Dreams Riviera Cancun - Brides post here (new thread)

[Savs1027]

We're getting married at our church on a Saturday then we leave that next Thursday. Just our immediate families will be there and we will take off our rings immediately following the ceremony. And we'll celebrate our Mexico wedding as our anniversary. 

Originally Posted by NJ2012 

OK GUYS WE NEED HELP!!!

 

we, like most of us, are doing the symbolic ceremony- since it is way easier.

 

what i need to know is WHEN ARE YOU GETTING LEGALLY MARRIED?

 

what documents do they need when we go to mexico?

 

are you going to town hall/your church a few days before mexico or a month before?

 

we have been going back and forth about this for a while. but we know its easier to get the info from the professionals on this board then the people at dreams!

 

thanks...

respond here or email me!

joda724@gmail.com

[rykell]

They are very busy I think once you get there as others have stated that all your fears will go away. Just remember that they 100's and 100's of wedding so they know what they are doing.

Good luck

[rykell]

They are very busy I think once you get there as others have stated that all your fears will go away. Just remember that they 100's and 100's of wedding so they know what they are doing.

Good luck

[JustNoelle]

Does anyone know if the resort provides a free shuttle to the Playa del Carmen shopping areas or to Cancun (preferably at night)??? If so, do you know what time the last shuttle runs? 

[WPGBride]

Originally Posted by EmilyT 

 

Hi everyone,

 

I love the videos all the recently married girls are posting but my question is, is that something extra the photographer gives u or is that the whole wedding video? I want a video of my reception with the dances and speaches and all that... so im a little confused.  i love the slideshow that you all are posting they are amazing, but do you also have an actualy wedding video like shows the whole party ? is this just something extra they throw in ? i want to make sure i get both! a

 

The slideshow comes free of charge and its just an online link that you  can share with friends and family afterwards. They will ask you what song and let you view it before they finish it off so that it is how you want it.

 

The video that I got with my ultimate package was quite disappointing. There was no sound at all, they just played songs (their choices) over everything. They also have like a minute intro on the DVD of the Dreams hotel branding. I would ask them to take that off, absolutly no branding, and that you would like to actually hear what people have to say during the video. As well if you can to choose any music if you like. The video was also poorly edited, using amature skills such as checker fading and other cheesey techniques that anyone could use. We were not involved in any of the video editing process. The video, only 30 minutes long was not all on 1 disc. They split it and it was in 2 parts, and just before we kiss ! So I would also ask to have the video on one disc.

 

I know the ultimate package includes a videographer so I don't know if this is why the quality was low. I would hope the quality would improve if you paid for extra video.

[WPGBride]

Originally Posted by JustNoelle 

 

Does anyone know if the resort provides a free shuttle to the Playa del Carmen shopping areas or to Cancun (preferably at night)??? If so, do you know what time the last shuttle runs? 

 

The resort does provide shuttles to Playa del Carmen and Cancun for shopping trips and they are like mon wed fri for one and tues thurs for the other. They have several departure times for these days as well. I'm pretty sure it was like $15 for this shuttle, which is a bargain because taxis were very expensive. However though they did not go into the night, maybe stopped around dinner time.

[Dominique 161]

Originally Posted by Soon2bMrsLozada 

 

Ladies,

 

I cannot rave enough about how AMAZING my wedding came out. As a wedding coordinator/Event coordinator, I am very picky when it comes to all the little details that make a BIG difference..

I recommend doing an onsite inspection and booking your date and locations before leaving back home. That way you make sure you get what you want!

Communication with GINA prior to wedding: A

Ladies don’t stress out if Gina doesn’t respond right away, they are REALLY busy down their but they know what they are doing. Luckily for me, I had the same coordinator the entire time I was planning and Gina was very good with responding to e-mails in a timely manner as well as answering my calls. I made sure to send a summary of all the things we had discussed prior to our final meeting and she had everything written down and organized. I also created a timeline and sent it to Gina, Anel, and Mauricio and they all used it during the wedding.

Transportation: A

We used AMSTAR DMC since we had used this same company in Dominican Republic and when we went down to do our onsite inspection. I worked with Lupita and she took care of us. Most of our guest used this company and they were super reliable.  This is the same company in the hotel lobby that organizes tours.

