Note to All Brides

[aeroo]

I thought I'd write this in response to the thread in the Mexico forum regarding DREAM brides : http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t14855

 

I think it's a good heads up to what you may get from your resort WC. The post below by sumbride is totally what I'm going through with my resort WC.

 

Default Re: Note to Future Dream Brides

I was having similar problems with the coordinators at Dreams Cancan, I asked if they had 3-5pm available and they answered 5pm (which was later than I really wanted as my idea time was 4pm) and after calling I found out they had anytime available between 3-5pm but they were proposing 5pm because they thought it was best (less hot). You'd think they would have written back and said "anytime between 3-5 is fine, we suggest 5 because it's less hot" rather than answering "5pm is available". So you definitely have to ask lots of questions about different times and maybe even phone them. And never assume anything (i.e. when she says 5pm is available, it did not mean that 3pm or 4pm was not).

 

I was getting so frustrated because my WC was exactly the same. I found I had to ask very specific questions! For example, I am having a non legal ceremony so only the minister could be our officiant (instead of the judge). I told her I didn't mind having the minister officiate, but didn't want any religious wording in there, but she told me the minister she booked is religious so the ceremony must be religious as well. I asked her if the minister could read a ceremony that we prepared, but she said no he couldn't do that. I was really worried at this point and was stressing about this being our only choice. Then after a week, I emailed her back asking if there are any other ministers that would do a non-religious ceremony, and she responded that, yes there are three. WTF! Why didn't she mention this, as she knew I didn't want a religious ceremony?! Aaargh!!! I was stressing for a week, thinking about various solutions, maybe changing the venue, etc.

 

The second example: I wanted to have a later wedding, but WC said only 2pm was available. After several emails prodding her about this, and about a month later, she replies that, well yea, I could have it after 2pm, but the ministers are not available then, but if I bring my own officiant, I could do it. She could have said this in one simple email, but instead it played out over a month like this:

 

Email 1

me: Can I have another time, other than 2pm?

WC: No, only 2pm is available.

 

Email 2

me: 2pm would be really hot, I would really like to have it later in the day. Can you help me out?

WC: Sorry, the ministers are not available later than that.

 

Email 3

me: What about in the morning? Can the ceremony be in the morning?

WC: Yes

 

Email 4

me: What time in the morning can we have it?

WC: 9 or 10am

 

Now I'm thinking, 'okay great, I can have it in the morning', and spent a week inquiring photographers if they would be able to shoot our ceremony in the morning, then the reception in the evening. I got responses saying that I would have to pay the full day rate, etc, etc. Then I stressed about this for awhile since I couldn't afford to do that. I could only afford about 5 hours of a photog's time, so now the morning was out of the question. I was like, 'WTF am I supposed to do?! I guess I have no choice but to stick with the 2pm time that I really didn't want". Then I emailed back the WC, just a shot in the dark question.

 

Email 5

me: Can we move the ceremony up to 4pm?

WC: No, there's another ceremony booked for 4pm.

 

Email 6

me: I thought you said there couldn't be ceremonies after 2pm cuz the ministers are not available.

WC: The other bride is bringing her own officiant, so they can do it at 4pm.

 

Email 7

me: So if I bring my own officiant, I can do it at a later time?

WC: Yes

 

Email 8

me: Okay then I will bring my own officiant. I would like to change it to 5pm, can you confirm?

 

No response for over a week and I am still waiting...

 

Aargh! It's just really frustrating to me cuz these 8 emails could have been summed up in one response from her, and would have saved me from a lot of time and stress trying to think of backup solutions. Ugh, if it wasn't for the fact that I wanted to stay at this particular hotel, I would have gone elsewhere! So now I'm just eagerly waiting for her confirmation so that I can go ahead to book the photog. I wonder what else will come up next...

 

So, note to all the ladies: It IS possible to get what you want, even though it may not seem like that at first. You need to ask VERY specific questions. I'm sure they are busy trying to respond to all the requests, but still, this is just unacceptable. I tried calling too, but never got an answer, plus I like to get things in writing anyways. But yea, just a heads up for you gals! Hope you're having a better experience with your resort WC!