Stacy

Our photographer, Marta Lockear, created an amazing slideshow on her website, check it out: Stacy & Jo | Slideshow | Destination Wedding Photographer marta locklear | blog

We were married at Dreams Resort in Cancun, Mexico on 4/25/09. We have stayed at Dreams before and love this resort. The food, drinks, beach, service, and location are amazing. You can walk to many popular clubs and bars and it is very safe. The beach is awesome and there is nothing like floating on a raft all day in the little inlet/cove. There is nothing like waking up every morning and seeing dolphins swimming and playing outside of your room. We stayed in and prefer the pyramid rooms vs.. the Towers. There are a lot more children at the hotel now with the dolphins than on our last stay (pre-dolphins), so it's great for families, maybe not the best for singles/party people, but again the location is ideal. This hotel can be pricier than others, however if you are patient and diligent you can find a special and it's worth a little more than others. Wedding Reviews: Our wedding turned out absolutely perfect, beautiful, and unforgettable. I will break down the positives and negatives below. We also had a total of 30 guests who joined us and choose the highest package (ultimate). We were married at the Gazebo around 5:30pm, had a cocktail hour from 6-7, and reception/dinner on the beach from 7-12. Positives: *Photographer was much better than I expected. The pictures were great and surprisingly the video was awesome (they even had our real wedding music in the video) (Caveat: they originally gave us another couples wedding video, and since they are contractors, they were not on site. They did, however, drive to Secrets Maroma (our honeymoon spot about 45 minutes away) and brought us the correct one within 2 days) *Flowers were beautiful - we choose the ultimate package which included my bouquet, 1 corsage, and 2 boutonnieres. *I made my 4bridesmaid's flowers and my center pieces - we asked the concierge about local florists and they got us a cab, the cab took us about 20 mins away to a street with 3 florists and waited for us the whole time for $30. I ended up using the first florist, Flamingo's (I think). I bought 6 very large bouquets of various wild flowers and lilies', and they delivered them on my wedding day by noon to my hotel room. All 6 bouquets and delivery were $60 (USD). Dreams wanted to charge way more than that for each bouquet and center piece. I found these vases online called blumeboxes and ordered several of them, created wildflower vases and they looked great. My bridesmaid bouquets' were simple lilies' with a few other flowers, and we tied them with sheer ribbon I also brought (let me know if you want to see pictures, it saved a ton of money and only took about an hour to make 4 bouquets' and 5 centerpieces) *If music is important to you, pay for the sound system during the ceremony, it sounds great. We were afraid you wouldn't be able to hear it due to the wind, but you could and it really added to the ceremony. Also, my father-in-law is a reverend and he performed our ceremony (non-legal), and all the guests were able to hear him. *We hired DJ Mannia and they were great (we were able to hire them at a different rate b/c about a year ago I received a quote from DJ Mannia, and wanted them, now they have a contract with Dreams and you apparently have to use them). They are pricey to book through Dreams, but well worth it. *Wedding food is good *Cake is simple, but still very pretty. *Cocktail hour is great, and the Caribbean trio was great *Our reception was on the beach and we paid extra for table lighting (the dj also had lights), if not it would have been dark *They allow you to bring your own decorations, do not charge you, and set them up for you. They did a great job, it was beautiful *The beach reception was amazing, and the little cove was nice to break up the wind. It was not too windy at all *The complimentary couples massage was included and great. We did this after the wedding at one of the massage huts over the water. Much needed and appreciated Negatives: *When we first checked-in, Dreams did not know who my husband and I were. Apparently their computer system had been upgraded from the year prior when we booked. They eventually found us and gave us a room, but no upgrades were even offered, we had the worst view from all of our guests. We did not complain at all, b/c we wanted all of guests to get great rooms. *Claudia is the wedding coordinator and she should be replaced. Claudia is my only real complaint about the entire week. I will give her credit for pulling off everything perfectly, however her lack of communication, information, and overall help just adds an extra amount of stress to an already stressful situation. She never returns calls before the wedding, barely responds to emails and if so it takes several days if not weeks. *My travel agent and I had to ask several times for final pricing, pictures of flower, options etc, rather than Claudia just emailing us a package. If her job is the wedding coordinator, she should have a standard package that is either mailed or emailed to the bride to cover ALL bases, rather than us having to ask for things one at a time. *In our package a room for the groom is provided the night before the wedding. We asked, on the day we arrived, if we could use this room on the wedding day for the groom to get ready. Claudia said that as long as there were rooms available, that was no problem. Of course the day of the wedding, she swore there were no rooms available, even though everyone in our wedding party had been upgraded to a different room, and we saw many empty rooms. *The rehearsal night is a joke. You and your party direct everyone and everything. Claudia and her assistants should offer suggestions and organize (they were there, but just stood there, watched, and said nothing) *We were told that only 1 wedding a day happens, but that is not the case. They squeeze in 2-3, but luckily no one interfered with our time, but I can see it being a potential concern *It is very windy in Mexico and especially on the gazebo - you need to plan your hair, decorations, dress, etc. around the wind b/c it's no joke *My mom had to pay a $75 fee to get through customs with all of our favors, decorations, and welcome bags b/c they said she might be selling them (even though many were personalized with our name and wedding date). Check into this and limit what you bring, or pack in separate suitcases. Please contact me for any additional questions, concerns, or pictures. Overall I would highly recommend Dreams to anyone getting married. The scenery is breathtaking and most of the staff is amazing!!! Thanks!!

