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@@Jc14 no problem! I'm so happy to help. I think I had questions up until we left, but I think that's just the way it goes with destination weddings - thank goodness for this forum!!! 1. We were in 3000 (3131 actually, right at the end). Several of our guests were in the 2000 building though. Both are next to the beach, but 3000 is next to the pool too. 2. I wish I could remember, but I don't know the name of the buffet. Looking at the website now, I *think* it's this one: http://www.palladiumhotelgroup.com/en/punta-cana/grand-palladium-punta-cana-resort-spa/restaurants/arrecife-restaurant/ I'm pretty sure this is the one where we had ours, and was our general go-to because it was in our section: http://www.palladiumhotelgroup.com/en/punta-cana/grand-palladium-punta-cana-resort-spa/restaurants/behique-restaurant/ 3. No, they didn't come (they're usually with the weddings on the day, and there was a wedding pretty much every day while we were there). My cousins were our photographers though (they have their own studio) and since they work so many weddings they helped us work it all out. ACTUALLY, that's my one kinda regret from the wedding. I run events for my profession, so I kinda felt like I was working a job on my wedding day. If you can delegate someone to be your time keeper, I would definitely suggest that! 4. The line is only long(ish) for the reservations. But seriously. The bacon wrapped bananas. I'm drooling a little just thinking of them (someone get a picture of them for me, PLEASE!). 5. The lobby bar is great. Great location, live entertainment (although... we took over the lobby on our last night, we had 70+ people watching the Habs playoff game on a laptop, the entertainment crew gave up on trying to sing until after the game. It was AMAZING). The pool bar closes a bit earlier. For us, our plane was delayed on the way down, so while we were going to do cocktails before dinner the first night, it didn't work out, and after dinner everyone went their own way. I'd suggest if you have a change of plans, announce it on the bus on the way to the hotel before you all get your room keys and everything. The hotel will also provide you with a list of all your guests, their rooms, and their extensions in case you need to reach them (super handy). In our case there were a few rooms switches too, but that was all worked out by day 2. 6. The sports bar wasn't the most exciting one - sadly they didn't have the Montreal games. It was indoors though, which was good for those with mosquito bites.

Hi all, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I can't believe it's already October - all the 2015 weddings are almost done! @@Jc14 I'd be happy to answer your questions! 1) The garden gazebo is in the Punta Cana section. It's really close to the beach, so when you're standing on it you can still see the water and get the breeze. 2) We stayed in the Punta Cana section - we could actually see the gazebo from our room! 3) We mostly went to the buffet in the PC section because it was close. There's one right on the water with seashell chandeliers that's quite beautiful (I forget the name of it). While there's no formal rehearsal planned we just did our own then went to the buffet in the PC section (easiest place to meet up). 4) It depends which restaurant and the size of the group. They only start taking reservations as of 5:30, and people line up as of 4:45 to get a spot at the time they want. Some of them will still do drop in (I believe we did this for the Tapas one), but we were only 6 that went to that one. The japanese one has the longest lines, but that's mostly for the show. If you do a drop in, they can give you a buzzer (which is what we did for the mexican one). For the record, I STILL find myself dreaming about the bacon wrapped bananas at the tapas restaurant. SO SO SO good.

@@Jc14 we did our guest book during the dinner. The only problem with that was that not everyone saw it or took the time to sign. If you want to do it during the ceremony, the guests will be brought to the ceremony location about half an hour before, so there's definitely time. I'm also pretty sure that you can ask the wedding coordinator to move it over to your reception spot for you. As for everyone trying to reach Carolina, I think this time of year is her time off. Last summer it was really hard to hear from her too.

