EVKnowsitall

My godfather hired an amateur photographer to shoot our AHR. He agreed to make our albums and combine our DR wedding pics with his taken at our hometown AHR. In short- he was a nightmare beyond nightmares. We still do not have our albums even though we got married in July. This is good to know. I'll make the damn thing myself.

Oh wow! This resort is gorgeous just saw some pictures. Even the one in DR is pretty amazing. Looks similar in style and class to The Paradisus Palma Real which is the resort we selected for our wedding. I didn't even know about The Royalton but it looks great!

These are gorgeous! AHHHH your wedding is so soon! I will actually be in DR for my moms 50th in Puerto Plata on the 11th haha. Good luck with your peacock wedding. All my favorite colors. Can't wait to see pics.

Hey Ladies, So I am a big Beachbody Workout fan (the company that produces T25, P90x, Insanity etc). I did Insanity to lose weight prior to my engagement and after doing the program twice through (120 days, full program is 60 days)- I lost 50 pounds. Then I decided to do Asylum and lost an additional 10 (Asylum is only 30 days because it is freaking hard as hell). I recently bought T25 and am on day three of Alpha. A week before that, I started weight training. My husband is studying to become a personal trainer/ dietician and I decided to be his guinea pig haha. We wake up at 4 am and workout at 5- an hour or hour and a half of weight training and then after work I get home and do T25 as my cardio. I love my sleep. I fought him tooth and nail about getting up to workout in the morning. I have been doing it for 10 days now and I have to say- it feels incredible. The best time to workout is in the morning because it gets the endorphins pumping and you feel energized. It also helps because during the course of the day all sorts of things arise that deflect you from working out when you get home, so if you bang it out early, you can go ahead and plan your weddings, hang with friends, work late etc after work. Any workout is better than none so if you cant accommodate a morning workout- whenever you can will do. I just recommend it because I did the evening thing and now tried the morning and in my opinion, the morning is better. After our wedding, I gained 10 pounds. That's what inspired me to return to my healthy lifestyle. Yes- Happy weight happens lol. Anyway- I do take Shakeology, I have been for three years. I am on the automatic home delivery. It is VERY different from a standard Protein shake. A protein shake is not considered a meal replacement. It is in addition to whatever you would eat and meant to restore/provide necessary vitamins and energy to sustain you through a workout or help you recover from one. Shakeology is a meal replacement. It supplies over 75 necessary nutrients to your body, helps regulate you, and is quite filling. It is however, expensive. The rationale behind that is if you were to buy the ingredients separately, it would cost a whole lot more. The way I rationalize cost is to consider that I used to buy a coffee, a bagel, and a fruit or yogurt everyday for breakfast. I was spending about $5 a day. Divided amongst the days of the week- Shakeology is less- although during the wedding planning when we were pinching pennies, I considered getting rid of it to save money but alas, I could not part with it. Cost aside, it is a convenient way to knock out a meal. Supposedly you lose up to 10 pounds by replacing breakfast with Shakeology but I really wouldn't know because I used it while working out. My recommendation to all of you is to download and use the app myfitnesspal. It is a food tracker. You keep a food diary and set your weight loss goal, the amount of exercise you plan to do and it tells you how many calories you should eat for the day. Then you can barcode scan anything you consume or manually enter it and it keeps track. You would be surprised how much people overeat. I used to use a ton of salad dressing until I tracked and saw the serving was 2 tablespoons- used 1 and realized it was more than enough. Its all about the calories in, calories out. It's also cool to have friends follow you and see what they eat to get new ideas or to hold each other accountable. I take pics of all the healthy recipes my hubby and I cook at home. It has become an obsession of sorts- to revamp my favorite comfort foods and give them a healthy makeover. Originally I was eating around 1300 calories a day but increased to 1600 because of my workouts. If you want to request me on Instagram my used name is EVknowsitall. I have ideas for healthy meals on there and workout details. Many of my friends have asked me to write a blog for my recipes but its too time consuming lol. But I will chat with you via Instagram if you have any meal questions. I love talking about food. I'm a major foodie. HAHA. You can also request me if you use myfitnesspal. My user name is evelynvazquez52643. Good luck on your weight loss journies! The program definitely works if you stick to it. All of the beachbody programs work. Between my husband, friends and me- we have tried several and all have yielded the desired results. Stick through it, modify your diets, and you will be sure to get the results you want. My biggest sacrifice is abstaining from alcohol. I enjoy wine when I am stressed, and when I am not LOL. I am dying for a glass and our bdays, christmas, and new years are all on their way. I use my wine for my cheat days lol. Also- if I have a chance, I will take pics of the T25 recipe book and load them here. I have the food guide.

