Mixie23

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Part 1 (pre-wedding activity review) is on page 1, Part 2(wedding day review) is on page 2. Thankfully one of the lovely moderators merged the two threads together for me, so everything is neatly in this one thread! As far as communicating with Landy, I had better luck emailing with Aurora until about a month before the wedding. I think that Landy is just super busy dealing with the brides she has in the immediate future so can't respond as quickly as the future brides would like. Aurora however was excellent, and she typically got back to me in a day or two, even if it was to say she was still working on it and she would be in touch soon. Her email is [email protected] . Good luck!!

Hi ladies - we ordered luggage tags from luggage tags, diaper bag tags, golf bag tags - Best Prices with our logo on them and we were so happy with them!!! We gave them out in purple organza bags (2 per person) and they looked so good! We chose BagTags because they were the only company we could find that would do small orders without a huge fee. The people that work there are amazing, you always get a real person, not a recording, and the president of the company himself called to make sure we were satisfied with the product!

Thanks guys! I hope to be able to answer some of you questions - getting excited for tomorrow's AHR!!! BellaBeachBabe & Butterflyf369 - The best way to get in contact with Sara Tomargo is to email her [[email protected]] but I would also CC the email to Sol Tamargo. Please just mention that you got the information from me (Nicole Lenihan) since I promised I would spread the good word!!! Detroit Bride - sorry, I don't have $$ information, Wayne and I were very blessed that my parents paid for our wedding and we weren't really involved in the financial part of the process. SunBride - Yeah, the reason the nail had to come off is because I had pink and white gel on top of my natural nail, so when it got caught in the chair it had already ripped about 1/2 way off - nothing left to do but pull it all the way off - gross. Jerzy Girl - We just emailed the WC's at Dreams and asked if there were other options since we weren't thrilled with the pre-set menus. They told us we could select off of the restaurant menus to customize it. Let me know if you ladies have any other questions!!

Just wanted to include the links to my review! My Review Part 1 My Review Part 2 - with photos

I will put up more pics as I get them!