@@shevette925, what a stress for your dress! I'm glad it worked out for you. @@Jc14, I could be wrong, but I'm about 95% sure that the restaurants typically do play a background music. At the steak restaurant the band trio also goes around to serenade people. If you want to do your own decorations you can. After your meeting with the coordinator she'll come by your room to pick up your supplies. If you really have a specific layout you want, I'd suggest taking a picture of how you want it set up. (We did a table for our favours, so here's how they set it up). The beach bash IS short, which concerned me a little too. As I've said, I think it's because of a by-law of the hotel regarding noise. That being said, by the time we actually wrapped up it was closer to 11:30-midnight and most people were exhausted from being in the sun all day. The other thing is that because you're actually dancing in the sand, it takes a LOT more energy out of you! Everyone's legs were feeling it the next day. We brought our own music, but had the guy play some of his at the end.

@@Jc14, no it's included. There wasn't any food though - not sure how important snacks are to you! We didn't do a signature cocktail, as I wasn't sure how that time of day would play out I left it up to our guests to order what they wanted. The beer was amazing, and quite a few people got into the "coco locos" which was like a pina colada without pineapple but with cinnamon.

Hi @@Jc14! So good to see some action here again!!! - We didn't do a cocktail menu, but if you chose not to do something they arrange for a section of the lobby bar to be used as a cocktail hour for your guests with drinks. - We sent out welcome kits before we left, partly to avoid figuring out those logistics, and partly so that we weren't carrying too much weight in our suitcases. How about doing your bags at your first dinner? The resort is so large that it was easiest for all of us to meet at the buffet the first nigh, so that could be an easy option?

Hi @@njn33rocks, The way most of the à la carte restaurants worked was that people could make reservations every night as of 5. People usually started lining up at the good places at 4:30, even to make reservations for later. You can show up later, but there isn't a guarantee they'll have room at your ideal time.

@@ElisabethC, this site seems to have quite a few French signage ideas: http://www.prettywedding.fr/nos-realisations-en-photo/

Hi @@ElisabethC, I didn't see very much - I pretty much translated all our stuff myself or with help from friends. If you know exactly what you want let me know and I can see what I can do

Some cultures do a hand blessing ceremony (http://bridalmusings.com/2011/06/ceremony-reading-blessing-of-the-hands/), or pass the rings around for guests to warm with their love/thoughts.

@@Jc14 - WOWZA! You managed in 2 weeks what took me MONTHS - you're amazing! - Good question... I think if your group is large enough they'd make you pick a restaurant that was larger rather than automatically make it private... but I'm not sure. - I think the restaurants depend on your size of group. In my opinion, the Tapas (tapeo) and the Japanese restaurants had the best food. - It depends on what look/vision you have for your photos. I didn't particularly like the resort's photographer because I found the photos not particularly creative. HDC does a lot with lighting and colours, and while I loved their shots I thought I'd want something a little more traditional. After looking at a few others (http://www.photosouvenirpuntacana.com/), we considered the prices and realized it cost the same to pay for the trip for a photographer from home. My cousin and her husband are professional photographers, so we paid for their trip and it added a little extra sentiment. - I read the beef medallions and the brownie were good too. Our chocolate cake at our wedding was AMAZING (and like I said I'm not a cake person). - Reception decorations are more elaborate for the head table. Besides that it's just what the restaurants are set with, otherwise it's extra (to my understanding). - They did an itinerary for us and delivered it to guests, but I asked if they could because our ceremony time changed. I don't know if this is standard, but they didn't charge us for it. There were little cards at all the dishes that listed what it was (we had a buffet), and there weren't table numbers. I also didn't have an assigned seating chart, but if you have one they'll set it up for you. - We did a legal ceremony, so can't help there- sorry! @Jc1 Oops, I wanted to attach this for you. It's the price list for Photo Souvenir, https://2011photopackages.wordpress.com/ (Note, it cost us about $2900 for ours, but we didn't pay an outside vendor fee and they shot for almost 12 hours, AND did an extra "Just Married" shoot.)

Way to go @@Jc14! We sent out Save the Dates a year in advance without a set hotel or a specific date, just a "Hey we're getting married in May in the DR" so that people could start saving if they needed to. As soon as we confirmed with our TA our hotel and date (end of July), we ordered our invitations from http://preciousinvitations.com/and had them within 2 weeks (in English and in French). They were sent out by mid-late August, and we had people RSVP by booking their tickets by the end of September.

