JMILL130 Dreams Cabo Wedding Review

[jmill130]

DREAMS LOS CABOS - 08.02.08

TRAVEL

CONTINENTAL AIRLINES
Continental Airlines - Airline Tickets, Vacations Packages, Travel Deals, and Company Information on continental.com

We have flown Delta and Continental to Cabo in the past. Coming from the east coast there are no direct flights to Cabo. Our guest flew these airlines as well. Everyone had good flight experiences flying into Atlanta or Houston and then into Cabo. We were very pleased with Continental and the way they helped us rebook our flight over the phone. We had a little difficultly on the return trip and were stuck in Newark, NJ for a while!
Tip: If you are bringing your dress in a garment bag beware that not all flights have hanging space. My dress ended up in an overhead compartment on one of the flights. It was fine for my dress and once it was steamed at Dreams it was perfect. However, I was nervous during the 4-hour flight as it was sandwiched between suitcases above me!

VACATIONS FOR LESS
tstauring@vacations4less.com

We booked 14 rooms through Vacations for Less. Some of guests booked through Travelocity and Expedia to get better deals. They found better rates then our original rate of $362.00 per night. When we contacted Teresa Stauring, our TA about the price difference she contacted Dreams and was able to add the 4 rooms (booked through the internet) to our room block. At first we were mistrusting of Teresa, due to the discrepancy of price (over 500.00 per couple for a 4 night stay), but in the end she got us a room rate of $333.00 per night for a junior suite for 2 people. Some of our guests had difficulty reaching her by phone, but in the end everyone got to our wedding and home safely.
HINT: If you are on the east coast, be sure to remind your guests that there is a 3-hour difference between the time zones. They won’t reach anyone at the office until after 12:00EST. Many of our guests tried to call at 9:00 EST and couldn’t understand why no
one would answer at 6:00am PST!

SUNSET CRUISE/REHERSAL DINNER

BROWNS PRIVATE TRANSFER
Home - Butler, Chef services and Private Transportation in Los Cabos

We used Browns to transfer our guests from Dreams to the marina in downtown Cabo for our sunset cruise. The service was excellent. We were very scared at first because of the taxi strike. Manuel called us the day of our Friday night trip and told he was not going to be able to pick everyone up at the resort because of the taxi strike. We had originally ordered a suburban and 2 vans to get our passages to the marina. Manuel told us he would call us back shortly with another option. He called us back and told he was going to be able to get everyone, but it would have to be charter bus. The bus ended up working out great. It was air-conditioned and for many of our older guests it was super comfortable. Manuel sent an employee of his to ride along with us and go on the sunset cruise as well. The bus arrived early and they even took photos for us of all of our guests before we headed off. The bus was waiting for us after the cruise and most guests were tired so the bus made it easy for them to relax. We were thinking the price was going to be more because a bus was sent instead of suburban and vans as we had originally planned. Manuel honored our original price and it all worked out great. If anyone else needs transportation for a lot of guests, we highly recommend Browns.
HINT: If you want extra comfort we would recommend asking Manuel about the charter bus service. It may cost more then we paid but it may be worth it if you have older guests.

COST = $460
TIP = $100

SUNRIDER TOURS
sunridertours@gmail.com

Instead of having a traditional rehearsal dinner, we decided to take our guests on the sunset cruise. We did the public tour and this was the best choice for us. We had a mixed group of ages and the public tour was upbeat, our guests needed this to get out and party! Overall, the cruise was a huge success and our guests loved it! We had 28 people with us and not one person got sick. We gave our guests dramine in their OOT bags and brought more with us for those who forgot to take it. The boat ride was very smooth and the sights were amazing. It was a great opportunity for our guests to get off the resort and see downtown Cabo along with el Arco. The cruise served food and drinks. The food was great, it was a little tough to get to the food since there were so many people but it all worked out. Beer and mixed drink service was also very good. Be careful not to drink too much tequila when they get you to sit in the chair. Also try not to let them pour it on your clothes, it was dyed red and it stained our clothes
HINT: The organization at the marina dock is not very good; there are multiple lines for many different boats. Be clear with the gate attendant who you are and make sure they know you are on public or private sunset cruise. This will determine which line to be in. If you can contact them via email and try and get them to let your guests board first that would be beneficial since the seating is first come first serve. Because we had some older guests and it was very hot standing on the dock waiting, Manual Browns employee spoke with the gate attendant and then went down to talk to sunrider and got all of our guests to board first. I am sure if you have a large number of guests you can work this out with them.
Another idea we thought of after we left was to arrive at the Cabo marina earlier and take guests shopping and maybe some of the younger crowd could get drinks at Cabo Wabo, Squid Roe or Hard Rock. Since most of our guests were only in Cabo for 4 nights this would have been a nice time to take them all down there and save money on transportation costs as well. Many of our guests did not have enough time to get back out to go shopping or get a drink at the famous bars.

