wilsoml2

$6000 was for the wedding and reception. It did not include our stay.

CancunBride11, Yes, our cocktail hour was at 7 and the reception at 8. I'm not entirely sure what time the spa closes, so you may be able to get in there around 7. That's something you'll have to confirm with your WC. Good luck, I'm glad to be helpful!

CancunBride11 The spa terrace is located near the pier. Check out the Resort Map, the terrace is next to the tennis courts and behind the "outdoor spa cabins": http://www.dreamsresorts.com/drecu/resort-map.html So, the spa terrace is basically surrounded on 3 sides. The 4th side that faces the ocean has a low wall that you can see over. It overlooks the outdoor massage areas (little palapa type things) then the ocean. It was dark by the time we had our reception at 8pm, so you couldn't see the ocean anyways. I think technically you could see it though if you start your reception during the day. Here is a link to our Cocktail Hour/Reception pictures. None of them are edited (I'm slowly working on that!) so some are a bit dark. Hopefully it helps! https://picasaweb.google.com/stevenranck/WeddingReception# And finally, here is the best picture I can find to show you where the spa terrace is. The main building is where World Cafe and the Check-in desk is located. In the ocean, you can see the pier. The large building behind it is Oceana. The lagoon and pool are just out of the picture on the right side. Where the arrow is, you can see some tall light poles. That is where the tennis court is located, and the spa terrace is next to it.

I have spa terrace pictures in my review: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/61433/melissa-s-wilsoml2-dreams-cancun-7-2-2010-wedding-review We didn't have Juan stay for our reception (wish we had!), so the pictures are pretty dark. It was awesome though since it was very private. The spa closes in the evening, so no one walked through or anything. I loved having it there. We had 37 people (4 tables + sweetheart table) and I think there was room for a few more tables, but it might get a bit tight with more than 6. We had plenty of space for dancing. Here's the spa during the day:

If your WC has you down for a certain date, you're pretty much good to go regardless of the deposit. Cecilia never received our deposit so didn't take it out of the final bill but we still had our wedding as planned! It turns out that the accounting department at Dreams had received it, but never got around to telling the wedding department.

If you want anything specific, you have to email the WCs with your requests. Otherwise, I don't think they'll contact you until you arrive at the resort and set up a meeting with them a few days before the wedding. At least that was my experience. For instance, if you want Juan Navarro I'd definitely ask for him. We did not specifically ask for him ahead of time and got some of his assistants since he was out of town. They were still amazing (he runs a good business) but some brides may have been put off a bit. Apparently he has like 5 photographers working under him. As for the video thing, I don't think it was up and running at the time I was there (July 2010). I could be wrong though since we didn't use it. I think I remember another bride saying that somewhere. Hope that helps! 7 weeks will go by fast, good luck and congrats!

My CHI worked fine at Dreams. I've been in their standard rooms and in the tower. Didn't really matter since it was always so humid when I was there that my hair immediately frizzed when I stepped outside. I hope you can figure something out, I can't go anywhere without my straightener!

For our wedding, dinner actually took about 1.5 hours so we only had 1.5 hours of dancing. You should take into consideration how long it takes for everyone to sit down and get drinks, etc. Plus it is a 3 course meal which takes longer than you'd expect. I definitely wish we would've had an extra hour to dance, but we had a lot of dancers in the crowd. It depends on your group!

That's a sweet deal. I paid over $3 per bag just for materials.

I bought my chair sashes here. There are several options, but these are $0.59 each. http://www.weddinglinensdirect.com/8xorsapa.html

We paid $350 but they started off at $500. Always negotiate!

I'm sorry that you have to go through this. Yes, the woman appears to be trying to be respectful, but it still is discriminatory. Of course the government can't "legislate peoples' heart and belief systems" but they can legislate business practices and what she is doing appears to be illegal in Mexico (assuming what you said about their laws is true). Hopefully you can find other vendors with better business practices. Try to not let this ruin your big day. As my husband constantly reminded me when we were planning our wedding (and things kept going wrong), all that matters is you two. As long as you're together, everything will be fine! Best of luck!

Congrats on setting a date! Just wanted to mention that as long as you've been charged, the date is set. You won't get a signed contract from Claudia until you meet with her at the resort a few days before your wedding. I guess it's just how they do things in Mexico. In fact, we did a wire transfer and never got confirmation that Dreams received it but our wedding day was still reserved for us! Have fun planning, a year will go by before you know it!

I don't think it's too hard. It's similar to Word and Outlook but much easier to get things to go where you want them! Good luck!

My bridesmaids and I only had our makeup done at the salon, but it went pretty quickly, probably only about half an hour. I'm not sure how long hair takes, but I imagine a 1 pm appointment would be fine. Â Yes, Dreams does sometimes have at least 2 weddings a day during the busy season. There was one scheduled for 2 hours before mine, but somehow it got pushed back until 45 minutes before mine. Somehow they pulled it off!