dc22173

If anyone is willing to purchase a new starfish and continue the passing of it that would be great!!! I am officially retiring the little guy and placing him with the rest of my wedding memories. Thanks to all the brides who wrote in the journal. I truly enjoyed reading about your special day and about all the places that my starfish has visited. Since 2009, he has taken part in 25 weddings!!! This little guy has traveled more than that I have at this point .

I just got the starfish back and it is in pretty bad shape. He is missing multiple stones and it has been glued multiple times. I am concerned that I will not be able to get him fixed up to put back out into circulation. The hot glue is not working. I guess I need to know if it matters to you that the starfish is no longer attached to the stick. I have the journal and it still has plenty of pages for new entries. Please let me know what you think. Another option would be to replace the starfish with a new one and continue the passing of the journal. I bought it from this online store: http://www.bouquetjewels.com/starofsea/star-sea.htm.

Ladies, I am the owner of the clear starfish that has been roaming around for a couple of years. I would love to get it back home with the journal for a week or so this month. It looks like I have some time between karebear79 and Teira1031 wedding dates. Can either of you PM me about this? I promise to get it back out into circulation asap.

It is great to see that so many brides are benefiting from the starfish! This is awesome and it brings a smile to my face I can not believe how many places it has been to already!!! Does anyone know if the journal is still floating around? Quote: Originally Posted by breeze616 dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up: 1 ) future mrs. kt ellis - June 5 - Scottsdale, AZ 2 ) Bahiabride2010 - July 3 - Punta Cana 3 ) jackie_c - traveling 8/12 - 8/21 – Cancun 4 ) DWbridetobe - October 30 - November 8, 2010, St. Lucia 5 ) breeze616 – December 6 – 16th Iberostar Rose Hall, Montego Bay 6 ) kateandbri - January 8th-15th, Melia Caribe, Punta Cana 7 ) StephyD - March 27-April 10 2011 - Riviera Maya 8 ) susanna.hanson - June 17, 2011, Cabo San Luca If you would like to join this CLEAR starfish list, please post in this thread with all of this info: 1) That you would like to join the 'dc22173's CLEAR starfish line-up' 2) Your travel dates (an estimate is ok if you haven't booked yet). 3) Your wedding location Thanks

Congrats on your wedding!!!! I am so glad your experience there was as a good a mine. It makes me want to do it all over again.. without all the planning involved, ha ha. I love my video too!!!

Thanks for you honest review!!! I was looking to book this photographer last year and emailed him to get a quote. I decided to do a search here and found a review from another bride who did not recommend him at all http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t19461. That was all it took for me not to book him. I ended up booking Cecilia Dumas and it was the best decision I ever made. I hope you are able to use some of photographs to make a memorable book of your wedding!! You handled this situation very well!!

Welcome back and Congrats Lisa!!!! I am soo glad everything went perfect for you Can't wait to see the pictures!!!!

to the forum!!!!

Welcome back and Congrats!!!! I am so happy that everything worked out fine for you. Your wedding looked amazing!!!!

Our forecast had thunderstorms the entire week... Not a drop of rain during our stay Quote: Originally Posted by mummergirl so can someone please tell me that it rains every day for like 10 minutes and is then sunny the rest of the day? because this is NOT what i want to see right now! rain every single day!!! 10 Day Weather Forecast for Cancun, Mexico - weather.com

Quote: Originally Posted by June_Dreams what website did you get your sashes from?? I got the sashes and the table runners from this site: 8x108 - Organza Sash ( 10 Pcs/PK) Their prices are excellent and I got my order really quick!!!

Quote: I feel so horrible that I did this to you. To b clear; when I scheduled the wedding I did not know there was another one that day. If it is any consolation, we really wanted the 12th, but it was the only day they wouldn't give us (I assumed because they already had one planned this day, I did not know they were putting our weddings so close together at all. I'm kinda late with everything I do, so no dead bodies please. Take your time and tell Claudia not to worry about me. We're doing pics first and frankly don't mind a sunset ceremony. FI's parents would probably like it better! I feel really bad about this, but have the date printed on so many things I can't change it now!! Please blame Dreams, not me They would have scheduled another wedding that day regardless. It just so happens that you both are on this forum. The only day I did not see any weddings was on Sunday but the rest of the days there was a wedding in early afternoon, late afternoon and evening. No way to really avoid this.

