shanbeth

Thanks for that information. I also want my wedding day to be the day I get married!

I'm from Decatur, Mi. About 30 miles west of Kalamazoo. How about you? Your wedding is much closer! How are the plans coming? Are you getting stressed yet? This website has helped me a lot, but I'm still figuring out how to get around good. Would love to hear about your dreams wedding! Shanbeth 11-11-10

I have a etiquette question on bridal shower. We are getting married in Cancun on 11-11-10 and having an AHR on 1-22-11. I have been in 13 weddings, MOH 8 times and spent a lot of money throwing showers and bachelorette parties etc. over the years. Not counting the fact that I am 39 and most of the friends in the wedding also had babies so I also threw baby showers. My aunt and a close friend of the family is throwing the bridal shower. My question is about the guest list. I have a guest list for people we invited to the destination and then we have additional guests being invited only to the AHR. Do I need the AHR invites to go out before I do the bridal shower so people realize that even if they are not coming to the destination wedding(or did not get invited) they are invited to celebrate with us at a reception? This is a hard one!

When you say "legal ceremony" do you mean that if if we are getting married in Mexico to make it legal all the witness siging, etc. has to be done "DURING" the ceremony? I thought they do it after? I'm still debating whether to get married at a JP before we leave to save on $ or wait. We are arriving the 4 days before to make it legal, but seems like a lot of work for something to go wrong. Any advice would be great! Shanbeth 11-11-10 Dreams Cancun

Maria, We booked our room yesterday, but my travel agent(and good friend) talked me into the JR. Suite room with the Jacuzzi instead of the 1 bedroom Honeymoon room. The Junior room was about $70 more per person, but was bigger then the 1 bedroom, it was a suite with LR, sitting area and king bed, but not a seperate bedroom. Like 952 sq ft compared to 648 in the 1 bedroom. It also had jacuzzi and the club preference. It was top floor towers. She said the 1 bedroom's were all 1st floor. I'm hoping of course for an upgrade, but wondered how your room was? Also did you wait until most of your guests had booked before you started to negotiate for more guests? Also did you negotiate with Claudia directly? I'm so excited we have about 14 people already booked and the invites just hit last weekend! I also found my bridesmaid dresses today at JCPenney's and they are perfect color and on sale for $49.99. I'm only having 3 girls stand up for me. Thanks for the info! I keep going thru your photos. They are soooo helpful! Shannon 11-11-10 Dreams Cancun bride!

Maria, You are a lifesaver. I have a hard time navigating on this website. I'm starting to panic because as great as it is that more guests are coming then I imagined, it is looking closer to 44-50 guests now. I love that idea you said about exchanging the cocktail party. Really just having the bar there is the best idea while dinner is served. Where did you have your reception at? Now that my party is getting bigger I have to look at that. Also the DJ Mannia you mentioned, is that the $280/hr listed, or an outside vendor? I by chance came upon your reply to my question and was so excited to hear what you had to say. Your a lifesaver! Did you just go thru Claudia to negotiate all of this before hand? Or did you wait until you got there? Also I was intent on getting married there, but it seems like so much to go thru and the cost is like $700. We are considering going to my minister right before we leave and make it official. I just didn't want to do that originally. Just curious what you did. I'm going to bombard you, I can already tell, but did you bring decorations for the Gazebo or just go with what they offer in the package? I do agree with you that the photo and video in itself are worth bumping to the $2700 package. Thanks again for any help you can give me. Loved your pictures! Shannon Sikkema 11-11-10 Drea,s Cancun bride

I'm very glad to see this post. We just booked our resort, Dreams Cancun, and my fiance and I are paying for the wedding and reception in Cancun. This was my choice since I am 39. My parents are paying for me to have an AHR when we get back. I want to have a nice reception, but I do not want to spend a fortune either. My estimate is we will have 40 people there. The packages at Dreams are for 20 max. Does anyone know a better way to do this? The package says $48/person extra. That seems too much, but I want us all to have dinner together and dancing. Just seems high and a little past my budget. Any suggestions or ideas? Shannon & Mike 11-11-10

Maria your review was great and helped me decide to get married at Dreams Cancun. We sent in the deposit yesterday to reserve the date of 11/11/10. I have been trying to find answers on this site, but it is a little confusing. I did not realize how expensive the reception would end up. Can you suggest which wedding package you choose? Also if I go with the middle of the line and I go over the 20 guests is it better to customize a package then pay $48/person? Any help would be greatly appreciated! Shannon 11/11/10-Dreams Bride

Hi everyone, this is a great site! I got engaged last week, but we have been together for 6 years!! I have been in 13 weddings(I'm 39) and maid of honor 8 times so now that is my turn I want to do a destination wedding. There is a part of me that feels guilty, but it's about my and my fiance and this is what we want to do. Here is what I have so far.... Wedding Date:-Trying for end of October or 1st of November (yes I know it's hurricane season, but I want to get married this year and I'm afraid to go into the holiday season.) Wedding location: Narrowed down to 1st choice: Dreams Cancun (love the gazebo site) but they are slow to get back to my travel agent(who is also my best friend). I'm worried they won't have any dates in 2010!!! 2nd choice- NOW Jade Riviera(formerly NH) I don't see a lot of info on this one. I want to do Cancun and am struggling finding locations I like. I'm also working on the Save the Date cards since it is soooo close. I work for a printer and he will print me postcards for free. Is it tacky to do a Save the Date/invite on the postcard (6x11) and direct my guests to our website for information? Anyways this site is GREAAAAT! I appreciate any feedback you are willing to give! Shannon Sikkema