shevette925

@@Elishah, Go with your gut! I went through literally the same thing. Woke up in the middle of the night with stress dreams because I was so worried about the hotel ceremony and not being able to personalize my wedding and the cost with all of the vendor fees, etc. So I woke up on morning emailed jellyfish and put down a deposit. And I at no time regret my decision. I can't speak for any of the other venues, but jellyfish was phenomenal and all of my guest told us the entire weekend that our wedding was the best ever. And I've heard similar reviews about the other venues. And the prices are comparable to resorts and I think you get more value for your money. Hopes this helps!

@@ann123, We were originally going to do a catholic ceremony in the DR but decided against it ultimately for a few reasons including the massive amount of paperwork and the fact that all of the Catholic priests in the DR are spanish speaking only, so some one would have to translate the ceremony and we felt that would be awkward. So we had a very small catholic legal ceremony at home one week before we left for the DR and then our ceremony in the DR was symbolic. @@Jc14, the weather was perfect the whole time we were there. There were a few flash rain showers in the evening and midday, but they never lasted more than 15 minutes. We thought it was going to rain right before my ceremony and almost moved the ceremony in doors, but the weather held out and it was perfect.

Ok ladies, this is going to be a long review but I hope that it will be helpful to everyone, since this board has been so helpful to me in the entire planning process. Keep in mind, we stayed at the Grand Palladium Bavaro Section, but had our ceremony at Jellyfish. 1. Travel Agency – Luxe Destination Weddings · I would say that overall we were very happy with Luxe. There were a few snafus along the way, which I think goes along with travel planning for a very large group (we had a total of 71 guests) but overall they did a great job. · They arranged all the group booking arrangements and airport transportation for us and most of our guests. They also provide flights but we didn’t really use them for this because our guest were coming from all over. · The thing that I really loved was they offer wedding planning services, so all of my communication with vendors, jellyfish, and Carolina were done through the wedding planner. This was huge for me because I just didn’t have the time to communicate with all the vendors, so I loved this aspect of using Luxe. And my wedding planner was crucial in making sure that Jellyfish knew my vision and bringing it to life. So I would highly recommend Luxe for their wedding planning service · The cons- My guest sometimes complained of difficulty reaching our travel agent and we were promised certain concessions by the hotel because of the large group that we had, but they had weird stipulations attached. So my advice would be to make sure that (in general) when a resort offers concessions to your group, make sure you are aware of all the stipulations before you sign the agreement. 2.Grand Palladium –Bavaro · Firstly, the Grand Palladium is HUUUUGGGEEE! There are 4 sections (Punta Cana, Palace, Bavaro, and Royal). And each section is large enough to be its own standalone resort. We spent most of our time exploring the Bavaro section and the Punta Cana sections (they are directly adjacent). The Royal section is adults only and exclusive to club members, but the spa is located in the Royal section. · We stayed in the Bavaro section, Building 19, which is right by the beach and the room was excellent. We splurged and got a luxury suite since we honeymooned there and it was one of the best decisions we made. The room was huge and had two floors with a rooftop hot tub. So nice! We visited a few of our guest who stayed in the standard rooms and they were also very nice and spacious, so you really can’t go wrong · The biggest complaint about the Bavaro section is that it is very easy to get lost. The walkways are secluded and winding, which is very relaxing and romantic during the day, but at night it is easy to get lost. I think every one of our guest got lost on the premises for at least 20 minutes! Most of us were able to laugh at ourselves but it can be very frustrating and the maps are pretty useless. · The food is overall pretty good. We mostly ate at the buffets but went to a few of the a la cartes. We went to the steakhouse and the Japanese restaurant. No reservations needed for the a la carte but know that the wait can be long if you don’t get there early. A few of our guest really liked the Brazilian and the Mexican restaurants. · Overall the resort is beautiful, the beach is wonderful. The staff is very nice, we made a ton of new friend with the staff because we were there for so long. The only complaint is that some of the bars make their drinks a little weak (ask for mas fuerte) and there are very pushy vendors on the beach and on the premises, trying to sell you their crap. · Last tip I have is if you are honeymooning there, use the Grand Palladium honeymoon wishes as part of your gift registry! We received so many honeymoon gifts that we stayed 10 days and when we checked out, our bill was 28 dollars! We used our gifts to go on excursions, we had a romantic dinner on the beach as well as other things, and this really made the honeymoon special. 3.Carolina and the Wedding Team · So I had very limited interaction with Carolina, but they were all positive. She was in charge of delivering our welcome bags and she coordinated our welcome receptions and farewell brunch at the buffet restaurants. She also booked most of our excursions since the honey moon wishes credits go directly to her. She even personally supervised the setup of our romantic beach dinner. She is a very busy woman! And knows what she is doing, so you all are in good hands. 4.Photograher –Karina Jensen · I only have good things to say about Karina. She. Is. Amazing! And so lovely to work with. She is so calm and laid back and just brought that energy with her. I was worried because she typically works alone, so I was concerned that she wouldn’t be able to capture everything we wanted by herself, but she is a rockstar and I highly recommend her. She showed us a few pictures as she was taking them and I know we are going to have amazing pictures to cherish for the rest of our lives. 5.Pastor- Mark (Markus) Lykins · We used Pastor Lykins, he was great. So personable and heartfelt. A lot of our guest thought that we had known him from before because he teared up during our ceremony and a lot of our guest were touched by his ceremony. My only regret is not having a family member or friend record the ceremony. 6.Ceremony- Jellyfish Restaurant. · Okay, so I know this is not the Jellyfish board, but I have to mention that the Jellyfish team is awesome. Everything from the food, the drinks, the flowers, the décor, was perfect! They took my vision and made it real. I would get married there again in a heartbeat. The only negative (which was very small) was our original DJ was sick for our wedding and sent in a replacement. She was very good, small mistakes with the playlist, but she accommodated all of our request, even downloading songs on the spot as we requested it. If anybody has specific questions about the Jellyfish, Im happy to answer them. Okay I think those are the major things. I didn’t want to make this post too long. But know that you all have made a good decision. The resort is beautiful and I saw a lot of weddings on the beach while we were there. The wedding staff at the resort is very professional and they know what they are doing. Let me know if you guys have any questions, I will do my best to answer them.

