Donna Hewitt

I am at least one of the brides that Susan is referring to.... And I can't agree more with everything she has said here...  I would have to say, the worst thing about my wedding day was Mr. Phil Steingard.  Don't get me wrong - I love my photos!  But the stress that he caused on MY day - was in no way worth it...  

1. He was also late meeting my husband in the lobby - I got a phone call saying he hadn't arrived at 10am as well - He was a half hour late, but on your wedding day - you don't need that.

2. He arrived in my bridal suite - basically upset that we hadn't ordered him food, there was fruit... We were actually not allowed to order food to the bridal suite, so I had to get my mother to take time from our day to go and get food for Phil from the buffet.

3. After the "meeting" photos, we continued to take photos, dragging the wedding party around up until the seconds before the wedding... even though, I said I wanted to go back to the suite and chill out for a bit with the wedding party ... He was VERY forceful about wanting photos... and even when you say enough, he doesn't take the hint.  I appreciate that he wants to get amazing photos, but he should know after doing SOOO many weddings (as he doesn't forget to mention how terrific he is), that we still want to enjoy the day and its not HIS day... and to chilll out especially when specifically asked to stop... Take some candids!

4.I had made it clear that we were doing the photos before the wedding in order for us to be able to enjoy our cocktail hour with our guests... This did not happen - There were photos that were necessary, like family photos and beach shots... But he took us off on our own again to take more artsy photos, by this time we were getting upset... All of our family and friends were enjoying the party we had planned on the beach - and we COMPLETELY missed it!  My husband told him enough, even though Phil protested, and we headed to the beach. By the time we got there, the appetizers and cocktails were finished and people had started heading to the reception.

Not Phil's fault - we got some rain... so our party was delayed... things were wet - added a bit of stress... But we eventually got there, had our entrance.... AND

5. NOT EVEN EXAGGERATING - We hadn't sat our bum down on our chairs and there was Phil standing in front of us, upset that he thought we hadn't paid for his dinner... I knew we had because he had made this point VERY clear in our phone calls - It was just a mix up - But, not really fair the way he handled it - He came at us... almost angry - no bedside manner AT ALL.  Anyways the coordinator cleared it up.... and then 2 seconds later he was right in our faces with the camera... My husband had to be stern with him and told him ENOUGH.

We did get all of our photos... and for the most part I was extremely happy with how they turned out... Maybe would have preferred more shots of the guests rather than 1400 of me and my husband... And perhaps more candid shots - rather than ALL poses... But, I do think they turned out well.  The problem was Phil himself, his arrogance and lack of listening to and understanding his customer...  I honestly think he has a vision and routine and he honestly doesn't understand or care what his customer wants.  Perhaps in a traditional wedding back home, this system makes sense... But in my case - I hadn't seen most of my guests in years and I made it clear that I wanted to be able to spend time with them.... and that wasn't his focus - like how he ignored Susan's request about photos with her children.  My advice to Phil would be to learn to ACTUALLY listen to your customer and treat each one like they are the only one - not just another number on your tally.

They didn't get my decorations back to me either - They must have quite to stockpile hidden away somewhere!! haha  And I didn't get guests talking on my video - that would have been a cool idea! Just us the whole time, a bit of a bore!

Thanks! I was really happy to find them, after looking FOREVER!  I found them on DHGate I think, and for a reasonable price, less than $20 each I think!

Thanks!  I brought the robes - As gifts for the Bridesmaids... Totally worth it for the pics I think!

OK Ladies, As promised - I FINALLY got my photos, and here they are - I tried to pics some out of the venue - I got ready in the Bridal Suite, then Beach wedding, and Pool reception.

I used Phil Steingard.  And my pictures were ready fairly quickly - My wedding was Jan 26, and they were posted out to me on Feb 21... Maybe he's busier in April?

Originally Posted by mvee1025 

 

Donna! Have you gotten your pics yet?

Can you believe I'm STILL waiting????  I live in Korea, so its understandable... BUT - Its been TWO months - Getting to be a bit ridiculous - I'm morphing back into Bridezilla! haha  

Originally Posted by Henderson2013 

 

Thanks for the info!

 

Maybe I should contact one of the corrdinators. Not sure how they will feel since I cancelled my wedding there to do it at the JellyFish :-/

I had the wedding coordinator book mine, or you could contact the preferred member services if you went preferred...  I booked space for 50 and it wasn't a problem, and there was still plenty of room.

Also - Room service is a bit on the slow side... So, you may want to order what you need an hour or so ahead of time - They will only deliver about 4 beers at a time - and we had a REALLY hard time having any other sort of alcohol delivered to our room... After my FI had a HUGE fight with the Preferred service people they finally gave us some wine... Without a cork screw!!!    The suite also came with 2 bottles of champagne and the buffet is right next to it - so its easy to get food and booze from there and bring over... Congrats and good luck!

@Sabs12 - Thank you!  I did bring the pink fabric with me, the package only came with the white... I wanted a bit of colour - So we brought just a long piece of pink fabric - gave it to them, and they did what they did - I was very happy with it!  I also brought the chair sashes, and some damask table cloths - Saved a bunch of money!

