sherylh

Thanks again! I really appreciate all the information you have been able to share with me! =)

Yeah it seems that it is going to be really convenient to use a travel agent, and that's the reason why I am using one, because I don't want everyone calling me with that stuff since I know I'm going to have more than enough to worry about! So when your guests booked their rooms at Dreams, did they have to put down a deposit or just reserve the room and pay upon checking out? And how many rooms were they able to block off for you?

AWWW yay!!! That is awesome that you are having all those people, I can only imagine how stressful it must be at the thought of having them all there but it's so nice that they willo all be there to share in your special day! I'm from Claifornia and most of our guests are flying in from there so I'm not sure how many will actually make it because we have a total of 140 that we have included on our guest list. BTW did you use a travel agent in order to book the rooms at the resort? How did that work out for you? I'm in the process of communicating with a travel agent and she said she would be working with each guest to book their flight and rooms at the resort and that she can be their contact person and of course I got a bit of anxiety because I want to make sure I'm in the loop (there is that darn controlling side again, hahaha) with everything going on!

Thank you! That sounds like a good idea, I think I need to let go of a little control here (although it's in my nature and it's sooo hard, lol). I think once we actually begin all the planning I will definitely need to create a system in order to ensure that I have proof of payment and whatnot. I read somewhere that they require you to pay everything upon arriving at the resort but can you just make payments and then pay the final bill when you're there so it won't be one large sum? Also I think you mentioned you were going to have cocktails on the terrace, do they charge an extra fee to use that area? or is it just the cost per person? Thanks again, because I'm sure I will have TONS more questions as time goes by, hahaha

aww boo, ok I guess that makes sense... I'm not really all that picky as far as what flowers are used I just want to make sure the colors are similar to the color scheme I am using. I love hydrangeas and peonies =( but oh well. I have also been in contact with Deyanira but I haven't heard from her in a few days, how long is her response time when you e-mail her? I'm just nervous that she isn't responding = / also when you filled out the reservation form with a copy of your credit card information did you have any issues? How often do they charge your credit card and are they good about providing receipts? My wedding is so far away but I feel this sense of urgency in having all these questions answered, for my own peace of mind... Thanks!!!!

congratulations nrbc919! Very exciting =) At first I wanted to have a Catholic Ceremony as well but found that it's too much of a hassle to go through all the different requirements so my fiance and I are going to have a civil ceremony in California a few months before the wedding in Punta Cana and once we are there we will just have a symbolic ceremony. I think this may be the easiest route if you are ok with it not being religious. I was actually thinking of having a friend of ours do a reading in order to add a little bit of scripture to it. Good luck!

mdf1us, it's my undertsanding that you can pretty much request any flowers, but it may cost you extra dependind on whether they are in season or not. I was actually planning on sending her a few pictures and asking her if they may be able to do those arrangements and depending if the flowers are in season, or not, I think i will just substitute them with similar flowers in order to save some money. Grace, the peacock colors sound amazing!!! I have seen a lot of different ideas where they use peacock colors and it looks great and yes the menus will definitely add something extra to the table.

Hi grace, congratulations! It will be here before you know it! I was actually debating the same thing but have decided to make menus, I just think it will be nice because you get an opportunity to let people know what food to expect, and it's just another reason to get creative which I love! Can't wait to hear how everything goes, I'm sure it will be beautiful! As far as table settings I have a lot of ideas but I'm probably going to have hydrangeas mixed with light pink peonies in these Cobalt vintage vases (cobalt is my main color) and will probably have floating candles on top of some beige netting, but I'm not 100% sure... like I said I have so many ideas!

You may either need to work with a travel agent and have them contact the resort directly to get the group rate or contact the resort yourself and ask them for the rate. I think using a travel agent will make things much more easier for you and your guests because you won't have to be stressing out on that, on top of the other million things, happy planning! =)

I have to agree with kelly1218, at first I was a bit skeptical about using Wright travel agency but after learning more about them it seems as though they are really great at what they do! And best of all you don't have to worry about dealing with the stress of having everyone book their own flights and rooms, they can go directly through the TA. I am working with Babs and she has been great at answering all of my questions! In fact she is helping me narrow down resort choices... definitely worth it and best of all there is no fee!

