sisterofthebrideerica

Hello Everyone, We are back!! I want to do a detailed review when I can, but we are leaving for my daughters softball tournament in Las Vegas. We got in last night around 10:30pm.... First the wedding and the trip was amazing! Our final headcount was 87 people and it really was unbelievable. I will say for us the closure did impact our stay a little, but they had almost everything done by the time we left. Just minor things like the planting all over the place, and only two restaurants open each night for dinner the first night my sister was there (all open as of Friday night). The department managers went above and beyond to show their appreciation of the stress that the closure caused us. In my review I will give department managers names because I really think it is important to know them and ask for them if you have special requests. For now I will say that the resort looks great and all of our guests were impressed with the food, service and the details of the wedding and reception.

Quote: Originally Posted by RoryS Has anyone ordered 2 entrees? My niece is going with the surf & turf combo (filet & shrimp), but has some non-beef/non-seafood eaters in the group. Can you order a chicken or veggie dish instead? If so, is there an additional charge? We are doing a salmon in puff pastry for our non-meat eaters and they did not charge us an extra fee for this.

Quote: Originally Posted by latinalocany does anyone have any of the menus from the resterants? I think my dad has this somewhere I will look for it. We found a website that had a ton of detailed info on the restaurants, it wasn't a Dreams site we googled Dreams Tulum restaurants. Food was very important to us as well and while I can't remember all the menus exactly it was all wonderful.

Quote: Originally Posted by can't wait! Joann, the resort puts everything together for you for no additional fee. You just need to give them your stuff. Speaking of ceremonies...does anyone have the text the minister uses for symbolic/religous ceremonies? I'm working on the ceremony program but not sure what the order is and what the minister will say. Also, has anyone gotten a response from ANY WC about details and such. I leave in less than two weeks and have several questions but they (as usual) don't answer. I have emailed Landy a few times to firm up last minute details and no response either...My sister leaves on Tuesday!! Well Nancy the tour lady in the lobby has gotten back to me quickly. So if nothing else we have a private snorkal ATV tour we are going on on Sunday. I have also tried to email the photographer and he in the past got back to me in less then a day and he hasn't responded either.

Quote: Originally Posted by can't wait! Amy, remember Chandra had to postpone her wedding because she was feeling ill and too much stress. (We're still thinking of you Chandra!) I believe the first one (at least on this forum) is 'sisterofthebrideerica' on the 22nd. And well, I can give you a full review ( and my leftover stuff ) in person! For the first time in a looooong time, I am actually super excited about my wedding! That is so great to hear. My sister actually called me this morning and said she woke up feeling excited about her wedding (finally) again!! That was music to my ears. I feel like there is so much to do now. I am contacting Nancy to book our ATV trip and my sister is working on a SCUBA trip too. We want to make out salon appts. too. I am hoping people are there checking email etc. even if people are not checking in yet...

Quote: Originally Posted by Callie Omg, it is amazing to be able to start getting excited about the wedding again! No more moping. Now there is so much to do in the next couple of weeks To get the discussion rolling...what do you guys plan to do for a welcome dinner? Anything? We are doing a welcome cocktail type thing instead of a dinner. We have 87 people total so it was more reasonable for us. We are putting some tables with simple apps (chicken wings, chips and guac/salsa) in front of the Cenote and using the bar that is right there for drinks. This is where my sister and her FI plan to hand out their gifts to wedding party etc...Just an FYI they charged us $10pp for this. I have no idea if this is a set in stone price.

Quote: Originally Posted by neen its probably a really bad thing that i just started laughing like a crazy person...i think the one thing i've come to count on is the roller coaster ride that is DT lately OMG that is what my sister did. I was waiting for her to get hysterical but instead she just started cracking up. I'm really glad she doesn't work for the post office (sorry bad joke)! Just to make myself feel better I've sent emails to Sandra, Daniel, and Landy asking about what is going on, knowing full well they will not get back to me. But it's better then me just staring at my email (which I'm doing anyway)...

Quote: Originally Posted by nueland So I just got off the phone with Natalia at Dreams Tulum and I almost have 100% confimation that I will be at the Paradisus Riviera Maya! I had been moved to Barcelo Maya Palace and It looks like a beautiful hotel and all but it is HUGE! Yeaaaaaaaaaa I am so happy, but for some reason I am still a little stressed.... I am so glad that you have some relief from this situation!! The Paradisus looks amazing in all the photos that I've seen (like 752 on trip advisor LOL). I hope you have a wonderful trip!

