amesharpe

Quote: Originally Posted by trisha0612 The videographer we had (keep in mind we were at Paradisus but I think we were still given all of the same DT vendors) did alot of taping before the ceremony with music..then for the ceremony it was actually taping of the ceremony..words and all..then followed by music and taping of us hugging everyone afterwords and our pictures with JM. I actually LOVE my video..I think it's perfect...minus the fact that at one point he cut to a bird flying in the sky during Travis's vows...lol...you could hear his voice..but we are watching a bird! I wish I could find a way to download and post it to a site so you girls could check it out. Trish- I would love to see your video. I know Sunbride was able to post hers. Maybe she can post the "how to" the next time she logs in to the site and reads this. Your pics were amazing. You looked absolutely beautiful

London: Fergie (the pop star)

I agree. I went in Chicago a couple of weeks ago and all I kept thinking was. Wow, look at her legs!!!!! She's 50+

Hi ladies! I'm so sorry, I've been just terrible at posting this season. In fact I'm not sure that I've posted at all and I'm soo sorry. I should have been supporting all of you. I've was soo absorbed with my resort being closed that I just couldn't do anything but focus on that! Honestly, that's all I did. I kept track of the DT closure thread, smoked ciggarettes and drank wine. I did loose weight but it wasn't the good kind of weight loss. I hardly ate anything except for peanut m&m's, cheese cake & salt n' vinegar chips. Amazingly, they announced on Wednesday that they are reopening the resort and the first thing I did was go to the gym! What a relief. but how odd that I just couldn't seem to do anything except things that weren't good for me?!?!? Oh well, I just wanted to send you all good thoughts and good vibes for this week. Only two more weeks ladies.

WooHoo!!!!! One last thing we have to worry about now

Quote: Originally Posted by neen hey ladies...in case you're interested, I just posted pics of my dress in this thread: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t31424 Neen, I know it's not exactly what you wanted but it looks FANTASTIC on you. You look fabulous! Unfortuantely, like everything else I guess you gotta just go with the flow. Don't put anymore stress on yourself by looking for another dress. That's the last thing you need to deal with.

Quote: Originally Posted by chandrathebride Hi Girls--I have been out of the loop for a bit because, gulp, FI and I have decided to postpone our wedding--from 11/21 to, hopefully, sometime in 3/09. I have been dealing with some health problems, and in combination with not wanting to "settle," we decided that was best for us. I was originally told by both VP Kevin, (over email) and Daniel, (over phone) that our guests would get the same rates in March as they had originally booked for in November. Now, in email exchanges, we are, seemingly, having some trouble keeping Daniel to his word. But hoping to get that cleared up in the next day or two. (Will let you guys know what ultimately happens.) Anyway, I am hoping that things are resolved asap for you girls still.... and wanted to let you guys know my plans in case anyone is thinking about doing the same thing. Hey girl, the most important thing is that you take care of yourself right now. We're all thinking about you and keep us up to date of how you're doing.

yeah maybe they just want to "shut me up" because they think I'm going to start a riot with the girls on this thread. Maybe they figure if they get me settled somewhere I'll stop posting my rants and pointing fingers But really, am I that out of line? I'm paying a boat load of $$$$ and bringing a ton of business to their resort. I should get what I want, not to mention I am THE BRIDE!!!(honestly, i feel like just being able to say that gives me the right to be a priss) I think there is over 100K invested in this resort for my wedding. If I were building a house and they told me at the last minute that I couldn't have the granite I picked out but said I'd have to wait and see what was available when it came time for installation. You better believe I'd pitch a hissy fit. I just want to make sure I'm not getting steamrolled here. And for that matter if I can do anything for any of the other brides on this site to make sure they aren't getting the short end of the stick either.

