alittlerandr

The tables we sat at in the Italian restaurant were rectangular...looking back at my pictures, we sat at two tables of 8 for dinner one night. We were off to the left-hand side as you go in, so they may have smaller tables off to the right-hand side...I guess I'm not very sure, though I'd imagine they must have smaller tables since not everyone comes in with a large group. Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by Lozzawatts 

A week today we fly out getting very excited now and only 3 more days at work!!

Still a bit to organise so wonder if someone can help on the below.

 

Does anyone know if tables at Italian are square or round?

 

I am trying to organise table plan (there are only ten of us) and im wondering if it will be a large round table or a number of smaller square/rectangle tables pushed together?

 

Thanks

 

Lorraine

We went back and forth but ultimately just rented the sound system. (They still had a worker there the whole time in case there were problems, he just didn't actually play any of the music.) We brought a loaded iPod, and I had a friend load up her iPod, too, with the songs I couldn't live without (ceremony songs, first dances) plus some other fun music. We made a dinner playlist and just put it on shuffle. I also made a dance playlist, but my cousin appointed himself as DJ and ran the music for us the whole night.

Along with the speakers was a microphone. One of our friends served as emcee to make announcements.

Reception food was PHENOMENAL. I would absolutely recommend all of the following:

Ceviche

Cream of broccoli soup

Beef & potatoes

Duo of mousse

I don't really remember our appetizers - I just asked Yinette for her recommendations. They must have been good because they were all gobbled up pretty quickly.

Yes, you will have your own bar and bartender. The servers only served the food; they did not take drink orders.

Hope that helps!

Originally Posted by JPro 

Does anyone know how the DJ is at the resort? We were going to just use the iPod or make CDs, but we'd rather pay the extra $200 rather than stress about making the CDs or something going wrong with our own music. With my luck, that would happen!

 

Also, does anyone know what the reception food is like? Any recommendations on h'ordourves (not sure how its spelled), appetizers, entrees, and desserts?

 

And how does the open bar work? Do we have our own bar and bar tender? Or do people order drinks from servers and they get take orders? I am having my reception at La Brasa if that helps answer the question. My fear is that it is going to take a long time for my guests to get drinks if there are servers, and my group likes to booze it up at parties

 

Sorry for all the questions!

I got married at 4:00 and there were still quite a few people around. My guess is 5:00 might be a little more cleared out, but since the main restaurants aren't yet open, people might still be hanging out at the beach, though some will have probably left to head up to their rooms to freshen up before dinner.

There were tons of people milling about when I got married. I truly didn't notice them...even the ones that I saw (later, in pictures) got way up close and personal. The resort will set up chairs for your ceremony and, I assume, move away beach chairs that are right in the middle of the action. Otherwise, I don't think there's much they can do.

I just tried to look at it positively, as part of the experience. It was pretty cool how people we didn't even know stopped to congratulate us, etc. And there are 2-3 weddings there nearly every day, so I think people just understand not to completely get in the middle of things, though many will stop what they're doing or wander over to check it out. (Your photographer will likely play gatekeeper and shoo people out of the shots...at least, mine did.) Just let yourself get caught up in the moment and those things will fade into the background, I promise

Originally Posted by JPro 

Hi Ladies!  I am so excited about how many brides there are! This forum has been really helpful and I have gotten so many great ideas. This question is more for some of you who have been there before or have gotten married there already. I always wanted to get married on the beach, but after looking at some of the pics, I am really concerned that we will be out of place with all the beach chairs around us and people walking around in front during the ceremony. My ceremony is at 5:00 at night, so I am hoping that people will be gone and headed to their rooms to get ready for dinner. So what is it like to have your ceremony right in the middle of people laying around in their swim suites? Does the resort do a good job of trying to keep people out of the way and somewhat clear away some of the beach chairs? It is not my dream to get married next to the greasy old man in a speedo smoking a cigar. Does anyone have any pics of their ceremony they can post? Or tell me what the atmosphere is like? What is the beach like around 5?

 

Thanks so much!

Originally Posted by jlb392 

 

quick question for the US Brides- I know some airlines don't have pilot's closets (to stow your dress).  Does anyone know which airlines don't and which do?

 

thanks!

