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 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.

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 who 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 a 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 had 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."

Tips for your destination wedding (and how to learn from our mistakes):

• Start putting a bug in people’s ears 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 who 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, sunscreen, 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.