Theresa08

Quote: Originally Posted by chandrathebride Regarding my previous post.... According to Lizet you cannot use the $20 ballroom menu anywhere outside the ballroom. Trying to find out what menu is used if you are on the beach or near the pool. The menu at the beach or near the pool is the same menu in the wedding guide. However, if you do a buffet, it is completely different. Here is the Golden Buffet Menu that was sent to me in July. Soup Asparagus cream with parmesan cheese grissini Main Course Beef medallions and mushrooms in red wine sauce Fish rolls with shrimp and lentil ragout Chicken Escalope marinated with fine herbs Truffle potato Soufflé Eggplant napoleon with baked zucchini Rice with vegetables Desserts Sacher cake Blueberry mousse Amaretto Cake Fruits napoleon

Quote: Originally Posted by can't wait! I was working on my dinner menus today and realized there was a change in the new policy. Wondering if anyone has noticed this?! When I booked our date, Sandra sent me the "old" wedding guide. The cost for the golden menu was $55 and included a FIVE course dinner. The new menu only includes FOUR. So I called and emailed Landy and of course have gotten no response. Does anyone know anything about this? The missing course in the new menu is the soup. If you booked using the old guide, they will honor that. They did it for me and I had a buffet and the buffet menu is now completely different. You can discuss with her when you get there.

Quote: Originally Posted by Callie Hi gals, what kind of shoes did you/are you planning to wear on the big day? Is it possible to go barefoot, or is the sand/concrete from the room to the wedding site too hot or rough at DT? You can definitely go barefoot on the beach. I was there in August, the hottest time for Mexico, and the sand was fine. I wore sandles to get around in between, but I probably didn't need to.

Quote: Originally Posted by MonoAmor Hey ladies, I was wondering if any of you brought or had children at your weddings. We are bring 2 little flowergirls with us and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the Kids Club or any childrens services. Their parents are a little nervous about making sure the girls are watched carefully if they leave them at the Kids area. As I'm writing this I'm realizing how much there is to do in less than 2 months! I have to admit I've been procrastinating too much of this planning business!: We had a whole group of kids with us that week, 15 in total. Ages from 18 months to 17 years old. The kids that were between 5-8 went to the kids club and they loved it. They have different things for them to do all day. You don't have to sign them up for the whole day, it can just be for specific events that they have going on. My sister with the 18 month old hired a baby sitter for the night of the wedding and a few nights after and she was very comfortable with them.

Quote: Originally Posted by bah9358 Also, can you rent wave runners on the beach?? And, what time does the disco close (or any other night life for that matter). What is there to do there around the evenings after dinner? How late do the bars stay open? Can you go on the beach after dark? I guess I'm wondering if the resort is like dead at night. Thanks. I never saw any wave runners at this resort. I don't know if any other places nearby have them. At night they have different shows, which I am not sure get a good crwod because I never went. One night the had a party on the beach with music and it was a blast. They also do movies in the beach at night for the kids. I am not sure what time the disco closes, but they start the music, etc. around 10-10:30 so I would assume it satys open late, or maybe as long as there are people there.

Quote: Originally Posted by bah9358 I'm a moment away from booking my June 2009 wedding with Dreams Tulum. My only concern is, does it make anyone uncomfortable that there are so many weddings booked at this resort that it will feel like a wedding factory?? Maybe it's not that noticeable that these weddings whip through there and take over? My wedding will be on a Monday, and I'm worried about seeing all these weddings (especially that the weekend prior is all booked) and feeling like my special day is one of many you will see in a one week stay. But I guess maybe it comes with the territory, I'm finding a lot of hotels in the area have multiple weddings per day and I really like the affordability of this resort. Can anybody calm my only concern? (... and sorry, I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes, I've already checked my wedd. date avail. with Landy/Lizette, so I'm super interested in this resort)... thanks!! When I was there, there was almost 2 weddings per day. No one pays attention to any of the weddings, except if you are attending one. It's not like everyone at the resort watches, and then they won't watch your wedding because they saw so many others. Is that what you are asking? But don't worry about your day not feeling special. You will have your group focused on you and your husband and it will be wonderful. The day of my wedding, there was another wedding, and I only saw the bride at the spa in the morning. Other than that, we never saw them. During the week you will most definitely meet some of the other brides/grooms, etc. and it was fun to take a peek at their weddings. I changed my flowers once I saw another bride with her flowers.

