RoSean

This forum (especially Susan and Paula) helped me out while I was planning my Dreams Cancun wedding. I have not been actively posting since I don’t have much free time, but I owe this forum at least a thorough review of Dreams Cancun and the entire wedding experience. Enjoy reading! Wedding Date – June 24, 2008 Wedding Location – Dreams Cancun Resort Number of guests – 54 Customs: Warning! Do not bring boxes to pack your decorations. I think you get discriminated on when you are carrying boxes instead of luggages. Anyway, I pressed a green light at the customs, but we were asked to go on the side anyway to screen our 2 boxes filled with wedding decorations. The customs were nice, but I was stressed out from not getting any sleep 2 nights in a row. I was running my mouth off and was pretty rude, but they still let us go. I’m glad I didn’t spend any jail time before my big day. Resort: A I would highly recommend Dreams Cancun for their outstanding food and service. The resort could use a little upgrade with their furniture, but they definitely keep the place clean and manicured. The resort was also perfect in size. You can get from one end to another in less than 5 minutes. It was great for those days when I was running around from the lobby to our room to the spa etc. There are also areas that are not as crowded if you want some privacy. For example, the Tower infinity pool and beach isn’t as crowded as the main pool and main beach. A lot of our older guests hung out in the Tower area. Food was great!!! I did not get sick of eating their food. They have a World Café buffet and 3 restaurants (Oceana, Seaside Grill, & Himatsu). I really liked that the buffet had theme nights (seafood, steak, Caribbean, or Mexican nights). Also, the restaurants had different menus for lunch and dinner. I had to visit each restaurant at least twice. I also loved that there is 24 hours room service. This was very handy for the late drinking nights or the lazy breakfast in bed mornings. All of our guests said they enjoyed the food and it was the best All-Inclusive resort that they’ve stayed at. Having a honeymoon package and suite is cool since you get snacks every night, daily turndown service, champagne and roses upon arrival, spa treatment, and private dinner. We had our private dinner at the dock during sunset right after our couple’s massage. It was our last evening in Cancun and it was a romantic way to end our wedding week. Not to mention, we were serenaded by a saxophonist during dinner. Fun… Criticisms are none that would prevent me from coming back to Dreams Cancun. I mean our tub had a slow drain. I saw harmless ants in the bathroom. But these are little things was far outweighed by the pros of the resort. Rehearsal Dinner – World Café Buffet : A It was a perfect location for our group. We were lucky since it ended up being a Seafood Night Theme at the buffet. Rehearsal ended at 5:30 PM so we all hung out at the Rendevouz bar before the buffet opened. I went to the buffet to reserve a private section for our group. Everyone enjoyed the seafood. After the dinner, we asked our waiter for tequila shots for everyone, 4 times. Our waiter was great since he was teaching us how to toast Mexican style. Ariba, Debajo, Centro, Salud! Ay yay ay! The best part about having the dinner in the buffet for a large group such as ours was that we weren’t rushed. We pretty much stayed for as long as we wanted. Had we had our dinner in one of the smaller restaurants, I don’t think we would have gotten the same treatment/accommodation. For example, one night for dinner, 22 of our group went to Seaside Grill for dinner and we were seated separately (across the restaurant). It was hard to interact since we didn’t want to interrupt the other resort guests in between us. World Café had the space to accommodate a large group, great food, and does not compromise service even for large parties. Wedding Coordinator (onsite) – Claudia Cantillo: B I must admit, I did expect more from Claudia as the wedding got closer. After I placed my deposit in August and got the draft contract in October, I did not contact her since. I figured I’d leave her alone since the wedding was still far away. Also, I was still finalizing my guest count which everything depended on. In regards to obtaining info, this site was very helpful and we also did a site visit last August. I did not worry about details. I left it up to Claudia’s expertise to put together a wonderful wedding. How could she go wrong? She does this almost everyday. Besides, I was too busy with work and business school. I was probably one of the easiest bride that she had to deal with. I reconnected with Claudia in mid-May and updated the contract with the guests count and asked 7 wedding questions. It took her 3 weeks to answer my first email. It was already the 2nd week of June before I received her response. I was being understanding since I knew May/June are the busiest wedding months. Her responses resulted in additional questions which she responded to the week before the wedding. Again her responses resulted in additional follow up questions which she never responded to. I’m pretty laid back and always have a plan B so not getting a response from Claudia did not worry