mindylcarter

WE had the single layer cake with vanilla filling and white icing and roses on top. It was very simple but the cake was delicious, the best desert we had all week, and the icing was simple but it was nice.

The deck area is definitely more private, but after about 7pm there is not much going on in the pool area either, unless the seaside restaurant is open that night (it is located pool side). I used CD's, but they really seemed to prefer an ipod, and yes the speakers on their sound system are very loud.

I was married at the gazebo at DRC, and I would have brought decoratoins for the gazebo. It was very plain, as their are no decorations included in any of the packages. A tablecloth and flower arrangement would have been nice on the table under the gazebo, and some type of fabric draping or flowers on the gazebo itself would have been beautiful, although somewhat difficult to install without professional help. I also would have had an isle runner with rose petals - that alone would have added a lot to the setting.

I'm sorry if I wasn't clear, but we did not eat in the wine cellar. We had a couple of tables in the restaurant that they put together for us in a great private location and decorated the table with rose petals. But we were not n the wine cellar.

The wedding coordinator (Maria) got us a reservation for 8 ppl at the Bourdoix and she put rose petals on the table and they served us our wedding cake after dinner. It is no problem, I don't understand why your coordinator is saying she can't do that for you! THere was no extra charge because we ate off the menu.

The upgrade they first gave us was a garden view on one side of the building to a garden view on the other side, and they said that was an upgrade. My fiance really worked to smooze the staff and we ended up with a fab ocean front room with a jacuzzi on the deck. It was a huge room with several upgrades. So, ASK ASK ASK!

A couple other things I wanted to add: the website says our group would receive a cocktail reception when we arrived, but we did not get one, unless they just meant we could go to the lobby bar and get drinks, which anyone could do. They also advertise a champagne breakfast in bed...it's not. There is no champagne, and it's not breakfast in bed. It's just plain old room service. YOu have to go to the conciere's desk to ask for the breakfast, and she has you fill out a menu. But you may as well just order room service, it's the exact same thing. They just bring the trays to your room. Also, if you want to take advantage of the 'free aniversary nights' you have to go to the wedding coordinator desk and ask for the certificate. They don't automatically give it to you. Also, the 'special turn down service' that was advertised as part of the honeymoon package was just some rose petals sprinkled on the bed and a 'honeymoon banner' on the door. A nice touch. So just be sure to ASK ASK ASK because if you don't, you won't get a lot of the extras advertised.