Sorry @@Jc14, I thought someone had answered already. We did the legal ceremony, but it cost $600 for the officiant. Everything goes through the wedding coordinator at the hotel. We didn't meet the judge until the ceremony itself, and did a rehearsal/run-through on our own without coordination from the hotel. - Yes, the booking # is from your TA - You can write approximate amounts. Carolina will send you an excel sheet to fill out that you submit 3 months prior to the wedding to confirm the details, and you go over it all again when you get there, so things can change.

Sorry ladies - long weekend! @@Jc14 We didn't miss the music at all. We planned on meeting in the Lobby bar for cocktails the first night, but with the plane being delayed we all just ended up at the buffet at the Punta Cana hotel. Afterwards it was a bit tiring because people kept asking me where everything was and what was next and I was like "you're on vacation! Do what you want!". Also, it was hard because I didn't know much more about the hotel than they did as it was just our first night. About halfway through the trip people started organically meeting up at the pool right outside our rooms around 3 pm daily for drinks and to catch up in the shade. It was perfect because it just happened naturally. Then people would split up to try the different restaurants for dinner. Most nights we'd meet again in the Sports bar (and TRY to convince them to get the Habs games... unfortunately they didn't have the channel, but if we'd had a cable to connect the phone to the TV they would have hooked it up for it). Otherwise the group of "younger" people (aka our friends and cousins) would end up hanging out most nights. For the flowers I didn't even explore it with her because I told her I brought my own and it was all taken care of, I just wanted to replace the package ones with small centerpieces. Our silk/real-touch flowers were PERFECT. No one knew they were fake. Our friend's husband was running errands for us all day and kept asking if he needed to put the toss bouquet in water. For our flowers we bought: 1 Bride: As Shown in Listing. Light Yellow Wrap. $125 1 MoH Bouquet: 7" Wide Matching Bride. $55. 2 Bridesmaids: 6" Wide Matchin Bride. $45. 3 Boutonnieres: **Green Orchid** with Grass Sprays and Ribbon Wrap. $8 each. 2 Wrist Corsages: Matching Order. $14 each. 1 Wedding Flower Girl Pomander 1 FREE Toss Bouquet It came up to $350 with taxes, but without the exchange rate. The flowers still look gorgeous, and the bridesmaids loved them (and have them decorating their offices or homes now). Also, we didn't end up doing an excursion. After the wedding I was just jealous of everyone getting to spend time on the beach so that's what we did. A number of people did the catamaran cruise and loved it - but it took up a whole day (they left at 8 am and only got back to the resort at 7 pm). Ah, just found a picture where you have a better look at my flowers.

@@Jc14, sadly there wasn't a sound system. To rent one, it's an extra $340 (or 360... something like that), so not something we felt would be worth the investment. The trio band DID stop in and play a few songs though, and we had a little activity for them to do at their tables, but besides that it was just people talking and the ocean - which was actually pretty nice. The beach bash was on the beach for us, about 100 ft from where we had dinner - but another wedding while we were there had it on the deck. I think it depends on the size of the group. Dinner was a buffet - and delicious! My cousin is a professional photographer, so we paid for her and her husband's trip (and avoided an outside vendor fee). They're AMAZING, and even did an "after-wedding" shoot with us wearing our new Mr. and Mrs. tops.

