Laura's Dreams Tulum Wedding Review (pic heavy!)

laura b · 08-09-2007, 11:44 AM

Sorry it took me so long to get to this...I just got done with my AHR and now I can finally breathe again!

I'll start at the beginning.

The Dress:
You all know that I had fits about this. I originally ordered a dress made for me in China to copy an Italian dress. I really hated it when it got here, so I went dress shopping again and bought an Anjolique gown. For more about my extended wedding dress dilemmas, you can go to this post:
http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...04-post14.html
Anyway, the dress was great, everyone said it was beautiful, but MAN was that m'fer hot in Tulum in July.

The Invitations:
We were DIYers on this front...they turned out great! Our wedding colors were pink and brown, and we had a hibiscus motif throughout everything.
We ordered our envelopments online and I don't have the name of the place but PM me if you're interested and I'll find out. They were pretty inexpensive. Out of California.
Here's what the invitations looked like, and cost about $200.

When closed up, I tied a pink ribbon around them. They also included an RSVP card which I didn't have any more copies of.

Here are our thank you cards and cds we made for the OOT bags.

Cups we had made for our guests (they had lids and straws). This picture is a little washed out, but they also had the hibiscus print. We got these basically for free because my DH does freelance for the lady who sells them.

Here are the OOT bags and some of the other goodies. We got them at Dollar Tree and probably spent about $200 all in all for everything in them.

Michael got his suit at Banana Republic outlet for about $200. It was beautiful. My son got a similar suit by Liz Claiborne at Macy's. It was about $100.

Dreams Tulum:
I love this resort and can't say enough good things about it. The food and drinks are excellent and all of my guests had an awesome time. My photographer was the only one who had a problem with her room, in that her a/c leaked, but she got moved promptly once she complained.
The wedding coordinator, Sandra Casillos, is extremely overworked. She does not always get back to you in a timely fashion, but she did everything she could to ensure that we had a beautiful wedding. Those ladies (she and her assistant, Landy) work their tails off and are often there from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

The Wedding:
The ceremony was beautiful. We didn't get any rehearsal, which was a little nervewracking, but it all turned out okay. We added parasols and starfish to our decorations, which everyone was happy to have.

My bouquet was not the prettiest, and they painted the calla lilies and the boys' boutinieres...after which they ran onto their suits and my bouquet got all over my hands...wtf is up with that? But it was okay.

The ceremony started a little late, but this is Mexico, after all. They are on a different, more 'relaxed' timetable. All of my guests loved my minister, and even though we requested a non-religious ceremony, it was quite pray-ey, church-y. But in a sweet way.

The cake they made was great. I ordered a monogram cake topper from eBay for $27...the resort did the rest of the decorations.

To be continued...

laura b · 08-09-2007, 11:48 AM

My photographer was Sasha Haagensen and she was great (http://www.sashaphotos.com).
Here are a couple of shots from the TTD session:

For my AHR, I made the photo luminarias. I bought frames from Ikea, spraypainted them and glued them together, printed photos onto vellum paper, and put votives in the middle. They were the hit of the party! Here's a few of them:

I think that's it. I hope this helps any future brides.

JaimeLynne · 08-09-2007, 12:00 PM

Great review, your dress was beautiful and I'm glad the photo luminaries turned out to be such a big hit! You guys make a cute couple :)

anacgarcia · 08-09-2007, 12:12 PM

Great review!!! Excellent choice with that dress! Oh and your bouquet looks great

DreamsTulumBride · 08-09-2007, 12:15 PM

Your TTD picture is soooooo beautiful ! Was it hard to convince your husband to do ttd pictures? Marc said yes but with a funny smile ! At what time did you trash your dress?

How late was your wedding ? If mine will be at 3pm, does that give me enough time to take alot of picture during day light ?

I glad I finally saw wedding pictures done at the opposite side of the resort. Normally we see pictures of wedding near seaside grille!

I can't wait to go to Dreams Tulum but... the money stolen from Lisa on her wedding day is stressing me !

DreamsTulumBride · 08-09-2007, 12:18 PM

oh ! I forgot to ask where are the hammack on the resort ? You seem to be high...

TammyB · 08-09-2007, 12:22 PM

Great review and I loved your dress. Everything looked amazing.. congrats again.

DreaW · 08-09-2007, 12:24 PM

Laura I loved your dress...Thank you for the review...Really like your TTD pics too :)

laura b · 08-09-2007, 12:33 PM

Thanks, girls, for all your kind words.
Annie, did your veil drive you crazy? Mine did, I regret the cathedral length. But yours looks really pretty.

We did the TTD at about 7:30 a.m. Most of the pics weren't taken at the resort but at a couple of blue houses to the south. I had scouted them out the week before and asked the groundskeeper if we could do some photos there. The hammock one was at the blue houses, in this two story palapa they had right there.

My wedding was at 10:00, but I think having your wedding at 3 will give you sufficient daylight. They say the evening weddings are better over by the seaside grill, and truth be told, I wish I'd had mine there...not so fond of the diveshop in the background. Just know that a wedding at 3, and you and your guests will be sweating your $$$es off. Parasols are definitely a good option. And originally I had wanted to have my wedding in the chapel, but it's not big enough to hold 30 people. But they sure do decorate it nice for weddings.

Another option I liked was at the base of the stairs of the lobby of the resort. The idea of the bride walking down that staircase had a very "Gone With the Wind" feeling. That is, if you're not tied to the beach idea, which we were.

I am shocked about Lisa's theft. None of our guests had any problems, we had quite a bit of cash that wasn't bothered, and my photographer left her laptop out with no problems. I can understand being hesitant about things after hearing that story (poor Lisa!), but I think it's the exception rather than the rule.

Hope this helps!

DreamsTulumBride · 08-09-2007, 12:58 PM

Thanks alot !

I will then have my wedding on the SeaSide grill side ! Also, I was planning on stealing your idea of the chinese unbrellas! Next week, I m going to China Town in Montreal. I should find them there...I hope

As for the staircase, I was planning on having pictures taken there. They are just wonderful !

Is it true that the resort painted the walls so that the older section looks more like the newer section? I just loved the dark yellow walls ! It looks more Mexican.