allyson779

Thank you so much Autumn and Karen... you guys are the best! This was exactly what I was looking for. thanks again =)

I don't think it's too hard to find someone to perform the ceremony in English. If you are worried about it you can do what we are doing.... have our legal ceremony in the states and have a close friend or family member perform the ceremony.

Karen- you looked so beautiful!!!! Loved looking at your photos... gets me so excited. I am also having my ceremony on the beach in front of Oceana. On a side note: I was curious from past brides... did you set up a rehearsal with Rebeca (or your coordinator) to go over the ceremony? Also, I know there are tons of general time lines throughout the forum, but I was wondering if any past brides had one that went over specific times for the ceremony and reception? For example at what time to start playing the music for the ceremony, walking down the aisle, cocktail hour,serving dinner, cutting the cake, first dance, toasts, etc? Thanks so much for all your help

If possible I don't think I would chance getting an upgrade when you get there. I am not sure if this is an option..but this is what we did.....since the upgrades are due to availability, we assigned the upgrades within our reserved block of rooms. So once we had an enough rooms booked to qualify we just used one of those rooms we originally put a deposit on for the upgrade. When it's time to give up the unbooked rooms the TA will just credit the deposit back to you or on your credit card. (Hope that made senses- kinda confusing how the upgrades and free nights work) Run it by your TA.

WOW- I heart your colors and all your DIY projects... everything turned out perfect! Your dress and all your outfits look amazing... you're going to be one hip beautiful bride! I can't wait to hear all about it and see your pics!!!! =)

Mishka- one of my favorites to date! Love the flower design and of course the color!!!!

They look beautiful-as always! (and of course I love the colors)

Great job! Love all the pictures and you guys look so cute together!

We finally made up our minds and we are going to do "The Way I Am" By Ingrid Michaelson.

Quote: Originally Posted by Karen972 That was really a lot of great information, and answered tons of my questions! I'm very thankful for this forum! Congrats to everyone! Dreams PV seems like the perfect place for my fiance and I to celebrate our marriage after reading such positive reviews! (Wedding at Our Lady of Guadalupe). One thing going through the thread, I didn't notice anything about people having a wedding at Dreams PV in the rainy season (June-September) & backup plans. My fiance and I really want to have our Reception at Dreams PV, but unfortunately for many reasons we have to get married in July! (I know, heat, humidity and RAIN)! I was wondering if any of the previous brides have experience in talking to Rebecca about possible backup plans? I read somewhere that you can rent Oceana out for $3000 and it's covered but I was wondering if there was another backup plan that you don't have to pay extra for. Is the ballroom at the back of the resort a backup plan that doesn't have extra cost? Anyone have experience with tents as a possible backup plan, how many people they cover and the price of those? Thanks! We are also getting married in rainy season. I researched all options including renting a tent, oceana, and the ballroom. I am not sure how many people you are expecting but if you plan on renting a tent on the beach... it is super expensive. To give you an idea how expensive it is... we received quotes from the resort and two other vendors for a simple waterproof tent to set up on the beach for around 80-100 guests... the pricing was anywhere from $3,500 to $7,000 on up (and that was including a simple tent and flooring.... not even a dance floor). If you were having the reception at Las Palmas I am sure the cost would go down dramatically because you don't have to worry about the sand and flooring. The ballrooms were very pretty and as mentioned above they have a perfect area for cocktails. Plus it is very private with their own restrooms. (which is an added bonus) In the end we decided not to take a chance and worry about having a back up plan ... so we picked Oceana for our reception. The rental fee is expensive, but to us it was worth it. Plus at our reception we can enjoy the beach setting rain or shine.

I would take a chance and go with what you like...there's no need to worry. I am sure they are all going to be good. We went to PV last year and really liked the tres leches cake. In fact it was one of our favorite desserts there. Most likely this will be the one we pick. What about the dinner & cocktail hour.... what is everyone picking?

Thanks for all the great information. We received our invitations a couple of weeks ago, but I still have to put them together. I hope to get them out this week. You made a good point- most people will already know if they are coming by the time they get the invitation...I shouldn't really worry about sending them out too early. (Plus it will give me plenty of time to get my OOT bags ready)

Thanks for all the great information. We received our invitations a couple of weeks ago, but I still have to put them together. I hope to get them out this week. You made a good point- most people will already know if they are coming by the time they get the invitation...I shouldn't really worry about sending them out too early. (Plus it will give me plenty of time to get my OOT bags ready)

We just started looking, but we found a few that we really liked (under $150) at Nordstroms. Some locations have a separate department called "the wedding shop", but if you don't have one near by than you can always shop online... Wedding Shop - View All - Nordstrom

Wow Karen... I love all your stuff- what a great job! I have a few (random) question for you... I see your wedding is 05/29/2010 and you sent the invitations out in October: 1. Did you specify a RSVP deadline, if so what was it? 2. If you are using a TA/group rate ...Was there a separate deadline to book the travel by? My problem is... The group rate for the hotel is only good through June 1st and I am not sure if I should make the RSVP deadline also June 1st or a bit later... My wedding is not until 10/09/2010.

Hi- I have the following email address for the spa: [email protected]

I forgot to mention...I did this on the Mac using excel so if you can't open it or the formatting looks weird I can always PM you.

This my spreadsheet.... might be what you are looking for... The first tab is for the rooms and the second tab is fights. Good Luck Attachment 4813

Hi Billy and Erin, Congratulations! Make sure you check out the Puerto Vallarta section - tons of great threads and ideas. Happy Planning.

