Dreams Riviera Cancun - Brides post here (new thread)

[TigerLily]

Here is the Spa's email address: spa.drerc@dreamsresorts.com

 

They asked that I contact them 1 month before the wedding (no earlier) to schedule our appts. They also asked for each person's name and what they were having done (I got hair & makeup, which was included in the wedding pkg, and everyone else just got their hair done). Then they sent me a confirmation email with the appt times (which I requested, but I'm guessing they send that even if you don't ask).

 

Originally Posted by juliej84 

Does anyone have the contact information for the dj that the resort uses? Also, did you girls make your hair and makeup appointments ahead of time at the spa?

 

[TigerLily]

Thank you : ) Ok so, the centerpieces I actually brought there myself- this is the picture I gave Yamina to show her how I wanted the tables set up:

 

 

I got the lanterns @ Michaels- I paid about $7 each, the LED candle's where also about $7 a piece (much too windy for real candles), the small glass votice holders were $1 ea (all from Michaels). The seashell sculpture thing ($3) and the table number holder (picture frame- $3) were from Christmas Tree Shop. I also bought the small LED votive candles @ Joann's ($7.50 for a pkg of 6). A few other things I already had (small sugar starfish that are glued to the candle inside the lantern, yellow ribbon, burlap-ish material).

 

Anyhow, each centerpiece ended up costing about $25, much cheaper than the quote they gave me of $100 per centerpiece (I asked about fresh palm leaves in tall glass vases filled with water).

We go to RI every summer and we wrote the #s on the sand there and took pictures. One other thing to note is that I used a 50% off coupon for almost EVERYTHING I bought Michaels and Joann's, so those are the prices I listed above- the lanterns and large LED candles were $15 each)

 

Centerpieces I originally wanted that were quoted @ $100 each:

 

 

Anel was great and took some pictures of the fireworks, but they were not ours at all, lol. We had no idea they were going to be setting them off! We had asked about them early on, but DRC is in a protected area that does not allow them. I don't really understand that since these fireworks seemed to be coming from a few resorts down (shouldn't they be protected too then?). We had asked about a bon fire on the beach as well (maybe for welcome drinks), but that was a no-go too.

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by jkhowell 

Tigerlily- you are so beautiful!! You wedding looked great. I have a few questions if you dont mind.... First, I like your lanterns as your centerpieces and I was wondering if the resort had them or if you brought them down? And if the resort had them, if you dont mind me asking how much they charged you per. Also, you guest book looked interesting and I noticed you had a fuji instanx camera (which I am having as well) and was wondering what you did as your guest book and/or with the camera? One more questions, I see you had fireworks (not the ones on the dance floor)....how much did this cost if you dont mind me asking??

 

Thanks!

 

[TigerLily]

We actually bought the suits @ Macy's last spring. We had gone to Men's Warehouse and they wanted something crazy like $500 a suit so we kept looking. Luckily we found these- (brand is Perry Ellis). It was great getting them @ Macy's because they were on sale (30% or 40% off), plus I had coupons (I seriously don't shop without coupons lol). Also, if anything, we could return them without any issues.

 

We went early in the season (when they first start putting out all the linen & summer shirts) to get the best selection. We browsed again in the summer and most items were marked down and there was hardly anything left. Here's a pic of the suit (shown in white, but we got it in sand):

Perry Ellis Suit Jacket, Linen Herringbone

 

 

Originally Posted by mrskatieperry 

Wow!!!  Unbelievably beautiful!!! 

I'll think up a million questions I'm sure...just one I can think of now is where did the guys get their suits?

 

 

[TigerLily]

Hi Julie, we originally chose the Love pkg, but once we got there, we upgraded to the Ultimate pkg. We thought that our guests would really enjoy the mariachi band (which they did) and we also wanted the ceremony video.

 

Yea, we added on to the photography. We purchased the full day pkg for $1500. That included 200 pictures, and since we upgraded to the Ult Wed pkg, we had an additional 50 pics - so 250 althogether. We were perfectly fine with that until we went in to chose our 250 pics and could only narrow it down to 450  I'm telling you, its tougher than it seems! 250 seemed like alot until we sat down to view them. We ended up purchasing the extra 200 pics for $900, so overall we spent $2400. We toyed with the idea of just purchasing the $3000 pkg, which gives you ALL of your pictures, plus a 20" X 30" canvas (I think that's the size), but decided against it- most of the pics we deleted were duplicates of the ones we kept anyway, and I'm sure I can get a canvas made for less than $600 (what we saved).

 

You totally have to work with your budget, but honestly, the pictures really are one of the most important aspects of your wedding. Personally, I spent so much time & money this past year on LITTLE, trivial things and projects, that if we coudn't have scraped together that $900 last minute, I would have been really mad at myself. Dont get me wrong, I loved doing the OOT bags, and the MIB invites, and all the things I purchased on Etsy & visaprint, but if I had to chose between some of that stuff and really nice pictures? No brainer. Most of the items I purchased were for our guests, but the pics are really for you and your husband : )

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by juliej84 

Your pictures are beautiful Looks like you had an amazing wedding! If you don't mind me asking, which wedding package did you choose? Did you add on with your photography?

