Welcome back to our blog. So today we are going to talk a bit about how long in advance you should start with planning your wedding in the Dominican Republic. 

Of course there are different answers to this question.

Getting married last minute, might not be the best option. But can happen, as for example with our beautiful couple Mariusz and Bernadette. Honestly, booked one day before 😀 Originally, the wedding ceremony was planned directly through the resort where they were staying for their vacation in the Dominican Republic. Everything seemed perfect, but Mother Nature had other plans. Hurricane Fiona ruined their big day.. 🙁 

After a long trip they finally arrived at their hotel in Punta Cana, where they got informed that their wedding ceremony could not be held. The hurricane had destroyed the wedding chapel at the beach, where they initially planned to get married.  

Both of them did not speak Spanish nor English, so they became quite desperate, as there did not seem to be another option. 

They contacted their rep at the hotel, who remembered my name and got in touch with me right away. At the time they called, I had just arrived in Punta Cana for a wedding on that same day. The original plan was having the small ceremony (which also had been postponed due to Fiona) and then drive back to our accommodation in Santo Domingo.
When receiving the call from Mariusz and Bernadette I thought: “well, this might be impossible”, it’s Saturday, a long weekend as Monday was a holiday.. How should I get it all together within less than 24 hours? 

Dios mio! As the Dominican would say. Where can you actually find a bridal bouquet for Sunday on Saturday evening? How can we make the reservation of the beach area that late, and what decorations should we use?

Well, let’s do one thing at a time. We agreed on having another call after 5 pm, when today’s wedding would be over. To see if we could meet up in person for payment and signing of contract, and also to have some time to get in touch with everyone involved in a small wedding for two (florist, rentals etc.)

Thank God I reached the florist, who was veeeery kind to reopen his shop. Even though he basically just had “leftovers” in his shop at this point, he made the impossible, possible and sent us a really beautiful bouquet.

The beach could also be reserved and a photographer was found at short notice. The client’s did not want to have a traditional wedding arch, so we decorated with what we found on the beach: coconuts, leaves – shaped in a heart on the ground. 

We met up with the clients at 8pm for payment and we were almost set. Well, almost, where should we sleep for the night? With not even having some new clothes with us.. For our weddings in Punta Cana we usually stay in Santo Domingo, as it’s kind of in the middle, a good base to avoid driving too much on one day. Informed the hotel in Santo Domingo and booked a new one in Punta Cana. My cellphone was basically on fire, but we did it. After checking in at the hotel and having dinner, we rushed to the room to prepare the client’s symbolic wedding ceremony. The only thing I could not get at the time, was an option to print their certificate in colors. Had to be done in black and white, but we got one!

And while I’m still writing here and remembering this day, another couple pops up in my mind. Those two actually sent a request about a week prior to their wedding date. A week is definitely more than a day, I said to myself… But somehow we did not find an agreement for various reasons. I guess this is called “force majeure”. So when they visited us in our office, somehow it turned out, that they wanted to get married on the same day. We still had some availability and I have a nice backyard, so here we go. Decorated, getting changed, here we go. That’s probably called a Wedding Quickie! 😀 

But now, let us get back to serious: How much time in advance, should you book your wedding?

There are different things to consider, when deciding to plan your wedding. First of all, I would say, my answer to the question above is: the earlier the better. 

This doesn’t count for everything but some things should be done very early, while others don’t necessarily need to be booked too much in advance. Locations like Cap Cana, Altos de Chavon or Tracadero can be booked up to 2 years in advance. Other locations can be booked between 6 – 10 months. But, for example, all-inclusive hotels usually do not have fixed pricing until 1 year before the wedding.

For a smaller wedding with a flexible wedding date, no specific wish on suppliers, a medium budget, 8 to 6 months in advance is perfect. But also short term bookings like 2 months and less are no problem for us, if you plan a smaller wedding or just an elopement. Of course, if you will be arriving with 100 guests, you should get in touch with us up to 1 year in advance. Also if you have specific wishes on your wedding suppliers, you have a dream hair & makeup specialist in DR, a dream location or a dream photographer that you really want to book? Then one or one and a half years in advance will be best for you. 

Same, if you already have a wedding date in your mind. Of course, there are anniversary dates, that some of our clients want to book. Special dates like 24.2.24 or similar might influence your choice as well. But to choose the right date I would recommend having the following in mind:

We always recommend to our clients to have local holidays and weekends in mind. Dominicans really enjoy weekends at the beach, so if you dream of a beach wedding, a Monday through Friday date might be better, to avoid crowds. Also some locations offer better deals from Mon to Fri, as Sat and Sun. 

What is literally impossible to do on short notice: is a legal marriage. For complete with local requirement you need several documents legalized and translated.  Find some more information on the following link. 

This confirms again: it’s always good to have someone on site who knows all the details and can give advice to all your questions.

Stay tuned and let me know if you have questions.
Love,
Anni