me. However, as a customer whose wedding was near (and spent lots of money and bringing in lots of business to the resort), Claudia should have prioritized my emails and responded more timely. My other issue was that they took down the ceremony decoration (Gazebo and chair ribbons) as soon as we processed out. I literally did not have any time to take photos by the Gazebo which I regret. After all, I did choose this venue mainly for the beautiful Gazebo and the view. Other than that, Claudia got almost everything correct. Dreams Spa: B+ The décor and atmosphere was soothing and relaxing. The spa was large compare to other spas I’ve been to in NYC. I treated my mom, his mom and his step-mom to a massage the day before the wedding, which they all enjoyed. My mom really liked the hot tub outdoor and sauna. The night before we left, we got a couple’s massage in the beach cabana from 6-7 PM. It was his first massage and he enjoyed it. I, on the other hand, did not think my masseuse was very good. I’m pretty picky with massages since I go to spas at least twice a year. Overall, the spa is just another relaxing activity to experience. I do recommend the couples massage in the beach cabana. It was such a romantic setting, but a bit over-priced. Hair – Dreams Spa (Christian): A My hairstyle was done by Christian. I loved how he did my hair. My hair was able to wind-stand the wind in the Gazebo area and lasted until the next day (after I fell asleep with it). I even got to wear my veil!!! Manicure – Dreams Spa: E My manicurist was horrible. I opted for the French manicure and the lines weren’t even straight. The lady was redoing my nails over and over and still could not get it right. I felt bad for her that I just pretty much said fine just to get it over with. My other guests who got their nails done, also had the same complaint. My suggestions is to just have your nails done at your local nail salon back home. Flowers (through Dreams): A Awesome! It was worth the extra $$$ to get the flowers that I wanted. I did noticed that the calla lilies was not the exact color that I had asked for. Oh well, it was pretty anyway. Besides, all flowers are beautiful to me. Ceremony (4 pm) - Gazebo: A It was very windy in the Gazebo area, but the view was breathtaking. We brought our own wedding celebrant so we were able to have our culture’s traditional wedding ceremony. The walk is fairly far, but dramatic. People who were in the infinity pool or Tower balcony were all watching and giving their best wishes. It was great since random kids would come up to me and would say their Ooohs and Aahhs. 4PM is still pretty sunny so maybe the ideal time would be 5 or 6 PM. Since we had a long ceremony and reception, this was the most logical time for us to hold our ceremony. Our bridal party surprised us by having a plane fly over our ceremony with a Congratulations sign. We thought that was cool! That was arranged via Dreams Concierge. Cocktails and appetizers (6-7 PM) - Tower Terrace: ? Totally missed the entire thing since we were out picture-taking. From what I hear, the food was great. I opted for the new cocktail menu under the Gold package. It included shrimp satay which everyone loved. I think the 2008 cocktail menu is better than 2007 cocktail menu. The mariachi trio sounded fun from afar. I would have loved to take pictures with them, but they were gone when we came back. If I can do it all again, I would have wanted to join the cocktail hour for at least 15 minutes. Reception (7-11 PM) - Tower Lobby/Terrace: A Only complaints was that it was hot. Our guests were in and out and after dinner ended up staying outside at the terrace to dance. Surf and turf was very good, but I didn’t know it was also served at Seaside Grill for dinner. I was disappointed to find out since it made what we are serving during the wedding ordinary since it can be had at one of the restaurant any evening. Since we paid close to $50 per head, the hotel should have served something else that none of the restaurants are offering. Clam chowder was not good at all. It was watered down and barely had any clams. Salad was as usual and tiramisu was more of a moose cake than a tiramisu. Nevertheless, it was yummy! We chose the strawberry cake and it was pretty good. Package serving came with 20, but we added an additional 12 for $5 pp. It was a 2 tiered cake and they decorated it with the same flowers that was used for my bouquet. Downside was that the cake was not served unless the guest was sitting down on the table. The problem was that most people were dancing so there was so much cake leftover. I suggest telling the waiter to serve to all guests. Terrace location was great. You get the ocean breeze and the pool to cool off. Most of the guys jumped into the pool. Either they were hot, happy, or drunk or all of the above. Our bartender was pretty cool. He got so many Tequila shots and ended up bringing bottles of Tequila out so he doesn’t have to keep going back and forth into the bar. Also, many of the guys bought Cuban cigars from the Cigar bar at the lobby and enjoyed it at the end of the reception. DJ – Mannia (Carlos): B+ I was so glad when I found out from Claudia that her preferred DJ is now Mannia. I heard good things about