 

 

 

[juliej84]

Thank you so much for your thoughts! Also, since you did the ultimate package--did you get a 30 minute dvd of the ceremony?
 

Originally Posted by TigerLily 

Hi Julie, we originally chose the Love pkg, but once we got there, we upgraded to the Ultimate pkg. We thought that our guests would really enjoy the mariachi band (which they did) and we also wanted the ceremony video.

 

Yea, we added on to the photography. We purchased the full day pkg for $1500. That included 200 pictures, and since we upgraded to the Ult Wed pkg, we had an additional 50 pics - so 250 althogether. We were perfectly fine with that until we went in to chose our 250 pics and could only narrow it down to 450  I'm telling you, its tougher than it seems! 250 seemed like alot until we sat down to view them. We ended up purchasing the extra 200 pics for $900, so overall we spent $2400. We toyed with the idea of just purchasing the $3000 pkg, which gives you ALL of your pictures, plus a 20" X 30" canvas (I think that's the size), but decided against it- most of the pics we deleted were duplicates of the ones we kept anyway, and I'm sure I can get a canvas made for less than $600 (what we saved).

 

You totally have to work with your budget, but honestly, the pictures really are one of the most important aspects of your wedding. Personally, I spent so much time & money this past year on LITTLE, trivial things and projects, that if we coudn't have scraped together that $900 last minute, I would have been really mad at myself. Dont get me wrong, I loved doing the OOT bags, and the MIB invites, and all the things I purchased on Etsy & visaprint, but if I had to chose between some of that stuff and really nice pictures? No brainer. Most of the items I purchased were for our guests, but the pics are really for you and your husband : )

 

Quote:

 

 

[TigerLily]

Jk, i totally credit skp1 for the guest book idea- i even used her poem to put on the table. You've probably seen her post but here it is http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/69035/my-photo-guest-book
 

It was so fun! I put my 2 maids of honor in charge of getting everyone in the book (there was only about 15 couples so not too bad). I asked Yamina if they could set up the book, poem and props on a table (I brought this little suitcase with a banner inside that read "guest book" & had her put the guest book inside- it didn't really serve a purpose, more for visuals). I bought the mustache/lips/glasses on a stick from Etsy (I forget who the vendor was) and some cheap sunglasses from Target. They sell a guest book especially made for this film, but it was kinda pricey so I just made one myself w/ a scrapbook, paper and photo corners : )

 

 

 

Originally Posted by jkhowell 

Tigerlily- you are so beautiful!! You wedding looked great. I have a few questions if you dont mind.... First, I like your lanterns as your centerpieces and I was wondering if the resort had them or if you brought them down? And if the resort had them, if you dont mind me asking how much they charged you per. Also, you guest book looked interesting and I noticed you had a fuji instanx camera (which I am having as well) and was wondering what you did as your guest book and/or with the camera? One more questions, I see you had fireworks (not the ones on the dance floor)....how much did this cost if you dont mind me asking??

 

Thanks!

 

[juliej84]

Is there 11% tax added onto the wedding packages? I know there is 11% tax added on a lot of the add ons, however I did not see anywhere if there was additional tax on the wedding packages.

[Kmarch85]

LOOOOVE THIS IDEA! Thank you! I have 95 days before my big day at DRC

[Kmarch85]

Your photos are amazing! Thank you for sharing.  I am so happy that I have Anel for my photography too.  I also did the full day coverage.

 

Did you think the dance floor was worth it?  I am debating whether or not to have it.  Makes me nervous that people might fall off of it.

 

I am also going to use your idea for the photo guest book.  Where did you purchase your camera? 

Thank you!

 

95 days! so much to do.

Also can you list what you did for your OOT bags?  I am in a stump.
 

Originally Posted by TigerLily 

Hi everyone,  I haven't been on for quite a while (too busy with projects!). I had to stop logging on bc everytime I did, I added to the diy list, lol. Anyhow, my FI (now husband : ) and I got married at DRC on Saturday, Dec 3rd. We're both extremely happy with our decision. The resort is gorgeous, staff is friendly, and even our picky eaters raved about the food.

 

Yamina is great- she's very friendly and did a wonderful job with our wedding...and she managed to pull everything off exactly how we envisioned it. (I had Ana before, so I was only in contact with Yamina for a few weeks). I brought her two- yes two- large suitcases full of stuff- and everything worked out fine. Anyhow, here's our slideshow. If anyone has any quetions, don't hesitate to ask. I'll try to answer them as best I can.

 

Our slideshow: http://031211primus.dreamsriveriacancun.adventurephotos.com.mx/#/primus-1/

 

 

 

[NJ2012]

i havent had any communication with the resort.

ive booked the date/package and room accomodations with my travel agent.

should i be in email contact with the wedding coordinator or resort for anything?

if so can someone please give mt the email addresses of who i should be in contact with?

thanks

joe