zorlack76

I have been in Cancun during the first week of may, and let me tell you, the weather was PERFECT!! We were there for 6 days. It showered for about 15 or 20 mins (just the lightest shower or sprinkle that you can imagine) one day where we were in Isla Mujeres. Then, another day, it rained at about 5:00 or 5:30 while we were eating dinner. It started after we sat down to eat and had stopped by the time we were done eating. That was all the rain we had. The nights were breezy and cool...the days were hot (like the last post said, about mid 80's.) When we went to Chichen Itza, it felt hotter...probably low 90's. That was probably because there was no ocean breeze...and there were no clouds in the sky at all. You will love it there the first week of May!!

Quote: Originally Posted by becks I think we were quoted $750 for 5 hours. We added a 6th hour as well because he was so great. I don't really know what the hotel charged us - it was something like $60 an hour for the time that Mannia was there. But beyond that there is no outside vendor fee or anything. It ended up being significantly less expensive than the in-house guy. And he was really, really great. Can't even say enough. Hmm....maybe they are trying to rip me off!!! Ill have to write my WC who will probably take like 2 weeks to get back to me. But darn it, I am gonna get good deals on everything if my life depends on it!! Im not going to take crap from these people. We are spending a small fortune down there, so hopefully they can quote me a better price.

I was just sent an email by Greams Cancun WC and she said for 3 hours, it is $924.00 (that includes tax.) She sent me an email about a month ago telling me they only use Mannia. It is actually $280 per hour...but I dont know if that is what Dreams Cancun charges, or if that is his actual price. Hope this helps!!

For those of you who recommend the Bose system for the reception, who did you have do the "M.C.?" Who announced the wedding party upon their arrival to the reception? How did you decide when it was time to dance? Did the bride and groom have to monitor the radio all night to make sure certain songs were playing at certain times? Gaby told me that for 3 hours of reception, if you hire a DJ, it would cost $924 bucks!!! WOW!!! Thats a lot of money. I'd be willing to pay that as long as I had peace of mind that every part of the music at the reception would be perfect. On the other hand, as I mentioned, THATS A LOT OF MONEY!!! What do you all think?

Those are just awesome!!! Your guests are going to love those. Looks like you went all out for this

...just a thought. You would think that with these people doing a wedding a day for several years in a row that they would know how to work this whole thing and be a little more organized with "planning" peoples weddings. Based on the sound of what everyone has said, everything turns out nice, but these vendors and resort planners are a bunch of idiots. If Dreams Cancun wasnt such a beautiful place, I'd be going elsewhere!! OK, Im done being bitchy

Quote: Originally Posted by LCLIVINGSTON Hi!! Thanks for your replies. I got my contract through via e-mail from Gaby. We went with the Dreams Ultimate package as I thought it would have most stuff we needed in it which is $2650. She sent through the contract adding on: - $198 for the sound system - $924 for a DJ at the reception - $307 for the extra 11 guests (who are all staying at the hotel) for the cocktail hour - $585 for the extra 11 guests (who are all staying at the hotel) for International open bar for 3 hours for reception. - around $300 for 3 bridesmaid bouquets and 1 flower girl bouquet - $630 for Blood tests, translation of birth cert and Marriage cert in total it's working out at least $5594, more than double the wedding package mainly because I have 31 guests going and the package only covers 20. They are all staying at the hotel but as we get our own waiters etc we need to pay extra which is fair enough but it all seems quite expensive and no doubt there may be a couple more extras when we get over there!! What seemed like the cheaper options is turning out to be pretty expensive Has anyone else had any similar experiences? Thanks for the advice with the Ipod, I just wanted a DJ as I didn't want to have to worry about anything when I get over there but I don't even know if the DJ is any good and would be worth all that money?? The sound system I thought we would need so that our guests can hear what is going on as it might be quite noisy right next to the ocean!! Ps. What thread will I find Kat's review on?? Thanks again L x Thanks so much for posting that!! That helped me a ton with trying to figure out how much I'd be spending there. I am going to try to negotiate to get some of those prices lowered though. And I, too, am one of the people doing the civil ceremony in my home town, so that will save 700 by itself! Thanks again.

Everyone here makes good points. I just told them that since they are not paying for the wedding, and we are, we make the decisions. They can come if you want, or not...its up to them. But if they dont want to support us, our wedding, and our new life together, then they can pretty much expect the same response from us. I told my family that it is about half the price to have a DW than to have it here in our home town, so if they wanted to pay for the entire thing (WITH OUR SPECIFICATIONS) then thats fine...we would just extendour honeymoon for another 2 weeks with all the extra money we would have.

