peterpanpixiedust

This happens more than you think. You guys were very lucky to have found the missing tooth. My little neighbor was with me at an indoor water park, and she broke off her front tooth, but never found the piece, they needed to do a big composite.

I like the idea of rose petals too. I have also heard of a cylinder vase with the name of the person engraves with a floating candle inside. I am so terribly sorry... :-(

Carolina.... here were some images I took with my phone from light to dark. For some reason, it looked better on my phone (closer to what I saw for real) than on my other camera, but it's still not as good of quality as my other camera. Hopefully this helps.

I thought that too, but there really is not many places to buy vases where I'm going. I just did my site visit and the walmart is 30 mins away and we didn't see any there. I plan on buying hard luggage and bringing on the vases as FI's carryon with bubble wrap inside, and my carry on will be my dress and his suit in one garment bag.

Do what you got to do! I wish I had the courage some of you have. I want to just say... "I mean this as respectful as possible, but these decisions need to be ours as it is our wedding" but I live with my in laws and I really don't want to be kicked out! Since you have the guts, go for it! Have fun you kids!

Again, you guys are amazing.. You are all making me cry. In a good way. It's no nice to have all of this support. Southern Sweety, I did not know about son. I remember you telling me to drink milkshakes to help me with my weight because you did that with your son, but I had no idea you lost him afterwards. I am so sorry. You are right though, they are in heaven and in a far better place than we are in now. BTW, I passed Moon Palace when I went to Cancun last week on my way to a Paradise Maroma dinner cruise. It's kinda close to the airport. I was thinking that maybe I could meet you there to exchange the starfish next year. But you might have to warn the front desk, as all of these resorts are very strict letting people in (I got asked twice at my fiance's parents timeshare) and I needed paperwork to get into Dreams for my site visit. When my photographer came to drop off our engagement DVD, I had to let the front know before hand. I don't think it will be too much of a problem, just as long as we give them a heads up. Unless there is somewhere nearby we can meet?

My centerpiece idea came from PhillyBride (I think now is Jenn). She wished she had used floralytes instead of candles due to Dreams Cancun being windy. So I went to the dollar store and I got a 7 inch cylinder vase and a bag of rose petals. I bought these submersible floralytes (they have new double bulbed ones that are very bright, if you are using dark petals like I am). I plan on getting slightly taller vases and putting one of each one table, with sand and seashells around them (seashells from the dollar store and sand from Dreams' beach...lol). Voila! My red centerpieces! Also, I wanted something unique for my engagement photos. I decided to take a leaf out of Lexibride's book (her thank you parasol) and apply her technique to my Kite. I printed the font I wanted very big, and then taped it under the kite. I used a red kite and a white Deco Art paint pen in bold and traced the paint over the letters. Kinda stinks because I could only find single pens in fine, and I thought bold was easier to use. But bold only comes in a pack of 5 or 6 colors for $17 at Michael's. But I'm sure they are cheaper on ebay (mine was last minute). We did our shoot in Cancun, so it was very hot and the paint started chipping off (but that could have been due to packing and handling too) so I brought the paint pen with for touch ups). I think I got my kite at Kites R Us for $9.99

Thank you all. I really feel like I have a family here! Thank you so much Tammy for creating this place for us to share our lives. I'm so sorry your grandfather never got to see your little one and I am praying your Hoyt's Poppie and everyone of here who has lost a loved one. I love you all!

Quote: Originally Posted by shanbeth The pictures are so helpful. I'm thinking of having the reception on the Club Terrace. Was this the picture by the pool? Also the picture you took of the tables, do they provide the decoration, or was the candle & ribbon, etc. on the table something the bride brought? These are the BEST pictures! The terrace picture was by the club pool. It's walled up right now, with those beams on it. That's all you could see. A couple of you asked, but I have no idea on the decorations on the tables. The bride could have brought them, or Claudia or Cecilia may have given them. They were empty so I didn't have anyone to ask. That's the only reason I got pics, because I wouldn't have gotten so close if everyone was there (I don't want to be the weird outsider barging in...lol). I would ask Claudia or Cecilia because I know I'm bringing my own centerpieces. I love the fabric of the table cloth though! It's embroidered on the bottom.