Thank you puntabride! I'm happy to report that my fiance and I looked at all our options and we have definitely decided punta cana is the better choice for our wedding! I have gone over all the information I have received from various resorts and I am loving the majestic more and more! Hope your plans are going well, it's great to be able to talk to people through this website, I'm sure I will have TONS more questions as time goes by =)

Hello to all the future brides, after thinking my fiance and I were going to be married at the Bahamas we have since decided to look into other options because of our budget. I have been e-mailing any and every resort in Punta Cana in the Dominican and have received multiple responses and although there are a lot of great packages, Majestic elegance is my favorite so far. It seems to be somewhat pricey but you still get TONS more than in the Bahamas. We have chosen our date, August 22, 2013 and colors and that's about it. I feel that I am really limited as far as planning any further details until we secure our date and location. I think choosing the resort is the most stressful part (or at least I hope so, I couldn't imagine it being more stressful hahaha) I think we have about 70 people we are inviting but we think only 40-50 will actually go to the wedding. The most exciting part is the all inclusive (especially the alcohol part, eeeeh ya! ) I look forward to hearing all the ideas you all have and being able to share ideas with you all, as well. Happy planning!!! ~ Sheryl~

Great! So happy to hear that because I am working with her as well

Thank you so much ladies! This definitely puts my nerves at ease!

Hello all future brides I am looking into using a travel agency and found "Wright" travel agency and requested some information. I just received an email from Babs who informed me that she will be working with us to coordinate flights and hotel stay as well as communicate with the wedding coordinator and she said they DO NOT charge a fee. Naturally I became somewhat suspicious and I just want to know if anyone out there has used their services and how effective were they? Also does anyone know why they don't charge a fee? I'm trying to explore my best options and am just nervous about the whole thing so any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!!! Thank you!

Stephp1, I love the idea of having only a cocktail hors d'ouvres rayther than the sit down dinner. My fiance and i are all about making our wedding one big party and we hink the sit down dinner may be too formal for us. I wasn't sure if they gave us the option of just cocktail and hors'douvres, were you able to speak to someone about that? Although I am still undecided as to whether we are having our wdding in punta cana if we do we would love to have it at Dreams!

I can relate, I too am having a difficult time choosing a resort =/

hello to all the future brides, this site has been such an amazing source of information! i am in the beginning stages of wedding planning (date is set for August 22, 2013) and my fiancee and I initially thought we would be having our wedding in Nassau Bahamas. We did all our research (and by we I mean me and got in contact with an amazing wedding coordinator who put together this great package.We found out that many things out there, including food and drinks, are sooooo expensive. After talking to a few people we decided it wouldn't hurt to research Punta Cana and I'm so glad I did! There appears to be tons of resorts and although all this research is overwhelming it's nice to have a lot of different resorts to choose from. It also looks as though we will be getting a lot more for our money, than in Nassau. At this point i am heavily leaning towards having our wedding in punta cana and a lot of it is because of this site. I am nervous however because I am reading how many future brides appear to have difficulty getting in contact with wedding coordinators and finalizing details. My biggest fear is that things won't get done and my OCD side is having an especially hard time with the response time. It's great to hear that everyone is having a great experience so far, look forward to reading many more posts! Again, congratulations to you all!!! Any advice from those experiencing the same thing would be greatly appreciated

Hello to all the future Brides! Congratulations to all of you, I agree with you 100% that choosing the resort and wedding location is very stressful. I am still debating whether or not to stick to our plan to get married in Nassau, Bahamas or change my location to the Dominican Republic. I have been doing tons of research on the Dominican Republic and it seems as though everything is SO much cheaper than in the Bahamas. It looks as though your dollars will stretch a lot further out there. The only thing I'm concerned about is the length of travel time it takes to get there and plus we have already had some people express their thoughts and concerns in regards to choosing the Dominican Republic. I hope that if I do decide to go with a location in Punta Cana that I will be able to utilize all the expertise on these forums! happy planning =)

