Scouting trip to the Dominican Republic

By | November 11, 2024
35 Comments

So, we’re married!

At least in the eyes of my parents’ gods. Not witnessed by anyone besides our parents. And the pandit.

We took the marriage as a sign to take a mini honeymoon. Our idea: a 100-person destination wedding in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. We’ve both never been, so this was a chance to check it out. We figured it’s a big island and not terribly hard to get to for most of our guests, so it might work?

We went on a 5-night trip staying in two different hotels. I emailed a few places that did south Asian weddings and told them I was thinking of visiting and they offered me a bridal preview rate at their hotel. It was significantly cheaper than their listed rates. Possible travel hack if you’re getting married? You have to sit through a presentation and tour their wedding facilities, so it felt a little timeshare-y, but we wanted to see and know this stuff anyway, so it was okay for us.

They gave us all the perks. Unlimited dining and drinks. Club access. Exclusive pools. Our own butler. It was lovely.

We stayed in two hotels and toured two others. All of them were all-inclusive, fancy schmancy hotels.

Cost

Flights: $557/each
Chicago to Punta Cana: $209
Punta Cana to Denver: $348

Hotels: $627/each
Hyatt Zilara – $300 each for two nights
Royalton – $327 each for three nights

Ubers/rides to hotels: $47.10/each total for three rides

Tips: ???

While there, like I said, we stayed at all-inclusive resorts, so we didn’t have to pay anything extra for food or drinks. We tipped prolifically, but I didn’t track how much. That was cash.

Total: $1,231.10/person

One nice perk of Punta Cana: there’s a swimming pool in the lounge at the airport!

After all that, we decided not to do the wedding in the Dominican Republic. The humidity in October was all-encompassing. It made everything but hanging out in the pool pretty tough. We hung out in the pool anytime we weren’t looking at venues, but I’m not sure that’s feasible for a wedding. We could change the date to more pleasant weather, but that would be very expensive.

Plus, the hotels were not intimate and I felt the spaces were too big and would dwarf my 100 guests. And the Dominican Republic requires a layover in Miami or Charlotte for most of my guests. That’s not convenient!

So back to the drawing board we go. Where should we get married? I’m thinking somewhere in Mexico. Here’s my wants list for my wedding.

  1. Destination outside of the United States for four days, three nights
  2. A south Asian wedding package if possible, but not necessary
  3. Easy/cheap for my guests to get to from Denver, Chicago, New Orleans, and the Bay Area of California.
  4. Not too big of a hotel

I crave your feedback.

35 thoughts on “Scouting trip to the Dominican Republic”

  1. Cherie Garvey

    I have been following your blog for ages and thoroughly enjoy it. I was praying for you to find that special someone and it is exciting to see you have! Marriage is wonderful and life is sweeter and richer for sure with it. I think you’d love the size of this really special luxury boutique hotel in Los Cabos. I stayed there for my husband’s fancy schmancy award trip through his company back in July 2024. It is called Chileno Bay. All the rooms are in individual villas with outdoor showers and the spa is other worldly, everything about this place is tied to nature. The staff are well trained in hospitality. The food was gourmet Mexican with a 5 star Michelan rated restaurant on site. It’s truly one of a kind, small and also down to earth for being so luxury. The entire lobby area is open to the air, the pool is stunning and you will never have slept better in their beds. I hope you check it out. Cheers to you and your happy marriage!!!

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    1. Thriftygal Post author

      Thanks for the awesome comment! I checked out the hotel you recommended and it’s absolutely gorgeous! I love how small it is, but it’s way outside our price range. Rooms are over a thousand dollars a night! Thank you, though! I’ve never been to Cabo and am doing more research on that.

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      1. Cherie

        I know if you have a large group they will charge you much less than the price online. They seemed very keen to negotiate and wanted the business. You could throw an offer out there and see what they accept. 🙂

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  2. K Pickering

    This might be completely inappropriate since this is the first post that I have seen from you. I don’t know the background or family culture. I feel compelled to post. Hopefully this is not rude. The name of your site is “The Power of Thrift” but if I understand correctly you are expecting 100 guests to take several days and pay for airfare, hotel, meals to come to your wedding? That seems like an unreasonable ask and definitely not thrifty for anyone invited. Again, maybe I am missing details?

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    1. Thriftygal Post author

      Thanks for commenting! It’s not inappropriate at all. I appreciate it. This won’t be a thrifty affair and I’m a-okay with that. Many people won’t be able to come and that’s not the end of the world. Everyone who comes will be important to me and my family and Mark’s family have no qualms about traveling for this.

      We’re also crafting ways for it to be cheaper for our guests. 🙂 More on that later.

      P.S. I’m curious how you found my blog!

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      1. K Pickering

        Thanks! Appreciate that. Honestly I’m not sure how I found your blog? I must have added it at some point and I received an email that there was a new post 🙂 I will read more 🙂

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  3. Molly

    Good luck is my best comment!
    You will not regret setting up this super fun celebration… families need reasons to gather (funerals are often the main reason for gatherings… how morbid! Gathering to celebrate you is brilliant!).
    Keeping an eye on costs is smart.
    On that note, have you considered a stateside destination wedding instead? A lovely resort in Florida, Arizona, or California? This could shave a lot off the cost for all of your guests. No one would need a passport. Some guests might even be able to drive!
    Wherever you go for your nuptials, you’ll be glad you made a celebration of it!

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    1. Thriftygal Post author

      I love your comment! It’s a reason for the whole family to get together and I’m so excited! It’s been super fun planning so far.

      I’ve never considered a destination wedding inside the United States. For me, it’s about taking a fun vacation somewhere exotic.

