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My last post was to this question below... see I'm rusty

I told them I didn't need extra cake per person so I wasn't charged (everyone is drunk by the time they serve the cake anyway, you DONT need extra cake past the 20 people) Yes they charged me for the additional champage, that we DIDNT HAVE. CHECK YOUR BILL!! Unfortunately we didn't realize no one had champagne until after we paid and they wouldn't refund us... boooo.

I haven't been on the website in a while as I've been extremely busy at work here, I promised myself I'd keep posting to future brides after my wedding, but that ended probably about 4 months ago! (I was married last May- so I kept it up for a good 5 months ) I am so jealous of all of you getting married at Dreams Tulum, I wish I could go back in time, it was THE BEST time. All of my guests continue to say how my wedding was their favorite- you are really in for a beautiful treat, don't forget to enjoy this time!! (setbacks don't matter, as long as you two are both there, in the end you will just have your beautiful wedding, and you'll be coming on this website jealous of all of the brides who get to do it now!) xoxoxo

I always thought buffets cheapened the wedding- not sure if anyone else thinks this, but I hate going to weddings when they have buffets. Just my opinion....

Oh LeNell- your pictures are great! I LOVE the colors!

We also had a "welcome dinner" at the World Buffet- it was amazing. If $ is really tight, and you can't/don't want to pay for the extra people for dinner- the World Buffet is free and it really was amazing. You can still set up decorations on the tables, and they put you to the side so it is kind of secluded from the rest of the resturant. You just can't have the DJ there....

Quote: Originally Posted by hmlicos Ok ladies!! I need your advice...Fiance and I got into an argument yesterday regarding our destination wedding...he's in a bit of sticker shock with how much this is all going to cost us. We have about 40 people coming to our wedding and we're going with the Ultimate Pkg, hiring an outside photographer and also hiring an outside DJ. With the number of people we have coming, we have to pay extra for the additional people over the 20 DT includes in this package. He was thinking of just doing hors d oeurves after the ceremony and then everyone would be on their own for dinner, then we'd just meet at 10:00pm to dance the night away at the disco. I, of course, would like to have a semi-traditional reception with the toasts,garter toss, bouquet toss, dancing, etc. I'm thinking the reception is a way to celebrate with your family and friends your new life together as husband and wife. I told him that his idea is silly and that all of our family and friends traveled to DT for our wedding/vacation and it would be nice to have a nice family dinner/reception to all celebrate. What do you think? Hi! I agree with you and everyone's post since this one. It is about memories! When you think of it, what is an extra couple hundred bucks so your guests feel special to be included in your day and for you to have those memories of spending it with them? It's priceless (or so I feel). Also, I might feel as a guest, if I am shelling out some dough to go to another country to see my loved one get married, that they would shell out to have a nice dinner together!

Hi Barbiegirl- I am assuming that the person who officiates the symbolic ceremony is a minister- they didn't really give us a choice, Aurora just told us who was doing it. We did have a signing of the certificate. It was included, our parents came up and signed- it was a nice touch =)

Hi! We got "married" at Dreams on 5/21 (we REALLY got married at home on 5/8 and no one knows- not even my parents)- its totally doable and worth it- it saved us some $. This was the wording we used for our programs: Right hand side of the program: Ceremony Opening Prayer Welcome 1st Reading (Mark 10:6-9) Institution of Marriage Reflection on the scripture 2nd Reading (1st Corinthians 13:4-8a) Love Meditation on the reading Prayer for the rings (your hearts) Vows Signing of the certificate Presentation as Mr. and Mrs. Please relax at the bar or go back to your room and freshen up! Cocktail hour starts at 5:30 followed by dinner and dancing at 6:30. Left hand side of the program: First and foremost, we would like to thank our Parents- Your love and caring goes beyond any we have ever seen. Who we have become, what we believe, and our ability to look towards a wonderful future together has all come from you. You have blessed us in ways we cannot find words to express. Through your lives you have given us all you could, and more. Thank you so very much for making this day possible. We could not be standing here without you. Thank you for sharing this moment in time; one that will be the first of many, in our new life together. We love you with all our hearts. Dorothy Grace Peters/ Richard Donald Peters Isabel Gallo/ Lawrence Anthony Gallo For those loved ones who have gone before, especially Dorothy Kralick & Jerri Strang…We hold your memory close in our hearts today and always. You are with us on our special day in spirit. Thank you to our friends and family for sharing this special day with us. Your presence here means so much to us.

