Dreams425

My parents gave Landy $100 at the end of the night and tipped our servers. Someone else had previously asked about tipping DJ Mannia and I think we gave him $50, I wasn't sure if this was good or not, but at that time of the evening I had too many tequila boom booms to be thinking clearly I hope this helps! As a wedding coordinator myself tips are greatly appreciated, most people don't realize how hard coordinators work and we don't get paid overtime or to work the events into the late hours. Landy was wonderful and went above and beyond. I hope this helps! Quote: Originally Posted by Lindz This is a great question and I never would have thought to ask!!! Thanks for sharing-- I guess thats why they have such a valuable website, huh!? Anyway, I second the question above....what is an appropriate tip for the wedding planner? And outside photographer? And people at the spa?? Thank you!!!! SO SOON I CAN'T WAIT!!

Quote: Originally Posted by jmb0902 Did any of you have ppl stay off the resort and come in for your wedding and other festivities? I have 2 friends who are hell-bent on going through vrbo.com to save $$ (I don't think they will when you tally up food/drinks, etc.). Did you have to pay the $55 a day guest fee? I know there aren't wristbands or anything... I don't want to "sneak" them on but I'm wondering if anyone would notice? I had family members attend the wedding who stayed at another resort. My dad paid for their passes. You won't be able to sneak them in. There is a guard at the gate and every cab/shuttle/car etc that comes through the gate has to register wtih that guard, he takes down the room number and/or name is your staying off site and radios to the front desk. This is not a hassle you want to deal with on your wedding day! Also, I would double check on the pricing of the passes I seem to remember them beign more expensive then we had planned on, they may have went up. My advice is don't try and beat the system it wouldn't be worth it. The guests do not have to wear wristbands when they come in.

DJ Mannia Review http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...967#post789034

I just wanted to share my experience using Carlos with DJ Mannia. Very early in our planning stages we talked about using a DJ and I emailed back and forth with Carlos because I had heard such wonderful things. His reputation stood true and he was responsive and attentive. Unfortunately at the time it seemed our budget would not allow for a DJ and we were just planning on using an Ipod, but then at the last minute (2 weeks before we left) we decided we could squeeze it in! I emailed Carlos and within minutes I had a resonse that they were available and a quote! Out of the entire planning process this was by far the easiest! Carlos sent me a playlist and we had everything confirmed so quickly. Before we left I kind of left some items open ended because I was so scatterbrained but lucky for us Carlos was on the ball and called the resort to check in with me! During our phone conversation we confirmed the special songs (first dance, father/daughter, mother/son, etc.) and he had them all available even with my last minute requests! I asked Carlos what time he would arrive to be set up and he told me 4:00 for a 6:30 reception. I plan events in the states and DJ's are infamous here for being late but Carlos did not let me down!! He was set up very early and ready to go. After our pictures were done we ran over to say hello to Carlos and he had me listen to a couple songs to confirm they were right and off to cocktail hour we went. When we arrived to the reception Carlos was playing our song and announced us and we went right into our first dance. So much fun and everything was perfect. The dinner music was great choices and as soon as we finished eating the party got started! I've never been to a wedding where nobody was in a chair, he did such a good job of getting everyone moving. We were having so much fun I totally forgot about cutting the cake but again Carlos was on the ball and announced it and stayed organized. Needless to say I was thrilled with the service we received from DJ Mannia. They are super easy to work with and really responsive with questions/concerns. I think anyone who works with this company will be amazed by the customer service you receive and your reception will be so much fun! Thank you DJ Mannia for making our wedding reception unforgettable!

Quote: Originally Posted by jennyatk wow everything looked wonderful! You and your husband looked so relaxed in your pics! I'm glad everything turned out. I was wondering if you have any suggestion on what to do about the front desk issues. Should I talk to my TA and get a game plan. Because I know something will be messed up and it is just nice to be prepared. Thanks and again everything looked wonderful! My recommendation is to speak with your Travel Agent about what is acceptable for you and what is not. For example my parents were not willing to sleep in a double bed and they thought they were booked in a king. So part of our problem was lack of communication from our TA. Just make sure you clarify with your TA and have them communicate it to the resort. Tell them you do not want any surprises upon check in. I would also take any confirmation emails from the resort to your TA if they will give them to you. Also keep in mind that even though our trip started off really rocky everything works out, hopefully by the end of the week it will seem far away from your thoughts

