Dreams2011

It took about 1h 30min for hair & makeup.

We were married January 2011 and bought a DVD with all the photos (edited & unedited) including the photos taken at our bonfire for $495 USD. We bought it the day we were leaving and it was ready within an hour or so.

Our wedding was on a Friday, but the Mexican Fiesta did not interfere... I think we probably interfered with it... we were loud and never heard the fiesta at all

From personal experience.... I am a very detailed and organized person as well and had everything laid out for the wedding coordinator "on a silver platter", but there were still a number of mistakes made even so that could have easily been avoided if the WC had paid a little more attention.... just be forwarded and try not to let it get in the way of your day. The resort does push too many weddings through for what they are staffed for, hence the huge WC turnover. Ours was beautiful and a very memorable day, issues aside, but just be forewarned as I'm not the only one who has had this experience...

Good Luck and Happy Planning!

Originally Posted by LTLFAITHY 

You must be so excited SarahBen2011!! I am also a VERY detail oriented person, which is why I was so concerned reading some of the reviews. Are you guys using one of their packages?? We are looking at the Dreams Ultimate Wedding Package, but we will definitely have more than 20 people, so I need to look into what the additional cost/person fee will be. Looking forward to hearing about the Big Day! 

 

It depends on the martini. Martini's themselves are pretty standard, but if you are going for the fancy concoctions then that might be different. I'd suggest asking Fatima to check if there are any drinks they are aware of that (a) are purple and ( taste good... that maybe the easiest way to figure out what they have on hand to make a purple drink with... Just a thought )
 

Originally Posted by mllek1986 

They said they would do it free of charge, just had to let the bartenders know what it was. We are making up little signs with our signature shot, martini and cocktail, all with original names (we haven't decided 100% on what those are yet so will share later). 

 

 

Darn it! Do you know if they make martinis at the resort? If they don't have it then maybe we can just go down and tell them to make me a purple martini and I'll use that instead. I will get Fatima to ask the Food and Beverage Manager though. Thanks for the heads up! 

 

Check on the resort having sour puss. We inquired when we were there (we like sour puss shooters ), but they did not have. . . May not be an option...

Originally Posted by mllek1986 

And for those ladies wondering how the purple cocktail making went, we decided on a drink that is called Arabian Nights (says my bartender bridesmaid who helped me make it), it is blue curacao, raspberry sour puss, and vodka... it turned a gorgeous dark purple! Then I will have the bartender serve it with a twist of lime on the rim to incorporate my lime green colour. Here's a pic of my inspiration:

It is fairly sweet so I think people will only be able to handle a few... or I could just tell the bartender to amp up the vodka....

The resort photographers are quite good... that's who we used and were happy with them.
 

Originally Posted by JenRob 

I am thinking of bring my own photographer down with me. But if that doesn't work out, does anyone have any good recommendations for photographers down there?

Well they can relax, have a few drinks, socialize, enjoy the atmosphere... I wouldn't really worry about it, they will find something to occupy their time. Or you could move your cocktail hour up and break up your photo session (that's what we did). We had our bride/groom photos after the ceremony, then had cocktail hour, then had the group photos, then dinner. That way there is not as much 'down' time for the other guests. Also, some guests will enjoy watching your photo session. If you can breakup the photo sessions with moving your cocktail hour up (and want to of course) that would be my suggestion.
 

Originally Posted by MissJuliaDana 

Dreams2011, thank you so much for your reply. I completely agree, and I do think I will move everything up a little. Ill just put something in the OOT bags that says the ceremony time has changed. I don't want to rush through a meal and whatnot. Quick question though, what did your guests do while yall were doing photos and such? If the ceremony is 2 hours before the cocktail hour, and what do the guests do while the wedding party is photographing? 

 

 

Yes, the judge would say a few sentences in Spanish then the translator would say in English then the judge would continue in Spanish and so on. We did write our own vows and said them when exchanging our rings, which is permissible (there is standard vows that you can do the 'repeat after me' with if you prefer) You cannot alter however the contents of what the judge must say. Make sure you let the translator know before the ceremony if you have written your own vows to say (and maybe let Patricia Romo know as well if that is who you are coordinating your legal ceremony through).
 

Originally Posted by danasb788 

That's very helpful..thanks!  So I just want to make sure I understand...assuming the judge comes on time, he will conduct our ceremony in Spanish and then his translator will repeat in English and vice versa?  Did you guys write your own vows or did you use the standard (I assume they have standard ones?)

