Cbert22

Hello Ladies, I got married at Dreams on 11/30 and i have to say that it far surpassed all of my expectations! Having a destination wedding and choosing Dreams were the best decisions we ever made and you will NOT regret it!! Below is a brief review. Please feel free to email me directly if you have any questions as I was not able to get too detailed here and there are plenty of things I have left out. I know how hard it is to plan this so I am happy to help in any way I can, although I may not be checking this forum much anymore. cbert22@hotmail.com subject line: Question regarding wedding at Dreams Arrival Date 11/28 Wedding Date 11/30 45 guests/ 47 total attendees Welcome Dinner: Seaside Grill I ended up paying the 15 per person to have the welcome dinner. It was totally worth it in my opinion. We just felt like we should have another event planned for all of our guests since they had travelled from so far to be there. We had the restaurant all to ourselves and it was wonderful. The food and service was great and we used this time to give out our welcome bags. I highly recommend doing this if you are able. It was also a great was to have our guests mingle ahead of time so they already were aquainted prior to the wedding Ceremony: Time/Location- 3:30pm @ North Beach Best location as far as privacy goes. There was still a few beach goers that stayed and watched but it was nothing compared to some of the other weddings i saw at the gazebo and south beach. They set up beautifully and the backdrop was gorgeous. I stayed in the Presidential suite the night before the wedding with some of my bridesmaids which was perfect as we literally walked out the sliding doors to the ceremony. It also allowed for ample space and great pictures. Cocktail Hour: Time/Location- 4:30-5:30pm @ Desires Terrace We were off taking pictures for most of the time so we missed the cocktail hour. We showed up for the last 15mins. It’s a very nice location but it does get a little stuffy We got the Caribbean Trio and they were fabulous (so i heard). Everyone enjoyed them Reception: Time/Location- 6:30-10:30p @ South Beach I LOVED this location!!! I had my heart set on the pool deck from the very beginning but it was booked on my date so i had to go with the south beach. Even when i got there and saw how beautiful the deck was i was mildly depressed. I even started second guessing myself as to why I didn’t change my date. But the moment i saw my reception set up i was beyond thrilled! It was beyond my wildest dreams. They did an amazing job with the set up and our group felt totally secluded. It was perfect!! We had the Caribbean Buffett with some modifications to account for vegan guests. It was delicious. The staff was amazing and our guests were impressed by the level of service all around. Also, I didn’t pay for any lighting at all and the set up they did was amazing. Save your money!!!! Hair/Makeup: ANA She was amazing!!! I was super concerned with getting my makeup done by a total stranger so before i left i went to Nars cosmetics here in LA and had a two hour make up session/tutorial and bought all new makeup. When i went for my trial with Ana at Dreams the day before the wedding i showed her the makeup and explained what i could remember from my trial in LA (which was not much) and then i let her at it. She finished in 15mins and it looked even better than my previous trial. She did an amazing job on my hair as well. Definitely recommend her!! Wedding Coordinator: Gina Gina was amazing. Knowing that i only had one day to meet with everyone (since i was only in town the day before the wedding) she set up meetings with everyone for us. We just arrived at the wedding office at 10am and then the different folks rotated to meet with us. Gina was on top of everything and she really tried to help out wherever she could. Photography: Frank (Adventures) This was one of the biggest highlights of the entire experience. As you know, most of the reviews on this site are for Anel, so I was dead set on having her shoot our wedding. I had been bugging her from the beginning asking if she could shoot my wedding but she was unable to commit to me since she wasn’t sure of her schedule. When we finally met with her the day of the wedding she informed me that she was not going to be able to shoot us. I was devastated at the time since I had no info on any of the other photographers, however Frank far exceeded any expectations i could have had. My wedding pictures are breathtaking. He creates the most magical set ups and his photos are truly pieces of art. We also did the Trash the Dress with Frank which was by far the best decision we made. We opted to pay an additional fee to shoot the photos at a fresh water cave near Playa Del Carmen. The pictures are out of this world amazing. It was a lot of work and not the most comfortable experience, but the pictures i now have are priceless. Frank has an amazing eye and is a pleasure to be around. I cannot recommend Frank or the Trash the Dress session enough. DJ: Cesar Cesar was great. We did provide him with a bunch of music that we wanted played but he also filled in the gaps with great choices. Everyone danced and had a great time. He also threw in the dance floor for free since we ended up adding an extra hour to the reception which was amazing!! Overall, I had the most amazing wedding ever!! I would not change a thing!!! All of my guests have told me that it was the best wedding they had ever attended (which is all i ever wanted ). Dreams was the perfect choice for us and I can’t wait to go back there!!!! Good luck to all you future brides. You are going to have the time of your lives....I’m jealous

