Hi destinationdvia,
Sorry for the late reply, there was a problem my user. With this being something new for me responding in this forum, I must take the fifth and beg for your forgiveness. I did not see your questions until today. Hopefully I can still give you a few ideas to help you.
The first thing that you have to consider with a destination wedding in Dominican Republic is the style of resort. This destination has some very different styles, that not allot of others have. Basically the older resorts such as the Barcelo, Bavaro Princess, to name a few have little like villa building scattered throughout the resort. They might have eight to sixteen rooms or suites in each building. The concern that we have for destination weddings at these resorts are from past experiences. You could have your guests, especially your wedding party all over the place. And when you need a golf cart to get around that can be hard getting everyone to events ontime. Not only from the long walk to get there, but what if they get lost or are delayed in route. Another concern is if you have people who have a walking problem. That might not be best for someone who has that concern.
I have to say if I where to suggest three resorts to you based on our past experience with them I would say Sunscape The Beach stands out as the best on the island for destination weddings. We here truly love this place. They have an excellent staff, you get so much more for your wedding dollars - cocktail party, photos and wedding dinner to name a few, very nice beach area and just overall best service. Another great feature, they only do either one large or two small weddings a day. This is not a factory where you will meet up with 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 other brides.
The resort was built within the past few years, with a winding lagoon pool stretching from the lobby area down to the beach, all inclusive resort with each room includes 24 hour room service and daily mini bar, the dining room choices are both ala carte and buffet with no reservations and not restricted on the days you can use them and overall prices have been very good for next year. Basically your guests will be treated like king and queens.
Another resort that we like is the Caribbean Princess, the two Paradisus resorts, Excellence Punta Cana (adults only resort) and the Ocean Blue resorts. All of them have excellent destination wedding departments and give you so many options. If I go into them all here, you might need another server. At least this gives you a list to start.
Now on the other hand there are a couple of resort chains that I will advise you to stay away from just because of not very nice experiences with them.
Let's face it a resort can put up a webpage that states they do destination weddings, but does that tell the whole story. Over the 10 years we have been doing this, we have created a trusted network that we feel comfortable working with. There have been times where we have had people contact us because they traveled their on a vacation and they are going back to get married. They only want that resort, which we will explain to them any problems, but that is what they want. However each time we have had something at any of the Gran Bahia, RIU and Barcelo resort.
I'm sorry in all confidence I could not suggest any of those resorts base on a past history. Out of the three resort chains, I would say that the RIU is the worst offender. They have a great website, but it is very hard to get answers out of them. There have been times we wait for weeks to get a confirmation from them that the wedding date and time we confirmed on their website, comes back to us. Then we will get a response back saying that the date and time are sold out, what about this, then wait another week. If the date and time is open on the website, then when you click through to confirm, that should be your confirmation. You should not have to wait for them to come back. And if it is not available then that should not be on the website.
Our company wants you to have an enjoyable experience, not fretting, waiting on the resort. That is why I suggest ones that have been good to us in the past. If you would like some pictures just let me know because I cannot include them within this posting.
I hope this information gives you a start on your planning! Let me know if you have any further questions.
Best wishes on your special day!
Lindsay
We're in the process of planning a destination wedding for June/July 2008 with approximately 30 family/friends. We want an all-inclusive to make everything easy for everyone and which provides plenty of activities. We are also looking for a resort which can go above and beyond the "standard" wedding packages most of the resorts offer.
Any suggestions?
Destination Wedding in Dominican Republic
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