tigerlily2435

We had only 25 people at our wedding, which included 7 kids. We brought our ipod with the music on it and had a great time! I am not the dancing type either, but I would recommend having some dancing. Dinner took about 2 hours, so the dancing part was quick anyway. We had a playlist for dinner and more fun ones for after. It was really fun!

The gazebo is near the south beach. The pool terrace is the concrete area between both pools and the deck is along the beach below the pool. Both are nice! We had our reception on the pool terrace. It was good for dancing because it was smooth concrete. Have fun!!

I had my hair appointment at 2 and my ceremony at 6 and it worked out really well! It gives you enough time to not feel rushed. Good luck!!

Hi Everyone, Here is the slideshow from my wedding! I hope you enjoy it as much as we do! Thanks for all of your help over the past few months! This forum has been so great! http://150712damico.dreamsriveriacancun.adventurephotos.com.mx/

Hi Ladies, I just returned home the other day from my wedding. I have to say everything was amazing!! I can't wait to share my photos with you! First- we had no troubles with customs. We were prepared with our receipts, but didn't get checked. We brought sand dollars, bags, chocolates and popcorn for each guest. No problems. When we got to Dreams, we were brought to the Preferred Club to check in. It was easy. Everyone is so friendly and they bend over backwards to help you with what you need. Our room was amazing!! They upgraded us to a Ocean front suite- a corner room right on the ocean! We were so excited when we got there to see the views! They were stunning!! We met our entire group back in the lobby after checking in so we could give them their OOT bags. They had a hand-written letter to each person, popcorn and chocolates from our hometowns and the wedding program. They all loved them. We got the bags at Wedding Chicks for $5 each and they were customized with our names and date. The bags were great because everyone used them for taking their things to the beach. Plus we could always find people's seats because they were different than everyone elses. We met with Gina, who is amazing!! She is so nice and we went through all the details, made any changes, picked colors for things and went over the charges. She is amazing to work with!! They are all so busy, so don't worry if you dont' hear back from them right away. She had everything organized and was great! We had a rehearsal with everyone and Gina showed the group what to do. That was really helpful, especially since we had kids in the wedding as ring bearer and flower girls. The day of the wedding was actually really relaxing! At 2 we went to the spa to get our hair done. If you don't know what you want done, they have books with pictures that you can choose from. Ana did my hair and make-up and she did an excellent job! It took about 1.5 hours. My husband took a lot of photos of this, since the photographer didn't start yet. It was a lot of fun! After the spa we had about 2 hours before the wedding started. At 5:00, Anel came to where my husband was getting ready with his and my dad to take photos and then she came to my room to photograph me getting ready. There's no need to get ready too early because its hot to wear your dress for a long time! About 10 minutes to 6, Gina came to get me in my room and walked me over to where we line up. Lots of people were watching the wedding from the pool and taking photos. When my dad and I started to walk down they all started cheering! The ceremony was good. We had a male minister, who kind of messed up a lot. I wouldn't recommend him. We did the sand ceremony combining sand from the beach with Lake Michigan and my lake house sand. That was really nice and everyone really liked that. After the ceremony we all grouped together to wave to the hotel webcam because we had a lot of friends watching from home! They actually saw us waving! Some of our friends took screen shots from the webcam and emailed them to us! THey were cool! We took group photos by the gazebo and then by the beach. Its hard to walk in the sand with heals though! Luckily I had wedges on so it wasn't too bad! The photos of the different families went fast. Anel did an amazing job an is so friendly. She's great with adults and kids. Then our family went to the cocktail hour and we had some more photos of just the two of us. They turned out awesome! The cocktail hour had the mariachi trio, who was really good. Everyone had a really fun time dancing with them! The appetizers were amazing! Shrimp satay, quiche, beef roll, melon balls and something else. They all were good! Dinner started at 8. The table looked great! We brought our own chair bows that we got from EBay for really cheap. They put those on for free. Then we had a sand dollar with each person's name and the date on it for their place card. We put that on a cocktail napkin that we brought in the same color as the ink. It looked great and everyone really was surprised at those! The flowers from the gazebo were put on the table and I had brought battery candles. It looked really pretty! They provide lighting, but its really dark during dinner, so you may want to think about adding more lighting. The photos came out a little dark. We had a cousin introduce us and we had our first dance. Then dinner started, which was so good! We were able to pick between chicken and beef and both were delicious!! After dinner we had the father-daughter dance and the mother-son dance, then we started the party. Dinner took until 10 and the entire party ended at 11. After that we went to the nightclub. We all had such a fun time! Many people recognized us for a couple days after and said how much fun it looked like we were having and they wanted to join in!! Overall, everything was amazing! Don't stress, be really organized and it will be perfect! We are so happy we chose to come to Dreams for our wedding! It was so perfect! Let me know if you have questions that I can help with!!

