Jenny's Dreams Tulum Review from 03-17-2009

[jennyjean7]

We really had the "Luck of the Irish" on our side for our wedding day...no or little wind and a perfect sunset...I could not have asked for more :-)

 

Username: jennyjean7

Names: Jenny & Robert

Date & Time: March 17, 2009

Wedding package: Ultimate

Wedding extras: Hair Flower: $6, Flower Girl Basket and Flowers: $10 (or so), Speakers: $150, Bonfire on Beach: $60

Type of ceremony: Civil

Coordinator: Landy

Number of guests: 11

Ceremony location: Beach

Reception location: Beach

Photographer: Resort

Videographer: Resort

Special arrangements / activities: Everyday we had a special activity planned with our guests

 

First, I need to thank everyone on here for all their help in my planning and preparation for my wedding day and “weddingmoonâ€â€¦I could not have gotten some of the ideas and inspiration without ya’ll!!

Second, I need to clear up some confusion and misinformation. We were lucky enough to make really good friends with both Daniels (GM of resort and Director of Sales/Marketing…2 Daniels). Both them and Landy shared quite a bit of useful information…For example, the infamous “Massage Hutâ€â€¦this was torn down back in Oct-Nov due to new “government regulationsâ€. When the Mexican government came in and shut the Tulum hotels down, they required certain aspects to be changed, paperwork updated, etc. One of those was that hut. For some reason, Mexico won’t allow a massage hut on the beach?? Another example was the resort had to widen the greenery around the grand entrance from the hotel lobby leading to the beach (the sidewalks had to be cut in and more plants around the resort). Third, the north wedding ceremony site (by the Dive shop) was taken down. Landy did state that it could be put up if needed, but honestly, the south cite is more accommodating.

 

Location: A+

Being that the resort was a 2 hour drive from the Cancun airport, it was quite a trek, but well worth it. The resort is secluded along with the beach with the nearest beach hotel/resort about a mile or so down the beach (walking). We found out that the Policia are not even allowed on resort grounds (because we had an incident with an angry cab driver), so feel secured!

 

Arrival/Check in: A-

Here is my only complaint on the resort and their staff. It seemed that the concierge and front desk staff are not all on the same page, as with any major hotel, but overall, they were very accommodating, friendly, and followed up on any complaints. We were supposed to have had 3 days in a Suite, then move to the Honeymoon suite, but we asked if we could just move to the Honeymoon suite for our entire stay. At first, the front desk staff said they were booked, but we made them ask their manager and vola! It wasn’t booked and we received the 3rd floor suite that overlooked the wedding site and Dolphin Pool…absolutely the best room there is! Since we made friends with some other brides, we were able to take pictures and video from our room and it was the perfect birds’ eye view!

 

The Resort: A+

Again, this resort is totally secluded, so you literally feel like you’re in paradise the entire time! My fiancée (now husband) and I made really good friends with Both Daniels’ (GM and Director of Sales/Marketing) and therefore were accommodated to more than most (from other brides that we made friends with while we were there). They were totally awesome. We had HIGH expectations and they exceeded every single one of them.

 

The Romantic Dinner on the beach is totally worth it!!!!

 

Restaurant’s: A+

Being from Dallas, we LOVE our food, so we were pleasantly surprised to find out that every restaurant we ate at was phenomenal! The only restaurant we didn’t eat at (b/c we had the kids) was Bordeaux (the French restaurant that doesn’t allow children). This resort chain is American owned, and compared to other “all inclusive†resorts in Mexico that are not American owned (such as Riu), the food is exceptional and the drinks come in large glasses with Call Brand liquors (such as Johnny Walker, Jack Daniels, Hornito’s, etc).

 

Activities: A+

The main activity we did while down there was get our SCUBA certification and the resort dive shop was thorough, knowledgeable, and helpful. The guys there (Will, Deon, and the 3rd dive instructor) are all friendly and will give you as much time as you need to finish, learn or “do over†any diving or snorkeling lessons.

We visited Xel-ha…this is a HUGE outdoor playground…like Wet ‘n’ Wild (minus the slides). Here, we snorkeled, hiked and swam with the dolphins. This was awesome!

The next day we decided to go to “Hidden Worlds Cenotesâ€. Here we rapelled down a hole, zip-lined across the jungle and also into a Cenote, snorkeled the Cenotes and a dark cave, and rode the “Sky-cycle†(this is a zip line where you ride a cycle)…surprising a great workout! This is definitely a place to go spend a ½ a day and just enjoy nature!

My husband went ATV’n on the day of the wedding and he absolutely loved it!

The last day we went to the ruins. This is an educational, breathtaking, and overwhelming place b/c it’s more than 1600 years old. Bring bug spray though b/c those nat’s will swarm all over you!

