 Nikki and Tyler H., clients of Travel Consultant Christine Wolff, spent their honeymoon at Secrets Royal Beach in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. They loved planning their trip with Christine and look forward to planning their next trip with her as well! Continue reading to hear more about their experience and see some of their photos!
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 Devyn O. and Harrison W., clients of Travel Consultant Christine Wolff, took a trip to Cancun, Mexico, earlier this year. They had an amazing time on their trip and were thankful for Christine's knowledge and expertise when their flight was cancelled a few days before they were supposed to leave! Continue reading to hear more about their experience and see some of their photos! “Christine was amazing and took care of everything for our trip to Mexico earlier this year. She not only gave us multiple options [for our trip] in different cities, but also fulfilled our every need as far as transportation, excursions, and hotel amenities (including a variety of butlers allocated to the suite Christine booked us). When our flight was cancelled a week before our trip, Christine quickly rearranged our travel and was still able to get us to Mexico at the perfect time. During our stay, I learned that she worked with my fiancé to set up a private 4 course dinner on the beach — something I will always remember. We’re looking forward to working with Christine for our future trips!” – Devyn O.
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 The wedding ceremony on the beach  The newlyweds posing for a perfect wedding picture Dreaming of a destination wedding? Email Emily to start planning your perfect day! Did you know that Brentwood Travel offers a Honeymoon Registry? Click here to learn how your family and friends can help make your Honeymoon dreams come true! |  Christina making her grand entrance complete with horse and carriage  Eric toasting to an amazing wedding in paradise  Cheers to Christina and Eric! |
'Stacey Hoehne was amazing planning our honeymoon! She presented us with a ton of options prior to choosing St Lucia. She delivered information throughout our booking process and even made us a vacation cheat sheet folder. She picked amazing seats for us on our flight to and from St Lucia. I would have not changed a thing about our recent booking with Brentwood Travel!
Thanks so much Stacey for everything!'
-Chelsea
'Stacey Hoehne was amazing planning our honeymoon! She presented us with a ton of options prior to choosing St Lucia. She delivered information throughout our booking process and even made us a vacation cheat sheet folder. She picked amazing seats for us on our flight to and from St Lucia. I would have not changed a thing about our recent booking with Brentwood Travel!
Thanks so much Stacey for everything!'
-Chelsea
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Contact Stacey at 314-439-5700 ext. 128 or email her to start planning your honeymoon!
Did you know that Brentwood Travel offers a Honeymoon Registry? Click here to learn how your family and friends can help make your Honeymoon dreams come true!
Get your passports; you’re invited to a destination wedding!
Long before there was a ring, Paul and I knew we wanted to have a destination wedding. While we enjoyed attending traditional 'ceremony and reception' weddings, that just wasn’t us. We wanted something smaller, low-key and intimate but we wanted more than a ceremony and a private room at a nice restaurant. We love to travel and we knew that inviting our closest family and friends on a vacation with us was going to be our ‘perfect’ wedding.
Long before there was a ring, Paul and I knew we wanted to have a destination wedding. While we enjoyed attending traditional 'ceremony and reception' weddings, that just wasn’t us. We wanted something smaller, low-key and intimate but we wanted more than a ceremony and a private room at a nice restaurant. We love to travel and we knew that inviting our closest family and friends on a vacation with us was going to be our ‘perfect’ wedding.
After weighing different islands and resorts, we decided on Dreams Palm Beach Punta Cana. We wanted to go to an island that we had not been to before and we liked how our guests from the U.S. could get a charter flights from St Louis, Chicago, and Milwaukee. Paul and I had vacationed with AMResorts before and loved the food and service, and wanted to go with a brand we trusted. Since this was a group booking, we were able to get our guests a discounted rate on their package. We then chose our date and deposited!
The stress started to settle in... I had never planned a wedding, let alone on an island that I’ve never been to and at a resort I’ve never seen! Then I was put into contact with our wedding coordinator at the resort - she had so much information for me and gave us an abundance of options. She sent over a whole ‘wedding menu’ full of flowers, photographers, decorations, ceremony and reception locations, sample menus, etc. We chose a ceremony late in the day with a cocktail hour with a trio of musicians playing Caribbean music then a buffet dinner with a full bar with a bonfire. Our wedding could have been anything from very simple to extremely extravagant - they can cater to all tastes.