Quote: Originally Posted by Blkatz I feel like I started this and I am sorry. I was just trying to help out and googled the translation. I didnt mean for anyone to get upset-I just wanted to help...I am sorry I have not been around for a little while. As all of you have experienced first hand this situation finally took a toll on my family. My mother had to be taken to the dr. for an anxiety attack on Thursday after struggling with the decision of trying to push to move the wedding or keep the faith that DT would be open. My mom is very strong and this is not really how she deals with things, but she just saw her daughters wedding and 87 of her closest friends and family being completely screwed....I'm not saying this to get sympathy. I guess when I read some of the old posting I got very defensive of our DT brides and thought, "How in the world can these other brides even for a second appreicate what we are going through!" I got so angry that one of our brides was "called out" on our own forum about how she felt regarding brides at other resorts. With respect for Tammy I will not continue with how I feel, but I will say that karma is a funny thing, it will givith and it will taketh away.... Ok guys I would respectfully like to tell everyone to STOP APOLOGIZING! I think that everyone knows things that are said are not done with a malicious (sp?) intent. We are all doing what we need to in order to get through this unbelievably difficult situation. It may be venting about a newspaper article we read or another bride not willing to share "her day" with another. All of you can have your opinions and you should voice them here. I can't tell you what a relief you have all been for me. I think that considering what we are all going through you have all been very tame. With this new news I hope that we can go back to discussing wedding details like cake and flowers, but if something changes and its not all good I want you to know that I am hear to listen to whatever it is you need to post. Tammy I hope this post doesn't upset you, but I feel it needed to be said. You and the forum have been the only things that have kept me from going absolutly insane with all this and I think the brides on here need to know that.

Quote: Originally Posted by Bonita SAndyW and Can't wait: When are you traveling to Mexico? We are leaving on Nov. 22, and I am still hopeful that our wedding will be at DT... And to Chandrathebride: Get better! Sorry you had to change the w. date. Hey guys, my family leaves 11/20 and my sister leaves on 11/18!! Our wedding is the 22nd...I hope to meet you both for a drink at DREAMS TULUM!!

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. I was hoping to meet you in persone LOL Of course health comes first!! I truely hope you are feeling better soon and the agrivation of all of this settles as not to affect your health any further.

Quote: Originally Posted by Blkatz I have to admit that I am super nervous. I want to wait and see what happens but as time passes and they are not open I am getting more and more concerned. My invitations are being done right now and I am having them hold off printing...my other concerns are 1-we booked our rooms already and so have a few of our guests and 2-Lizette/Landy never required me to put a deposit down and now I am nervous with everything going on that they wont care about my date since I have no deposit. I really have no right to stress since my date is so far away but it is still a bit annoying to say the least... Ashjanbro what are you thinking? -Beth My family and I acutally went to a site visit at DT and they would NOT take any kind of deposit for the wedding so I'm not sure how important that really is. As far as pricing at other resorts from the information I have gathered they are keeping everything the same as what you wanted from DT. Room rates are equal as well as wedding packages. Your guests should not be asked to pay any more out of pocket...

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! Did you try to have someone from DT call to ask about the date. I heard that they are trying to persuade the Paradisus into doing more then one wedding a day if the other bride is ok with it... I don't know if Perla would be as willing to try and persuade her other bride...

My godbrother broke the glass at a beach wedding in flip flops. Instead of breaking a wine glass he broke a light bulb wrapped in a cloth. My sisters FI who will be breaking the glass as well will be in flip flops. I ordered a glass breaking pouch online and will put a small light bulb in it so it's easy to break. The pouch was pretty cheap I just googled "wedding ceremony glass breaking pouch" then I had it embroidered with their names and wedding date.

Quote: Originally Posted by dreamstbride good question Leanne!!!! I hope they honor it! or else, I will seriously be having a major panic attack and taking it out on all the staff! I am so worried! I really dont have the heart to tell all of our guests yet... I m going to try and stick it out a lil longer... Then Ill flip... When I spoke to my TA last week she told me that the DT rates were honored at the locations where they had to moved to. I do not know the specifics of what wedding type they had. I do know that hotel rates their guests had paid were honored as well. For those of you who are having an issue with your TA not wanting to put any leg work in on this, if you don't have a commitment to them I would switch. That is ridiculous they are not taking this seriously. I'm not sure if we are supposed to say who we use but I am using Teresa Sterling at Vacations For Less. She has handeled this amazingly well. As she is sure that the resort will open and tries to reassure me of that she still has been understanding of my concerns. She has contacted another resort for us and well as given me information of what DT has done for her other clients in the last few weeks. Her customer service and response time for myself and my 85 guests over the last 6 months has been amazing! If we do have to change venues I know her and her staff will make it as painless as possible! If you would like her contact info let me know...Hope everyone else is doing well. Lisa

