Punta Cana - Catholic Wedding

Hello All,

I am in the initial stages on planning a wedding in Punta Cana however am somewhat limited by the fact that I will be doing a Catholic ceremony. I am finding information on the different resorts websites VERY hard to come by!

Would anybody be able to help me out (knowledge / experience) with all the resorts that do a Catholic ceremony in either a chapel / gazebo (in the resort). I would also be looking at doing a reception on the beach afterward...

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated....thank you!

-Chris

I'm having a catholic ceremony at the Grand Palladium - the NH real, both dreams, and th paradisus, and GBP all offer a catholic ceremony. GP offers a beach reception, it's $60/head.

Thanks for the info ^

I am a new to researching and am a little confused though!

Is the Grand Palladium you are referring to also called 'Grand Palladium Palace'

Also is GBP also know as 'Golden Bahia Principe Punta Cana Royal Golden'

I think there may be multiple GP and GBP's in punta cana?

Thanks,

-Chris

grand palladium and grand palladium palace utilize the same wedding coordinator, and your guests can stay at any of the resorts.

GBP is Gran Bahia Principe - we had looked into here, but only very briefly.

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...ta-cana-14643/ is the thread for GP - it may be really helpful to you.

The WC is Carolina Barragan Beck, and her email is: wedding.bavaro@fiestahotelgroup.com

Catholic Wedding - Dominicantravel.com - Travel to the Dominican Republic

these are the requirements, I am also searching for a place that does catholic weddings, I found Barcelo has a chapel:

Barceló Hotels & Resorts - Our destinations - Dominican Republic - Bávaro Beach Resort

hope that helps! Let me know what you find! :-)

Updated requirements for catholic weddings in Punta Cana. The only resort that has a chapel is Barcelo Bavaro Beach inside the Barcelo complex!

Father JEAN LACAILLE [cath-wedding-dom@hotmail.com]

REQUIREMENTS JESUS MAESTRO OCTOBER 2009.doc

JESÚS MAESTRO PARISH

(Punta Cana)

Diocese of Altagracia, Higüey, Dominican Republic

REQUIREMENTS FOR A MATRIMONY OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

OCTOBER 2009

1.The couple who wishes to get married by the SACRAMENT OF MATRIMONY in these Atlantic Parishes of the Diocese of Altagracia has to get in touch with THEIR OWN PARISH PRIEST to begin the Preparation for their Wedding early enough to be able to send their documents TWO MONTHS before their wedding date. PLEASE PRINT COMPLETE COPY OF THESE REQUIREMENTS FOR YOUR PRIEST.

2.We only perform the CEREMONY here, we absolutely cannot give the service of PRE-CANA or PREPARATION here. No reservation will be RECEIVED directly by the Parishes or the priest, always and only through the Hotel coordination. The Hotels are performing many legal wedding and have their own agenda. We do have to adapt our Parish agenda to theirs, not theirs to us.

3.After the Wedding, the Parish will take charge of the Legal Procedures of Matrimony with the Dominican State through the “Oficialía” of Friusa (Bávaro). The Legalization of the Certificate will be done, if necessary, it means (if the couple was not previously married by the Law in their own country) by the Parish with an additional cost. The hotel will send the Certificate of marriage to the couple, and it normally takes two months.

4.The couple can invite their own priest to perform the Ceremony. We will need then a letter from his own diocese or superior approving his ministry. The documents for the wedding have to be sent to us and inscribed in the Parish Register of the place where the ceremony will take place) as stipulated in the Canon Law of the Catholic Church. All the catholic weddings have to be organized by the Coordinator of the Hotel and paid to the Hotel. The hotel will pay the Parish for its services. No direct payment by the couple to the Parish or to the celebrant. The hotel will pay 15,000 dominican pesos for a wedding of persons already wed by the Law in their own country, or 16,800 for a wedding that needs a Legalized Civil Certificate from the Dominincan State.

5.The Catholic Wedding documents we ask for, are the following:

•1) Very good copies in English, Spanish, Portuguese or French. (no translation is needed)

•2) The other languages as Polish, Russian, Greek, German or other languages unknown to us, have to be translated to English or Spanish by any translator who knows well both languages and written on a computer (no handwriting).

•3) The CIVIL and CATHOLIC documents DO NOT NEED TO BE LEGALISED by the Dominican Consulate previously to a Catholic Wedding.

•4) All the CIVIL and CATHOLIC documents have to be processed first by the Parish of the couple.

•5) The Birth Certificates of both. (Not the little card)

•6) The Civil Certificate of Marriage if the couple is already married in their own country.