Quote: Originally Posted by meganjune Hey all, We got married just over a month ago at Now and it was absolutely amazing. Please feel free to ask if you have any questions, I've put the link to our photographers blog with her first round of our pictures. Congratulations and best of luck to all of you! http://www.kellyginnphotography.com/megancody-a-punta-cana-dominican-republic-wedding/ Megan- So much to love about your wedding. You guys are a handsome couple. I love: 1) Your pop of something blue hydrangea bouquet and your bridesmaids calla lillies- my two favorite flowers. 2) You playing volleyball in your dress- adorable 3.) your flower girl dress soooo cute. 4.) Your groomsmen gifts- awesome little box there 5.) Your simple but casual laid back elegance style That is all haha congrats your wedding looked like such a great time.

Quote: Originally Posted by Krisod Hey Girls, i've been trying to jump on the forum but i guess my last post never got put up. i am new to the planning process. i just put my deposit down for our wedding in august 2014 paradisus palma real. i have a few questions and im sure i will have a ton more as the planning process begins. does anyone know where they move your wedding to if it rains? we are having the beach ceremony and was planning the terrace for our reception. i dont know if this is going to be really cheesy and cheap looking. we hare having lots of guest come from all over and i just can't see having a wedding and then it rains right in the middle of things. What would you do if you were having dinner and it started to pour? has anyone had their reception at Gabi Beach Club? im thinking to pay this extra upgrade fee. also, does anyone know if there is an additional charge for the wedding coordinator that is on site? thank you, cant wait to hear more feed back There is no charge for the on-site coordinator. It is included in your package. However, they are limited in what they can do. For example- setting extra decor up comes with an additional charge. They will coordinate everything and direct people and vendors and stay with you the entire wedding to ensure everything goes according to plan. I would email Miami and tell them in writing that you want a contingency plan in case of rain. Because of the extra room charges- I told them I wanted the Apollo Terrace- which is right outside the Apollo ballroom- in case of rain. Tell them in advance so in case there is another wedding the same day as yours, you have first dibbs. I wanted Olympus Terrace- it seems to be the ideal location for brides wanting an outdoor reception. You don't need to pay for a dance floor and it photographs nicely. I was initially disappointed the terrace was booked on our wedding day by another wedding party but to be honest, I could not have been more pleased with the set up on the beach. Since we married in the Catholic church, my guests were more than happy to kick off their shoes for a barefoot reception. We had more space on the beach too. I walked through the terrace after our wedding and found the space to be restrictive. Depending on your party size, while it can very well hold a big amount, the layout due to shape might not necessarily be the right fit. Most brides don't go for the beach but I am soooooo happy we did. It is really breezy at night, and you feel like you're in your own world. You can be rowdy and crazy and not worry about gawkers (though the couple who crashed our wedding, I didn't mind- they were getting married the next day and just wanted to see our setup haha) Gabi Terrace is gorgeous. I considered it but could not rationalize the fee. It is the most exclusive and private section for a wedding, other than the ballrooms, looks elegant, and is right next to a private section of beach. Honestly- I think you can spend the privatization fee on better things- if you're willing to spend that kind of money, why not entertain guests with la hora loca or the fire dancers. Let people enjoy the experience rather than the location. There are so many less expensive options, I feel like Gabi is a waste. We did not have Gabi money- but if I had spare change, it would not be spent on that location, I'd spend it on enhancements to the wedding. As far as using a ballroom...my whole thinking is if I wanted a ballroom reception, why go to DR. I could have gotten married in a ballroom in NY. The point of a DW is to bask in all the glory and beauty of nature. Even when it rains- it doesn't for long. My biggest fear was actually having to be stuck inside rather than having a gorgeous outdoor wedding. Whatever you decide, you can't go wrong. I visited three other hotels and non compared to Paradisus. It looks more gorgeous in person than it does in pictures. It truly is the best resort to get married in. Sure there are sucky things like outside vendor fees, but I'd do it at Paradisus again in a heartbeat because the pros outweigh the cons. Happy planning WOOO HOOOO DW's are the best!

