mc5363

Quote: Originally Posted by shanbeth Maria, We booked our room yesterday, but my travel agent(and good friend) talked me into the JR. Suite room with the Jacuzzi instead of the 1 bedroom Honeymoon room. The Junior room was about $70 more per person, but was bigger then the 1 bedroom, it was a suite with LR, sitting area and king bed, but not a seperate bedroom. Like 952 sq ft compared to 648 in the 1 bedroom. It also had jacuzzi and the club preference. It was top floor towers. She said the 1 bedroom's were all 1st floor. I'm hoping of course for an upgrade, but wondered how your room was? Also did you wait until most of your guests had booked before you started to negotiate for more guests? Also did you negotiate with Claudia directly? I'm so excited we have about 14 people already booked and the invites just hit last weekend! I also found my bridesmaid dresses today at JCPenney's and they are perfect color and on sale for $49.99. I'm only having 3 girls stand up for me. Thanks for the info! I keep going thru your photos. They are soooo helpful! Shannon 11-11-10 Dreams Cancun bride! Hi there, I had the 1 bedroom honeymoon suite in the pyramid building. I think we were on the 3rd or 4th floor and we liked it a lot. I contemplated getting the jacuzzi room, but all our guests were staying in the pyramid building so I didn't want to be on the other side of the resort in the tower. I am sure you won't be disappointed whichever way you go. I think there are some pictures of my room in the link I posted. I negotiated the entire time and didn't really wait until everyone was booked. Although, once they were all booked, I used that to calculate how much revenue our group would be bringin gto the resort that week and used that figure to get an extra hour at the reception at no charge. Just push for whatever you want. My wedding coordinator was Cecilia and I did all my negotiating through her. That's great that you found your dresses. It's all so exciting! Good luck with everything:)

Hi Shannon, Feel free to ask away. This website saved me while I was planning and really put me at ease so I am happy to do the same for others. I did not bring decorations for the gazebo. I actually traded the photographer for the gazebo decorations becuase I hired my own. I used Cancun Weddign Photography. I did bring the chair bows though and some small things for the beach. I painted large letters that spelled I DO in my wedding colors and had them placed on the table with my place seatings. I found these really cute shells that had holes drilled in them for the place cards. They went really well with the theme and looked great. I also had a table set up with favors. We gave pashminas to the ladies and cigars to the men. We also had a polaroid camera so guests could take a picture of themselves, tape it in the book and write us a message. That came out really cute. The cocktail hour really worked out great. The gazebo where we got married is right by the tower. The bar is in the hotel lobby of the tower and there is an outdoor area there as well. It is right by the infinity pool and guests can relax there and have a cocktail while you take pictures. I had my reception on the beach and it was absolutely amazing! After being there and seeing the other wedding locations, I would not have done it anywhere else. The set up is absolutely gorgeous and not many people can say that they listened to the waves crashing with their feet in the sand while eating their wedding meal. All the tables are set up right in the sand and a dance floor is in the middle. A full bar and buffet is set up on the beach as well. You also have assigned wait staff. I don't think many of us even went to the bar all night. Our waiter was amazing and kept an eye out for empty hands and would just bring cocktails to the dance floor. Multiple times that evening he walked over with trays of shots and handed them out. We had an absolute blast!! We used DJ Mannia and yes, he is the preferred vendor used at Dreams. However, I did contact him directly about the discount and then informed Cecilia that he offered it. She modified our contract to reflect the savings. He did a wonderful job and kept everyone on the dance floor all night. As for the actual marriage, it can be a hassle to make it legal. It would be really easy just to get married by a JP at home and then have your big to do in Mexico. I would recommend it if you want to skip the blood tests and such. I posted a link somewhere in the review to more pictures if you want to get a better idea of the beach set up. If you have anymore questions, just let me know:) Maria

Quote: Originally Posted by SonyaR Wow, you are beautiful and your wedding looked like so much fun. I hadn't considered getting a dance floor but now that I saw your pictures I may reconsider. Congratulations to you and your DH. I almost didn't splurge for the light up dance floor, but my husband wanted to so we decided to get it last minute. It really made the scene and added a great ambiance to the wedding. I would highly recommend it!

I bought them at Camilla's Bridal in Arlington, MA. I think they were $130 which was very reasonable and the girls said they were super comfy and light weight.

Quote: Originally Posted by shanbeth Maria your review was great and helped me decide to get married at Dreams Cancun. We sent in the deposit yesterday to reserve the date of 11/11/10. I have been trying to find answers on this site, but it is a little confusing. I did not realize how expensive the reception would end up. Can you suggest which wedding package you choose? Also if I go with the middle of the line and I go over the 20 guests is it better to customize a package then pay $48/person? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Shannon 11/11/10-Dreams Bride Shannon, First off congratulations! Trust me when I tell you that you won't be disappointed. There is nothing I would have changed about my wedding day. I had 40 guests and we went with the Ultimate Wedding Package. However, I was abel to trade the cocktail hour for 15 additional people for dinner. That meant giving up the snacks, but there is a bar right by the gazebo so all my guests hung out there and had a cocktail while we took out pictures. It really worked out great and saved us a bunch of money. If you aren't intent on cocktail hour, that would be my suggestion. Since you are at an all inclusive resort, your guests won't ave to pay for the drinks anyway. At the time we got married, DJ Mannia was offering a 30% discount for all Dreams brides so we got that. I would highly recommend him...he was so great! I also bought my own chair bows which cthe resort tied onto the chairs at no charge. If I hadn;t, I would have been charged something like $4 a chair. I think I ended up getting them on line 10 for $6. I also worked up a whole price break down of how much revenue my guests would be bringing to the hotel that week and used that as negoiation for an extra hour at the reception at no charge. I didn't order extra champagne and actually don't even know if it was served since I was whisked off for photos and did not upgrade the cake. Unless you care about the pictures of the cake, don't bother. Barely anyone ate it since we had 3 other desserts offered at the reception. Just take a look at the package and if there are things you don't want negotiate swaps. That's a great way to save a little money. One suggestion of mine would be not to swap the videographer. I almost did and am so glad we didn't in the end. The video is great and we had it the next day. Good luck and if you have any other questions, let me know:)