I was married on April 25, 2009 in Cancun, Mexico at Dreams Resort. All I can say about Marta Locklear is "WOW" and "AMAZING" She captured the true essence of our wedding day. We literally get smiles and a little teary eyed looking at the pictures and slideshow!! I absolutely love the slide show she created and the song choice was perfect. I have showed all my friends, family and co-workers and everyone raves about how great the pictures are. I cannot say thank you enough to Marta and her partner in crime, Tiffany Sunshine. My husband did not care one way or the other at first about having a photographer but after we met with Marta in VA and now seeing them, he's truly excited and amazed and NEVER gets excited about pictures. Marta is creative, fresh, and super sweet and captures you at your best by allowing you to be yourself. She sees life through her lens and gets every moment on film for you to remember and cherish forever. marta locklear | virginia & destination photographer Check out our wedding slideshow on her Blog: Stacy & Jo | Slideshow | Destination Wedding Photographer marta locklear | blog

I think if you do enough research you will be happy. Most of the resort pics seem to be accurate and there are so many forums and review sites available. I was married at Dreams in Cancun, Mexico and we had visited there a few years back and decided when we got married this was the place. It had been 3 years since we were there and even if we had never been, we would have still been happy!!

JGGM and all other bride to be's, I was married on 4/25/09 at Dreams Cancun and Mannia was the company I chose. Carlos was not able to make our wedding, however Gerardo and Sergio were our 2 DJ's and they were AMAZING!!!! I gave our hotel wedding coordinator a list of songs for all the special events like first dance, etc. and a list of about 10 must plays, she passed these on the day of the wedding and it was perfect. They chose all the rest of the music. The dinner music was quiet and romantic, but not boring. They were very nice and accommodating, took requests from guests and truly seemed to be there to make your reception perfect. I would not worry!!!!! My biggest suggestion is to get together a list of songs you may want to here (ask your friends and family to send you 5 songs each so you don't drive yourself crazy), email this ahead of time as a guide, tell them to mix in some other music and that should be a good mix. I danced the whole time at my wedding!!! Congrats and good luck!!

I was married on 4/25/09 at Dreams Resort in Cancun Mexico and we utilized DJ Mannia. We only have wonderful things to say about Mannia DJ Services. We are completely impressed with the initial contacts leading up to the wedding day and how accommodating Carlos was. The communication with the wedding coordinator at Dreams was very lacking, but DJ Mannia was great. A wedding is a very stressful time, and they eased ALL of our concerns and everything went flawlessly. The techs that were at the wedding were amazing, very nice, and very accommodating to all of our requests. They nailed all the music in the exact order we asked, introduced us and played a great song, and announced the cake ceremony. They were very happy and seemed to really enjoy their jobs. We and all the guests enjoyed the music played during dinner and all the music selections We would definitely recommend DJ Mannia to anyone getting married in Mexico and were nothing but pleased!!! email me at stacymclark@hotmail.com with any direct questions

I recently tied the knot in Cancun, Mexico on April 25,2009 at Dreams Resort. Stacy