beachykeen

Also, does anyone know the prices at the spa? I tried emailing the resort but haven't heard anything back yet. I was wanting to get my bridesmaids a mani/pedi and maybe a massage the day of the wedding as their gift.

I was planning on having the reception in one of the closed restaurants. We have around 40 people. Since they don't decide which restaturant to close until a few days before the wedding, I wonder if they would take in consideration which one I would like to have it in. We'll be there 2 days before the wedding and I would love to have it at the Seaside grill or El Patio. Anyone asked Ana this yet?

Erica: Thank you so much for the review!!! Very helpful! Congrats!

I love all the pics of the pool deck! I've been MIA on here and need to catch up.

Quote: Originally Posted by nikkimadril Hi everyone, question on the buffet versus sit down dinner. Originally I was planning on about 20 guests but the number is climbing and now we think it might be closer to 30 or 35. Can anyone explain to me what the extra cost would be? The web site says $48 per person for dinner, $26 per person for the cocktail hour, and I have read on this site that it is $60 for each additional person. Also, is there a price difference between the buffet and the sit-down dinner? Finally, can anyone confirm that we can substitute the cocktail hour for an additional 10 guests? I read that somewhere but I don't know if it was for DRC. Less than 4 months to go and it is still taking over a month to get replies from Ana. Starting to feel very stressed... I would really like to know all of this too. We're in the same boat! We originally thought we would have 20-25 and now it's around 40-45. I really hope you can sub the cocktail hour for an extra 10 guests.

Quote: Originally Posted by mindylcarter That would depend on your travel date and if you are booking a group or not. We have booked 14+ ppl so far, and our travel dates are 10/1/10 - 10/8/10. With the "book 5 rooms get the 6th free" promo, the cost is less than $2500 per couple, and continues to go down when we reach the next level. That includes airfare. I believe our actual cost will be around $2000 per couple. That is for a garden view room. I highly suggest using a travel agent. My best friend is a TA, so I am fortunate in that regard. She is booking trips for a couple other girls from this site as well. If you would like her info, PM me and I will put you in touch. I have been astonished at the prices some are paying, but I am assuming they are going during peak season and are perhaps flying from more expensive locations. We are flying out of St Louis on a charter flight. But I have some guests flying out of other airports on commercial flights, and their costs were a little higher due to their airfare. Good luck! Mindylcarter: I juts noticed that you'll be there around the same time we will! Our wedding is on Oct 8th and we're getting there on the 6th. We're also from the St. Louis area! Hopefully we will see you when we get down there!

Quote: Originally Posted by aj42781 Hey ladies! i was wondering who booked through the hotel, and who used travel agent for guests?? I got quotes from Apple and I am not that happy with them. Mostly because the charter plane only lets u travel certain days such as thurs to sun or tues to sat or sun to sun...now what if my guest wants to go thurs til tues....im curious to know what everyone else is doing thanks ladies We chose to do a layover because of the charter dates. A lot of our guests are staying Wed-Mon on a charter flight and payed about $1100 per person for a standard gardenview room. This was through a TA. The price has definitely gone up. I've heard the prices are more expensive if you book through the resort though.

Quote: Originally Posted by FutureMrsRobart My FI & I will both be 33 by the time we get married and even though our group ranges from the 20-somethings st8 thru to 60+, they all like to have a good time. Hopefully they aren't too anal with the rowdies on the actual day b/c my group is liable to get blacklisted if thats the case :-s lol I feel the same way!!! Ours is mostly twentysomethings with a group of our parents friends in their 50's and they like to have just as good of a time! Our reception is going to be in one of the restaurants so hopefully we won't get too many complaints.

Does anyone know if the spa offers airbrush makeup?

Quote: Originally Posted by SDbeachgirl Hi all, We got married on May 7th and I wanted to share some photos with you. I used an outside photographer and I think she takes a while to finish the photos, however she posted 4 teasers on Facebook. Check them out. Welcome to Facebook | Facebook Here are some amature photos that one of my guests took. http://share.shutterfly.com/share/re...=8Iat3DVw4cMiu Also, for those of you using an outside photographer but have the package that includes the resort photographer, make sure to schedule a separate session during your visit. Here are some photos that they took the day after the wedding. Our Dreams Honeymoon I'll try to post a review soon. Basically everything was beautiful. Thank you so much for posting!!! Your wedding looked beautiful!

Quote: Originally Posted by SDbeachgirl Hi all! I just wanted to log in and update you on how things went with my wedding on may 7th. It was amazing! All of my guests were blown away with the wedding and resort. I will write a review upon my return. I just want to say that we left the resort today and are honeymooning at the royal playa del carmen...I miss drc already! So glad we chose to get married there! The royal is too big and the beach feels like a public beach. Congrats!!! I'm glad everything was perfect! Enjoy the honeymoon! Can't wait to see your pics!