So I just got back from my site visit this past weekend. And on Father's day I was going to unpack, visit my dad, then go with him to see my Papa (my dad's dad). I got a really late start though because we had an ant infestation and I had to deal with that first. By the time I got home, my dad was about to leave for Papa's house. I wasn't ready to go, because I wanted to visit my mom too and show our engagement photos. My dad said it was no big deal, that I would see Papa some other time. Well, I got home from work yesterday and got a call that he passed away. Just never woke up. I know he's in heaven with so many others that we have lost unfairly early in our family, and he's with my Baba. It just still hurts. I feel like I've been robbed. He's my last grandparent and I lost all my others ones so early. My first grandma died from Lou Garigs disease (ALS), my Baba (dad's mom) died from Cancer, and my other grandpa died from a mixture of cancer and heart problems very suddenly two years ago. My Papa was healthy and there were no warning signs. I thought I had forever with him. His body just decided to stop I guess. I just really wanted my last grandparent to see me get married. My dad's depressed because he wanted his dad to see his first son retire (dad's retiring in two weeks and would have had more time to spend with him). My dad was crying and he never cries. He was relieved to see my Baba go, because she was suffering. But Papa was just silently taken. I'm sorry to go on and on, but I am an only child and sometimes I feel so alone in these situations. I feel like an entire generation has been ripped from my family and now the torch is passed down just a bit closer to me. I feel I have less security and now I'm turning into the wise one that the younger ones turn to. I just feel lost. :-( Thanks for listening...

Starfishbride! Yay, your Juneweddingdreams?!?! I was hoping you'd come back as someone new. I missed you. You were very helpful for me when I was in the beginning stages and had no clue! Welcome back girly!

alright, so I got my pics from the site visit uploaded, and decided to post them review style. Please forgive my spelling errors (especially on captions), I've been doing this for 2+ hours and it's 1:30 in the AM. Plus I'm working extra this week to make up for last weeks hoorah! So I'm beat. I hope this helps! Lots of room views! And I snuck some of us in their too! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...5/#post1337696

