volosikj

I started working on a review but it has been crazy with the aftermath of the wedding and catching up on work that I haven't finished it yet. I do promise to post one. http://150111gaulwedding.dreamsriveriacancun.adventurephotos.com.mx/#/wedding-slideshow-7/ Above is a link to our photo slideshow from our 1/15/11 wedding and TTD session. We hired Anel from Adventure Photographers and bought the unlimited package. She did an amazing job, and is truly a pleasure to work with. I am really pleased with how they turned out, and am so glad we decided to use her rather than hire an outside vendor and pay 5 times as much. Really recommend working with her!!!! We also had DJ Doremixx who brought the balloons, cold fireworks, and masks to the reception party. It was an amazing time! I will be selling my chair sashes (60) and table runners (8) if anyone is interested....please PM me. My new hubby is dying for me turn to our "wedding headquarters" back into an office!

I have attached our timeline. DJ Doremix sent us this template a few months before our wedding and we started to fill in songs we like, but then just told him really to play whatever. He did a wonderful job. The third tab has our ceremony playlist. We skimmed here and only rented the sound system for $198+ 11% tax for the hour . They ask you to bring both a CD and an IPOD for the technician to use. In our case, he only used the ipod. I also made sure I printed copies of both of the song lists, and brought them with me both for the WC, and for the DJ, and Technician just in case. We have modern taste so the vitamin string quartet's renditions of some of our favorite songs worked best for us. Our friends and family loved the music, and it does sound beautiful with our wedding video playing the background. If budget wasn't a factor, I would have probably hired a live violinist. I saw one preform at another wedding and they did an awesome job. We held our reception on the pool deck. In my opinion, this is probably the best location at the resort (weather permitting). It was great to be by the beach, and has a beautiful backdrop and is pretty private. I will get started on my review today with more details. Hope this helps!

I would definitely start flooding the wedding coordinators with emails requesting Ivan as your DJ, or emailing even try emailing the banquet manager/corporate office. I got married at DRC this past Saturday the 15th, and met with Ivan a few days prior to our the wedding. I gave him our wedding timeline and he was wonderful. Late Thursday night I got a voicemail and email from him informing me that the resort had canceled him as my DJ b/c they want to use their own in house DJ. The wedding coordinator did not call and let me know this. So the next morning I went down to their office and complained. It really isn't the wedding coordinators but the banquet manager, Walter, that has canceled the contract with outside vendors. I was so incredibly upset and kept being told I would have to wait until 3pm to speak with him (mind you --the day before my wedding!!!) to see if he would make an exception for me to still use DJ Ivan. After having to stop by the office multiple times, luckily, the banquet manager made an exception in my case and we were able to have DJ Doremixx without having to pay an outside vendor fee. I would definitely exercise your bridezilla voice in this instance b/c the DJ really does make the party, and I think Dreams is making a huge mistake not keeping the contract with Ivan. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Ivan and the job he did at our wedding too. All of our guest from young to old, were on the dance floor the whole night and having the best time of their lives! He brought balloons, masks, and cold fireworks, and did just a fantastic job keeping the party going. Literally everyone who came to our wedding (55 people) said that this was the best wedding they had ever been too ever!! Ivan also connected me with Daniel Santos Servin who preformed with 2 other firedancers at our wedding. It was so incredible. It was the most amazing time ever. Even though we paid to extend the party an extra hour, I wish we would have paid to extend it an extra 2 hours because everyone was just having such a great time. I will post pictures soon and a full review but just wanted to confirm that this is something happening, and by all means you should complain.