I flew Delta and I'm not sure if there was a closet available or not; I wound up putting my (pretty large) dress on top of the luggage in the overhead bins. It was able to lay flat and I had no issues with wrinkles when we finally arrived. So, even if there isn't a closet available on your airline, there will still be another option!

I have a little input:

I paid for the chair sashes (as part of the basic decoration package) and they were used at both the ceremony and reception (La Brasa). They gave me the option of having them or not having them at the reception, but the cost was the same either way. Sometimes I think questions are not fully answered via email and it's something you can easily sort out when you meet with them face to face.

We made OOT bags for our guests which had 22 oz mugs, which I believe are similar in size (though probably not in weight) to Bubba Kegs. 35 of our 60 guests flew on the same flight. We let those folks know in advance that we had a gift for them at the airport, and to save a bit of room in their suitcases. (We said to plan for something the size of a shoebox...we thought about giving them out in advance, but I was afraid people would forget them, thus defeating the entire purpose.) The rest, we took in our luggage. I scouted thrift stores and garage sales to keep an eye out for old, large suitcases. We found a HUGE one for $1 and were able to fit almost all of the extra OOT bags in it. Coming home, we packed one of our other bags inside the huge suitcase. We flew with Delta and each person was allowed two bags. We had each of our mothers and a niece take one of our bags as their 'extra,' and we didn't wind up paying any additional baggage fees. I would be very hesitant to ship anything directly to the hotel...but I think it's totally possible to be creative in your packing (we packed things inside the mugs, too) and find enough room for everything Good luck!

Originally Posted by Dominican Ally 

A tip if you are going to order from Efavourmart to save some money on what the hotel wants to charge for linens/etc.........is that if you use UPS standard for shipping (which I did...ugh)....there could also be some brokerage fees/etc. which could end up being significant. I will let you know what they ended up being when I get my package (soon I hope!). I chose UPS standard because it was the cheapest shipping option, but now it turns out that some of the other more expensive options would have included the brokerage/duty. I may have been better off to go with those, and I'll soon find out.

 

I can't believe how much the rental fees would be for you! Or that they want you to pay TWICE for the sashes. I think I have seen other brides on here posting about just insisting they move the chairs from the ceremony to the reception and they only paid the fee once. I'm sure it is just a scam to get more money, and no doubt some people are willing to pay it. Ugh!

 

I have no idea what I'm going to do to get the bubba kegs down there. They arrived at my friends place in New York (to avoid shipping cost to Canada - I'll pick them up this summer when I'm down). The parcel is HUGE! lol! I suppose I knew it would be with 51 bubbas, but it's even larger than I expected. It weighs 33lbs (15kilos) which is not so bad I guess.....and Transat does give us an extra 20kilos of baggage allowance since we're the bride and groom. I think I am either going to take them all down in an extra suitcase (or two) with the other items I'm taking down, OR I will give out the bubba's ahead of time to as many people as I can deliver to in person, and just ask them to pack them themselves. I am too afraid to ship them to the resort, because if they were ever lost or stolen - I think I would have a meltdown.

 

I'm so amazed at how quickly the hotel is filling up! When I had to get my Calgary people changed to Edmonton due to the flight dates changing - we almost didn't get 5 spaces on the Edmonton flight because they originally said there was only 3 spaces left. Somehow they came up with the extra 2. I think we have everyone booked who needs to be booked right now, so I'm ok - but it does suck if the hotel is booked up because I know we'll have a few people wanting to book closer to the date. We do have a couple of single rooms booked right now though, so I'm sure we could get creative.

 

We decided against the Honeymoon suite - although it looks amazing! I honestly think our families planned on getting the upgrade for us as a wedding gift - but if they are pretty booked up for our weeks there (April 6-20), then I can live without it You are going to LOVE it though! It's so gorgeous! Ideally, I would just like it for 2 nights.....the night before the wedding so I can get ready the next day in there for pictures, and the wedding night. If it works out, it works out, and if not I'll just go with the flow...lol.

 

 

Originally Posted by ocean123 

 

Great!!!! - Thanks for all the info!  I was just wondering say I want to rent table clothes, bows etc do I have to let them know before I go? or do I wait until I get there? I just have some friends who were married at the Occidental and she said she was sent everything but didn't pick until she got to the resort and she said it's better to do it down there because then you can negotiate with them. She said The brough down all there own real touch flowers and the wedding planner then gave them all free centrepieces. When you say basic white decoration is that the $300 etc one? I think it is by your pictures.