I posted the review of the first part of our trip previously, but ran out of time. Here is my review of our wedding day festivities... Spa for Bridal Appointments C Let me start by saying that everyone was really happy with their hair and my grandmother with her hair and makeup. HOWEVER, the poor girls at the salon were WAY over booked. There was another bride and her bridal party and her photographer at the salon at the same time as me making an already small space even more crowded (note to future brides at DT, perhaps leave the entourage in the room). My hair appointment was at 12pm (my wedding was at 6pm). I had a simple style, so no big deal. My maid of honors hair was supposed to be at 1pm, my mom and my fiance's daughter were at 1:30, and my grandmother at 2pm. These times were all arranged by Jennifer, their spa concierge, who I assume knows the # of staff, but seemed not to take this into consideration. Now, at 1pm I had a makeup appointment with Sol Tamargo's (of Del Sol Photography) sister Sara. I was out and back to my room in plenty of time. My MOH was scheduled for makeup at 2pm, an hour after her hair appointment. At 2:15, I sent her mom out to locate her, because I was getting a little nervous when she hadn't returned to my room for her makeup. She didn't even sit in the CHAIR until 2pm - an hour late!!! The other bride having her makeup done kept wanting it changed and redone, kept getting up to look at it in natural light, then back down in the chair for more changes, etc. Now, please understand that I totally understand you want your makeup to be perfect for your day. However the spa should have got someone else to take over (since she was clearly unhappy with the person she was supposed to work with) and fix her make up - not make my wedding party late and behind schedule! MOH finally got out of the spa at around 2:45. My mom got in the chair at 2:30, also an hour late. There was a guest of another wedding pacing around, telling my mom that she had a 2:30 appointment and essentially implying that my mom should get up and out of the chair and give her the appointment. My mom was like, uhh, well we have a wedding too, and I have been waiting an hour, so the best thing I can tell you is have a seat and wait. All of this could have been avoided if the spa had scheduled themselves either more staff, or not had so many appointments at the same time. I am just really happy I got in and out because being there during all that happend would have really stressed me out. Like I said though, everyone loved their hair, and my grandmom really liked her makeup too. Sara Tomargo, Make Up Artist A++ Sara was unbelieveable! She used all MAC and other high end products and my makeup was awesome. I had gone to Playa del Carmen earlier in the week for a trial session, then she came to Dreams Tulum the day of the wedding to do make up for me, my MOH, and my mom. Everyones makeup looked so good and lasted all day and into the night - even in the rain! Sara is a total sweetheart and so talented that I am so happy we used her for our makeup. Wedding Ceremony A Wayne and I had written our own ceremony to be used in conjunction with the civil ceremony text. My mom had purchased about 80 yards of organza to be used on the canopy and it was truly beautiful - we just weren't into the whole sticks wrapped in toilet paper look. In fact we saw other brides and their bridal parties taking pictures in front of our canopy but I was happy that other people got to use it too. As far as decorations go, we had rose petals on the aisle, the white organza on the canopy, and the white chair covers with purple bows. The judge (texting as I walked down the aisle) stuck to our ceremony almost exactly as written, which was really nice. I had a white rose and orchid bouquet wrapped with white ribbon, and a purple bow that I tied my grandmothers wedding bands into (both my grandfathers have passed away) and a rhinestone pin. The girls carried purple roses and orchids wrapped in white ribbon, my one flower girl had a basket with white and purple rose petals, and my fiance's daughter who served as ring bearer and "best man" had a beautiful purple rose and daisy pomander on purple ribbon. Absolutely perfect!!! We had hired a harpist and guitar player (thanks again to Sol Tomargo for all her help during the process!!) who played the traditional wedding songs but having the harp on the beach was exactly as I pictured it. We also had a sound system for the judge, Wayne and I, which was 100% necessary due to the wind - without it, no one would have been able to hear us. I was really happy with the set up and how everything turned out. Cocktail Hour A I was not in attendance because Wayne and I were taking pictures, however we held our cocktail hour on the lobby terrace, and had a mariachi band that played at the Mexican Night party. Everyone enjoyed themselves and the band was reportedly amazing, they had everyone up and dancing! Reception Dinner by the Dolphin PoolA+ Decorations - white table cloths, white chair covers, purple bows, lights- provided by DJ Mannia, and floating water lotus candles in the pool (My favorite part!) We chose not to use the gold menu, instead we pieced together a menu using the restaurant menus, pulling mostly from El Patio. We had the queso fundido with chorizo for an appetizer, caesar salad, the surf and turf (steak and shrimp) with spinach, mashed potatoes, and a bernaise sauce, and for dessert, the profiteroles with rasperry sauce. The food was SOOOO GOOD!!! All of our guests were raving - and we had some pretty picky eaters in attendance! We chose a tres leches cake for our wedding cake and it was pretty enough, I don't remember which one I picked honestly. The cake was so delicious that Wayne and I fed each other twice - we just wanted another piece! DJ Mannia was awesome, picking the perfect mix of music and getting everyone up and dancing! Vincent of Del Sol Photography A+ (I think!) Ok, so it might be too soon to write this portion of the review because we don't have our pictures back yet, but personality wise Vincent was awesome. I hate having my picture taken and he really did try to put me at ease and get me to relax. I just know that the pictures will be amazing! Farewell Dinner at Portofino Wine Cellar A+ We had our farewell dinner at Portofino in the wine cellar. The food and the service were amazing. It was such a nice way to tie everything together and say goodbye to our guests as we were leaving the next day for our honeymoon at Zoetry Parasio de la Bonita. We set up a slide show on a friends lap top and were able to show the pictures that had been taken throughout our week at Dreams, which everyone enjoyed. It was just a really nice way to tie everything together.

