sunitam

Hi Ladies I started this thread a long time ago, after I had booked Dreams Cancun for my wedding this past January and was doing a lot of research to find the best possible photographer! Well I found him and he was AMAZING. His name is Jeremy Gilliam and he is from Dallas. He flew to Cancun for our wedding and was there for 8 hours and captured all moments of our wedding and reception. I recieved over 1200 amazing pictures from Jeremy and he also just put us up on his website: http://jeremygilliam.com/ Check them out and definitely contact Jeremy if you like his work. I truely enjoyed having him photograph us. And I loved that we had him there all day and got all of the pictures. Sunita

Hi, can someone please tell me how to post pictures on here for my review? and how to make them so they arent huge? thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by carolina24 quick question...Did Roxanne have a strong accent/were you able to understand her well? That's my main concern! hi, she did have a little bit of an accent but really not bad at all. she spoke pretty good english and was able to read the script that i wrote for her without any problems. ive watched our wedding video a couple of times and i am happy with how she performed our ceremony

Quote: Originally Posted by taapple Ladies!!! Help is needed please!!! I have been reading this forum for days and I have several questions. We are considering a Dreams Cancun wedding: 1) when i go to there website i wanted to see what a room rate would cost just as a hypothetical for my brother, his wife and their 3 kids all under the age of 10. it will not let me even select a room b/c it says I have exceeded the max. occupancy of 4 people per room. so then I went to expedia to try to book a hypothetical package deal and the same thing happened. Even if I were to leave off the 4 year old from the count for the room, they would still need to purchase an airline ticket for her so that doesnt work either. this makes no sense to me. obviously a married couple with 3 kids are going to stay together in one room. Has anyone had experience with this. 2) i saw alot of questions about cost for extra people beyond the 20 that the packages include but cant seem to find the answer. We are inviting 50 people, I am sure 10-15 will not come but my question is if we do the ultimate package with ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception dinner do you know what the cost is for someone not staying at the hotel beyond the 20person limit to attend these events? Also does the 20 that are included have to be staying at the dreams? 3) when I did a search for cost of the room, the cheapest I found was $400/night. That seems really high, I realize food etc. is included but is that what your guests are paying for an Oct./nov. time frame I guess I dont understand how I am supposed to assume where my guests will want to stay and when I am researching a resort, it seems like you are apying for a package deal but if 3/4 of your guests decide not to stay there well then the package deal isnt so hot anymore. How do you go about this? I am an idiot at all this clearly and could really use some guidance. thank you in advance, Toby Hi, Ill try to help you with some of your questions too.. I would also look into getting a travel agent. they can get you group rate quotes from different airlines. I had a group of 22 at my wedding and tried getting a travel agent but the group rate she was quoted was really expensive so in the end, most of my group booked through Orbitz and a couple others with Expedia and Westjet. Check different websites and see what the prices are like before you book. Another option you have is getting a discount rate from Dreams. If you call or email the sales manage Armando, he will set up a wedding code for you with a special nightly rate which is good for 3 days before your wedding, and 3 daya after. I had a couple of cousins who stayed at a cheaper hotel for a few nights and then stayed at dreams with the special rate for the last 3 nights. my wedding was a couple weeks ago and the rate they got was $147 USD per person per night. thats a lot better than the 400 dollars they quote online! so if your guests can get a cheap flight, they can book the hotel seperately with the wedding code. you have to email him to get the rate for whatever month you are there. The extra cost for each person over 20 is roughly 80 USD and that includes the cocktail hour and reception dinner. I had 4 guests and 1 photographer who did not stay at dreams and I was not charged any day passes hope that helps

Quote: Originally Posted by Gemball Hi everyone. I've just requested at wedding at Dreams for February 22 next year. I was just wondering if anyone could help me. None of my guest are staying at Dreams as we are flying over from UK it is quite expensive for it's only me and my boyfriend staying. We have requested the Ultimate package but do you know how much they charge for guest not staying at the hotel? Also does this charge go on top of the day charge for use of the hotel? A little mean if it does. Have emailed the wedding coordinator too but I too impaitent to wait. I had 5 guests who were NOT staying at dreams but I just let my WC know and she let the front desk people know and they walked my guests to the gazebo and i wasnt charged for day passes

Hi girls, I just got married at Dreams Cancun on Monday January 4th. It was the first one of the year for Dreams and it was Amazing. Cecilia was a pleasure to work with and everything was done beautifully. My hair and makeup, the flowers, the cake, all turned out exactly how I wanted, if not even better. I just got back from my honeymoon but will try to do a review soon.. One thing i wanted to mention was that we had a symbolic ceremony and had a minister by the name of Roxanne Fernandez and I read a post right before my wedding saying how she did a bad job on someones ceremony! But I wrote our own ceremony script and emailed it to Cecilia who gave it to the minister a few days before our wedding and Roxanne followed my script perfectly and I was really happy with her. I would sugggest taking a look at the ceremony script that they usually use because it may not suit everyone. I did not like it at all, it was very boring and religious and im very, very happy I wrote our own, it was more special.