TOTAL: $1175.00 for 29 people
TIP: $50.00

DREAMS CEREMONY, COCKTAIL HOUR, & RECEPTION

WEDDING COORDINATOR (Mariana)
We can’t begin to say how much we enjoyed working with Mariana. We did not have an outside wedding coordinator & felt Mariana was perfect! She went above & beyond!
TIP: $100.00



CEREMONY & COCKTAIL HOUR
The ceremony began at 5:30 in the Gazebo. We had a symbolic ceremony. I was really calm and all went as planned, except I tried to put Jason’s ring on his right hand! Everyone got a good laugh! It was really windy and my veil was blowing all over! I am glad I had a short elbow length one. We had 2 friends read at the wedding. The cocktail hour started at 6:00. Everyone said that the cocktail hour foods were really good and they seemed to be enjoying themselves. The price of $896.00 included chair ties, and the charge for the ceremony and cocktail hour for 30 people.
Cocktail Hour Menu

Cold:
1. Grissini with Prosciutto ham
2. Cheese with grapes & nuts
3. Cold cut canapes

Hot:
1. Spinish Quiche
2. Chicken hot wing
3 Chile popper

COST= $896.00
TIP= $10.00 each server


RECEPTION
The Reception began at 7:00PM. We were announced at 7:00 and immediately began our first dance, father & daughter dance and then the mother and son dance. We wanted to wait, but the storm clouds were lurking. Our photographer recommended it early since the lighting is better! Looking back I am glad we did it early! Dinner was great; all I saw were empty plates! We had one long table for 30 people. On it was: 36 small votive candles, 5 large hurricanes, 5 pastel tropical floral arrangements and 7lbs of pale blue stones sprinkled around. We had our menu printed on the back of our program. I made 50 paper luminaries, however they wouldn’t stay lit in the wind and rain! We got through dinner and it began to rain, we had a double rainbow appear above the ocean in front of us at Cascade Terrace. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I wasn’t angry or sad about the rain, without it we wouldn’t have had the rainbows! They moved us inside for the dessert, caking cutting and dancing. We had a great time! The price of $984.00 includes the chair ties, charges for 30 guests at the reception, and 3 vendor meals. Marianna had 5 hurricanes on our tables. I didn’t ask for the hurricanes, but they looked nice. We asked for the lights to be placed under the table, however we didn’t get to stay outside long enough to see the lights- we were not billed for them.

Appetizer:
Snow crab cake served with avocado & tomato dressing

Salads:
Mix lettuce salad with Cherry tomato, balsamic vinegar and olive oil

Main Course/ Double plated:
Beef tenderloin filed with vegetable julienne served in red wine sauce
Sea bass fillet served with fresh asparagus & Portobello mushroom with beurre sauce

Dessert:
Tulip of strawberry with grand marnier sauce and vanilla ice cream


COST=$ 984.00


FLOWERS
I had Mariana at Dreams take care of the flowers. I had the basic tropical flowers, but in light pastel colors. I had 5 floral centerpieces (45.00 each) on the long table, 6 men’s boutonnieres (for our dads and brothers), 4 women’s wrist corsages (for moms and grandmothers), and my bouquet upgraded (to make it fuller). We had 2 bags of flowers on the walkway.
COST: $468.00