Quote: Originally Posted by can't wait! This comment made me just laugh. You're right such DRAMA! How I wish we were all in one city so we can vent together! ditto, I'll drink to that

Quote: Originally Posted by latinalocany im wondering if you choose DPA as your back up gaurantee will they still honor you DT date if it opens? I doubt they'll give me the "back up" option. I imagine it's a definate...something to the effect of you change now and can have the piece of mind or wait it out and see what happens. I'm hesitant to make a decision. I've been trying to figure out all day what the He!! they were thinking when they contacted my TA. I'll wait and see what my TA comes back with. I was totally planning on hearing something around Thanksgiving but now it makes me wonder. If they're confident that they expect to be open after Nov. 15th and we're getting that info today. Why would they seek out my TA and inquire wheather or not I would like to switch Who knows, maybe they are planning on reopening on the premise that they can only use the buildings they have permits for. Maybe they expect to reopen everything!!! I just feel like I can't make a decision with out all of the information.

Quote: Originally Posted by amy706 The bad thing is I fall for it every time!!! I'm grabbing at straws here so I just want to have SOMETHING to go off of. Yeah, never heard of Anabel. Maybe that means they actually do have additional help... Anabel might be one of the two extra people they hired to get us through this mess. Not sure though.

Quote: Originally Posted by SunBride Amesharpe - I think you are right that they are concerned about you because it's during the holiday season and the resorts will be packed. It would be especially hard to move a wedding, and a large group (how large is yours?) at this time. If I were you I would write them back and say you prefer the Paradisus. See what they say. If they say no, then take DPA. Just get moved asap so you don't have to stress. Like the other girls said it would be good to have this resolved so far in advance. We're 45+ right now. I don't think there will be any more additions. My TA is going back to Daniel looking for specifics on the other wedding and looking into what rooms are available (ie: honeymoon suites and upgrades for my guests) She's also pushing for PRC based on the fact that my wedding date is available there and I would feel more confident with a resort that has been open more than a month and their ability to handle the wedding. That does not mean at all that I don't believe DPA would do an amazing job. I'm sure they will come back and say they can't move us to PRC until they have moved the weddings prior to mine (which I totally understand) because they haven't made offers to the other brides between mid Nov and my wedding date. Can't hurt to try though, right? I'm going to think about it until the end of the week and maybe make a decison early next week. Thanks for the input girls. Hopefully it's a good sign I got some information today. I'm crossing my fingers for all of you that we'll all have more news soon.

Quote: Originally Posted by can't wait! Just got off the phone with Perla at the Paradisus. They don't have my date available! Gotta love it! So...it looks like I will have to go to the Barcelo and I don't want to. Amesharpe, as the date nears it will be more difficult to find another resort available with your date. Just something else to consider! I know, I've been thinking about that. Paradisus does have my date available and I absolutely love that resort. I think that would be my first choice if I had to make a decision now. I'm torn between waiting to see if DT actually does open, switching to DPA and hoping for a move to Paradisus! Quite a gamble!

I do have some news and feel free to read in to this any way you like. Daniel contacted my travel agent today and inquired if I would be receptive to switching to Dreams Puerto Aventuras. My wedding is still a month and a half away!!!! I told her that I would need to think about it and get back to her. So of course for the last 4 hours I've been trying to figure out the angle here. Why are they trying to figure out my wedding now before everyone elses?!?! It leads me to wonder if they really believe they will be opening any time soon. Maybe it's because my wedding is during high season and every place will be booked to occupancy that they are trying to figure out what to do with me now!?!?!?! There is another wedding planned that day (I guess they only do 1 a day there?) but he had been in contact with them and can assure us that they can absolutely host two weddings that day. Has anyone in late Nov or December gotten this email too? I'm a little confused at this point. I can't decide which is the better of two evils. Move to a resort that will only be open for a month prior to our arrival or wait and see what options shake out when it's my turn for them to move me. Or is it my turn now. You wouldn't think so based on what's been happening. Have any of you girls in Dec thought about DPA? thoughts?

