Maria's Dreams Cancun Review - Pic Heavy

Maria your review was great and helped me decide to get married at Dreams Cancun. We sent in the deposit yesterday to reserve the date of 11/11/10.

 

I have been trying to find answers on this site, but it is a little confusing. I did not realize how expensive the reception would end up. Can you suggest which wedding package you choose? Also if I go with the middle of the line and I go over the 20 guests is it better to customize a package then pay $48/person?

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Shannon

11/11/10-Dreams Bride

Wow, you are beautiful and your wedding looked like so much fun. I hadn't considered getting a dance floor but now that I saw your pictures I may reconsider. Congratulations to you and your DH.

Where did you get the bridesmaid dresses! They are so pretty! I am trying to find a nice one for my maid of honor.

Shannon,

First off congratulations! Trust me when I tell you that you won't be disappointed. There is nothing I would have changed about my wedding day.

I had 40 guests and we went with the Ultimate Wedding Package. However, I was abel to trade the cocktail hour for 15 additional people for dinner. That meant giving up the snacks, but there is a bar right by the gazebo so all my guests hung out there and had a cocktail while we took out pictures. It really worked out great and saved us a bunch of money. If you aren't intent on cocktail hour, that would be my suggestion. Since you are at an all inclusive resort, your guests won't ave to pay for the drinks anyway.

At the time we got married, DJ Mannia was offering a 30% discount for all Dreams brides so we got that. I would highly recommend him...he was so great!

I also bought my own chair bows which cthe resort tied onto the chairs at no charge. If I hadn;t, I would have been charged something like $4 a chair. I think I ended up getting them on line 10 for $6.

I also worked up a whole price break down of how much revenue my guests would be bringing to the hotel that week and used that as negoiation for an extra hour at the reception at no charge.

I didn't order extra champagne and actually don't even know if it was served since I was whisked off for photos and did not upgrade the cake. Unless you care about the pictures of the cake, don't bother. Barely anyone ate it since we had 3 other desserts offered at the reception.

Just take a look at the package and if there are things you don't want negotiate swaps. That's a great way to save a little money. One suggestion of mine would be not to swap the videographer. I almost did and am so glad we didn't in the end. The video is great and we had it the next day.

Good luck and if you have any other questions, let me know:)

I bought them at Camilla's Bridal in Arlington, MA. I think they were $130 which was very reasonable and the girls said they were super comfy and light weight.

I almost didn't splurge for the light up dance floor, but my husband wanted to so we decided to get it last minute. It really made the scene and added a great ambiance to the wedding. I would highly recommend it!

OMG! how awesome! Im glad you enjoyed yourself! and it looks like your guests had a blast also!

Maria,

 

You are a lifesaver. I have a hard time navigating on this website. I'm starting to panic because as great as it is that more guests are coming then I imagined, it is looking closer to 44-50 guests now. I love that idea you said about exchanging the cocktail party. Really just having the bar there is the best idea while dinner is served. Where did you have your reception at? Now that my party is getting bigger I have to look at that. Also the DJ Mannia you mentioned, is that the $280/hr listed, or an outside vendor? I by chance came upon your reply to my question and was so excited to hear what you had to say. Your a lifesaver! Did you just go thru Claudia to negotiate all of this before hand? Or did you wait until you got there?

 

Also I was intent on getting married there, but it seems like so much to go thru and the cost is like $700. We are considering going to my minister right before we leave and make it official. I just didn't want to do that originally. Just curious what you did.

 

I'm going to bombard you, I can already tell, but did you bring decorations for the Gazebo or just go with what they offer in the package? I do agree with you that the photo and video in itself are worth bumping to the $2700 package.

 

Thanks again for any help you can give me. Loved your pictures!

 

Shannon Sikkema

11-11-10 Drea,s Cancun bride

looks like a lot of fun

Hi Shannon,

 

Feel free to ask away. This website saved me while I was planning and really put me at ease so I am happy to do the same for others.

 

I did not bring decorations for the gazebo. I actually traded the photographer for the gazebo decorations becuase I hired my own. I used Cancun Weddign Photography. I did bring the chair bows though and some small things for the beach. I painted large letters that spelled I DO in my wedding colors and had them placed on the table with my place seatings. I found these really cute shells that had holes drilled in them for the place cards. They went really well with the theme and looked great.

 

I also had a table set up with favors. We gave pashminas to the ladies and cigars to the men. We also had a polaroid camera so guests could take a picture of themselves, tape it in the book and write us a message. That came out really cute.

 

The cocktail hour really worked out great. The gazebo where we got married is right by the tower. The bar is in the hotel lobby of the tower and there is an outdoor area there as well. It is right by the infinity pool and guests can relax there and have a cocktail while you take pictures.

 

I had my reception on the beach and it was absolutely amazing! After being there and seeing the other wedding locations, I would not have done it anywhere else. The set up is absolutely gorgeous and not many people can say that they listened to the waves crashing with their feet in the sand while eating their wedding meal. All the tables are set up right in the sand and a dance floor is in the middle. A full bar and buffet is set up on the beach as well. You also have assigned wait staff. I don't think many of us even went to the bar all night. Our waiter was amazing and kept an eye out for empty hands and would just bring cocktails to the dance floor. Multiple times that evening he walked over with trays of shots and handed them out. We had an absolute blast!!

 

We used DJ Mannia and yes, he is the preferred vendor used at Dreams. However, I did contact him directly about the discount and then informed Cecilia that he offered it. She modified our contract to reflect the savings. He did a wonderful job and kept everyone on the dance floor all night.

 

As for the actual marriage, it can be a hassle to make it legal. It would be really easy just to get married by a JP at home and then have your big to do in Mexico. I would recommend it if you want to skip the blood tests and such.

 

I posted a link somewhere in the review to more pictures if you want to get a better idea of the beach set up. If you have anymore questions, just let me know:)

 

Maria