EmilyT- can you please also email these docs to me??? Sorry i know this is the millionth request you have recieved for this but it would be super helpful!!!. cbert22@hotmail.com Thanks so much!!!!! Dreams Riviera Cancun Weddings Locations[1].pdf Dreams_Wedding_Timeline[1].pdf WEDDING%20PLANNER%20FORM[1].docx

Do you happen to know how wide the altar was? I really want to do the beads now but wondering how wide/long i should make them.

Everything looked amazing!!!! Conrats on a beautiful wedding. I actually have a pretty similar color scheme so seeing your wedding come to life was so amazing for me. Thanks for sharing. Can i ask where you got the decor for the chuppah? Its beautiful but i cant really tell from the pictures if they are flowers or beads or something else. Let me know if you can. Thanks again! Camila

Hi Ladies, Just wondering what everyone plans to do for their honeymoon. Are you staying at Dreams or going somewhere else?? I definitly want to switch hotels because i have several guests staying extra days and i do want a little privacy with my new hubby, but im not sure if i want to stay in Cancun or try out somewhere else like Playa del carmen. Please share.

Soooo sorry but could you also please send to me . cbert22hotmail.com. Thanks!!

I am arriving on a wed evening and getting married on friday. My TA also was worried that wouldnt be enough time so I made sure to check with Gina before booking. She said it was fine and we would be sure to have our meeting on thursday morning.

The hotel does offer group rates which would be negotiated by your TA. They are not drastically discounted but better then what you would find online. Dreams also offers 1 complimentary room for every 5 paid rooms per night (6th room free), based on double occupancy, as well as 1 free Upgrade to next room category up with every 10 paid nights. Free rooms and upgrades are based on nights covered by all rooms over same dates (what your average guest is staying for/type of room booked by majority of the group). Maximum of 3 free rooms per group and 2 upgrades per group. You could either give the free rooms to designated people, use them them for yourselves, or take a credit for the amount and divide it by everyone booking through the room block (thats what im probably doing). I am either going to give everyone back some $$$ or use the money to plan a group excursion. It does add up. If your average guest is staying in an ocean view for 4 nights you would be looking at around $3500 back ($290 per night for 2 people x 4 nights X 3 free rooms) . Lastly, with the group rate they do offer each guest a $100 resort credit. Hope this helps!!

Hi Emily!! You are getting married on my birthday by the way . I am going with the caribbean buffet but Gina is allowing me to swap out some things from that menu from the other two menus. Not sure if that would help you since you seem to now be leaning towards a plated dinner, but thought i would let you know that they are open to swaps if certain items dont sound good to you.

Hi there!! Congrats to you and your new husband!! Your wedding was beautiful! I was curious about your room. You mentioned that you were upgraded to the honeymoon suite. Do you mind me asking what room you booked? Evangelina mentioned that we would be upgraded to the honeymoon suite regardless of what room we booked but I'm worried. I don't want to waste money paying for a more expensive room if we are getting upgraded but I also am nervous to bank on this upgrade and risk getting stuck with a basic room. I think it's based on availability... Any insight would be helpful. Also, what apps and dinner did u choose??how was it??

Hi guys...just wondering what everyone was going with for their apptizers choices for the cocktail hour. I was not that impressed with the selection on the gold app menu so im having a hard time choosing. Anybody have any insight?

Thats funny because i actually didnt even book my date until mid february.... In fact, i had also inquired into your date and the pool deck but both were booked.

Oh im def keeping my ceremony at the north beach...i was just wondering about the reception. Im not sure why she put me at the south beach for the reception but im gonna ask to move to north for that too.