The stress started to settle in... I had never planned a wedding, let alone on an island that I’ve never been to and at a resort I’ve never seen! Then I was put into contact with our wedding coordinator at the resort - she had so much information for me and gave us an abundance of options. She sent over a whole ‘wedding menu’ full of flowers, photographers, decorations, ceremony and reception locations, sample menus, etc. We chose a ceremony late in the day with a cocktail hour with a trio of musicians playing Caribbean music then a buffet dinner with a full bar with a bonfire. Our wedding could have been anything from very simple to extremely extravagant - they can cater to all tastes.
Our departure date finally arrived and we were finally at the resort. After we settled in, our wedding planner found us. She took my dress and Paul’s slacks and shirt to be pressed. We sat down with her and went over a few more details, such as if we were still happy with the décor, and she then showed us around where we would be having the ceremony and reception (we chose to have both on the beach).
We had our wedding on a Wednesday, which gave us time to be with our guests before and after the wedding as we wanted to vacation with everyone as well. It was also great to have so many things to do at the resort as it catered both to people that wanted to be more active, and those who just wanted to lounge by the pool.
The wedding day came, and my attendants and I had our hair and makeup done at the spa at the resort. They did a fantastic job! This was another facet that I was stressed about, considering most brides have hair and makeup dry runs with their stylist prior to their weddings, and we were going into this without a dry run AND with a language barrier. I gave them picture torn from a bridal magazine and it was duplicated perfectly. Our wedding coordinator kept checking on us throughout the day, and eventually we made it back to our room to dress.
We had our wedding on a Wednesday, which gave us time to be with our guests before and after the wedding as we wanted to vacation with everyone as well. It was also great to have so many things to do at the resort as it catered both to people that wanted to be more active, and those who just wanted to lounge by the pool.
The wedding day came, and my attendants and I had our hair and makeup done at the spa at the resort. They did a fantastic job! This was another facet that I was stressed about, considering most brides have hair and makeup dry runs with their stylist prior to their weddings, and we were going into this without a dry run AND with a language barrier. I gave them picture torn from a bridal magazine and it was duplicated perfectly. Our wedding coordinator kept checking on us throughout the day, and eventually we made it back to our room to dress.
Like all weddings, not everything can be controlled. There was a storm off the coast and our coordinator was watching the radar. As we were having our ceremony and reception outside, she gave us the option to move it indoors, but we had to decide fast. Paul and I decided that we would be more disappointed if we decided to move inside and it didn’t rain than we would be if it rained on us. We won that gamble - not a drop!
We did find out that it was too windy to do the bonfire after the reception, so we rescheduled it for the night before everyone left. That worked out phenomenally, as we the chance to get together as a group one more time before going back to reality.
We did find out that it was too windy to do the bonfire after the reception, so we rescheduled it for the night before everyone left. That worked out phenomenally, as we the chance to get together as a group one more time before going back to reality.
Everything went better than I expected. Dreams Palm Beach exceeded our expectations by a long shot. Everyone was so accommodating, and it was more beautiful than we could have imagined.
Even as Paul and I attend weddings now, either one of us will whisper to the other “I’m so glad we had a destination wedding.”
Even as Paul and I attend weddings now, either one of us will whisper to the other “I’m so glad we had a destination wedding.”
Tips for your destination wedding (and how to learn from our mistakes):
- Start putting a bug in people’s ear long before your save-the-dates go out that you’re considering a destination wedding. This is a much larger investment for your guests than a set of towels from Pottery Barn. We got engaged in the Spring and wanted to have a Fall wedding, but we decided on a longer engagement so that people wouldn’t feel as pinched to make a decision.
- Don’t be upset if people can’t go. We had quite a few people that couldn’t attend due to homes being purchased and babies being born. This is just part of having a destination wedding.
- Get your save the dates out ASAP. This reminds people to contact your travel agent and start asking off from work. We sent out luggage tags as our save the dates.
- Book the Honeymoon Suite or Master Suite. This is the first of only two aspects I would have changed. We booked a Preferred Club Ocean View room which was more than enough room for the two of us, but adding in my attendants, mom, photographer, and wedding planner. That room got small quickly!
- The second change I would have made is booking private transfers. The shared transfers were not bad, but looking back, I wish it would have just been my soon-to-be husband and me sharing our nervousness in the car.
- Don't forget welcome gifts. We put together beach bags for our guests that included a tour book of the Dominican, sun screen, aloe, and bug spray. Our maid-of-honor made beach towels in our wedding colors with our wedding date. You can get the resort to deliver them to everyone’s rooms, but we opted to deliver them by hand so we could personally thank our guests for coming and this gave us one-on-one time with everyone. Also - it was easy to identify our guests on the beach or by the pool since everyone had the same color bags on their chairs.
For more information about destination weddings, email Carrie or reach out to one of our other specialists.
