tropicalbride13

Flight: We were a group of 54 including us. We flew Sky Service and I don’t have anything good to say about them. I’m not going to go into the details but I will say that they didn’t help one bit with the dress. I think that was just b/c it was all male stewards on our flight.

Arrival: Things went pretty smooth at the airport. We had already been to Punta Cana so we knew what to expect. We were checked in one the bus over to the resort which was nice, but we never got the big reception we saw for all the other arrivals. (Dancing drinks) Maybe it was just b/c we arrived later in the evening, I’m not sure. Our group was all booked in club diamond so their Villas were between 26-30 close to the beach and pools but far enough to not deal with the noise. We could use the Bavaro or Punta Cana facilities b/c we were VIP’s. I think Honeymooners get VIP as well, basically anyone celebrating something.

Our room: We had a 3rd floor room in villa 25 and we loved it. The room was pretty basic, King size bed, T.V Small couch. The bathroom was nice all marble with a big jetted tub. There was Rum, Champagne, Fruit, Shirts and hats waiting in our room on our arrival. There was no letter from Mariana but it arrived under our door the next morning. (We arrived Weds night and were getting married Fri) Tip: If you are staying at this resort get a 3rd floor room we had to change rooms in the middle of our trip (long story) we got a 2nd floor room and we could hear the people above us all the time

Wedding: We met Mariana Thursday morning and went over the details. They don’t have a lot of selection for the bouquets unless you want really basic. I choose mine from the books but my BM’s I brought a pic for. Thursday night David spent the night with friends and two of my BM’s stayed with me. Fri morning we went for breakfast then I went to the Salon to get my hair done. I had a picture but the stylist misunderstood the picture b/c of the angle. I wanted it half up and she put it to the side, but it turned out nice so I was OK with it. They charged me $50US but there price list said $80 for bridal updo. I guess b/c my hair was so simple? I went back to my room and relaxed a bit. My Girls and I went and grabbed a snack so we wouldn’t be hungry later. Then we met our photographer at my room and she took pics while we got ready. We ended up a bit pressed for time but the judge was late anyhow and David had to wait for over 30mins and it was HOT that day. They took us over in the tram, I thought the driver would stop before we got to the site so the first glimpse everyone had of me wasn’t my awkward dismount of the tram but he didn’t. The ceremony went by quickly which was nice b/c we were all dying in the heat. We took pics for a few hrs then had our reception at Le Gourmet (same as Café de Paris). We were very happy with our choice of restaurant we had to pay to have a private reception b/c we had over 49 people. I’m sure we could have got around it but we wanted a private reception. Tip: the two things I would change were my arrival, ask him to stop before you get to the gazebo TRUST me on this! And the way they set us up. We had too many guests to fit in the gazebo so they set the chairs in front, which was fine. However they put us in front of the gazebo so the sun was beating down on us. We were squinting the whole time! Not to mention sweating. They also put the judge to the side and I had to turn to look at her. I look at people when they are talking to me so in most of our video I’m not facing my husband.

Food: We were very impressed with the A la Cartes at the resort they were all very good and the service was excellent. The buffet was a typical buffet. Some of the guests complained the food was cold but most of them were fine with it. Most of the A la Cartes were open for breakfast and lunch as well. Our favorites were Maiko (Japanese) and Le Gourmet(French) Tip: The Mexican restaurant (El Charro) is good but everyone that had dinner there got sick the next day. Nothing major but still not fun.

Beach/Pools: The beach was nice but a bit rougher than the beach at the hotel we stayed at last time. There was a lot more coral in the sand as well. My family loved playing in the waves though. It was quite windy the first few days so most of our friends stayed by the pool. There are 4 pools and they are all huge! One is for Club diamond only. We only used the beach pools. There are always lots of chairs on the beach and at the pool.

Tours/Excursions: We went to Saona with almost everyone in our group. We had been before but we thought it would be fun as a group. Everyone really enjoyed it. One thing though the other time we went we went with a better tour I think it was either Sol Tours or Vente Club. Anyhow they had a way better buffet on the island and they record the tour for you to purchase. We did the swimming with sharks and sting rays. I really liked the snorkeling part of this tour. The sting ray part was a bit scary, I’m a wimp though. We also went to Santo Domingo. If you are staying 2 weeks I would reccomend this tour but it is a LONG day.

Here is a link to some pics (NOT professional!):

Yahoo! Photos - dgrosvenor1979's Photos - Wedding

I can't post pro untill I get my disc so it will be a VERY long time!

I can't wait! I need a vacation so bad right now! We are building a house, I've been planning most of the wedding stuff (of course), plus I manage a store and it's our busiest time of year! All that's getting me through this is that in 29 days I will be in a tropical country getting ready to marry my honey!!

I sound so cheesy. Are you all ready for the big day?

Sol Tomargo takes the most AMAZING pics I have ever seen. She is pricey but if I were getting married in the Mayan or Cancun I would use her for sure. I almost paid her to come to the DR she's so good!!

Sol Tamargo Photography Wedding Photojournalism

I also have a small train on my dress.(plus mine is lace so the sand will probably stick to it!) I'm pretty sure it will be fine, I don't think they are heavy enough to drag piles of sand. At least I hope not. I am wearing flip flops that have sparkly beads on them. You can't really wear a heel in the sand. There are some "bridal" Flip Flops that are satin if you want something nicer. I also bought really pretty barefoot jewelry to wear for the beach pics. They are made of Swarovski Pearls and Crystals.

Thanks ladies!! We pretty much have everything planned out. My FH thinks I'm crazy b/c we are bringing tonnes with us! I don't care you only do it once right? So I want it to be perfect what's wrong with that. We leave a month from yesterday and our wedding day is a month from tommorow. I am getting kind of nervous, time is flying by!! Especially with Xmas. I would post pics but I am awful with photobucket etc... I will make sure that I get hubby to post the pics when we come back though. I know what it's like leading up you just want to see and hear all about it.

You guys are probably like where? Anyhow My name is Karuna and I am bgetting married on Jan 19, 2007 (34 days from now!!) at the Gran Bahia Principe in Punta Cana, D.R. I joined this site ages ago and just hadn't come back till now...things have been nuts.