 

Spa: B

I am not a “spa kinda-girlâ€â€¦I would have rather been riding horses that morning instead of hanging out in the spa; but since my husband bought a spa day for me and all my girls, I kinda had to attend. Jennifer, the spa coordinator (or spa concierge) was the best! The spa staff…not so much. The spa itself is beautiful, tranquil, peaceful, etc…but again, I just don’t like spa’s…I’m an out-door-sy girl

 

Hair/Makeup: A

I had Trinidad (yes, she’s a she), the resort “stylist†do my hair and makeup. She did an awesome job on my hair! I brought a few inspirational pictures and she worked her magic. My hair doesn’t hold very well (and I forgot to wash it prior b/c I was at the spa ALL morning), so there was a lot of hairspray, but it still ONLY took LESS than an hour!! I brought a picture for make-up too, and it turned out good, but a little “too muchâ€, so when I got back to the room, I toned it down and blended it all in

 

Wedding Coordinator: A+

The day we checked in, we were given a letter from Landy with a time/place to meet to go over the final wedding arrangements…so ladies, don’t worry, she’ll meet with you either the day of arriving or the day after and everything will get taken care of! Landy was very poised, intelligent, and caring. I gave her all my decorations, color schemes, and told her to “run with it†and everything turned out so beautiful! They really know what they’re doing!

 

Cake: B+ -A

Being that this was the FIRST time the chef at the resort had tried anything "unique" like this, of course it didn't turn out perfect...but it turned out different and it sure did taste good!! We called it our leaning Pisa Castle Cake :-) Landy had to go and buy (out of her own pocket) the mold for the top of the cake...I thought it was going to be the entire cake as a sand castle, but the chef couldn't do it like that....but again, it was tasty!!!

 

Resort Photographer/Videographer: A-

The main thing with this was we told them that we do not like to “pose†and would prefer natural pictures…thus some of the pictures that came out were not what I liked b/c of the “posingâ€â€¦overall, he took good pictures, (some of my guests took better pic’s) and he wanted too much money for an additional TTD session (so we decided not to do this). PLUS you can NOT have a horse on the beach, in case anyone out there wants to include this in their TTD session :-( This was the main reason why I decided not to do this.

Since our ceremony was at 545pm, our pictures were at night…we wanted our kiss to be right at sunset and didn’t care too much for the “beach pictures†as we had soooo many before and after the wedding… the ceremony was more important than the “kissing†photo’s to us.

The videographer really didn’t talk much…he just followed us and the photographer. He will be mailing the video today and so we should receive it soon.

 

Wedding Day/Site: A+

I could not have asked for more. Of course, we had the beach ceremony and everything was perfect! I was so nervous and anxious, that the day just flew by. During the ceremony we not only had the resort photographer, but our guests and Both Daniel’s again taking pictures (they will be mailing these this week to us).

After the ceremony, we had the Caribbean Band on the beach (much better than the Mariachi’s from what I heard), followed by the dinner on the beach (b/c the Massage Hut was no longer there). Now, the pictures that the resort show are deceiving because the set-up is actually between 3 palm trees, next to the Seaside Grill, that are lined with lights and it’s absolutely gorgeous! We paid for the speakers ($150) and had an iPod hook-up and we were able to play our music (blaringly loud too) until 11pm! During this, and after dinner, we opted for the Bonfire on the Beach…this was great! Although we didn’t roast marshmallows, we invited all people walking by to our fun, festivities, and dancing…

 

Ok, here's some pictures :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TammyWright]

both daniels are really great and so accomodating. they really make brides and grooms feel like they are VIP's and they treat your wedding day as it was their own.

 

it is one of the reasons i think dreams tulum is such a great place to get married...in addition to being in such a beautiful location, the staff is top notch!

[jennyjean7]

There were many photo's, so I wanted to share the entire album...more will come when I get more developed :-)

 

The wedding ceremony, after-party and getting ready album:

Wedding 03-17-09 pictures by jennyjean7 - Photobucket

 

The resort pictures that we took are:

Dreams Tulum Pictures pictures by jennyjean7 - Photobucket

 

Enjoy :-)

[Blkatz]

Hey Jenny-Did you buy the hanging flowers or make them? I LOVE them but I am very DIY challanged! Everything looks great besides that

[kiki317]

Jenny- you got married on my brithday!! Congratulations!! You look beautiful and everyone looks so happy!

[jennyjean7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blkatz Hey Jenny-Did you buy the hanging flowers or make them? I LOVE them but I am very DIY challanged! Everything looks great besides that

I made them when I got to the resort...it seemed easier to bring along the flowers, wire cutters, glue gun and fishing line versus trying to pack the wrapped flowers and keep them from getting squowshed! It only took about 1.5 hours and I made 8 strands of all different flowers and colors :-)

[~*Kathy*~]

Jenny - Congrats on your big day! Thanks for writing such a great review, I'm sure all future DT brides will really appreciate it. You looked gorgeous too and I love your bouquet! Congrats again!

[sgbrown]

Congratulations Jenny! Thank-you for sharing your story with us. It sounds like you were really pleased with everything and your pictures look great. I've been communicating with one of the "Daniel's" and he's been wonderful with me as well. I hope I get a chance to meet him when I'm there in 5 weeks (!!!).

[lil_miss_frogg]

Everything turned out great. Congrats! I love your cake, very unique. It doesn't appear to be leaning to bad. Tee Hee.

[jennyjean7]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgbrown Congratulations Jenny! Thank-you for sharing your story with us. It sounds like you were really pleased with everything and your pictures look great. I've been communicating with one of the "Daniel's" and he's been wonderful with me as well. I hope I get a chance to meet him when I'm there in 5 weeks (!!!).

They both are very accomodating and "caring" men...they would just show up where we were (for instance when we had our meeting with Landy and our rehearsal dinner and the wedding!) They make it a point to make everyone feel comfortable and they're "special day"...congrats and good luck! :-)