Quote: Originally Posted by Melissa24 Here is my new question for everyone: I am getting married on the beach and plan on being barefoot for the cermony, but wanted to get shoes for the reception and cocktails. What type of shoes have you all bought or worn after your beach wedding? I am thinking of either a ballet slipper or a flip flop, but can't seem to comitt to either. I got married on the beach - barefoot. I brought down low sandles and flip flops. I only wore the sandles to get from the ceremony to the coctail hour and then back to the reception (I'm not even sure I wore them at this time either). But I never wore anything at my reception. Our reception was at the Seaside Grill.

Quote: Originally Posted by cendcar Hi Anna, I would love to get the link for your car rental. Now that I think about it, if we are going to be there for 10 days and need to make a trip to the market or Costco, it would be good to have car. Also, this makes it easy to go to Playa del Carmen. We plan on partying over there after the reception. I heard it has the best bars and clubs. My co-worker just moved back to SF after spending 1 year over in Playa so he has told me all the hot spots. If anyone is interested in a list of popular places, let me know and I can post or send you a PM. Dang, I cannot believe how excited I am too! My heart has been thumping for the last couple of days and will not stop! Just a note about the car rentals. While they get you with prices, they kill you in insurance. Friends of mine got a great deal of $99 for the week, then were hit with another $100 for insurance, so factor that in. Also, Costco is in Cancun, which is over 1.5 hours from Tulum. There is a SAMs Club that is closer, but it is still about 30-45 minutes away.

Quote: Originally Posted by beachformeplease What beautiful pictures you take! Really nice! In your opinion where would be the best outdoor area for a reception after seeing the grounds? I was stuck on the El Patio, but want a bit more privacy and want to have a DJ. I am now thinking one of the pool areas. Any feedback would be great! We had our wedding outdoors and we loved it. It was at the Seaside Grill, which is on the beach and has a nice breeze. The El Patio is not close to the water and my father complained that there was no breeze there so he never ate there for lunch. I didn't think it was too bad. But El Patio is by all of the night time entertainement, so it is not as private. You may want to find out what is going on over there the night of your wedding before you decide. The pools close around 7, so if you can do it by a pool, it should be ok. I don't know all of the outdoor places that they have weddings now since the wedding guide I used has changed and it looks like they have more places now. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Quote: Originally Posted by Melissa24 Sorry Ladies, it has been a couple of days. Sunbride thanks for the measurments of the gazebo, that helps so much. Now I have two new questions, it the DJ worth the price? I am totally worried about the hotel photographer not getting the pictures that I want, does anyone have suggestions on a reasonable outside photographer? I am very excited though, I ordered my flower girl basket and ring pillow, and also our favors. More things to check off the list! I think the DJ was definitely worth it. We danced all night. Also, for my ring bearers, I used large clam shells instead of pillows. It was so adorable. I got the idea from a picture I saw on this site.

Quote: Originally Posted by cendcar Question/Advice: Makeup! I wear very Bare Escentuals everyday and have not planned to have anything special for the wedding. A friend of mine said I should think about buying heavier makeup for pictures such as Mac. It seems like a waste of money to buy makeup for the one day. Also, if I decided to let the resort do my makeup how does that work? Did anyone get their makeup done by the salon ? Do they use their makeup or yours? What brand is theirs? Thanks gals! I had my hair and make up done at the spa and loved both. It was part of the Ultimate Package. They use their own make-up, although I brought my own lipstick. I am not sure what brand they use, but I liked the way it came out. I usually only wear very little make-up, so they didn't go crazy, but it definitely made me look better in the pictures.

Quote: Originally Posted by neen Question - do/did you include dinner for Landy and the DJ at your reception? I know to include Claudia Rodriguez (our photog), but not sure about the WC and resort DJ...? I didn't include either, but I guess it is something to think about. The DJ was there setting up at around 4:30-5 so maybe I should have. And I guess Landy is working most of the time as well. Maybe ask Landy if other people include the DJ?

