sarahinlove

I think they had there reception on the beach immediately following the ceremony. It was set up right next to the ceremony site.

We specifically asked for our cake to be served at 9:00, along with our chocolate fountain. Heck, it was even in the program. But it was all out when we arrived at the reception. They had taken the chocolate fountain down by 9, which i wasn't too happy about, and then lost our cake before we were able to cut it. And I made sure to double check with them before the wedding day that they wouldn't bring it out til 9.

When we were just finishing off our honeymoon, we watched a wedding going on at Dreams at the Seaside Beach that was a traditional Mayan ceremony. It looked so cool! They did all sorts of neat stuff. The Bride was so cool and sweet, I chatted with her right before she walked down the aisle, from my spot at the infinity pool. I wonder... is the Mayan bride on this forum? I'd be so interested to see how you liked your unique ceremony!

Hi Sarah, I think it was just the two strands. Whatever you get for $80! I loved the lanterns. And the best part about them opposed to buying some, is that they are set-up for you, you don't have to worry about them and you don't have to pack/ship them! Once I arrived at Dreams all I wanted to do was visit with my guests and have fun. I didn't open my wedding binder once! So I was glad I didn't have too many things to arrange or explain to the WC.

Aimee! Isn't Christheel just the BEST??? We LOVE her! She is SOOO talented. I would recommend her for all the other brides! We also did some photos with Eder, and he was great too, if Cris isn't available!

Yep, that looks like the one with lights. We saw a few weddings on the beach, and they all had the same dance floor. I think you can choose to have it just white lights or multi-color. I think it will still be a bit dark. I know even at Las Palmas it was pretty dark by the end. This isn't the best picture, but it kinda gives you an idea how dark it was. We had our dinner/dance from 7:30-10:30. We ate when it was still light out. I'd say this picture was taken around 9:00.

That tractor price seems crazy, hey? I bet it is just there as a last resort. They have an army of guys who grate the beach every single morning by hand. So it would have to be pretty crazy to need to have a tractor come in. As for Las Palmas, it is sooo beautiful, but I agree that it might be pretty squishy with 68 people. We had 40 and it seemed like a perfect fit. The weddings we watched on the beach seemed to be pretty awesome. A bonus of the beach is that you get the breeze. It was so hot at Las Palmas, whereas the beach was beautiful weather. We decided not to pay for extra cake. The two layer cake was HUGE anyway. And you know what, we didn't even get to cut the darn thing. We were all SOO full from dinner, heck its a 4 course meal, that we had the wedding cake brought to our after party at the sports bar. The groomsmen saw it leave on a cart en route, but it NEVER showed up! My husband spent an hour trying to track it down, to no avail. 4 days later they called us and said they found it and asked us what we wanted done with it. Are you kidding me??? So, ya, we didn't taste it. No one missed it though!

Oh, yes, the weddings we saw on the beach were well lit. That dance floor is bright!! If you're not into techno-multi colors, make sure to ask them to keep it white lights only. Each panel of that dance floor lights up! In different colors! The DJ lights are like dance club lights. The lanterns are very pretty. They should provide them for free, because without them, beach or las palmas, your wedding would be in the dark. There isn't really any other lighting there. Okay, your lounge furniture is a good deal! I though it was, like, $500 for one set! Good for you for getting the extra hour. We wanted to, but at $15 per person and an extra $150 for the sound system (we didn't have a DJ), it wasn't really in our budget.

Ya, I sure did! They have a book with magazine cut outs that you can choose from. My girls both had big beautiful hair naturally, so went for the braid. It was great as it was super hot and kept their hair out of their face. We were happy with all the hair we had done there, the moms' hair turned out great, too. The make-up, however...

Hi Sarah! Yep, the "orange lillies" and "hot pink roses". I love my bouquet SO much. I got the BM flowers off-site. My mom went into town a few days early and arranged with a florist. I think they were $20 each, a huge savings compared to what Dreams charges. Since we had so many colors between my flowers and the girls' dresses, we decided to give them white flowers. I think it turned out great! I had the coursages for the moms match my bouquet, and just the lilies for the dads. Quote: Originally Posted by SarahBen2011 Congrats SarahInLove!!!!! Your pictures look amazing and you look beautiful!!! So great to hear that you had a blast! I love your flowers - did you have roses and lilies? What flowers did your BMs have? Flowers are the one thing I can't seem to figure out! haahh Congrats again!

Hello! I just got back from Dreams and we had our reception at Las Palmas. I would agree with Fatima. Definietly no room. We had 5 table of 8, but one of those was for the bridal party. With such a small group we loved not having a standard "head table". We saw another wedding with a sweetheart table, but it seemed that they were missing out on all the fun sitting all by themselves! Even with just our 5 tables, the dance floor area was pretty small. When they announced the first dance, I figured they would be moving some stuff out of the way, but nope! It is just a small area. Is your heart set on the lounge chairs? With our short 3 hour receptions, are you sure your guests will sit on them enough to make it worth the $$$? They are so expensive! Our guests were too busy dancing and mingling. Just my thoughts, though. I think that if you didn't have the lounge chairs, you might be able to fit everything else. They could move your appetizer tables closer to the bar area, I think. Anyway, good luch with the decisions!