I realize I am a little behind in posting, but things have been crazy since the wedding! Now I am getting last minute things taken care of for our AHR in New York. Now, onto the good stuff... Arrival at Dreams Tulum C- Sure we got the whole cool towel and champagne welcome, but the check in process was definetely not smooth. To start, they did not have my brother on the manifest and as such did not have a reservation for him or a room, despite the fact that he had a hotel voucher. Secondly, they had my grandmother in a different building completely from my mom, when my travel agent specifically said that they needed to be in the same building and on the same floor since my grandmother is older, staying by herself, and not comfortable at all with traveling, doing so only for my wedding. After a bunch of "disscusion" they said that they would move her for $60 a night, which is INSANE because a) we had over 30 people at the resort for a week, we booked not one, not two, but THREE private parties, bringing a significant amount of additional income to the property, and c) because supposedly they "take care" of wedding parties and upgrade them if upgrades are available, however only my sister in law got an upgrade and the hotel was less than 60% booked. Later I overheard another bride in the lobby complaining to the front desk that her parents were DOWNGRADED but her in-laws were UPGRADED for FREE!! We've talked about how there is NO consistency on the Dreams Tulum forum but this is just another example. To be honest, my parents and my fiance and I didn't want to gamble on the upgrade so we booked the Dreams section with ocean front from the get-go, but imagine my suprise when they offered friends of ours the honeymoon suite!!! Doctor and Medical Care A+ Warning, slighly graphic! Yeah, so our first night at Dreams Tulum we took all the kids down to the beach to watch their showing of High School Musical. I was in the process of scooting on the beach lounger with my fiance's daughter when all of a sudden I felt a snag. I yanked my hand out, and started shaking it violently trying to "shake off" the pain in my thumb. My fiance turned to me and said "what are you spattering all over my face? Uhhh, Nic, it's blood, we gotta go." I took one look down at my thumb and my pink and white gel thumbnail was at a disgustingly non natural angle, half off my thumb - on my LEFT HAND. Wayne was amazing at trying to keep me calm, however I was completely panicking and flipping out. He called the front desk who sent someone with a first aid kit to our room. That person took one look at my hand and sent for the doctor. 10 very painful shots of lidocaine in my knuckle later, he was pulling out my entire thumb nail with some sort of medical grade pliers while I was screaming that it wasn't numb yet and he was very politely trying to tell me that there wasn't time to wait anymore because of the swelling. In spite of the pain, he was VERY knowledgable, and I trusted him 110%. He gave me a valium to help me sleep that night, applied antibiotic ointment, wrapped and taped my thumb in gauze, and wrote a prescription for antibiotics. He also told me I could stop by his office over the next few days and he would check it and change the bandages for me, no charge. His fee was $150, plus the $20 for the antibiotic, but totally worth it. He also visited another guest of ours and was equally as accomodating and amazing. He was asking how everyone was holding up when we visited him again later in the week to have our blood tests done for our civil ceremony. What a sucky way to start off our vacation, but in hindsight we got our "hiccup" out of the way on Day 1. The joke for the remainder of our time in Mexico was "One and a half thumbs up!" Wedding Planning with Landy A++ Amazing!!! Landy is truly a gift to Dreams Tulum. She worked with us in too many ways to count. She had copies of all of our emails and was so amazingly organized I knew that things would go well. Welcome Party A++ We held our welcome party on Friday, June 26 by the quiet pool. We had the carribean trio for 90 minutes and they were really great. We did white table cloths, gold overlays, and gold bows on the chairs. We ordered tall glass vase arrangements with yellow gerber daisies and bear grass. We used Frederico from il gruppo digitale (the included pictures) for the welcome party since we hired Del Sol for the wedding. He was pretty amusing, but the shots were all pretty canned and posed. I am happy we used him for this purpose and not the wedding. For the food we had them set up stations, complete with a huge pan of paella with fresh seafood, a grill making different kinds of fish, and another grill cooking steak and chicken. The salad, sides, and dessert were set up buffet style. The food was DELICIOUS and the set up was completely different from anything else we saw while we were there. One downfall was that it was pretty dark. The column lights were already being used, and the tiki torches kept blowing out. The grill area was still lit though so we had some light. In spite of this, it was still amazing. Everyone was up and dancing, going back for seconds because the food was so good, and enjoying themselves. After the dinner we headed over to the caribbean night in the main square and saw the fire dancers. They were amazing, and I was really happy that we were able to work that into the evening (as they were out of our budget for a private show). Spa for Spa Treatments A+ All I can say was that almost 10 people in my party used the spa and all came out saying that they had the best massage of their lives at Dreams Tulum. I will echo that 100%, I had a scrub, a massage, and a wrap, and I was thrilled with all of the services that I received. (We go to spas in NY, DC, etc, so I have had a number of treatments). My husband had an 80 minute massage and I am pretty sure wanted to import his massage therapist to the US he was so relaxed. The spa is GORGEOUS. Alright, enough for now, more later, promise!