Kat, quick question for you. You had the sound system for the ceremony, but was someone manning the system, or did you havee to have one of your family members play all the music and stuff? If they did provide someone to run the equipment, is it easy to communicate with them to tell them exactly when you want the music to start? I want to bring a CD down because we are having non-traditional songs for our entrance and exit, so I just want them to be able to play the music when I want them to. Thanks Kat, you have been a huge help on here!!! For EVERYONE!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by LCLIVINGSTON Hi everyone, i'm looking for some advice from those of you who have been married at Dreams Cancun or are in the process of organizing your wedding!! Our wedding is in July 2009, I have just recently sent the deposit and filled out the Q & A form for the wedding and have today recieved a copy of our contract. We have booked the Dreams Ultimate package ($2650) as I thought it included quite a lot in it, I realised that we would probably need to pay extra but the price on the contract has DOUBLED!!!! We are not having anything fancy, there are 31 guests so need to pay extra for 11 as it only covers 20, fair enough. We said we would like a DJ for evening reception OMG how expensive is that!!! Also you have to pay for the sound system for the ceremony on top of that!! The list goes on and on... Just to see if everyone is in the same situation?? If so does anyone have any advice as to getting the cost down a bit or negotiate with what's in the package?? Just a bit surprised at the price...... Thanks for the help!! Louise Hey There, I am waiting for my Q&A from Gaby. Did she send it in the mail or on email What kind of prices went up...did the cost of the wedding package go up? If you dont mind me asking, with all the bells and whistles that you added, about what was the cost that she proposed? If you hear anything else, please let us all know!!

Quote: Originally Posted by mummergirl congrats on finally getting a date nailed down! best of luck ... what i still don't understand about the 2 weddings per day is that if they are only 2 hours apart, how can you be sure you will get to have your cocktail hour and reception where *you* wanted it? what if the other bride got her details into contract first? if their wedding is at 4, cocktail at 5, and reception 6-9, you clearly couldn't have your reception where theirs is because they'd overlap. honestly, there aren't that many options, and beach and ballroom were both out of the question for me, so personally i would have had to choose a different date in that scenario. Based on my understanding, Gaby said that she takes 1 wedding per day and her boss, Claudia, takes 1 wedding per day. I was uncertain of the same thing...but she assured me that the resort is big enought. She also advised me that both weddings could NOT be booked for the same time. That is probably so each wedding group can have whereever they want for their ceremony (gazebo or beachfront.) Regarding the cocktail hour, if both weddings are at different times, then you shouldnt run into eachother during cocktails. For the reception, I bet it is first come first serve (or whoever signs the contract first) for where your reception is held. Having been down at dreams, I am sure it will be a great time, but I think I may be unimpressed with how Gaby does things. I guess that means she gets less of a tip...if one at all. I will be speaking with management the day I get down there to have a word with them. The managers seem to take the clients side as opposed to their own employees. (I generally hate that except for now because I am the client!! hahaha)

uly 2008 Deitra & John Bell - July 19, 2008 August 2008 Amanda & Michael - August 20, 2008 September 2008 Kathi & Ryan - September 7th, 2008 October 2008 Stacey & Ely - October 14th, 2008 November 2008 RJ & Stephanie - November 8, 2008 Kristi & Neil - November 10, 2008 Samantha S & Damon - November 20, 2008 December 2008 Brianna & Danny - December 6, 2008 January 2009 Kristy & Mike - January 16, 2009 Michelle (Michelle&Steve) & Steve - January 18, 2009 February 2009 Reilly & David (soon to be Mrs. Glasser) February 23 March 2009 Angel & Sanford - March 1, 2009 April 2009 Diana & Anthony - April 25, 2009 May 2009 Jaymie & Ales - May 4, 2009 Kelly & Joe - May 13, 2009 Sylvia (cancunbride) and Albert - May 14, 2009 Marie (hartyt509) & Scott - May 15, 2009 Joanna (jhubert) & John - May 20, 2009 Lisa (mummergirl) & Tom - May 28, 2009 Tamika (quackquack) & James - May 30, 2009 June 2009 Jen (simbasim) June 13, 2009 August 2009 Christine and Christopher (zorlack76) - August 14th, 2009 November 2009 Jodey & Simon - November 12th 2009

*****LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT***** After a long and dreadful process, we finally got our wedding date booked and finalized. We are to be wed on August 14th, 2009. Believe it or not, Gaby does actually exist. I called numerous people and telephone numbers, and after getting voice mail after voice mail, I finally got right through to Gaby herself. She did not sound happy, but at least the date has been set in stone. Here is what she told me...they book 2 weddings per day. So, for those of you that think your wedding is the only one that day, your probably wrong. They only do two and they are at separate times. Mine is for 6:00pm because someone else already has theirs for 4:00pm. I guess that is not so bad. Gaby assured me that the other wedding party would not get in our way and that we would have 2 separate receptions. So, she said that she would send us a Q & A so we could tell her how many people were going to attend, where on the resort we wanted the wedding and reception, etc. After we fill that out, we send that back to her and she draws up a contract. She said that after the contract is finalized, the deposit would be due. I asked her again if anyone else could take my wedding date and time and she said she marked me down so no one else could take it. So, regarding the deposit, I guess they dont need it until the contract is settled, but they will reserve the date for you before you go through the contractual negotiations. That may put some of you at ease. Anyways, I just thought Id let everyone know. If you have any questions that I can answer, feel free and let me know. I will certainly try to help!!

