, so if we want music at dinner that would be extra $. i'm thinking of just bringing and playing our own music for dinner. for the pkg i'm thinking either waves of love or ocean pearl, dependent on if i can make changes to the flowers. it doesn't look like there are renewal pkgs anymore, so lucky you booked it when u did!

 

does anyone know what the decor is on the head table?

 

@@shevette925 thanks for sending! which one are you going with? r u doing a sand ceremony? are u making changes to the wording?