krismac15

I recently returned from my wedding on June 10, 2010 at Dreams Punta Cana and it was amazing. I found a couple of people's reviews on here after their weddings, which were a HUGE help, so I hope this helps some of you out. I was originally working with Deyanira, but was switched to Yessica just before the wedding. It was a blessing because Yessica was absolultely wonderful. I didn't really do too much before getting down there, except that we picked out our location for the wedding, our reception venue, we reserved the photographer and videographer from the resort, and we reserved a DJ. Other than that, we picked out everything else down there. Oh, we ended up sticking with the free wedding package (the basic one) that we got for booking the honeymoon suite, and then added what we wanted on. It ended up being the most cost effective that way. When we checked in, we received a letter from Yessica that we were to meet her the next day at 11:30am. Within one hour of meeting with her, we'd visited our reception location, decided how it would be set up and how many tables we'd have, and picked out our wedding cake, table linens, centerpieces, music, food, and flowers. We discussed how the wedding would take place and who was walking and everything. So, after that hour we felt very prepared and were ready to vacation and did not have to worry about anything. The only decorations I brought down with me were straw fans decorated with a bow to put on all of the chairs (they turned out to be very useful- HOT!), our cake serving set, and 2 pieces of fabric to swag around the cake table. Everything else was them and it was so beautiful. Yessica was there with us that day from the start of the ceremony until the end of the reception to make sure everything went smoothly. So, here's the break down... Flowers- She had me go through a book and see what I liked and she converted whatever bouquets or bouteineers that I liked into the flowers and colors I wanted. They were so stunning. My guests couldn't believe how gorgeous those flowers were. Beach set up- It was at 5:00. The sun was starting to go down, but it was not sunset. The sun sets actually on the north side of the land line, not over the ocean, if you're hoping for sunset/ocean shots. They set it up literally right next to the place where they have the scuba shop and there are racks and signs there. So, I asked her if they could cover them up and she wrapped them in white fabric and put flowers on them... no extra charge. It looked nice. Yessica did our ceremony because we'd decided to do our civil ceremony in the U.S. I'd heard too many stories about bad experiences getting back paper work and all that stuff, but to us, it's our wedding day. The ceremony was about 10-15 minutes with everyone walking and all. We had 37 guests and the chairs are covered in white and everyone loved it. Right after we were pronouned husband and wife and kissed, they passed out champagne and all of the guests loved it. It felt so informal, in a good way. We were barefoot. The ring bearers brought up our rings in these lions paw shells that are the size of your hand with a ribbon tying it on and we just filled in the inside with sand. It was pretty... a pillow felt to stuffy for me on the beach. Right after the ceremony, we headed out because there was another wedding after and ours started late. But, they didn't seem pushy or anything and it felt very natural. Photographer- We had Michael with Tropical Pictures (from the resort). He was great. Took amazing pictures. In the package, it said we'd have him for 30 min. after the ceremony, but he stayed with us for almost a full hour and a half after the ceremony until our reception started at 7:00. We had 186 edited ones to pick through and we ended up getting 100 of them on a CD (we added on to the Bronze package). We also got a complimentary Domincan album and we put our 50 prints in there. You can negotiate price with them if you're adding on to a package by the way. That saved us a considerable amount of money. The day after the wedding, we just went to their counter and looked through all the pics and picked out what we wanted. Then the next day they were ready. Make sure if you get some on CD though, that if you plan on printing at home, that you get a print release from them. Otherwise, some places where you'd send off to get larger prints or something, they will not print them without the print release. Videographer- We used the resort videographer. He was there for the ceremony and shortly after. The video was about 15 minutes long and it was nice how he edited it. There's also some footage in the beginning of the resort itself, so it's nice to have that. And the sound editing was great. He added in music where it was needed but you could still hear us when you should. Music- We used the Carribean music trio for our wedding. I much preferred it over a CD or something. They played a soft, tropical song while everyone walked, and then did the bridal march when I came down. After the wedding, I still had them for 30 minutes or so, so they followed us and our guests getting pictures. At the reception, we got a DJ. He did a good job. He had trouble with the CD I gave them and it stopped the music for a few minutes, so they added on like a half our extra. Reception- We had it at the Himitsu terrace. That terrace is absolutely lovely. I wouldn't have changed that for the world. Everything was set up BEYOND our expectations. We had 4 tables set up around the perimeter and the DJ across from the head table, so the dance floor was in the middle of the tables. There was plenty of space for the 39 of us. Didn't feel too big or too small. There was our own separate bar set up and all that stuff too. The cake was delicious, although very simply decorated in white. We just put our bouquets around it for pictues of it and it looked nice. Oh dinner! We skipped the cocktail hour (since it's an all-inclusive and people could go get their own cocktails) and sprung for the Platinum dinner. It was well worth it. OMG-delicious food. And the kids got chicken fingers and fries. They set out personalized menus on everyone's plates before we got there. There was one mistake... cream of pumpkin soup became "cream of pumping". We are the type of group that did not get upset about it and laughed hyterically. It will be a funny memory. Dinner could've taken awhile with all of those courses, but we asked them to speed it up a bit so we could get to dancing, and it worked out well. Resort- Overall fantastic. The entertainment team and wait staff are off the charts amazing. The food is great overall as well. (Of course it was, I gained 4 lbs. in a week there.) My ONLY complaint is that it felt so hot there and the AC is not what it is in the U.S. Many of the restaurants and the discoteca are not air conditioned, so when you're hot all day and you go back to your room not being that cool, it can be irritating. But, despite that even, I wouldn't have changed a thing about our wedding. My advice is to enjoy your wedding planning and not make it too stressful on yourself. They have everything taken care of down there and they are experts at it, so no point in overplanning before you even get there. Get your bases covered and handle the details as they come. Good luck to all of you on your own wedding planning! Congratulations! (I tried to attach some pics, but I can't get my jpeg. files to format correctly. And they seem to exceed the file limits.)

