sheenamae

We just got married at the chapel in December and it was more beautiful than we ever could've imagined with the ocean views, glass windows, flower petal aisle. Who would've thought that a religious wedding could still be romantic and dreamy? The stairway entrance and walkway down the aisle was totally fine because you walk down the side stairs and then around to the top of the chapel entrance - so you still get your full walk down the aisle. I had my hair & makeup done at the resort spa - it was included in the royal catholic package. I was also very nervous and hesitant about the outcome, but I was ecstatic and super happy at what a great job they did. Don't worry about using them. They totally know what they're doing. I saw 2 other brides while I was there and they looked stunning too. For our hotel bookings, we also found it less expensive through our AAA travel agency. Our flights were cheaper on expedia. We had an outside photographer, Amorcito Corazon Studio, much better than the resort photographer (pictures & prices). We loved them and highly recommend them. There were some great pictures of the chapel in our slideshow: http://mylenearturo.amorcitocorazonstudio.com/#/ceremony/

Hi Cathy. Congrats on your wedding! We just got married at the Gran Caribe chapel in December. You will absolutely LOVE it! It was a gorgeous wedding overlooking the ocean. This site helped me so much in my wedding planning, so I'm providing my feedback to help other brides too. I didn't have any problems with my church providing a letter. I showed the church a printout from the Gran Caribe of what they needed, and the church gave me a list of requirements to fulfill to get the letter. We needed to attend a marriage retreat scheduled by the church, and also meet one-on-one with the priest. If your church gives you problems, I'm sure you can go to a different church. Reception site depends on the size of your party. Our party was 33 people. I also wanted the beach reception, but we opted out for the same reason - sand and wind. So we had cocktails on the beach, and the reception at the gazebo (right above the beach). I loved it! It was perfect. And the gazebo provided protection from too much sun and wind. We found the best rates through AAA. They booked our rooms for us and it was cheaper than booking directly with the resort. Here's our slideshow for pix of the wedding/reception/ttd for ideas. http://mylenearturo.amorcitocorazonstudio.com/#/ceremony/. If you haven't decided on a photographer yet, check out the one we used, Amorcito Corazon Studio, http://amorcitocorazonstudio.com/#/weddings/. Amazing work & awesome pricing! Happy planning!

I just got married at the Gran Caribe chapel in December - you'll love it! It's absolutely gorgeous. Like you, I considered doing both - religious and civil to get it all over with at the same time, but it just wasn't worth the extra time, hassle, and costs. You need to get blood tests and pay extra for marriage license translations. In the end it was much simpler and cheaper to have the civil ceremony at home. Congrats and good luck!

We had our wedding in Cancun 12/21/11. Although we didn't end up booking at Dreams, we ended up going with the same vendors that were highly recommended from brides on Dreams forums. We went with Amorcito Corazon Studio for our photography. The photographer's names are Anel Fuentes de Maria and her partner, Jacob. They've done a lot of weddings at the Dreams resort, so they know the best places to take pictures. Anel and Jacob's work was so amazing - better than we could've ever hoped for. We had 2 photographers for the wedding & TTD, all of our digital prints, slideshow, and their prices were much more affordable and reasonable than all of the other popular photographers we had seen on this site. The quality of their work was some of the best photojournalistic style photos, yet almost 1/2 the price. Check out our slideshows: http://mylenearturo.amorcitocorazonstudio.com/#/ceremony/. Here's their website: http://amorcitocorazonstudio.com/#/weddings/. We used DJ Doremixx, which was recommended all over this site, and they were awesome. They really made it a partay with their glow sticks, balloons, masks, lights, and fireworks (which were all included with their basic DJ package). To save money, you could have any flower arrangements you buy or bring for the wedding ceremony, transferred to the reception site so you don't have to pay double. Your wedding coordinator should take care of this. Also, if your reception is outdoors, don't waste too much time or energy on table centerpieces or decor. The natural beach scenery is breathtaking alone. www.save-on-crafts.com is a great place to buy preserved flowers for decor or your hair or cake (this is what I did) - much cheaper than ordering from the resort - and the flowers look fresh. Good luck and happy wedding!