@@Meandhim, it went something like this: 8:45 am - Myself and bridesmaids met photographer for breakfast at the buffet 9 am - Matron of Honour started hair at salon (her hair is about waist length and THICK, so we gave her extra time) 10 am - Other bridesmaids started (it should have started at 9:30, but the MOH's hair took so long) 10 am - Groom tried to find breakfast 10 am - My dress was delivered to the room - no boys allowed in from this point on! 11 am - Groom's grandmother got her hair done 11:30 am - Mother of Groom and my step mom got their hair done Noon - I started my hair Everyone did make up after, the groom's mom left to get ready around 1. 1 pm - Groom getting ready photos in his parents' room 1:30 pm - my step-mom and the grandmother of the groom left the spa to get ready 2 pm - finally out! Adventure to race back to the room VERY RUSHED GETTING READY MOMENTS 2:15 pm - We told all the guests to meet in the lobby 2:30 pm - The train picked up the groom and guests at the hotel lobby and brought them to the gazebo 2:40 pm - My dad arrived with my family for final getting ready moments 2:55 pm - We headed to our golf cart. At this point I was PANICKING that we'd be late. 3 pm - CEREMONY, NO MORE STRESS!!! YAHOO! 3:30 pm - Toast, readings, and group photo 3:45 pm - Family photos - we have big families so this took awhile, especially with the kids 4:30 - 6:00 pm - Bride and Groom and bridal party shots, a few water breaks and what not in there too 6:30 pm - Beach BBQ Dinner 8:00 pm - Cake cutting 8:30 pm - MOH speech 9 pm - Beach bash starts 9- 9:15 pm - First dance, mother-son, father-daughter dances, bouquet toss and garter toss 9:15 -11 pm - Dancing! After the wedding some guests went and did their own thing, others went to bed

@@Jc14 - it was originally scheduled for 4 pm, but the judge bumped it up to 3

@@Meandhim good question! The beach and the food were great... but I think I have a few favourite moments. - Every afternoon around 3 pm our group would naturally end up at the pool. There was a point where it was about 30 of us (our of the 40 adults) that were all there, having drinks and chilling in the shady end of the water. There was also a foam party one day, so that just made it even better. - The night before the wedding my bridesmaids and I went on an adventure and found the "white party" on the beach that the hotel was running. It was amazing. - One night all the "younger" people in our party went to the adults only pool to drink. The bar is right in the water, so it was fun/different. - Our last night we finally took out a laptop and streamed the Montreal playoff game. ALL of our group, plus about 25 others all gathered around and were cheering for the Habs... that was amazing. - The wine and cheese on the beach was a REALLY nice time just to connect with my new hubby and spend time just the 2 of us. @@Jc14 we used Orleans travel here in Ottawa.

Hey! Oh good, I'm so glad I can help! 1. Overall, yes the good was great. Except for the service at the Mexican restaurant, I don't really have complaints about the food. 2. We all stayed at the Punta Cana section. Most parts are right near the beach, and they recently updated the rooms (check for pictures on their website, the walls and comforters are completely different). 3. We used a travel agent, but went through about 5 before we found one that effectively did the job. For the most part we found the agents not very helpful, but at least it diverted any questions about the travel. And believe me, people have questions! 4. That I couldn't say for sure, but my assumption would be that it would be extra. 5. We did an online RSVP with our website and confirmed with our travel agent. 6. It came like that! Perfect, right? 7. What time of year are you thinking? Changing that may drastically change the costs for your guests - it was definitely a large factor for us.

- The cake - Welcome plate of fruit in the room - Bridesmaid's hair - Beach wine and cheese - Welcome in the room - View from the window - Welcome in the room - Welcome in the room - Wine and cheese - Myself and the tables (I don't mind posting a picture of me, even though it's not a good one... but I didn't have any others without the other guests). If you have any other questions I'm more than happy to answer anything I can