Quote: Originally Posted by cendcar Theresa, Thank you for the review and posting your pictures they were great!!! I am a little worried about the photographer. I am using the Resort Photographer but am now having second thoughts. I was going for a very relaxed atmosphere and wedding but I hope I am not making everything too relaxed! FYI...Landy finally responded back to me about exchanging services. Since my brother is officiating our ceremony, I was not going to need their minister service, which comes with the Ultimate Package. I asked Landy if I can exchange the minister service ($450) and get the Sound System Service for my iPod ($150) instead. She replied that they normally do not exchange services but would make the exception...score! In regards to the photographer, he took great pictures, he just wasn't around long enough. Be specific about what you want and make sure he takes them all. The wedding packages do not mention how long the photogrpahers will be around for so maybe ask Landy as well. Also, not sure what we were thinking, but we didn't tip him up front. We did everyone else, but completely forgot about the photographer. So if you throw some money at him that may help as well.

Quote: Originally Posted by can't wait! Theresa, I just saw your pictures! They are beautiful!!! And I love how colorful your bouquet is! Is that a natural flower in your hair! Thanks. I really loved my bouquet as well. I originally had decided on another one, but I saw a few brides with that one and changed my mind. The colors really stood out. I also had a few flower girls that wore purple so it all came together nice. I will post a picture of that as well. In addition, they matched all of the other flowers with my flowers (the gazebo, table flowers, flowers on the cake). They were really beautiful. The flower in my hair was fake. There were 2 of them. I got it from FLOWER CLIP :: Hand Picked Silk Flower Hair Clips and other Floral Accessories. I wanted to do real flowers but I was afraid they would wilt. I saw another bride there that had a real flower and it looked beauutiful, but it was a white lily and I wanted a color.

Quote: Originally Posted by Blkatz I wonder if they would allow us to do the buffet also-I would love to do that for my guests. Hm-I have only ever dealt with Lizet-I have emailed Landy several times and she never got back to me. Another question-was there another wedding there on the same day as yours? I am not sure when you booked/what guide you were sent. You can do the buffet but you will probably have to pay for 50 guests, regardless of whether you have 50 or not. There was another wedding there that day. I met the bride in the hair salon. Other than that, I did not see her/them all day. I am not sure where she was doing her reception, but our paths did not cross. There were many weddings there that week, but most of then had smaller amount of guests than me. After I left there was a wedding with 35 people and another with 85. Incredible.

Quote: Originally Posted by Blkatz Theresa you mentioned you had DJ Mannia-did he come and meet you befor the wedding to go over what you wanted etc? I just booked him and I am curious how that works. We had a meeting set up with him before the wedding but he never showed. I emailed him and he said that he got caught up in something. But basically I had told him all of the songs we wanted him to play for our first dance, bride & father dance, etc. prior to going down there so we really didn't need to meet with him before hand. Landy takes care of everything with him when he gets there. I even believe she called to confirm with him.

Quote: Originally Posted by chandrathebride Theresa welcome back, CONGRATULATIONS, and thanks for the information. My understanding was that you had to have 50+ people to have a buffet option...did you pay extra since you had under 50? And can I ask how much you paid per head for the buffet? Since I booked in March, the honored the old wedding guide. It stated ****Buffet style is allowed for groups up to 50 people . The menu for buffet style would be 01 appetizer, 01 salad , 03 Main courses and 03 desserts**** and the cost was $55 per person. I got the Gold Menu. The new guide now states that it is $65 per person. Landy told us that wording meant over 50 people, but we said that in USA it meant 50 people or less. She called someone while we were there and they said we could do it without paying for the diff of 7 people. In addition, we also had all 3 entrees as listed in the wedding guide, where now the buffet menu has changed. This is the new Golden Buffet menu Golden Buffet Menu Salads Grilled vegetables antipasti with basil oil Mushrooms Bruschetta with fresh tomato Shrimps Cocktail with spicy mango dressing Fresh lettuce salad with parmesan cheese Soup Asparagus cream with parmesan cheese grissini Main Course Beef medallions and mushrooms in red wine sauce Fish rolls with shrimp and lentil ragout Chicken Escalope marinated with fine herbs Truffle potato Soufflé Eggplant napoleon with baked zucchini Rice with vegetables Desserts Sacher cake Blueberry mousse Amaretto Cake Fruits napoleon