OK, I decided to actually call down to Dreams Cancun and attempted to talk to some people. The first time I called, I asked for Gaby's extension. Of course, the person at the front desk put me through to Gaby's extension, but Gaby didnt answer. I got a voice mail in Spanish. So, I didnt leave a message, but I called the resort back and asked to speak with a manager. Apparently they take that pretty seriously down there. Here's why. When they put me through to the manager, no one answered, but the voice mail was in English and Spanish. I left a detailed message pretty much asking what the """" was going on. I didnt get a call back from a manager or Gaby, but I did get an email from Gaby about 2 hours later completely apologizinig for everything and explaining that she is so busy. She told me not to call her because she is rarely near her phone, but said I just need to email her all my questions and she will "try to answers you the faster that I can." Hmm...I wonder if her manager chewed her out. So of course, I write her an email back and said for like the 8th time that I want they date reserved and that I am prepared to pay the deposit right away. So, Ill get back to you folks in 2 weeks when she emails me back asking me what date I want again!! Well, hopefully if wont be that bad. But, I am meeting with a travel agent on Monday from Apple Vacations. Ffor those of you who dont know, Apple Vacations is pretty big down there. Apparently they have a lot of pull and in my opinion, they shouldnt want to lose a huge client like Apple. That would be horrible for business. Anyway, I am ranting, so back to my endless search for a photographer who I cant book cuz I dont know what date Im getting married

Kat, how did you do all your communication with your WC at Dreams. I have been trying to reserve a date for the last 2 weeks and she got back to me once asking, "What date do you want?" What an idiot!!! I told her what date I wanted. Did you have to call her a lot or did you just do it via email?

Im so happy for you!! I am going through that now and we just cant make a decision. If we had $10,000 to spend on photography, it would prolly be an easy choice...but this is a huge deal and Im happy you were able to find someone you liked!!

So, of course I have been doing tons of research on photographers who do Cancun weddings. What does everyone think about hiring a photographer from the United States and flying them down to Cancun/Riviera Maya. I did yahoo searches for "Destination Wedding Photographers" and found a ton of sites with beautiful pictures. In fact, a lot of photographers from the USA give huge discounts because they know you will have to pay for their travel expenses. Most of the sites I have stumbled across are a lot cheaper than hiring Vanessa Vargas, Citali, Claudia, del Sol, etc, and their pictures look just as amazing. Im just curious what everyone thinks of that and if anyone has thought about doing that themselves. Pros versus Cons anyone

It seems as though we are all having the same problem with photographers. I have contacted several who are all booked for my wedding date. My opinion is that Claudia's photographs are less than acceptable...especially for how much she charges. But everyone has their own taste, maybe Im just being too picky. (Rightfully so if I am paying thousands of dollars for great memories.)

Quote: Originally Posted by bbpacco Non-civil? Did you mean just symbolic, and get your paperwork and stuff done in your city? They don't need to see any documentations in order to perform the ceremony. Yes, I was referring to the symbolic ceremony. We would get the marriage license and marriage certificate here in Rockford, IL, then get our vows "renewed" in Cancun. We want to have the full ceremony in Cancun though, including a sand ceremony. We want to act like the legal marriage here in Rockford, IL is not a real wedding until we have the ceremony in Cancun if you know what I mean. Any further information you can provide? Kat, I noticed that your response differed. Can you expand further? Thanks all!!

Can anyone tell me anything about Dreams' non-civil requirements? Do they still require you to be in the country for 4 days prior to the wedding? Do they need all the wedding documentation a month in advance? We are planning the legal/civil ceremony here, but dont want to have the wedding like 2 months before we go down to Cancun. Anyone who can shed some light on their requirements would be a HUGE help. Of course, Gaby still doesn't respond to emails, so any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!

In a mans defense, regarding the third from the bottom, I did see a woman the other day that had a pretty thick beard. She didnt seem too concerned about it True Story!!!

....feel like taking my engagement photos? Hahaha I dont think I could have asked more from a professional photographer. Those are so great!

I love the fact that they are advertising it as "On Sale" as opposed to "For Sale"....like they are having a huge sale on 70 million dollar condos. "SAVE $10 Million when you buy this weekend!!" What a Great sale!! LOL

Here's an idea....sue his ass off. At least that will pay for your wedding (and the honeymoon, and a house, and...well, more and more!!!) Hahaha

Wow!! Very beautiful. Those look really professional for having taken them yourself. Congrats and cant wait to see more!!