Mannia and at one point wanted to hire them, but just wasn’t sure if Claudia would be ok with me bringing an outside vendor. It turned out, for our wedding, she hired Mannia as our DJ. Carlos and his partner were great! Very nice people and open to suggestions. We gave them a copy of our reception program and CDs of our songs (first dance, garter, cake cutting etc). They MC’ed the reception and followed our reception program timely. I’m so happy we had one of our b-maid as the contact for the DJ in case there were issues or whatever. It freed us to do other things and to enjoy the party. Photographer & Videographer –Citlalli & Miguel (Claudia Rodriguez): A Both were very nice and worked well together. I’m glad I went with a photographer and videographer from the same company. I met with Citlalli the day before the wedding to update her on the wedding agenda etc. Miguel could not make it so she just caught him on. The coolest thing about Citlalli was that she had things handy such as scissor or lipstick. I needed to touch up my lipstick but did not have one with me so she lend hers to me. Awesome! They also stayed a little later than what we had paid. The one thing to note is that they require meals if you hire them for over 5 hours. It made sense, but just want to clarify that for those who have no idea. Something to factor into your budget. My husband suggested that he would have liked a photographer who choreographs the pictures more and provides more guidance with the poses. It’s just his preference and being the groom and all, he is entitled to critic them. Our contract states they would deliver all photos and videos within 3-4 weeks. I received an email that they are running a little behind schedule and will take 4-5 weeks instead (due to the volume of weddings in June). Good thing I’m a patient person. Overall, I was very pleased and happy with the two. I was comfortable with them taking my pictures. I can’t wait to see my photos and videos! Activities: There is a tour agency inside the hotel (near the ballroom) and also outside. You can book any tour a day or so before. Jungle Tour (Punta Este) - $68 pp Exhilarating and worth the money. My husband enjoyed driving the speedboat. 2 per boat and you go out in groups starting on the lagoon side and out to the ocean. The waves are pretty choppy in the ocean so beware. Max speed at 40 mph. 2.5 hours in total with 45 minutes of snorkeling at Punta Nizuc. Cozumel (Aqua World) - $95 pp There was 18 of us that did this activity and it was so much fun. The trip includes a bus to Playa del Carmen, RT ferry tickets to Cozumel, snorkeling trip aboard a boat which made 2 stops, and lunch at Mr. Chili. We also had at least an hour to go around downtown Cozumel to shop. Pick up was at 7:45AM and we got back in the hotel at 7:30PM. It was a long and tiring day. Other activities we also recommend which we did not get to do in this trip, but had in our prior visits to Cancun are Isla Mujeres, Tulum/Xel-Ha, and Xcaret. A lot of our guests also went shopping at Market 28 and La Isla. Clubs that our friends visited are Senor Frogs, Dady O and Dady Rock. Do not over-plan with activities. You will find that most people will want to stay at the resort and take advantage of the All-Inclusive. I had to cancel a few activities because there wasn’t enough interest or my hubby and I were just too tired to participate. Airport Shuttle (Best Day) - $17 RT pp double occupancy We provided shuttle to/from Dreams for all our guests. I guess they were ok since no one really complained to us. The downside was that they had to meet with a rep. in the hotel to schedule their departure time. I don’t see why this was necessary since I already provided them with departure flight info. Car Rental (Thrifty) - $286 (incl. taxes and fees) for 6 days for a Dodge Stratus We rented a car just in case we need to run any errands. We actually only used it once to go to Walmart. The other times, we lend it to our families so they can go shopping. It came in handy, but was unnecessary. Each time we go to Cancun, we always rented from Thrifty. They are located off the airport (2 minutes away ) which is why they are cheaper than Budget or Avis. A shuttle is provided from the airport arrival to the rental office. That’s all folks. I’m so glad it’s over and I can finally have some peace and quietness with my hubby. No regrets on having a destination wedding at Dreams Cancun. If I can do it all over again, I’ll do it the same way. I wish more of my friends will have a destination wedding so I can relive my wedding. Now off to planning my Australia honeymoon in August… -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Here they are… Pictures of the wedding decorations we made as well as other stuff. It was lots of fun making them, but too time consuming. I made corsages for the primary sponsors (wedding god parents) using silk orchids. We used the fans to assign seats to our wedding party during the ceremony. OOT bags are the usual stuff. The ladies loved the sandals. My hubby put a collage of the cities we’ve visited together as our table numbers and the ceremony program. He also designed our newsletter (which I don’t have a picture of). Thank goodness, he is very good in Photoshop.