Quote: Originally Posted by carolina24 could I get a copy as well please [email protected] Thanks!! Yes i will email the ceremony script to both of you

Quote: Originally Posted by carolina24 hi ladies I searched the thread and found some info on the vows, but I had another question. Did any of the recent brides use the symbolic vows given by Dreams or did you write your own? If you did write your own, how did it go, i.e. could you understand what was said, did it seem like the person was just reading a script or did they practice it? Do you think it's better to hire an outside person for this? Thanks ladies! Hi, I emailed Cecilia last week to get a recent copy of the ceremony script last week and I did not like what I got..it was too religous and boring for us so I told Cecilia that I was writing our own and she said that was fine as long as I email it to her beforehand and said that if it was to be secular, then a women would have to perform the ceremony which is fine by me!

Quote: Originally Posted by meldal101010 Does anyone know where i can find pictures of the flower selection they use at Dreams with the packages. I remeber gancing at them somewhere before but can't remember where... I'm trying to decide on the colors i want to use & think seeing the selection will be helpful Thanks!! hey, if you still need the flower pics, just send me your email and ill send it to you

its me again, can i ask a few more questions did you get your makeup done at the spa and were you happy with it, or did you have to touch it up yourself? And did you bring a picture of how you wanted your makeup to look? I was thinking of bringing my own makeup and going for a trial before i go..your hair looked AWESOME by the way can i ask how much you tipped Cecilia and did you wait until after the wedding or before? I was thinking of bringing her a present like a beauty package plus a tip, just wondering what the standard is Thanks again for the review, you really looked amazing

hi maria!!! congrats! you looked so amazing! very happy that you had your dream wedding!!! I had a question about coco bongo- we are going to go there after our reception to keep the party rolling! Who is Z, where do we find her, would she go with us after our wedding, and is there long line ups to get in? congrats again! thanks so much for the review!!!

I have a question for the past Dreams brides I am trying to pick the best location to have our Private dinner that comes with the Eternity honeymoon package but dont know which one to pick! The pier seems nice but I dont know, is it rocky? LOL. was wondering where you guys had yours and if you liked it. Is there a hut as a choice? ThankS!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by meldal101010 Thanks. That is a good rate and i'm hoping to speak to a TA ASAP and try for a deal, but in the meantime I can give his parents a rough estimate. I don't think they understand it would be more expensive if they were to stay at a hotel that didn't offer the all-inclusive...Thanks again! I can't wait to hear all about your wedding and see lots of pics!!! HAVE A BLAST!! you should email or call the hotel directly and talk to the group sales manager, Armando. He will give you the discounted rate per person based on what month you are going. We are getting married in Jan and were given a rate of $147 USD/person/night. If people stay at another resort, they can come to your wedding about an hour before the ceremony and dont have to pay for a day pass..we tried to go through a TA for our group but the prices were so high, like 2200 per person! so most of our guests booked on Orbitz Travel: Airline Tickets, Cheap Hotels, Car Rentals, Vacations & Cruises and a few did the rate through the hotel and booked cheap flights online..hope that helps! just explore all your options, the prices can range very much!

Quote: Originally Posted by nicitica Sunita, Which did you end up choosing? I looked into Del Sol, but they are super duper pricey. In Chicago i could get a great photographer for $3,000 - $4,000, so it seems crazy that they are charging more than that. I thought Michael Maurus's site (cancun-weddings) looked good, but I just saw a post from a very unhappy bride. I only need a photog for a few hours and would love someone great and afforable. (don't we all?) Hi Nicitica! I live in Canada but ended up hiring an Awesome photographer from Dallas for our wedding!!! I found many great photographers in Mexico when I was doing my search, but as you mentioned, some are very expensive and others are a good price if you get them for a couple of hours. I wanted someone who was awesome, affordable and could stay for the whole wedding and reception!!! I saw a past brides pictures on the Dreams Cancun forum and asked about her photographer, who is Jeremy Gilliam. I emailed him, told him my budget and we worked something out! I am so happy I emailed him b/c I am getting exactly what i want and his work is so great. You can check him out at Destination Wedding Photography Dallas Wedding Photographer Jeremy Gilliam. Good luck in your search! Sunita

Quote: Originally Posted by mc5363 Well ladies, I am getting married in exactly one month from today. The countdown is officially on and I am getting so excited. It's definitely time to tie up all the loose ends and get ready for a great trip:) How are the other October/November brides doing? Hey maria, do you or any of the recent brides have a recent copy of the ministers speech for a symbolic wedding? thanks!