Hey Ladies!! I'm back! I have so much to say about our wedding and our experience, but overall everything was AMAZING!!!! Our family and friends had such an amazing time and we have no regrets. Everything was as close to perfect as it could possibly be. I will be posting a long review of everything but I want to put it in a word document so I dont lose it lol. I will be posting that soon. @@Meandhim happy wedding week! I hope you enjoy your day!

@@dreia85, I'm also interested in that list. Can I PM you my email address? We are having a welcome reception at the buffet restaurant, they are just sectioning off an area for us, so that may be an option if you guys have a larger group. Planning is going well, almost there only 74 days away! The biggest thing that I am trying to work on now is shipping alcohol to the Jelly fish for our favors. Fedex will ship alcohol internationally but only from a licensed seller to a licensed distributor. So I just need to find a vendor to ship it from this end. But Ive given myself a deadline and then I' mjust gonna scrap the idea. How is planning going for you guys. @@Meandhim, we're getting really close, eeek!

@@calgarybride2015, Thanks for that advice. Yep no names, lol. I've even tried to analyze the postal electronic stamps to decipher what states the envelopes were processed in to narrow it down. It's actually quite sad lol. I was trying to be as formal as possible and send everyone an invitation, even those who have already booked a room so that they can have keep sake, so I can't decipher if its an RSVP Ive already known about or a new one, since some of guest may decide not to book with our TA. I'm afraid I may have made the whole process harder on myself. I just sent my TA an email asking her to send a quick friendly reminder to people to put their names on the RSVP card, so hopefully she will be able to do that. I just don't understand it, who wouldn't write their name? It boggles my mind

@@abeautyandthebusiness, We are staying at the Grand Palladium and having the ceremony at Jellyyfish

Is anyone else having this problem?? I recently put all of my invitations in the mail and started to get excited as our RSVPs are being mailed back. But so far I've received two RSVP cards with NO NAMES!!!!! I don't get it because the card says NAMES in bold with a long line underneath. It so frustrating. I'm not sure what else to do about this except hold them and wait until the RSVP deadline and call the people who we haven't heard from to find out if it is there RSVP. Does any one have any other advice? I also vaguely remember someone suggesting that I put numbers on the back of each RSVP and make a master list of who is being sent which card, that way if they forget to put their name, you know who its from. I wish I had remembered this advice when I was making my invitations. But maybe it will help someone else here.

