Editorial policy.

How we research

Every article in the Journal and every directory listing rests on three kinds of sources:

1. Direct local experience. Visits to the venues, conversations with the vendors, observations from Camille Rivera (a destination wedding planner based in Las Terrenas) and the rest of the team. When an article says "the last couple I coordinated," it's real.
2. Primary institutional sources. For legal data: JCE, MIREX, the courts. For climate data: ONAMET, NOAA. For tourism: MITUR, gosamana.com. The full list of sources we cite is at /en/sources.
3. Quotes from real vendors. The price ranges you see in our pricing guides and in the articles come from quotes we collect quarterly with vendors in the directory. They're refreshed every four months; the last-reviewed date appears at the foot of each pricing page.

Who reviews

Three people touch every piece of content before it's published:

• Marvin (founder). Vendor relationships, directory inclusion criteria. Touches any decision that affects a specific vendor.
• Ana (operations director). Editorial coordination, fact- and reference-checking, final review before publishing. More than 20 years in events and hospitality.
• Camille Rivera (editor · wedding planner). Editorial voice of the Journal. She brings operational judgment (what actually works or fails on the wedding day) and checks that every guide passes the test of "would I give this to a real couple who asks?"

Use of AI in writing

We'll say it plainly: some Journal articles are drafted with AI assistance (Anthropic's Claude model, writing in the voice and judgment of Camille Rivera). The process is:

1. Topic curated by humans. The topic queue comes from keyword research (Ahrefs, GSC) and from the real questions we receive through the information request. The AI doesn't invent what to write about.
2. Draft generated. The model writes the first draft following a detailed prompt that bans clichés, demands first-person evidence, and requires taking a position.
3. Self-evaluation + filter. Before publishing, the article is scored across five dimensions (originality, local specificity, actionability, factual safety, structure) and is regenerated or held if any dimension falls below the threshold.
4. Human review on publishing. Ana reviews the raw article before marking it published for high-risk topics (legal, budget). For lower-risk topics (planning, lifestyle), the review is periodic.

If you find a concrete fact that's wrong in any article — especially in the legal cluster — correct us. We fix it fast and log it at /en/corrections.

Update cadence

Every article carries a visible last-reviewed date ("Updated X" in the header). The commitment is:

• Legal cluster: reviewed every 6 months, or immediately when JCE/MIREX regulations change.
• Pricing: refreshed quarterly based on new quotes from the directory's vendors.
• General guides: reviewed at least annually.
• Vendor listings: re-verified every 12 months (visit, fresh references, updated photos).

Sponsored content policy

We don't publish sponsored content. Today no vendor pays to appear in the directory or to be mentioned in an article. There is no paid placement, no "sponsored by" articles, no advertising banner.

If this changes, the model and the details will be published first at /en/transparency, and any sponsored mention will carry a visible label ("Paid content") wherever it appears.

Affiliate policy

We don't use affiliate links. When we link to an external page (JCE, MIREX, gosamana.com, etc.), we don't earn a commission on the click. If this changes, we'll label it wherever it appears.

Corrections policy

When we discover a material error — especially in legal facts or figures — we fix it fast and leave a record. The full policy and the public log live at /en/corrections.

How to report an error or suggest a topic

Write to us. If it's a factual error, put it in the subject line ("Correction: article X") — we'll review it within 48 hours, fix it if warranted, and log it.