Quote: Originally Posted by IslandGirl808 Yup, still hanging around Your wedding is less than 5 months away, my wedding is 6 months away... time is counting down!! Hope all is going well. Things are going smoothly for me so far.. only thing is that this vendor fee we're going to end up paying for outside photographers/videographers is so annoying. Sucks that these resorts try to force you to use their vendors by implementing astronomical vendor fees - especially for photos/videos, which are so important. Anywhow, right now we are deciding on the fire show and looking into other entertainment options. All else is so far so good! (knock on wood) I agree. But I paid the vendor fee for my photographer...well technically I just booked him as a guest for three days because its cheaper and if they are a guest for a minimum of 3 days, you do not have to pay the fee. It was $606 to book him a room and $1,000 for the fee so I saved nearly $400. For certain vendors- the fee is worth it. Although I like my video- done by Arrecife, I wish I had paid the outside fee for videography as well. My photographer, since he was an off-site vendor, did not work in synch with the videographer. In the video, the photographer stepped into some shots. A videographer and photographer who work well with one another can avoid this. My photographer had a videographer he worked well with, but I couldn't pay the fee for two vendors. All in all, I am happy with our choice, as our video is beautiful- but I wish they had worked better together. My recommendations for video would be to be clear about what you want. Only after our wedding did I find out Arrecife does "music videos". I would have loved this option, but I didn't know it existed. I would have paid extra to have it as a second video. Also- because my photographer was not the "on-site" one- he booked our first look really early in the day and the videographer was not "contracted" for that time, so he wasn't there. I wish he had been. He also didn't get video of me getting ready because he came 30 minutes before my ceremony and I got married off-site at the church and needed that 30 minutes to get there on time. Have a clear sense of what you want. I recommend watching trailers from other weddings and explaining to your photographer/videographer what you want. Make a list of your must have pictures. I wish I had more pics of my veil blowing in the wind. I only have two and my veil was tangled. Making a list of your "money shots" will help guide your photographer. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by flo628 Here's mine HOLY ICESKATING RINK!!!!!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by DannysAp Congratulations!!!! We did go with the symbolic but tried to make it as unique as possible. (We had a civil ceremony several weeks before, but told absolutely no one. When family and friends asked when or if we were already married, we told them that we weren't telling so that the focus would stay on our PPR wedding.) We used our own script for the symbolic ceremony including the minister's part. (After all, since it's symbolic- you can say whatever you want.) And if you have a family member or friend that you would like to perform the ceremony, it's always an option. Our programs were fans with the ceremony on one side and trivia about the bride and groom on the other. (Etsy.com is great for ideas, but the many of the products you can make yourself for less.) We had a love poem read to the guests by one of my gfs before the ceremony started (even before the groom entered). During the ceremony, our parents read 1st Corinthians 13:4-13 together. We read our own vows and had a sand ceremony. Because I have a son, we chose words that incorporated him into the ceremony as well. ****Almost forgot- Confirm that there is a steamer available for your dress!!!! (When we had our meeting upon arrival at the resort, I was informed that there was no steamer on the property. WTH??? My sister was calling frantically to get one of our other guests to bring one with them, but fortunately Mariela found one from somewhere. (I did not ask and did not care as long as they found one.) Haha I had to chase them down for the steamer too. It exists, although my dress didn't need it, but my husbands suit did. I think the dresses hold up far better than the suits surprisingly. The steamer was in the romance department office, so I'm surprised they told you there wasn't one.