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  4. Barbara

    The Hyatt Ziva in Cancun! 3 hour flight from Chicago, 25 minute drive from the airport to the restort. Beautiful hotel, much smaller than most all-inclusives, clean facilities, friendly staff. And we’ve seen many smaller weddings there (but never a South Asian wedding, so not sure about that). Check it out!

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  5. Rudi Schmidt

    I like that, “I crave your feedback”….OK, the Carib, and even Hawaii=humidity, but Hawaii has the trade-winds. Who doesn’t love Hawaii….Kauai! But if the Carib ‘feels’ closer/easier, then Puerto Rico. My spouse (49 years of marriage) says, “we’re too old to recommend anything”, ha. She may be right.

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  7. Tim

    Any reason you’re set on a destination wedding? To me it seems like a huge hassle and logistical mess for ~100 people.

    I vote for something more local and save the traveling for after the wedding or for more honeymooning

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    1. Thriftygal Post author

      I love love love traveling. It’s my favorite thing to do and I just want to share my love with everyone I love. I always delight in going to destination weddings. And most people would have to travel for the wedding anyway as I have people I love all over the U.S. Plus, there will be no hard feelings if someone can’t come. 🙂

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  8. Marie

    Congrats on marriage ceremony #1! I agree with Molly’s comment above about families needing reasons to gather and weddings are a perfect reason. I don’t have practical advice for planning a destination wedding, but thanks for keeping us on this journey of yours!

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  10. Manish Savjani

    Hey Anita
    Many many congratulations to you both… Well done indeed.

    I have been to a few destination weddings from here in London to various countries in Europe, USofA, Cancun, India and Thailand.

    They are good for the guests but not that easy/smooth for the organisers and the couple who do most of the scouting/planning… A lot of things go wrong (or not as you expected) then difficult to put them right straight away in a foreign land…

    Plus, your stateside, as Molly and Tim suggested, has beautiful places of various climates and nature to choose from. So why go out of the USofA?

    India would be too for from where you are, otherwise I would suggest that as you’d get your culture and exotic flare!

    Just my penny worth…

    Enjoy whatever and wherever you decide to have your important day in your life.

    XxX

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    1. Thriftygal Post author

      I recently went to a wedding in India. It was one of the nicest ones I’ve ever been to!

      Thanks for the thoughtful comment. 🙂

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  11. plam

    Congrats!

    I really have super limited experience with the Caribbean in general, but Mexico does sound good to me. For political reasons I would definitely personally not hold any event in Florida. Not really actually that much cheaper than Mexico for transportation + venue and not safe for trans people.

    I guess I really am not the target demographic for this question! We don’t really believe in weddings but we do support parties, so, sure. I just think sometimes people worry too much about having the perfect wedding day. We had a 30 person wedding a few years ago.

    I have been to Cancun but also in terms of not being the demographic I tried hard to avoid resorts. The event I was at was at a resort but I minimized time there, staying at a nearby airbnb. I think Cancun would otherwise be a decent choice.

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    1. Thriftygal Post author

      Cancun is one of my top choices and where we’re looking the hardest. Well, Playa del Carmen.

      I love that you support parties. I also support the idea of parties. Love them!

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  12. Linda

    If you want a destination wedding, you should be prepared to pay the ride for the guests. It’s a selfish endeavor, spending others’ vacation time and $$ Otherwise, congrats!

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  13. fiforthepeople

    Congrats on the (impending) nuptials! As for destination, Cabo will be eaasy to get to. It may be a bit humid in October (if that’s when the wedding will take place), but the later in the month, the less humid: https://weatherspark.com/y/149727/Average-Weather-at-Los-Cabos-International-Airport-Mexico-Year-Round. A friend of mine recently went to Ajijic, near Guadalajara, which is easy and cheapish to get to. He loved it (tho he did say that the lake is too polluted to swim in) and said that it’s inexpensive. I’m sure there are loads of small, beautiful, cheap Mexican towns near major cities that’d fit your bill. West should be less humid than east. I personally am looking to vacation in Guatemala. Pretty cheap to get to, beautiful country, and inexpensive. Another friend of mine has been there and loved it. Said he easily could relocate to, I believe, Atitlan, which he considered paradise.

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  14. C

    I don’t know if they still have this, but if you are considering stateside you could get married by an Ernest Hemingway impersonator in Key West (I discovered this when planning my own wedding… about 15 years ago)
    Which dress did you end up choosing????

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    1. Thriftygal Post author

      I picked the one that everyone liked. 🙂 The red one. Mark likes it. I like it. It’s 80% of what I want and a better price. I haven’t bought it yet though because we still don’t have a date or place and I think that’s first. 🙂

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  15. Susan Lato

    We did a destination wedding 25 years ago to Bryce Canyon and it was one of the best ‘spendy’ things we’ve ever done. Go for it!! We had folks fly into Vegas and then we rented minivans for everyone to carpool, since it is a long drive. I’m afraid I don’t have specific hotel recs but if you can’t find your ideal in Mexico, consider New Zealand? Yes, much longer flight, but if your friends like to travel too, this is a great excuse to take a longer vacation. And don’t be afraid to have a second party stateside if a particular group can’t make the wedding.

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    1. Thriftygal Post author

      Thanks for the encouragement! Never in my wildest dreams had I considered New Zealand. LOL. I’m intrigued though! My Australian friends could come.

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  16. plam

    New Zealand’s great. Am there right now and have been there a lot of the past four years. Feels cheaper than the US right now, but probably some places in the Carribean might be cheaper than NZ. Really far from the East Coast of the US, only normal amounts of far from the West Coast, not that far from Australia relatively speaking…

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