OVERVIEW: We were married at Dreams Tulum Monday, June 28th, 2010 with a total of 51 guests. Anabel was our wedding coordinator though we corresponded with Aurora leading up to our arrival at Dreams Tulum. It rained for 3 out of the 5 days our guests were there due to Tropical Storm Alex but the rain held off for the wedding day (though we had TERRIBLE winds) and we had great weather for the 4 days we remained at the resort post wedding.

SUMMARY OF OUR EXPERIENCE: C

The best lesson we learned is that things are what you make of them. We had a lot of really negative events take place, but we stayed as positive as possible and believe that was our saving grace. I’ll explain in each section what went wrong (and went right) but I do want to thank all of you ladies for the help and advice leading up to our wedding! JIf we were to go back in time, we would have chosen a different resort, but for those brides-to-be already committed to Dreams Tulum, you’ll have a wonderful wedding and a terrific vacation so please do not fear! 

WEDDING COORDINATOR: Anabel: B-

During our 8 day stay at the resort, we witnessed at least 2 weddings a day. The department seems way overworked and could just be nicer overall. I think that was one of our biggest complaints, that the resort’s customer service was NOT up to par. Anyway, we corresponded with Aurora for a year leading up to the wedding but when we arrived we found out that Anabel would be our wedding coordinator. It was tough because we felt like we had to start from scratch to go over all the details we already went over in emails with Aurora. In fact, we didn’t even see Aurora until the very last day of our stay. Dave and I joked that she wasn’t real but just a fake email address they had to make up to write back snarky replies to brides ;)

Leading up to our wedding, we had to keep reminding Anabel of everything, and leaving written instruction. She was nice enough, and very professional, but just didn’t do a very good job. My biggest advice would be to keep all your emails and correspondence with everyone and print it to bring with you for your stay. We had to refer to our emails A LOT when negotiating for items and prices (which I feel like we shouldn’t have to do 2 days before the event). Anabel said she understood and wrote down all of the things we asked for but when the day came, many things were done incorrectly or not done at all :( (all of which I’ll highlight in the upcoming parts). Oh also, ask for whatever you want. If you’ve read (esp on here) that brides get something that you’d like, ask for it. The worst they’ll say is no, but likely they will accommodate it. For example, we wanted our reception to go until 10:30pm because we paid for the DJ until that time and Anabel allowed it, though she kept bringing it up as though she was doing us a humungous favor. 

OUR ACCOMODATIONS: F, then once changed rooms: A
When we arrived we asked if our room could be upgraded, which it was. Even though we brought 51 people to their resort, they said they could only upgrade it 1 level, fine, whatevs. We got to our room at 3pm and found that the phone and the thermometer were broken, and there was no bottle opener. We called and reported these and the concierge said they would be fixed asap. When we got back to our room that night to go to bed, everything remained broken which meant 1. We couldn’t call to check up on our house and dog and 2. It was FREEZING cold in the room and there was a terribly loud clicking noise that kept us awake all night. We had to sleep with pillows over our heads. In the morning we went back down to the lobby and again asked them to fix these things. They said they would change our room and for us to pack up our suitcases by noon and they would be taken to the new room. We went back to shower and pack. It was freezing so we opened up the screen door to let warm air in. This created a thick line of moisture on the tile floor. As I stepped out of the shower and into the hallway, I took a face plant into the floor. I fell so so so hard that I now need a root canal because my front tooth turned gray L Many tears and blood filled towels later I emerged to find a REALLY swollen lip, a huge cut under my chin, and a gnarly black and blue bruise on my chin. I was devastated. Our wedding was in 2 days and I knew this would not heal in time. My cut bled for about 9 hours and we called to inquire about a doctor. They said I would have to pay $150 USD to see a doctor. TOTALLY RIDICULOUS since the only reason I fell was because our thermostat was broken and they hadn’t done anything about it in time :(

We had our first wedding planning meeting with Anabel that day, my brain was nowhere near where it should have been because I was so so upset. She didn’t seem fazed. She didn’t ask how I felt, she didn’t try to make me feel better, no empathy, nothing. In fact, when we reported the accident to the concierge we had the exact same reaction. No one in the resort said anything nice, calming, or empathic about any of it. That’s the part that made me most upset :(

Eventually that day (probably to cover their asses), they “upgraded” us to the honeymoon suite, which I give a solid A. The honeymoon suite was really lovely. Two balconies, a large Jacuzzi, a nice divided room with couch, and a walk in(ish) closet. A really lovely room. Doesn’t make up for a broken face 2 days before the wedding, but a lovely room nonetheless.

SPA: B-
Because things kept going wrong, I went to the spa in order to confirm my appointments the day before the wedding. GOOD THING I DID. Apparently they didn’t have the appointments in their calendar. Luckily I brought my printed out email correspondence with Claudia, the spa concierge, and they were able to fit our party in. However, there was another wedding going on that day and we would only get 1 hair stylist and not 2, which slowed us down considerably. In fact, we had to leave 1 of my bridesmaids at the salon while the other helped me with my dress (there were only 5 of us total getting hair done: 2 moms, 2 bridesmaids, and me). Trinidad did our hair and she did a fabulous job. I loved how mine came out and so did the girls. Too bad having only 1 hair stylist put us behind schedule and we had to rush for the rest of the time, something I did NOT want before my wedding :(

FLOWERS: D-

Oh my gosh the flowers were dreadful! Not only did they fall apart as a carried them (and almost stained my dress) but petals kept dropping the entire night. The bridesmaids bouquets had the same problem. We used orange Mexican lilies (those are the ones that fell apart). The other flower in the bouquet that was so awful it was funny, was a large yellow flower that was PAINTED yellow. Literally, painted. But the worst part of it was that the paint was coming off because of the heat. They were terrible, but pretty hilarious.