Quote: Originally Posted by gen moriya yikes. How often did it rain while you were there? Was it an isssue for you> Did you see any weddings get rained on? (my worst fear) I took a June date becuase it was all they had left (first choice was May) - and the rain is my biggest concern. I guess beginnng of June is better than towards the end like ours. We got lucky! The day after our wedding, it rained hard in the evening. Two days later, it rained all day. The next day it was sunny again. There was a wedding with a party of about 20 people who had their ceremony in the Gazebo prior to the rain and had their reception indoor in the Tower Lobby. I guess it was not as bad since there's room to move around inside. Had they had a bigger party where people need air to breath (it's pretty hot inside), it would have been very uncomfortable.

Quote: Originally Posted by zorlack76 Does anyone know the best time of year to get married in Cancun? Dreams is a great resort, but I am worried about the weather down there during my planning phase. I am just looking for tons of sun, and little rain. As far as answering your question about the rooms...if you are looking to keep it on the cheaper yet luxurious end, the "Ocean Front" room in the Pyramid building has a great view. Everyone has their own taste when it comes to what they like to view when they are in their room. The Club Tower Ocean Front room, I am guessing, is even better, but obviously costs a little more. Lots of sun would probably mean their summer time which is around March-May. June is the start of rainy season and while we were there, it did rain during the day for a few hours and some nights. Most of our guests opted for the cheapest room, the garden view. However, many of them got upgraded to Ocean Front or the Tower rooms. One of them, who got 2 rooms, got upgraded to a Junior Jacuzzi Suite. That room was awesome! We got upgraded to a Honeymoon Suite. It's really up to you if you want to take your chances.

Quote: Originally Posted by SIMBASIM I tried using my Visa Check card to pay my deposit and my bank declined it. My Bank said they do not allow oversea purchases on a check card. You may want to check with your bank to be sure you can use it in the event this is how you plan to pay for purchases while there..Also, they do not take discover.. Just a lil FYI! I'd like to add to that also. Contact your credit card company and bank to warn them that you will be traveling and will be making a large charge to the account. This way, they can notate it on your account and approve the charge. I used my Chase Visa (credit card not debit card) to pay the entire reception expenses so not sure if Visa check card is acceptable.

Quote: Originally Posted by dancingdolphin I'm also interested in the answers to this question. In addition, how much did you have figured out before hand? To be honest, I'm not really sure what I need to finalize with Claudia until we get down there. I know I must not be thinking of tons of things, but I figured I'd wait till we get down there to finalize the flowers we need, sound system, dance floor, decorations, addl picture package (I'm using the resorts' photographer / video guy.), etc. Should I be doing this all beforehand? I feel like I just need to know what time we meet with her. What things are/were you figuring out ahead of time? The weeks before my wedding was chaotic. I'm in business school so we we're having our midterms 2 weeks before my wedding. I work for an investment bank so as you can imagine my hours aren't 9-5. In a way, I was soO glad to have the wedding over with due to the stress I had experience prior to it. My husband was great throughout it all. He took charge of the ceremony aspect of the wedding and came up with the program. He came up with the reception program and organized the songs. I, on the other hand, was putting all the decorations/favors/centerpieces together, welcome bags, organizing the airport transportation (we provided this free to our guests), and whatever else that we needed to prepare beforehand. All of these preparation we did 2 weeks before the wedding. In fact, we were getting only 3 hours of sleep the last 2 nights before our departure to Cancun. We arrived in Cancun Sunday afternoon and we spent our time running around either to welcome guests, confirm activities with the Tour desk, confirm spa appointments, put the welcome bags together for our Meet & Greet that evening. Monday morning was spent meeting with Claudia, our photographer, and DJ. Afterwards, I had a spa session with the mothers at 2pm. and the rehearsal at 4PM and onto the dinner at 6PM. We have not had a chance to go to the beach or relax the 2 days before the wedding. At this point, we could not wait for the wedding to be over. Eventhough we cannot finalize certain aspect of the wedding, we already know what we wanted. Our draft contract already had a sound system during the ceremony, additional cake exceeding the package, additional flowers, DJ etc. To prepare for the wedding, I printed a picture of the flowers I wanted which I gave to Claudia when we met. We had a reception program for the DJ to follow which we gave him when we met. We had "must-have" photos to guide our photographer. I had a picture of the hairstyle I wanted. I guess eventhough nothing has been finalized in paper, we had already decided on what we wanted. In regards to activities, we had sent out a newsletter back in May and asked for RSVP for anyone interested in any activity. I did not collect any money nor made any reservation. However, what I did have is the number of people who will be participating. The day we got to Cancun, I met with the Tour desk and asked to organize the Jungle Tour and Cozumel trip. The other activities (Isla Mujeres, deep sea fishing) we had planned on doing, we ended up cancelling since no one wanted to do it. Being that there's so much to do at Dreams, a lot of the guests decided to stay in. We instructed the guests to see the Tour desk to make payments the day before any activity. My biggest advice is to not wait until the last 2 weeks to prepare for the wedding. You definitely want to avoid stress. Be prepared, but be flexible with the detail. For example, you want a strawberry cake. You can have the cake, but leave it up to Dreams to decorate it. Delegate to your bridesmaid. I had a list of delegated task during the wedding day. With all the things going on that day, you will forget things so write it down and have the b-maid worry about it. Trust me, this is a necessity!!! The bright side about all the stressing is that your wedding day will be perfect. There will be flaws, but noone will notice except for you. By the time you realize, you would be too drunk to care and enjoying the party you've planned for months...