I have a new picture as my profile picture, but it isn't showing up =( Â Anyway- I know it's late, but WE'RE OFF TO OUR HONEYMOON TOMORROW!!! (destination private! My husband planned the whole thing! I'll know where we're going when we get to JFK tomorrow lol lol) Â Have a good week girls! Happy planning! xo

Hi Angie! We had our reception in the El Patio restaurant. It was perrrrfect! If you read my review though, we had a little problem getting it. It was rainy and we were supposed to be at the relaxed pool, so they wanted to give us the convention center. (which is nice, but I just didn't want it myself), so they finally gave us the El Patio- it was wonderful =)

Hi Cookie- they give you drinks in pretty good plastic cups- they're not the cheap kind that you'd find at the dollar store. I was thinking about doing the travel mugs as well, but I thought people would either forget them or not bring them to the bar because they could just throw their cups out and get fresh ones after each drink. But if that's what you want, it's not a bad idea =) Â

I love you girls... I know I will most likly never meet any of you, but really, the posts I've read on here, and continue to read- helped me before the wedding, and are helping me AFTER the wedding believe it or not! Â I have pictures... but only on snapfish, and Samuel Luna (professional photographer) hasn't sent us our dvd yet!! Here are some below for you to look through.... http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=5133563014/a=118030590_118030590/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/ Â http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=5133066014/a=118030590_118030590/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/ Â http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=1498513028/a=118030590_2634849028/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Oh My, I am so sorry. Can I tell you- the same exact thing happened to us, really. My brother (who I paid for even) didn't come, my "BEST FRIEND" who was to be in my bridal party told me the week before we left that she decided not to come (yes RSVP'd and was "definitely coming, wouldn't miss it for the world") Not to mention all of the other people's problems and their rude comments. So I guess these things aren't uncommon.... I've learned from my whole wedding experience, that most people are CHEAP, with the mindset "I have enough $ for me (to go away on vacation for myself, buy handbags, designer clothes etc) but not enough money for you- to treat you how you should be treated for your wedding." The week of your wedding, the day of your wedding- will be spectacular. And I wish, that someone post something like this when I was having these issues, I thought I was the only one who went through this- I was so sad that I thought people didn't care about me or my wedding, and so stressed out that I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I should have. Â Please don't worry. Please know that you are going to have a wonderful wedding, and this is such a beautiful time in your life, so enjoy it before it's over. Â

oh wait... I forgot about the -$500 wedding deposit- so I guess it was around $5,000- my bad. But we paid that almost a year in advance so it didn't feel like it counted!!