Quote: Originally Posted by AlisonJimmy Hi again ladies..does anyone remember where to get the personalized maracas that say "shake at the kiss"? Those are adorable! The ones I've seen posted here were from Mishka Designs. Not sure on the price but I know a few of the DRC brides used her. Puerto Vallarta Wedding Planners :: Bodas en Puerto Vallarta

Quote: Originally Posted by lilly129 Hey ladies - I just got back from a weekend at Dreams with my fiance. We had an AMAZING TIME! And we got to see two absolutely stunning brides and thier wedding parties having a fantastic time. We met some of the guests - they all raved about the ewddings. So congrats to those two brides I took a bunch of pictures which I promise to post tomorrow morning! Right now the resort is at 60% occupancy and we thought it was perfect - there were a million chairs by the pool and on the beach so no real issues with that. Kids...they didn't really bother us that much, but again, it's 60% occupancy. Noise levels...the hallways are all tile and pretty open, voices and footsteps can carry and the walls are pretty thin. Oddly enough at about midnight the resort is super quiet (unless you're in one of the two bars open till midnight) but then at about 7:30am you hear doors opening and closing and kids running though the halls. It didn't bother me I just dragged my fiance to breakfast at 8 and we hit the beach chairs by 9 but I think he was a little annoyed. Food...awesome - really really good food all around. I wish we could have eaten two dinners a night because we didn't get to try a lot of the restaurants. The service is fantastic - I will say that although everyone says tipping isn't neccessary - we tipped at dinner and if we stayed at a particular bar for a long period of time. If your fiance's like cigars - go visit Victor in the cigar shop - tell him Casey and Ron sent you - we had a loooong talk with him this afternoon when we were waiting for our transportation back to the hotel. He's fantastic and all the cigars in there are cuban - he will have a box made specifically for you and your wedding party if you give him a few days notice. We met with Yazmin - you can tell her and Ana know what they're doing. We saw the backup locations in case of bad weather - and they're really pretty. We looked at the locations we're using for the wedding day and the welcome party. The rest of the details she said really get done when we get there for the wedding. Alright ladies - I will post the pictures tomorrow and if I think of anything else I'll post again! Thank you so much for the review! Sounds like you had a great time! It really makes me feel more comfortable with the planning when I hear great reviews like this!

Quote: Originally Posted by pbjwed know most of the food for the buffet will be planned a few days before the wedding but I wanted to go over details for table settings, (sizes of round and rectangular tables) as I need to purchase organza table runners. THE SIZE OF THE ROUND TABLES: THE TOP OF THE TABLE IS 1.6 METER OF DIAMETER = 5.25 feets THE HEIGHT IS 1.20 metet = 3.94 feets Can you confirm where we can have our cocktail hour and how it is set up? We do not want to have it at the Desires lounge. Do you have pictures of this? WE CAN OFFER YOU THE GARDEN AREA OR BEACH AREA FOR THE COCKTAIL HOUR, I DO NOT HAVE PICTURES YET. THE SET UP FEE TO FOR THE LANTERNS IS $ 200 USD, Where do you set up the guest table cards? Do you have pictures of this? WE SET UP A SMALL TABLE FOR THE NAMES, YOU CAN CHECK WITH THIS COUPLE: Laura & Don | February 26th 2010 | Dreams, Cancun Mexico I was wondering how much it would cost to set up a small station with two appetizers at this location? PLEASE LET ME KNOW THE TOTAL OF GUESTS FOR THE WELCOME PARTY IN THE DESIRE TERRACE, IS NOT BIG ENOUGH FOR 85 GUESTS, AS SOON AS YOU LE TME KNOW I CAN CHECK SOME OPTIONS FOR THE COCKTAIL (hmm I was told the desire terrace lounge holds up to 95??) I WOULD LIKE TO EXPLAIN YOU THAT THE ULTIMATE WEDDING PACKAGE INCLUDE A MARIACHI TRIO, AND IS NOT ALLOW TO PLAY IN A RESTAURANT WHICH IS OPEN FOR THE GUEST I will need 10 additional bridal bouquets. ($65 per bm) YES, TOTAL $ 650 FOR 10 BRIDESMAID BOUQUET Rose petals for the flower girls. $ 22 USD PER BAG some more info from ana.. Janine Thanks for posting all the info! Wow! Those bm bouquets are pricey!! You have such a huge group coming to your wedding!

Quote: Originally Posted by leighkarem I did the LOVE package and it included my bouquet and 4 of the calla lily boutonnieres! i paid a little extra for the gerber daisy bouquets for my sister and his sister. Thanks for sharing!!! I'm doing the love package too so hopefully calla lillies are still included by the time my wedding rolls around!

Also, Leighkarem: would you mind sharing what the cost was for your bouquet That's the look I wanted for mine with long stems.