Ok, so after Carolina said I had given a sort of mini review on the Dreams Cancun thread, I decided to do just that when I got my pics uploaded on the review section. So, here is my site visit in a nutshell (a very big one_! American Airlines and Cancun airport - A We got slightly delayed (right after the pilot told us we should make it to Cancun early... after words he apologized and offered the advice to never trust your pilot - I like pilots with a sense of humor). Two checked luggage per person for free!! (but I think that just changed now to one). The airport was a breeze! After several review browsings, I was shocked to see customs go by so fast. All green lights! But then again, I didn't have tons of wedding stuff (that's next year). No timeshare crazy people in our face either. Now, flying back home was a different story, we waited an hour to check in (don't bother printing out your boarding pass the day before. We paid our resort a dollar a page to print, and there is no express check out in Cancun airport like there is in Chicago). Flight home was fine! At Dreams Food A+, Drinks A- We ate at the World Cafe (only one indoors and air conditioned), Himitsu, Oceana, and Seaside grill. Food at each was awesome. Himitsu and Ocean both have non seafood options, but Oceana is probably best to eat at lunch if you don't like fish. I do, but FI doesn't. Himitsu had non fish sushi even (fruit or beef). We drank at Sugar reef, the swing bar by the pool (can't remember the name), and the lobby. The reason for the A- was because the mixed drinks were tasty, but not much alcohol. I wouldn't say they were watered down, but I'm pretty sure it was only 1 oz of liquor for the entire blended drink. If you want to feel it a little more, I'd say go for jack and coke, or rum and coke or something similar. However, the lobby bar (Rendevous) offers these champagne cocktails that are amazing and you feel pretty quick (try the French one). Hair and Makeup, Mireya A+++ She put up with alot! I am extremely nit picky when it comes to my hair. She was an angel. I prepaid the tip, but ended up giving her extra. I had little expectations for makeup, so I decided to let her go ahead and not bug her, and actually, it was really nice. A little dark, but I smudged it a bit. I will say that the spa has very low lighting, so check your makeup in the natural light before you walk down the aisle. Side note - if any of you break out easy due to moisturizer/spf lotion, I found this spf powder at sephora. It's called Peter Thomas Roth instant mineral spf 30. That is the only spf I had on my face and it's the only part of me that didn't burn. It's not shimmery at all either, so that's good for photos at night, at it's translucent (so everyone can wear it). Does not work your hair part though, because that got completely burned on me, but then again that was the day that I decided to walk an hour to Dreams on the beach LOL Couples Massage, A They were very accommodating. I heard before that they just lather you with oil and move it around, and I was nervous because I break out with oil (and just about everything else). They ask you all these questions before hand and when I told them about my skin, they offered this oil free lotion, and the massage felt great! Not too rough or soft! No breakouts either! They were going to put us in a room, but then I told them I had requested the palapas by the water, and they moved us no problem. The sound of the water was so soothing. Rooms B+ Overall, I would have given our room an A+. The pyramid ocean front IMO is the best. It's only a step up from standard price wise, and you can't beat the view. But FI wished it was roomier, so I have to take him opinion in my rating. On the other hand, the Club rooms were his favorite. They were very spacious, but those darn rocks ruin every view. I just can't see spending that extra money if I can't get the view I want. I guess that's my hang up. The club rooms are much nicer on the inside though, see pics! But hands down the pyramid has the best view. I have pics of the Pyramid Ocean front, Club Ocean front, and Jacuzzi Junior Suit (club) which is massively huge! Claudia, Mike, and Juan We met them shortly after we got there. Juan was just there to talk to us about engagement photos, because we are flying in our own photographers (which btw, not only did Claudia say was fine, but told us to make sure they took a day to find the best spots for pictures). We finalized what what wanted with Mike, Chris wanted blu-ray, I wanted a highlight video, and we paid for one extra hour. So we are getting 4 hours total and only paid for one extra (we get 90 minutes with the package, 1 hr extra for not having photos, and we bought 1 hr, and Mike threw in the last 1/2 hour for free!). Claudia made sure it was all updated in our contract with taxes (so, in case you didn't realize, that contract she sends you already includes taxes! Score!). Claudia also traded our wedding parties flowers (we are using parasols) for aisle petals, and our center piece (I'm bringing my own) for 3 flags (those white things that you see in the reception picture). Claudia is amazingly sweet and and wishes it would be her turn to get married (I'm keeping my fingers crossed for her.) At the end I gave her $50 tip, but I'll give her more for our wedding. I just figured that was 10% of our deposit. Juan pushed back our photos nearly a whole day, so Claudia was going to give us day passes, but then she just gave us late check out (which she originally wasn't supposed to be able to do because Dreams was 100% full), and we got to stay after our photos for dinner! Btw, Estaban at the front is an amazing guy, he was the guy responsible for giving us an ocean front instead of a dolphin view (he deserved a nice tip... everyone there does)! Juan A+ Juan's pictures for our engagement were fabulous. He just dove right in (literally in the water) to get the best shots. He also listened to every request, gave us extra time, and photos! I tipped him for that and his great service (about 20%). He does have a strong personality though, when i first met him, I thought he was aggravated, but he's just "to the point". Don't worry, he's really nice! The only thing I didn't like was that I looked hunched over in some pics, but that's not Juan's fault. I'm taller than Chris and try to look shorter. It's a complex... Excursions to try - I read about Thai Lounge in Destination Weddings and Honeymoons Magazine and decided to try it. We got an over the water hut with a couch and table. It is at La Isla mall on the lagoon side. I was told it was reasonably priced, but it was actually kind of pricey (about $18-40 an entree, and $10 appetizers, and desserts, and maybe $8 dollar drinks... but in pesos). But it was really nice and in my opinion worth it. Our waiters were Eric and Edgar and were extremely nice. Afterwords, they give you a fish to set free and make a wish on, very zen! Paradise Maroma Sunset cruise - $90-$100 for either steak or lobster a person gets you transport to Maroma beach (gorgeous!), welcome champagne, all your drinks on a 45 minute sunset cruise, and dinner and drinks on the beach after wards with a saxophonist playing from table to table (they encouraged us to have a romantic dance together, so we did :-D ), and transport back. About 3 1/2 hours plus transport. They also take your picture and sell it to you. Pictures. I decided to post too many, so here's my photobucket. You shouldn't need a password. The first pics are our engagement photos with Juan, the next four are pics of Chris and I at the Royal Sands (the timeshare we stayed at), followed by the graffiti pics I took when I walked to Dreams one day :-( (Claudia is going to try to get someone do to something about that), then a bunch of Dreams resort photos, and the last few pictures are of the Thai Lounge. Sorry there are so many, but I have a problem, and should join over-zealous photographer wannabees anonymous (and these are only a fraction of my the pics I took) And I guess the review wasn't mini either! Sorry, but I hope it helps! Cancun pictures by peterpanpixiedust - Photobucket

