Dreams Riviera Cancun - Brides post here (new thread)

You're welcome! Hopefully it is helpful. You can probably reserve the chairs under the palapas if you get up at 6am in the morning! However, would you keep them reserved for the entire day? Maybe Ana can put up signs that say private event (). I did see a sign off to the side that is obviously used for the reception and/or cocktail hours so that you do not have random people joining you. Maybe there is a way to keep people off of the chairs. It is only for 20 mins (maybe a total of 40 mins while guests are sitting down etc). Also, like I said, people may start to get ready for dinner around this time. Everyone wants to take advantage of the dinners and since there are no reservations it is good to get there early. I'm hoping to see more and more photos of the ceremony's so that I can make sure that I am happy with my decision.

Thank you so much for th review! Glad to here about all the great reception/cocktail locations. I will have to rethink mine! Bumer about the lack of privacy for the ceremony. Looks like there will be no way around it. I had set mine to start at 5pm but maybe 6pm is better... fewer people on the beach. Did she give you an option of a time? Another bummer about the chair saving. That is my least favorite part about traveling. But I think people just need to be aware that this is a very common problem at many resorts, not just DRC. Just make sure your guests are aware of it ahead of time!

Just curious but I am assuming they were not enforcing the no kids at the infinity pool policy? I had been reading this on Tripadvisor. I am REALLY not happy about this. I really wanted an adults only resort but had to compromise with my family. I was hoping the pool would be a quieter escape as 98% of our guests would not have kids with them. I wonder if it is something worth posting about on the Facebook fan page?

Hope you had a great holiday :-)

Rachael

Just curious but I am assuming they were not enforcing the no kids at the infinity pool policy? I had been reading this on Tripadvisor. I am REALLY not happy about this. I really wanted an adults only resort but had to compromise with my family. I was hoping the pool would be a quieter escape as 98% of our guests would not have kids with them. I wonder if it is something worth posting about on the Facebook fan page?

Rachael

I met with Ana last week while at the resort. She told me that the bouquet can be changed up from what they look like in the photos but that the flowers that are pictured are the options we have. You can mix and match the flowers that are pictured in different bouquets. If it is not in any of the pictures you would have to pay extra. So for instance, the white calla lilie is included but you would have to pay extra for a different color that is not pictured.

I haven't decided what I want yet either. I thought I wanted white calla lilies but then saw some photos with bright orange bouquets that just really popped out and looked so pretty. I guess I will have to keep looking at photos to make my decision.

Guests:
This is one area I will have to complain about. There were A LOT of families there. I was expecting this after reading the other reviews on trip advisor. But unfortunately, I must say that having so many kids running around, makes the resort feel a little less upscale than had it been adult only. I had wanted to make sure that anyone who had kids would be able to bring them, though now it looks as though the only kids there will be the flower girl and ring bearer. It didn’t bother me that much, but most of my guests are either single or my parents age and have “been there, done that†so I am hoping that they are ok with the number of kids running around.

Meeting with wedding coordinator:
We met with Ana for about 3 hours one day. She was so nice and so helpful! I feel very comfortable having her coordinate our wedding. She showed us all of the ceremony and reception sites and answered some of our outstanding questions.

Ceremony Locations:
I will say that I am still disappointed in the location of the ceremony. Sorry, I was hoping to bring back some good news for this. There is no place for a private ceremony on the beach. The Palapas span the entire width of the beach in front of DRC and they cannot be removed. The beach ceremony site is directly in front of the palapas and the ocean front rooms. There is no privacy, unless people are not still sitting under the palapas during the time of the ceremony. Having seen the beach location, I think we have chosen the gazebo though I am not extremely thrilled with this option either. To me it looked better than the beach location. Ana did mention that the palapas that are directly in front of the gazebo will be removed very soon.

There is still the possibility that everyone is getting ready for dinner around the time of the ceremony. We will have our ceremony at 6pm and the restaurants open at 6pm…so maybe that is a good thing.

Reception Locations:
The pool deck is beautiful! This is going to be such a lovely spot for the reception. Again, you would have to pay $$$ anywhere else to have a reception in such a beautiful location. There was no doubt that this is where we wanted it. We are going to have 4 or 5 round tables with turquoise table cloths and lights underneath the table. We will also have the turquoise ribbon around the chairs. I don’t know what the centerpieces will be yet. Ana said she could bring out tiki torches too.

Cocktail hour:
There were so many options for this. I think you could choose any place that you found would work (depending on the size of your party). There is a little deck above where the pool deck is. It is part of the Oceana restaurant, but Ana said that this is a possibility for the cocktail hour. I think it is a really pretty option. However, since it is right next to where I will hold the reception, I think we are going to opt for something else…just for a change of scenery. I liked the idea of taking the guests to a garden area in the middle of the resort. They would set up tall tables and if we wanted, they could bring down some lounge furniture. Also, this way they are not watching us take our photos…ha! I’m sure I will feel a little self conscious anyway. The Desires Terrace is also an option and is in a private location. However, I didn’t like the surrounding view that much. It over looked the Explorers Club and you look right into one of the resort buildings. I think if it was at night, it might be cool, but I imagine that this will still be during the daylight since you will be taking your photos during the cocktail hour. The Jacuzzi area is the same thing. It would be cool at night because there are lights in the Jacuzzi that change colors and they can put glass across the top so that you can walk across it. But not sure if it is that cool while the sun is still out.

I know that was a lot of information, but hopefully it helps out. Let me know if you have any questions.

I was just checking reviews on trip advisor (I know, I know, I should stop doing this...) and noticed that DRC has dropped from #1 to #4 in Puerto Morelos

In addition to all the complaints about kids gone wild, I also saw this in one of the reviews: "If you are planning a wedding here I would reconsider. We witnessed a wedding and the couple was beautiful but it was in the middle of a small section of beach with a bunch of us "Fat Americans" encircling them and the background was of the swim ropes and floating inflatable Climbing Wall. I could think o 1000 other much more romantic spots."

YIKES!!! I hope Dreams figures out a solution to some of these things! Has me worried about my choice... but guests are starting to put down deposits so I don't think there's any turning back!