Hello to all the future brides! I am in the beginning stages of planning our wedding in Nassau, Bahamas. I am working with Anne Marie from Weddings in the Bahamas and so far it is going well. Has anyone had any experience working with her? My fiancee and I have been going back and forth on our wedding date for weeks and have finally settled on August 22, 2013. I have been researching the weather out there, endlessly and have read many different things regarding the heat and rain during this time but when I spoke with Anne Marie she said that the weather has been very unpredictable lately and that typically although it is hot in August it tends to cool down in the evening and rain does not usually last for more than 15 minutes at a time. Given all this I am still really concerned about the date and I was wondering if anyone has some insight they would care to share that might ease my nerves a bit Thank you!

I think we will be staying at the Atlantis as well, I have been calling/ e-mailing resorts to get group rates and although Sheraton and Wyndham provided good group rates the wedding coordinator informed us they are undergoing construction and she does not know when they will be complete. We were hesitant to book our wedding for August because I hear that month gets a lot of rain but apparently the weather has been inconsistent and it's a hit or miss either way so we decided to go for it. We got a preliminary proposal from "wedding in the bahamas" and my fiancee and I feel pretty good about them after speaking to Linda for about an hour. We are going to have our reception at Luciano's as well and probably going to be putting a down payment on The Cloisters within the next 2 months! I have finally been able to settle on my colors, as well: royal blue, light pink and camel and my sister is designing my invitations, save the dates, reception cards, etc. so we are moving along pretty well. I wasn't sure if maybe I am doing too much, too early but I don't want my procrastination to get the best of me. I really admire those that are planning their weddings without the assistance of a coordinator, I felt so lost in the beginning I didn't even know where to start and I couldn't really pinpoint my vision but I am slowly coming up with a nice one. I have found that Pinterest is great because it allows you to see everything on a "board" which helps in narrowing down ideas!

Hello to all the future brides! What an exciting time, I just got engaged approximately 1 month ago and it seems that I cannot stop looking at wedding sites, magazines and talking about my vision in general. My fiancee and I are hoping to have our wedding in Nassau, Bahamas and are looking at different wedding planners and packages to see which is more cost effective and will fit within our budget. It's difficult to explain the feelings you are dealing with as you go through this process. Looking forward to details on everyone's plans! Glad to see I'm not alone =)

That sounds great! congratulatins to you, that is something less to worry about! It's crazy how quickly things change, we moved our date to August 22, 2013 and are looking into working with Anne Marie from weddings in the bahamas. She appears to be great! She has answered all my quesitons and concerns and has really put me at ease as far as how she goes about helping the bride pla the wedding and whatnot. We are still looking at room rates, as well. We had looked into Punta Cana (which looks gorgeous, by the way) but the consensus appears to be the Bahamas, happy planning and I look forward to hearing how the process is going for you!

Congratulations to all the future brides! My fiancee and I just chose our date! August 22, 2013 in the Bahamas! I have been talking with Anne Marie of "wedding in the bahamas" and she has been really great in answering all my questions and concerns, we are thinking of using her as our planner, if anyone has any information to share as far as whether they have used her services? All the information I have read thus far appears to be positive, and we are also thinking of getting married at the Cloisters and having a reception at Luciano's afterward. We are very excited that we have our date but are somewhat concerned about the weather but I guess since it is the Bahamas the weather is always unpredictable. I am in the very beginning stages of planning and feel somewhat overwhelmed at the thought of having to execute this wedding next year. I am not sure what resort we are staying in but I have recieved great group rates for Sheraton, Wyndham, Hilton and Atlantis so far, looking forward to hearing your experiences and going through this with others who may be experiencing some of the same things I am! =)

Hi, new to this site, glad I came across it! Congratulations to all the brides to be, we just got engaged and are thinking of having our wedding in the Bahamas in October 2013. This is very new to me and I just have no idea where to start. I know I want to use a wedding planner since I'm in California and will need all the help I can get. I have contacted a few planners already but I just don't want to rush into choosing one because I want to start planning. I think the toughest thing so far is actually choosing a destination and resort that will fit in accordance to our budget. Look forward to sharing this process with you all and hearing from those who are in the advanced stages of planning