Quote: Originally Posted by can't wait! Theresa, glad to hear you had a wonderful time! Couple of questions, if you don't mind. What time did your reception end? Did they make you shut everything down at 10:30pm? What section was the bad smell coming from? Did you or anyone in your party get a free upgrade? There is a thread in the general info page (at the top) with instructions on how to post pictures. Would love to see them. Congrats and welcome back!!! My reception ended at 10:30. We were going to try and extend it but Landy wasn't around to ask. Not sure it would have mattered though because many of the rooms, especially the more expensive rooms, are right by the pool areas/Seaside Grill/Seugar Reef. I am assuiming that is why they have a 10:30 stop time. But we started at 6:30 (I think all receptions start at that time) and we went the full 4 hours. The buffet was ready when we got there, so after our first dances, we ate immediately. Then we were done to party for the rest of the time. I am not 100% sure where the smell came from, but it was definitely in the newer section. Many of my guests did get upgrades but some did not. In some case they said that they had to pay extra for the upgrade and in many they did not, Apple Tours was running a special where they were upgrading everyone if they could.

I just got back from my wedding on 8/18. The first thing I have to say that I didn’t hear at all in this thread is that the place is spectacular!!!! I was so impressed with the grounds, etc. They were immaculate and beautiful. The pictures do not do it justice. As for the smell that some of you mentioned, some of my guests did experience it in their rooms. One was so bad that she had to move. My brother said his room smelt of cigarette smoke that didn’t go away either so he moved as well. My wedding was fabulous. We were 43 people in total. We had the ceremony on the beach at 3PM, the cocktail hour at 4:30 PM, outside at the top of the stairs and the reception at the Seaside Grill at 6:30 PM. We booked back in March so they honored the “old” wedding guide. The ceremony was beautiful; we had a beautiful day/week. Honestly, you can’t go wrong when you are in a beautiful place. All of the weddings that I saw when I was there was so beautiful, so don’t stress over extra decorations. Even if you don’t do anything, it will be gorgeous The cocktail hour was nothing to speak of in terms of food, but we warned our guests to eat a late lunch to hold them over until dinner. Having it on top of the stairs allowed for great pictures there. For the reception we had a buffet and it was fabulous. The menu for the buffet has now changed, so I am not sure what the new one will be like. The cake was delicious. We did the 3 milks with pineapple. It was so great. There was plenty of food. I also had a kids menu for some of the younger kids in my group. Based on the recommendation of one of the brides in this thread, we used this DJ - MANNIA - Audio, Video e Iluminación Profesional. He played a lot of older music (70s) but all good dance music. I prefer more up to date music but everyone danced all night. If you want to take the time and give him songs that you want him to play, he will. I also used the house photographer, but I would recommend finding someone on your own, either down there or some of you have brought your own. Here is why. 1. The pictures he did take were beautiful, but we had to pick them the next day and he printed them after that (last thing I wanted to be doing the day after my wedding). Some of them were washed out in color and he didn’t do any enhancements to fix them. 2. He only took pictures for about 1+ hour after the ceremony (he came by my room about 15 minutes before, took at the ceremony and then about 1 hour after). I thought he was going to be around longer, but he left so we didn’t get as many family shots as I would have liked. I didn’t care about the pictures before because who wants room pictures when you have spectacular scenery outside. But I would have liked some more family photos. Luckily we had some very good cameras and did it ourselves. I will try and figure out how to post some pictures (if anyone knows how, please let me know. While we were there one bride and groom were not too happy about their wedding. I don’t know all of the details, but my husband spoke to the head of the restaurants and they out did themselves for our reception. It was almost embarrassing how many chefs, waiters and bartenders we had. We didn’t make a move without someone asking if we needed something. I am not sure if we would have had that many people waiting on us, but it was amazing. There was a reception at El Patio with music and the restaurant was still open, which I though was odd since I though you had to close the restaurant in order to have music. Just a few things about El Patio. It seems that most of the night time entertainment happens over in that area. It is right by a main bar that is pretty popular (the Sugar Reef). When a wedding was going on there, there was a band playing by the Sugar Reef. I am not so sure how much that interfered with the wedding music. They also do movies on the beach in that area and shows where they use microphones and speakers. Overall the resort was good. A few issues with wait times at the restaurants, the resort was very full and it appeared that they didn’t have enough staff to accommodate at dinner. Some restaurants were over a 2 hour wait and there were empty tables. We had a fabulous time.