Hey, @@abeautyandthebusiness, yes they definitely run on island time, especially if your wedding is in 2017. I'm getting married there in November and its still difficult to get a quick response. The best thing to do is be patient. They have weddings essentially every day during the high season, which is now. But they are quicker to respond than the resorts, in my opinion. Also if you have a burning questions, just be persistent, you may have to send a follow up email if you don't hear back. Also you may find it helpful to use the time now to focus on other aspects of the wedding, clothing, invitations, save the dates, etc. You have a ton of time so try not to get to frustrated about their slow response.

Hey ladies! The board has been a bit quiet lately, I figured everyone was full force into planning like myself. Knocked a lot of things off of my to do list in the past few weeks and trouble shooting a few things. First I found out that the store where I purchased my gown had went into bankruptcy and after a panicked 48hrs was able to get my dress (not the dress I paid for but the floor sample, that's a longer story). But I have a beautiful gown none the less and awaiting my first alterations appointment. Then my mom flew into town, and we spent 6 days doing all things wedding. Made all of the invitations, made my toss bouquet, found my dress for the legal ceremony (renting from rent the runway) and found my shoes. Not to mention the many trips to Micheal's and paper source, so the last few weeks have been a blur to say the least. I hope everyone is doing okay with all the planning and not getting too stressed out. @@Jc14, the drop fee for the welcome bags is standard. I was told 3 dollars per bag, but I agree 2 dollars per bag quickly adds up. I'm still debating if I want to do a welcome bag or just a quick welcome letter with the weekend itinerary for all the same reasons that @@Kerrierf mentioned. If I decide to do bags we will hand them out to our guest on the 1st night's dinner. We are going to meet everyone in buffet restaurant and have the hotel section off an area for us so that are guests no where to meet. The one thing that I am still really trying to figure out is how to get the mini wine bottles for our favors. I've seen a 4pack of miniature bottles of barefoot wine sell for 3 dollars at my local liquor store, so I find it hard to convince myself to spend 400+ dollars on the liquor sold through Dominican favors. I'm hoping I can order what I want and have it delivered to the resort or directly to the Jellyfish. We'll see How is everyone doing with planning? Updates needed!

I found this website with lots of cute options, similar to what @@nadiakat17 and @@DR2015 mentioned. I think we are going to do the hand washing ceremony. It looks simple, beautiful and meaningful. Thanks for the ideas ladies

Hey ladies, I know a lot of people do the sand ceremony and the unity candle ceremony to symbolize "two becoming one". However, neither of these special ceremonies have really spoken to me and I don't see myself saving a bottle of sand or a candle. Has anyone heard of any other unification ceremonies that they liked?

@@Jc14, I'm actually having my ceremony and reception at the Jellyfish. The vendors fee was one of the reasons why I moved mine off site. Jellyfish doesn't have a fee for vendors. In terms of Carolina's response, I would take it as a loophole. So if your photographer is your "guest" i.e on the guestlist, you pay for their meal at the reception (which you would do anyways), and they stay at the hotel as a guest, then there is no fee. I am pretty certain about that because my wedding planner suggested it as a way to work around the vendors fee.

Yeah I'll probably have my brothers read a passage so they can be involved. I always think to myself what am I gonna do with the sand afterwards?? lol, but I know a lot of people like to have it as a keepsake. I don't think you can use a day pass. It sucks because I think just about a year ago the vendors fee was around 100 dollars, but you know they try to get as much money out of you as they can. Definitely double check with Carolina on the day pass, it won't hurt to ask. But I wouldn't get your hopes up on that one. Honestly, it would probably cost less to pay for one night for your photographer, just a thought.