 

 

The video was dubbed over in English... it was about 20 min long. see above for more info.
 

Originally Posted by danasb788 

H everyone. Just curious if anyone had the legal ceremony performed by the judge. Just wanted to know how that went...the 'classes' blood tests etc. Also was it performed in English? Any feedback would be helpful!! Thanks!

see my comments a couple posts above... I'd suggest starting earlier and just advise your guests of the change. It's your wedding day so I don't think anyone will mind the change (and too bad if they do ;o)
 

Originally Posted by MissJuliaDana 

Yeah, I'm reading through all this, and I'm rather concerned about our timeline. As it stands, our schedule is such:

 

I'm rather concerned that that is going to be really tight time wise, and I really dont want it to feel rushed all night long. I've already sent invitations out....would it be in poor taste to tell the guests they ceremony time has been pushed forward??????? 

 

6:00-6:30pm: Ceremony at Sea Side Beach

6:30-7:30pm: Cocktail hour with appetizers

7:30-10:30pm: Reception+Dinner+lots of fun! J

 

 

 

 

Only the brides hair is included in some (not sure if all) of the packages, but I think their is a 15% (or something like that) discount for other salon services... you would have to double check.
 

Originally Posted by danasb788 

For all the past Dreams brides... Does anyone know how much it costs for bridesmaids hair to be done at the Dreams salon? My girls are asking but I am not sure since my hair is included. Any info would be helpful! Thanks!!

We had a legal marriage this past January at Dreams PV. We arranged everything through Patricia Romo and a very sweet young lady picked us up at the hotel (arranged by Patricia) to take us for our pre nuptial class (video on the sanctity of marriage and family) as well as the blood tests. Everything went fine. The blood tests are done differently to how they are done in Canada (not sure about the USA), but it went fine. Everything was fresh out of the package and the girl taking our blood was gentle. The young lady who picked us up also did the translation for the judge.

The judge was 30-40 minutes late for our wedding. Apparently the original judge fell ill so this one had to come on short notice (and arrived in jeans and a plaid dress shirt.... needless to say my mother was not impressed, but my husband and I are frequent flyers to Mexico and are aware of their laid back style... a little dressier would have been nice however, but not a huge deal). Everything was a little behind from this point so if there is a way to proceed if the judge is late then do the legal stuff later then you may want to do that (however I like doing everything when it is suppose to be done so would have opted just to wait regardless). Plus if you have to take time out to do the legal stuff later you may not really save any time.

We had our ceremony at 3pm and I would strongly suggest having it earlier than later if you have lots of things you want to do (cocktail hour, bride/groom photos, group photos, 3 course meal, 1st dance, father/daughter etc dances, speeches, cake, bouquet toss, and time for dancing and socializing). Even starting at 3pm (well I guess 3:40ish since the judge was late) we felt rushed. I actually asked to start even earlier (2pm), but 3pm was the earliest the resort would allow (time to set up was the excuse).

Hope this helps.
 

Originally Posted by b gardner 

I asked patty this as well! She informed me that one of their team does the translating anyways for the judge as the judge does not speak English at least the judge we will be having for our wedding in November, she said once the judge arrived they would find us to sign the pics so nothing was behind schedule! So by the sounds of it , it really shouldn't throw plans off much if at all ifnthe judge was a bit late.

We were married the first week of January. It was about 30'c (86'F) the day of our wedding and at night was probably about 20'c (68'F). It was plenty warm even with the light breeze. We were however dancing quite a bit later on, but even before that it was plenty warm. Doesn't hurt to have something to put over your shoulders just in case...

Originally Posted by mllek1986 

Hey dreamgirls, for any of you that got married and had their reception on the beach in January/February did you find it cold at night? Just wanting to know if I should get a shawl or a bolero. Thanks!

Here is a pic of what we did for seating arrangements place holders. We got some cheap luggage tags and put each person's name on them with the menu number (1 or 2). Then there are a little keep sake as well if the person so chooses. We gave the wedding coordinator a detailed layout of the reception with each person's name on it so they knew were to put each luggage tag name tag.

(the other items in the pic is our cake topper and palm tree favour boxes filled with candies for each place setting)

Originally Posted by khannan 

Originally Posted by BarbieBrideU

Hey ladies!

Totally random question-

I don't know what to do with the escort cards situation. Ideally I'd love a big frame and just have each person's name with the table they are seated at next to their names, but I can't see myself hauling a large frame to Mexico....