We chose the "Paradise" (complimentary) package. Resort: Beautiful, and the rooms are just like the photos. We were given a free upgrade to one of the best rooms on the resort - oceanfront with a jacuzzi on the deck. The king size beds are very comfortable. Nice minibar and maid service was very good, although they forgot to leave me coffee twice. Food: Fabulous! Soooo much better than what I expected for resort food. Our favorites were the french and japanese restaurants. The only restaurant we did not eat at was the mexican. We ate breakfast at the World Cafe every morning but one, and it was so god and the choices are so numerous. We ate lunch at the World Cafe on our last day, and realized we had cheated ourselves all week, as the food was also delicious there for lunch, and again, numerous choices. Drinks: Average to below average. If we didn't ask for a double, we could not even taste the alchohol. I found the best way was to order a shot of top shelf liquor along with my drink of choice. The same drink was served 5 different ways depending on the bar you went to. My after dinner drink of choice was Baileys and Frangelica, which was excellent. I found most of the other liquors seemed to be watered down. Wedding Flowers: Beautiful and just like the photos. I could not have been more pleased. Decorations: I was under the impression that some type of floral arrangement was provided on the center table at the gazebo, or some type of fabric draping, etc. There was nothing. I was disappointed in myself that I let the pictures on the site and in the brochure cloud my understanding. I wished I would have brought some fabrics or artificial flowers with me Sound System/Music: Terrible. Such a disappointment. This was the only item we spent the extra money for. It was $200 for 1 hour but we only used it for maybe 30 minutes before we dispersed. I recorded a song with other musicians that I wanted played while I walked down the isle, and I selected a song for my bridesmaid to walk down the isle to as well. I made 2 seperate CD's - the first contained music to play while the guests were being seated, and the other was to be put in when they were ready to start the ceremony and my bridesmaid was walking down the isle (I only had 1 bridesmaid). The next sone on the 2nd CD was the song I recorded for my husband and the song I wanted to walk down the isle to. It was a suprise for him and all the guests, and took months of planning to practice and record. The tech stopped playing the song for my bridesmaid as soon as she finished walking down the isle, and forwarded directly to my song, which was also abruptly stopped as soon as I made it down the isle...only ahout 20% of the song was played. I was sick and very upset. Maria was our coordinator, and I told her how unhappy I was with the way they butchered my music and ruined my special suprise, and I told her they would never cut off a solosit or live musician in that manner. Of course, no concessions were made. Minister: she was very nice, but her English was very broken, and she stumbled through the ceremony. I was not happy with her at all. I wrote the ceremony myself, and even I could not understand most of what she said, so I am sure my guests had no idea what she was saying. Very disappointing, considering the hours I spent researching and writing the ceremony. As soon as the ceremony was finished, a waiter brought us a tray of champagne which was very nice. We had our reception at the Bourdoux french restaurant, and they did a beautiful job. We only had 6 guests so we ate off the menu. The table was decorated beautifully and rose petals were scattered on the table. We had at least 2 waiters attention all night. The service was wonderful. The wedding cake was DELICIOUS! It was the best dessert we had all week! Our wedding ceremony was definitely rushed...both myself and my bridesmaid felt the coordinator just wanted to get me down the isle and go do something else. I felt that because we did not purchase a lot of extras or have a private reception/cocktail hour, that we were not given adequate time or attention during the ceremony. If I had to do it again, I would not rely on the discretion of the coordinator, but I would go over everything in advance with regard to timing, etc., and be very stern with exactly what I wanted. I thought that I did that with my music, but it did not come out that way. One other thing: DO NOT RENT A CAR! We rented a car from the AVIS counter to go on a couple excursions to Playa Del Carmen, and we were pulled over by a police officer at a road stop, and the police took $80 of our money before he would let us go. This is a very common thing but we did not know it at the time. We were doing nothing wrong, but there is an AVIS sticker on the cars, and they will pull you over and take your money. They have machine guns and speak no English (or act like they don't) and we were very scared. Everyone at the resort were very sorry, but of course there was nothing they could do. The AVIS rep will not tell you what to do if this happens (obviously if they told you there is a good chance the police will pull you over and take your money, you may not rent a car.) Everyone in our group was very happy with the resort, and there were absolutely no complaints. They take excellent care of the guests, and the staff are very laid back.

