Dreams Cancun - Questions for those married here!

[KelZavs20]

hey girls!!! well im home sweet home....and a Mrs.!

i promise to get a review up, but our home reception is two weeks for today - so let the chaos start again!

i just really quickly wanted to get on here and say that our wedding was a true test of the capabilities of the dreams staff - and i could not have asked for more from them....we had a monsoon mid reception and they kept everything together - cecilia was a lifesaver.

review coming soon!

congrats to nadine too!

[jas101080]

Hey Ladies, Just wanted to share with you girls that i just got back from my site visit and loved it. I actually stayed at the Dreams Riviera Cancun and was so disappointed how close the sunbathers were to the actual ceremony site as well as the beach reception. I am so relieved that I picked Dreams Cancun! Dreams riviera is a lot newer but the wedding areas cannot be compared to Dreams Cancun. I am sending my save the dates and can't wait for my guests to start the booking. I have a question for you guys..how soon in advance can i send my invitations? I am a little late in sending the save the dates...so should i just wait a couple of months?? All my info is on my website so for those who book right away should i still send them an invite? I am a very clueless bride. THanks

[tomick]

Hey!

So I haven't posted much on here before, but I have been doing lots of research and getting some great tips!!!

Thanks to everyone!

 

I do have some questions that people may be able to help me with.

1) Has anyone switched out the cocktail hour? What did you get for it? I would like to switch it for the cost of the extra guests for dinner.

 

2) Is the sound system for the reception compatible with iPod? Did you play music through dinner??

 

3) I really have no clue how to do this reception thing. We are going to have a first dance, but that is about it. ANy suggestions how to keep it fun and how to get the party started when dinner is finished???

 

4) what time do you recommend getting my hair and make-up done at? My wedding is at 4pm.

 

I'm sure that I will have a thousand more questions as time is counting down....only 6 weeks until we leave!

 

Thank you, I really appreciate it!

[KelZavs20]

 

 

Originally Posted by tomick 

 

Hey!

So I haven't posted much on here before, but I have been doing lots of research and getting some great tips!!!

Thanks to everyone!

 

I do have some questions that people may be able to help me with.

1) Has anyone switched out the cocktail hour? What did you get for it? I would like to switch it for the cost of the extra guests for dinner.

 

2) Is the sound system for the reception compatible with iPod? Did you play music through dinner??

 

3) I really have no clue how to do this reception thing. We are going to have a first dance, but that is about it. ANy suggestions how to keep it fun and how to get the party started when dinner is finished???

 

4) what time do you recommend getting my hair and make-up done at? My wedding is at 4pm.

 

I'm sure that I will have a thousand more questions as time is counting down....only 6 weeks until we leave!

 

Thank you, I really appreciate it!

 

 

I can help with a couple of these answers!

 

1.  we kept our cocktail hour so i dont know what the value is - but, i can say that our guests were amazed at the amount of food variety that was available, and everyone really enjoyed it!

2.  the sound system for the ceremony was connected to a computer - what we did was put a cd together of the songs that we wanted for the ceremony, and they must have uploaded them to their computer.  they played them with perfect timing.

3.  serve lots of drinks and the party will make itself! haha....the dj that we were assigned by dreams cancun helped to keep the party going all on his own.  he isnt just a dj that just pushes play - he gets on the microphone and encourages a good time!  His name was Rodrigo from AVI.  He did tell us one thing though - if the bride and groom arent dancing and partying....the guests wont either, so its really up to you!  especially if you are using your own sound system and ipod i think the trick will be for you and your groom to set the tone.

4.  my ceremony was at 5 and my appointment for hair was at 1pm. then followed by makeup.  I was done with plenty of time to get dressed and be stress free!   i had no idea what i wanted before going into the salon, so if you do, you probably wont need as much time as i did. 

 

hope that helps!

[meldal101010]

 

 

Originally Posted by tomick 

 

 

1) Has anyone switched out the cocktail hour? What did you get for it? I would like to switch it for the cost of the extra guests for dinner.

 

I switched it for 10 additional people at the reception & because i wasn't having the mariachi band for the cocktail hour, i scored an additional 5 people...so 35 total---LOL---that was before i knew we were only having 24 people

 

2) Is the sound system for the reception compatible with iPod? Did you play music through dinner??

 

Yes, its compatible. $180/hr for soundsystem. That's what we're doing

 

3) I really have no clue how to do this reception thing. We are going to have a first dance, but that is about it. ANy suggestions how to keep it fun and how to get the party started when dinner is finished???

 

LOL---Keep the Tequila flowing & a party is sure to happen & we are also having a camera scavenger hunt for the tables so that should start it up hopefully!

 

4) what time do you recommend getting my hair and make-up done at? My wedding is at 4pm.

 

My wedding is also at 4pm & my girls & myself are scheduled for 11am for hair & makeup

 

 

 

[carolina24]

 

 

Originally Posted by tomick 

 

Hey!

So I haven't posted much on here before, but I have been doing lots of research and getting some great tips!!!

Thanks to everyone!

 

I do have some questions that people may be able to help me with.

1) Has anyone switched out the cocktail hour? What did you get for it? I would like to switch it for the cost of the extra guests for dinner.

 

2) Is the sound system for the reception compatible with iPod? Did you play music through dinner??

 

3) I really have no clue how to do this reception thing. We are going to have a first dance, but that is about it. ANy suggestions how to keep it fun and how to get the party started when dinner is finished???