 Okay- so I know I posted that the wedding cost around $5,000- well after checking my bill it ended up only being $4,591.33! yippee $500 less than I thought… Here is the detailed bill so you know what you will and will not have to pay extra for: Ultimate wedding package- $2,6750 (2009 rate- we got married in 2010 but booked in 2009) This included: Services of the minister Wedding coordinator Preferential location of the room in the category reserved Preparation and ironing of the dress and tuxedo Complimentary room for the groom the night before the wedding (this was great) Dressing assistant (ummm??? My mother helped me here lol!) Use of the wedding chapel (didn’t use this) Additional decoration for the ceremony (I have no idea what this means, because you will see below they charged extra) Upgraded brides bouquet (I don’t know how it was “upgraded†but it was beautiful nonetheless) 4 boutonnieres/corsages Natural floral centerpiece for dinner table Natural floral table bouquet for ceremony Caribbean music trio 45 min. (awesome) 50 full color photo’s (we used this at our welcome/rehearsal dinner) Wedding photo album (pretty cool looking, it looks likes it is made out of leaves from a palm tree) Wedding cake and one bottle of sparkling wine for 20 guests (tres leches, it was sooo yummy! Never did see the bottle of sparkling wine… I wasn’t drinking THAT much that I wouldn't remember!!) Video of the ceremony (the first copy we received was scratched, but they sent me a second video after I emailed them) Special gold wedding dinner party for 20 guests One hour gold private cocktail party (maximum 19 guests at the hotel) (… uhh I actually just read that it was only for 19 people as I’m typing this lol) Turn down service Hairstyling for bride Make up application for bride (My mother used this) Love birds spa treatment (we had massages, and they were wonderful, and yes the spa is SO far away) 10% discount on all spa treatments (didn’t use this) Honeymoon package (bottle of champagne, fruit basket, flower petals) (I think this is what they left in our room for us when we got back from the wedding) Late check out (I have no idea what this means, we checked out with everyone else)  These were the additional services, I will include all of the tax so you know the correct price: Ceremony music $166.50 (I think this was to rent the system, speakers/microphone) Sound system for reception $244.20 (we had our own DJ with his own mixes, I think this was for the speakers) Extra cocktail hour for 12 extra people $306.00 Extra golden menu for 14 people $1,160.25 1 kid menu $25.50 (I know, the amount of people doesn’t add up... whatev) Set up for over 20 guests (ceremony/cocktail and reception) $191.25 Set up of wedding stuff (this is the exact wording from the bill lol) $133.88 1 external photographer pass $90.00 ( I guess there is no tax on those!) 1 extra boutonnier $16.65 14 extra glass of champagne at reception dinner (which we didn’t have, urgh) $107.10 Wedding deposit -$500 TOTAL BILL $4,591.33  So that’s it! Just thought everyone would like to see the exact bill!

We secretly got married the week prior to leaving for Mexico- it was so worth it. We will celebrate our anniversary on the date we got "married" in mexico, and it saved us about $500 bucks. It didn't make me any less or more nervous the day I wore that white dress though! Â Unfortunately I let my mother-in-law read my review, I forgot I had it in there what we did- so now she knows... errrurgh

Yes they are exchangeable- you either have to pay the difference if you are upgrading for every person. Or if you are "downgrading" (I only use that term for pricing purposes, the silver menu is just as delicious as the gold menu and not "downgrading" by any means) you would have to pay the "gold menu price" for the first 20 guests (that is included in the ultimate package- there are no exchanges for those things)- but then the guests in addition to the 20- that you would only have to pay the additional $55 instead of $65 (or whatever the price per person is this year). Does that make sense? Â

 The flowers from the resort were AMAZING. I didn't care too much about the flowers, so I didn't really specify what I wanted them to look like- but when I saw them I was amazed at how beautiful, fresh and colorful they were. They were perfect and included in the package ;-) Â

Hi Barbiegirl, We hired an outside photographer for our wedding, Samuel Luna. He did a great, fabulous, fantastic, beautiful job- and yes we paid $90 for a full day pass for him. Â

 Hi Cookiemunchkin (love your user name btw!) Why don't you just put on your invitation- "ceremony to begin promptly at 2pm". If everyone is staying at the resort- they shouldn't be late, they just have to walk on over!! We got married on the beach next to the seaside grill- so when everyone was arriving we just spread the word that they should meet AT the seaside grill at 330p (my ceremony started at 4p), no one was late except for me.... My mom and mother-in-law told me I HAD to be late (I'm a very prompt person) so they made me wait about 6-7 minutes before I headed down to the beach, so I was a little late! haha  They CAN'T start with out the bride!! so whatever! don't worry about it- they'll start when you get there!  (there was a wedding after mine though, so we did have to vacate the beach ASAP, so don't be TOO late)

For the Menu and the seating chart I went over this with Aurora before hand. We had the Gold Menu so we picked the food before we got there. I cannot find the attachment on my computer- but we just printed it out on the same style paper we used for the programs. It came out really nice- then we glued starfish to each menu =) The menus were placed on each plate before the reception started!

I emailed the Pastor before hand to make sure the program was okay- he said it would be easy to follow this. I've attached a sample of the inside of the program. We used the resorts' Pastor- we had a symbolic ceremony =) Â Â Â Â Â Â 11x8.5_programpaper_halffold_0.doc

That was just the wedding- I'll confirm with my husband tonight.

I wish I had that when I was planning LOL- I had a couple of sleepless nights trying to figure out the finances of the wedding etc.!!! p.s. the video is so worth it.