I'm BAAAACK! Ladies, it was PERFECT! Have no fears! Here is my slideshow... I will write my review as soon as I can! http://070611sarahtyler.drepvphoto.adventurephotos.com.mx/#/slideshow-1/

Thank you so much for your post! I leave this Saturday, and this past week all of the dreams crew has been so amazing! I am feeling super confident that everything will be wonderful! Thanks again for the reminder that it is not about the details! I'm so excited to marry my best friend in beautiful Mexico!!!

Hi Cass! I just posted a question about the photogs, then found your post. Did you pay for extra time?? I don't want to have to! What kind of timeline did you use???

Hello past brides! I have a question about the photography. I have the ultimate package. They have just told me that the coverage doesn't even include any of the cocktail hour or reception. To have this covered, it is an extra $1000. Did any of you pay this?? It seems soooo expensive. I was going to have an outside photographer but cancelled her after hearing good things about the resort photogs. Now I'm kind of regretting it.... And they've told me you only get the online slideshow for a year! Did anyone buy a copy of theirs? How much?

This is my 5th wedding coordinator in 8 months!! Are you kidding me?? I leave in a week and a half!

Oh my goodness! An EXTRA $300! That seems SO ridiculous! Isn't the included bouquet worth like $90 or something already? I'm so curious... can you post the picture here? I'd love to see this $300 bouquet and $350 centerpiece! I mean, its Mexico, there are flowers everywhere, its not like its Northern Canada in the wintertime!

Hi Crystal, I have NEVER heard of that! It says that a "dinner party" is included. Obviously that should include wait staff! Maybe she hadn't bought a wedding package...?

M1984- I wish I would have known earlier!! We leave June 4th and would have bought it for sure! We just bought a Bose system, PLUS we are renting the sound system just for the microphone. I hope someone else can help you out! And by the way.... EEEEEEE! Your day has almost arrived! I am 2.5 weeks away and I can barely control my excitement. You must be unreal excited! I wish you the best time ever! I hardly wait to hear all about it! Congrats!

So glad you got your contract AND your 3 choices! Pays to be persisent, hey? I found the photo of the flowers here: http://www.facebook.com/#!/media/set/?set=a.177992638906073.35002.100000860150793 Sucks about the fire. I'm a bit nervous about the rain... am hoping it holds out for us! But I figure, I've been to Jamaica in the winter and have been rained out, so you can't really depend on the weather! I've been checkin the weather in PV every day, and in the evening it is still, like, 30 degrees celcius. Maybe that is a bit hot for a fire? Is it possible to "tentatively book" the fire, and just decide when the time comes? They sound fun though!

Thanks! I wasn't going to have a program either, but thought it'd be easier then telling everyone what time things start, etc. I put off picking flower til the very last thing! I agree, I wasn't impressed with any of the choices Esman sent. I found these on his facebook page: and liked the contrast of the hot pink and orange. Thought it looked "mexico-y". So I told him I'd take these, just to make things easy! I just wanted everything booked, and thought there would be less chance of them messing up if I just picked something they had done before. We're going for all bright colors (as you probably saw from the program!) so hope they fit in well. I've got three ladies, One in teal, one in mango and one in purple. So it will be a veritable rainbow! I'm doing the hot pink roses for the corsages and the orange lillies for the boutonniers. I just couldn't bring myself to pay the money for the BM bouquets, so we're going to get them from Costco or something. Let me know what you end up picking!!

That sounds so good! You're lucky, I have quite a few small town/farmer type guests, and I would never get away with having this exotic of a menu! The veggie option sounds great too... hmmm, I may have to rethink mine... Thanks for sharing!

Hey ladies, I thought I'd post the flickr links of my invites and the little program I made to be given to guests as they arrive! The invitations were printed postcard sized, and attached in the top left with a grommet, the RSVP was an actual postcard. Then all was put into a handmade envelope. The program I printed as a little booklet. I thought it might be good to give everyone an idea of what was going on for the week and a little "who's who" of all the guest. http://www.flickr.com/photos/saraheya/sets/72157626698460264/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/saraheya/sets/72157626698552530/

As for "hush-hush", that's what we did! We're getting married at dream on June 7, but signed the papers on Feb 20th at a remote winter resort with just us and the JP. The hotel provided two of their staff for witnesses! It was perfect. We chose Feb 20th, because it was our dating anniversary. Now we will always have this secret second anniversary, and its a great way of remembering all the dating anniveraries we spent together. Getting legally married so far in advance hasn't bothered us one bit! We keep forgetting, even! We know that we won't feel really married until I walk down that isle, get to wear our rings and I get to change my name! As for "vegetarian options", I was given one entree choice and the vegetarian choice. So only two. We only have three vegetarians (me, MOH and a Groomsman). That is why I went with the steak and chicken combo. I figure everyone likes either chicken or steak. And on the menus I made, I just left out the "bone marrow" part! VollyDolly... can I ask what vegetarian option you are picking??

Thanks VollyDolly! I just sent them an email! Gee, Esman hasn't mentioned arranging photos even once!