hmueller19

SHE LIVES !!! Just to let everyone know, we finally heard back from Claudia on our open questions. Now we can board the plane in peace

Quote: Originally Posted by RoSean 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. Thanks for the update on Claudia, and good to know that things are still rolling down there. I think that we have been quite flexible, and we don't even blink any more when it takes 1-2 weeks for a response to our email. And the truth is that we have most of the details worked out, so if we have to finalize down there, no biggie. But we haven't heard from her since 5/30. That's just wrong. In the month leading up to our wedding, not one email, at all. If she is that busy, she needs more than one assistant. That's a little ridiculous. Good to hear that your day still came off without a hitch. It would be great to see your pictures if you can get them up, we leave Tuesday morning !!!

Quote: Originally Posted by tlomlad hey vickie when do you leave dreams i would love to meet up and have a cocktail we get there the 17th Unfortunately, it looks like we will cross paths. We actually depart on the 17th. What time do you get in?

Quote: She emailed me this week so she is still there - not sure why she isn't contacting you tho unless she thinks everything is sorted and she can deal with it on the day she meets with you It would be nice if she emailed back to say that, and to maybe give us the time when we would be meeting when we arrive down there. I would be TOTALLY fine with that. But we haven't heard from her in a month. That's not cool... H&V

Quote: Originally Posted by tlomlad NOOOOO! she wont reutrn my email or calls and im under 3 weeks out im getting mad and worried that she did mnot leave dreams as well We haven't heard from her either, in a few weeks now, and we leave in less than a week (wedding in less than 2)... Does Gaby have another email address, or is it the same as Daniella's old one? We tried her too - nothing, so we tried the concierge yesterday as well... Still waiting

Wow - been a while since we last posted - busy busy busy !!! Trying to tie up all those little loose ends... A few questions for those of you who have already been married... 1. With the Tres Leches cake, is it strong enough to support a cake topper? Some brides have indicated that it can be somewhat moist - even soggy - just don't want the topper to sink into the cake. Thoughts? 2. Do they decorate the cake by default, or are you just given a plain cake and it is up to you to specify all the decorations, such as flowers, etc? 3. For those of you who used Claudia Rodriguez's photography, did you meet with the photographer in the days before the wedding to discuss shots that you wanted, or did you do that the day of, or via email, or just go with the flow? Did you bring a list of shots? Thanks much - sorry we haven't been posting lately... Time's a flying !!! H&V

Quote: Originally Posted by Kat81 Aww thanks. I am still trying to con my FI into it. That is sweet of you though. It's getting closer and closer!! You getting excited? Yes, and freaked - only 4 months to go, haven't ordered the STD's for our home party (although finally got a proof today so maybe I can cross that one off the list) - going to Vegas next week for work/play - STILL SO MUCH TO DO... deep breath... OK, I am calm now...

Quote: Originally Posted by kristi Hi hmueller! I'm gettting married in November and have tried to contact Claudia..you all have been so helpful! I was wondering if you could e-mail me the attachments she sent you...also could you e-mail me your pics from secrets capri? We're staying there for our honeymoon. Thanks so much!!! [email protected] Kristi - I apologize - head not on straight these days... Did I ever email you the Secrets stuff? Let me know and I will send it along... SORRY!!!

Kat81 - regarding your site visit. I see that Ana responded seeing if you want to come see their wedding in July. If that weekend didn't work, you are more than welcome to come down and see ours - July 14, 2008...

OK, for those of you who are new and don't want to read 100 pages in one sitting, couple of tips and tricks... I posted a bunch of questions / responses from Claudia that we gathered over the months starting on page 72. I also posted a bunch of attachments of documents / pictures / etc that we accumulated back on 73 and 74. If you haven't already, check out Jill's pics: Kodakgallery.com*Slideshow Paula's pics: Kodakgallery.com*Slideshow Ana's site visit review: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t15401 Christine's pics: Kodakgallery.com*Join now and receive beautiful photographic prints from your camera Katherine's wedding site: katherineandseth.com Kimiko's review: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t7752 Jill's review: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t10938 pipi619's review: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t15443 SusanK's review: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t10643 And on and on - I completely understand all the pressure on the most experienced among us who probably get bombarded by requests for information - there is a TON out there on this site - just start reading... If you want any of the docs that I have posted, just PM me and I will email it along...

