Less Stress for Domnican Brides!!!! Please Read and Post your thoughts!

[kate&devon]

Hello All~

I was recently married at the Paradisus Punta Cana on 6-12-10. And although my wedding went off without a hitch I was very stressed while planning my wedding. I have a background in the business as I used to work for a Radisson as a Catering Director. So, I know how things are supposed to be planned in the States,the DR however is a completely diferent ball game......

During the planning process it was like pulling teeth to get answers from the coordinator via e-mail and I wasn't able to call mostly because I couldn't call from work and by the time I got home it was 6 or 7 and they weren't there. Here in the states the brides are pampered and made to feel like they are the only bride throughout the planning process. E-mails are usually answered in the same day in the states. In the DR you are lucky if you get an answer in the same week!

Thank god I arrived 5 days before my wedding and was able to straighten everything out. But it frustrated me because it was like I had planned my wedding twice, once in the states and again when I arrived in the DR. When I found out that my resort had 42 weddings in the month of June it all became clear why I was treated like one of many. I literally was! There was 1-2 weddings every day we were there and we stayed for two weeks!

All of that being said, I wish I would have had someone to do all the groundwork for me. I definitely would have payed $1000.00++ for an English speaking pointperson to do all the work and take on all the stress for me. So, I wanted to get a feel for how many other brides/future brides feel the same way to to see if there is a market for a Wedding planning Service in the DR. A service that is independent of the resorts and does not push one resort and thier policies & prices. Please post a reply and let me know your thoughts and if you would have used a service like this for a fee and what you would have paid for thet service.

 

Thanks in advance for your time,

 

The new Mrs. Smith!!!

[TheFutureMrs.Sears]

I'm also getting married at PPC and my wedding coordinator is Teresa and honestly I could not have asked for a better person. She is based out of Canada and answers my emails asap. The wedding process is stressful, but i know I would want full control, so i don't know if I would pay someone to do it for me, especially because Teresa is awesome!

[coley88]

There is a company called ask me inc. which works with various Caribbean resorts, they have English speaking employees and they aren't the easiest to work with either. I think in general if people aren't up front about EVERY thing they it's going to be a difficult situation.

 

The person we worked with at Ask Me, returned emails with in 24 hours and was helpful, but as time passes we're noticing that they aren't up front about every thing and I don't know if that's the fault of ask me or the resort, but it's frustrating.

 

What I don't understand is how resorts who deal with weddings constantly are so all over the place? It's not like all of us brides are asking different questions. We're pretty much asking the same crap over and over again, you'd think they'd have it figured out better than they do. But what do I know.

 

Let's move to the DR and start a company to help future brides!

[khomac]

A destination wedding is supposed to be less stressful. You can show up to the resort and plan things within 30 minutes. Personally, I wouldn't pay a fee, because I wanted it to be as laid back as possible. I didn't care about matching colours, table runners, centerpieces, etc. I just wanted my family with me.

 

From reading so many people's posts here, I think there are TONS of people who would pay for this service because they really seem to be stressing about little things.

[Flores]

I would definitely pay for a wedding coordinator, and I am actually researching some in the DR now. There is a company called Novella who apparently is in Santo Domingo and plans fabulous weddings. But I contacted them Saturday and they were supposed to email me a question-are on Monday, and surprise, surprise, I haven't heard from them. So if there was a person in the US who could suggest outside vendors, and be the point person the day of the wedding, I would definitely pay the price, and 1000 is not allot, compared to a WC in the US. The day of the wedding I wont have time to run around and make sure everything is the way I want it, if I don't hire the WC from Novella, then my MOH will have allot to do that day!

[JellisRN]

We're planning our wedding with a coordinator @ Destinationweddings.com. We also tried using a local travel agent but the coordinators seem to have a connection with the resorts planners..... more so than travel agents. It's nice to have a "middle man" so to speak.

Anyone else use Destinationweddings.com?

[Chelymo]

I'm so sorry that you had such a terrible experience but I have to say that I did not go through this at all. It must have been your resort, I got married at Dreams Palm Beach and I had the best service before getting there and while I was there. They too have 1-2 weddings a day but I was treated like it was only me. I sent emails and received replies either the same day or the next never longer than 24 hours and everything I asked for was ready for me when I arrived. Again, I'm sorry you had a bad experience but as long as the wedding was great that's what matters.

[kate&devon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by coley88 There is a company called ask me inc. which works with various Caribbean resorts, they have English speaking employees and they aren't the easiest to work with either. I think in general if people aren't up front about EVERY thing they it's going to be a difficult situation. The person we worked with at Ask Me, returned emails with in 24 hours and was helpful, but as time passes we're noticing that they aren't up front about every thing and I don't know if that's the fault of ask me or the resort, but it's frustrating. What I don't understand is how resorts who deal with weddings constantly are so all over the place? It's not like all of us brides are asking different questions. We're pretty much asking the same crap over and over again, you'd think they'd have it figured out better than they do. But what do I know. Let's move to the DR and start a company to help future brides!

No joke that is actually what I was thinking. That is why I posted the question to see if it was a viable idea!!! LOL!!

[luciel2820]

I don't think I would need it. I've been planning my wedding for a year now. And finally decided on a resort a few months ago. ( Around March). Ive emailed the WC many times and while I don't get a response right away I get a clear response in a week of so with all my questions answered. I still have 4 months to my wedding and I am not going to stress out about the little things.

 

I have been able to plan everything on my own, while in school, working and looking for a house and job in another state. I can deal with even waiting for the day I meet with the WC to finish the finally details.

 

The whole point I decided to do a Destination Wedding was so I wouldn't be stressed and that's exactly what I'm going to keep doing.

[niecimar]

I would not have paid an extra $1000 on top of what I was already paying the resort for a go to person. I feel that if you pick a resort the answering questions and getting the help you need is part of deal and this should be free and trustworthy. Plus even if I had a person to verify everything I would still be on top of things bc thats just the way I am so the $1000 would go to waste.