@Jesswins - I was supposed to have Sylvia, worked with her for a year before we got there and then when we got there found out she was sick... Obviously not anyone's fault, but you can imagine - I was a bit stressed... We were given Luisa, she had a folder of info with emails from me... She was nice... But, I must say - I found her a bit distracted(understandably) ... And there were a few things that got messed up, like number of boutennieres and forgotten flowers for flower girl...  I think though, that if I had been dealing with her all along - this may not have been the case...  In the end I was happy how things turned out.

No worries!  I was the one stressing last year and this place helped me SOO much!  

The club was good - yeah, pretty nice - it has an open concept... Got quite busy at night - The music was good - they had games and stuff... We tended to hang out more at the sports bar downstairs from there... But its open till about 2am I think and then the sports bar was open till about 4 I think...  Lets just say, I never felt like I couldn't get a drink! haha

@brownskingirl - I travel a lot - and it just didn't make sense to keep it!  I must say, it was a sad goodbye... (Glad I didn't spend THOUSANDS on it!) I'll always have the photos!!

@Jennifer - I've traveled quite a bit and I would say that I felt extremely safe there - airport is nice and open, lots of employees around to help out - We were on a bus through our package, and they were excellent... The drive to the hotel is about 20-30 minutes.

The guys went with a Dominican they found working at the resort... He was their escort and there was a group of them... So they felt safe, you may not want to be wondering around at night with just two girls or anything...

@Jesswins - We had a 4 year old, a 2 year old and an infant... They all had a wonderful time!  There is a kiddie pool there for them, but I would also suggest bringing floating thing - water wings and tubes... My niece never got out of the water - The kids club looked awesome - Always had things going on... and the staff were all great with the kids!  I'm sure your daughter will have the time of her life!

Hi RFFL!  I didn't offer to pay for my bridal party... I wasn't too picky on what they did, so some chose to get their hair done and some chose makeup (they leave all the MAC makeup out in the Bridal Suite), but I know they were charging about $50 for hair and $40 for makeup...

My girls threw me a Bachelorette on the resort - We had drinks, dinner and then danced the night away at the disco * Side note - You will be threatened to be removed from the resort if you take your clothes off and jump into the pool in the disco! haha  The boys went off the resort, and to this day - I still don't know where they went!

To be honest, we were so busy - we didn't really have time to leave the resort...  And then on the day before we left we all went out on a Party Boat (organized through the resort at the beach - I think $40/each), which was an ABSOLUTE blast... until... One of the Groom's girls broke her neck being thrown in the water... not even kidding - Terrible way to end an AMAZING vacation... MAKE SURE ALL YOUR GUESTS HAVE INSURANCE!

Originally Posted by mlcosby 

 

wow, you, and the dress look great. I love the original. Who did you go with? how much did they charge you? thanks for sharing!

My dress was from Jasmines.  With everything including the veil it was about $500 - Not bad at all for what I got.. My fave part was the belt... That was the only part I brought home with me... Some lovely Dominican housekeeper may be sauntering around Punta Cana in my beautiful dress!

Thanks ladies!! And Good luck Uhura!! Almost time - It goes SOO quickly - enjoy every second of it!!

Thanks Ladies!  Yes, I did have my hair and makeup done at the spa - They did a great job - I brought pictures with me, that helped... I would suggest not going for anything too curly... they just wouldn't hold... And perhaps bring your own hairspray - theirs was not so good...  But they had MAC makeup, and I loved what they did - I brought fake lashes and they applied them.  I would also suggest splurging on the Bridal Suite - Best $150 we spent... The bridal party hung out there all day and its a great spot for pics!  They set is up very nicely with champagne and snacks...  Happy Planning!

Originally Posted by mvee1025 

 

Hi Donna,

We never spoke but I followed the forum and finally joined it just a couple of weeks ago.  You look so beautiful!  I'm so glad you are back and willing to help us out!  I hope I don't overwhelm you but here goes

 

* Who was your wedding coordinator?

* Upon arrival, what was it like? 

* Did you spend so much time going over details that you had no time with your group?

* Did you lug all your goodies down there with you or ship them ahead of time?

* Did you use any outside vendors?

 

* I was thinking of doing the wedding on the beach but I've seen so many pictures with random people in swimsuits that it turned me off.  What was your experience?

* What time was your ceremony and reception?

* Did you feel like you had enough time for pictures?

* Which pool did you have your reception at?

 

* I'm concerned that the garden view rooms are going to be so far.  Did you have anyone in your group that stayed in those rooms?  I've upgraded our parents but the remainder of the group will be in garden view rooms.

 

My wedding will also have the same color scheme as yours.  I'm so glad to see what it could look like

 

* What are the best buildings to stay in?