I see some people are looking for itineraries. Here is mine. Hope it helps! Arrive Thursday Friday- meet with Gina in her office Saturday morning- rehearsal for the wedding party and parents Sunday- wedding day- Hair appointments are at 2:00 6:00- ceremony at the gazebo 7:00- cocktail hour by the jacuzzi 8:00- 11:00- reception on the pool terrace Not sure when Anel starts- we got package 3. Since it includes the hair appointment photos, I'm assuming 2? Videographer- we just are using the included package, which is just the ceremony. Am I missing anything?? Hope not!

I leave in 1.5 days!!!! I cannot wait!

Does anyone know if you have to make reservations at the restaurants at night or if you can just show up? I've heard you have to go really early to get reservations at all inclusives, but I don't know if that's true. Does anyone know how that works? Thanks!

You are 5 days after me! We leave in a week! I am so excited to get there!! CongratulatIons!

Two weeks until my wedding day!!!!

I got chair bows on eBay. They were really cheap and came in lots of colors. I got my bags at Wedding Chicks. They are custom printed and are $5 each. We're putting a card for each person, an itinerary, popcorn from our favorite place and chocolates from my hometown. We're trying to keep it simple instead of bringing a ton of stuff to put in them. Hope that helps!!

I was wondering the same thing! My flight is a charter and they said they don't have those closets either. I'm hoping there will be someone to help me when I get there so it will be ok. Maybe there's an empty seat or something. Let me know if you come up with something! I leave in 2 weeks!!

I've heard that shipping things down there isn't a good idea. It takes a ton of space in the luggage to carry it down, but it may be the best way to make sure things get down there!

Gina told me you can do either one. We are bringing the ipod because its easier for us.

I would love to see your photos too! Congratulations!!

I know! I can't wait to get there! Less than a month! I just can't wait!!

Wow. You must be nervous!! I'm sure it will go great though! Especially if you are organized and know what you want and have it in writing! Probably not what you need so close to the date! 32 days left until my wedding!!

Is anyone doing any excursions? If you are, what company are you booking them through? Thanks!

You have to bring your own things. I'm bringing sand from home and combining it with sand from the beach there. I've seen others using colored sand that matches their colors. If its in ziplock bags, you should be ok traveling.

I am carrying it on. Everyone says do not check it in the baggage in case it gets lost.

You are so beautiful! Congratulations!

I was told the only options were the beach and near the jacuzzi.

So happy for you that things went as well as you expected- if not better! You look beautiful in your photos! Congratulations!!

Hi! Thanks for the advice. I searched the rules for bringing food into Mexico and it looks like it would be ok. Hope so! The best popcorn in Chicago is Garrett's! Be sure to get some when you are here!

I purchased bags from Wedding Chicks for each guest and they just arrived last week! They are super cute! I'm so happy with them! Instead of putting a lot of stuff in the bag, we are giving each guest a gift card for the resort, a card and itinerary and a box of popcorn from our favorite Chicago store.