Jess02162013

Hi Everyone, We just got back yesterday but I wanted to post a quick review of our wedding for you! I might post a more detailed one later but feel free to ask any questions at all! Overall, we LOVED the resort. However, we did have some hiccups with the wedding that I wanted to share also so that you can prepare. First of all, we brought our own photographer and here are a couple of her sneak peaks of the wedding pictures. As you can see, our ceremony did not take place in the Gazebo. I was SOOOOO bummed. It gets really windy there....and I mean WINDY. They couldn't even stake the chairs in. It was like a hurricane. So, we moved the wedding to the terrace in front of the gazebo. The flowers were beautiful and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be to have the wedding in the terrace instad of the gazebo *sigh* We didn't do a cocktail hour and I really think it's not necessary. We were going to until we realized that our additional guests added almost $400 to the dinner cost - yikes! We opted to trade our cocktail hour for it and I'm so glad we did. The lobby bar in front of the gazebo was great for mingling and the drinks are provided there already. It isn't exactly private but really, nobody bothered us other to congratulate us. It was great and I'd make the same choice again. For dinner, we did the fillet with mashed carrots. It was amazing! Seriously the best fillet I have ever had and the mashed carrots even pleased non carrot lovers! We had the lentil soup also and it was amazing as well. The cake was so so.....and they didn't get the order correct. We had chocolate and raspberry a got chocolate mousse. Boo! It was a lot of mousse too so it was very soft....my husband said it was like pudding cake. LOL pretty much nobody ate it. Now, on to the negative stuff.... We did not like the DJ they provided. For $280 an hour I would expect way better than we got. Mind you, I was by no means a bridezilla and we managed to have a great time (duh- it was our wedding!) but for the sake of an honest review, I can say I would not recommend him. First of all, it was not the same guy that we met with, so he had to ask us several times over the reception for clarification on things. I expected more preparation on their part. Also, there was an awkward flow. For example, we did a cake smash and then the DJ immediately announces a song that my husband was dancing with our daughter too. I imagine he wasn't paying attention (there were 2 other guys kind of hanging out with him) because my husband had to frantically wipe cake off of him and grab napkins from our guests as my daughter was standing on the dance floor and the song was already playing. It was really awkward. We paid over $900 (once you include the gratuity they require you pay) for someone that said roughly 3 things and did nothing more than press play. That sounds so harsh but we were not impressed at all. There was an issue that we had with the bill also. When we got our invoice, they charged us $200 more than the advertised price. There was also an extra $450 because we requested a "large table" instead of several small ones. We did sort it out and they removed the charges but it disappointed me that our planner (Claudia) acted as if she had no idea where the charges came from. I expected her to take control of everything and while, she fixed it, I was frustrated that she didn't double check everything if she really didn't know about the charges. It was a weird situation for me and it angered me that I had to spend a few hours sorting it all out. I also made a mistake in that I expected a lot more from my planner. The meeting was really odd. I guess I expected her to control it and be organized. While we did go over everything, it was more like sitting there with silences and me and my husband looking at eachother like "what's next?" As I'm writing this, I feel bad for being negative but it's my honest opinion and I know that's what you guys probably want. Please feel free to ask me any questions at all and I will do my best to answer them quickly!

Hey there! I just got married this last Saturday and can fully confirm that your cocktail hour is not needed! Guests can entertain themselves without a doubt. We did what you are considering and used the cocktail hour to pay for guests for dinner. If you are using the gazebo, there is a lobby bar that is right in front of it and your guests can hang out there until you're done. The planner tells everyone where to meet at 6. I thought it was great because it gave the guests some time to freshen up and mingle. Seriously.....the drinks are free anyway and the lobby area has seating as well. It was nice and the time flew by.

Hi ladies! I will post pictures and details about my experience for you all.....I am getting really, really excited.