Quote: Originally Posted by Tony&Jessica Okay...so we leave on Wednesday to go to Dreams and I just realized that we don't have a DJ. Do they handle this when you get there? I e-mailed Cecilia and got no response. Panicking a little bit! the only outside DJ they allow into dreams to do wedding is DJ Mannia, who you probably need to book through your WC. or you can just rent the sound system for your reception and bring your own music. there is a sound technician that comes with the system that will play the right songs when they need to be on and blend the music for you. We are particular about our music and have tons of songs that we want to play for our wedding so we just got the sound system and are burning our cds and labelling them for the technician (dinnner music, first dance, cake cutting, dance, etc) hope you have an awesome wedding!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by rabutler816 I know you were asking Lisa, but I will say my shutterfly book was AMAZING! It was a big hit. I did it online with our engagment photos and left a few pages blank so people could sign them. It worked out great, was about $79 and that was for the big book (11*14) and it was a think cover. They come cheaper as well. I got it in like 2 days. hey thanks for the feedback! and congrats again- cant wait to read your review!!! question- if you do the shutterbook guest book and have pictures, is there room on those pages to write messages as well? or would u recommend having blank pages after the picture pages? thanks again!

Congrats and welcome to the forum! its so exciting when you have finally found the right resort for your wedding! I am also getting married at Dreams Cancun and I have a lot of info such as the cakes, flowers, menus, etc.. so let me know if you need anything! the Dreams Cancun main thread is awesome for info too

Quote: Originally Posted by mummergirl i think i originally found her when doing a search for dreams cancun on there. but she's claudia cantillo. i think cecilia is on fb as well, but i only met her briefly on wedding day. they are both the sweetest girls ever in real life (and very hard-working). seriously you will feel bad for all the bitching we do here once you meet them, lol! Hi lisa Hope u had a good experience with Dreams and your wedding? I was wondering if you could give me some feedback about your Shutterfly guest book. I am contemplating whether to do one online on shutterfly with different pictures or just buy a small one. we are having around 20ish people. Did you like how yours turned out, how was the quality of the pictures and pages, and do you have any pictures of it? I'd appriate any feedback! thanks!

Congrats Mel!!! im so happy that you got your dream wedding!!! You were a beautiful bride! I had a question about the sand ceremony- what wording did you use, and was it said by the minister? I though I read somewhere that you had to get one of your guests to say the wording? And did you just carry the heart shaped bottle with the mixed sand in your carry on when you flew back home? thanks for the great review and congrats again!

that does help, thank u!

Hi all, I have a question for past Dreams brides.. Im thinking of maybe doing a sand unity ceremony but dont know that much about it..I was wondering where in the ceremony it is done (is it done right after the vows and before the exchange of rings?), what is the wording of the ceremony and who says it, and is it hard to bring the vase of sand back through customs it seems like you would have to hand hold the bottle of sand when you fly back or else the sand would get mixed too much in your luggage? any feedback would be appreciated!!!

Congrats!!! so happy to hear that your wedding was great thanks a lot for the review- very much appreciated!

Quote: Originally Posted by keiperwedding Hi, I am getting married Nov. 7th and have had my reception location and times changed on me. I think I may be stuck with the spa terrace as of now. I am so bummed out. I don't even think there is a view of the ocean from there and isn't that the whole reason we do destination weddings in Cancun? I feel I am being moved around due to a large wedding that is more important but I don't have that confirmed. I would be so grateful if anyone could give me pros and cons of having my reception in the spa terrace or the garden as I think these may be my only two options. I just feel the garden is so out in the open it wouldn't feel private at all and weird dancing away with so many onlookers? Or, does anyone know any other locations that I could look into that have an ocean view? By the way, we booked Dreams 17 months in advance. I am feeling a bit down...any help would be appreciated. Thanks. Hey hun, I found that review that I wanted you to see: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t16783 this Dreams bride had her reception outside in the spa area and loved it- there are some great pictures in the review that show it off nicely. Theres a really great pic of her and her DH dancing on the water fountatin, lol.

Quote: Originally Posted by Michelle613 Cubsfan & Rabutler--good luck, wish you guys an amazing wedding & amazing trip!!! Sunitam--did your photographer stay in the hotel? I'll have to speak to Claudia, but I'm nervous. How much was the fee? hi, I hired the same photographer as Kat81 from the US. He may or may not stay at Dreams but Im not being charged for a guest pass either way. I was told by Gaby that any guest of mine who is not staying at dreams doesnt have to pay for a day pass as long as they come around an hour before the ceremony so I told Cecilia that when she tried to tell me outside photographers require a pass. Like Kat said, they are a guest at your wedding and you are paying almost 50 for each extra guest for their dinner so dont pay anything more than that!