Hotel/Check In: A++

When My husband and I arrived at the hotel, we were escorted to check- in in their VIP area  since we got upgraded to the preferred area. We originally book a plunge pool and got upgraded to a BEAUTIFUL Ocean view room (room 2351). It was amazing! I don’t want to spoil the surprise of the room décor but they really know how to make you feel special. Almost everyday, there was a surprise in our room. J

Final Meeting with Gina: A+

We had our final meeting with Gina the day we arrived. I had booked it well in advanced to make sure I got everything done before our guests arrived. We met with her, went over all the details in DETAIL, gave her the timeline, and a list of all the items I was handing over to her. I wanted to have the lanterns, but since it was raining, I decided to hold off on those because I didn’t want to pay for them, if we decided to move the reception indoors.

She agreed we could play this by ear and we signed our breakdown of the total costs including 5 people that needed day passes. She then instructed us to pay any time after the wedding in the reception area and so we did a few days later with Travelers checks. It was our first time using traveler’s checks and I highly recommend using them.  It is easy, safe, and you don’t have to pay a fee for the currency exchange.

I am a HUGE control FREAK and let me tell you that I felt so comfortable handing over everything to Gina. I gave her detailed instructions as to how I wanted everything set up and her Jorge did just that!

DJ Mauricio: A++

I kept in communication with Mauricio very briefly prior to our wedding and also had a meeting with him the day before our wedding and he had everything down. I even provided him with a CD of the music for our ceremony and reception and he played it exactly as we wanted. He was awesome and had all our guests on the dancefloor the entire time. Just to let you all know we paid $999 for the DJ and this included the lightup dancefloor too. It was well worth it! Any song requested by our guest he had!

Anel and Adventure Photos:  A++++++++

Words can’t express how talented this lady is!! She is super nice, friendly and so easy to work with. We had the complete wedding package and this included a trash the dress session. Since we didn’t want the trash the dress session, I sent her an email a few months before the wedding and requested to have a mini engagement session the day we arrived so we could use one of the photos as our sign in picture. This worked out perfect. My husband and I took some pictures around the hotel and later that night we went back to the studio, choose the picture we wanted, and within minutes, she had the picture printed and in the sign in frame. (We purchased the sign in frame at Michael’s.)

Aside from the engagement session, we also had a welcome dinner at El Patio and used the 50 pictures that were included in our package toward photographing this event. Anel wasn’t our photographer for this but the staff member that assisted us, was also REALLY Great! I’m not sure of his name but he is from Uruguay. I recommend him if Anel is not available.

The day of the wedding Anel started taking pictures at 3:00PM. She started with me and then she went down to my Husband’s room and took pictures of him getting ready. I also sent with her his wedding gift and she captured his expression as soon as he received it. Anel was with us till 9:00PM and she was awesome!! Her pictures say it all.

The day we were leaving, my husband and I choose the pictures we wanted and right before we left, we went back to the studio and picked up our CD. The photobook should be ready in 4-6 weeks and we gave her the full authority to pick the 80 pictures for the book.

Spa: A+

The day I arrived I had scheduled a hair trial and I got my hair done with Ana. She was great and even changed the style a bit so I could have my hair done differently for the engagement pictures. Since my friend who works for MAC was doing my makeup the day of my wedding, I took advantage and used the free makeup included in my package for the engagement session.

I had also scheduled the massage included in our package for the day before the wedding but since we stayed in the preferred area and stayed for 7 days, we also got the honeymoon eternity package which included another message session and we did that the day we left in the morning. Ladies, if you are staying in the preferred area  for more than 7 days, make sure you take advantage of the honeymoon package that is free and also includes a romantic dinner on the beach.

Wedding Day Service: A++++++++++++++++++++

The weather the day of the wedding was not so great. The wedding was May 19^th and I was so nervous about having to move everything inside. No one flies down to Mexico to have an indoor wedding but the weather was out of my control. We had a short rehearsal in the morning and after the rehearsal, Gina and I decided that we would make a final decision on the reception location at 1:00PM.

As I was getting my hair done, Jorge and Gina came down  to see me and as much as I wanted to cry about the unexpected weather, I decided to take their word for it and move only the reception indoor.

The Ceremony went as planned and Linda was great. I contacted her a few weeks before the wedding and she did exactly as we wanted. Luckily the weather held up for the ceremony.