Our wedding is next month and I am on the fence about what kind of reception to have. I'm wondering if you ladies can provide me with some feedback. We had a lot of our guests fall through and I think the final count is around 20 and they are a mix of adults and kids. I'm fine with the small ceremony but my original reception plan was for the ballroom and I don't want to do that anymore. Since it's not a big group and they are diverse in age, I am wondering what it would be like to have it at one of the restaurants and then for the people that want to go out, we could go out to the bar/nightclub after? I'm just not sure though.....I feel like a restaurant would be weird. Have any of you had a reception at the restaurant? What about the sand? Or anyone have a smaller group like mine? I'm just bummed that the size has changed and worried about how the evening will play out.

What I was told (not sure if it varies) is that Dreams doesn't give you the comp money until after the travel is completed anymore. They take the average room stay and give you that back in return at the end of the trip. That is the "free rooms" they are talking about. I believe that it is one free room for every 6 booked.

I also have Claudia as my planner and she told me to let the DJ know the genre of music I like and bring copies of specific songs I do want played and also a list of songs that I do not (if I have any). Where are you getting married? I chose the Gazebo. I'd LOVE to hear about your experience. I am getting married in February.

That's the site I used! Sounds like you have a bad wedding coordinator. I have had the BEST experience with mine. Her name is Lynn Wilson and she has been patient, informative, and on the ball with everything.

I am on the fence about the resort photographer....can you let me know what you find out or if you get recommendations?

Me too!!!!

That rate is similar to my own. I went through destinationweddings.com I think the coolest part about my wedding coordinator, is that they offered interest-free payment options to my group. She is the point of contact for all questions. It's such a relief!

What are you all doing for this? We have a small party, with only 2 on each side. I'd like to get the girls something classic jewerly-wise...maybe a pearl pendant...but I'm not sure. Also curious about the boys...mayeb a customized knife or flask? Any ideas?

Hi there! Claudia is my planner as well. I booked through a 3rd party destination wedding planner. I had the same concern that you had with a delay in response. I'll tell you what she told me in the event that it helps you feel better. My coordinator has been doing this for years and told me that they are always slow to respond because they are focused on weddings that are a month or two away. She said that it doesn't mean ours aren't important, she's just being open and honest. She told me to plan everything that I wanted and she is certain that they will be able to accomodate to it. It made me feel a little better knowing that this is how everyone's weddings go. She has assured me that she has worked with this resort several times and this is just how it goes. Hope this helps!

I booked my wedding through a wedding coordinator at www.destinationweddings.com I'm not sure if anyone is interested in using a coordinator, but if you are at all, I'd definitely recommend them. I had to pay $50 for a consultation that went directly to my booking if I signed up (which I did). My coordinator helped me sort through endless resorts until we settled with Dreams Cancun...the gazebo won me over! Anyway, it has been great for a number of reasons. I have a centralized web page with a blog and all travel details for the guests to log in to. My guests were given and email save the date with log in details (we sent the magnet kind after) and my coordinator helped plan everyone's booking with them. So, I was completely hands off after I booked our dates and rooms. She has helped everybody coordinate insurance, their room classes, etc. They also have this cool easy payment plan that most of us took advantage of. You book with a $100/per person fee and then you can make payments interest free for the remaining balance. For example, we set up a monthly payment to them so that by the time our travel comes, we've paid it off! I thought this was the coolest thing because a lot of my guests don't have tons of money. They also have an "excursions" portion on the wedding page where you can book outside trips directly through their website for tours and all kinds of stuff. We haven't decided what we want to do yet, but have been incredibly pleased with the level of support that we are getting. We are so busy, that having a single point of contact for our guests to coordinate with has been the biggest help of all time. She also negotiated with resorts to get us the best price available. They have a guarantee that they will be the lowest you find....or something like that. Anyway, I wanted to pass that on because I have truly loved the experience that I've had with having a wedding coordinator so far!!! Feel free to message me with any questions.

Hey ladies! I am getting married February 2013 in teh Gazebo with the ballroom for the reception. I'm still trying to figure out all of my details....to include my colors even! Glad to have found this blog.

Oh geeze, thanks for pointing that out!