Thanks again!

I think you can go either way. I left them know I was planning on the basic decoration package, but I decided on colors, etc, once I got down there. And, yes, the basic decoration package is the $300 one.

Originally Posted by jlb392 

 

thanks for letting us know about this!  I never would have thought of DND signs....I guess I just assumed every hotel would have them.

Another idea - I made DND signs using rack cards from vistaprint.com, and they were free (just had to pay shipping). Then, I used a large hole punch and scissors to make the cuts so they could go over the door handles. I just googled vistaprint free rack cards and had no problem finding them.

Note: Make sure you have a good way to pack them. We just put them right into the bags and some of them got pretty destroyed. Oops! (We handed out most of our bags in the limo/at the airport.)

Originally Posted by ocean123 

 

WOW!! Love it... too funny.. I have the exact same colours as you ! Great taste!!   Are those the roses from the resort?   I noticed in your pics you have the light blue bows on the chairs for the reception? Did you have to pay an additional $3.00 for each bow to have them at the reception?... I emailed Yinette about the extra decorations and told her I want the bows for the chairs at the receptions and she told me I had to rent them again, I thought that was weird!!!! I also love your starfish idea for the centrepeices... Did you bring them down with you or just buy them down there?... I assume once I arrive there will be lots more choices, i hope!!! I found the prices the same here to rent :s... One more question - Your reception on the outdoor terrace, what time was that at? Mine starts at 630pm but your looks really light out still which I like.

Thanks so much! Your pics are beautiful

Haha, thanks! I was pretty pumped about the colors (the BM dresses were $40 from target.com...can't go wrong with that!) No, the roses were not from the resort. I worked with an outside florist for the roses. (My mom is a florist and really wanted to make my bouquets, so we just got a bunch of long stem roses and she made them.)

We got the basic decoration package that, I believe, included the chair bows, floral arrangement, and fabric for the gazebo-thing on the beach. But, they did move those chairs over to La Brasa, so we definitely got our money's worth!

My mom bought the starfish down there (there is a decent sized outdoor market just next to the resort). It was kind of a last-minute thing but I thought it was pretty cute.

My reception started at 6:30. My wedding was 4-4:30, cocktail hour was 5-6, and the reception was 6:30-10:30. We still had plenty of daylight.

If you have any other questions, please let me know!

Our day was great! The few snafus we had were really minor, otherwise it was perfect. I had a bit of a tough time letting go and just trusting that everything would come together but Yinette truly is a professional and knows what she's doing...all the loose ends came together and I couldn't have imagined a better day.

We have wedding pics at http://akburns.shutterfly.com/ . (The ones titled 'professional pics' are the ones actually from the wedding day; everything else is a mixed bag.)

Any other questions, just let me know - I'm happy to help!

Originally Posted by ocean123 

Thanks so much again ! I will defintly confirm that.

Do you have any wedding pics? How did your day end up going?

Hi Chris-

I got married there a few months ago and had a WONDERFUL experience at Ocean Blue & Sand. We actually had the steak & potatoes meal and it was phenomenal...several people told us it was the best wedding food they'd ever had. (We did a private reception at La Brasa.)

Ocean Blue has a package of optional flowers that should give your FI a better idea of what's available. In all seriousness, though, the setting is so beautiful that flowers are just a tiny part of it. (This coming from a florists's daughter!)

I didn't use the salon for hair services, but I've heard good things about them.

When communicating with Yinette or Ada, patience is the name of the game. They are the only 2 wedding coordinators and the resort usually has 2-3 weddings per day, so you'll frequently need to wait 24-48 hours to get a response...that's where these board come in handy! However, Yinette is great and everything came together beautifully.

Also, there is a pretty active board of Ocean Blue brides at http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/52713/ocean-blue-sand-punta-cana . I would totally recommend checking out the page to find out more about what people are doing, etc. Good luck!

