sgbrown

I did some research and we ended up picking Freddy in place of Citlalli (because she was unavailable). I think his pictures look really nice and I'm looking forward to the big day! If only it was sooner!

Quote: Originally Posted by Maegan606 Could you guys let me know, on average, what your guests paid per night at Dreams Tulum? Just looking for an estimation, so I know what my guests should expect. I know that the prices vary during the time, and obviously by year, but knowing what to expect would really help =) Thanks! We do things a little different in Canada, in that we pay for our airfare, land transfer and hotel as a package. In total, our guests are paying $1726 (7 nights) to fly from Ottawa to Cancun the first week of May, and that includes transfer to and from the hotel. Children are paying just over $1000.

Oh and congratulations Niels408!!! You're so lucky! Please please please post your pictures! They are going to be so amazing. Lucky you!

Quote: Originally Posted by Lonna14 Ladies I basically just answered my own questions from yesterday..Landy just sent this over to me...the set menus (3 options) for the ballroom, each at $20 per head plus the 25%. I hope this helps..it sure helps me now!! Thanks Lonna Thank-you so much for posting the set menu! I've been really curious to know the menu if we decide to have the reception in the ballroom. This really helps! I think I've read all the posts on this new thread, so I apologize in advance if I'm asking a question that's already been answered, but has anyone been able to confirm what the cost is to extend the ballroom reception past 10:30 pm? I'm flip flopping between wanting my reception at the SeaSide Grill (where the party will have to end by 10:30) or having it in the ballroom (to allow dancing/music/drinking into the wee hours).

Quote: Originally Posted by Blkatz I'm sure all of them are great! do they have a gallery you can look through? Yes, they have a blog I can look at. I think they are good, but I guess I just thought Citlalli was FANTASTIC. I guess I just need to tell myself that everything happens for a reason, and if these other two photographers are part of Claudia's team, then they must be very qualified as well. Ok, I need to stop this pity party and get happy! Oh, I forgot to congratulate SunBride (Stephanie)!!! Way to go, you totally deserve the recognition!

I noticed someone asked about Freddy, another (new) photographer on Claudia Rodriguez' team. I just found out that Citlalli is double booked for our wedding day so we just lost her. I'm so dissapointed! The only people currently available for our day is Alberto and Freddy, but I don't know very much about them and I haven't had much luck finding any information about them on this forum. If anyone has any information, could you please let me know? Thank-you! So so so sad!

I wouldn't worry about not having a confirmation number. Perhaps it's something that Landy does but that Sandra didn't do? I have such dissapointing news. I was originally told that we could have Citlalli (from Claudia Rodriguez' team) to photograph our wedding, but I just received an email this morning saying that, by accident, she's double-booked and the other party put their deposit in first. Aw I'm so sad. There are two other photographers from her team available (Alberto and Freddy) but I haven't heard too many things about them and I'm not sure their work is as high quality as Claudia, Erik or Citlalli's. I guess I'll keep doing some research, but how dissapointing!

Hi everyone! Does anyone know the answer to this: I'm hoping to have my reception at the Seaside Grill (if the resort's capacity is less that 70% next May). In the most recent wedding guide, it states that "All the outside events are allowed... until 10:30 pm." It then goes on to state "Music and Dancing are only allowed for private events or at the Ballroom." What I'm wondering is, if I pay for my reception to be a private event at the Seaside Grill, do we have to stop the party (music/dancing/drinking) at 10:30 pm? If anyone has experience with trying to organize a similar reception, I'd love to hear from you. Thank-you!

FYI - I just heard from Lizet this evening and she told me that she would honour the 2007/08 wedding guide prices for us... YES!!! Since our wedding isn't until May 2009, I was a little worried that I'd really have to fight for it. To help anyone else out who might be in a similar situation, we received our confirmation number from Landy in February 2008, which was before the 2008/09 guide was released. It seems as though they're being really good and not trying to haggle or anything. Even still, I'm definitely going to print the email she wrote me and bring it with me!

i love monica's gazebo design, but instead of hanging orchids I bought the hanging green and blue disk shells from World Market...I'll find a pic. If anyone is getting married after jan 17 2009, i could ask Landy to keep them for that... Oh my goodness, neen I love it! It's so beautiful! What a nice way to dress up the gazebo.

Quote from SunBride: "The civil ceremony is performed by a judge (usually female) who speaks Spanish and your wedding coordinator will translate. The ceremony text is always the same (see link below) but you can add your own vows, readings, sand ceremony, etc." I was wondering if anyone could expand a little bit on how much we're aloud to alter our civil ceremony text. I have found some really beautiful passages (an introduction, a hand ceremony, vows, and a closing) that I'd like to use in addition to the standard text used by the judge at Dreams Tulum that SunBride was kind enough to post on the 1st page of this thread. I guess I'm a little confused because obviously none of the text that I'd like to add would be in spanish. Would the wedding coordinator read my text (quite lenghty) and then the judge would take over at some point and perform the standard legal text? Just askin'! I hope my question isn't too confusing!

Quote: Originally Posted by neen help please...i read somewhere on here - maybe our old thread, maybe not - about a transfer service that charged by the vanload not per person for airport transfers. does this ring a bell with anyone I would be curious to know more about this as well. Currently, we have airport transfers arranged through our vacation company, but it's not private so it may make tons of stops along the way if there are other people on our bus staying at different resorts. This may make for a looong trip! If the price is right, I'd be interested in paying for private transfers for my group. SunBride, you're from Ottawa too right? Did you book through Air Canada Vacations by any chance?

