MeliaBride11

Hey Ladies! I got married at the Melia on July 2nd. I want to give my review on my experience of my wedding day. I planned for an outdoor wedding at the beach gazebo and the beach reception with the TFT 75 package because I had 65 guests. Esterlin was my wedding coordinator and she was beyond outstanding, if you have her as your W...C your in good hands. There was a 60% chance of rain for the day due to a Tropical Wave in the area and she informed me that I had a choice to move the event indoors, my entire dream of my beach wedding was going down the drain, and we made the decision to bring it in and not have ruined because of the rain. My Mom than went to her and told her to keep it outdoors that whatever happens, happens. About an hour before my 5pm ceremony at the gazebo it started pouring rain. She returned and said we have no other choice to move it in, I agreed, and again my Mom kept it outside. Just in time for the ceremony it started to clear up with a light drizzle and the guests did not mind and took their umbrellas with them, it actually helped out a lot because the wind and cooling rain made it both more romantic and not so hot. We were able to keep my beach reception also and since we had a buffet we made moved it into the Turey Grill just incase of a downpour the food would be safe (a little inconvenience for the guests) but under the circumstances we had no other choice. We had the perfect reception with everything going on and all the back and forth we had going on. We had the LED dance floor that made dancing beach side amazing. And thanks to Esterlin and her amazing team everything came out to be beyond belief rain and all. As soon as the reception was over and everything was being cleared the rain poured down once again. I contacted Pastor Rick York for the ceremony and he was booked and he recommended me Pastor Torriaba. We wanted a Spanish ceremony since my husband is Cuban and the majority or the guests spoke Spanish also. He did an incredible job, everyone loved the ceremony and the way he spoke. If Pastor York is not available definately use him. On photo and video, I did not choose to go with Arrecife Studios, I decided to use Jorge Allocco Photography & Florian Koetter, Video Punta Cana. The photos and video are amazing. They both did an outstanding job capturing our rainy event and were more than understanding with circumstances. Both of them gave me the CD of pictures and all the copys of the video 3 days after my wedding. We did the Trash the Dress with Jorge Allocco also and I love those even more than the wedding day pictures, they are unbelievable. His camera got splashed by a wave in the ocean and he just dried it up, changed the lens and kept shooting. He's a great photographer, we made a great choice. Florian Koetter, Video Punta Cana is also amazing, he's trailer for our wedding made me cry. The video is almost 2 hrs long and the DVD has a beautiful label with a picture of us. The DVD case is also beautifuly done with pictures of the event. I am extremely happy with both their works and recommend them to everyone that was fantastic memories. Inbox me or email me at [email protected] if you want any info about the event or hotel.t t Here are the links for photos & video: Jorge Allocco's Photo Blog: http://jorgeallocco.blogspot.com/2011/07/daneuska-ruben-melia-caribe-punta-cana.html Video Punta Cana Trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laDjyaCNkJ0

I am thinking about booking Jorge Allocco for my wedding at the Melia Caribe Tropical. I wanted/want to use Photo Souvenir but they complain about resort fee and also take very long to answer my emails making me think they are not that reliable vs Jorge answering me quickly.

I ran into the same problem! I didn't know they were charging a fee until I contacted a photographer and they told me. My WC keeps telling me that the outside vendor has to pay the fee but they are going to charge you it! Its not their fault you do not want to use the resorts photographer. I have used Arrecife Studios for family pictures and our Engagement photos this past summer, although they came out gorgeous, I would prefer someone more professional for a wedding.