Quote: Originally Posted by amy706 I am SO glad to hear they hired more people. Sounds like they need a small army!!! Maybe the mexican govt can supply one since they caused all of this to begin with! Okay, I cant pass judgment on the court case and maybe DT did something wrong BUT... damnit!!! I'm so frustrated. The squeeky wheel point is a valid one but then i also think about how busy they must be and then hitting them 8 times with the same thing just clogs the whole system up even more for everyone... I just dont know anymore! Quote: Originally Posted by amesharpe Hey! I just wanted to post an email I got from Landy last night and am wondering if anyone else received it as well. It looks like it could be a standard informational letter. I haven't emailed Landy since 9/24 (just prior to the shut down) asking her if there were any other weddings planned for my date. Oh well, looks like the same old information we have thus far. It does say that they have hired 2 more people to help them through this mess but boy are they being worked hard. 20 hrs a day!!! From: Landy Cahum <[email protected]> Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 15:55:20 -0600 Subject: DECEMBER WEDDING To: xxxxxxxxxx Cc: [email protected], Monica Moreno <[email protected]> Dear Amy: I want to send you our deepest apologies about this matter. This in fact does not reflect our service at all and clearly sends a really bad message to such important client as you. Before this incident happened, we decided to hire 2 additional staff for our weddings department, as our wedding business was growing really fast and we needed to improve our response time. Unfortunately, the actual situation happened, and then a huge amount of work surpassed our capacities again, since we had to relocate about 40 weddings that we had for the next this month. We are actually working 20 hours a day just to relocate, contact and program individual reservations and wedding groups to other resorts in the area and unfortunately all of our weddings staff had to be sent to the different hotels in order to coordinate and operate those weddings, leaving very little time to contact all our wedding groups. Certainly, we are giving priority to those wedding happening now, and then chronologically contacting the rest of our clients. In reference to this unfortunate situation, we have discussed with our corporate offices and they also with the lawyers. They are confident that this could be solved this in November but since it involves a legal issue, they or us, can not provide a definite date. We realize this very challenging situation has not been easy at all for guests and partners alike and truly regret each and every inconvenience this situation has created. Please be assured Dreams Tulum is committed to working hard until a resolution to this matter is found. Although we can not comment in detail, progress is being made and we are hopeful it will be resolved in the coming weeks with the resort once again accepting arrivals in November. Since we do not yet have an exact date of resolution, we will not take unnecessary chances or last minute decisions and will relocate all arrivals up to November 15th. The resort team will continue to work hard in order to immediately provide and inform you of the protection of all bookings up to that date. All efforts will be made to protect guests at other Dreams Resorts & Spas and Secrets Resorts & Spas in the region when possible. In this process we took the decision of protecting clients until November 15th , and relocating them to our sister hotels. We will provide more information in this regard as soon as we have it. We wanted to keep you informed and truly regret the inconvenience. We are sensitive to and fully appreciate the challenges and consternation presented by this situation and committed to finding a resolution as quickly as possible. I hope this explanation helps and please accept our apologies. I can assure you that it does not reflect our regular service, just that we did not expect this and even though we are doing as humanly possible to make all changes in reservations and sales, it clearly is an almost impossible job. Thank you again and please feel free to contact me if you require further assistance Thank you very much for your understanding. Kind regards, Landy Cahum Reyes Coordinadora de Bodas Dreams Tulum Resorts & Spa Tel.: 011(52) 984 - 8.71.33.33, Fax: 011(52) 984 - 8.71.33.53 <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] <http://www.dreamsresorts.com/> Dreams Resorts & Spas: Unlimited Luxury Here is an email I received from Kevin today as well. Honestly guys, I've sent 2 emails myself and had my travel agent contact them once in the last month since this mess started. I think I have just worded my letters in a way that they have to respond. That's what I meant by "squeeky wheel" Amy, Although we understand your frustration and anxiety and clearly understand the severity of the situation, we do not have more information that we can share with you at this time. We can not comment further on the actions being taken nor can we comment about the media I'm afraid. Noone is trying to avoid giving you, or any of the other guests for that matter, an answer, Amy. We can only tell you what we know and will continue to do so until we have a definitive answer. As of this morning, there has been no change to the situation and I'm afraid that we don't have anything more substantial to share with you at this time. As soon as we know something definitive we will post it on our forum. Thank you. Regards, Kevin Wojciechowski Vice President Sales & Marketing AMResorts Secrets, Dreams & Sunscape Resorts & Spas Unlimited-Luxury. Unlimited-Fun. No new news.