 

4) what time do you recommend getting my hair and make-up done at? My wedding is at 4pm.

 

I'm sure that I will have a thousand more questions as time is counting down....only 6 weeks until we leave!

 

Thank you, I really appreciate it!

 

 KelZavs answered many of your questions....I do know that you can switch out the cocktail hour for more people at the reception  (I think 10 or 15 more guests).  My appointment at the spa is at 11 am and our wedding starts at 4 pm.  It's for me, 2 BMs, 1 MOH, my mom and FI's mom.  We're getting our hair done, my make-up done, and mani's.  The photographer is coming to my room at 3 pm to take "getting ready" pics so I wanted to have plenty of time without stressing out.

 

6 weeks?!? When's your wedding date?  We're getting married sep 24th

 

 

 

Originally Posted by jas101080 

 

Hey Ladies, Just wanted to share with you girls that i just got back from my site visit and loved it. I actually stayed at the Dreams Riviera Cancun and was so disappointed how close the sunbathers were to the actual ceremony site as well as the beach reception. I am so relieved that I picked Dreams Cancun! Dreams riviera is a lot newer but the wedding areas cannot be compared to Dreams Cancun. I am sending my save the dates and can't wait for my guests to start the booking. I have a question for you guys..how soon in advance can i send my invitations? I am a little late in sending the save the dates...so should i just wait a couple of months?? All my info is on my website so for those who book right away should i still send them an invite? I am a very clueless bride. THanks

 

 

I sent my invitations in june and had the rsvp due aug 1st.  I wanted 6 weeks between the rsvp and the wedding to get last minute OOT bag stuff, have enough time to order the right amount of sashes, favors, etc.

 

 

Originally Posted by KelZavs20 

 

hey girls!!! well im home sweet home....and a Mrs.!

i promise to get a review up, but our home reception is two weeks for today - so let the chaos start again!

i just really quickly wanted to get on here and say that our wedding was a true test of the capabilities of the dreams staff - and i could not have asked for more from them....we had a monsoon mid reception and they kept everything together - cecilia was a lifesaver.

review coming soon!

congrats to nadine too!

 

yay congrats!!! glad to hear everything came out great!

 

[heatherlrex]

Hello fellow brides!!

 

I am getting married next saturday 8.28 at Dreams Cancun and I have a question about the photographer.  We have the Ultimate package and didn't purchase an additional package.  This apparently includes 50 photos and an album.  How long is Juan Navarro there with you?  Do you get photos when you are getting ready or just of the ceremony?  Does he stay throughout the reception?  When I meet with Claudia when I arrive, can I request additional photos or get a CD of all the pictures added on?

 

That is the only thing that I am really worried about.  I was very relaxed with it up front and now I am thinking that maybe I should have asked a few more questions. 

 

Any advice you have would be very much appreciated!!

 

Heather

[tomick]

Carolina24

We are getting married on October 4th, but flying in september 29th. Very close to yours!

 

Everyone, thanks for the advice, I really appreciate it and it helps me sort some things out.

 

Does anyone have any suggestions about resources for writing up the ceremony??

 

 

 

[wilsoml2]

 

 

Originally Posted by heatherlrex 

 

Hello fellow brides!!

 

I am getting married next saturday 8.28 at Dreams Cancun and I have a question about the photographer.  We have the Ultimate package and didn't purchase an additional package.  This apparently includes 50 photos and an album.  How long is Juan Navarro there with you?  Do you get photos when you are getting ready or just of the ceremony?  Does he stay throughout the reception?  When I meet with Claudia when I arrive, can I request additional photos or get a CD of all the pictures added on?

 

That is the only thing that I am really worried about.  I was very relaxed with it up front and now I am thinking that maybe I should have asked a few more questions. 

 

Any advice you have would be very much appreciated!!

 

Heather

 

We only used the photo package that came with the Ultimate wedding and Juan's team was there approximately 2 hours. It was mainly just the ceremony, group pictures afterwards, and pictures of DH and I while our guests were at the cocktail hour. They did not take pictures before the wedding or at the reception and we didn't get pictures of our guests at the cocktail hour either. However, in the short amount of time we had them, they took about 1050 pictures! I have to say that I wish we had them for longer because the pictures were amazing.

 

I have a feeling that your wedding coordinator will be able to work something out with Juan's team if you want them for longer, but don't quote me on that! You may want to email Claudia and let her know that you may be interested in a different package so that way she can give them a heads up even earlier.

 

Good luck and congrats!

[KelZavs20]

We also used Juan for our wedding, but we did upgrade the package a little by adding two additional hours.

This allowed us to have pictures before the ceremony, during the ceremony, after the ceremony (during cocktail hour) and during the reception.  I was a little confused on how the upgraded packages worked based on what I was sent, but the two additional hours were approximately $700 total.  At first, we thought we would have to purchase an entire new photo package, but you can just add time to what the package includes.

He took well over 1,000 pictures, and we are so happy with them.

As wilsom12 said, the package includes about 2 hours, and then your 50 4 x 6 prints in an album....with our upgrade we got approximately 200 4 x 6 prints and photos of cake cutting, toasts, etc.  For us, the photos were #1 priority so we were very happy to upgrade that since we did not upgrade the video at all.

Also, we did not decide on what we actually wanted until we got there....I felt better being able to discuss everything in person with Cecilia rather than trying to work through my confusion via email.