Dreams Riviera Cancun - Brides post here (new thread)

I have no clue, originally when i saw the DRC website I really liked the beach location and the set up on there. The only problem with this is space on the beach. It already looks a little tight with all the palapas and chairs. I plan on having a beach ceremony so a change of scenery would be nice. Did Ana suggest where the cocktail hour could take place?

Oh btw, does anyone know if kids are included in the head count? They clearly don't eat as much as adults and will not partake in the international bar :-) Just curious.

So you did have to take it to get altered? I saw on the website where it asks for your measurements. Did your FI know his or did you estimate and buy it a little bigger?

What are you having the groomsmen wear?

That's a good question. So far, we only have 2 but I have been counting them this whole time. We should clarify that with Ana.

Yes, there were quite a few options. Basically anywhere on the resort that you are interested in would most likely work. The areas that we discussed were:

-The deck that is next to the pool deck (actually part of the Oceana restaurant) can be used. This is a very pretty option, but decided since I am using the pool deck for the reception it would be nice to have a change in scenery.

- The jacuzzi deck. Supposedly they can put some type of glass over the jacuzzi and the lights in the jacuzzi will shine through it. This would be pretty at night. I figure that most of the cocktail hour will take place while the sun is still out.

- The garden area. I may choose this option for a change of scenery. I would like to see photos of other parties that take place on the grass. It's not very private but the greenery is really pretty.

- The desires lounge terrace. Again this would be prettier at night. It is rather private though.

- There are various decks/patios on the corners of the buildings but these are pretty small and would only work for very small parties.

I haven't seen any photos of cocktail hours. It seems like all of the weddings that have taken place (or at least those which have shared the photos) are very small. I can't wait to see more photos!!!

For those of you doing a sunset wedding, how much time prior to sunset are you giving yourself. The sun is supposed to set at 7:15 at the time I am getting married (May). I was going to get married at 5:30 (20 min wedding) which would leave over 1 hour of photos before sun sets. Ana said that she usually would suggest a 6pm wedding. I'm just wondering if that leaves enough time. What is everyone's opinion on this? I just want to make sure that we leave enough time for photos.

I wish I could tell you, but I am struggling with the same decision...ours is also at 5:30. I don't think I'm going to make it any later though, because I want to have good lighting for the ceremony photos..

This is kinda funny... I originally had my wedding set for 6pm and then Ana suggested that I change it to 5pm to make sure that the pictures after the wedding turn out. She said if I wait until 6pm for the ceremony there would not be enough time to get good pictures of the two of us after the ceremony.

I read this from Del Sol Photography's website and thought it was useful:

del Sol Photographers have experienced just about every lighting condition with more than 600+ weddings. This section will introduce you to some of our thoughts about the seasons here in the Rivera Maya. If you want to consider the OPTIMAL light for photography in the evening, 30 minutes before sunset and 30 minutes after sunset, so called the "golden hour")

For planning the start time of your ceremony, we would like you to consider a few things:
If your ceremony time will be under 15 minutes, we recommend starting the wedding 50-60 minutes before the scheduled sunset.If your ceremony time will be 20-30 min, we recommend starting the wedding 55-65 minutes before the scheduled sunset. We will always work with any time variance outside our suggested timeframes. As photojournalists, we are prepared to handle any situation at any time. Our style is to go with the flow, no matter what the conditions.

I emailed Ana today about this. I am going to have a 6 month old, 3 year old and 9 year old at the wedding and I want to see what their policy is regarding children. Most wedding venues make it half off the adult price but I am not sure what Dreams does. I will let you know what I find out when she emails me back.

Hello ladies. I was able to book with Apple Vacations and receive the every 6th room free promotion. I am not sure how but I did receive the promotion and it has allowed us to get 3 free rooms so far. If more people book then we can potentially get even more free rooms. Apple Vacations is also letting us apply to free rooms how ever we want. We have decided to total up the amount saved and apply a discount to all of the rooms. It will only be about $150-$200 per person but it is better than nothing! I thought that this was the only fair way to make sure everyone benefited from the promotion. We are also receiving coupons of some sort... not really sure about those. We booked our rooms in August before the resort opened so maybe that is why we received the promotion?

In fact, I originally started inquiring about group rates with Hagen Sommers, the resorts group representative and he was the one who told me about the promotion knowing that I was planning a wedding. Why would the group sales rep offer it to a wedding party if it did not qualify? I believe I still have his original email with this in writing.....