July 21st 2012 Wedding and Reception Jellyfish Restaurant!

Lauren84 · August 16, 2011

Hi Ladies!

Wow- this site is so informative! I have gotten such great ideas from all of my fellow Destination Brides on here! I have been in contact with Mayte for almost a month now. I have reserved my date for Sat, July 21st 2012

I am waiting to book my resort until after labor day, since the flights are not in for next summer just yet. How are some of you girls booking? through a TA or other websites? Do you think it would be cheaper in the long run if i booked the hotel and flight separately?

We are looking at the Excellence Resort in Punta Cana and the Majestic Elegance. I got alot of really good feedback from "Debbies Caribbean Vacation" website. Both resorts are fantastic. I like the Excellence because it is a smaller resort and it is adults only.

I am also stumped on wedding colors and decor for my reception. I think we may stick with the beachy theme.. with the powdery blues, creams, silvers... i like the idea of the sea shells, starfish and lanterns. Mayte does a beautiful job with the set up. She told me to just send her as many pictures of what i want, so that way she has an idea of what we are going for. I am also stumped with flowers.. i always envisioned my bouquet being cream colored roses and possibly some gardenias.. not sure what to do for my bridesmaids yet.

what are some of you doing for wedding favors? i like the idea of a candle, i saw online a soy coconut candle inside an actual shell of a coconut. who doesnt like candles?? lol Not sure if it is too cliche.. maybe some of you can give me a few ideas on the topic.

I have been to Punta Cana about 7 times! and i cannot believe i am now going to be getting married there! it really is surreal.

Cant wait to hear from all you girls and your experiences!

JazLiz2000 · September 1, 2011

Hi Lauren84, I have been completely clueless about Jellyfish Restaurant until now, which baffles me because i have done nothing but research resorts/wedding locations for the last year. The place looks beautiful! i was originally planning my wedding at Gran Bahia Cayo Levantado in Samana, but I am seriously considering canceling it there and moving it to Jellyfish. Do you have any information on the packages they offer that you'd be willing to share? Can give you email address if you'd like.

As far as favors, i was going to do a welcome bag and skip the favors. i always felt like they were a waste (no offense to you). i don't ever remember receiving one i really liked or that i was impressed by. so i figure in the welcome bags they'd get a ton of goodies they'd find useful and the ladies will most likely reuse the bags. I do like your idea of the sea shells, starfish and lanterns tho. I'm planning on having sea shells & starfish with either vases filled with water and floating flowers or lanterns.

Can't wait to hear what you think!

holls009 · September 11, 2011

Lauren84--my wedding is 7/21/12!!!! Congrats to you! We'll be getting married at Secrets Punta cana, its an adults only all inclusive. I'm going through a travel agent so I dont have to worry about booking guests and keeping track of who has booked/backed out, etc. I've decided on coral and yellow as my colors but I'm still trying to sort out all of the details! For decor I'm using shells and starfish.

For invitations, we are keeping it very simple. I'm designing boarding pass save the dates/invitations and asking guests to RSVP online to the actual wedding since it will be very close friends and family. We're have a reception in the states a month or so after the wedding so there will be formal invitations with RSVP cards. I'm trying to keep everything under a budget!!!

Let me know about the jellyfish restaurant!!

Best of Luck!

torilynnsmith · September 11, 2011

Hi Lauren,

Congratulations, it sounds like your planning is coming along nicely. Just wanted to mentioned that The Majestic Elegance is NOT exclusively Adults Only, there is an Adults Only section that you can pay extra to be a "member" of for your stay where children are not welcome but there are children allowed at the resort.

As for your other questions... I am assuming you are in the US as here in Canada we book our Flight and Hotel as a "package". I feel a good TA goes along way but it is not always easy finding a great TA. A destination wedding specialist is your best bet as they understand different aspects of your planning process that a regular TA wouldnt.

I am with JazLiz on the favour front, we are foregoing traditional favours and just doing OOT bags, Bubba Mugs are our BIG item in our OOT bags and what we splurged on, the idea is that this is what people will take home and use again and again. Putting together the "wedding week survival kits" was my favourite part so far!

Love the starfish, lanterns seashell idea. We have really embraced white into our colour scheme and I am loving playing up the beach and vacation feel!

Best of luck and happy planning!!!