 

I've considered the individual escort cards with holders but with such a small amount of people (35) that seems silly. However, I have 2 entree choices, so I know some order needs to be involved...

 

Anyway, any suggestions as to what you are doing/what you did?? It would be much appreciated!!

Thanks!

If  

We had our ceremony at the Seaside Beach then cocktail hour at the gazebo (for a little change of scenery), then back to the Seaside Beach for the main reception. The entire reception (cocktail and dinner) is 4 hours. We then added 1.5 hours on to the reception.
 

Originally Posted by mllek1986 

One more thing-

Was your cocktail hour and reception at the same location? We are having our ceremony, cocktail hour and reception all at Oceana Beach so was just curious that if people were at the cocktail hour from 4pm-5pm then dinner didn't start until 6 did they just return to the site and visit/have cocktails after the group photo or did you send them to one of the bars for half an hour and told them to be back for the 6pm reception?

If they went back to the reception site, how did this work with the bar service as we are only allowed 4 hours of bar service (we are already adding an extra hour of bar service onto our bill to stay til 10:30)? Or am I mistaken and the $30 per person for the cocktail hour includes 1 hour of bar service then you get 4 for the reception?

 

Thanks!

 

No one was bored... In our situation with the judge being 30 minutes or so late our schedule was pushed back and wished it had started on time as we felt rushed at times. Since there was a delay the cocktail hour did start before we were done our photos, which was ok... we had about 30 min at the cocktail hour which was enough. Everyone else started mingling, signing the guest book, and having cocktails. We had some issues with the wedding coordinator screwing up our schedule as well. For one we had asked and it was agreed on that we were going to have a champagne toast at the ceremony site right after the ceremony then go to the gazebo after our photos for cocktail hour. We stood around and the champagne never arrived. We waited for the photographer while others went to the gazebo to see if it was there. The photographer finally came back as she had gone to the gazebo as well and the guests stayed at the gazebo. We wasted about 30 minutes here and everyone was served champagne long before we arrived (was irritated and this was only the start of the coordinators screw ups... all in all it was a wonderful wedding and very memorable, but a few less hiccups would have been nice ;o). Then from here on it was more rushed. Dinner was served on time when we were still taking group shots because of the 1 hour delay elsewhere (30 min before ceremony and 30 min after). We told them to hold off as we wanted time for our pics, which we thought would have been a 'no brainer' since there was already a huge delay. Before we knew it, it was 10:30 and no one was ready for the party to end. I really recommend starting earlier if you can. More time is better than not enough (we are going to a wedding next weekend where the ceremony is at 11 then the reception doesn't start till 4pm, which is a little much, but like I said... more time is better than not enough). Be prepared for things not to run as smoothly as you would like. They constantly have issues with wedding coordinators so just take it in stride and if there are lots of hiccups demand a discount (that's what we did and it made up for some of the issues... now we're using the savings towards our honeymoon ;o)

While the group photos were taking place everyone else just hung around and watched (and took their own photos). The group shots consisted of the entire wedding party as well as just the bridal and just the grooms.
 

Originally Posted by mllek1986 

 

Hi Dreams2011,

 

We decided to have our ceremony so late due to a few factors: flow of events (didn't want people to be bored), heat (my fiance is a "sweater" lol) and because of our vendors - we have 7 hours with our videographer which we wanted from 3pm to 10pm which would include getting ready, ceremony, cocktail hour, reception, dance etc. and 6 hours with our DJ (4:30 to 10:30). I guess we could always add an hour or two onto each though if need be.

 

A couple of questions for you:

What did everyone do while you were taking pictures with you husband and for the hour of group photos? Was this full group photos or you and your bridal party?

My main fear is that people are bored waiting around and not knowing what to do. We were at a destination wedding last year where nothing was structured and everyone was confused on where to go and what to do, people got bored of sitting around and the wedding coordinator didn't explain anything to anybody etc.

 

I appreciate your help,

Kate

 

 

In regards to you schedule... why don't you have your ceremony earlier if you can? We had ours at 3pm and if we were to replay the day we would not do it any later (we actually asked if we could bump it up to 2pm, but 3pm was the earliest they'd allow). Even at 3pm it seems rushed... here was our schedule.