OKAY… so here we go! I can honestly say that I have ZERO regrets about our decisions. It’s easy to get caught up with second guessing yourself, but I couldn’t be happier with how everything worked out and our experiences at the hotel. I’m going to be completely honest in my review, but I really need to highlight that anything slightly negative is greatly outweighed by the positive. FAVOURS Our favours were bright green sunglasses with our names and date on them, and I can honestly say they were probably the best investment of the trip. We got married early in the week (on the Tuesday), and so everyone wore them for the rest of the time we were there. It was perfect because we could easily spot people from our group when we were at the beach. FLOWERS Our flowers were real-touch silk from Wedideas on Etsy and I can’t rave about them enough. The husband of my Matron of Honour was running our errands the day of the wedding and he kept asking if he should put the toss bouquet in water – he didn’t even realize they were silk! And because they were fake, they didn’t wilt in the heat. THE FLIGHT AND TRAVEL On the flight on the way there the plane didn’t actually have a closet for my dress, as our travel agent had promised. We flew Air Transat, and it ended up having to go in the overhead bin. The dress had a lot of netting and lace, and I had it steamed at the hotel anyways, but it would definitely have been worse if the dress was silk or chiffon. At the airport, we were picked up by our own bus that took us to the hotel. They even had a sign with our names and Wedding on it. At the hotel they had a table organized to get everyone their room keys ASAP and gave us a non-alcoholic drink and cool wet towels to refresh. We asked for a list with everyone’s room numbers, which they provided us. ROOMS We saw that one of our friends didn’t get the Deluxe Room they had paid for, so we had them change rooms. Otherwise, there we slight confusions with the bed arrangements in the rooms. Some people who had wanted two beds (my brother and his son) got a king size bed, and other people who wanted a king got two beds. This was all sorted out and fixed the next morning, but if you argue enough you can do it that night. The parents didn’t originally get a room upgrade (which was in our package IF available). My dad followed up and got one, but the groom’s parents didn’t mind their room. Our room was… AMAZING. We got the upgrade included in the package, and we had a four poster bed with canopy, the Jacuzzi tub in the room, a balcony looking over one of the pools, and ocean view from the windows. It was also right next to the gazebo where we got married, and near the beach where we did our beach bash – PERFECT! No but seriously… Unreal. WEDDING PREP Our meeting with Kenia was on Monday at 10:30 am. We took a golf cart to get there as it can be a decent walk from the Punta Cana lobby. At the meeting we reviewed all the details from our package that we had chosen, as well as a few additional things, like choosing the cake flavor, head table, etc. I didn’t do one, but if you arrange a seating plan they’ll make it work for you. SURPRISE!!! At the meeting we found out that the judge had actually bumped our wedding up from 4 pm to 3 pm. AHH! But Kenia called the spa and got all of our appointments changed, and typed up a new itinerary that she personally delivered to all of the guests in their rooms. YOU ARE IN GOOD HANDS, I promise! After the meeting we went back to the room and I put out all the decorations and everything I had brought, along with the instructions for how I wanted it on the bed. Kenia picked it up along with my dress to be steamed when she delivered the itineraries. At 3 pm I had a trial appointment at the spa for my hair and makeup. I’m really glad I did, because while they were phenomenal, they did struggle with the language. The best thing is to have pictures of what you want, and I’d suggest bringing your own lipstick. They work with hair a little differently, so I was nervous at first, but everyone’s hair turned out beautifully. THE WEDDING Was perfect. It was hot for the guests in the seating area, but on the gazebo it was breezy and felt really nice. They translated it into English and French, so our ceremony was a little longer than usual (about 20 minutes instead of 15). Coming back down the aisle my heel got stuck in the stairs, so I just kicked it off and put it back on after. We were greeted with the sparkling toast right away, so try to have a plan for where to get your guests to come to. We didn’t, and were engulfed with everyone wishing us congratulations right away, so I’d have a backup plan. Since the ceremony was so short, we had our sisters do a reading (one in French and one in English) during the toasts. Kenia brought the mic over, so it was perfect. We then did pictures with the families, bridal party, and just us. As each group finished their pictures they went to the lobby bar for cocktails. DINNER Was probably the best meal we had the whole time. We did the private dinner on the beach (on the deck near the snack bar), which was beyond amazing. We were just with our group so it was intimate and fun. We didn’t pay for music, but printed “I Spy” games, and all around you heard laughter and people having a good time. The bonus of