Quote: Originally Posted by can't wait! Well, heck it's more than what I've gotten and my wedding is 3 weeks before yours! Since Landy took over, I've gotten ONE email from her. Just one! And that email came about a month before the closure. The only one I've been dealing with is Sandra but still on a very limited basis, meaning twice since this fiasco began. My guess is they will start working on relocating the weddings after Nov 15 this week. But again, that's just my guess. I'm beginning to regret my choice of picking DT. I went down there during the winter and fell in love with the resort, the food and even the staff. Sandra is GREAT! So when I signed up for my wedding I felt confident it would all be just perfect! And to think I spent my $$$ on a site visit to a place where I won't even be getting married! That's the whole reason why I took time off from work and flew down there...to see the resort first hand and not be surprised when I arrived for my wedding! Fast forward to a month ago and well we all know the story. This is not what I signed up for. Not at all. And unfortunately my hands are tied. My guests booked through at least a half dozen agencies so cancelling their reservation with DT and then re-booking at another resort for probably more $$$ would be unfair of me to ask. I agree with monoamor, we are definitely not getting what we paid for! Can't wait, I'm a total brat. Ever heard the phrase..."only the squeeky gear gets the oil"? I'm suspecting that this email is in response to an email I sent to Kevin at AM Resorts last Friday. Tammy is right with the fact that the people down at the resort are the ones doing all of the work. But, I still figure that if I complain to the big guys, they have to respond just from a PR stand point. This Kevin guy probably just forwarded my email right down to the resort and said "someone deal with this bridezilla" AND there is nothing new in this email that we don't already know.

Hey! I just wanted to post an email I got from Landy last night and am wondering if anyone else received it as well. It looks like it could be a standard informational letter. I haven't emailed Landy since 9/24 (just prior to the shut down) asking her if there were any other weddings planned for my date. Oh well, looks like the same old information we have thus far. It does say that they have hired 2 more people to help them through this mess but boy are they being worked hard. 20 hrs a day!!! From: Landy Cahum <[email protected]> Date: Sun, 26 Oct 2008 15:55:20 -0600 Subject: DECEMBER WEDDING To: xxxxxxxxxx Cc: [email protected], Monica Moreno <[email protected]> Dear Amy: I want to send you our deepest apologies about this matter. This in fact does not reflect our service at all and clearly sends a really bad message to such important client as you. Before this incident happened, we decided to hire 2 additional staff for our weddings department, as our wedding business was growing really fast and we needed to improve our response time. Unfortunately, the actual situation happened, and then a huge amount of work surpassed our capacities again, since we had to relocate about 40 weddings that we had for the next this month. We are actually working 20 hours a day just to relocate, contact and program individual reservations and wedding groups to other resorts in the area and unfortunately all of our weddings staff had to be sent to the different hotels in order to coordinate and operate those weddings, leaving very little time to contact all our wedding groups. Certainly, we are giving priority to those wedding happening now, and then chronologically contacting the rest of our clients. In reference to this unfortunate situation, we have discussed with our corporate offices and they also with the lawyers. They are confident that this could be solved this in November but since it involves a legal issue, they or us, can not provide a definite date. We realize this very challenging situation has not been easy at all for guests and partners alike and truly regret each and every inconvenience this situation has created. Please be assured Dreams Tulum is committed to working hard until a resolution to this matter is found. Although we can not comment in detail, progress is being made and we are hopeful it will be resolved in the coming weeks with the resort once again accepting arrivals in November. Since we do not yet have an exact date of resolution, we will not take unnecessary chances or last minute decisions and will relocate all arrivals up to November 15th. The resort team will continue to work hard in order to immediately provide and inform you of the protection of all bookings up to that date. All efforts will be made to protect guests at other Dreams Resorts & Spas and Secrets Resorts & Spas in the region when possible. In this process we took the decision of protecting clients until November 15th , and relocating them to our sister hotels. We will provide more information in this regard as soon as we have it. We wanted to keep you informed and truly regret the inconvenience. We are sensitive to and fully appreciate the challenges and consternation presented by this situation and committed to finding a resolution as quickly as possible. I hope this explanation helps and please accept our apologies. I can assure you that it does not reflect our regular service, just that we did not expect this and even though we are doing as humanly possible to make all changes in reservations and sales, it clearly is an almost impossible job. Thank you again and please feel free to contact me if you require further assistance Thank you very much for your understanding. Kind regards, Landy Cahum Reyes Coordinadora de Bodas Dreams Tulum Resorts & Spa Tel.: 011(52) 984 - 8.71.33.33, Fax: 011(52) 984 - 8.71.33.53 <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] <http://www.dreamsresorts.com/> Dreams Resorts & Spas: Unlimited Luxury