•7) The Affidavit of Single Status document from the Dominican Consulate IS NOT NECESSARY because it is already contained in the Parish Inquiry or pre-matrimonial questionnaire.

• Color or gray tones copy of the ID page of both passport. (Black and white are not very readable).

•9) Written on a computer on a single sheet:

A) the names and addresses of their parents (maiden name)(no passport # needed);

Color copy or gray tones of the ID page of the passport of only 2 witnesses for the ceremony. (For the Catholic Wedding the WITNESSES can be RELATIVES),

it is not so when the Marriage is only by the Dominican Law)

C) Occupations of the couple.

D) The couple’s E-mail or of their Travel Agency. (OBLIGATORY). As soon as the couple gets in touch with the Hotel and has a confirmation from it of their date and hour of the wedding, the couple will send us a message by Internet to the following E-mail. All the communications by E-mail have to be well identified like in this example:

08 May (name of hotel) 3pm

Please, no names, no phrases like this “My Wedding”, “Wedding in Punta Cana” or similar.

•9) Baptism Certificates with full address of the Parish of both (catholic or other denomination) with the other sacrament notes (in the case of the lack of the sacrament of Confirmation, a note explaining why from their parish priest). If one is not baptized at all, please tell us.

•10) Copy of the Parish Interview (also called Pre-matrimonial Inquiry) by the priest or his delegate done in their Parish (with the dispensations). (No FOCUS document or similar is needed by us).

•11) Certificate of the Pre-Cana or Pre-matrimonial Course they have done. (Different from the Interview or Inquery).

•12) Letter sent by their parish priest giving EXPLICIT PERMISSION to the Pastor Priest of the Parish where the ceremony will take place. (THIS LETTER IS ESSENTIAL FOR THE VALIDITY OF THE MATRIMONY) only if this permission does not appear in the Pre-matrimonial Inquiry.

•13) Copy of a Nullity Certificate of a previous marriage by the Ecclesiastical Tribunal And copy of a civil divorce document (only the important part, no details) (if aplicable).

•14) Copy of the Death Certificate of a deceased husband or wife of a previous catholic marriage.

6. FIRST OPTION TO SEND THE DOCUMENTS: THEY HAVE TO BE SCANNED AND PASTED TO A SINGLE “WORD” or “PDF” DOCUMENT TO BE SENT TO US BY ATTACHMENT AT THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL. This method is a lot cheaper and faster. 2 months before the Wedding. We prefer this method.

7.SECOND OPTION TO SEND THE DOCUMENTS: VERY GOOD COPIES MAY BE SENT BY UPS ONLY (the others companies do not give the full service in our region), 2 months before the Wedding, TO THE FOLLOWING ADDRESS:

8.This is the unique address to send your copies to:

Padre Jean A. Lacaille, Archivist of the Diocese

Obispado de la Altagracia

Calle Vetilio Alfau (Libertad)

Higüey, República Dominicana.

Cell. Phone: 829 806 2675

E-mail: cath-wedding-dom@hotmail.com

9.The ceremony will NEVER take place on the BEACH, nor close to it, nor close to a not-so-decent place for the celebration of a Sacrament. IT IS NOT ALLOWED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH OF DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. If there is no Chapel on the complex, it can be celebrated in a Hall, in a quiet Garden or a Gazebo (which is not located near the beach or in a non-decent place). As soon as the parish new temple will be completed, all the Catholic Weddings will be celebrated in it, except for the Hotels that have their own chapel, we will be permited to do the ceremony in it.

10.The couple has to SHOW US all the original documents on the day of the Ceremony. It can be done through the Coordinator of the wedding. We need to make sure of the legality of all the copies that were sent to us. All the important original documents will be handed back to the couple on the same day along with a copy of the Certificate of Marriage of the Church.

11.There is practically no time for a meeting between the celebrant and the couple before the Wedding. The rehearsal will be performed by the Coordinator of the Hotel with the Couple. That is why we ask the couple to receive the Sacrament of Penance before leaving for Dominican Republic in their own parish.

12.The stipend for the Parish, for the priest and the paperwork is given to the Celebrant before the celebration by the Hotel out of the Package. The Parish will do all the paperwork for the Civil Certificate that will be handed over to the Hotel of the wedding to be sent to the couple.

13.These requirements will have validity beginning on the 1st of OCTOBER 2009.

14.Since a few weeks, we sent a FORM to be filled by the couple along with these requirements.

Rev. Fr. José Eusebio, pastor of Jesús Maestro Parish.