Hi ladies! I've been reading through this thread to get some ideas and see what I've forgotten to think of. It's been a lot of help now that I'm less than 3 months away. You all seem to really have it together! We decided to have the civil ceremony at home and symbolic one there after reading about others' experiences, but I'm not quite sure what the ceremony will look like down there. I know we're writing our own vows and we'll exchange rings, but that seems like it'd only take 5 minutes. Does anyone have suggestions or can you give me an idea of what yours will be like?

I'm getting married at Dreams in about 6 months and I'm having some major problems with communication. I've tried emailing the photographer that Dreams uses (Tropical Pictures) twice and still have not heard back from them. Has anyone had problems with this or have suggestions? Also, I've contacted the document service (WEDO) twice to find out when to send them my documents to be translated and have not heard back from them either! Please let me know if any of you have used these services or have other suggestions instead. Thanks!

July 2009 Nathan & Brianne July 15th- Dreams Punta Cana LEILA & GAVIN ~ JULY 21, 2009 ~ DREAMS PUNTA CANA!! Jess & Dan: July 27, 2009 - Dreams Punta Cana Jenn & Chris: July 31, 2009 - Riu Palace, Punta Cana Cecile & Nord: July 24,2009-Moon Palace, Punta Cana August 2009 Tasha & Jamil: August 1, 2009 - Excellence Punta Cana Shannon & Rich: August 5, 2009 - Dreams Punta Cana Hayley & Nick: August 10, 2009 - Paradisus Punta Cana Ana & Adam: August 15, 2009 - Iberostar Punta Cana September 2009 Clare & Ross: September 7, 2009 - Ocean Blue (date to be confirmed) Chris & Martin: September 9, 2009 - Ocean Blue (date to be confirmed) Lori & Keith: September 9, 2009 - Excellence, Punta Cana Kenya & Eddie Sept. 12, 2009 - Dreams Punta Cana Kim & Jason September 18, 2009 - Dreams Palm Beach Kristy & Vince: September 19, 2009 - Dreams Punta Cana October 2009 Carmen & Tiny: October 09, 2009 - Catalonia Bavaro Beach, Punta Cana Jeannie & Jorge: October 10, 2009 - Dreams Punta Cana Jen & Dave: October 10, 2009 - Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Darcy & Dave: October 11, 2009- Melia Caribe Tropical- Punta Cana Angela & Jason: October 20, 2009 - Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Kelly & Pablo: October 22, 2009 - Majestic Colonial, Punta Cana Jenny & Matthew: October 27, 2009 - Melia Caribe Tropical c & d: October 27, 2009 - Majestic Colonial, Punta Cana November 2009 Tanya & Joe: November 4, 2009 - Palladium Palace, Punta Cana Veronica & Paul: November 5, 2009 - Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Lisa & Jim: November 5, 2009 - EdenH Real Arena Punta Cana Sandra & Rob: Novemeber 7, 2009- Ocean Blue/ Sand Golf & Beach Resort Erin & Trent: November, 9, 2009 - Melia Caribe Tropical Rosa & Eddie: November 10, 2009 - Barcelo Bavaro Palace Leslie & Gerry: November 16, 2009- Majestic Colonial Andrea & Chris: November 24, 2009, Majestic Elegance Krista & Dave: November 25, 2009 - Sirenis Tropical Annida & Sante: November 27th, 2009 - Dreams Punta Cana December 2009 Julie and Rob: December 4, 2009 - Grand Palladium Punta Cana Amber and Dan: December 5, 2009 - Majestic Colonial Tara and Philip: December 7, 2009- Majestic Elegance Nonnie and Marj: December 10,2009-Grand Palladium Punta Cana Beth and Ian: December 12, 2009- Excellence Punta Cana Lindsay and Tracy: December 31, 2009 - Majestic Colonial January 2010 Jacqueline & Craig: January 5, 2010 - Sirenis Tropical Nicole & Michael: January 23, 2010 - Bavaro Princess Shelby & Michael: January 23, 2010 - Dreams Punta Cana Jocelyn & Michael: January 25, 2010 - Dreams Punta Cana Lisa & Adam: January 2010, Dreams Punta Cana Nicole & Chad: January 13, 2010 - Dreams Punta Cana February 2010 Anne & Tim: February 20, 2010 - Jellyfish Restaurant (Staying at Melia) Amber & John: February 27, 2010, Paradisus Palma Real March 2010 Jennifer & Cory March 13 2010- Palma Real Punta Cana Kim & Ron March 17, 2010 - Dreams Punta Cana Diane & Devin March 25 2010 - Paradisus Palma Real Anna & Lawrence March 26 - Majestic Colonial Lindsay & Seth March 28 2010 - Paradisus Palma Real April 2010 Vanessa & Eddie April 16, 2010 - Majestic Colonial Steph & Jason April 16, 2010 - Grand Palladium Palace Punta Cana Crystal & Tyler April 20, 2010-Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana Helen & Scott April 21, 2010- Gran Bahia Principe Punta Cana Dianne & Adam April 21, 2010 - Grand Palladium Punta Cana Jess & Aaron April 22, 2010 - Majestic Colonial Punta Cana Stacey & Eric April 22, 2010 - Dreams La Romana Erin & Jeremy April 28, 2010 - Dreams Punta Cana Amanda & Craig April 28*, 2010 - Grand Palladium Punta Cana May 2010 Jennnifer & Trevor May 11th 2010 - Majestic Colonial Rosa & Larry May 15th, 2010 - Excellence Punta Cana Heather & George May 15th 2010 - Dreams La Romana mary & joey may 21st, 2010- dreams punta cana Lauren & Nate May 18, 2010- Majestic Colonial Sara & Adam May 22nd, 2010 - Indecided, Punta Cana (Palladium, Dreams, Iberostar or Excellence) Iris and Mike May 27, 2010 - Majestic Colonial Valerie & Jake May 29, 2010- Dreams La Romana June 2010 Bobbi And Tyler: June 4th 2010 Majestic Colonial Kristin and Nick: June 10, 2010 Dreams Punta Cana July 2010 Lynette and Darnel July 13, 2010 - Dreams Punta Cana Liz & Miguel - July 26, 2010 - Undecided location {Santiago, Puerto Plata, or Punta Cana James and Jessica- July 17, 2010 -Paradisus Punta Cana August 2010 Jeanette & Julio - undecided Punta Cana, (PPC or PPR) Aug 2010 Linda & Robin: August 3, 2010 - Paradisus Punta Cana July 2011/ 2012 Yvonne and Andrew- last week of july 2011/ 2012 (money dependant), dreams la romana

I was randomly searching the internet yesterday for pictures of our resort and came across this forum. It's amazing! I'm mainly enjoying reading about others who have been to our resort. There are some great tips and it's helped me decide that we picked the right place for us. We have about 25 people booked already and our save the dates are going out soon, so I can't wait to see who else will be attending our dream wedding in DR soon!