@@Jc14, No problem! We will be doing the more traditional ceremony. I'm not a huge fan of sand ceremonies, so we will be skipping that. I'm trying to think of something else to do in place of it. Any ideas? Also, I'm pretty sure that you cannot mix and match the decor from two wedding packages. Something about, they have to stay true to the Karen Bussen designs. So if you wanted to mix and match you have to use the Simple Stunning signature package, this is the only way to get around it unfortunately. The vendor fee is 500 USD. Unfortunately the only way to get around this is if your photographer is staying at the resort. You could price it out to see if its less expensive to put your photographer up for a night.

@@Jc14, I just sent you a PM. @@Meandhim I can also send you a PM. Don't want to ruffle any feathers by posting directly in the message board

@@Jc14 Congratulations on getting so much done in such a short period of time! We are using Pastor Mark too. He sent us a copy of his tradional ceremony vs a more contemporary version. We were told we could pick either version and personalize it as much as we like. I can send that too you in case Carolina didnt pass that info on.

@@Kerrierf Congratulations again! So glad your day was so wonderful and you look beautiful! Thanks for the review and all of the great pictures

@@Jc14 Congrats on your engagement! I completely understand your confusion, the timing of save the dates and invitations can be really complicated when there are group booking involved. There are few ways to do it and I think it depends on your TA and where your guest are traveling from. We had a longer engagement than most (17 months) so we tried to spread out information so that guest would have enough time to plan and save money if they had to. So we sent out save the date in August of last year (16 mo prior) with info for our wedding website with the detailed booking info. Our deadline for booking within our group rate was December/January (we extended it for some people) and we got a good number of people put in a deposit. Some people complained because they felt that a year is too far to commit to something, but this worked for us because we wanted to have an estimate of guest sooner rather than later since we invited about 200 guest and we had no idea what kind of response we would get. I will be sending out my invitations this June or July with probably a August RSVP deadline to get our final head count. Our guest that decide to come who did not commit before the group booking deadline will have missed out on the group rate, but they knew that a year ago. I suspect that we will get a few extra guest but not a ton more. This worked for us because our group deal only included hotel since our guest are coming from around the world and there would have been no way to include airfare with our booking deal. Most of our guest travel frequently and are used to making their own travel arrangements, so they did not mind. Hope that's helpful

@@Meandhim Yeah I have a wedding planner through my travel agency. She's been really helpful because she speaks to the vendors on my behalf, reducing a lot of my stress. My work schedule is also really busy, so she keeps the ball rolling when I don't necessarily have the time. So its nice. @@Jc14 I do have a wedding website, but I realized that a lot of our guests haven't really gone through the whole site, I'm hoping that once we get the official invites out that they will begin to use the website more actively. So I will be putting the most important activities on there and hope for the best and word of mouth. The pre-travel brochure is definitely a cute idea. I'll probably pass on it though. My guests are pretty independent and would probably prefer to do their own thing outside of wedding events. Also I'm trying to save on paper products and things going into the mail. Have you all sent out your official invites?

It would probably be about 85-90 bottle of moscato, which is a lot. You all confirmed my suspicion. So I'll have to look into something local or purchasing something in the Duty Free shops. I may even see if I could split the bottles up between my bridal party and parents, but I need to do more research on that. @@Meandhim, a welcome brunch sounds more realistic given how late your guest will be arriving. You could consider having the hotel hand out your welcome bags so you dont have to hunt people down. But I know that can be pricey depending on how many total guest you have, I think its about 5-7 dollars per bag. We were thinking about having a rehearsal dinner so that people who want to give short speeches but aren't on the program for the day of can have a chance to say a word and also to pass out our bags. But then you run into the conundrum of how to let the guest know to come to the dinner if they do not already have their itineraries for the weekend? I asked my wedding planner to look into the possibility of reserving a small section of one of the buffet restaurants so that it will be informal and my guest can all sit together and grab their food. And that way we wouldn't have to pay for a private event or food. Ill let you know what she says. I think it is definitely worth it to ask Carolina about using the already included non-private dinner.