We chose the "Paradise" (complimentary) package. Resort: Beautiful, and the rooms are just like the photos. We were given a free upgrade to one of the best rooms on the resort - oceanfront with a jacuzzi on the deck. The king size beds are very comfortable. Nice minibar and maid service was very good, although they forgot to leave me coffee twice. Food: Fabulous! Soooo much better than what I expected for resort food. Our favorites were the french and japanese restaurants. The only restaurant we did not eat at was the mexican. We ate breakfast at the World Cafe every morning but one, and it was so god and the choices are so numerous. We ate lunch at the World Cafe on our last day, and realized we had cheated ourselves all week, as the food was also delicious there for lunch, and again, numerous choices. Drinks: Average to below average. If we didn't ask for a double, we could not even taste the alchohol. I found the best way was to order a shot of top shelf liquor along with my drink of choice. The same drink was served 5 different ways depending on the bar you went to. My after dinner drink of choice was Baileys and Frangelica, which was excellent. I found most of the other liquors seemed to be watered down. Wedding Flowers: Beautiful and just like the photos. I could not have been more pleased. Decorations: I was under the impression that some type of floral arrangement was provided on the center table at the gazebo, or some type of fabric draping, etc. There was nothing. I was disappointed in myself that I let the pictures on the site and in the brochure cloud my understanding. I wished I would have brought some fabrics or artificial flowers with me Sound System/Music: Terrible. Such a disappointment. This was the only item we spent the extra money for. It was $200 for 1 hour but we only used it for maybe 30 minutes before we dispersed. I recorded a song with other musicians that I wanted played while I walked down the isle, and I selected a song for my bridesmaid to walk down the isle to as well. I made 2 seperate CD's - the first contained music to play while the guests were being seated, and the other was to be put in when they were ready to start the ceremony and my bridesmaid was walking down the isle (I only had 1 bridesmaid). The next sone on the 2nd CD was the song I recorded for my husband and the song I wanted to walk down the isle to. It was a suprise for him and all the guests, and took months of planning to practice and record. The tech stopped playing the song for my bridesmaid as soon as she finished walking down the isle, and forwarded directly to my song, which was also abruptly stopped as soon as I made it down the isle...only ahout 20% of the song was played. I was sick and very upset. Maria was our coordinator, and I told her how unhappy I was with the way they butchered my music and ruined my special suprise, and I told her they would never cut off a solosit or live musician in that manner. Of course, no concessions were made. Minister: she was very nice, but her English was very broken, and she stumbled through the ceremony. I was not happy with her at all. I wrote the ceremony myself, and even I could not understand most of what she said, so I am sure my guests had no idea what she was saying. Very disappointing, considering the hours I spent researching and writing the ceremony. As soon as the ceremony was finished, a waiter brought us a tray of champagne which was very nice. We had our reception at the Bourdoux french restaurant, and they did a beautiful job. We only had 6 guests so we ate off the menu. The table was decorated beautifully and rose petals were scattered on the table. We had at least 2 waiters attention all night. The service was wonderful. The wedding cake was DELICIOUS! It was the best dessert we had all week! Our wedding ceremony was definitely rushed...both myself and my bridesmaid felt the coordinator just wanted to get me down the isle and go do something else. I felt that because we did not purchase a lot of extras or have a private reception/cocktail hour, that we were not given adequate time or attention during the ceremony. If I had to do it again, I would not rely on the discretion of the coordinator, but I would go over everything in advance with regard to timing, etc., and be very stern with exactly what I wanted. I thought that I did that with my music, but it did not come out that way. One other thing: DO NOT RENT A CAR! We rented a car from the AVIS counter to go on a couple excursions to Playa Del Carmen, and we were pulled over by a police officer at a road stop, and the police took $80 of our money before he would let us go. This is a very common thing but we did not know it at the time. We were doing nothing wrong, but there is an AVIS sticker on the cars, and they will pull you over and take your money. They have machine guns and speak no English (or act like they don't) and we were very scared. Everyone at the resort were very sorry, but of course there was nothing they could do. The AVIS rep will not tell you what to do if this happens (obviously if they told you there is a good chance the police will pull you over and take your money, you may not rent a car.) Everyone in our group was very happy with the resort, and there were absolutely no complaints. They take excellent care of the guests, and the staff are very laid back.

I did not receive my 'free ammenity' for attending the last DRC webinar However, it was very informative.

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i am registered, thank you

Did everyone get an email that this was cancelled? I received one this morning, sure hope it is rescheduled, I was really looking forward to it!

Rebecca, Just wanted to add one thing - we also looked into this option of having guests stay at another location, then coming over to Dreams for the wedding...the policy at DRC (note I did not say DLC!) was approximately $100 for a 'day pass' - I think it was around $50 for half a day. POINT IS: be sure to ask what the cost of the day pass is if you plan on having your guests join you. I think most all-inclusives would charge guests who are not staying at the resort, unless they have the 'armband' system. Just wanted to mention it to you so you don't have any suprises! Enjoy planning your wedding!! MIndy Â

I *DID* make it clear the prices were for DRC. Never mind. Â Sorry you did not interpret my post correctly. Â My error in judgment for posting I guess, which I don't do very often. I'll stick to opinions about dresses from here on out.

Tammy, Yes, Yes, and Yes  I would not say they are 2 totally different resorts...they are both DREAMS, so experience, service, etc. should be somewhat consistent.  I posted a reply because I did not want Rebecca, or anyone else with this question, to be under the impression that Dreams is an extremely expensive resort...when we origianlly looked at pricing on their website, it was considerably more (about double) than the price we actually ended up paying. So, Rebecca, I really recommend working with a travel agent, because the 'published' price on the Dreams website is often far more expensive than the price you can get thru a travel agent.  Our rooms came to $1400 for two ppl for 7 nights. That is only $100 per person per day and includes everything. I don't know how you can go wrong with that. I am sure the price will vary from location to location. So don't let the prices on their website scare you off!  By the way, the prices on their websites (even the 'hot specials') do not include taxes and ground transfers, so bear that in mind. some of our guests thought they could get their prices a little cheaper by booking thru the resort at their special price, but by the time they added taxes and ground transfers, it was not a better price than our TA could get. Plus we get other perks for traveling as a group.  I am sure the prices are going to continue to change and perhaps even get cheaper as we approach our travel date of 10/1/10 but that is ok. We are very happy with our choice!  Mindy Â