it being an older hotel is the mature trees that are everywhere on the deck. There are lantern lights that hang from it and it was beautiful. The food… I know I already said it, but was SOOOOO good. They really had too much of everything, some people even went back and had up to 7 half-lobsters. Everything was delicious. We did two flavours for the cake – the top layer was chocolate and the bottom vanilla (I let my hubby have free range with the cake). We had a piece of the chocolate cake for our piece, and while I don’t usually like cake… everything you heard was right. It was SOOO good. My sister-in-law even had 2 pieces – one of each flavour! For decorations, the tables were all covered with white table cloths. Since we had our own flowers, they replaced the ones in the package with a small centerpiece for each table. The two flowers pieces on each side of the gazebo were brought over on either side of the cake table, and the bridesmaids put their bouquets on the cake table during dinner. Our table had additional chair covers, as well as the glass bowl with seashells and a floating candle. BEACH BASH Also a great choice. We had ours right in the sand, but a wedding the next night did it where we had our dinner, so I guess it depends on how many people you have. The decorations include lanterns with candles on the ground, lounge chairs, and round globe lanterns (I think I’m describing that well). Additional snacks were brought out, but most people were so full from dinner that they didn’t eat much more. We had our own music, but there was a guy there to navigate it. At the end we had him play some of his music. It ended right on time at 11. All of the events at the hotel end at this time (except for the casino and the disco), so I think there’s a by-law about noise after 11. Honestly a lot of people were tired from the sun and dancing in the sand at this point anyways, so most people went to bed or to shower. A few people from our group went to the lobby bar for more drinks, then to the sports bar for late night snacks. ADDITIONAL THINGS ABOUT THE TRIP Having a very minor understanding of Spanish is immensely helpful. My friend’s husband lost his wedding band on the beach while playing volleyball, but he when we communicated what we were looking for it didn’t take long for tons of people to help find it. It took a few hours and paying someone with a metal detector, but he found it! Lesson to be learned – leave your rings locked in your room if you can. The buffet at the Punta Cana hotel is generally good, but isn’t always what they say is the themed night. Some of our group went there on the last night (which turned out to be “banquet themed”) and said it was better than any of the restaurants. The Japanese restaurant was probably the best one. The food was awesome and the show was very entertaining. The Mexican restaurant was OK food wise, but the service was sub-par. The steak house was good (my dad’s favourite), and I heard good things about the Italian. My cousins who are vegetarians said the Asian inspired restaurant (Bamboo) had the best choices for them, and I think we loved Tapeo (the tapas) the best. While this one was sea food heavy, they had a few choices that were to die for (ex. bacon wrapped bananas… it sounds weird… but good enough to order seconds). The mangoes... oh the mangoes. Our guests were obsessed with the deliciousness of the mangoes. Unless you order your own bottle at additional costs, the house wine isn't fantastic. The beer on the other hand... some of the best beer I've ever had. We did get mosquito bites, so definitely bring bug spray, and maybe even after-bite. I should mention, most people had slight stomach issues at one point of the trip or another, so I would suggest bringing Imodium or something of the sort. Nothing too serious, and like I said, the food was amazing overall, but definitely something to keep in mind. Lastly, while we only made it one day of the trip, the buffet on the beach (closer to the bavaro section) was STUNNING, and by far my favourite place we had lunch. The chandeliers were made of seashells, and it was all open and right near the beach… you could SEE the water from your table if you go to the edge of the restaurant. What more could you ask for? ONE LAST THING As part of our package, we had a wine and cheese one night on the beach. It was at the altar where they usually do the wedding if you do it on the beach. The wine was a GOOD bottle, and the cheese and fresh fruits were to die for. It was very romantic, and a good excuse to spend time away from our guests.

AHHHHHHHHH so I picked up my dress today at lunch! Now, I had always pulled my hair into a low bun when I had it on before, and I bought a flower clip to add a little something... but today I had curled my hair and left it down and it looked SOOO good with the dress! It's so last minute now to change my mind... and I won't meet with the hairdressers there until the day before the wedding.... AHHH!

@@Jc14 we're doing the Waves of Love with the private beach dinner and the beach bash party after

Wow! I wasn't expecting such a great response to my hopeless plea! You ladies are AMAZING!

Thanks @@Meandhim! I'll be sure to get some good ones to share. Is there anything in particular you ladies would like me to get for you?