Gifts

It has been particularly fun with Janice on my side. She has helped me out so much in deciding what to do. She has given me so many great ideas that I plan to use for my wedding. I told her that I wanted to have gift baskets for my guest filled with little things that they might use during their vacation. She told me that she made envelopes for one of her customers that were used to place on the door knob of the guest rooms. They can be used to fill in with the program and other little cute things.

Weddings in the Movies

Do you like watching movies? How about digging through your collection of movies to see if there are any weddings integrated in them? I have found it very helpful to check out movies that include weddings that I can use some ideas to play around with for my planning. I have named a few to assist you.
The Wedding Crasher,

The Wedding Planner,

The Wedding Singer,

Runaway Bride,

My Best Friends Wedding,

My Big Fat Greek Wedding,

In and Out, That Old Feeling, my all time favorite The Best Man, Monster-in-law…

I can’t think of any more.
Can you think of any movie that I have missed with weddings in it?

What colors will we choose?

We have decided on a color scheme, though my fiancé is not to keen with the prime color he believes that I can make it work. At this point he is just going with the flow of things. I have a few favorite colors and brown is one of them. I love all hues of brown. I think it is such an elegant color that emits sophistication. We are going to be doing what Gil and Shirley did for their color scheme in choosing favorite colors. My fiancé loves the color cream or ivory, so we are going to combine the colors. I would like the girls to wear a brown sexy dress and the table linen to be in cream. I am also going to use gold tones. This color scheme would evoke tranquility, passion, elegance, richness. These tones set the stage for the type of personalities we have. We are very calm and cool, though sometime we defy it by being clowns and goofy. I want to use a little orange or like the pumpkin color to bring out some vibrant color to the scheme. According to the chart from yesterday this will give it the energy that we so are filled with.

Choosing Colors

The color scheme of a wedding is what identifies the day’s style. Colors come into play in the flowers, decorations, the bridesmaids’ dresses, invitations, table linens and even so the souvenirs, and scrapbook. You can think of what kind of mood you would like for your wedding for choosing the colors. For example, lively colors tend to give off excitement and drama; soft colors add a more romantic atmosphere. Or you may want to choose the color scheme depending on each of your favorite colors.

For example, my cousin Gil’s favorite color is cream and his wifes' Shirley's favorite color is pink. These two color combination makes up a very beautiful hue and so this was the color scheme for their wedding.

Others’ have chosen their colors according to the location that they are getting married or the time of year of their wedding. There are so many great options to choose from.

At Your Wedding Company web-site, I found a page that they show the following breakdown of color effects and what each of their psychological effect is. It is very interesting as to how the color scheme can affect a mood.
• RED - beauty, strength, passion, celebration and luck.

• BLUE - health, happiness, patience and creativity.

• YELLOW - intellect, friendship and cooperation.

• GREEN - fertility, nature, peace and harmony.

• PINK - love and friendship.

• ORANGE - energy and knowledge.

• PURPLE - royalty, mystery, spirituality and growth.

• WHITE - peace, protection, purity and fairness.

Your Wedding Company web-site is a great tool for planning. I included the following article for additional help in choosing your wedding colors. http://www.yourweddingcompany.com/templates/planning/dress_colors.php

The Excitement

Destination Weddings are a blast for planning and usually cost less than traditional weddings. Destination Weddings have become very popular which once was something that was done mostly by celebrities. It allows you to add that exotic twist to your wedding that is not as readily available the traditional style.
I have to say that I was never the type of girl growing up dreaming of a perfect wedding nor was there any thought on prince charming coming to my window and whisking me away. But I tell you what, when my man proposed to me I was melted away and the planning stages have become the dreamy stages for me. It has become so much fun for me, especially that we are doing it in the island.

Importance of a Wedding Planner

It has been a pleasure working with Janice. What she mainly helps me with is getting results with the resorts wedding coordinator. I originally thought that because all resorts have a coordinator on site to tend to your needs that I did not need to go to anyone outside of the resort to help me organize. But after two months of calling the hotel to speak with someone I realized I could use some help. What I was getting was either that the coordinator was never there or did not have a response for me and said she would get back to me but I never would hear from her again unless I would call back.

This is not to say that they are not professional and are not willing to help the couple out. But later on I realized that most of these resorts are conducting 2 to 3 weddings a day. I can now understand why they weren't able to get back to me as soon as I would have liked. With Janice it has worked out very well.

