Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican Republic
Age in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications Manager
Fiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing Director
Engagement Date: October 6, 2007
Wedding Date: November, 2008
Blogging Since: July 17, 2008
Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta Cana
About Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
The first three days of our trip to Punta Cana are a blur to me now. While everyone was doing this…
… we were scurrying around doing all the wedding planning we couldn’t do before we actually got to the resort.
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Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican Republic
Age in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications Manager
Fiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing Director
Engagement Date: October 6, 2007
Wedding Date: November, 2008
Blogging Since: July 17, 2008
Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta Cana
About Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
Sometimes there are things that just can’t be put into words, even for a long-winded Bee like me.
So without further ado, here is a quickie photo tour of our wedding resort: the Majestic Colonial in Punta Cana.
I wish I could share with you my own photos of the resort. But that would be impossible. Because, you see, I’ve never been to this resort… which means I’m planning a wedding at a venue I’ve never seen.
All I’ve had to go on are pictures like these:
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Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican Republic
Age in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications Manager
Fiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing Director
Engagement Date: October 6, 2007
Wedding Date: November, 2008
Blogging Since: July 17, 2008
Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta Cana
About Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
Once we had our destination of choice nailed, it was time to pick a resort.
As I flipped through one brochure after another, my eyes began to glaze over at the sight of the same images over and over: 1) photo of woman lounging by pool, 2) photo of woman on wide (and weirdly empty) white sand beach, 3) aerial photo of resort that is indiscernible from aerial photo of other resort on opposite page, 4) swan-shaped towel art displayed on a bedspread which must have been designed by someone who was color-blind.
Since I’m dorky and secretly love research (oh Melvil Dewey, your name still inspires shivers) I went, of course, to the grand World Wide Web…
…and, oh my lord, it was just more of the same schmaltz!
There were pictures of beaches and couples canoodling and 80’s-style wedding dresses with pouffy bangs to match, but not much else except ads, ads, ADS AND MORE ADS!
Unless you really like ads, I’d say do yourself a favor and don’t try Googling ‘destination weddings’.
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Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican Republic
Age in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications Manager
Fiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing Director
Engagement Date: October 6, 2007
Wedding Date: November, 2008
Blogging Since: July 17, 2008
Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta Cana
About Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
Weighing all the options for wedding destinations can be, admittedly, enormously overwhelming.
We found that the best place to start after asking ourselves these questions was to talk to friends and family that had been to the various Caribbean destinations we wer\ sort-of considering.
This kind of candid feedback can sometimes be incredibly helpful since it’s honest and trustworthy. However, if you want some advice based on personal experience, don’t ask too many people for their opinions. Not because you don’t love them all equally (obviously you do, or want them to think so, anyway) but if you don’t, you’ll just get massively, massively confused. It’s like going into Sephora when you want to try a new brand of mascara. GAHHH! They all sound so wonderful, how do you pick just one?!
If at this point you have already found a travel agent to work with, by all means do ask for his/her thoughts…but not before you have some sort of idea of what YOU want first. Trust me, it will make it easier for both of you.
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Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican Republic
Age in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications Manager
Fiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing Director
Engagement Date: October 6, 2007
Wedding Date: November, 2008
Blogging Since: July 17, 2008
Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta Cana
About Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
I’m thinking that regular readers of Weddingbee, especially Mrs. Lovebird’s fans, will have no problem answering this question, but for those out there like me who were totally clueless (which, by the way, is one of the. best. movies. made. ev-ah) before diving into this whole wedding scene, let’s just take a moment to make sure we’re on the same page.
Destination Wedding* (děs’tə-nā’shən wěd’ĭng) n. Also known as “DW”.
1. A celebration of love that takes place in a location other than the bride and groom’s current place of residence.
2. An amazingly fun excuse to get your closest friends and family together for a week-long get-to-know-you gathering.
3. A slightly sneaky, but completely gratifying, way for someone who wants their wedding day to last FOREVER to stretch the festivities from the usual 12-48 hours to a deliciously extravagant 168 hours.
* Source: the unofficial dictionary of Sea Breeze-isms
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Mrs. Pinot Noir, New York/Napa Valley
Age and Occupation: 24, Health Educator
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Market Researcher
Engagement Date: November 10, 2007
Wedding Date: October, 2008
Blogging Since: June 25, 2008
Venue: Auberge du Soleil
About Me: I am a Minnesota raised, NYC transplant planning a destination wedding in Napa. I'm balancing my love for the environment and my hubby-to-be's love for tradition to create our "green wedding in disguise." Our wedding will include local food and wine, antique touches and lots of love and laughter. When wedding planning isn't taking up my free time (and money) I love to read, cook, workout, watch baseball and travel! Follow along in my adventure as I attempt to plan an eco-friendly and socially responsible wedding (with eco-oblivious Mr. Pinot Noir).