Quote: Originally Posted by Tammy Host yes, we know that now that the resort is handling all arrangements (trish and brooke were both my weddings so it was sort of trial by fire as they were getting married right after the closure), but there are sooo many details that you want answered once you do get relocated and i dont think AMresorts really knows the answers to them...you may have better luck from someone at dreams tulum. I'm sorry if posts seem outlandish. I'm really only concerned for all of us brides. I don't want to see anyone wrongly affected here.

Quote: Originally Posted by Tammy Host daniel is the director of sales at dreams tulum. he is the "boss" of sandra who manages the wedding department (landy & lisette). he also is in charge of all sales so it is his team that is working on relocating all guests, not anyone at AMResorts. if you ask someone at AMresorts where you are going to be relocated, they would most likely contact Daniel to find the answer. also, this is an issue with the resort and the mexican government so the fact that AMresorts is based in the US may not be a plus. when i have heard from kevin at AMresorts the emails seemed to be very "canned" and like very generic messages that did not answer any of my questions about what would happen if my group did get moved, how are deposits transferred, does the wedding cost change, etc....i was able to get those answers from daniel and sandra. Thanks for the clarification Tammy. I did not know who Daniel was because my TA personally knows Gonzalo Del Peon (Exec. VP) at AM Resorts and I've been told to convey my concerns to AM Resorts. I've not had any contact with Lizette and one or two emails with Landy with respect to the confirmation of my wedding. I realize that the people at the resort are responsible for making all all of the arrangement regarding shuffling everyone around.

I agree with "cant wait"! We should be supporting each other but also looking out for each other as well. AND definately not berating each other. I typically see only the negative side of this ridiculous situation and am only venting, or whining when some of my posts are not very positive. I do belive that Dreams will take care of all of us to the best of their abilities. Imagine what is going on there as far a trying to figure out logistics..... They sometimes have to move other guest staying at other resorts to make room for our weddings. It still doesn't change the fact that I'm ticked beyond belief with what's been going on. I do believe that we are being giving mixed signals though as far as what the resort is telling us and the papers aretelling us. (I know that you can't always believe what you read but the same thing can be said for what you're being told too) Let's just say what the papers reported is correct. They denied the resort again a reopening because the resort has built new buildings without permits. And that these buildings are on federally protected land or that they are dumping sewage into federally protected mangroves. If we're talking the equivelent of our Environment Protection Agency, I don't see this resort opening with out conceding that this is true. The other resort that was allowed to open was only allowed to open under the premise that they demolish those building that were built without permits on "said land". Furthermore, I can see why dreams would like to fight this in court. They've only just built these new buildings in the last couple of years and (maybe) have not recovered their costs from the cost to build. If that happens, the resort will have to demolish over 300 rooms!!! It just seems to me that the resort is delaying the inevitable. Unless they can figure a way to bribe the Mexican government (which is entirely possible as wekk as a very possible option) I'm willing to wait a week or two more but then I NEED answers!!!! I know they couldn't control what happened in the begining of this mess and it was a quick shuffle and constant extra work for the resort, Landy and Lizette to get things under control. But they could make everything easier for all parties involved if they would give us a little more concrete information so that we could make decisions. Like what exactly is going on in the courts!!! As far as Daniel goes. I do not know Daniel. Does he work at the resort in Tulum? Or is he here in the states? I've personally only been dealing with AM Resorts. My feeling is that this is the parent company that is domiciled here in the states. They are financially responsible for all of the Dreams resorts as well as all of the liability insurance. They are the ones who really know what is going on. They are the one's that have hired attorney's to fight this legal battle. If Daniel is in Tulum, I would think that he is only an employee of the "parent company" and is only telling us information that he has been told he can give us. Just my thoughts on this. I'm trying to think "forward" on this whole problem we've been going through and really look out for the brides getting married next year. Some of who have actually paid for the wedding in advance. We'll get through this with the support of this forum and all of us digging for more information whether it be through phone calls to Dreams and AM Resorts begging for more information. hang in there