SunBride, Thanks - I found all of the info that I need on this.

Quote: Originally Posted by julieanddonnie Hi Theresa! I also did the ultimate package, but I do know that your choices are dependant on what is available on your particular day. My wedding was on a Friday, so I was able to book El Patio (I wanted outside, but not on sand) this provided an actual patio. We did tables of 6 and then had a head table with just my husband and me. Our DJ set up right next to the tables which left a good amount of room for dancing. I tried to find a picture of the set up but unfortunately I could not find out that showed the layout well. I will say it worked perfectly for our group! The food was one of the things my guests went crazy for, many said it was the best wedding food they have ever had! It was 5 courses so even though you can pick one entree (I did the surf and turf) you can mix other things in other courses. We literally couldn't eat all the food we were given! (I would suggest just going with the wedding cake, I did two deserts and no one ate the wedding cake because it was served last and they were full! Also the servers were amazing! There were only two working our wedding but they were so fast and made sure everyone had a full drink. Here was what I selected: 1.- MUSHROOM STUFFED WITH CREAM CHEESE WITH BLACK TRUFFLE 2.- SMOKED SALMON ON MELBA BREAD (FAVORITE!) 3.- PROSCIUTTO AND MELON Dinner SHRIMP PUFF PASTRY IN A CORIANDER AND TOMOTO SAUCE SHRIMP BISQUE WITH ARTICHOKES MIXED ITLALIANS LETTUCE WITH CITRUS VINAIGRETTE SURF AND TURF VANILLA PUFF PASTRY WITH COGNAC SAUCE and Wedding cake Number: GOLDEN 01 Flavor : CHOCOLATE Filling (only ultimate ) : STRAWBERRY Julie, Thanks so much, this was so helpful. But I have a few more questions for you, if you don't mind. 1. Did you use the house DJ? Did you like him? 2. When you booked, was the "new" wedding guide out? I booked when the old wedding guide was available and I was confirmed for the Seaside Grill, outdoors, private event (because I want a DJ, which means they have to close the restuarant) and I am just trying to find out of they honor that. I did read in one of these threads that the are not allowing any new bookings to close the restuarant, but if confirmed prior, can I still get it? I am more concerned that I get to have my reception outdoors with a DJ and I see that they added so more outdoor areas for weddings, so that may be ok. 3. Just trying to understand what you meant when you said you couldn't eat all of the food given, were the portions that large, etc.? Also, what else did you mix in? 4. How many hours was the reception? Thanks for the tips on the appetizers, we changed ours to what you had. If you have any pictures, I would love to see them. Thanks again!!!!!

Alison, Everything looked beautiful. How did you like your reception on the beach? Did you have a DJ?

Sun Bride, My wedding is 8/18. Very excited. I saw your site and everything looks beautiful. I posted a few questions to you about the gazebo. I really liked it and may do the same. Do you know who much tulle you used? Were the flowers in the sand and on the gazibo real? Thanks,

Julie, I have about 42 people coming to the wedding as well. I am selecting the ultimate package. We just received an updated wedding guide and now I am not sure we can have our wedding outside with a DJ. What did you do? Also, I was wondering about the food for the cocktail hour/wedding. How was it? I don't like that I have ot pick only 1 entree for my guests.

Julie, I ahve about 42 people coming to the wedding as well. I am selecting the ultimate package. We just received an updated wedding guide nad now I am not sure we can have our wedding outside with a DJ. What did you do? Also, I was wondering about the food for the cocktail hour/wedding. How was it? I don't like that I have ot pick only 1 entree for my guests.