I gave up the DJ to save myself some money. I rented the sound system and it came with the guy to work it and the lights outside. I was surprised that they provided the lights. Quote: Originally Posted by mummergirl diana i forget, did you have the dj? that might have been why you were given strobes and disco lights. just wanted to check because we are not using a dj or even the sound system, just our own ipod & docking station.

Quote: Dreams Cancun Brides....How is the bug situation down there? I have a major bug phobia and I am wondering if I should just bring some Off wipes...or ya..a can of Raid..LOL In Punta Cana it was little lizards & frogs,..ALL OVER...So I am wondering if it's the same in Cancun, specifically at Dreams ? I brought some bug wipes with like 60% Deet. I hate bugs!!! I did not use them once I was not bit by one and I usually get eaten alive by mosquitos. I really think it was all that tequila I had in my system, lol, they did not dare bite me!!! I would bring it but I doubt you will need it. I did see a roach on one of the outside walls when I was walking outside but that was it. No bugs in the room or near the pool or beach. Quote: Also...For those of you that used the sound system for your reception on the Lobby Terrace...Should I bring extra lighting for the area where the sound system is? I don't want to be dancing the dark ...Maybe some lanterns or something? How is the lighting in that area? The terrace was dark but they set up some strobe lights and some other types of lights that made it feel like you were in a disco. I would not spend any more money buying extra lighting.

Quote: Originally Posted by mummergirl i don't think it would matter too much if one wedding was at the gazebo and the other one on the beach. but then i guess your choices for cocktail hour and reception locations would be whomever signed the contract first. but yeah, if both weddings are at the gazebo and only an hour apart, i'd be pissed off because i want some pics in front of the gazebo with my family and guests and would be majorly annoyed if they were breaking down the chairs and everything to set up for the next couple! One part that I forgot to include in my review was that there was a wedding right after mine. To be honest it did not interfere with mine so I did not even notice it. The other bride was not a member of this forum and I just so happen to ask Cecilia if all the reception venues where available for me. That is when she told me that there was another wedding and they were having their reception at the beach by Himitsu. I freak out for a minute but figured they would not allow the weddings to clash. The other bride was getting married in the gazebo as my guests where having the cocktail hour in the terrace. Everyone in my party clapped and cheered the other bride as they walked down the walkway after their wedding. The other bride's party loved it and came over to talk to some of my guest. During all of this I was taking pictures by the Himitsu beach so I had no idea. I did not get to see her at all. When we got back for the reception the other bride was having her cocktail hours in the garden. A By the time it was time to dance out in the terrace the other party was moved to their reception at the beach. I think it all worked out well and Cecilia and Claudia handled both parties very well. We both had our own set of waiters and bartenders. The time schedule for a wedding is as follows: 30 minutes for wedding (it is actually more like 15 minutes but they allow extra time) 15-20 minutes for pictures of guests around the gazebo 1 Hour Cocktail 3 Hours Reception, unless you pay more to add more hours. If your wedding is at 5pm you will be out of the gazebo by 5:45pm and they can set up the next wedding in about 15 minutes. I watched them do this on another wedding while I was there. Hope this helps some of you who are concerned about having a wedding right after or before yours

Quote: she won't let us do the buffet with only 33 people. there is nothing i can pick that will be good for everyone. i don't know what to do. every single entree has seafood except the chicken from the silver menu. I had the same problem with picking one meal for everyone. Not everyone ate seafood or steak. I asked Gaby if she would allow me to pick a second dish to offer my guests since I did not have enough for the buffet style meal. The only stipulation was that I needed to give her a headcount before I got there. Everyone but 3 people ordered the steak with shrimp (Dreams Trilogy) the other 3 ordered the chicken. I had one guest who was a vegetarian and I did not tell Cecilia until I got there and met with her. She basically said that they could make anything for my guest. She just needed to tell them. She ended it up ordering an angel hair pasta with shrimp dish. I would not be too concerned with the food! I was and it all turned out fine at the end!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by bbpacco Oh, I know which online store you are talking about. Let me just get this right though, do they just take the chairs from ceremony and reuse at the reception table? They do move the chairs from the ceremony to the reception. Since it would be too much of a hassle they will not move the chairs from the ceremony to the cocktail hour and then to the reception. I really did not care too much about having the chair bows during the cocktail hour since mostly everyone stood up and hung around the terrace.