Hi Kara, We also booked everything before we knew the pricing for our guests as well. I would not worry too much. I would work on getting a good rate for the rooms either through a TA or through dreams directly. The airfare will not be available for a while, but in many cases your friends and family will want to shop for their own airfare using miles or various discounts. Also, if you log onto expedia or orbitz (or any travel site) you can price out what it would be for May 2010 and kind of use that as a benchmark. Than we explained on our website that we are working with a TA to secure a group rate and we will keep you posted, but we are crossing our fingers to stays within a budget of $XXX and $X,XXX per person. It's kind of risky to say a range, but we figured if needed our guests can be prepare and start saving.

I was also quoted $80 per person , but after reading a couple of posts from trip advisor we are strongly urging our guests to stay at the resort.... (Sorry, I could not get the link to work so I just did a copy & paste. The entry below is from 01/17/2010) "My wife and I were invited to attend a destination wedding at the Dreams Resort and Spa in Puerto Vallarta in January of 2010. By the time we made a decision to go, there were no rooms left at the resort so we stayed at another hotel in Puerto Vallarta. We didn't think that this would be a big deal, but the Dreams Resort staff obviously thought differently. To begin with, there was an $89.00 USD fee for any and all wedding guests not staying at the resort. This fee was supposed to cover the cost of attending the wedding ceremony and the dinner reception and be good for an afternoon pass (from 4pm to midnight) to the resort. What a great way to showcase the resort and all that it has to offer - not! My wife and I arrived promptly at 4pm and the wedding was scheduled to begin at 5pm. First, the security staff would not allow us to enter the resort, even though our names were on the printed guest list and we showed our ID - they demanded that we leave our identification at the gate. Normally, this would not have been a problem, but all I had was a govenment issued driver's license and I did not want to take a chance on losing it in Mexico. In spite of our pleadings, the resort would not bend on their demand, and so we had no other choice if we wanted to attend the wedding. To add insult to injury, they then required us to complete a Hotel Registration Card at the front desk, and again asked for identification which was left with security at the front gate. What a great way to start a beautiful day - not! The location of the resort is in a very beautiful and remote spot - and the resort had set up a gazebo for the wedding right next to the beach - again, very beautiful. The unfortunate part here is that the waves were so loud that no one could hear the wedding vows which the bride and groom had written themselves. This could be easily fixed with a microphone and a speaker system, but the resort is probably too cheap to consider such an easy fix. After the ceremony, we proceeded to the dinner; and again the setting was beautiful. Unfortunately, the outdoor dining area was located so far from the kitchen that the food was cold by the time it reached our tables. A little later in the evening I had to go to the front desk to inquire about changing some Canadian money into pesos so that we could spend some money at the resort, and the Front counter staff asked for ID first - which I could not provide because security had my ID at the front gate - go figure. The staff at the Front desk was rude and treated me like my request was an imposition. Finally, some of our family staying at the resort decided to give us a tour which ended at one of the lounges. We thought that this would be a nice way to end the evening after travelling so far for this destination wedding; but again, I was wrong! While sitting in the lounge with my family I noticed a very officious looking individual walking in my direction (which I thought was really strange until he opened his mouth). It was the night manager and he said, "Senor Johnson?" Surprisingly, I replied, "Si?" He then said in a very direct tone, "Your pass expired at 1130pm and it is now 1140 pm - it is time for you and your wife to leave!" We were all shocked, but like a polite Canadian that I am, I finished my drink, tipped the waitress (I was the only one that did so), and my wife and I left the resort. It is too bad that they didn't ask the young drunk who was causing quite a commotion at the bar to do the same, but I guess he was staying at the resort and therefore his behaviour was deemed acceptable! Oh ya, I forgot to mention that the young bellhop that called for our cab was quite rude as well and he tried to suggest that our return cab fare was going to be120 pesos when the sign at the desk said 80 pesos, but by this time it really didn't matter anymore. On the flip side, the bride and groom were so busy and in love on this special day of their's that they likely didn't know what we had experienced - and I am glad for that because this was their day. I just won't recommend this resort to anyone who may ask, because for us it was a bad Dreams resort! Adios and vaya con dios! I would hate to have any of our family/friends experience this.

We are getting married 10-09-2010 and we are doing online RSVP. The actual RSVP card will have our website and a phone number for those who do not have internet access. Our reply date is July 1, but our group rate is only good until May 15th ....so we are including an enclosure card going over the travel information/contact and deadline for the group booking rate.

I recently found out that due to the lack of space we will no longer be able to have a buffet....I am having a hard time deciding which menu items we should have for both the cocktail hour and for the dinner.... Is there any dishes or appetizers your guests were raving about....or on the flip side recommend not getting? Thanks so much

Congratulations and Thanks so much for a great review. It was so great to read all about Mishka and all your vendors. I am also using Mishka for my upcoming wedding in October and she has been such a pleasure to work with. I love looking through her blog and cannot wait to see what she will come up with for our wedding.... I have to say though I saw some of your pics and everything looked amazing from the flowers to the smaller details like the kids table, but I was lost for words when I saw your chuppah! It was the most beautiful one I have ever seen.

Rebeca must of gotten a ton of emails- I also emailed her and I am so glad I booked early and in 2009 so the fees do not apply to me either....that made my day! What a relief! Now we just need to make sure to save all our emails/correspondence with Rebeca... just in case. =)