SUZANNE MORAL HAIR & MAKE-UP
weddings@suzannemorel.com

I had my hair and make-up trial on Friday, one day prior to the wedding. I took a taxi from Dreams to the salon and was greeted by Suzanne Moral herself. She was charming. The salon was very nice. The girls who worked with me were Paola, an interpreter and coordinator and Adriana a stylist. I did not have pictures, since I didn’t want to have my heart set on a specific hairstyle. I have very thick, long, curly hair, and it was over 100 degrees on the day of our wedding. I wanted to see what they could do with my hair. I tried 2 styles, one half down and the other up. They were very patient with me & would have tried anything I asked. My trial took over 4 hours and I never felt rushed. They encouraged me to take photos and see how the hair and make-up looked on camera. After the hair trials I decided, based on the heat and humidity to go with my hair up. The make-up was great as well! The MAC products lasted in heat, humidity, and rain! I had a little difficulty at the trial with the eye make-up, I explained that I didn’t want too much and they did a great job on the day of my wedding. I got so many compliments; I looked like me, just better! I have had strangers stop me all week while we were at Dreams to ask if I was the bride & to complement me. This salon was well worth the money, just know they include a 15% gratuity, I didn’t realize that and tipped even more.
HINT: Bring a lipstick & liner you love to blend with the products they use. This makes touch-up during the big day easier. They have a MAC store in Cabo if you want to wait and see what they use.

If you have your trial the day before you can wear it to your rehearsal dinner/ cruise. They did a cute little ponytail up-do for me to wear on the cruise that night after my trial. I wore some of make-up to see how it lasted. I looked great for our cruise and I got used to the make-up as well.

COST= $ 431.25
TIP= $100.00

JUAN CARLOS TAPIA PHOTOGRAPHY
Juan Carlos Tapia Photography

We will review Juan when we see our pictures, but that won’t be until November! We loved working with him! We did our TTD at Chileno Bay and had a blast! We can’t wait to see them, we’ll be sure to share them!
COST= $4,700 for wedding, TTD, and cds

RON WEBER DJ
rweber88@hotmail.com

We watched Ron Weber dj Jackie’s wedding in May when we were on our site visit. After reading Jackie’s review and looking at our budget we decided to go with Ron. We downloaded all of our music and created a play list for the pre-ceremony, ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. Ron met with us prior to our wedding to get the 5 cds we burned and play list. We thought about going with our ipod & renting Dreams speakers, but after pricing the speakers we decided that having a dj would bring us peace of mind! Ron worked out well! He was on time and seemed to be on queue with all of our important songs. He also brought a microphone for the minister; this made it easier for our guests to hear us, the minister (John Fagan), & scripture readers during the ceremony. Overall, he was a nice man. He is retired and from San Francisco (speaks perfect english). Just a heads up: He wore a VERY bright tropical shirt to our wedding… a real conversation item. It was fine with us, but it may bother someone else since many people couldn’t stop staring at it He also sent us a follow up e-mail to congratulate us and thanks us for our business.
HINT: Ron asked us prior to the ceremony if we minded him mixing in other music than our play list. Ron is very nice but his music tastes are very different from ours. He mixed in some diverse music. We asked him to stick to our play list and he gladly played it for the rest of the night. He was fast to relocate in the rain & refused any additional tip at the end of the night since we ended out reception 30 minutes early.

TOTAL: $650.00
TIP: $75.00

DREAMS RESORT & SPA
We have read many reviews of Dreams, so we have decided to just review the highlights of our stay. Our stay was unique from other reviews we’ve read. We hope this is helpful to others! Overall, we loved our wedding…it was everything we wanted & more!
GYM: Loved it! Pack your tennis shoes… a good workout helps the nerves!

SPA: We heard mixed reviews on the spa services. We got a couple message and it was fair. Some of our guests got messages and loved them.
Couples Message with 15% discount:
COST= $187.00
TIP= 50.00

SALON: Mixed reviews from our guests about the manicures, pedicures & hair.

IMAGENIERIA PHOTOS: We won a free romantic photo shoot from Omar @ Dreams as a prize from American Idol night. We had Omar take our picture on the beach in front of Dreams at sunset. We wouldn’t have paid for the service, since we had Juan Carlos for our wedding and trash the dress, however the picture turned out nice for free. We thought this might be helpful to others who may want to get a few engagement pictures

WHAT HAPPENS IF....

What happens if it rains and there's lightning at your reception?

