Need some info on getting married outside a resort

clarkski

New member
Feb 18, 2008
34
0
0
My fiance and I are getting married next year and haven't 100% decided on where, UK or DR. We are think of Puerto Plata if we decide to get married in DR. Can any one help by giving me some names of places or web links of how to arrange this? e.g. Reception venue, registrar/ service, flowers.

Thansk so much for anyones help.


Clarkski
 

planner

.............. ?
Sep 23, 2002
4,409
26
0
Most people from abroad get married on resorts. Check this out first - most have wedding packages and wedding planners.
 

Johana

New member
May 24, 2006
342
14
0
Hi Clarksi,

I got married last October in Puerto Plata outside of a resort. The wedding and reception were held at La Bella Italia Restaurant.

You will have a hard time finding websites for DR businesses. I went to Puerto Plata in July and we found the venue. My father-in-law negotiated the pricing so that we paid "Dominican" prices and not tourist prices. The restaurant provided some decorations/flowers. My husband and father-in-law took care of the drinks, my brother-in-law arranged the dj.

I arrived in POP on October 6 and our wedding was October 10. On October 8 we went to the florist and picked out my bouquet and boutonnieres. We then went to visit a couple of photographers and went with the second one. Of course I thought this was all supposed to be taken care of long before I got there lol.

Unless you are able to go in advance to make some of the arrangements or know someone that is there that can help make reservations etc. you will probably find it next to impossible to plan from the UK.

As Planner mentioned most of the hotels offer wedding packages with a wedding coordinator to help plan the wedding.

Good luck and best wishes for your wedding :)
 

laurajane

Bronze
May 23, 2005
1,230
214
63
www.thecircusofdreams.com
In the search function, look up wedding coordinators. there is a firm that can help you organize things as far as location, decoration etc.

As for the reception i can help with entertainment, So PM me if you would like more details.

......and Congratulations ;)
 

sangria

Bronze
May 16, 2006
939
65
0
Unless you are able to go in advance to make some of the arrangements or know someone that is there that can help make reservations etc. you will probably find it next to impossible to plan from the UK.

What Johana said is 500% true.

I was married in March 08 and did make 2 trips down to plan our wedding off the resort in addition to emails/phone calls & my husband doing a lot of legwork for me.

After speaking/negotiating with a number of vendors we decided that the hassles outweighed our desire to have the wedding outside of the resort.

We ended up having an un-traditional resort style wedding on the beach....brought in our own band, had the dance on the beach, provided our own flowers, photographer etc.

The wedding coordinator took care of the food planning, cake, champagne, set up & decor et. She did everything we asked for plus more & even built us a dance floor at the last minute to put on the sand for dancing.

The time it takes to pull everything together in the final days before a wedding is more than people usually expect & if you talk with a hotel coordinator you may be surprised what they are able to do for you if you provide them with some creative ideas.

We even received a refund from the hotel for a few guests that couldn't make it at the last minute....even though allt he food etc was prepared.

It is just not worth the stress unless you have someone in the DR that can take care of all of the details for you.


I am not sure if this will apply in your situation but here are some things to consider if you do have an off resort wedding....

  • How are you going to transport your guests back & forth from the hotel?....costs, timing etc.?

  • What if some guests what to go home early or others want to stay late?

  • Some vendors will see your $$$ in your eyes and prices may go up, up, up..?

  • What recourse do you have if the DJ, Restaurant, Photographer etc. dont show up or suddenly want to charge more than originally agreed upon?
 

Empress

New member
Jul 31, 2008
15
2
0
Congratulation Clarkski!

