Weddingbee Blog

The two parts of our on-site planning that I thought I was fully prepared for were the flowers and the cake.

When it comes to flowers for destination weddings, there are basically three options:

1. Order flowers through the resort’s wedding coordinator (they have their own supplier)
2. Find your own supplier, buy flowers and create your own bouquets
3. Get artificial flowers made at home and take them with you in your luggage

Since I wanted real flowers and had seen some photos of beautiful bouquets the resort had organized, I went with Option 1. I printed out and brought some examples along with me to discuss with Mama Breezy:

My dilemma was: Would I do all white for me and purple for the bridesmaids? Vice versa?? Both purple and white for all of us??? Mama Breezy and I decided I’d do a mix of purple and white, with more white for me and more purple for the girls.

Simple, right? Um…

I brought these photos with me when I went to meet with the wedding coordinator, Sandra. I told her of my color preference and we then discussed flowers. Although lilacs are my favorite flowers, I had no delusions of getting them, because, hellloooo! Get real, sister—we’re in the Caribbean here! Ditto for tulips and some of the other flowers. Ergo, it’s good to do a bit of research on local flowers before you go away on your DW to avoid any disappointments.

So what did Sandra do? She suggested white roses. WHITE ROSES (please take note of this, mmmkay?) to which I screwed up my face and stuck my tongue out at. Call me crazy, but I hate white roses. I know I know, it is totally illogical but what can I say. I definitely wanted anything but white roses and made it quite clear.

However, one flower which I knew for SURE would be available was the orchid. So after some discussion, I told Sandra orchids only - white and purple - and if possible, could the purple be darker than the ones in the last photo above? She said she couldn’t guarantee the color but she’d try. I also gave her more purple ribbon and indicated I wanted the bouquets to look exactly like this, below, but with purple and white orchids mixed in (minus the sparkly thing):

Fast forward to the next day. And here is where I made THE. BIGGEST. MISTAKE. EVER.

I second-guessed my flower order.

I was walking along the sidewalk of the resort, minding my own business, when I passed a bride and groom on their way to the beach for some photos. I took a glance at her bouquet and was just awestruck with the beauty of it! The thing was, it was made of MIXED flowers. Oh crap. Should I have asked for mixed flowers too??? I called Sandra and told her about what I’d seen and she seemed to know which bride it was. And so I told her (gawd, I regret this): “You know Sandra, those flowers were so gorgeous that I’m going to trust you on your suggestion of having different types of flowers instead of mixed orchids. Just as long as it’s still white and purple.”

Dun-dun-dunnn…

Picking the cake was a bit easier, though. I learned from my trusty Facebook group for Majestic Colonial brides that the wedding coordinator would ask us to choose one of 3 flavors: chocolate/raspberry, vanilla/raspberry or banana creme cake (I think). That’s exactly what happened; we chose chocolate. I think that Mr Breezy was a bit disappointed that we didn’t get to actually taste the cake, though.

Although the cake flavors were set options, I had read that they could accommodate special requests as to shape and decorations. Back home, my Delicious bookmark file was packed with pictures of cakes so I chose two, printed them out, and brought them with me. I also purchased and brought with me some wide purple ribbon to imitate the look, which I thought was quite commendable, if I do say so myself.

Our wedding coordinator Sandra looked at the photos and said (again, are you taking notes, here?), “Sure, no problem! We can do that!” She’d make sure the ribbon was put on and that they placed flowers just on top like in the first photo, but they would be orchids instead.

So what happened?

Well, you’re gonna kill me but you’ll have to wait to find out. Hey, what can I say… these posts are in chronological order so you can get a true sense of what my experience was really like. For the next two days I lived in blissful confidence that everything would come together according to plan. You’ll have to wait and see what actually happened. (Mwah-ha-ha-ha-HA!)

Next up: Planning the Ceremony

DW in the DR: Pack It Up, Pack It In
DW in the DR: Airport Confessions
DW in the DR: Bienvenidos a Punta Cana
DW in the DR: The Guest List Is In the Bag
DW in the DR: The OOTs in Action
DW in the DR: Planning the Reception