Don't count on this. I was told that they get rid of anything that is left behind b/c they do not have the space to store things. Someone on this thread mentioned they left cylinder vases, when i asked the coordinator if I could use them, I was told they no longer had them. I was in the wedding coordinator's office today and did not see any extra decor around either. I am renting vases from the banquet manager for $10 per vase + 11% tax for our reception on Saturday so it could easily be from past brides. The end result --- it is a business and a profitable part of the resort and they do need to charge for this so I am ok with it. It is cheaper than me buying them or having to deal with the hassle of bringing them in my luggage. I have had 3 coordinators also. I know have Veronica and I have to say she is extremely organized and wonderful to deal with. They really do try to make sure your day is perfect. I have stopped by the office 3 times this week, and there are 3 coordinators on email all day trying their best to respond to brides. I set up conference calls with Veronica for an hour in the beginning of planning, and we went through and she answered all of my questions. Some of the brides on here say save all of your emails, I have not found them to try to squeak anything past me with extra costs. I would really base most of your budgeting off the wedding guide on the dreams website. If you ask for exceptions/substitutions for items this is where you can have issues.I will let you know how it all turns out after Saturday, but I have to say I was very nervous about everything until the second I stepped foot on the property. It is beautiful, and we saw a wedding on Monday night that was stunning;. It does come together you just need to have faith. I think most of my stress has been self-induced with various DIY projects I have embarked upon b/c of this website. I will be sure to post a review to help other brides in the planning process. If you have any questions -- let me know and I will do my best to ask for you. Oh, we are in the master suite and we got the upgrade from our group package. I would say it is totally worth it. Having all of the extra OOT bags and decor takes up a good part of the room, and it's nice to have a separate bedroom and living room/kitchen/dining area. we are planning on hosting a bridal brunch here with room service the day of. I'll post photo's when we get back at the end of next week. Bethanne- we will see you soon for your wedding!

We actually booked the honeymoon suite, but were given the Preferred Master Suite as an automatic upgrade with the 3G promotion that Dreams is running right now. If you are working with a travel agent, they should be able to arrange this for you. I know there was a minimum of rooms you had to book to qualify for the upgrade, and we have 55 people coming to give you an idea. The difference between the Honeymoon Suite and garden room is it has 1 King bed, larger, Oceanfront and has a Jacuzzi outside. The Master Suite has a separate bedroom, living and dining area, small kitchenette, jacuzzi outside, and is oceanfront.It is much bigger at 1267 sq ft. Hope that helps! Can't believe we leave on Monday!!

I leave on Monday for our wedding! We hired fire dancers through Daniel Santos Servin. We are getting 3 FIRE DANCERS AND 1 DRUMMER for 20 mins for 350.00 $ +38.50 $ (11% tax)=$388.50. They coordinated through Veronica at the hotel, and I will let you know how they perform. Here is a video they sent me http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCVbZC0ZVig They gave us the best price and were very responsive.

Why did you pick Seaside Grill over Oceania, and did they charge you anything extra to close the resturant

Hey girls, out of those who got married on the beach-- did you any of you wear heels? My family thinks I am crazy for buying heels to wear with my dress. They don't think I will actually be able to walk down the aisle! Is there any time of runner or path, or is it all sand?

Tammy- Â Thank you for hosting the webinar. 2 questions to have Gabby answer are: 1. Dimensions for round and banquet tables, maximum # each table holds? Chuppah dimensions? 2. What do the platinum and special menus include that the prices are listed within the wedding planning guide for DRC? ( Secrets has special platinum menus on their websites with lobster)

I am logged in, is anyone else being told that we will begin shortly? Does it not start at 10:00am PST? aka 8 minutes ago? I just want to make sure I am in the right place.

Can you please post the flowers/menu options on this thread so that everyone can view it? They really discourage you asking someone to email you attachements, and you can get banned from using the site temporarily if you don't comply with the forum rules. (it's happened to me in the past!) So please share any new updates with the group. Hoping to hear a lot more from the Webex this weekend with Gabby!

I AM REGISTERED!

I can't believe Ana is gone!! I am so worried that my date and wedding is not going to be confirmed. Anyone else having any luck connecting with the new coordinator?

I would love a DRC webinar!!! after work hours (after 6pm- Eastern time) work for me too!

Can you please upload the RSVP template?? Your invites look amazing!!!