Hi Ladies, we just got back last night after a GLORIOUS 5 days at Zoetry Paraisio de La Bonita for our honeymoon... such a good idea to change resorts for a change of pace!! Everything at Dreams Tulum was AMAZING. Landy, as all previous brides have said, was truly a "dream", even during the rough moments the day of the wedding. I plan on writing a full review, however I leave tomorrow for a 12 day expedition with Earthwatch to study coastal ecology in the Bahamas... I know, rough life, eh? I will say one thing though, and I am sure that Starlitk will echo this - there were THREE weddings on June 27, and despite the fact that I was told over a year ago that that was a possibility, I was also told there would be one at 12, one at 3, and one at 6. This was NOT the case and the beach looked more like a wedding factory than anything else as they tried to cram in all those evening ceremonies with three different color schemes and three different canopy decorations. Not to mention the fact all three brides were then on the beach doing photos at the same time. Is it a huge deal? No, but its not exactly the feeling that was "advertised" to me - they specifically said that you wouldn't feel like there were brides taking over the resort, but clearly this was not the case. Again, I can't say enough how wonderful everything was, just one small issue and something to think about for those brides still in the planning phase!

I got the same email. I asked her if we could just scan them in and email them to her but I haven't heard back.

Yep - we had been going back and forth between buying canvas bags and ironing on our "logo" that my FH designed and just buying bags. When we saw these at WalMart, FH was like, JUST GET THEM! We have enough to do in the next five weeks then to have to worry about ironing bags. He was right :-)

Found these great mesh beach bags at WalMart this weekend for $6 a piece. They came in 6 or 7 colors with 3 or 4 designs in each color (stripes, hibiscus print, etc). Great for taking to the beach so that you don't bring back all the sand!

Let me just say, after all that the Dreams Tulum brides have been through this past year, I am ready to CELEBRATE!!!!! CDC Removes Travel Warning!

I am just curious, I have heard a lot of rumors that brides who travel with their gown frequently get bumped up to first class. Has anyone had this experience? What airline did you fly? We are flying Delta to Cancun for our wedding in Tulum and obviously I will be bringing my dress with me on board. Any guesses what the chances are of getting bumped (especially with the swine flu paranoia)?

Hey Starlitk, What time is your ceremony? Looks like I'll be seeing you there :-)

Hi everyone, great thread! Just a quick question. My mom is INSISTING that each bag be personalized and that there be a gift included within each one. She is telling me that anything less just cheapens the fact that these people spent all this time and money to make it to our wedding at a location they probably would have never chosen to go to if it hadn't been for the wedding. Is this normal? Should I be planning on spending a day in Playa del Carmen shopping for Talavera pottery, bottles of tequila, and Cuban cigars? How much am I supposed to be spending on these things? I had planned on including everything that has been discussed and more in our bags, and price is getting out of hand. Am I supposed to be buying everyone presents as well?

