leigh2011

Hey Ladies (just Taryn and Sarah at this point I think) - I got back late last night and am now doubly married! My group had a great trip, but can I just say that playing hostess to that many people over that many days is exhausting! Paul and I only had a day to ourselves on the beginning of the trip (and that was taken up mostly by appointments with the wedding coordinator and travel company) and one at the end of the trip. I am so glad tomorrow starts the weekend, because I am exhausted. I will post more later in the day after I get things started here at work (or at least the illusion of it), but I will post the 3 pics my photographer emailed last night as a welcome home gift: Courtney

Hi Ladies - I just got back from Cancun late last night and am back at work this morning. I took a ton of notes while I was at Dreams, so I will have a lot to write up in a review. But for now, know that even though there were some pretty big glitches in my wedding day, that everyone had an absolute blast. I saw A LOT of weddings while I was at Dreams (most days were either 2 or 3 weddings). So please let me know if you have any questions, because I saw a lot of different setups. Claudia said that November & December are their busiest wedding months. But they are slower months for tourists, so the resort isn't all that crowded - which is nice. My photographer (who traveled with us and returned Tuesday night) sent a couple of teaser pics last night as a welcome home gift:

Alright ladies - I am getting ready to log off for the last time. Time to shower, pack a few more of the toiletries I won't need tomorrow morning, and try to get a little sleep. It is only a bit after 9pm, but my alarm will go off in less than 6 hours. I hope all of you ladies that leave before the 11th have absolutely fantastic vacations and wedding days. I will see you on the other side..... (BTW - I am still not "excited", I am actually nervous! I have been legally married for over 3 weeks now...why the hell am I nervous?!) Adios!

From what I remember, the wedding coordinator lets you know if your date/time is available. If it is available, then the deposit is required to officially hold the date for you.

That is one thing you certainly don't have to worry about...I will put up a super long review. If you have seen my planning thread, then you know I will bore you with details.... http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/76481/leigh2011s-planning-thread-long-with-lots-of-pics/20#post_1691112 I plan on almost doing 2 reviews - one for staying at the resort (with picture of the facilities, etc.) and another one on the wedding (with pictures of the setups, etc.). And between my camera(s) and the photographer that is coming with us, I will have a ridiculous number of pictures.

Thanks so much for checking in on us during your wedding trip. And I definitely appreciate the good news about the weather. I will keep my fingers crossed that the forecast stays that way for Saturday - wedding day for both of us!! Best of luck for a perfect wedding day...

Thanks Joanne! In 24 hours I will be en route to Cancun... I will get back on Thursday night (late) Nov 10th and be in to work on the 11th. If I can manage, I will definitely try and post on the 11th - though only Taryn and Sarah will still be at home to read it! For all the brides leaving between the 5th and the 11th, best of luck!!!

A mere 30 hours and I am off to the airport...so excited (and yet so tired!). Thanks for checking out my planning thread. When I get back I will hopefully have some good professional photos to share...

Packing early is soo critical. I found out I was too good of a packer. 2 of my 3 bags are overweight. I had to take out some items to leave at home and hand off to my parents about 4 lbs of sunscreen. Not sure what your taste in music is, but here is our play list in case it can give you any ideas. Griffin-Chang Wedding 05Nov2011.xlsx

Same here - I emailed a very few times, knowing that there was likely a limited number of responses I would get. I tried to limit my communications to things I thought would need to be handled ahead of time - like changing my ceremony time, requesting a DJ, saying I don't need the photog (things that required coordination with other people), and scheduling a rehearsal & dinner. I didn't bother Claudia with cake or flower selections (knowing that could be handled at the meeting) or letting her know what items I would be bringing. All of the brides have come back and said the wedding coordinators are real pros and make your wedding day wonderful - so I am just going to assume that is true and not worry. I will 100% be writing a review when I get back. I even got a free little notebook from vistaprint so I can take lots of notes for you ladies.

Thank you so much for your reply - that is exactly what I needed to hear. In 48 hours I will be in the air on the way to Cancun!!!!

