AArrival Date: December 5, 2012 Wedding Date: December 7, 2012 Number of Guests: 20 Heaven on Earth!! Our wedding couldn't have been any more perfect! We used Wendy Hicks with Wright Ravel and everything with our transfers, hotels, flights, etc. was incredibly smooth. she is a true professional made our trip and wedding and all of our guests' experiences easy and fantastic. I highly recommend her! Flight: To start out, we flew business class on a direct flight on American- we upgraded at the last minute because we were so stressed out and it was so worth it. Besides the food, celebratory champagne and extra space- there were four other brides on our flight and because we got to board first, my dress was placed in the closet and didn't get wrinkled like the others (and two of them had to go into an overhead bin- the bride was NOT happy about that). Transfers: Olympus was great, with the exception of the hassling at the wedding hotel, Olympus was very professional and gave us a private van for our transfer to Dreams Riviera. The ride from our honeymoon back to the airport was fast and just as great as the transfer to Dreams. Hotel: we had an ocean view room and it was amazing- we were very pleased with the accommodations. It was so nice, clean and the room was always restocked in the afternoon. The maids did a great job cleaning and the day after our wedding put a "honeymoon" banner and scattered rose petals and tea lights around the room and bath tub. It was so pretty so i called the front desk the next morning to request that they not sweep the petals and take the candles away. When the maid came and cleaned the next day, she started taking them away and when I asked her about keeping them, she left the candles and actually put out fresh rose petals for us! The service is remarkable! All of the waiters, bartenders, maids, etc were great and made our stay and our guests' stays memorable. The restaurants were really yummy- I'm a food snob and I really liked everything- there is so much to choose from, everyone will be able to find something they like. Even the picky eaters! The only cons we could think of were there were a lot of kids around (but for some reason that it didn't bother me as much as I thought it would), one night the entertainment at night as really loud and as a light sleeper I couldn't fall asleep until 1:00am when the concert stopped, and eating with large groups, especially trying to reserve tables for breakfast at the World Cafe, was difficult. Wedding: Lorena and I had communicated some, but I hadn't turned in my wedding planner to her until about 30 days before our wedding. I was a little nervous a out how things would turn out, but as other brides have said- they do this ALL year long and have it down to a science. Case in point: my now husband and I were having dinner the night we arrived at the hotel (2 nights before our wedding) and we started chatting with an older couple sitting near us- they said they had been there for one week and had already seen 13 weddings!! They said that they watched most of them being set up and for us not to worry if 20 minutes before our ceremony there was nothing there because about 10-15 minutes before the wedding is scheduled to begin, it's like a colony of ants that come and everything is up and looking perfect like it had been there all day! Lol. Because I'm picky about table linens, I brought my own custom runner along with some tissue poms and 16 votive candles and led tea lights with me. I bought the runner and poms from sellers on Etsy. When we arrived we met with Lorena and Linda (the minister)- we finalized our vows, picked out our cake, picked the two songs for our ceremony, pick our appetizers and finalized the details on the decorations and set up. i made sure i brought photos of what I wanted the table to look like ( i did a mock up of the table decor before i left) and brought all of our email communication printed in a notebook, which really helped. It took us just over an hour and we were done to go enjoy the beach! They really know what they are doing, so don't worry if you cannot make a decision until you get there and they will take care of you to make sure you day is everything you and your fiancé hopes it will be. Rehearsal: We followed the advice of other brides before us and just showed up at El Patio with our group of 16 at 6:00 sharp- it worked out just fine and the dinner was great! We then headed to the lobby bar for more drinks and stories/toasts afterward. Photos: we used Anel at Adventure and she was amazing- we have only seen a sneak peak so far, but we are happy. She is very creative and got a bunch of different types of shots of me, my husband and I and our families. The salon did a fabulous job- I was a little worried, but Perla did the whole 'copy the photo exactly' hairdo and 'make your makeup look natural but a prettier version of yourself' perfectly. She was great! I brought a couple of photos of my hair and gave her no directions on my makeup- I only brought some self-adhesive fake lashes and my makeup bag just in case. I have to say, I was VERY impressed! My sister and I thought they did an amazing job. I used all of their makeup (and I'm used to using Lancôme, so I was worried about their makeup), which lasted all night, except my liquid eyeliner (just because) and I had her do an extra coat of mascara with my mascara (because I wanted a little more- I'm from Texas and we use A LOT of mascara) ;-) We had our ceremony on the North Beach- it seemed more private and it was beautiful. All of our guests loved Linda the minister- we got the microphone and I'm glad we did ( we decided to go for it when we met with them two days prior to the wedding) because it made it easier to speak and to hear. It was a little windy even though the wind was only about 5 mph- so take everyone's advice and have your hair put up or at least out of your face. :-) Cocktail hour: at the north Jacuzzi area. It was a great location even though I was skeptical at first. We had 20 people and it was perfect- not to small but not too big- would have even worked if we had had 30 people. It is a very private space, which my husband and I liked. Everyone had a great time eating and drinking. We missed the first 30 minutes of it taking photos, but we got to sample some of the appetizers and have a drink before moving on to the reception. We had the silver package and chose the egg roll, empanadas, chicken satay for the hot appetizers, and the mushroom in puff pastry and salmon roll for the cold appetizers- all of them were really good. Our guests liked them all and said that the salmon roll was just okay. Since we had the silver package, we didn't opt to pay extra for the trio for the cocktail hour. We didn't miss it (and neither did our guests) it was such a short time, if you're looking to save, that would be a good place to do it. Reception: Now for our favorite part and the best surprise of the evening! We had our reception on the South beach and it as even more amazing than I would have dreamed or hoped! I feel like receptions on the beach get a bad rap, but TRUST ME- they are awesome! We had a large rectangular table set up and it was magical hearing the waves crash and it being just, you, your guests, the waves and the stars. You see, in Mexico in December, there are so many stars out- more than I have ever seen- and it makes it so beautiful to be on the beach at night and away Fromm all of the restaurants and other weddings and guests at the hotel. It was very intimate and we felt like the only group at the hotel. So awesome!! We had the Caribbean buffet and it was delicious- especially the ribs, kabobs, crab avocados and the desserts table. Needless to say we were stuffed when it was over! We didn't have a dance floor, DJ, musicians or sound system. I wished we had programmed an IPOD for the reception but we had such a small group so were we're talking throughout the whole dinner. The cake was so delicious too- we did the basic cake - vanilla flavor. It was one of the moistest and yummiest cakes I have ever had- we couldn't eat it all, so we had the concierge bring it to our group dinner at Bordeaux the next night. Since I was on a budget, I did have them add a texture to the cake to give it a little more personality and that was done at no charge ( I verified this with Lorena about a week before our wedding). Bottom line- Lorena and the rest of the wedding staff- especially Jorge- do a magnificent job- so sit back, relax and let them carry out your vision for your dream wedding! We tipped them and made sure we could come back the next day to pick up our decorations- they made our special day so memorable! Don't stress and know everything will turn out great!! And if you have ANY doubts about Dreams, don't- it is amazing, the pools are nice (and one is heated which is so important in December!), the food is delicious and such a variety to choose from, there is a coffee bar open all day and most of the night (so addictive- I miss it so much now...), the beach is beautiful and is easily walked (we walked to Puerto Morelos one day) and the staff is fantastic. Our guests loved it as well and were very happy that we chose it even though neither my husband nor I had ever been to that part of Mexico and weren't quite sure we would love the resort. We miss it so much and can't wait to go back because it is heaven!!!