Quote: Originally Posted by chandrathebride Eeeek--pushed back a whole other week? I was really hoping things would be wrapped up by the 6th. Yes, I am with you girls--there is a reason that I didn't book at Cancun to begin with; I don't want to be where it is so crowded and like party central. Puerto Aventuras sounds like a better option. Does anyone know if that would be considered since they are only opening next moth? I wonder if they would even be experienced enough to do weddings? Chandrathebride, My sister is scheduled to get married on the 22nd. I never noticed that before. Personally I am too crazy not to feel like I am doing something even if it's work that ends up being not needed. I have contacted my travel agent and they are checking availablility another resort and I have contact the WC at another resort to try and have the makings of a plan B. My cut off is Oct. 22nd, if the resort is not re-opened by then I am going to start really planning somewhere else. That gives me 30 days to plan. We are a group of 85 so it's a little more difficult to do at short notice that is why I want the 30 days. To all the brides that are dealing with this closure and are getting married this weekend or next my thoughts and prayers are with you. I know the end result is that you will be married, but I see all the amazing time and effort all of you put into your weddings and I know this is tough. Thank you for being a sounding board and a wealth of information for me!

Username: Sisterofthebrideerica Names: Erica and Geoff Date & Time: 11/22/08 4:30pm Wedding package :Ultimate Pkg Wedding extras (and cost charged): Welcome reception at Sugar Reef bar cost is $10pp for light apps and drinks Type of ceremony:Legal Coordinator: Landy Number of guests: 85 confirmed so far Ceremony location: Beach Reception location: El Patio (private) Photographer: Resort Videographer: Resort Review (link) Photos (link) Video (link) Special arrangements / activities (i.e. welcome dinner, special set-up, anything that's not the norm) See my review for …. (i.e. special info people can find in your review)

Quote: Originally Posted by Theresa08 In regards to the photographer, he took great pictures, he just wasn't around long enough. Be specific about what you want and make sure he takes them all. The wedding packages do not mention how long the photogrpahers will be around for so maybe ask Landy as well. Also, not sure what we were thinking, but we didn't tip him up front. We did everyone else, but completely forgot about the photographer. So if you throw some money at him that may help as well. Here is the answer I finally got to the per hr. charge for the photographer. I am going to print this email and bring it with me!! 50USD PER HOUR -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:34:10 -0400 Subject: Re: Dreams Tulum Photo Info Needed To: [email protected] What about the extra charge for time. We know about adding extra pictures but we need to know the cost of adding time for you to stay at the reception.

Quote: Originally Posted by sisterofthebrideerica My aunt is a photographer and wants us to find out the answeres to these questions. Can any of you super brides help?? What is the size of the pictures (we get 50 in an album) in the album? Are the pictures edited/re-touched? Are the full size pictures on the CD? If we purchase additional photos are they loose or in an album and can we choose the size of the pictures? How are the pictures for the album or any extra chosen? THANK YOU!!! Here is the response I got: Dear Lisa In this mail will hopefully answer all your questions. The service that we give does usually cover from one to two hours, we don't charge per hours. I suggest you to come and visit us in ours shop the day before for check timing and occasions. The CD with all the photos is about 385usd and is a special price thats come only if you bought a package, wich I understand you did. The size of the 50 pictures that are include in the package is 6*8 inch but we also provide two other differents sizes of printing, 8*10 and 10*16. The picture will not be re-tuched in anyway. we can operate just few setting and that's it. In the CD the photos will be upload in full frame in full size. Please, don't esitate to contact me for other question. Greetings Andrea I re-asked the question regarding extra time and I will see what they say!