Originally Posted by Chris McComas 

Hello! My fiance and I (I'm probably the only male on this site, haha) are very close to booking our destination wedding at the Ocean Blue and Sand resort in the Dominican.  Jessi, (my fiance), is nervous about a few things and I was hoping you all could help us. 

 

First, we are concerned we won't like the wedding reception meal.  We're very boring eaters (steak and potatoes. haha) and everything listed in the packages sound way to exotic for us.  Is there any way we could get a steak and potato option for the bland eaters like ourselves??

Next, Jessi is worried about her flowers.  Being in a different country with limited communication with our wedding planner - she's afraid she'll just get a generic flower arrangement. 

Finally, her hair.  She doesn't know if the stylists at the resort will be good. Has anyone had a good/bad experience with this?

 

Also -- in general, what's everyone's wedding experience been like working with Yinette and the Ocean Blue and Sand wedding staff?  I look forward to hearing back from you all! 

 

Thanks!! -Chris

Maybe it varies, but we had a symbolic ceremony in February 2012, and we did not need a translator. (The minister was a bit tough to understand at times but he did speak English and we didn't need a translator.) Maybe something to confirm with Yinette or Ada?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ocean123 

mcathwilde - Thanks for letting us know

I am having a symbolic wedding and I am not a fan of the translation but I watched some wedding videos on your tube from the wedding and it seemed ok.

I would love to get one of my friends to do it.. but I think they would turn it into a big joke and then lots of laughs hahaha...

We you married in Feb 2012? If so please let me know the details I would love to know how your day went?

Thanks

Just to piggyback on this, anything you purchase from the 'extras' lists (flowers, decoration, videographer/photographer, etc) will need to be paid in cash when you get there and meet with Yinette/Ada. I was pretty worried about having that much cash on hand and couldn't wait to pass it on. But, we had no problems, the rooms had safes, etc. (We had 60 people in our group and not a single person had any issues with room safety.)

You'll be fine I made it a habit to ensure the safe was locked each time we left the room, just for my own peace of mind. The outcome made it worth the couple days of stress!

Originally Posted by erinmc 

Hey Girlis, I need some advise!!! We would like to hire a cigar roller for our reception, the problem is they only accept cash. I am worried about having a large amount of cash for the 3 days before the wedding. I know the rooms have safes, but I know I will be stressing!!

No problem - he went online and found a bunch for about $5 each, so he even had new ones (with stickers, which the guys seemed to love). He was pretty proud of himself
 

Originally Posted by KristinaM 

That is a great idea about the baseball caps!! Thanks for sharing!

Totally agree with ntlsnow and KristinaM - it's optional but very appreciated. Many of the staff at Ocean Blue work 12 hours days for 10 days straight, so I know many of them are appreciative of the gesture of thanks. We too brought a couple hundred in fives and singles for tips.

(This was all my husband, but am throwing it out there) Baseball is huge in the DR, especially American teams with players from the DR. DH bought 5 Boston and Twins ball caps, which he used as a thank you to a couple of our favorite bartenders and also for bartering at the shops on the beach. They were a huge hit!

Hey all-

I was able to get my luggage tags and the loops for them, and the badge card holders and lanyards all from the same company. (Not sure if they ship to Canada or not, though!) I spent just over $100 for 100 of each of the above, and, since it was over $100, I got free shipping. (I had about 60 guests, so this wasn't too much of a stretch.)

Just wanted to throw this out as another option for those considering luggage tags as well as keycard holders - it was really tough for me to find less expensive luggage tags, and these were about the best price I could find for hard plastic tags.

http://holders.idcardgroup.com/

http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/76281/oot-bags-on-a-budget (<-- for specifics on what I purchased.)

And, if anyone is interested, I still have about 30 lanyards and keycard holders leftover (black lanyards, clear keycard holders) that I'd be willing to sell, just shoot me a PM. (Sorry, I promise I'm not trying to turn this into a classified ad!)

Ally - I made brochures, too, and had them printed free through Vistaprint - just had to pay shipping which was reasonable. I think you might even be able to design and upload to VP if you were interested - might save you some money versus buying the paper and ink for your own printer. Just a thought

Also, for the actual bags, we used drawstring mesh bags from Oriental Trading and luggage tags to know who to give each out to. We had looked at doing totes, too, and this wound up being more cost effective for us...and less effort, ha!