Quote: Originally Posted by StarfishBride2010 Yes I told Cecilia that my photographer was a paying guest and she didn't make me pay a vendor fee at all. No one told me I couldn't have her there. They actually were really accommodating with my photographer...letting her go back into areas of the resort to get shots for my book, etc. Cecilia was very accommodating. Not sure why Claudia would tell you that. Hey ladies!! I just did my site visit and I am back at our timeshare at the Royal Sands, so uploading photos is hard and extremely slow, but I can at least answer the questions. In regards to the above quote, on Tuesday I had a meeting with Miguel (Mike, the videographer in the Ultimate package), Juan the photographer, and Claudia. I had Juan do my engagement photos, but told her I was bringing in my own. She not only said that it was fine, but also said to make sure that they come a day early and scope out the resort for the best photo opportunities. So I would definitely try to use the BDW leverage of "Well, my friend on the forum is able to" (btw, they know all about BDW, because of all of us refering to it in negotiations). They were all so informative and friendly, and I got several exchanges squared away (3 flags instead of centerpieces, petals for the runner instead of corasages) and updates in the contract for Mike's services. Claudia was good about giving two options for entree's, as well as special needs (vegetarian, allergies, kids). She even said that if we went over forty by a few, we could still have plated dinner. I measured the pillars and they are just short of 40 inches, (maybe 38 3/4, I took a pic with the tape) and Claudia said they are 5 meters high (but she said you can't hang anything because the new one doesn't have the hooks the old one did, but I think a recent bride hung something). The terrace will be done in about a month. I have pics but it is walled up. I also have pics of Desires, but it still says Azucar. Also, the new gazebo lights up at night (blue in the dome.. pretty nice). I will post all of these pics when I get home. Oh, and we tried out our portable Bose docking station at Himitsu beach, it'll work just fine! I have pics of a wedding set up there too! Now for the bad news. I took one day to walk from my resort to Dreams, so I kinda of went in the back door. The first thing to greet me were the rocks by the gazebo and the new beach. There is graffiti everywhere!!!! My heart sank. My family should not have to come all the way to see the same crap they see in Chicago. I will be completely embarrassed. I showed Claudia the pics and she was so shocked and wanted me to send pics. The good news is that is is so far away from the Gazebo that you can't notice it unless you go swimming at the beach. I guess the government is supposed to be having police patrol it, but guests were practically camping on the rocks. Another staff member told me I should write a letter to the government. What do you all think? Juan's engagement photo shoot was very fun, he totally gets into what he does. He took us to five locations and was going to take us into Puerto Moreles marina before I opened my big fat mouth and said that I wanted to do beach shots. Poor Juan gets a little bored of the same places all the time. He shot for two hours at least. He's supposed to deliver the DVD tomorrow at our timeshare. I also did a hair and make - up trial the day before and Mireya was amazing (totally recommend her) I also have pics of the pyramid ocean front, club ocean front, and club junior jacuzzi suite (pics inside the rooms and the views), if anyone is interested. That was all that was available to show, because they were at 100% capacity and snuck me in before a check in. Well, I guess that's it for now. Tomorrow's our last full day here in beautiful Cancun... one day of 10 minute rain so far. I do want to leave :-( 1 year tomorrow (actually today) Happy Pre-versary to us! Again, sooooo sorry for the books I keep publishing on here.

Ok, so after this week and an all night last night, I've been kind of a grumpy gus. But I made it to Cancun, I feel like I was scared of the airport for nothing (piece of cake with all 5 of us getting green lights), our flight was delayed 40 mins (right after he told us we should be leaving a little early, then he made a joke that you can't believe your pilot...LOL). Well, my computer started working again, and I'm on it right now talking to you guys. Our hotel is gorgeous, I drank a Tropicana (not the orange juice ;-) ) and ate an awesome burger tonight, had swim races with FI and future BIL, swam in the ocean before the waves washed me away. And guess what, I could see Dreams from the front side of our room, and the ocean in the back. Here's some pics... don't mind our sour pusses, he couldn't find the strength to smile and I looked dead (no sleep). The gazebo is the little white dot. This is the Royal Sands, and we will go to Dreams on Tues. I will give updates.