I bought my sashes from an online vendor that one of the other bride's had recommended. They were like $7.00 for a package of 10. If you decide to use their sashes they will charge you $4.00 per chair. I thought that was absolutely insane and the accountant that I am made the choice to bring my own darn sashes Quote: Originally Posted by bbpacco great review! and i love your dress!! Can I ask you if you need to pay for the sashes for reception deco, or it is included in the ultimate package? thanks

If I was unhappy with my assigned coordinator I would have switched in a minute. There is no excuse for crappy service. I really lucked out with Cecilia!!! Quote: Originally Posted by mummergirl GREAT review diana, and you already know i adore your pics! glad to hear the new WC was so great to you ... i have claudia and she doesn't budge on anything, regarding trades and such, and i've heard girls say she was nowhere to be found most of the time. *sigh* think it's too late to switch? lol congrats again, fellow dreams bride!

Are you getting the ultimate package? I am wondering if the options to upgrade come more freely when you are getting the bigger package. To be honest I emailed her and told her the items I was going to be trading for. The cake I picked out was the 3 layer cake with the bows that they show on their upgraded cakes listing. I asked if instead of three layers I could have two layers and instead of the bows I wanted to have ribbon around the cake. She never came back and said no just that she would make the changes on my contract. If you are asking for a more expensive cake they probably will not trade for it but if all you want is one more layer instead of the desert they should be able to compromise! Feel free to let her know that you know me and that I told you they did a cake upgrade in replacement for the desert. Quote: Originally Posted by sunitam Diana- Congratulations! wow you looked amazing! Thank you SO MUCH for the review and all the details! very much appreciated! I have a questions about the whole upgraded cake. I have asked Cecilia 3 times if i could get a nice cake instead of having dessert and she has said NO 3 times! Is this something you had already changed with Gaby or did you ask Cecilia to do this directly? She really wont budge on it with me and its so annoying b/c i know others have done it!!! thanks again

I have the starfish and journal packed and ready to go! I will be sending it UPS tomorrow. You should have it in a day or two Quote: Originally Posted by mummergirl yay jennifer, so glad to see you back! i did get your email but then tried to email you back and couldn't for whatever reason. weird. glad you're back in on the starfish tho ... we all knew how excited you were for it! jacilynda, welcome to our little group of ladies sharing diana's starfish! hopefully he will travel for a long, long time ... it will be really neat to see all the places he goes!

The flower arrangements on the table were free with the ultimate wedding package. I picked them out from a book that Cecilia showed me. The package allows for one flower arrangement for the ceremony and one for the reception. I had her put both out during the reception and then I took them up to my room to enjoy for the rest of our stay. My bouquet and cake topper were real touch artificial flowers made by a vendor I found. Here is a link to view the rest of the wedding pictures: Picasa Web Albums - Diana - Diana & Antho... Quote: Originally Posted by destination gorgeous pics... and love the colors. I chose the same. i love the flowers arrangements, would you mind telling me how much they cost? If you feel that is too intrusive I totally understand and apologize. I just think something similar would be great for our wedding in June. Can we see more please?

We only had 18 guest so we decided to sit in the middle of the table so that we could mingle with them. Quote: Originally Posted by PhillyBride09 Great review and Beautiful pictures!!! Your dress is so beautiful..I love it. I see that you used the one big long table for your reception..I wanted to ask you where you and your DH sat during dinner? Did you sit at the head of the table? Thank you so much for your review

Thank you for all the nice complements!!!! I worried so much about how the color scheme was going to look and how everything was going to turn. It was very windy for the veil but other girls have found ways of tying their veil down to their gown so that it did not blow away. I was thinking about it but decided not to bother with it at the end. I am sure that if you are determined to wear one you can find a way Quote: Originally Posted by nic123 Diana you look beautiful. I love your dress and the reception setup. I noticed you didn't wear your veil during the ceremony. Is it really too windy for it? This is the only thing that bums me out about the gazebo. Otherwise, it's perfect! Congrats on your wedding!

She only takes cash or travelers checks. I went to my bank and got travelers checks for the wedding payment for the resort and also for Cecilia. Many credit card companies charge a fee to use your card overseas and I did not want to pay more than what I had to. Capital one cards do not charge a foreign exchange fee if you have one. Enjoy your wedding day!!! I am sure it is going to be great!!!! Quote: Originally Posted by cancunbride I am going to use Cecilia for my wedding next week... did she only take cash or did you give her a cashiers check?