OK, another topic - on page 97, there was talk about how to set a deadline for your guests. We are having a relatively small wedding. So we identified our group of guests who would be invited early on - our wedding is in July 08, we started communicating with those guests roughly a year ago. We let them know our plans, gave them a tentative date range, a tentative budget, and all that. Then each month or at key points, we gave them more and more detailed information. Once we had the date reserved with Claudia last fall, we sent them STDs and all the details on how to start booking. We went through a travel agent that we have used many times before, and although she is not a "regular" with Dreams Cancun, or with DWs, she has been very helpful. She reserved a room block through Apple for the land only so that we would be sure that we have rooms, and we set the date range to hold those rooms to a wide enough range for our guests. That was also last fall, and by that time, we had a very good count of who was invited (32 adults, 8 children). So we knew the max number of rooms to put in the block and so on... Then we really pushed our guests to get their airfare booked. Even though none of us have paid for the land yet (except a small deposit), once people buy plane tickets, you pretty much know if they are going or not. So we "lovingly" pushed to get plane tix bought, and as each couple/family bought, we let everyone else in the block know the updates - that probably also put a little pressure on people who were still out there on the fence. We set a date (actually it was earlier this week) for people to commit to the room and pay us the land deposit or give up your room. Final payment will be due in mid-April on the land portion, but already, we pretty much know our guestlist will be 24. It is so true that when you start (and all throughout the process) many of your friends and family will come up and say "That is so exciting - we are definitely coming !!!". But they really haven't thought it through... And it is not until they look at the full cost, and have to start shelling out money for plane tickets or deposits or whatever, that they start to think about - is this really going to work, can I go, do I need a sitter, do I have vacation, what about work, how long can I go for, etc. And we wanted it small - we have both already been married once before, and we did the big wedding already. We will have a party back home for everyone in August. So we only invited those people who had special meaning to us and that we spent alot of time with. Even then, we still had other friends and family come up and say - hey, can we come - sure you can come but really, are you going to or are you just saying that... Not knocking family or friends, I just think that people don't think - they want to come, but don't realize its not just the next town over... Hope that helps some...

So back on page 95, some of you were talking about having your guests sneak in - just my 2 cents, but probably not a good idea (even if it is Cancun)... Hans's boss went down to Cancun (goes every year but stays in another resort) in Feb and we tried to get an appointment setup with Claudia for his boss to go onsite to Dreams and get some information and take some pictures. Needless to say, with the email "delays", we weren't able to get it scheduled before he left. But he thought he would just stop by the hotel and walk around and take some pics. Not even close... Security at the hotel was very polite, but also very strict. They did let him talk to the front desk, who tried to get one of the wedding coordinators to come down and meet with him but to no avail. He said everyone was very nice, and no one was rude, but that they were letting him walk around unattended on the resort, even just to take a few photos. When we went to Secrets Capri, it was much the same - security was very polite, but tight. No wristbands, AI, and very upscale resort, security is probably not going to be lax... And again in the DR, when we stopped by Sunscape the Beach (now Dreams DR - they are all owned by AMResorts) we saw and experienced the same level of security. Moral - I am sure that some folks can sneak on, but I am guessing that more than likely you will cause a stink, and then how will that reflect on your wedding... Just my 2 pesos...

Special thanks out to Kathi for the link to Sarah Sproull - she is great and we love our little monogram - we are going to use it on almost everything we can - what a great find...

Wow - take a few weeks off of the forum and like 25 more pages are written. Sorry bout that !!! And sorry in advance for the flurry of responses that we will send out now to try and help answer some of the questions of the last few weeks... I posted this over on Ana's site review, but I will do so here too if anyone is interested... For those of you looking for information on the catamaran trip we are booking - contact: Guadalupe León Wedding Agent Amstar DMC México Phone 52 998 881 95 63 Fax 52 998 881 95 85 [email protected] www.amstarmexico.com Guadalupe is excellent... Hans has been emailing him back and forth and he is a riot (but very helpful) - tell them we sent you. The trip we are booking is 10-5, includes snorkeling, stops in Isla Mujeres and for lunch (included), drinks, etc. It is a private trip so you can customize somewhat. I think the max on the boat is 40, but I am not sure about that. If you need more info, let me know... H&V