One of the biggest pieces of green wedding advice that I have read, is to reduce the amount of travel (especially air travel) due to its impact on the environment.
No Planes!
As you have probably figured out, this is a piece of green advice that we did not follow. We are having a destination wedding and 55 of the 60 guests will need to fly to San Francisco. I wish that we could have had a local wedding, but this just wasn’t an option for us. My family lives in Minnesota, Mr. PN’s family lives on the East coast and our friends are all over the country. We decided early on that the only way to make everyone happy was for everyone to travel. We had dreamed about getting married in Napa Valley and we knew the perfect venue to bring together our family and friends.
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Mrs. Sea Breeze, Vancouver/Dominican Republic
Age in 2008 and Occupation: 30, Communications Manager
Fiance's Age in 2008 and Occupation: 29, Experiential Marketing Director
Engagement Date: October 6, 2007
Wedding Date: November, 2008
Blogging Since: July 17, 2008
Venue: Majestic Colonial Resort, Punta Cana
About Me: Planning a destination wedding by the sea should be (oh no she di-in't…) a breeze (…*sigh* yep, she did) but when you've never been to the Caribbean, your powers of imagination are really put to the test. Luckily, I'm 90% resourceful, creative optimist (and kooky, neurotic practicalist-if-that's-a-word for the other ten). Other than writing about our week-long celebration of family, friends, laughter and love, I adore books, shoes and… you guessed it… long walks on the beach.
So you’ve decided to have a DW (destination wedding). Every night, images of sandy beaches, turquoise seas and hurricanes- no wait, that was just me- er…swaying palm trees fill your dreams.
With a spring in your step and a sparkle in your eye, you trip on into your local travel agent’s office where HORROR OF HORRORS, they weigh you down with 20 pounds of catalogues detailing vacation packages in every single Caribbean island under the sun!
Where do you even start?!?
Well I’m not going to beat around the bush here: if you’ve never actually been to any of these potential destinations (like yours truly), what you’re about to encounter is NOT a cake-walk.
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Mrs. Lovebird, New York/Cancun
Age and Occupation: 25, Attorney
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Medical Student
Engagement Date: September 22, 2006
Wedding Date: July, 2008
Venue: Dreams Cancun Resort & Spa
About Me: Born and raised New Yorker planning a destination wedding in Cancun, Mexico and a traditional Chinese banquet in New York City. Got proposed to in Cancun, so it’s only fitting we are going back to get married. I love trivia, board games, bargain shopping, asian dramas and eating yummy food!
Part I
Mr. Lovebird and I are getting legally married at City Hall in New York before our wedding in front of friends and family in Cancun. I think it was the lawyer side of me talking since I don’t want the hassle of having a Mexican marriage certificate, which I would have to get translated and Apostilled each time I would need it. But the ultimate deal breakers were the blood tests. Me no likey needles…
source
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Mrs. Tiramisu, Annapolis, MD/Maine
Age and Occupation: 26, Eye Doctor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Project Manager/Real Estate Management grad student
Engagement Date: May 15, 2007
Wedding Date: July, 2008
Blogging Since: March 4, 2008
Venue: Oceanfront lawn and tent
About Me: I was born and raised in Maine, now living in Annapolis, Maryland and planning a hometown wedding from afar. I’m nothing short of obsessed with wedding planning, and am loving the do-it-yourself madness that has now taken over my life! As for me, I’m a craft-loving, martini-drinking, girly-girl who loves traveling, photography, my schnauzer, and above all, spending time with Mr. Tiramisu.
It’s been a challenge trying to plan a wedding from 500 miles away. Each weekend trip back to Maine must be carefully planned for maximum vendor-visiting potential. (I believe it was Miss Lovebug who coined the appropriate term vendor bender.) I really wouldn’t have it any other way though- I can’t imagine getting married anywhere but my home state.
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Mrs. Bee, New York
Age and Occupation: 29, Weddingbee Publisher
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Internet
Engagement Date: May 7, 2004
Wedding Date: March 5, 2005
Venue: Westside Loft, New York
About Me: Yes, my name really is Bee! I love my blogging, wikis, and tabasco sauce!
The Department of Tourism invited me and a couple of other wedding magazine/website editors to come visit the Cayman Islands last weekend on a press trip. Not only was it a fantastic opportunity to mingle with some of the top people in the biz, we got to spend 4 days in the beautiful Cayman Islands! What an honor for weddingbee to be invited! 
The island is clean, safe, beautiful, and the people are so friendly… I had an absolutely fantastic time, and would definitely love to visit again with Mr. Bee.
Now I’ll start off with the water excursions, because I got to experience a lot of things I’d never done before. On Saturday, our free day, I went snorkeling in Stingray City with Red Sail Sports. I purchased an underwater camera case for my digital camera for about $60 off ebay before the trip. Totally worth it! I got some amazing pictures and videos, and I’m sure to use it over and over again - a must have if you’re going to be participating in water sports on your honeymoon.
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