Cocktail took place at the North Jacuzzi area and we had the Caribbean trio. This area was so intimate and the set up was just perfect; simple and elegant.

After my husband and I took our alone pictures, we went to meet everyone else in the cocktail area and asked Jorge If we could see the reception location since it was moved to one of the ballrooms. One word….WOW!!!! it was that beautiful. I honestly think the set up looked better that it would have outside! The room was draped at no additional cost and the buffet was nicely set up.We had 26 guests so we had the Caribbean buffet and everyone raved about how good it was. We had the tres leches cakes and just asked Jorge to decorate it with some of the flowers from the bridesmaid bouquets. The cake was so delicious that I event asked them to take the remaining cake to my room and I picked at it every day.

Flowers: A++++++++

I knew I wanted my flowers to be PERFECT but I didn’t think they were going to turn out as good as they did. The florist will replicate exactly what you want! For the ceremony I had hanging rose balls and after used them as centerpieces for the reception.

Video: A

The wedding video included in the package actually is pretty good quality. The video wasn’t ready before we left but I asked one of my guests to check if it was ready before they left and it was! I can’t wait to watch this every year on my anniversary!

Overall, the service is phenomenal and worth EVERY PENNY! From my experience in planning weddings, I don’t think it worth spending $30,000+  on a four hour wedding when you can spend half the cost and make a vacation out of it.. I know this review is long but seeing all the help I have received from this blog, I knew I had to return the favor. Below is my slideshow, if you have any questions, please let me know and I will be happy to answer.

http://190512lozada.dreamsriveriacancun.adventurephotos.com.mx/#/lozada-1/

 

Thank you for sharing this AMAZING review!

 

Your wedding looked prefect and you looked beautifu!

[Dominique 161]

Originally Posted by kellykellz 

 

For all the brides that have had their weddings, where is the north beach? Is that a good place to have the ceremony? Is there 2 beach locations for beach weddings, besides the gazebo?? 

 

Im having ym ceremony on the North beach. I was told that is more private

[Soon2bMrsLozada]

Originally Posted by JustNoelle 

 

 

This was an AMAZING review!! Your wedding was BEAUTIFUL!!! I am so happy everything worked out for you even with the severe weather conditions. I have a few questions... hopefully you will be able to answer them. Is the indoor ballroom always reserved for weddings when it rains?? How big is the ballroom? Is it extremely big to where your guests would look spread out? Or is it perfect for a 40ppl wedding? I appears that the ballroom has up-lighting... Was that included or did you have to pay extra? I would like to use the spa services for our welcome dinner. Did you have to make an appointment with spa prior to you arriving there? Were you able to have the romantic dinner on the beach? If so, how was it? I am too very detailed so hopefully my wedding next year will be as perfect as yours was. Thanks for posting your review and I apologize for all of the questions.

Thank you!! I don't know if it is always reserved but it is good to have a back up plan with your coordinator just incase.The size of the ballroom was perfect for the amount of tables we had! It fit comfortably 3 tables of ten but they have other ballrooms that vary from size. The uplighting and the draping in the room was a big surprise! I did not pay additional for it and it looked amazing! As far as the spa services, I recommened scheduling all your appointments before you arrive so you make sure you get the time you want just incase there is another wedding going on. The Romantic dinner on the beach was just that....Romantic and delicious! It really was the  only time my husband and I had alone time at the resort. I would take advantage and book this the day you arrive.

 

I recommened doing a checklist of all the things you need to book and schedule prior to your arrival at the resort so you take full advantage of everything offered in the package. I hope this helps.

[Soon2bMrsLozada]

Originally Posted by EmilyT 

 

SOOn2BEMRSLOZADA,

 

Thank you so much for your review. your wedding looked amazing & u looked beautiful... i am happy to hear that the ballroom is great because my biggest fear is rain on my wedding day so that is a relief. I wanted to know where you got your beautiful flower arrangements on the gazebo on the beach... ( the round orange balls of flowers... i dont know what its called ) I WANT THEM!!!! let me know please thank u!!

 

Hey! I got my flowers and all my services through the hotel. I know it might be a little more expensive but it is less of a hassle and easy just to deal with one person on everything! Just send a picture of my flowers to your coordinator and I asm pretty sure they will be able to replicate it! Flowers were a little pricey but worth it since they were used during the ceremony and reception.