A wedding planner like Janice comes out very handy and usefull because this person is in contact with many of these resorts very frequently and these places know that if they treat the wedding planner right the wedding planner would more than likely bring more business to them. They are more attentive to them and ensure that they get back to them promptly. Janice has been able to get all my questions answered. And it turns out that she also has another bride conducting her wedding at the same location. What this means to me is that when it is my turn the resort would gladly through in extra perks to ensure continuous business with the outside wedding coordinator.

If you can manage a planner into your budget I tell you that it surely helps.

My Wedding Planner

I have been working closely with a destination wedding planner, and she has been amazing. All of our questions and concerns are handled immediately. I found her information in "Elegant Bride" Magazine.
Her name is Janice from Destination Wedding Store.

She is very professional.

She keeps a blog that I love because she is always providing ideas that can be used and incorporated into the wedding. Like the Tiffany Luggage tag and adding something special to your

flower bouquet.

Wedding 101

This day can be as special as you wish it to be. Go for it all if you can and don’t be afraid to express yourself. Whether you feel that you would like something small and intimate or something big and extravagant, make it yours. This is your day. The first thing in the planning is the date. Some people go for a date that is significant to them but you may want to work with a time of year that your guest is able to attend. Or you may be like me and it is all about me (I deserve it), so we went with a date that was significant to us. Someone may prefer a specific time of year, because they like the season. Whatever it is making it yours is all that is important.

Another important thing in the begining stages is announcing the wedding. How to break the news to the rest of the family and friends. This step may seem easy but I for one did not know how to handle it. I wasn’t sure what would be appropriate and one thing I knew was that I did not want to tell people over the phone one by one.
Since then I have actually learned of many things that can be done as an announcement.

What I did was create a power point presentation with sound effects to announce the engagement and emailed it to everyone. You can use the internet in many ways to make the communication to loved ones. You can send out a card via e-mail and have a party set up at a local lounge that you enjoy. You can send out a blast voice-mail to everyone where you are able to track who received the message. Check out the following article on Announcing Your Engagement Etiquette.

Wedding Requirements

It is necessary when hosting a destination wedding that you are informed with all the regulations and requirements needed for that country. Many countries require having a blood test done and others require a minimum stay in the country before the ceremony. It is important to contact the hotel of choice and inquire about this to avoid last minute delays and surprises.

Luckily for us the Dominican Republic has a company that works closely with the Dominican Consulate. WEDO helps couples from abroad officiate their marriage in the Dominican Republic making the marriage legal and valid worldwide. Eliminating the hassle of having to visit the consulate or city hall.

This was very important to me because I didn’t want to have to do this twice. As I have heard of couples going away, that the marriage certificate that they received was not valid when they returned to their country of origin. I also do not want any other date on my certificate other than the one that we chose to be that special day for us.

Punta Cana, Sunscape the Beach

The setting is like a wedding made in paradise. I can picture it already.
The wedding coordinator at Sunscape the Beach is Grisel Cordones.

They have a number of wedding packages to choose from including a complimentary package for those that reserve a honeymoon suite or higher category with a stay of 7 day minimum. The packages are very standard and is what you will find at most resorts, ranging from $600 to $1500 depending on what you are looking for. Many resorts offer extras to add to the package for additional fees. Like Photography, Music, Spa, Floral Arrangements, etc.

Sunscape the Beach in Punta Cana offers helicopter rides. I have seen others that offer a boat cruise. I think these are great ideas to include in the wedding program. For instance, after the ceremony you may want to have cocktails on a short boat cruise before dinner. Or you can serve dinner on the boat. Many things can be done and it is all upon the Resort having them to accommodate you.

Many times it is good to build a rapport with the coordinator because there are a lot of things that can be incorporated into the wedding that is outside of the resort and the people that work on the premise know what is around there.
See me again for my thoughts on wedding coordinators.

Which Resort Will It Be

Sunscape the Beach is the selection that I am going to go with.
It suits us because it is one of the resorts that are least crowded and in turn allows us more intimate time. It also has a kids club that would be great for our little one, my niece and any of the other children that might be attending.

This Resort is an Ocean Front Property with all inclusive amenities. They are known for outstanding scenery, hospitality and also its tranquility. This is a family resort which is what we needed but also has many adult only areas with childcare available on site.

Bridesmaids and Maid of Honor

In selecting the wedding party it is a little more difficult when selecting them for a destination wedding, because you never know who would really be able to make it. For myself I do not want a big wedding. We are going more for an intimate setting with close family and friends. In my case am going to select four. One bridesmaid and one Maid of Honor and one groomsman and one Best Man. For many in this situation I say just go with the flow and ask those dearest to you anyways. If they are not able to make it, make sure you let them know that it is okay if they turn down the offer. You do not want to be stuck thinking that you have it covered when in fact there is a huge probability that they will not go. This is another reason why I want a small wedding party. There will not be a lot of people that you would in turn have to depend on to have everything in place for the wedding. On that note, I found some neat ideas for asking the wedding party to be a part of your day. There are plenty of cute “Will you be my Bridesmaid/Maid of Honor?” Cards like this one that you can find at Classy Bride and other retailers. They even have a bridesmaid survival kit that I thought was a cute idea.