CEREMONY & RECEPTION SET UP: C

Even with very particular instruction (and photos), things were not set up as arranged. We brought 2 large spools of orange tulle for the canopy and only a little bit was used. To be exactly, only ¼ of 1 spool was used, the other was unopened. When I asked Anabel about this the next day, she said it was because of the wind. In fact, everything that wasn’t set up as arranged she blamed on the wind. I do not think putting 1 light bulb into the lanterns rather than the 2 we discussed (and brought with us from the states) was because of the wind. There were other things not set up as discussed, but frankly I can’t remember anymore. None of the candles we brought (3 large centerpieces per table and lots of tea lights) were lit, but I imagine that really WAS because of the wind.

RESORT PHOTOGRAPHER: A+

Oh my gosh, if you get a chance to work with Teo from the resort photographers, do it! He’s WONDERFUL. We only used him for a few hours during the reception because we brought our own photographer for the event, but we absolutely adored Teo and he took some really great and fun photos of everyone!

DJ Doremixx: A+

Hiring DJ Doremixx was one of the smartest decisions we made overall. We were planning on renting the sound system and using our ipod but once we priced it out, we realized how ridiculous the sound system charge was. Aurora quoted as at $750 to use the resorts sound system for the ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception. This was literally ONE speaker and a microphone. However, for just $880 we had Ivan and two other guys from Doremixx for the entire day (ceremony, cocktail hour, and reception). He was amazing, professional, and really nice. He came down to meet with us the day before the wedding and discuss details. We gave him a song list (which was incredibly obscure because we like pretty random music) and he had everything on the list! He stuck to the list and did not play anything we didn’t like or request. He was really wonderful and a very smart decision on our part. He brought so many fun things (glasses, balloons, glowsticks) which make for really fun photos and dancing! We really loved Ivan! 

BEACH:B
Well, there was kinda a hurricane. Our wedding week took place during Tropical Storm Alex so the red flags were up on the beach the entire time and we weren’t allowed into the water. However, the wind made the heat tolerable and laying out by the beach was nice :) We snuck in a couple of times and the water was really rough. The scariest time was during our Trash The Dress photoshoot when I literally thought I was going to drown. The dress got so heavy and the ocean wanted to eat me alive :) But it made for amazing photos!

FOOD & RESTAURANTS: A

The food on the resort was wonderful! I think it was my favorite thing about Dreams Tulum! Really great food.

Our Wedding Day Menu:

Cocktail Hour: Smoked salmon on melba bread, Mushroom stuffed with cream cheese with black truffle, Caviar on pastry

Reception Dinner:

APPETIZER: Azteca Fried Tortilla with Shrimp and Cream

SALAD:  Grilled veg with balsamic vinegar

ENTRÉE: (a) Grilled Flank Steak with Slightly Spicy Adobe Sauce (b) Chicken Breast with Spinach and Cream Cheese Topped with Pepper Sauce

DESSERT: Milk Mousse with Chocolate Sauce

The wedding food was great! Everyone was really impressed by how delicious the meal was. The cocktail hour food was lacking. Anabel said they had 10 plates of food but there is no way that is true, we ran out within 20 minutes. The cocktail hour service was terrible. In fact, our guests had to go to the closest bar to get their own drinks which shouldn’t happen. We told her this after the fact and they took off the additional 21 people that we paid for in the cocktail hour, which was nice. 

WORLD CAFÉ (BUFFET): B

The buffet was decent. We had to eat there a great deal because it was the only place that seats a large number of people together. The breakfast and lunch are great but dinner is a bit lacking.

PORTOFINO (ITALIAN): A  

Delicious food! Terribly rude manager the night we booked a table for 12 (called in advance, they said it was okay, showed up and they were not able to accommodate us and split us up into 2 tables even though the restaurant remained almost empty the entire time we were there).  However, we had amazing service when Dave and I returned there to eat just the two of us. The mussels were delicious, as were the pasta dishes (we tried the gnocchi and ravioli, yum).  

EL PATIO (MEXICAN): B-

My husband didn’t like their food; I didn’t like their snail slow service. We only ate lunch there, they were not open for dinner a lot.

COCO CAFÉ (COFFEE SHOP): A

Delicious frozen coffee drinks, sandwiches, cookies, cupcakes, snacks, martinis! GOOD STUFF!

BORDEAUX (FRENCH): A-

Food was pretty good. We had lots of courses and they were spaced out nicely and served in style.

SEASIDE GRILL (SEAFOOD AND STEAK): A

We LOVED this restaurant. Not only because it is where our wedding was held, but also because their food was wonderful and had a nice view of the beach. The filet mignon was delicious!

GOHAN (SUSHI): A-

The food was good, great sushi and fast service but it was SO SO unbearably hot in the restaurant we thought we were going to pass out. Everyone in the place kept asking for them to open up the doors, which they kept ignoring. Until finally we all made a stink and they did.

ROOM SERVICE: A+
We loved this feature. Especially for breakfast. And especially when my face was broken and I wanted to hide. The food was excellent and it came very quickly.

BARS AND DRINKS: A

The drinks were great! A lot were a bit too sweet for my taste but I just ordered double ___ and they came out perfect. For example, my drink of choice was a double pina colada which is double rum and it was delicious! Also, GREAT bloody marys :) Also, here are two secrets I learned a bit late: 1. You can order champagne at the bars for free, as many glasses as you want but they make you pay if you want a bottle of champagne. So if you want champagne for a group, just order x amount of glasses rather than a bottle. 2. You can specify the type of tequila, otherwise they give you their rail tequila, which isn’t that great – but specify Jose Cuervo and you’re all set! :)

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here are some more photos for anyone interested: http://theportwalls.shutterfly.com/wedding

and this one is my favorite: