ebernard4985

Quote: Originally Posted by RCBlondie has everyone (or anyone) decided on their bridesmaid dress colour? Now that I see the flower options I am not sure what colour I should be thinking...any suggestions? I asked Ana about the flowers because I already knew what I wanted and she said all I have to do is send a picture. I am doing hot pink calla lilies with blue dresses... I will post pics soon. I think as long as they can get the flowers you want you can change the bouquets.

Quote: Originally Posted by SDbeachgirl I had heard that the beach wedding was set up in a very private part of the resort. The picture does not show this. It almost seems as though the Gazebo is more private. I will be interested to read the reviews from brides who have gotten married there. Hopefully they will start posting their review on this site (or at least on Facebook). Check out facebook, the first beach bride at DRC posted a mini review of the wedding.

I am very concerned about the beach location AND the gazebo location. The gazebo is RIGHT next to the pool and RIGHT above the beach bar. Take a look at some of the pics on facebook and you will see what I am talking about. I know that those of you who are planning 5:00 weddings the one good thing is that people will be eating dinner at this time and hopefully away from these areas. The last thing I want is a bunch of sun bathers in my pics! I am hoping that the beach location will be flexible. I believe to the South of the resort there is nothing so maybe they can move the ceremony down on the beach. Rod on facebook raved about how big the beach was and you can walk a good distance each way so there should me SOME spot that can be kept private.

Quote: Originally Posted by Laura22610 Thanks ebernard and sdbeachgirl for all of the pics and info!! So many decisions to make! I am still waiting for Ana to send me my contract. She told me a week or so ago that she was working on it. Hopefully, she sends it soon...it would make me feel so much better to have it Ana kept telling me that she was working on it and I just kept emailing her. Be persistent... sometimes I think some emails get lost in the cracks I know she is probably super busy but if it has been over a week you should email her again.

Click below where it says "Dreams Riviera" to view the slide show.... I don't know why the link name changed to this but it will show you all of the pictures from the wedding in case you were confused by my last post! Dreams Riviera

Hey everyone! I am uploading all the attachments that Ana has just sent to me. There are some pictures of possible bouquets and centerpieces. There is also some menu information. The menu she just sent me though is different then a previous menu she had sent? I also received my contract today! It is a bit confusing but I hope to get it all straightened out in the next few days!!! BOUQUET INC.PPT CATALGO CENTROS DE MESA.PPT AMResorts Corporate Deluxe All Inclusive Banquet Kit1.doc

PICTURES!!!!!!!!! Ana emailed me this link from the first wedding at Dreams Riviera Cancun on the beach! Dreams Riviera It looks like a very intimate wedding... and I believe the decorations were the basic ones with the package (without the guest chairs). What do you girls think? I think it will be great! I am also pretty impressed with the photography.... is this the resort guy? If so I just might go with them instead of paying an outside photographer to save a bunch of money!

Quote: Originally Posted by Megan24 Who has put down their depoist for their wedding yet?? What package did you end up going with and why? Also are you paying for it in full or waiting until you get to Mexico to complete your payment? J/W I have not put my deposit down yet, I am still waiting for Ana to get back to me with the contract. We picked the Dreams of Love package (the middle package, I think that is what it is called). I decided on this package because I do not want anything over the top and this comes with the necessities. I was going to do the free package but once you start adding the per person for a reception you are almost already at the 2000 anyway! I did not select the highest package because it has some extras that I do not want, like the band. There was nothing in this package that I wanted that justified the extra money. The way I decided was by looking at the DIFFERENCES between the packages and if the extras in the top package are something you want then I would suggest that package. I originally thought that the free package would be cheaper by adding on only what I wanted.... I was TOTALLY WRONG!!! Al a carte adds up quickly!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Laura22610 Is anyone planning on having any kids at your wedding? I was just wondering if you knew whether or not kids stayed free? Carina - Thanks! I think that your RSVP date is fine! You should probably know well before that who is and isn't coming anyway. Kids do stay for free depending on when you go. My wedding is in June and kids are free during that time. When they are free you only needed to pay taxes for them. If kids are not free they are still cheaper than an adult but do not count towards occupancy (so you cannot have 1 adult and 1 child and consider it double occupancy). Hope this helps!

Has anyone decided on a package yet? I don't know what to do about them. I am leaning towards the free package and customizing what I need but I am worried that the cost will add up VERY quickly. I do not want to select a package because there is so much I do not need that comes with it (hairstyling, photography, toasting flutes....). I asked Ana if they can substitute items and she said they could not. The only substitution that would be allowed is getting rid of the cocktail hour and adding additional people to the dinner. What are the rest of you doing If you already received a quote could you share what is included in it? Thanks!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Megan24 Did you girls see the gazebo yet? They put chairs in front of it. I guess it did help the look some. Look on facebook. I think it helped a lot putting the chairs there and seeing it from this angle. The view behind it is amazing but I am concerned about what is to the left of this picture..... THE POOL!!! If you look at the map layout you can see how close the gazebo is to the pool. Also, the building roof in the background is the beach BAR!!! Not sure if this is the best location for a wedding gazebo.... I hope the beach is better!

Quote: Originally Posted by Megan24 Okay I am not a fan of the wedding gazebo. I guess it is not done yet. I will be getting married on the beach now. lol. Just not my style. I like the white one at I think it was the dreams cancun. Much prettier. I was really hoping to be blown away by the wedding gazebo, and unfortunately I was not. I know it is not done yet but I am having trouble imaging anything beautiful with such a weird gazebo.... The gazebos at the other resorts I think are much nicer and prettier. With that said, I am excited for the beach wedding. Ana told me that a good time for the beach weddings is 5 or 6 because most people will be off the beach eating at these times, which makes sense. I am a bit concerned with random people in the ceremony pictures but the good thing about the RM is the LONG beaches. Unlike crowded Cancun I think they will be able to have a location specifically for the wedding ceremonies (or at least I hope they do)! If anyone finds out for sure let us know!

Quote: Originally Posted by t&kJanuary2010 Have you gotten your bags yet? I can't find a nice bag for a reasonable price. We also have 50 guests. I love the drawstring book bag idea, where do you buy them?? I just bought some really cute beach bags from Wal-Mart on clearance for $2 each! They might even be marked down further now. Almost every Wal-Mart I have been to had plenty and I bought 50 of them!

Quote: Originally Posted by carinagirl Soon2BMrsPrince - thanks for adding the dates of future brides in one spot. My fiance's name is Ari. I am thinking that I will most likely have the ceremony on the beach. It does raise another question about what kind of shoes I will wear, but I'll figure it out. Laura- as far as photographer goes, I am not sure what I am going to do. I mean, the package does come with one, but I think I will probably have someone else as well. Possibly a family member who is a photographer. But I would still use the one provided too, since he/she will already be paid for. I think we can do that at least... Does anyone fully understand the difference between the Ultimate and Love package besides the obvious extra services? I guess I am referring more to the gold and silver menus. I am wondering what the big differences are. I love this forum! Thanks to everyone for their input! I have an email from Ana that lists the menus and the more expensive menus have more options, like steak and lobster.... ect. I can send it to you if you would like. If you want duel entrees then you should probably go with the platinum menu.... I am not sure how much you can do in regards to customizing these menus though. I too love this forum! I can not wait to start seeing some pictures once the resort opens!!!

Hello all my lovely fellow DRC brides.... in case you all are not following the on the facebook site for DRC there has been some new pictures posted of the resort today!! AND one of the pictures is a sneak peek at the wedding gazebo, which all I can say right now is it is interesting.... I think I need to see it decorated. What do you all think? Is anyone else doing a beach ceremony? There is a picture of a beach wedding on the Dreams villamanga website and i is GORGEOUS! Let me know what the rest of you are think about doing or any ideas you may have!

I am doing one per couple and then one per single..... I am sure most of the men will not want to carry around bright colorful beach bags !!! I read on here in some other posts that past brides have had the bags delivered to the guests rooms... which at most hotels can cost anywhere from $2-$5 per bag for delivery! I think that is CRAZY!!! If you and your fiance hand deliver them to each room I think it is a little nice gesture and gives you a chance to personally welcome everyone! It might take a few hours to complete but I think it is a nice way to say welcome and thank you for coming!

Quote: Originally Posted by cda023 is the 164 pp/nt? I am officially confused about the pricing for the rooms. Yes it is per person per night. If you need any clarification just ask and I will do my best to help!

Quote: Originally Posted by Megan24 Just an update ladies on girls booking a group rate. This is what my t.a. just sent me. I am pretty upset about it all. I dont understand why us brides should not get the promotion. Here is the email that was sent to me. Hi Megan, Dreams has revised the promo as of last Friday. I was on the phone with my groups department as well as Dreams trying to get some clarification. I am trying to get clarification as to if we can use this NOW with your wedding group. The revision was that it does not pertain to groups and that if your group requires special services, the resort sales manager needs to be informed. Very vague in their remarks - thus the reason we are trying to get clarification again on this. And, they just received the revision late Friday and Dreams revised the promo on their website over the weekend. Now, Dreams is saying it pertains to incentive groups, business meetings that require meeting space such as audio/visual equipment, special catering in the meeting room, etc....... We are arguing with them that you are not an incentive group, you will not have food catered into the meeting room, etc...... This promotion is only for social groups and does not include groups that need special services such as meeting space, events, food & beverage, etc, etc, etc. "They giveth and they taketh away". I did speak directly to Dreams on Friday and this weekend and I am sending those notes over to my supplier today. So, just hang on until we get clarification from the Director of Sales at Dreams. I will let you girls know how this is resolved. I do not really see any point of putting a depoist for all of my guest if I do not get anything out of it. Hey Megan! I wanted to share with you what I have found out thus far! I contacted Hagen Sommer, the director of group sales at DRC and asked him for rates for a WEDDING GROUP. He sent me back the rates and included in his email about the special promotion they have going on right now, the 3G, which is every 6th room is free! If he says weddings get the promotion then I would think all weddings would. If you run in to any trouble let me know and I can forwarded you his email to try and get them to get you the same promotion! What they do for one they should do for all!