*

Hey Mvee!  I really don't mind! Love to bask in the Bride light a little longer!! haha

So for the past year, I dealt with Silvia - all the ins and outs... and then the morning that I went for my meeting - I found out that Silvia was ill, and that I now had Luisa... Of course I was a bit stressed... But they had all my emails in a folder - so it just meant going back over them.  I brought all my decorations (bit of stress getting it all down there - but had fam help pack them) and had to go through each thing with her...  I have to say that I didn't feel so confident that she was going to get it right...  I would suggest that if you have things that need to be put together by the coordinator on the day of - Take photos ahead of time - Draw a detailed photo of exactly what you want and where.  Things did look beautiful, but they weren't exactly how I pictured...  And if you need things hung, like lanterns or pomanders - be prepared to pay an extra fee - they wanted $25 cash for every 10 lanterns.  And I never saw the majority of my decorations again...

We hired an outside photographer - which was $150 for both people... even though I've read that this has changed now.  We did photos before the wedding - so there was plenty of time.

We had our ceremony on the beach... and I was just reading someone else saying they would never do that because of the privacy... And yes, there were a lot of onlookers - BUT - I didn't even notice them... You are so in the moment... They were the last thing that I saw... I haven't gotten all my photos yet.. But I think a good photographer would know how to avoid them, and blur them out... I don't think you can replace the feeling of being stood on the beach... It wasn't that windy on my day either... But, the fountain also looked gorgeous!

We had our ceremony at 4:30 and the reception at 7 at the quiet pool (I didn't know there was an option to use any other pool - I only saw weddings there)... Unfortunately we got a bit of a rain... (good luck - right?!) So the ceremony didn't start till 730 - and they don't extend it later - 10 is the cut off time - One thing I would change, would have been to extended the time, which was Ridiculously expensive - But, 10 was WAY too early - especially with speeches and everything - there was really not much time for the party.. and we did go to the night club after - but it was really busy, just not the same.

So about the garden view rooms.  That's also where I initially feared where we were staying, I had heard they were so far away... I sent many MANY complaints and requests to have our entire group upgraded, and they said it was not possible... but then when we got there - EVERYONE had been put into the 2 buildings closest to the ocean - I didn't complain... We had a few people who were not with our package and they were in the Garden view rooms - they said they were really nice... But they were REALLY far - You had to take a cart to that part of the resort... The resort is quite big to begin with - So its a bit of an effort... But, if you have to - pack a beach bag for the day!  I suggest start sending emails - worked for me!

Biggest advice is to ENJOY EVERY second of it... I feel like I spent SOO much time running around and trying to organize stuff, that I didn't have much time to just sit and relax with my group - It FLIES by so quickly - You are having a destination wedding for a reason... Don't over complicate it!

Happy planning!

Just got back from my wedding!  Wanted to let everyone know - that in the end I was EXTREMELY happy with my dress from Jasmine's.  I had lots of compliments and it made me feel like a princess!  

It was a knock off of this Arabella:

And this is me on my wedding day:

YAY! 

OK - I'm back!  Wedding all over  I'm a wife! haha  ANYONE have questions - Ask away!  I have a desk job and LOTS of time on my hands!

I had the ceremony at the beach and the reception at the pool.  There were goods and bads...

The one MAIN piece of advice that I can give is to RELAX and ENJOY it... I read other brides write that and I didn't take their advice - and I wanted everything to be just perfect - I spent so much time worried and planning that I have to say I didn't have enough time enjoying it... and before I knew it - it was all over!  LOVED the resort though - don't worry about that part - all your guests will have a blast!

So yes, any questions - let me know!

Here are a couple pics - Haven't gotten the ones from our photographer yet!

Originally Posted by SusanMike2013 

 

No there is no credit for the free wedding if you upgrade.

Outside vendor fee is 150 a person ( so if you get outside Dj and there is two guys.. thats 300 dollars)

 

If you want to PM me your email i can send you the info and cost sheets I have and put together myself to help me decide

Hi Susan - Just got back and going through messages - I thought that this was the case as well - But, when I was there it was actually on $150 per vendor - So we had 2 photographers from the same company and it was $150 for both.

THANKS AGAIN LADIES!!! I'm Boarding my plane in 4 hours!!  Be quite busy up to the wedding...  Hope to see you KChenard and NowBride2013!!  Good luck!!! 

Agreed - Fuchsia!! Man... Should I have gotten napkins??  I don't think I could fit another thing!!  haha

Hi Gizzmo!  First things first... Read this WHOLE thread - You will have MOST of your questions answered, I know I did - Its VERY helpful!

They told me that they generally do the cocktail hour in the location of the wedding, so I'm having a beach wedding as well and then the cocktail hour will be right after on the beach...

Open area with no extra cost for reception - I think the pool or the beach... I chose pool - I'll let you know how it goes when I get back - but I've heard good things from other brides on here!

Congratulations and good luck!

@KChenard - I got the same message from Silvia - after waiting 10 days for a response to my final details... Grrr....  Hoping she gets back to me quickly, as I am outta the country in 2 more sleeps!!

@MissJali - Thanks!  What a great pick me up to hear someone likes my dress!!  Have been feeling some dress regret in the past week - With only 9 days before the wedding - that is a scary feeling!! haha

Anyways, I bought my dress in the summer - I didn't have any upgrades, it came with the belt and the underskirt and I order a simple veil ($20) - In total, I believe it came to about $550 - Just so you know an approximate amount you'll be looking at!

Congratulations and Good Luck!!