OH NO Rachel, I am sooo sorry! That is horrible! You will have to keep us posted on what comes out of that! I have seen so many beautiful videos, but we just don't have it in our budget to go outside of what's included (we are already hiring Vincent from Del Sol, plus lots having another amazing photog at our AHR, not to mention all the other extras or "oh-but-we-have-to's" that keep popping up)! I got our "planning" email from Aurora yesterday and was told she needed it by April 20!! Yikes, that's only 5 days! Not to mention the fact that the planning sheet says it is due 15 days before the wedding, but April 20 is like 60 days before the wedding! I was a total stress case last night when I saw that because between my shower and my bff's wedding (my moh, i'm her moh) in two weeks, I am like a chicken with my head cut off as it is! The thing is, I don't want to wait and then have them tell me I can't have my location, etc when I booked the wedding over a year ago! Sheesh.... I guess I was just hoping I could get through my bff's wedding before having to deal with this! Oh well, maybe this Aurora will be better about responding to emails, answering questions, etc... we'll see! I'll keep everyone posted!

Hi Angruck. I uploaded the file and Sunbride added it to the user contribution section back on page 1 or 2 (very early in the thread). You can download it from there. We also used a picture we had taken from El Dorado Seaside Suites when we were there last year and used PhotoShop to design our own magnets and had them printed at Kinkos along with the packet.

I have found other hotels in RM that offer the services of a harpist for 45min for the wedding ceremony. Dreams Tulum does not offer this. I know that it is typically more cost effective to deal with the vendor directly, rather than have them find a harpist for me. Has anyone used one or does anyone know how to find one? I'm Google-d out :-(

Hi Ladies, I did have to sign a contract and then scan it in and email it back to him, as well as wire the 50%. Carlos did go up on the lighted floor price, I ended up saying that I was interested, but would need to reevaluate closer to the date to see if budget allowed. Too bad, looks so cool. Anyway, only think my dad noticed about the contract (he's a lawyer) was that it said that either he or one of his representatives would serve as the DJ for the event. We are just clarifying with Carlos that he will be providing the service, since that was who came so highly recommended on the forum. I will post again when I get the response.

I checked back to pg 1 and SunBride had said she thought the wine cellar could hold 30-40 people. I will be interested to hear what you find out because we are considering having a group dinner there on everyones last night at Dreams.

I am so happy that someone else feels the same way! The forum is helpful, but sometimes it seems like the guide says one thing, the wedding coordinators say another thing, and the forum says a third thing. On top of all that we're having "issues" getting one of the coordinators to respond to an email with questions. I am beginning to think that when Dreams closed and the weddings were relocated to other hotels (with much higher prices for wedding services) they realized they were missing out and have now jacked everything up. I am really hoping that they honor the prices from when we booked our wedding almost a year ago....Sheesh.... Quote: Originally Posted by Lindz Ashjanbro-- Im with you and have the same questions...we have a group going of 55ppl (whoa!) and Im totally confused as to what options we have for the rehearsal dinner and reception dinner. The guide says one thing but it sounds like they don't even follow their own guide!

Denise - its on page one, I believe its in post three somewhere towards the bottom (the religious/symbolic ceremony). The civil ceremony text is included as an attachment in post 4 or 5. Quote: Originally Posted by Denise L Thanks Mixie23....would you by any chance know what page in the forum I could find this info on? I know what you mean...I don't want to have them printed with the order of the ceremony and then things get all mixed up.....any insight from any other brides would be fantastic! Thanks!

Question about music... I have asked about the band a couple times, but it doesnt seem like anyone has used them. Is this just because of cost, or is it because they aren't very good? I know a lot of people have used DJ Mannia, have you been able to have music past 10:30pm? For example, we are getting married at 6pm, having the cocktail hour from 6:30-7:30, and then the reception from 7:30-? We originally were going to close El Patio, but with people dropping like flies, we won't have enough people to do that. We are now thinking of having the reception on the patio at El Patio, and having the restaurant open. Will we be able to do this and still have a band/DJ? Are they strict about the 10:30 policy?