Hey ladies, I love hearing all of your wedding planning ideas! Its always good to bounce ideas off of someone. Whenever I start talking about the nitty gritty details with my fiance, his eyes start to glaze over, lol. And when I talk to my bridesmaids, I always feel guilty. I have this fear of being one of those brides who only talk about their wedding, so I only give bare bones details. The only person who cares about all the details is my mom, lol. @samilein and @Meandhim I love your design ideas. I agree it been really tough trying decide how much stuff to bring from home. I recently went to a wedding where they gave small bottles of pink moscato as the wedding favor. My fiance loved the idea so I'm thinking that we may do that. One of my DIY projects was using wine corks with flowers glued on top as my escort card, so it matches that theme. I'm just not sure what the rules are on transporting large volumes of alcohol. Ill try to add my inspiration pictures, but Im not quite sure how to do that (grr I dont know how to put a picture in this thing) I also just realized that time is flying by!! How is it already May? I have most of the big stuff figured out. We have a photographer, just agreed on an officiant, my dress has arrived at the shop, bridesmaids dresses are ordered. But now I have to take care of all the details. Make the invitations, dress fittings, find shoes, help my mom find a dress and decide on all the small minutia- what color chair, do I want cushions, sashes, flowers...it's so much. I am happy with my decision to have the ceremony at Jellyfish, but it definitely adds the stress on making small decisions that I was hoping to avoid. Oh well. @Kerrierf Congratulations on your wedding day! I'm sure it was absolutely lovely! Can't wait to see pictures. Question: Are you all planning on doing a rehearsal dinner or pre-wedding get together? If so what have you decided to do? Sorry if my post is all over the place, very stream of conscious, lol.

Hey Ladies, Anyone out there here currently planning or who recently had their wedding at jellyfish. I'm having my wedding there November this year and hoping to hear how the planning is going or hear feedback from past brides. Cheers!

@@samilein , I went through the same dilemma as you. I ultimately decided Jellyfish because I would have more of a say and I would have a better sense of what I would be getting in terms of decor and food for the reception. I felt like I was lacking essential info on the reception options at GP. I also realized that with what I wanted and the number of guest I'm expecting (around 75-85) the add on cost were adding up quickly. My quote from jellyfish was pretty comparable so I made the switch. I think GP is really great option for smaller weddings, but I would not have saved much money staying with them. If you are really thinking about Jellyfish, you should reach out to them sooner rather than later. I happened to be very lucky because they had a bride back out and my date happened to be open. When I spoke with them, they were booked every day from the new year until June I think. They only do one wedding a day which adds to the privacy. Hope that this and all the info the other ladies have provided are helpful.

@@Mels84 Yay!!!! Congratulations! I'm so glad that you had such a lovely day and it sounds like you guys had a wonderful time. It sounds like the staff really went above and beyond to take care of you. I'm sure your pictures were wonderful!! @@Meandhim, The reason why I didn't think the renewal package was going to work for us is because we would have had to add on too much to have the ceremony that I wanted and it would probably defeat the purpose in cost saving for me. The reason why I have been so quiet lately is that I have actually decided to move our wedding offsite to the Jellyfish. Mainly because there were so much missing info about what I could expect for the dinner/reception portion in terms of food and decoration and the timing was a bit constricted. We would have had to do a private dinner and the beach bash and the costs just started piling up. It seemed that the Palladium catered more to smaller wedding parties and I wasn't confident about how it would work with my larger wedding. It got to the point where I was having stress dreams and lots of anxiety and was becoming a mini-bridezilla. So it made sense for me to make the change to know exactly what I would be getting and have a little more say in the decor. I kinda feel bad because I totally abandoned ship but I will still be staying at the Palladium with allll of my guest and am really looking forward to it. So I'm so happy to hear such a positive post from @@Mels84. @@MandyMc we are almost wedding twins! I'm sure we will run into eachother while we are there. Lol. I'm also US based and I'm using Luxe Destination Weddings, which is based in Toronto. So all of our communication has been through email or phone and I have been happy with them. I like having the buffer to communicate with vendors on my behalf and they have wedding planning services. Feel free to PM me if you have questions.