"Well one thing is that the new wedding guide was only released about 2 months ago and many 09 brides had already booked under the old policies and one or two of those brides has confirmed that the old policies will still apply." Landy sent me the 2007/08 guide when I booked, but I have yet to hear from her about whether I'll have to pay the 08/09 prices. Truth be told, I'm a little scared to ask for fear that she'll just tell me that the 2009 prices apply now. For example, Ashjanbro is getting married 2 days after me and she was given the new prices (although I guess I did book sooner). I think it's going to be sticky to try and get them to honour their old prices for us who have weddings scheduled in 2009. I'm crossing my fingers that we'll get the old prices, but my FI are budgeting according to the new prices just so that we don't get scr#@* over!

Hi everyone, Here's a question that I don't quite have the answer to: Does anyone know the (approx.) capacity of the Seaside Grill? We are a group of ~50 and would also like room for dancing (we are rowdy!). Will we be squished? (this question, of course, totally depends on whether the resort is less than 70% full for next May, but just curious as it's becoming one of my front runners)

Hi Joey, Congratulations on your engagement! When my FI and I decided to have a destination wedding, we came up with a rough idea on price. We wanted the trip to be under $2000 so that it remained affordable for our friends and family. Once we decided that, we then started investigating some locations using a book that we picked up from a travel agent - Mayan Riviera, Dominican Republic, Cuba (we're Canadians) etc. We narrowed our search down to about 6-7 affordable resorts and then went on Trip Advisor/Expedia to research reviews. We finally narrowed it down to 2 resorts in the Mayan Riviera, but couldn't decide between the two. We emailed a link to each resort to our wedding party and parents and asked them to choose. One resort was $100 cheaper/person, but our friends/family unanimously chose the more expensive resort (Dreams Tulum) because they fell in love once they saw pictures. Ultimately, the decision is yours but it was fun to involve our loved ones in our decision (I think they appreciated it, particularly being able to approve of our price point). Good luck! I'm sure you'll be so pleased with whatever you choose.

SunBride, You are AMAZING! Thank-you so much for all your hard work. Your summary covers absolutely anything anyone would want to know. It's so much easier than trying to navigate through the 100 pages in the old thread. As a relative newbie who's in the early stages of planning, I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help. I really feel a lot more clear on some of the little details. THANKS AGAIN!

Hmmm, we will definitely have more than 20 people and we'd like to extend our reception past 3 hours. It looks like we'll need to do some more research! I'm finding it really hard to stay on budget. There's so many little extras that add up here and there, and I'm struggling with having the wedding of my dreams and making little sacrifices here and there in order to be financially responsible! Thanks for the information guys!

Welcome! You'll find all the information you could possibly need in this forum. Happy browsing and good luck planning!

Does anyone else know about the potential cost of alcoholic beverages for a reception in the ballroom? Personally, I'm not too thrilled with the idea that we'd have to pay for drinks at an all-inclusive resort. If it's the case, I might re-think our reception location... Thanks for any help anyone can provide! It's much appreciated. Sarah

Welcome! You'll find this site so incredibly useful. I'm still relatively new and I've been so impressed (and a little overwhelmed!) by all the great information people have been willing to share with me. Good luck with your wedding planning!

Quote: Originally Posted by SunBride Chibi411 had her reception in one of the ballrooms. Her review is here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t23169 From what I've heard you have to pay extra for a bartender for your reception, unless your guests walk to the closest hotel bar (which from the ballroom would be the lobby, which is like a 5 minute walk, too far to ask your guests to go in my opinion) Yes I agree, I don't think it would be fair to have our guests walk that far for drinks. Thanks for letting me know! Besides, I don't want too many people coming and going throughout the night (my friends and family are drinkers!). Does anyone happen to know how much a bartender would cost? I think I'm also planning on extending the reception past 10:30 pm, so I think that's an extra fee as well.

Yay! It finally worked. I hadn't seen the 2008-2009 wedding guide yet, so it's super helpful. I think we're going to choose one of the ballrooms for our reception site - has anyone chosen this option and been happy with it? We're still in the midst of figuring out our final numbers. Currently, we have ~40 guests booked for our wedding in May. At most, I think our group will be 60 people. This question may seem silly, but as long as we select either the Dreams of Love or Ultimate wedding package, does this include unlimited complimentary drinks (i.e. alcoholic drinks) during our reception?

Ok, thank-you! I tried to open it but I was told I don't have enough points. For some reason, I'm having difficulties with opening attachments at the moment. Oh well, I'll keep trying!

Hi everyone, I'm still a newbie to this site and I'm having trouble seeing any attachments (for example, I'm trying to find some ballroom pictures, but I don't see any links eventhough other people are viewing and commenting on pictures). Any advice? I'm getting married on May 7th, 2009 at DT and I'm trying to choose my reception site. I think I'd like to choose one of the ballrooms, but I'd really appreciate seeing some pictures first. If anyone can help, I'd really appreciate it! Thx!

GREAT NEWS - Don't worry whatsoever! I JUST booked my wedding at Dreams Tulum on May 7, 2009 (looks like we'll be seeing eachother!). I don't have a flight number or anything like that, but both Sandra and Landy allowed me to make my reservation, no problem. I found Landy got back to me a bit quicker than Sandra. You might try emailing her instead! Good luck and keep in touch. I'm in the midst of trying to figure out which wedding package I want... it's so confusing!!!