When my husband and I first got engaged in December 2014, it took us nearly 3 months to decide what country we wanted to get married in and at which venue. We knew from the beginning that we wanted to do a destination wedding, but we didn’t anticipate that we’d end up selecting Dominican Republic as our country of choice or the Majestic Colonial Punta Cana for our hotel. At first, neither were on our short list. We had a few ideas of what we wanted when we started our planning, but to get exactly what we wanted for our date, budget, and must haves we had to make some compromises. As you can imagine, there are many factors that go into selecting a country and venue for an away wedding. In the end, the Majestic Colonial Punta Cana offered us the most for our money, while providing us one of the most elegant beach wedding venues.

Punta Cana, Dominican Republic was the best location for us. Our list included: warm temperatures, palm trees, tropical flowers, white sand, turquoise water, a semi-private wedding ceremony, amongst others, and the Majestic gave us that and more. The Majestic Colonial was the perfect pick for us and here is why! Not only is the Majestic Colonial Punta Cana one of the top wedding destinations in the Dominican Republic, they helped make our wedding dreams come to fruition in a mere 5 months. Yes, that’s right, we had 5 months to plan our wedding after selecting the date, country, and venue. I can’t think of any reasons why anyone wouldn’t want to get married at this tropical paradise. That’s just my opinion though! Decide for yourself.

Majestic Colonial Punta Cana- Overall rating: 9.5/10

Location, Location, Location!

I married the man of my dreams on a tropical palm fringed island. I Floated down a sandy isle on a beautiful sunny day to see my husband-to-be standing in front of a twinkling turquoise sea with not a cloud in the sky. I met him under a freshly painted white gazebo on a white sandy beach to be joined in matrimony. With waves gently lapping on the beach and palm trees swaying in the distance, we said “I do” on August 19th.

Basic Wedding Package

The resort did a great job on the décor for our basic wedding package. We got married on the beach and opted for the basic wedding décor package with no upgrades to save some $. The turquoise water in the background was enough to compliment the white linens and highlight our special day. We didn’t want the decorations to overpower the natural beauty already there. Simple is often the most elegant for beach weddings. That’s why we got married on the beach–for the turquoise water in the background. That’s all we needed! I loved the idea of basic white with a pop of colour (the water, my girls dresses, and my bouquet) for a destination wedding. It turned out perfect and looked very elegant.

My rating on the basic wedding décor is 10/10.

The Flowers

The resort did an INCREDIBLE job delivering amazing products! We got the included bouquet/boutonniere and they turned out fabulous. I sent the wedding coordinator ideas (via pictures) before the weeding (4 weeks prior) and then the day before our wedding we sat down with the wedding coordinator and finalized our vision. I incorporated heirloom vintage buttons and broaches into my bouquet and our wedding coordinator added them FREE of charge. I brought my own ribbon for the bouquet stem so it would match my girls dresses exactly how I wanted. Our wedding coordinator added the ribbon to my bouquet stem FREE of charge. There was no need to upgrade. I got EXACTLY what I wanted with the variety of included bouquet options. They are really endless. My rating on flowers in 10/10. Hope this helps.

Semi-Private Dinner: Rodeo Grill

Menu: Starter- Caprese salad, Main- chicken breast, steamed seasonal vegetables, and roasted potato and sour cream.

The resort did a great job on our dinner. When we arrived at the dinner, everyone was offered a welcome cocktail of mixed tropical fruit juices. Instead of fish or beef, we opted for grilled chicken breast (it was huge!), baked potato & sour cream, and steamed vegetables. It seemed like the safest choice–everyone likes chicken! We had no vegetarians, but a vegetarian option is available. Everyone enjoyed the meal. Most people couldn’t finish their meal because there was so much. We had multiple servers (one main guy overseeing everything) and they did a great job of bringing out the food mostly at the same time with such a large table and refilling drinks (which are included at no cost). We did our cake cutting after we ate and it was also our desert. Our wedding center piece was brought over from the wedding and placed on our table. The resort decorated the table with basic white linens. It is basic, crisp white, yet elegant…it is all you really need. We only had 23 people in our group so a semi private dinner was the way to go with such a small group and we didn’t need a seating plan either. We opted for the semi-private dinner to save some $. Although we had a private table in the public restaurant, we didn’t notice anyone around us. The resort does a really good job of placing you in the restaurant in the most ‘private’ place with the least amount of guests around you. My only complaint is that we were placed at the “head table” at the top of our long table and it was hard to converse with everyone. People tried to toast us to kiss, but we couldn’t hear very well. We would have rather been placed in the center of our table to better communicate with the group. It was too loud to do our speeches so we saved them for another event we were having later in the week. My rating on semi-private dinner at Rodeo Grill is 8.5/10.

The Cake

The resort did an AWESOME job on the cake. We got the included cake and it turned out better than expected. With the amount of people we had (23) we had a three tier cake included in the basic wedding package (wow!). I brought my own decorations (flowers & cake topper) and they were added to the cake FREE of charge. I bought my cake topper at Michaels with a 40% off coupon which ended up costing us $17 after discount. The day before our wedding, we sat down with the wedding coordinator on site and finalized our vision for the cake–EASY. We got the vanilla cake with strawberry filling and it was so yummy–way better than we thought. The icing is a light cream and it is not too heavy. I loved the idea of a basic white cake with a pop of colour for a destination wedding. It looked very elegant. My rating on the cake is 10/10.

The Spa: Hair

I decided to do my own makeup and get my hair done at the salon. I felt that it was my wedding day and that I didn’t want to have to mess with my hair, but rather relax. My mom also encouraged me to get my hair done at the salon. I’m so glad I made that decision. I got to sit back, sip on champagne, and have my hair styled. Even though it is expensive, it is worth every penny (and still cheaper than bringing someone on the resort). It was around $80 American, so for us Canadians…it’s still 30% more than that with the exchange rate right now. The girls know what they are doing. Normally, I don’t let people do my hair because it never turns out the way I like it and they just don’t know how to style it the way I like. This is the FIRST time I’ve ever allowed someone to do an up-do for me. Since I have curly hair few people know how to work with it. I took a chance hoping the salon would know what they are doing (after reading positive reviews) and it exceeded my expectations! I brought two pictures of what I had in mind and she re-created my vision exactly. I was so impressed. This is also the first time I was extremely happy with a hair style someone did for me. Within 15 minutes of arriving to the salon, I had champagne in my hand and my hair was started. My bridesmaid’s hair was started later than mine by a different girl (she was supposed to be done at the same time as me), but she was still done minutes after me. My only minor complaint is that at times my girl was a bit rough when combing out my curls and the hair dryer was a bit hot at times (too close to my head), but other than that, no complaints. Highly recommend it.

My rating on the hair services at the Majestic Resorts salon is 9/10.

As you can see, selecting the Majestic Colonial Punta Cana was an easy choice, although a few of the details we didn’t find out about until after we selected the resort (bonus). The Majestic Colonial Brides private group on Facebook defiantly helped answer a lot of my questions. The resort wedding coordinators were happy to answer my questions via email and always got back to me within 24 hours. We appreciated all the support and couldn’t resist all The Majestic had to offer. From the incredible wedding services offered, private Colonial Club, unlimited tropical fruit, delicious gourmet food, gardens, elegant architecture, and aqua blue pools that run nearly a kilometre to the beach, we had to get married at the Majestic Colonial Punta Cana. The Majestic was the right choice for our totally turquoise tropical wedding!

Jessica, Turquoise Compass