Quote: Originally Posted by orionandmari072510 How trashed did it get? I am debating on trashing my dress for our photos, but am a lil hesitant since ive spent so much $$ on it, but then again, we only get to wear our wedding dress once so im still debating It wasn't too bad. The bottom of my dress was filthy. Looking back, I wish I did the trash the dress. It's tough becuase you spend a ton of money and don't want to ruin it, but in reality, you are never goign to wear it again. My dress has been hanging in a garmnet bag in my closet for over 6 months now and that's where it will stay until I have the heart to get rid of it:)

These are the non-professional ones: Snapfish: Share:Registration

Quote: Originally Posted by mrs.timpone i am a future Dreams Cancun bride and i must say what an amazing and helpful review! your reception is everything i want mine to be! congrats! It's an amazing place and I can't imagine anyone's wedding being anything less than fantastic there. I am sure your day will be everything you dream of. If you want to see some more pictures, here is the link to my professional pictures: Snapfish: Share:Registration

Quote: Originally Posted by Danaddesign Amazing! Maria thanks so much for such a detailed post. I've only just begun my planning and communication problems have me a little nervous, but after the info and beautiful photos I feel much beter about things coming together very well in the end. Congrats, Dana Dana, I know its easier said than done, but try not to get nervous about the communication. It's not great and many times it takes a while to get a response, but the wedding planners at Dreams are wonderful and they bend over backwards to make your day perfect. I am sure your wedding will exceed your expectations and if you have any questions, let me know. Good luck:)

Quote: Originally Posted by tiffanyan02 Amazing review! I loved everything! It makes me so excited to go there for my wedding! Dreams is amazing and totally exceeded my expectations. You won't be disappointed.

Quote: Originally Posted by peterpanpixiedust wow, you have such an amazing attitude about everything, even the not so great things. You've just made my decision easier, I can't wait until the Dreams Cancun WC contacts me! I wonder how long it takes. BTW everything looked beautiful! If you don"t hear back via email, try calling. Cecilia is great!

Quote: Originally Posted by peterpanpixiedust So, did a search and I'm seeing alot of people give their take on outside vendors, but from 2008 and earlier. I was wondering if anyone can help me with more recent news. I want to use an outside photographer, but I've seen people say no. However, what if he is one of my guests? Can they stop my guest from taking photos? He did my friends wedding here in the states, and he does amazing work, and this is the only thing I want absolute control on. I would be paying to fly him in, and I would pay for his room for the night, and he would be one of my 20 guests. I was going to have him shoot my bridal pics in my hotel room (while I touch up my hair and makeup and get into my gown), and then have him come down with me. Couldn't I just say that he's my cousin or something? I would ask my WC, but I contacted them a while ago (the form says they will get back within 2 buisness days... HA!) and still no reply... grrrr, so techinically I don't have a WC. I am not sure if policies have changed but I got amrried this past November and I hired an outside photographer to shoot my wedding. No one gave me a hard time about it.

Quote: Originally Posted by leaseylu we were planning on bringing our own music to the wedding and just renting the sound system but it is getting close and we havent done anything!!! so i contacted dj mannia for pricing and i saw that they did the light up dance floors. does anyone know if that is the same thing they offer thru the resort or if it is something different?!?! thanks in advance :) DJ Mannia brings the light up dance floor. I have to say that he was worth every penny! The DJ kept everyone on the dance floor all night and the MC was terrific. It's nice to hav eall your special moments introduced instead of trying to take care of it yourself. I would highly recommend them especially if you are having your wedding on the beach. I can't imagaine that an iPod would be anywhere loud enough with the wind and waves. They also bring extra lighting which is great for the beach. Go with Mannia:)

Quote: Originally Posted by waybuloo Oh my goodness your wedding has made me so excited it looks everything I would love my day to be!! I had been undecided between Dreams & the Moon Palace but after seeing your pics I think I am sold on Dreams!! Could I ask you, a few reviews have said that the pool is too small? also the children can't eat in one of the restaurants? If it isn't too rude would you mind telling me how much your wedding reception on the beach cost you? Look forward to hearing any advice or tips I sent you an email. If you have anymore questions, I am happy to help!

Quote: Originally Posted by cougs ahhh i just checked back and saw that you posted pro pix! GORGEOUS!!!! who was your photog? I used Cancun Wedding Photography...they were great!!