My aunt is a photographer and wants us to find out the answeres to these questions. Can any of you super brides help?? What is the size of the pictures (we get 50 in an album) in the album? Are the pictures edited/re-touched? Are the full size pictures on the CD? If we purchase additional photos are they loose or in an album and can we choose the size of the pictures? How are the pictures for the album or any extra chosen? THANK YOU!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by SunBride Oh yeah and I can't believe you got a 4 hour meeting - CRAZY! And lucky. Hopefully Neen gets a nice long meeting to get all those questions answered! I think the reason we got the mtg so long was we were willing to wait until the end of the day. Our tasting was our dinner and we conducted the mtg throughout the tasting. Here are a couple of tips I have for info. for the meeting: 1. Have specific pics of what you want if it is important to you. 2. Of course you will have color options of linen etc. She doesn't bring samples so if you have a color you are trying to match bring a sample to show her. 3. If you need special meals (kids, vegetarian) let her know. They are very accomodating. She allwed us the salmon in puff pastry for those that did not eat meat. Kids meals are only $20 4. You can choose a first drink for your cocktail hr. They will have it on a tray while guests arrive. If you have a signature cocktail bring the rec. with you. Or have some ideas of what you would like. We chose a mojito. 5. If Landy agrees to something ask her to write it on her sheet, then send her an email confirming it and ask her to put it in your file. Since you don't sign a contract for payment until you arrive for your wedding this is very important!

Quote: Originally Posted by neen we're expecting somewhere between 75-100 ppl and we're having our reception at the Seaside Grill which is right on the beach and has a great view of the ocean. the only downside, well there are actually 2 - firstly, its right next to one of the pools so its not totally private (though the rest will be closed for our group), and secondly, the reception cannot begin until 6:30pm because they won't close it down to everyone else until 5pm and then they need time to set up. We're trying to figure out what to do with all our guests between our ceremony (which should be over by 4:45 latest) and the start of the reception dinner...thinking we have a really long cocktail "hour"? Any other ideas? My sisters wedding is large by destination wedding standards also. We are close to 100 people. This seems to be the amount that Landy started to talking convention center. Our reception is at El Patio, but she said 100 was the most she would allow there. When I was there I saw a great cocktail hr in the balcony off the lobby area off the resort. They had the mariachis (sp?) and were taking a lot of great shots on the amazing staircase. The fountain is also right in front and made for some more great pics. I think that might take up a little more time if you add it to a shoot on the beach. The guests can also go inside the lobby bar if they need to get out of the sun which is a nice option for them. The balcony is also a little bit further from the beach wedding area so getting there would take up some time. The guests would also be away from where your reception was being set up so no peeking I also think having a guest book or something for guests to sign could also take up some time as well.

Quote: Originally Posted by neen I would take this email to mean that although they do cover themselves with "prices are subject to change" all you have to do is remind her when you arrive for your wedding that you have been working with the 07/08 guide and they will honor those prices. Despite the extended response time, I have to say that DT seems very flexible and accommodating and again, none of the nickel & diming I've found with other resorts. Of course there are pros and cons everywhere, but every bride that has come back from her DT wedding and posted about it said everything worked out fine so we just have to have a little faith & try not to stress ourselves out too much Ok.. I was going to address this issue in my review but I think doing it seperatly would be more effective. I'm not sure if it has been brought up but Dreams Tulum is now adding a 10% tax to all products and services including wedding packages and a 15% gratuity to services. This increased prices of wedding packages by 25%. This made a large impact to our party because our wedding is about 90-100 people and it is quite a bit of add ons to the wedding package. Landy did try and add the new tax and service fee to our prices even though we had agreed to everything before this new policy was put into place. This point in the meeting was the only unpleasant part of our trip. I was very stern in explaining that she could not change a price so severly after making a verbal agreement as well as sending me pricing information. She referred back to the small print of prices being able to change and she did tell me that is why they do the contracts when you come. I remained calm but again told her that it was dishonest and extremely misleading, how could my family come down here under one assumtion and have her change things. After some back and forth we compromised that the wedding package and the additions to it would not have the extra taxes, but the welcome reception that we are having will. I asked her to add that to our file while I watched her write it. My advice is to ask everything regarding pricing up front. Our visit was in May and my sisters wedding is in November. I think the price changes were going into affect after the summer but I'm not 100% positive. I don't want to upset anyone, but budget is important and I think these items need to be spelled out on paper. Save all of the emails you have both from Landy and Sandra. Print them out and bring them with you. This helped alot during our meeting especially with the transistion from Sandra to Landy.