Quote: Originally Posted by soon2BMrs.Prince Thanks for the info...$50 deposit that is awesome and I would love it if my guests only had to pay that. So are you getting a group rate? If so how much time do your guests have to pay the deposit? How did you get a T.A. through Apple Vacations? Did you go through the website and call the 800#? I'll be sure to mention it to my T.A. tomorrow. She hasn't told me about receiving any additional promotions. I'll have to ask her about that too. That's weird that there are only ocean view room available because my T.A. told me that the ocean view and ocean front were waitlisted and the only ones available were the garden view. I don't care one bit, but I worried that if some of my guests wanted ocean view then maybe they wouldn't be able to. I'll let you know what she tells me. Thanks again for the info. I went to a local wedding plaza here in Chicago and they had a travel agent in there so I talked to him. I don't know if he works for Apple of if that is just who he is booking through. I never contacted Apple myself. He did tell me that Apple owns Dreams so it is good to book through them. My guests will need to pay their rooms in full 30 days prior to arrival. Another benefit of going through Apple is when you book both air and hotel you only need to put down $150 deposit (so people who cannot afford their airfare right now when it is cheap can still book and only put down a deposit). As for the room situation, the garden view rooms are no longer available on the website for Dreams. Dreams gives all the tour operators (apple vacations ect.) an allotment of rooms and maybe your t.a. is going through one that only has the deluxe garden view so if you really want ocean view I would ask your t.a. to try other operators

Quote: Originally Posted by soon2BMrs.Prince Megan, we are doing a group rate and currently they are holding 20 rooms for us, but our guests have until Sept. 29th to book their rooms by paying a deposit. Are your rooms booked or on hold? And if they are booked, how did you handle it? Did you pay the deposit to book them or are your guests? If your guests are, do they have a certain time frame to pay? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm a little worried that my guests only have until the 29th for the group room rate...which I think is a pretty good deal. We are quoted $492 ($4 more than your room rate) for 3nts/double occupancy in a dlx tropical garden view. I also talked to my t.a. today and she is going to get additional pricing for 4nts for those that want to stay longer and also in other room categories. I should have pricing on this on Monday. If anyone else has prices they can share and how you are going about securing rooms, I would appreciate it. My wedding is about a week after yours and I was quoted the same rate $164 a night. However, I am currently having a problem with my ta getting the rooms because there are only ocean view rooms available. I have heard that the resort is almost completely sold out in June and if you do not have a contract then you will not get the lowest room rates. My ta is through Apple Vacations and my guests only need to put down a $50 deposit to hold their rooms, which is really nice for them. I think through the resort you need to pay one night to hold the room, but I am not sure. The resort wanted me to put down 20% to block the rooms and for 25 rooms for 5 nights I would have had to pay almost 8000 to hold the rooms!! I would just make sure that you are getting all of the current promotions available. They just switched from the every 12th person free to every 6th ROOM is free.... which means every 11th and 12th person are free!! It is an amazing deal so make sure you are getting that!

Quote: Originally Posted by Ashly Mitchell I have been talking to the group sales mgr about group rates through the resort. Not sure whether to go with a travel agent or not. Is your travel agent getting better rates? What kind of commission does she charge? If you recommend working with her, I'd like to contact her. Thanks! I too have been dealing with the groups sales manager...... not sure if I am going to get the best rates through them but I have no idea where to start with a travel agent! I am in Chicago so if anyone has suggestions please let me know!

Quote: Originally Posted by queena427 Hello All: I've just been told by Ana @ Dreams Riviera Cancun that I cannot have an outside photographer! What is the deal? Has anyone else been told this? What!!! This is very upsetting news. I just received an email from Ana introducing herself so I will be sure to ask her about this. Photography is the single most important aspect of the wedding to me and I will be very upset if I cannot bring in another vendor!!!

Has anyone started looking for a photographer or heard who the photographer at the new resort will be?

Hi everyone! I have paid for my 3 bridemaids dresses and also all of the shirts for the men and I only spent a total of about $200 (that is for 3 girls and 6 guys including the two fathers). I went to Carson Pirie Scott and found amazing dresses on the clearance racks! Right now most major department stores have AMESOME sales on their dresses. For a destination wedding you can get a great deal right now. I had to do some searching at a few Carsons to find the right sizes but I save A LOT of money. The dresses were all originally $150+!!! There are some really cute Calvin Klein dresses on clearance as well. So, for those of you looking to save some cash, definitely check it out soon!!!

Have any of you booked groups through DRC directly or have you all used private travel agents?