Quote: Originally Posted by jmb0902 First, congrats and welcome back!! You were a beautiful bride, I can't wait for more pics! 1. What did you have to pay for the rehearsal dinner? For the projector? 2. Did you use the resort photog or your own? How did they rate? Thanks girl! We didn't pay anything for the rehearsal dinner! It was awesome and I would do it that away again. I paid $30 for the screen and I actually brought the projector with me from the states and I rented it for $100 (normally $300 but they gave me a break because I use the company for work). If you look on the first page of the Dreams Tulum page on here you will find the contact info for the guy who supplies all the AV equipment. We used the resort photog. We thought he did great work we just wanted more If you're on a budget its great! Make sure you schedule a meeting with them prior.

Quote: Originally Posted by Chanti Wow, what a great review!!! Thank you so much, you have reassured me :-) Quick question, when you say you didn't have to pay to set up the sound system for the ceremony, did you bring your own or did you use the resort's? They want to charge us $150 USD for setting up their sound system for the ceremony, and then $325 USD for setting it up at the reception: because of this, we have just bought a portable iPod docking station.... Gorgeous pictures by the way, you look absolutely stunning!!!! Thank you From what I understood they normally charge $150 to set up the sound system for the ceremony but they did it for us for free. I think it may have to do with the fact that we have been booked for so long and we booked when there wasn't a charge for it? Not really sure nothing seems standard around there Quote: Originally Posted by Royal_lady10 I love your pics... you were absolutely stunning..Thanks for the review!. this makes me so excited, I have over a year.. but your review was great. Thanks for the tip about the room category.. we were debating about which one to select, ocean view or honeymoon.. Btw were you in the dreams or hacenda side.. were there really and differences between the two? Thank you so much! We were all in the Dreams side. The Hacienda rooms are nice as well they are just further away from everything. Almost all of our guests were booked in Hacienda and they were all upgraded. Thank you for the compliments girls! Its so much fun!

Hi girls. My review is finally posted! http://http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t41919

but for a total of $790 I would say its worth it just to outsource and get a ton more pictures we only have 250. If you are looking to stay within a budget which we were in the beginning then the resort photographer does a great job, just don’t let them rush you. OVERALL: We had the wedding of our dreams and I wouldn’t change anything. Everyone should relax and enjoy the process and know that your day will be all you hoped for and then some. Thank you for everyone’s help and all of the creative brains on this forum! I hope this review will help someone as so many of them have helped me along the way. Your planning months go by so fast, treasure them.

DJ Mannia – Carlos was so easy to work with and totally responsive to all of my emails and questions. He even called while we were there to check in and confirm some last minute items. I was very impressed by his service. He was arrived early to set up and was ready to go. I checked in with him after our pictures before we went to cocktail hour and he had me listen to a couple songs to confirm they were the right versions. He was really good with service. One note for any upcoming brides using him- be sure to send him a list of “must playsâ€. I wasn’t specific at all which led to a lot of music being played that we were not interested in but this was totally my fault. I did ask him on 3 occasions to play Fergie during the night but it never got played, just be specific and send him a list prior and you will be thrilled with him! I have his music list if anyone needs it just let me know. After Party – when the reception ended at 10:30 our entire wild group moved into the diso. I changed out of my wedding dress and into my short, white, party dress and we had so much fun. Everyone danced and drank and nobody remembers much except that we had a lot of fun! Photographer: We used the resort photographer and purchased the 30 picture package but ended up buying the entire CD. We had Reuben as our photographer but this was a last minute change as we were supposed to have Nicholas and had already met with him and talked about we wanted. Reuben was great and lots of fun to work with. The only issue was he was supposed to arrive in my room prior to the ceremony which I confirmed 3 times and he never showed up. Nicholas also seemed like a lot of fun if anyone wants to request him. We felt rushed through our group shots and I didn’t get all of the family ones I wanted unfortunately (no shots with my grandparents or brother), make sure you are specific with them that day. I had talked to them prior but then with the photographer change we didn’t get everything we requested. I think our pictures turned out beautiful

