Varia

Hi DreamsBride09,

As a photographer, I always recommend to book the wedding ceremony at 3pm or 4pm. The best time for pictures is anytime after 3pm, I find 2pm is too early and the lighting is very harsh between 11am-3pm.

Varia

Hi there,

 

The fire dancers were $600 for 7 minutes performance.

In my opinion they are really worth the money. They were awesome and everyone loved them! Pictures are HERE.

Hi Beanster and Parissa,

 

I will be back from Grand Sunset Princess Resort on April 4th and I promise to post pictures as soon as possible. I will keep you posted.

Hi Jodie,

As a photographer, I recommend that your photographer brings a second light to the beach reception. It is very dark, because the only lighting there is from the strings around the tables. When I shot a wedding there I had one flash on the camera and the second flash on the stand to light the background. I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any other questions.

I also shot trash the dress session on the other side of the Lover's Beach.

We took a water taxi there at 3pm, and stayed till sunset. Usually they stop taking people at 4, but we tipped the water taxi driver to come back for us at 5pm.

Hi Deanna,

 

I would highly recommend Lover's Beach for trash the dress session.

 

Here are the links to my previous posts:

 

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t18909

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t13968

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t21376

I have photographed 2 weddings at the Riu Palace and 3 trash the dress sessions in the area. I posted some pictures and review earlier, if you are interested here are the links:

 

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t21376

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t18909

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t13968

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t13972

 

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you!

Congratulations Amy!!!

 

I agree - Megan is the best!!! Most of my groups use her and they are very happy too ))

 

I will be in Varadero the first week of May, photographing 2 weddings.

Do you know how far is Havana from Varadero? I am thinking of going there with bride and groom.

 

Thank you,

I am photographing a wedding there on April 2nd and I promise to post pictures, when I come back.

Hi Carly,

 

I have shot 2 weddings at the Riu Palace and 1 trash the dress session at the Riu Santa Fe. I am familiar with both resorts as well as Cabo San Lucas and San Jose del Cabo.

I am going there again in April to shoot another wedding.

Let me know if you have any questions about the resort or the area.

 

Here is the link to the Riu Santa Fe trash the dress session:

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t18909

Hi Ange,

 

I flew to Los Cabos in Dec 2007, March 2008 and April 2008 from Toronto to photograph weddings and Saturday and Sunday departures were available.

 

I just did a search online and it looks like this July there is only Monday departure.

 

Some of my groups used Megan Crouse, she is a travel agent, who specializes in destination weddings. Megan is based in Toronto and she might help you too. Here is her email: [email protected]

 

Good luck!

Paradisus Palma Real is an exuberant property. The grounds are gorgeous: beautiful architecture, tropical gardens, small lagoon with pink flamingos, and white sandy beach. The event was really exciting, and despite the large size of the group (95 guests), I was able to capture all the special moments.

 

The wedding ceremony took place at the garden gazebo, which was surrounded by lush gardens and a small pond. I took some pictures of the bride and groom in the garden, by the lagoon, in the courtyard, in the pool gazebo and the beach and there were still plenty locations that were not used. Overall what stood out the most was a plethora of great spots for photography.

 

In regards of the trash the dress session, I highly recommend The Altos de Chavón. It was built about 30 years ago to replicate a Mediterranean village of 16th century. This village is located on the mountain with the beautiful view of Chavón River.

 

Here is my slideshow of the trash the dress session at The Altos de Chavón:

 

Christa and Darryl

 

I also found a great location off resort and it is located between Grand Bahia Principe and Majestic Elegance Resort - wild palm tree jungle.

You can see the slideshow here:

 

Niki & Todd

 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

I am going to Grand Sunset Princess Resort next month.

I will be there from March 28th to April 4th, 2009 photographing a wedding on April 2nd.

I promise to post pictures, when I get back.

If anyone needs any info about the resort or specific picture, let me know.

Hi Ange,

 

I am also confirming that I had no issues photographing weddings at the Riu Palace. I shot weddings there in 2007 and 2008 and I am going there again this April.

I photographed weddings at the Majestic Colonial, Paradisus Palma Real, Dreams and Riu Bachata.

 

I find Majestic Colonial is the most popular resort. They do a great job organizing weddings. I can say a lot of nice things about this resort. I have spent 4 weeks there, photographing 8 weddings.

 

Dreams Resort and Riu Bachata, where I also stayed, have a lot of great locations for photography.

 

I also liked Paradisus Palma Real, it is a beautiful luxury resort.

 

If anyone has any questions about there resorts, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Great review and pictures!

I am getting very excited - I will be there in May, photographing 2 weddings!!!

Welcome to the forum!!!

Hi there,

 

I am also willing to help and answer any questions you might have about the resort and the area.

 

I have stayed at the Playa Pesquero Resort and I shot a wedding there.

 

Here is the slideshow of the wedding at Playa Pesquero Resort:

 

Ashley and Nick

Hello again,

Unfortunately, I am already booked from May 22 to May 29 for weddings in Cuba.

Hi there,

 

I shot a few weddings at the Majestic Colonial this year.

 

Here are my slideshows:

 

Caroline and Colin

Stephanie & Terry

Christa and Darryl

Hi Shelley,

I am at the Dreams Resort right now.
I shot a wedding here yesterday and resort had 2 other weddings happening at the same day.

It is a beautiful resort and it has a lots of great spots for photography!

Hi Brittany,
I am available to travel between April 19-25, 2009 to photograph your wedding in Punta Cana. Let me know if you are interested.

Hi Jelena,

 

I just sent you my package info via email.

Hi there,

I will be in Punta Cana the week of Nov 22-29. I am in the process of booking two weddings there, one on Nov 24th at the Majestic Colonial and one at the Paradisus on Nov 27th. I will be staying at the Majestic Colonial Resort. Both brides are splitting my travel costs. I am also available to stay in Punta Cana for two weeks and photograph your wedding during the week of Nov 29 to Dec 6. If you are interested in my services you could possibly share the cost of my travel for two weeks with two other brides and it might work out even better in terms of the cost.

Here are slideshows from 3 weddings that I shot in Punta Cana in July:

Caroline and Colin

Stephanie & Terry

Christa and Darryl

Christa and Darryl

I am also going there tomorrow to photograph one wedding at the Majestic Colonial Resort.