Rev. Fr. Jean A. Lacaille, Archivist, secretary and celebrant for English or French Weddings.

FORM TO BE FILLED BY THE COUPLE AND SENT TO US BY E-MAIL

IN “WORD” (Arial Narrow 14)

(WILL BE USED TO FILL THE FORM OF THE CIVIL PART OF THE MARRIAGE FINAL DOCUMENT)

(PLEASE, MAKE SURE THERE IS NO MISTAKE)

PARISH OF THE WEDDING: JESÚS MAESTRO

HOTEL OF THE WEDDING: ……………COORDINATOR´S NAME……………

DATE OF THE WEDDING (NAME OF MONTH, NOT DIGITS): …………………

HOUR OF THE WEDDING: ………………………

DO YOU HAVE THE LETTER FROM YOUR PRIEST GIVING PERMISSION or DELEGATION TO FATHER JOSÉ EUSEBIO, PASTOR OF JESUS MAESTRO PARISH TO CELEBRATE YOUR WEDDING IN HIS PARISH ……..

DO YOU HAVE A DISPENSATION OF NULLITY OF MARIAGE or MIXED MARRIAGE? ……..

GROOM´S NAMES ……………………………… (IN THE PASSPORT)

GROOM´S SURNAMES …………………………….… (IN THE PASSPORT)

GROOM´S CITY OF BIRTH……………… (STATE or PROV)…… ………..COUNTRY…………

GROOM´S DATE OF BIRTH ……………………. (NAME OF MONTH, NOT DIGITS)

GROOM´S PASSPORT NUMBER………………… NACIONALITY……………….

GROOM´S BAPTISM PARISH WITH FULL ADDRESS ………………………………………

GROOM´S DATE OF BAPTISM……………….………………………..… (NAME OF MONTH, NOT DIGITS)

GROOM´S DATE OF CONFIRMATION……………….……………..… (NAME OF MONTH, NOT DIGITS)

GROOM´S OCCUPATION ………………………………

(use√) SINGLE ………MARRIED………DIVORCED………WIDOWER……….

IF MARRIED BY LAW: CITY and STATE or PROV.…………………………….………COUNTRY………

DATE OF MARRIAGE………………………. (NAME OF MONTH, NOT DIGITS)

GROOM´S ACTUAL RESIDENCE ………………………………

GROOM´S FATHER: ………………………………………………

GROOM´S MOTHER: (MAIDEN NAME)…………………………

RESIDENCE OF GROOM´S PARENTS: (STATE OF PROV.) …………….. COUNTRY…………

BRIDE´S DETAILS AND WITNESSES

BRIDE´S NAMES …………. …………… (IN THE PASSPORT)

BRIDE´S SURNAMES ………………………………. (IN THE PASSPORT)

BRIDE´S PLACE OF BIRTH……………… STATE or PROV…………..COUNTRY………

BRIDE´S DATE OF BIRTH ……………………... (NAME OF MONTH, NOT DIGITS)

BRIDE´S PASSPORT NUMBER…………………… NACIONALITY……………

BRIDE´S BAPTISM PARISH WITH FULL ADDRESS …………………………

……………………………………………………………

BRIDE´S DATE OF BAPTISM…………………………… (NAME OF MONTH, NOT DIGITS)

BRIDE´S DATE OF CONFIRMATION………….. (NAME OF MONTH, NOT DIGITS)

BRIDE´S OCCUPATION ……………………………

(use√) SINGLE ………MARRIED………DIVORCED………WIDOW……….

BRIDE´S ACTUAL RESIDENCE ………………………………….

BRIDE´S FATHER: ……………………………………………………

BRIDE´S MOTHER: (MAIDEN NAME)…………………………………

RESIDENCE OF BRIDE´S PARENTS: (STATE OF PROV.) …………….. COUNTRY………

NAMES AND SURNAME OF THE GROOM´S WITNESS ……………………

PASSPORT # OF THE GROOM´S WITNESS…………………NACIONALITY………

RESIDENCE OF THE GROOM´S WITNESS (STATE or PROV)… ……………COUNTRY………

NAMES AND SURNAME OF THE BRIDE´S WITNESS ………………………………

PASSPORT # OF THE BRIDE´S WITNESS………………………… NACIONALITY……

RESIDENCE OF THE BRIDE´S WITNESS (STATE or PROV)… …………… COUNTRY……

E-MAILS: ………………………

………………………

TELEPHONES: …………………

…………………

thanks for posting this carla! we are meeting with our priest in a few weeks, and I hope to get this stuff straightened out asap!