Quote: Originally Posted by leighkarem ALL I HAVE TO SAY IS IT WAS PERFECT!!! DO NOT STRESS OVER ANYTHING..IT WILL ALL BE DONE WHEN YOU GET THERE AND ANA & JAZMIN WILL MAKE IT HAPPEN...I PROMISE! Forget about making table cards or buffet cards, your wasting your time. We did a mexican buffet on the deck in front of the infinity pool..it is by far the best choice..you will not be dissappointed. I was hesitant about the buffet but wilth 53 guests, it's the only choice. The mexican buffet is absolutely AWESOME and is not like the food in the mexican rest. It is sooo good and every one of my guests raved about it the entire trip. They make the buffet look awesome and lite it up with these big stars (free). I brought down fuschia table runners with beads on the end and they draped them across the round tables-it looked great! I actually left them all there so help yourself (ANA has them) I also brought about 30 white and 20 fuschia chair sashes (satin) and also left them down there for ANA to share with the other brides! PLEASE PLEASE DON'T STRESS! especially about the small stuff--your getting married at a beautiful, clean brand new resort on the ocean--you can't ask for much more of paradise than that! Ana barely responded to any of my emails/questions but believe me she will GET IT DONE--when you GET THERE! I applied the cocktail hour towards the dinner for 20 more guests so it was only 20/pp for guests 20-40. Then it was about 50/pp for the last 13 guests-still well worth it. you do ot need the cocktail hours because they set a bar up on the deck and everyone was just relaxing there and drinking while we did our pics. Then we had dinner. I had a friend of mine who's a DJ make me a mix of: 1 hour cocktail music (played on the deck while we were taking pictures) 2.5 hours dance music it was perfect..Don't hire a DJ-too expensive and the technician actually wanted my CD. (Ana only charged us $350 total for the technician for the ceremony 5:30 and reception 7p-10p so that was even better) I walked down to somewhere over the rainbow by israel, my 2 bridesmaids walked down to only time by enya and i played a few songs for when the guests were sitting down and waiting! We played better together by jack johnson for the recessional---IT WAS AWESOME! We wrote our own vows and everyone was crying including the photographer. Here is a link to a few pics i donwnloaded on snapfish- we used juan navarro which was part of the package because I requested him in Nov. He is AWESOME also. Definitely get the videographer too-well worth the $$! Snapfish: Share:Registration Your photos are absolutely beautiful!! Congrats!!! And thank for all the advice. I'm so glad to hear that you can trade the cocktail hour for additional guests and that the Mexican Buffet was delicious! And the DJ situation too! I'm planning on making all my own Cd's for the music tech too!

Quote: Originally Posted by lorijfletcher Question for you ladies. I want to order the maracas from Marishka designs but in an attempt to keep costs down I am thinking of only ordering 1 per guest. Does that sound reasonable or should maracas always come in pairs?? I think one per guest would be fine. From the pictures I've seen, they look pretty big and people will love them!

Quote: Originally Posted by wisconsinbride2010 HI Ladies! I feel like I've been gone from this forum forever. We just bought our first house and that has been taking over my life for the last few months. I can't believe there's less than six months till our wedding! I'm beginning to freak out now! I was wondering if any one has found linens for a little boy at all. I'm having my nephew who is 4 stand up in our wedding and I am having problems finding him linen pants and ivory linen shirt. Any suggestions? Also, Laura your pictures are gorgeous! I'm super happy I chose Claudia for my photographer now! Congrats on the new house! Maybe try Old Navy for little boys linen clothes.

Quote: Originally Posted by 21aholden I sent my deposit in via e-mail (I scanned the c.c. and info) about 2 weeks ago. I got an e-mail from Yazmin a few days later saying the funds would be taken out soon. The money was taken out within a week. I still have not received a contract but Ana said I should be getting that soon. I have noticed I get a lot faster of a response when I talk with Yazmin instead of Ana. Good Luck! I sent mine via email also and it only took a couple of days to get a confirmation. Sorry your having so much trouble.

Quote: Originally Posted by SDbeachgirl Hi All! I just wanted to say that I have 1 week from today until my wedding! I'm super excited. We will arrive this Sunday...yippee! I can't believe it is finally here. Thanks to everyone for all of the info and tips. I certainly could not have done this without the forum. Awww, congrats!!!! Have a fabulous wedding! And come back with lots of pics and a recap!

Quote: Originally Posted by Laura22610 My veil drove me absolutely crazy during the ceremony!! It was extra windy on my wedding day and it kept blowing in my face. Aahh...so annoying!! But I do like how it looks in some of my pictures. Thanks for the info! It does look really windy in everyone's pics. I think I'll probably end up with one at least for some of the pictures.

We have started to book a Cancun based company called Playa Weddings for our photo/video. I love the video style that they use. Has anyone else used them or plan on using them? Here's the link to their website: Playa Weddings - Video and Photography in Playa del Carmen and the Riviera Maya