Yay, my trip to Cancun starts today! In 4 hours, I will be on my way to the airport. Erinbrooke, I am staying at the Sands and visiting Dreams. Please everyone wish me a good trip, I've had a nasty week.

Quote: Originally Posted by StarfishBride2010 We leave in 2 days and will be married at the Dreams June 8th! I cannot sleep at night! Everything is ready to go! Cecilia has been great! I can't wait to meet her! Next time you hear from me I'll be a Mrs. Dreams Cancun...here we come! I hope your wedding went well too! I'm so sorry you slipped through the cracks and I didn't end up wishing you a happy wedding day on your day. I am going to the airport in 4 hours. I had to go to the ER on monday, and today I just found out my laptop battery died, and all of my wedding docs , not to mention my Grad school stuff was on it. So luckily I can still plug it in (but the plug is testy and turns my whole computer off if I touch it wrong). So, instead of sleeping, I am transfering all my data on to an external harddrive. Most of it was on my flash, but now I need back up for my backup, since my computer may not work if the plug goes. AHHHHHH! Can I ever just have a good vacation from start to finish. Btw, I haven't forgotten my requests, I have measuring tape for the gazebo columns (I will also ask the height), my camera (I hope I don't get jinxed and break it) which I will take pics of Desires, and I will ask for Terrace rennovation info. Good news, my mommy inherited a little money and gave me some for our trip, so now I can have money for the trip and still be able to pay off the ER bill. Good Times!

We just bought the portable on sale and are bringing it to our site visit tomorrow. We will try it out on the beach. I'll let you know.

Quote: Originally Posted by wendyjd an unexpected visit from my parents at work today (they live in another town)... and they came bearing beautiful flowers and yummy homegrown veggies. What awesome parents you have!! That must have made you smile. Me, I am done with work for the week, and then Cancun this Saturday for my first REAL vacation in almost 10 years. Plus, we are staying at our wedding resort for one day, and trying to get our engagement photos done. BTW work is killing me. I needed to go to the hospital on Monday, and when I told my boss, he said.... "Well, we really need the money, so it would be great if you stayed" (I work on patients, so when I work, he makes money). I never felt so dehumanized. :-( I never truly thought money would be more important than your employee's health. Besides, not once in the 2+ yrs I've worked there have I ever called in sick. Again, Cancun here I come!!!!! Oh and GO HAWKS!!!!! Da da dada da dada da da dadadadada!

It's Andim's Wedding Day! Have a fabulous one girl! Muah!

Yay to the winners! Congrats!

Awesome review. I love seeing. I was thinking of tipping next week on our site visit. Kind of a preview of our appreciation.

Quote: Originally Posted by jas101080 Hey Peterpanpixiedust (Chris) Thank you so much. I ended up calling her and she squared everything away. I felt the same way about the time for my reception. It took her forever just to change my time as well. A first dance in the sunset is what i wanted as well. I can see your wedding is not too far away from mine, so i hope we can both keep ourselves informed. Talk to you soon...thanks again! No problem girl! I ended up sicking my TA on her in the end. Took less than a week with that route! Now I'm trying to get Claudia to confirm Juan for our engagement photos next week for our site visit and Mike to join in on our meeting for video. They both are ok with it, but nothing from Claudia yet, I will probably call her on Thursday. BTW How did you call her. When I tried before, they spoke Spanish, the the one person who spoke English I couldn't understand, and I ended up having to hang up, because I couldn't figure it out (I said sorry first). Do I just say her extension, or her name? P.S. Andim's wedding is tomorrow!!! My prayers are for great weather!

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Drools..... OOOOOH Review. I'm kind of obsessed! Oops, couldn't find RK Cheung's review, so I looked at her previous post's and found it in the Rivera Maya sections. Could a mod move it to the Review section so future brides will find it easier? Thanks! Here it is for everyone that couldn't find it! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...-review-60056/

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...ied-here-2782/ This should help you out a bit! Congrats and welcome!