It rained on our reception and it resulted in 2 rainbows that were the best decorations of all. We got through the ceremony, cocktail hour, Juan’s photo shoot, first dances, and dinner before it began to storm and lightening. They quickly moved us inside to a banquet room and were we had dessert and cake cutting. Just a heads up, it can rain and they’ll take care of you. It was so windy that our votives wouldn’t light and my luminary bags fell apart in the storm. Our light blue stones blew away. We wouldn’t change a thing. Out of our 13 day stay it only rained once… on our wedding day!

What happens if you miss your flight?

Our stay was extended, due to us missing our flight. We were so busy planning all the details of the wedding; we neglected to look at the date of our departure. We ended up staying at Dreams for an extra 3 days. Out total stay was 12 nights and 13 days. Marianna helped us secure a good rate for the extra days and the concierge desk helped us call the airlines and rebook our flight until Monday. They made the call free of charge for us and went out of their way to take care of us during that scary time!

What do you do if your guests vary in age, travel experience, & don’t like sun?

Our guests were very diverse, but they all enjoyed Dreams. We had people who had never been on a plane to a former travel agent. Our guests enjoyed the Dreams entertainment staff. They loved Pirate Night, American Idol Night, Mexican Night, Pub Crawls, and the other daily activities. We were worried about what some of our guests who didn’t like the sun would do in the 100-degree heat… overall they had a BLAST!

OFF-RESORT ACTIVITIES

PISCES FISHING FLEET
Fishing in Cabo San Lucas - Fishing Boat Charters - Fish Report

Jason and his uncles went marlin fishing. They had booked the trip months in advance and we were really excited, however they did not see a fish! None of the boats caught anything that day. The whole group was pretty disappointed.
The boat was on time & was easy to reach via e-mail for planning purposes. They provided lunch and were overall pretty good.

TOTAL: $500.00 for 3 people
TIP: $100.00

AMIGOS ATV & HORSEBACK RIDING
FUN ACTIVITIES IN LOS CABOS

This was by far the worst experience we had in Cabo. We went to a place that was inhumane. The horses were is horrible condition and the dogs roaming the farm were covered in scabs and flies. We had signed up for the 2-hour tour of the dessert, mountains, and the beach, but instead we saw landfills and sick animals. On a good note, they do provide free pick up and return service to Dreams and bottled water.
TOTAL: $110.00 for 2 hours
Tip: $10.00
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TOTAL WEDDING PRICE TAG: $17,814.00
Airfare for 2 trips to Cabo (wedding & site visit): 1,200.00
Dreams (12 nights, 13 days): $4,067.00
Wedding Attire: $500.00
20 OOT Bags: $400.00
Photography $4,700.00
Hair & Make-up $531.00
Cruise & Transport: $1,785.00
DJ $700.00
Dreams Wedding Expenses: $2,531.00
Wedding decorations (programs, fans, rocks, and votives): $50.00
Invites &Welcome brochure: $100.00 (DIY)
Off-resort shopping and trips: $500.00
Gifts for Parents & Wedding readers: $400.00
Wedding Bands: $350.00

[dinogomez]

Wow! What a review! Congratulations it looks like you had a great time!!

[misohapi]

Wow! What a great review! Thank you for sharing. Congratulations!!

[Leia78]

Great Review! Pics?!?!?!

[Tammy Host]

amazing review...i LOVE that your guest had a blast on their trip. we had our reunion trip this past summer and people want to go back in february because they had such a great time.

now if only JC would hurry up with those pics!

[can't wait!]

Thanks for such a great review!!!! Really, this is the first time I've seen someone post their wedding costs and it is soooo helpful. It has definitely given me some perspective on my budget!! Congrats and I'm glad everything went well!!!!

[Helen_S81]

What a great review. The details are sure to help any future Dreams Cabo brides.

[jmill130]

Jason and I are working on a planning thread to show everyone pics... we thought this would be helpful. We promise pictures:)

Sorry the review is so long, but we know how much we valued detailed reviews and it was becasue of all of you we were able to have such a wonderful wedding!

[Kelly C]

Congrats! sounds like everything was great. You know they say if it rains on your wedding day its good luck.

[krazyk]

That was an excellent detailed review! I enjoyed reading it!! You answered so many questions a bride would ask! Great job!!