Reception – Our reception took place from 6:30 – 10:30 by the Dolphin Pool. Absolutely gorgeous and so much fun – the perfect spot! We had DJ Mannia playing music (details below). I took all of our own linens, overlays, napkins, napkin rings with us. My family and friends all said I was crazy but it looked so pretty they all changed their minds and agreed it was worth lugging them to Mexico. Food – the food was very yummy! We had a Caprese salad to start followed by a Spinach Cream soup in a bread bowl and then chicken stuffed with spinach and cheese and for the vegetarians Portobello mushrooms. Everything was delicious! Our guests couldn’t believe how good the chicken was. I loved it all. Just be prepared that dinner service moves very slow so a good portion of your evening will be spent eating. Drinks – the staff brought our drinks right to our tables, nobody had to get up. At one point in the evening my MOH ordered tequila boom booms and every one of our guests got in a line and did repeated tequila shots it was hilarious and so much fun. Wedding Cake – we had vanilla cake with strawberry filling, it was so good! As a planner I taste a lot of wedding cakes and this one definitely ranked high! I was so pleased. It made me sad that they didn’t deliver the left over cake to our room though. Everyone should ask for this! We had half of the bottom tier left.

The WEDDING: First of all I should say that whatever Landy gets paid is not enough. She is one of the hardest workers I have ever seen and her attention to detail is amazing. I have an enormous appreciation for this because I am a wedding planner myself and know I am not an easy client or easy to please. I know the amount of work that goes into a wedding day and the fact that she does it every day all year blows my mind. I have weddings 6 months a year only 1 or 2 per weekend and am exhausted I can’t even begin to imagine how she feels. The ceremony – so beautiful! We took the sashes for the chairs. Everything was perfect! We played music and they didn’t charge us for setting up the sound system!! Our ceremony was at 4:00 we started a little late but no big deal. The ceremony was symbolic and was conducted by a minister. He was a funny man….his cell phone rang in the middle of the ceremony but at that point everyone just laughed. I would make your coordinator confirm that the persons cell phone is off before you start J Cocktail Hour- on the terrace of the lobby. I was completely thrilled with this set up. We had hors d’ oeuvres and champagne out there and it was beautiful. We chose melon and prosciutto, mushrooms stuffed with cream cheese and shrimp on melba (I think). The only one I could eat was the mushrooms and they were yummy. The other ones seemed ok the prosciutto and melon didn’t look impressive but I’m sure it tasted fine. The staff at cocktail hour never let anyones champagne glass get empty. This was a blast! It was hard to tear everyone away to go to the reception. Cocktail hour took place from 5:30 – 6:30.

Bonfire: The bonfire on the beach was a really fun get together and welcome party for our guests. We took all of the stuff to make smores with us but hardly anybody made them! I ended up leaving a case of graham crackers from Sams club sitting in our room because I wasn’t carrying them all the way back here. It was my best friend’s birthday just a couple days before so I ordered a birthday cake for her through the concierge and had it delivered to the fire. The cake was awesome and she was so surprised! The chocolate cake was so yummy! This night was really a blast, I highly recommend it! Rehearsal Dinner: Wonderful!!! Everything was perfect for our rehearsal dinner. We did the ceremony rehearsal at 6:30 and had dinner in the World Café. I ordered a screen for a slideshow and it was delivered and set up by 6:00, I went in and set up the projector and got the slideshow ready. The staff this night was amazing! We ate from the buffet and the chef prepared the dolphin fish the guys caught earlier in the day for us! Like I said I’m a vegetarian so I didn’t eat it but our guests were amazed and everyone is still talking about the fish and the fact that they did this for us. The Chef even came out and presented it and what seasoning it had on it (he prepared it 2 different ways).

Fishing Charter – Captain Ricks: Unfortunately the guys went fishing on the windiest day of the week. The sea was really rough making for bad fishing conditions. It was too rough for them to even drink the beer I ordered for them! The good side was that they caught a dolphin fish, and a mackerel. Their captain sucked and was rude but their equipment and boats are first class. The booking process was also very easy. I ordered boxed lunches for them through room service the night before they left and they were delivered to the lobby in the morning for the guys to take on the shuttle with them. If your group is big eaters order extra! The sandwiches consist of bread, 1 slice of ham and 1 slice of cheese J