• 3pm ceremony
• 3:30-4 - bride/groom photos
• 4pm - cocktail hour (we wanted to attend this)
• 5pm - group photos
• 6pm - dinner reception commeced
• 10:30 - reception ended (could have gone on all night if the resort allowed... If we had no kids at our wedding we would have opted for an adults only resort that allowed the party to go on longer...)

The judge was 30-40 minutes late as well so the ceremony didn't actually start till 3:30-3:40 which pushed everything else later as well.

Originally Posted by mllek1986 

Hey girls,

A few questions and a couple of tips on how to save some cash...

So I was just looking over my contract and realized that I was paying for 15 extra people (wedding party) for the cocktail hour (totaling $450) when we wouldn't even be attending it because we would be taking pictures. I adjusted the amount on the contract and resent it to Fatima and she agreed, so if you are in the same boat as me and are only having the cocktail hour for your guests and not your wedding party then you can save some money by making the adjustment.

 

Ideally I would like to attend the cocktail hour though but it doesn't seem to work with our schedule:

4:30pm ceremony

5:00pm group picture, pictures with family

5:30pm cocktail hour starts, wedding party pictures

6:30pm-10:30pm Reception

What are the rest of you doing? Are you attending your cocktail hour? How are you making it work with taking pictures?

 

I thought we could maybe have a few drinks and some appys with our guests at the cocktail hour then head out for pictures but then I didn't think this left us enough time. Or we could do pictures then come back for the end of the cocktail hour but we're planning to have a grand entrance and I would find it kind of weird if we were there hanging out with everyone then all of a sudden disappear so we could make a grand entrance. Either way I'm not sure 20 minutes of a cocktail hour is really worth $450. What are your thoughts or suggestions?

 

We were married at the Seaside Beach and felt it was the nicest of the two (in our opinion of course) and recommend that location. Here are some pics of our wedding...

Originally Posted by SarahBen2011 

Hey past and previous brides - any thoughts on Oceana vs Sea Side beach?  We're currently booked at Sea Side... but I just saw this video of a wedding at Oceana that looks amazing.  I love the rocks in the background!  I'd love to hear what previous brides thought and what future brides are planning! 

 

here's the video - it got me REALLY excited :-)

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88shxee2Lgg

I just checked out Verana... never heard of it before. Wish we had... it looks beautiful! We are planning an adventure honeymoon in Peru this October

We paid either $800 or $850 for the sound-system (ceremony & reception), dance-floor, and 3 hrs DJ service. The sound-system and dance-floor were only going to be about $50 cheaper so we opted to use the DJ for the extra little bit. Either way would have been fine as we could have just let the ipod play through, but having someone else not involved in the wedding to control the music was a nice option. The only annoying thing was that sometimes the DJ would play his songs and some that kinda sucked, but then we just asked him to change it if we didn't like his song choice. I'd do it again for the $50 extra, but wouldn't pay hundreds. It was only a small amount more because of the packaged option...if you left out anyone of the 3 items (say just DJ and sound-system), the DJ cost was WAY more.

Originally Posted by NM2011 

Hey ladies curious as to what everyone is doing for music... the DJ seems really expensive to me. $690 for 3hrs... Did anyone find an outside DJ? or maybe do their own music.

$600! That's ridiculous. We were married this past January (6 months ago) and we paid either $300 or $350 for the bonfire (I can't recall the price exactly, but it was for sure no more than $350). This price was worth it, but $600 would not be in my opinion. Their prices have really gotten out of hand.
 

Originally Posted by kerrib 

So, Fatima contacted me yesterday to ask if everything was correct on my contract. She sent me a new copy, but I had already done one with Esman. Apparently, bonfires are now $600!!! Also, all of the prices I had sorted out and that were on my old contract were new and higher. I politely sent her an email back with a copy of the email Esman and I had discussing prices and a copy of the contract he sent me. I also addressed the bonfire. I think it is a great idea and was still for it when I was told $400, but I'm not paying $600 to burn some wood! Hopefully she gets back to me in a reasonable amount of time and makes these corrections.

Here is a pic of our layout with lanterns. I guess we actually had 5 lanterns (3 with multiple lights)... it was plenty bright, however, we only had 23 people so not over a large area.

We had 23 people total sitting in a 'U' shape with the dance floor in the middle and I think there were only 4 lanterns around the edges, but we had enough light...it was perfect actually. I think a couple only had 2 lights each then the others at the mouth of the "U" had 4. If you are having double the people and using a larger area then I'd probably use a couple more lanterns, but 6-7 is probably good.....