Alright ladies - for those of you that have gotten married at Dreams Cancun, or those that have traveled there on vacation - what is your recommendation with respect to the water to minimize the chance of getting sick? My thought is the following: any water the resort provides in restaurants, at bars, or as ice in drinks is filtered and therefore safe for guests. However, the water in your room from the sink or shower could get you sick, so don't drink that water. Brushing your teeth with the water in the room is probably fine as long as you don't drink it when you rinse. Does that sound about right?

Contact with your wedding coordinator will definitely be very slow until your wedding is close. All brides have said that once you arrive at the resort and see how busy they are with all of the brides on hand you will understand why they don't have time for emails. I will be getting married next weekend, so I will let you know my opinion in a couple of weeks. Maybe a couple of the previous brides can let you know if they would change resorts if given the chance to do it over again. Most brides that have found a good travel agent (that specializes in destination weddings) are very thankful for their agent. I don't think anyone that has used a travel agent related to this forum (who are obviously DW experts) have been disappointed - so you should try them out. And if you talk to one that is a Dreams specialist, they can give you a second opinion from an agent's perspective on the Dreams Cancun resort.

Alright ladies, because we have all been a stressed and having our difficulties (last night my fiance pulled his back while trying to beat me in bowling and can essentially do nothing but lay in bed - fan-freakin-tastic), so I thought I needed to remind us why we should be excited. Hope this helps all of us: Cancun: Playa del Carmen:

I am hoping that the stress for all of us will end as soon as we get to the airport and they check our bags. As we head for security with our dresses and carry-on in hand, it will be too late to worry about anything else. I am hoping that is when the real excitement will return. Fingers crossed ladies!! We are all so stressed because we are trying to so hard to make our weddings perfect. We have to realize that everything will be wonderful even if a few things aren't finished or they are forgotten.

I am so sorry to hear that you are sick. The good news is that you have 11 days until you leave, so you should definitely be feeling better by the time you head off for your DW. In my opinion, if you feel like you need to stay in bed over the weekend, then you should do it. I think recovering faster and then hitting the wedding-to-do list is likely going to put you further ahead than staying sick longer and being less productive. We will all be sending good thoughts you way....

I will leave work for at 5pm this coming Tuesday and on Wednesday at ~4am I will be leaving for the airport. So I pretty much have to get everything done this weekend...wish me luck.

Thanks! Let's hope I don't have to find out!!

Thank you so much for taking the time to post the picture and let us know everything is okay. I am sure it makes a lot of us feel better.

Thanks Taryn. I definitely compiled mine based on the verbiage from a thread on this site. I particularly like the first reading - I think it reflects the modern wedding process.

You are more than welcome - we are all here to support each other, because no one can understand quite like another bride. I bought the legal wedding dress from this website: http://www.efushop.com/ The one I purcahsed scrolls through on the left side of the site under "What's Hot" (#4).

I have to say that I didn't feel too excited when I got my dress back from the alterations lady either. I think when you try on your dress and it isn't for the actual wedding, then it isn't as exciting. And I completely understand about the dress envy....I bought my dress in June 2010 really soon after I started shopping - and I keep wondering if I had tried on more dresses if I would have found something better. But I try to limit those thoughts because there is nothing I can do about it at this point and I do still "like" my dress. Is it bad to think about a vow renewal dress before you are married? You certainly have a lot more stressors than the average bride, but let me try and put a few in perspective:

Taryn - That picture is amazing! Your fiance is going to love it. That picture is sexy enough that I would want to make sure he didn't show anyone else....

Thanks ladies - so glad that all the time I put into compiling the information was worth it.... I can definitely let you know how the sand ceremony frame works out. I do have to say that the frame came with some pretty extensive instructions for securing the sand (probably steps that need to be completed the next day).

What do you think is Plan B for weddings and receptions when there is rain? There isn't any sunshine in the forecast between now and my wedding day, so I am starting to wonder what Plan B is... I know that 10-day forecasts aren't reliable and that it can switch between rain and sun quickly in the tropics, so it isn't that I am worried. And after the scare of this hurricane, I will have to be happy that we get to Cancun so I can't be too upset about rain.