Quote: Originally Posted by taranyc hi everyone. we just got back from our weekend at dreams riviera cancun...we set it up with ana to view the site, etc. for our sept. 26th, 2010 wedding (our location and date are now changed).
arriving onsite, i was immediately happy about our decision to have our wedding at drc...the lobby was amazingly beautiful and i loved our room. everything changed when i saw the pool area and beach. all along i've been like, "those reviews cannot be right...we're different, it's going to be great regardless of the look of the pavilion...the site can't be that bad" etc. i was wrong. here are my impressions of the site and what lead us to rent a car, drive an hour farther down to dreams tulum and book our wedding there.
pool area/pavilion
to begin with, the pavilion is right on top of the pool area. no matter what, you are going to have people all around you. in addition, the barracuda bar is right below it...just next to the huge kids playground swing set. the pavilion area is so small and the strange thing that you stand under looks even smaller in person. You’re there, you’re getting married and just below you are tourists on swings, people in bikinis (that shouldn’t be in bikinis), kids in the pool, chairs everywhere with rust orange towels on them…it’s just not nice…not for your wedding…and especially not if because you are paying for a wedding and all of your guests are paying to stay there as well.
the nice thing is that the palm trees have metal star lanterns hanging from them and they look beautiful at night…actually, the whole pool area is pretty at night and most of the people are gone by sundown…but the sure are there when you’re saying your vows. we saw a couple of receptions out there and they looked nice (on the pool deck). they will add lighting if you ask for it…one reception had a buffet and all along it were the hanging tin stars behind a thin gauze of light blue silk…it was really pretty.
beach
we had the opportunity to see a wedding on the beach (the first row of chairs were not removed yet). It was a small wedding (appx. 10-15 people), but they were right on top of the guests lounging in the sun. there was an older man sitting right next to the wedding in a speed-o…just too much. the best part was when the group of drunk 40-somethings walked by (mid-ceremony) in nothing buy their bikinis, frozen drinks in hand and started to woo hoo. it’s just not my thing and that pretty much put the nail in the coffin regarding my wedding at drc. I cannot begin to tell you how upset I was over all of this. I remember when I first found the resort…I was so excited, it looked so perfect online.
one thing…i’ve read that there is a more private place to have the ceremony, but I did not see that on the beach. The beach itself is rather small and very packed. Note…the ceremony area is just off the palapa rows next to the kids swing set/slide area.
in the end, we didn’t even meet with ana…we knew our first day that this was not the place for us. I would suggest that you do a site tour (if you can…ana will work with you on rates for the weekend visit).
we ended up going down to dreams tulum (we had visited once before) and met with aurora who gave us a tour. the beach site is great because it’s away from the crowd…there are so many options for the reception…ooh, and there is a beautiful chapel that looks like rustic mexico (I don’t think it even needs decoration inside). dreams tulum felt more fun and lively than drc (I’m not sure how to describe it...drc was just blah) and the beach is larger. while beautiful, the resort and it’s wedding areas seemed so cramped and overcrowded…it wasn’t even at full capacity. the guests I saw (during the wedding at drc) couldn’t have care less that someone was getting married…they just sat there, had phone conversations, ordered drinks…it was so sad.
I’m sorry to go on…I wrestled with how much I should say. this has been a great thread and I’m sorry to leave it…the drc brides have been a great resource for info and ideas. thank you all! xo, tara Thank you for the information about your visit..
Our wedding is April 11, and I have been so worried about the privacy, or lack thereof, at the wedding gazebo area.
I did email Ana about it, but I wasn't very reassured by the response I got.
If I still had the option of going to a different resort, I would also be looking into other options..I will be irate if there are people sitting 5 feet from our ceremony in their lounge chairs..I'm not the bridezilla type, but I think that would put me over the edge!!
I do have a question for you..is the beach pretty at least? the water looks pretty blue in some photos, but not so great in others I've seen..
Thanks again for the review!