Quote: Originally Posted by Kat81 Congrats!! Do you happen to have a copy of the ceremony? Sorry, I won't be much help with the ceremony since we brought our own officiant with us. My husband worked with him to customize a ceremony for us, incorporating our culture's wedding traditions.

I'll be posting my review with pictures this weekend. Stay tuned!

Totally, forgot to add that you need to be more flexible with this type of wedding. We literally finalized the contract the day before the wedding and met with all vendors (DJ and photographer). Also, you can use your credit card to pay for the entire reception or other expense you incur in Dreams so no need to bring cash or bank checks.

Hi ladies... I just came back from my wedding at Dreams Cancun on 6/24. Claudia is alive and well, but superswamped with weddings. There were weddings almost every day that week. I can relate to your frustration. She also was not responding to my emails 2 weeks into my wedding. I thought she would be more responsive since my big day was coming up. In fact, I still had pending questions before I left for Cancun. My suggestion is to cover your grounds and just prepare everything yourself. Anyway, with very little communication with Claudia, she was still able to put together a wonderful wedding for me. 54 guests with cocktail and dinner dancing reception, outside vendors, you name it everything was close to perfect. It was a beautiful day!!! Just have faith and plan B...

Sounds like a lot of fun!!! Was the fireworks worth it? I'm debating whether we should have one. It's an awful lot of money for a few minutes, but it's so magical as well. Can't wait to see photos...

I liked those too so I went to try them on and aside from being pricey, it is also heavy.

Don't miss out on a bridal shower. It's a once in a lifetime experience like your wedding. I'm not about gifts either, but once in a awhile you have to embrace the attention and accept the love of your family and friends.

My future MIL suggested that the bridal shower invitation should have a blurb on it with "Cash gift is appreciated". I was totally against it. I purposely registered in Bed Bath & Beyond because of their refund policy. Most of the items I picked were expensive since those are the stuff that I really need, not plastic spatulas...I also did not register for too many items so once the registry is complete then hopefully guest would just give cash.

Great job! I have to get started on designing my raffia fan favor.

Congrats!!! Nice pictures. I didn't know you can have a reception in the spa either.

I've booked Citlalli for photos and Miguel (Claudia's husband) for video for 5 hours. You've made a great choice!

Susan! Congrats on the upcoming baby!!! How exciting...

Awesome photos!!! You guys looked great!

Paula, you looked great!!! Looks like everyone had a great time. Thanks for sharing the photos. They came out very nice! I'm so glad since I'm also using Claudia's company (Citlalli & Miguel). Now that I saw your pictures, I think I'm going with the red carpet as well since my dress have a semi-chapel train. Sorry, I hope you don't mind that I have a few questions. How many guests did you have? Was there enough room to dance the way they had set up the tables? Did it get too cold during the reception that the guests needed sweaters? Did you have a buffet dinner or sit down? Did you hire a DJ and if so who? What time did the reception end? Would you recommend wearing a veil since it was pretty windy by the gazebo? Muchas Gracias!!

Great wedding photos!!!

CONGRATS PAULA!!! Enjoy your day!

It looks great!!! So pretty. I guess you'll be wearing a veil. I'm still debating whether to wear one since I read that it's very windy by the Dreams gazebo.

Ohh and I forgot to add that I get many praises from random people about my ring (the ring just shines and sparkles=). If you got a high quality diamond (priced lower than Tiffanys), you'll be sooOO happy with it!! Congrats!

BlueNile is one of the best places to get high quality diamonds. I did my marketing research paper on them after my FI proposed back in May. The ring came via FedEx. BlueNile has a great selection of diamonds that fits everyone's budget. FI won't tell me how much my ring costs, but since the website has the build your own ring feature, I was able to estimate. I got my ring appraised by another jeweler and it was appraised for over 150% of the costs. Woohoo! BlueNile is a reputable jeweler and has great customer service. In addition, we got 5 frequent flyer points with Continental airlines for every dollar spent. That's 2 free domestic flights.

I'm giving the bridesmaid parasols too. I think they look great on photos. Where are you buying your parasols? Please post links. Thanks.