We booked through our travel agent, who was working thru Apple Groups Vacations. However, the price is just about as cheap directly thru the resort right now, as they have a super saver room for $198 per night. However, the rate does not include taxes or ground transfers. I would suggest using a travel agent; they do all the work for you and can usually get you a better deal. Mindy

I"m not sure when you are traveling, but DRC is offering rooms in October for less than $200, and that is for 2ppl, not per person. That is $100 per day per person. I don't know how you can do any better than that for a beautiful room, and all the food and drink you can consume, not to mention activities and entertainment. Not sure what their availability is for weddings during that month tho - we are getting married 10/4 and have had the date booked for about 3 months, and had to change the date 3 times in order to get availability.

WE are going 10-1-10 thru 10-8-10, so it is off-season. We actually just re-negotiated our group package today, which was the final day for payment. We were originally getting the 'book 5 rooms get the 6th room free' promo - but, after we had a couple cancellations, we were frantic and disappointed we were going to have to pay the regular price, which was about $1800 per couple. However, we checked Dreams website today, and they were running a 'super saver' rate on garden rooms, and kids under 12 free, at a rate of $200 per room. This does not include transfers, but even after adding that in, the rate was considerably cheaper than what we originally agreed to. I understand that they need to book those rooms long in advance, and that the price drops the closer you get to the actual travel date. But, we were able to get our group rate changed to the super saver rate, with no extra charges - My travel agent had a TERRIBLE time with Apple...they were the worst. They wait until the very last day to get us prices, don't respond to phone calls and emails for several days, I just can't say enough bad things. HOwever, due to their terrible customer service, we were able to get our package changed without any fees - originally, they told our travel agent it would be a $45 fee to change rooms, and $100 fee for something else, etc. But, after she reminded them how much trouble we have had since day one, they agreed to do it without any additional fees. So, we are getting our rooms for just under $1500 per couple. We are so happy...we had worried ourselves sick about trying to fill our 'free' room so we could divide the discount among our group, but this saved us all that worry and the price was just as good, maybe even a little better.

we are doing the same thing. only my close friends know about it. we are having a friend marry us in our living room the night before we leave. the date on the marriage license will be the date we are getting married in cancun.

you inspired me to take the plunge...i ama size 14, 5'10"...I did my photos last weekend. They were done by my close friend and photographer in St. Louis - Nicole Marie Photography. They were done at her home. She sent me some teasers, and I am thrilled with the results and can't wait to get started on my book! We are getting married in less than 3 months, and I plan to give him the book the night before the wedding at DRC. Ladies...DO IT!!! Here is the link to my album - I have had no luck trying to post photos: bd pictures by mindylcarter - Photobucket

thank you for the ideas ladies!

One of our couples backed out at the last minute...we have a great price for 7 nights - approx $1700 plus airfare - and if you are traveling out of St. Louis with our group, round trip charter air is only $300! This is for the garden view room - if you are interested in traveling on these dates, please PM me and I will put you in touch with our travel agent...room needs to be paid for by August 1, 2010. If we are unable to get this room booked, all of our prices go up by about $400 per couple Thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by cindyshininger The gazebo is NO WAY near private. The beach location was and the set up is beautiful. The terrace is ok, but it sort of defeats the purpose of the beach destination wedding. IMO for what that is worth. Thanks for the info. We chose a DW b/c we wanted to spend $$ on vacation, not a wedding/reception...the beach wasn't the reason we wanted a DW, so I am glad to hear there may be a garden option!! My fiance owned 2 dive shops in Palm Springs for 12 years and had enough sand to last him a lifetime, and that was his ONLY request for the entire trip...NO SAND! ha ha! Mindy

We will have about 16 guests. Have you seen a wedding in the garden? I have not heard anyone speak about it or see any pictures, but I would love that.