The Destination

I decided to go with Punta Cana. Neither of us have been there and that should make the wedding ceremony even that more special.

Well, as I mentioned yesterday Punta Cana has many selections and making it that more difficult for me to choose a location. My fiancé has left the entire decision making up to me. I am not sure if women would just say “that’s a man for you” but I do not mind at all. I just go to him and tell him what I have found and what the deals that I am negotiating are. I wouldn’t say that all men are like that though. My brother in-law was more involved in the happenings of the wedding than my sister, Strange Gal, some may say.

Only until about 2003 was Punta Cana recognized as a tourism area and for this reason many of the land is faultless and the beaches seem deserted with miles of silky white sands.

Excellence Punta Cana is a resort (photo on the left) that has colonial style architecture and is recognized as offering first class service. I looked into Paradisus Palma Real Resort (the photo on the bottom) and Barceló Bavaro Palace Resort which are also all inclusive. I spoke with many travel agents and they had said that many of their customers love these two resorts. I personally know someone that owns a few villas in the Barceló Bavaro Properties and he says that it is immaculate, people love it.

Where on the Island?

After having decided on the wedding day and location, the next thing up was to decide on the resort to have the wedding ceremony. I knew I wanted it at a resort rather than a hotel because of the added amenities and convenience for my guest. Most resorts in the Dominican Republic are all inclusive and therefore guest can arrive, relax and know that everything is going to be taken care for them. I keep in mind and understand that not many guest will be able to make it, but for those that can I want it to be perfect for them.
The Dominican Republic has many beautiful provinces to visit with gorgeous grounds. “La Romana” is one of those places in the world that has beautiful rich green fields, very lush. I was looking into Casa de Campo which is one of the world’s largest resorts and is also a top golfing destination.
The Saint Stanislaus Church would make the ceremony a picturesque fairytale wedding. Casa de Campo is one of those places that everyone should have a chance to visit in their lifetime.

Then there is the Province of Puerto Plata. We were there last summer and I would like to take him to a different part of the island. Though there are many beautiful resorts there to choose from. There is Breezes Puerto Plata Resort and Spa and Casino and Viva Wyndham Tangerine which is both great all inclusive resorts.

There is also the Region called Punta Cana which I had not visited yet located on the east coast of the island. There are many great selections of resorts on this side of the island. This is the part of the island that Donald Trump is currently building a resort. From what I have heard from natives and visitors is that Punta Cana is very stunning.

See me tomorrow for my decision.

Dominican Republic it is !!!

Dominican Republic is known for its remarkeable beaches and magnificent coastline.

It feels like a perfect choice for the location of our wedding.

Deciding on what date to have our wedding was pretty easy for us. It was either going to be on the date he proposed or on the date that we first got together as a couple. We decided to go with the date that we first got together as a couple. We had known each other for about 2 years and we very good friends before we realized that we had each others perfect partner right in front of us the whole time.

At this point we have 165 days to go.

Having our wedding overseas is going to be very special to us. For one we love to travel and this is just going to be one other reason to go away. The great thing about it is that it will be a vacation for all of our guests. Many times destination weddings keep some people from being able to attend but one thing that as a couple we kept in mind is that this is about us and we had to follow our heart on making this our special day.
The family is always going to be there to support you no matter what and they will always wish you the very best in the long run even if they cannot make it.
Make it Special for You and Follow Your Heart.
This is Your Day

Intro

Well, I have decided to put up a blog about the wedding plans. Thought that this might help any newly engaged couples on the planning process of their own wedding. As for me I like to dig for information and research things before going full on for something, so I know that whatever comes to mind I can share with you and it might help in your process.

My fiancé and I decided that we wanted to do something overseas. Being that he is Antiguan and I am Dominican we agreed that it would be in one of our native countries to give our wedding a symbolic location to tie the knot.
After much research I decided to go with the Dominican Republic because of its added convenience of being able to find a direct flight there oppose to Antigua where you have to fly into Puerto Rico first from some places. Also, many of the resort do not allow children and for others the number of guest that could stay at the same resort is limited. Dominican Republic seemed to be a better fit for us.

*Please visit often as I will be posting regularly what I have come about.