I too am getting married, and am looking into things in the Puerto Plata Region, off the resort grounds.
The in laws really want us to have the ceremony at their home, and I've been trying to leg work from where I am to ensure something nice takes place.
Minister, music, food, etc...
I'm in contact with 1 minister already.
Anyone know of a nice guesthouse with 24hrs electricity, nice grounds etc
I'm worried about electricity issues, we want an evening wedding, and wanted to keep the numbers small, but elegant. I plan to have lots of candles just in case!
The issues we face are if we have this on a resort, how do we get about 40ppl to and from the location. If in the town, then they can easily attend. I'm trying to be creative with ideas.
Sigh --Any suggestions?
LauraJane can I get info too? (PM me please)

Empress
 

clarkski

New member
Feb 18, 2008
34
0
0
Thanks for the help. I should have said my Fiance in from Puerto Plata, but being a man I cant trust him to do everything not to mention he has no time due to the hours he works.
 

dcblue

New member
Jul 21, 2008
41
1
0
Photography - Planning

I am an American photographer planning on spending January and February in Cabarete. I am training a dominican man in wedding photography (he lives in Cabarete). I don't know whether the times will be useful to those of you getting married, but was hoping that maybe I could meet up with Planner and/or Laurajane on my next trip (probably in November) to Cabarete. (I can meet you in Puerto Plata or Sosua).
 

dcblue

New member
Jul 21, 2008
41
1
0
website correction

Sorry. I have no idea why the website link show up based on key words. It doesn't do that on other sites.
 

AnnaC

Gold
Jan 2, 2002
16,050
418
83
Sorry. I have no idea why the website link show up based on key words. It doesn't do that on other sites.

I was trying to save you from being permanently banned. You can't self promote on DR1 it's called spam.
 

Johana

New member
May 24, 2006
342
14
0
Clarkski,

unfortunately, you will have to rely on your husband to help :)

When I get home I can PM you some information regarding our venue, photographer and where we got our cake with some prices to give you some ideas.
 

dcblue

New member
Jul 21, 2008
41
1
0
Sorry

Was just hoping to meet/network with some other professionals when I'm there.
 

Johana

New member
May 24, 2006
342
14
0
Hi Clarkski,

As I mentioned we got married at La Bella Italia Restaurant. It is on Calle Hermana Mirabales (on the way to the Malecon).
It was about 56000RD (my father-in-law had to negotiate the price down) for the restaurant from 8-12 midnight.
There were over 120 people at the wedding.
We had a buffet dinner - more than enough food for everyone
They provided decorations - they matched them to our invitation.
I brought 10 vases and floating candles for table centre pieces - I was worried what the decorations would be like and thought we were going to have 10 tables for 10 people:)
As the Padrino my father-in-law supplied all the drinks (alcohol and non-alcoholic) but I'm not sure how much it cost I think it was about 15000RD.
We also got some last minute decorations (two pedestals to put by cake with flowers for $70.00US
The photographer we booked 2 days before the wedding lol.
His info is:
KL
Centro Fotografico
Calle Gregorio de Loro No. 54
He came to Sun Village and took pics before the wedding - and did a great job as there were torrential rains at that time so all the pics were around the lobby and bar area. He then met us at the restaurant at 8:00pm to take pictures of the ceremony and with family, friends etc. His son was videotaping both at Sun Village and the ceremony and did a great job with the editing.
I believe we paid 10,000RD for 75 photos and the dvd. We only negotiated for 50 pics but when we went to pick them out (the next day) there were so many good ones that we paid the per pic price for the extra 25. He also gave us two large photos (11x16). The photos and dvd were ready by 7:30pm the next night.

If you want a cd of all the pics you have to negotiate the price for that upfront. We did not and it would have been $100US after the fact so we said no.

We got the approx. 12lb cake from a woman in "los cocos". Unfortunately, my husband doesn't remember her name. It was beautiful and was 7000RD. I'm sure if your fiance knows the neighbourhood he could find her.

We went to order flowers 2 days before as well...my bouquet and 4 boutinnieres at the flower shop on the corner of calle anteramota....I think it is called Florelona. They were all white roses and cost 1200RD.

I know it's not the website information you were looking for :) But hopefully it helps.