Hello Ladies!
This is my review of my November 2 wedding at Paradisus Punta Cana!
Planning: Overall the planning went smoothly when dealing with the Miami coordinator Allison. She always responded in a timely manner and answered most of my questions (even when I would send 20 in one email). The only problem I had when dealing with her that turned out to be a huge issue was about 2 months out from the wedding. In the contract, it had said that you pay an initial deposit, a 6-month deposit, and then the final payment. For the 6-month deposit, it was outlined that you would pay EITHER a flat $1500 deposit if you were undecided OR 50% of the wedding package you had chosen. At that point, Allison categorized me as undecided, even though I had given her the indication that I was interested in the Aqua package. 3 Months out from the wedding, I found out I was pregnant, so as a couple we decided to try to cut back as much as possible with the wedding expenses. We came to the conclusion that we did not need a cocktail hour, when the reception was Open Bar, we were at an all-inclusive resort, and it was a $2,000 difference. Therefore, I told Allison we would be going with the Chill-out-Chic package. She proceeded to tell me that we would need to pay the 50% of the package immediately and that she would bill my credit card. I told her I did not approve that charge, since we had already paid our 6-month deposit and were less than 1 month away from the final payment. She went ahead and charged me anyways. I immediately told her to get me in contact with her supervisor and I even went to the next level after that and reported it to Melia Hotels. After a lot of stress and frustration (they did not want to accept blame for a fraudulent credit card charge), the charge was removed and they gave us a free couple's massage. Needless to say I had also reported to my credit card company that it was a fraudulent charge and they contacted the hotel themselves to have it reimbursed. I also demanded that I wanted no further contact with anyone from Miami and that I only wanted to deal with the on-site coordinator from that point on. I was in touch with Miguelina and Beatriz the next day. Everything from that point on with them was wonderful and they were a pleasure to work with. In my opinion it is frustrating to deal with the Miami people, especially when they will not be the one there in the end overseeing your wedding day. I would have loved to be in touch with the on-site coordinators earlier in the planning.
Pre-Wedding: Most guests arrived at the hotel Saturday throughout the morning and early afternoon. Everyone had a seamless check-in. We were upgraded to Royal Service and let me say we felt very spoiled all week! We had an 11:00 meeting with Beatriz to finalize all details for group dinners, a day after breakfast, and review of the wedding day timeline. She also took our ceremony music and I gave her our favors (chest full of traditional Dominican masks) and cake topper (edible butterflies), which she took care of the placement for these. We had an immediate family only dinner at Fuego that evening. Everyone loved the food and atmosphere of the restaurant (the churrasco was perfect!). Sunday we met with Tropic One Studio to finalize everything for photography. We had already paid in full months in advance and we stuck to the package we had paid for. Our meeting was with Taimir, but the photographer was Lala. The rest of the day was relaxation and preparation day. That evening, we had a rehearsal at 5 with Beatriz and it was a good idea, because the wedding party appreciated knowing what they were supposed to do! Our good friend was the officiant and he also appreciated the rehearsal. We had a whole group (25 people) rehearsal dinner at Gabi Beach and they did a great job giving us a big table that was away from everyone else. I have to say that this was during the off-season, so the restaurants, buffets, beaches, and pools were never crowded anyways.
Wedding day: At 10:00 we met with Beatriz to make the final decision on the location. It had poured most of the day Sunday and the day called for rain in the evening. We decided to keep the ceremony at the gazebo, but we moved the reception from the beach to the Romance Foyer, to be safe with the rain. The area was very private and beautiful with the marble floors and columns. It also had an outdoor feel because the side was open to the outside. In the end it was the best choice because the beach was wet from the previous day and it did sprinkle in the evening and the beach would have had no cover. The decor made the foyer look very beautiful so we were very happy. Around 12:00 noon my MUA artist arrived with her hair dressing assistant. She is a family friend (she did me and my sisters' quinceaneros), but is well known in the DR (Yamelis Arnemann). She was very efficient with her assistant and we were done and ready for getting ready pictures when the photographer arrived at the Bridal Suite around 3:30. She had been with the boys at 3:00 for their getting ready pictures. I highly recommend the Bridal Suite as it has lots of room for you and your girls to get ready (we were 6 total) with lots of space for the MUA to set up. Plus we got some good pics in the private garden. By 4:00, my dress was on and we were ready for First Look pictures. We decided to do this because with the weather, we were not sure how good the light was going to be as the day went on, so we wanted to get as many good pictures as we could before the ceremony. We also had time to take the Bridal Party to one of the gardens for group pictures and more pics of just us as well. They came out gorgeous! We were back with time to spare for the 5:00 ceremony at the gazebo. I am so glad we kept the gazebo because the weather was beautiful at that point and we got wonderful pictures as I had envisioned! The ceremony was only about 15-20 min and after we took some group pics with guests and then we had time to do our own photo shoot on the beach before we all headed over to the reception via transport. We had an amazing reception, the food was excellent, the entertainment great (kudos to the DJ and Bartender!), and everyone had a blast dancing the night away! After the reception, most of us changed and hung out at the beach til early morning, it was a perfect night!
Day after: We held a after wedding morning brunch at 9:00 (yes that early, my sister had to go back to the city for classes) at the Gabi Club buffet in the Reserve. After that it was a beach/pool day spending time with family and friends, with another group dinner at Bana (Hibachi), which was excellent as well!
Rest of Stay: Wednesday we had our couples massage (mine was prenatal but still wonderful) and dinner at Passions. Passions I personally would not recommend, although the food was very good, it was just not our atmosphere for eating (too fancy!). We had a free wine-pairing coupon from Royal Service, which was nice (even though I only got a few sips!). Our group did para sailing and Thursday we all went snorkeling and we all had dinner at Vento (Mediterranean Fusion). Overall we got great service the whole trip from all employees: bartenders, waiters, staff, concierge, front desk, romance team, etc. Paradisus was a great experience and we plan to go back with the baby next year! We had the time of our lives and could not have asked for anything better!
If anyone has any questions about planning or anything else, feel free to message me!