Ntlsnow - I did OOT bags for my wedding and insulated mugs and lanyard/keycard holders were the biggest hits, so I would definitely recommend including them.
 

Originally Posted by Dominican Ally 

Kristina : Don't stress over not using a TA I'm sure that you're making a good choice! I think especially being from the US - you can get better deals dealing with the hotel for rooms, and airlines for flights. Many of the brides you see on here using TA's are likely from Canada (like me) where for whatever reason, we seem to get better deals doing packages, and it's fairly uncommon to book hotel/flights seperately.

 

We have a few from the US attending our wedding, and we aren't dealing with our TA for their travel. We have booked their rooms through the hotel, and they will look after their airfare with Jet Blue when flights are released/deals are out.

 

Ntlsnow: I am totally doing OOT bags, and brocures at some point I've started playing with publisher for a brochure, but really haven't gotten too into them yet. I want to do OOT bags - but have to wait to see how many guests book (or at least an approx. number) before I know what/how many of the different items to order. I am thinking of doing just a cheap tote bag and using an iron on transfer for our logo, or attaching tags. In them I want to put "bubba" kegs (insulated travel mugs), keycard holders/lanyards (I already ordered the inserts), a welcome brochure, thank you letter, a hangover/first aid kit with tylenol/immodium/etc., and other than that - I'm not too sure yet. I will be sticking to a budget with them, so I won't be putting a ton in them since the Bubba Kegs themselves are pricey enough.

 

Ladies: Thanks for the compliments on the barefoot sandals. These were a first try, but I think they at least turned out well enough that I've proven to myself that I can do them and don't have to order them online and pay WAY more  I used some cheaper beads to start with, and I will experiment over the next year with some different styles to get better at it! I figure once I get really good, I'll buy some more expensive beads (swarovski crystal ones, etc) for my actual "bridal" ones.

 

 

Isn't it weird?? I seriously didn't even notice him, and neither did a lot of my guests, apparently!

I used HDC photography and LOVED them. Their prices were super reasonable, and I had prints done down there, so I went home with just about everything in hand. I would absolutely recommend them.

 

Originally Posted by ntlsnow 

I cannot believe that guy had the guts to stand THAT close and watch! What a douche bag. LOL

 

Who was your photgrapher?
 

 

Here's what I used (includes band/album names as found on iTunes):

Mothers walk-in: A Groovy Kind of Love - Instrumental Songs - Soft Rock Guitar
Wedding party: Don't Stop Believing - Vitamin String Quartet Presents Strung Out Volume 8
Bride: Canon in D - T Carter Music - Highland Serenade
Sand ceremony: The Luckiest - Ben Folds
Recessional: Somewhere Over the Rainbow - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole
 

Originally Posted by ntlsnow 


That's agreat questions! I have no idea. Any thoughts anyone???

Trust me, you won't even notice them! Our photographer and one of my aunts did a good job of shooing people out of camera shots. But, we still had more than one guy in a speedo, lots of onlookers, etc (rumor has it there was a topless woman as well...who knows!) It's crazy how focused you'll be on just your husband...and those random-onlooker photos are pretty fun to look back on
 

I didn't even notice this guy was there. (Words added in courtesy of the gal who took the photo)

Originally Posted by Dominican Ally 

Our ceremony is at 4pm, and will be on the beach I'm a little concerned about privacy, but I'll get over it...lol! Just as long as the photog manages to get plenty of pictures without onlookers in speedos/bikinis....haha
 

 

I definitely saved money. (Plus, I cancelled the bouquet that came with my package and the resort took some money off my rental of the sound equipment for the reception, which was great.) We had enough flowers for 8 BM bouquets, tons of FG petals, my bouquet, and the reception...and still had lots leftover.

I worked with Ana Rivas ([email protected]). She was very responsive and worked hard to get what I wanted. Since I spent over $200, it was delivered to the resort for free.

Word of warning: Flower quality wasn't the best (we just got roses, and some were blown way open, some were rotten, etc). We had more than enough flowers, though, so it wasn't the end of the world. Knowing what I know now, I would still go the route of getting flowers on my own. It did take a fair amount of time to make them but my mom was excited to do it.
 