Sorry all, we have been away from the forum for a few weeks... For those of you looking for information on the catamaran trip we are booking - contact: Guadalupe León Wedding Agent Amstar DMC México Phone 52 998 881 95 63 Fax 52 998 881 95 85 [email protected] www.amstarmexico.com Guadalupe is excellent... Hans has been emailing him back and forth and he is a riot (but very helpful) - tell them we sent you. The trip we are booking is 10-5, includes snorkeling, stops in Isla Mujeres and for lunch (included), drinks, etc. It is a private trip so you can customize somewhat. I think the max on the boat is 40, but I am not sure about that. If you need more info, let me know... H&V

tlomlad - we are doing the real ceremony in Mexico, so with the wedding on 7/14, we are going down on 7/8 and staying until 7/17. We have the same attitude about our guests - we live together already as well, and for a number of our guests this trip is a big deal for them (they don't travel as much as we do) so we want to spend as much time with them as possible. We will do another trip later this year, or early next, on our own... Heck, with all the research into picking the destination for our DW, we have a whole list of places we want to go. We are also planning on the whole "bring our own sound system" idea. When we read about Jill doing it, we thought that was a good idea and then we would have something to use for outdoor parties back home. Our wedding is small (25) but we will still do the sound for the ceremony from the hotel just to be on the safe side. We are also doing a catamaran trip on Saturday (two days before) for all our guests - we did the trip before ourselves and had a blast, and we figured it would be a fun group activity for everyone. Still working out the whole rehearsal bit...

Thanks you guys for all those great pics !!! We have been debating the Terrace vs the Garden, so these will help... In reading all through this thread, I realized that you were getting married just 6 days after us. We may run into each other down there I too would be interested in your thoughts on the day schedule - when we asked Claudia about it, she said like 6/7 for the wedding in July - that seemed late, even though the sun doesn't set until 7:30 or so. But we wanted to make sure we took pics after the wedding on the beach in the daylight... Thanks again for making the trip - every little extra bit of info helps !!!

Jilly, In regards to your docking station that you brought - how big is it? How did you bring it down? Would you mind sharing the model so that we can check it out? Do you know how many watts (how loud) it is? Was it loud enough for the wedding in hindsight? We are trying to figure out what to do for music. We are going to get the soundsystem for the ceremony, but the thought of paying $180 per hour just to plug our IPOD in for the reception seems like a lot of money. If we go your route, at least we have a sound system to use at home in the backyard or for parties... Thanks, H&V

Joanna, I am in the same boat as you, even though I posted many of the docs, I can't open other people's stuff - not enough points. I sent a PM to Jill the moderator about the best ways to build up points, but I think it will come down to participating more. If you want to send me an email at: [email protected] or [email protected] I will send along the docs I have. To answer your questions, I doubt 2009 prices are even being thought of yet - Dreams just released 2008 pricing so use that as a guide. With regard to location, you can use any location as part of the packages. It will depend on the size of your reception, and your preferences. The costs are the same, only the decor addons, # of meals, etc will be different depending on your size. Welcome aboard !!!

Just wanted to respond to the suggestions about the tequila... Thanks very much - it probably makes a lot of sense to just run out to the markets when we get there and grab some from a local vendor ourselves - that would save a bunch of money I'm sure - plus it would be fun !!! As for Katherine's bags, they were from Dreams - they had the logo and everything - I uploaded in the "guest gift bag.zip" file. She had said she got them from her travel agent, so I would think that Claudia would be able to get them from the hotel if they still have them. Anyways... I have asked my TA, and we shall see...

And the final batch !!! Dreams Delphinus.zip Dreams Weddings.zip Flowers-1.zip Flowers-2.zip

And yet another set of 5... Spa.zip Tables.zip Terrace.zip Dreams Cancun - Long.zip Dreams Cancun - Short.zip

And another set of 5... Photo & Video Options.zip Photo Ideas.zip Reviews.zip Requirements.zip Other Options.zip

So it only lets you do 5 at a time, so here are 5 more... Garden.zip Gazebo.zip Guest Gift Bags.zip Menus.zip Music & Bands.zip

I will try and attach a bunch of docs that we have put together from Claudia and other forum members who have sent them along. These are the most up to date docs that I have, but if there are questions / confusion, either Claudia or Daniella will need to ultimately confirm. Here goes... Ballroom.zip Beach.zip Cakes.zip Centerpieces.zip Ceremony.zip