Quote: Originally Posted by Tammy Host i spoke to daniel this morning and they hope to hear good news as soon as tonight or monday...lets cross our fingers. This is interesting since the article states that for the second time the judge has ruled in favor of the environment protection agency (Profepa) and against Dreams Resort! I understand that this article published may not be accurate but the information we are receiving from the resort may not be accurate as well. Even more frustrating is the fact that both statements contradict each other. I have tried repeatedly to call the office of AM Resorts in Newton Square, PA. Each time I dial an extension, it mysteriously gets disconnected another furstrating aspect of this issue. I'm trying sooo hard to stay calm and this just makes me soo mad becuase we have to wait through yet another weekend. I'm venting.....

Quote: Originally Posted by can't wait! I know we really haven't talked about the actual closure of the hotel in a while. Just in case someone's interested there is an article in yesterdays paper saying the judge denied DT's request to re-open. Doesn't say for how long only that the federal prosecutors are happy with the judges decision because it sends a good signal about their efforts to say the environment. I've already wrapped my head around the fact that I'm moving so I really don't care but I post this for you Dec and beyond brides. Here's a link for those of you who speak espanol! Riviera Maya: Niegan amparo al Dreams Tulum contra clausura de la Profepa Ugghhh! I just had one of my friends read this article and give me a "low down" If this article is accurate and credible, it does not look likely for a reopening in the foreseeable future ladies. Maybe a limited reopening with a lot of demolition once this legal battle plays itself out. Question is...Now what? How long do we wait? We are stuck in limbo land until Dreams contacts us to move our weddings. This is soooooooooooooo frustrating, I can hardly stand it.

Quote: Originally Posted by MissyR I really take offence to this frankly. There is a DT bride who is getting married on the same day and the same thing happened. I said No. Frankly I picked the Paradisus, after tons of research, b/c I didn't want to get married at a resort that did more than one wedding a day. Why is that mean? b/c I want my day to be mine and mine only? Hotels have policies - I appreciate that you are stressed out but there are lots of other resorts that are prepared to do 5 wedding a day. I don't think it's about being inflexible - I think when they make exceptions they lose reputational points with the industry as a "one wedding a day" resort and from those brides who have chosen them particularily for that reason. Please don't call me inflexible. You don't even know me. MissyR- I think you might be over reacting here. All of us DT brides are stressed to the max over our current situation and are venting. We are at the mercy of decision makers who tell us where we can get married and where we can't. Words can sometimes get taken out of context. I do agree with you that you did pick your resort becasue it only preforms one wedding a day. But just think if you were in this situation. I'm sure you could understand how a bride that had planned and planned and planned her wedding the way she wanted it at her resort only to have the mexican govt shut it down and not receive any information from that resort until 2 weeks prior to her wedding would freak the F#@! out. She has little time to figure out a back up plan that she thinks will be a very good compliment to her original resort. Which is why she inquired about getting married at your resort. Please don't take offense to her statement. I'm sure she was just venting.

1.) Salt and Vinegar chips from Target. (I can eat the entire bag but then my lips are chapped) 2.) dark chocolate 3.) baked brie w/ jam in phylo dough with triscuits 4.) velveta mac and cheese made with cream cheese and red hot (it's the only pasta I'll eat) 5.) onion rings with vinegar God, I'm starving!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nordstroms is a great store for smaller and larger sized shoes. If you have a Nordstroms rack in your area, you can find some of the designer shoes in smaller sizes at great prices. I believe Von Maur has smaller sized shoes as well