Originally Posted by erinmc 

Do you feel you saved $ by getting the flowers from the wholesale florist? Do you have the contact info? My BM is a florist and offered to do our bouquets!!

 

 

A few people in our group (maybe 4 or 5 out of 60) had a stomach issues that lasted a day or two, but for the most part no one had any problems....probably the same as one would expect when traveling, and eating/drinking in unusual quantities

Quote:

Originally Posted by ntlsnow 

Thank you so much for the details! Good to know the food is good there, I was worried about it.

When I went to PC last June, we went to the Grand Palladium and it was awful. We had about 15 people and everyone was sick from the food. I thought their food was so disgusting. And now after reading even recent reviews on Grand Palladium, there are still a ton of complaints. So this to me is AMAZING news to hear about Ocean Blue. My TA said it was really good food too.

 

 

No problem! Today is my 2 week anniversary, so we were just there. And, I'm totally ready to go back
 

Originally Posted by KristinaM 

That was much better than my descriptions!! haha we were there two years ago so I tried but it's fuzzy.

 

Thanks for the awesome recap!

La Casa de mi Abuela - Dominican. Didn't eat there. Open for dinner; reservations required.

Margarita - Mexican. We had a large group party there (about 40). Food was good, and the atmosphere was fun. Open for dinner; reservations required.

Italian restaurant (name is escaping me!) Food was okay...nothing too special. Our wine glasses were never empty, though, so that made for a fun dinner! Open for dinner; reservations required.

Mike's - coffee/pastries. Fantastic lattes and smoothies. Open from 10 am - midnight. (I was suprised it wasn't open earlier!)

Overtime - Hamburgers, wings, sandwich of the day, hot dog...all served with French fries. It's open late night, so we often hit it up after closing down the lobby bar/leaving the disco Food was not the greatest, but at that time of day, anything is okay! They were out of ketchup for several nights, but we really enjoyed the staff there, so it was worth it!

Route 66 - American. I didn't eat there, but people in my group did; they said the ribs were fabulous. Open for dinner; reservations required.

El Bodegon - steakhouse. Food was outstanding; I was completely full by the time I left. Plus, we got to sit outside, which was wonderful on the last night. Open for dinner; reservations required. (<--I believe this was the hardest place to get reservations for.)

Main buffet - Themed dinners each night (Chinese, Mexican, etc.) Breakfast included omelet stations, fruit, cereal, pastries, breakfast meats, juices, etc. Lunch had pizza, meats, burgers/hot dogs, fruits and veggies, pasta station, dessert etc. Dinners were themed (Chinese, Mexican, etc). Dinner was basically a larger version of lunch...and crepes made to order! I LOVED the buffet. The variety was great and most everything seemed to be high quality - they even had lobster one night. (I was expecting 'typical buffet' food, and it was much better than that.) Also, the bar at the buffet was one of our favorites - they mix a great drink, and the bartenders were really fun

La Brasa - our wedding reception was here and food was phenomenal. During the day, they are open for lunch food. Selection was pretty limited but it was right on the beach, so we ate there most days. There were burgers, pizza, pasta station, fruits, 'meal of the day', dessert, chips and guac.

Room service - free 10 am - 10 pm. Fairly limited selection (pizza, sandwiches, etc) but still decent.

Hope that helps! You'll never be hungry

Originally Posted by jlb392 

Does anyone know anything about their restaurants?  Their site is a little lacking on the info :-)

@lozzawatts & @missjade - I just emailed the additional services pdf for 2012.

Hi Erin,

We ordered everything from cubavera.com and were very happy with it. (I ordered everything on behalf of the guys, so we qualified for a 40% off coupon code and free shipping.) Everything was shipped very quickly and people were happy with the quality. We also had no issue with making returns. (Ordered 2 sizes of one of the shirts.) The pants did run a little long, but our shorter guys just had them hemmed.

Shirts (bright white): http://www.cubavera.com/Single-Pocket-Textured-Linen-Shirt/CCHW0035DS,default,pd.html

Pants (natural linen): http://www.cubavera.com/Drawstring-Linen-Pant/C8FB0147DS,default,pd.html
 

Originally Posted by erinmc 

Thanks for your review!! It is very helpful!! I also have a question.. Where did you get your groomsmen attire?