Quote: Originally Posted by mckievme Yes! FI and I are in the early stages of planning a DW. We have only mentioned it to a few people actually - immediate family and a few close friends. I'm a quality, not quantity type of girl. I think its more important to spend a few days of quality time with close friends and family members that we don't get to see as often as we would like, than to spend 1 day with over 100 people where there will be many people we barely know. FI and I are paying for the wedding ourselves and it just made more sense to spend the money going snorkeling, sipping drinks on the beach, and having a good time with the 25 or so people we are closest to in our lives instead of spending it feeding people we barely talk to these days. This is definitely how we felt- especially my husband. I came from a big family that dwindled over time after my grandmother's passing. There were a lot of angry feelings after her death and sides were taken- lets just say my mom was the enemy so NONE of my aunts, uncles, or cousins joined us for our wedding. Who was there? Our FRIENDS, my Godparents, my coworkers and my only blood to show up was my mother, 2 sisters (who gave me a difficult time to show up) and my niece and nephew. I guess it's different for everyone, but blood isn't always thicker than water. My friends said things like "wow...DR...ok I'll have to pinch some pennies but I'm gonna be there" and my family said things like "DR? You know how expensive that is. Don't you think that's selfish? You're placing a burden on everyone. We're not sure we can go, that's asking a lot" LOL I don't think asking people to take a vacation is asking a lot lol no one was twisting arms. I'm not going to lie. The Destination wedding was not my first choice. It was my husbands. We had already booked all of our vendors for Long Island wedding (we're from the BX). Every time something went wrong with the wedding planning he would say "should have had a destination wedding" so I finally threw caution to the wind and cancelled all our contracts and booked a destination wedding lololol then came the drama. In the end- EVERYONE who came had an awesome time. We got married in July and they still talk about our wedding. We have the most phenomenal wedding pics from all my friends and family that I have seen, we partied for a week with 40 people who genuinely supported and cared about us- we didn't even eat and drink at our reception because we could not be peeled away from the dance floor. And everyone else who saw the pics and didn't go- expressed regret over it. WE WIN. THE END! LOL Every wedding has drama anyway- at least yours will be worth it once you are spending a week in paradise!

Quote: Originally Posted by amarie4713 Yay! I love purple, and I do want more of a formal feel even though were doing it at the beach. A destination wedding was not my first choice, but that is all my groom has ever wanted, so it's little bit of compromise on my end and I still want it to look and feel like a fancy wedding. And since we're having a smaller wedding, only about 20 people, we're not having bridal party because everyone who would be bridal party are the only people invited! So I can spend a lot more of our budget on decor and details and really make it what i would want, even if i was having the wedding in our hometown. Some Color inspiration for you...

Quote: Originally Posted by J0hanna I just wanted to share mine. I am going with the Nautical theme. Here is a link of another wedding that had the navy/royal blue and yellow and lime green on the flowers. these are the exact colors I want Hope you like! Love this! I wanted navy blue for my girls but they thought it was too dark. I gave them a lot of say lol but I think this is super cute and not common so it will be a little unique

Quote: Originally Posted by amarie4713 I originally wanted pink and orange and possibly a corally color to make it more ombre themed. But the more I think about it, its tropical and everything is going to be so bright and, well, tropical, I have been considering a more, serious color. LIke a deep purple, with possibly my orange, and a little gold? What do you guys think? I like the purple idea better. I think DW brides tend to think they need to go with tropical colors because they are in the caribbean and I disagree. I like the contrast of a darker color with the brightness you will find in the natural setting. I have seen the gamut in wedding colors and I am naturally a fan of gem tones anyway. I thought of every color scheme when I first started planning. Everyone told me to do coral- so for a second we considered coral, orange and brown- to sort of mimic a sunset and have each bridesmaid in a different shade of the orange- but orange isn't even one of my favorite colors so we nixed it. My favorite color is a peacock blue- one of my friends asked if she could buy a burgundy dress or if was too dark and another friend wanted to wear plum. I thought "maybe we can just do jewel tones as a theme" but it didn't give me enough of an actual sense of decor. My blue palette ended up being cool and "breezy" feeling and my wedding took on a "laid-back chic" kind of vibe. If I had to do it again- I really dig the navy blue and pink color scheme I have seen. I think your instinct is right- you are already in the tropics and there will be brightness everywhere- in the sunset, in the water, in the sky- a darker color to contrast looks gorgeous in my opinion. Everyone fought me but I threw in Navy blue in with my aqua and peacock to give it a richer feel. I wanted navy blue for my girls once we couldn't find the peacock color, but no one liked it because they said it was too severe. I think as long as you accent your dark color with a lighter one- it is a way to make the wedding look more formal if that's what you want. That is something we wanted. We wanted it to feel displaced lol like glamour on the beach. I think we got that. I vote the purple!

Haha I noticed you bought the frames in Paramount for your table numbers. So clever. I live right by a paramount and it never occurred to me to use anything in there for the wedding! I love how you spray painted them! They came out gorgeous. Table numbers were something I overlooked and quite frankly forgot about haha. I wish you had this thread way before I got married and did a peacock theme. I could have used some guidance! My wedding was after yours. I love your mothers dress btw! So perfect for a peacock theme.