Hi Ladies, I am struggling with a few things and i was hoping some of you might be able to provide me with some insight. I would be sooo grateful. Too many decisions!!! We are getting married 11/30/2012 BTW Ceremony start time: My goal would be to start the ceremony as late as possible (but while we still have sun) so that there is a smooth transition from ceremony to cocktail to reception. I would prefer to have my reception start at 7pm so that it will at least go until 10 (i may extend to 11). Gina suggested a 4:30 ceremony, 5:30 cocktail and 7 reception. My concern with starting the ceremony at 4:30 is that the sun sets around 5:05, so even if my ceremony lasts 15mins, we will only have 20mins of photos before the sun sets. If i started at 4 or 4:15 I’m not sure what my guests would do until the 5:30 cocktail, unless i moved my cocktail to 5 and then had a 1hr gap between the cocktail and reception. Do you have any insight? Have any of you considered taking some of your photos before the ceremony?? Sorry to ramble Reception location: North beach vs South beach. Gina has me at the south beach vs the north. does anyone know what the difference is? My ceremony is happening on the north beach and the cocktail is going to be at desires terrace... I really appreciate any help i can get. Thanks!!!

Hi Everyone, I just confirmed my date, 11.30.12, at Dreams resort in Riviera Maya!! I am so excited to begin this journey. I felt like the last 1.5 months of planning was super stressful, but thanks to the very informative reviews and advice found in these forums, I have finally made the major decisions (date/venue) and can now start with the fun stuff . I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I super happy to join this site and look forward to chatting with some of you. Happy Planning...and Happy V-Day!! Camila

More questions...sorry...Can you tell me how far the resort is from the airport. Also, how was the beach? Thanks for you help. Cant promise this will be the last of my questions tho ...

Hey Sarah-Jane. Nice to E-Meet you! Thanks for your response. I was referring about the deck in front of the infinity pool. I can see that they do an excellent job but i loved this area since it was steps away from the beach but not on it. Also, i would save some $$ on getting a dance floor if i waited to have the wedding when the deck was available. Oh, decisions decisions. Can I ask where you are having your reception?? Also, how was the weather when you went in november? I have to say this forum is great! I am definitly feeling a little overwhelmed in the early planning stages and it has been such a relief to hear from past, present , and future brides.

Hey everyone! I'm new to this forum as well as newly engaged! I have been researching cancun all inclusive resorts for the past few weeks and am pretty confidant that I have found THE spot in DRC. Now my dilemma....they do have my date open (11/2/12) however only the beach is available . I kinda fell in love with their pool deck and I'm bummed it's not available. I'm writing to see if any of you guys have had their reception at the beach vs the pool deck or have seen the set up at the beach?? All the reviews i have found on here have talked about how great the pool deck was but i havent seen anything on the other locations. They do have the deck available in Dec but I don't known that it's worth pushing my date a month just to get it. Any insights will help me make my decisions and will be so very much appreciated!! Thanks!! Camila

Hey everyone! I'm new to this forum as well as newly engaged! I have been researching cancun all inclusive resorts for the past few weeks and am pretty confidant that I have found THE spot in DRC. Now my dilemma....they do have my date open (11/2/12) however only the beach is available . I kinda fell in love with their pool deck and I'm bummed it's not available. I'm writing to see if any of you guys have had their reception at the beach vs the pool deck or have seen the set up at the beach?? All the reviews i have found on here have talked about how great the pool deck was but i havent seen anything on the other locations. They do have the deck available in Dec but I don't known that it's worth pushing my date a month just to get it. Any insights will help me make my decisions and will be so very much appreciated!! Thanks!! Camila

Hey everyone! I'm new to this forum as well as newly engaged! I have been researching cancun all inclusive resorts for the past few weeks and am pretty confidant that I have found THE spot in DRC. Now my dilemma....they do have my date open (11/2/12) however only the beach is available . I kinda fell in love with their pool deck and I'm bummed it's not available. I'm writing to see if any of you guys have had their reception at the beach vs the pool deck or have seen the set up at the beach?? All the reviews i have found on here have talked about how great the pool deck was but i havent seen anything on the other locations. They do have the deck available in Dec but I don't known that it's worth pushing my date a month just to get it. Any insights will help me make my decisions and will be so very much appreciated!! Thanks!! Camila