Quote: Originally Posted by julieanddonnie I recently had my wedding in May at the Dreams Tulum property and it was amazing! We had 42 guests attend and worked through a company called Destinationweddings.com. I have some advise for things to look out for with both the hotel and a destination wedding company! Dreams Tulum: The property was amazing! Here are my suggestions: 1. Ask to be placed in the newer buildings! Some of my guests forgot and the arrangements were nice, but the newer buildings are much nicer. 2. Have a direct transfer from the airport! The direct transfer is about 1 hour and 15 minutes to the propery. If you have to stop at other hotels it did take some of my guests 2+ hours to arrive! 3. Watch out for the photographer and his pricing if you want to buy pictures outside of the package. I had trouble with him trying to over charge me and him wanting me to sign documents that were not describing what I was buying. 4. Ask how many weddings per day! I was told two, but there were four on my day- but honestly I wouldn't have guessed that there were four based on the wonderful service and attention I recieved. PICKING OUT DETAILS/BLOOD TESTS We were upgraded to a honeymoon suite, but instead chose a Jr Suite right off the pool for no extra charge because we had brought so many guests. We had the Ultimate Wedding package. We met with Landy, the hotel wedding coordinator, on the second day we were there. Their website and the documentation they send you is great and you are totally prepared. You need a blood test- which was fine they had a medic there that showed us the needles in the package, used alcohol and didn't leave a mark on us! He was great. We had our parents as our witnesses and all they needed was their passports. We picked out the locations where we wanted out activities. We chose the Beach ceremony (all flowers were included to match my bouquet), the lobby balcony for our cocktail party (while we took pictures) and El Patio for our reception- we also had a Mariachi band (Landy's wonderful suggestion) playing during dinner and then a DJ for a couple hours after dinner. It was beautiful! HAIR and MAKEUP I went into my hair and makeup appointment not have a clue what I wanted. I have chine length hair but wanted it off my face, because it was 95 on my wedding day! She made me look like my hair was super long and the makeup she applied was perfect- I do not wear a whole lot and this was my first time getting my makeup done by someone else. She was wonderful, I gave her hugs and basically all the cash I had on me because I was so pleased! PHOTOS Our pictures can all be viewed at Donnie Franzen :: PowerMove Central. (I cannot seem to upload any, they are probably too big!) We stuck with the inhouse photographer and videographer- both were amazing and took great shots! Very creative and really captured the beach wedding. We ended up buying the CD with all of our pictures for $345.75 extra, but I had to fight with the manager for that price (this is where I had trouble negotiating, but let Landy know and received an apology email from the photgrapher about an hour later). WEDDING PLANNER I didn't need to worry about a thing- Landy made sure that our ceremony and reception were flawless. She would check in with us every 30 minutes to see if there was anything that she could do. STAFF The staff was more than happy to help with anything! At the pool you develop a relationship with a couple servers that literally watch for your drink to get low and after day two they know what you drink and just keep them coming. The activities pool had entertainment and games then the same people would dance at the club! So you get to know them quite well too. No one expects a tip, but they are very grateful when you do give them one. We tipped $20 every other day just because they were so great! I would certainly reccomend Dreams TULUM! It was unforgetable! The travel company destinationweddings.com. I was assigned three different consultants... the first one was the reason I chose to work with the company, but due to a death in her family, I was assigned a new consultant. His name was David Victor. He was the most disorganized person I have ever met with. First he told me I wouldn't like the Dreams Property and he worked exclusively with an other resort in the Mayan Riv. He was upset that I did not want to change my mind as I had done my fair share of research and had already made up my mind. He quoted a bunch of my guests to arrive after the date of my wedding, and was just disorganized so I had to request a new consultant. I then worked with Christine Gulino who was fantastic! She got me an upgrade to the honeymoon suite and was very attentive to my requests! Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions! I havn't posted in a while but before I comment on my site visit I would like to comment on destinationweddings.com. My family tried them first and like you we were given multiple people. The gentlemen tried to get us to switch to another place when we already had a date with Dreams Tulum. We quit right away. It was this website where someone posted about Tammy at Wright Travel. ALL OF YOU THINKING ABOUT BOOKING A WEDDING AT DREAMS USE HER!!! She knows the ins and outs of this place and Landy respects her! Tammy was so patient with my crazy parents requests and got us an amazing rate for a site visit, and we got to have a 4 HOUR MEETING WITH LANDY AND HER ASSISTANT. That was priceless as was the tasting that was included in the meeting. Don't fall for the destination wedding $50 gets you a great planner garbage. All it gave me and my family was heartache, good thing Tammy was there to help!! Email me and I can give you her contact info...

Oh my gosh! My sister and I saw your wedding. We were there for our site visit and watched your set up. My sister liked the way they did your isle with the flowers... Everything looked wonderful.