Wedding:  7/26/13

 

**I'm having trouble adding photos right now.  When I figure it out, I'll add them in my comments section!**

 

Travel Agent:

In the industry I used to work in, I had met Judy and Maria of Coatesville, PA (http://judyandmariastravel.com/).  I worked with Maria throughout the wedding planning process.  If it wasn’t for her, I likely would have chosen a different resort.  I gave her my top 3 and she steered me toward DT, saying “I know Alex there, he’ll take care of you”.  I had forgotten about this until we arrived.  Alex is the General Manager of DT and he DID take care of us. He introduced himself to us one day and offered us some extra amenities.  My guests had a couple little issues which I let him know about, and sure enough they were taken care of!  If you are in the planning stages and thinking of DT, I highly recommend contacting Judy and Maria travel simply because of this connection!  It’s good to know people in high places ;)  They are affiliated with Apple Vacations, which is a nice company because its packages include the flight and transfers to/from the airport.  Despite that, Maria was always helpful and willing to work with my guests who had credit card airline miles and weird requests.  It was wonderful for me as the bride to be able to say “why don’t you call Maria?” when my guests would ask me questions rather than having to act as travel agent myself. 

 

Check in:

Wonderful.  We were upgraded upon check in to room 6312 which is the 3^rd floor corner room with 2 balconies you see in pictures.  What a WONDERFUL surprise!!  We were served champagne and a cookie upon check in.   Initially we were told that it would be $60/week to have internet access but then there were 2 internet codes in our check in packet.  All of our guests had them too, so I don’t know exactly how this works but it was a nice perk!

 

Important tip:  Be aware that the VIP Concierge will try to sell you and your guests the “Ultimate Vacation Club”.  In order to get the $200 worth of resort coupons you’ve probably been promised, you must sit down with them initially and hear about a 10 minute ‘speel’.  Go ahead and do that part at least to get the coupons—they might come in handy at the Spa or for a bottle of wine.  They will invite you to a 90 minute presentation about this Club in order to get $200 toward the Spa or a romantic dinner.  Be strong!  Say ‘no’ even though the guy gives you the ‘puppy dog eyes’.   Most of my guests said that when they mentioned they were with a wedding the salesmen backed down pretty quickly.  I did, however, have 2 guests who actually went and said the presentation was literally 5 hours long (!!!!).  They said it’s actually a good deal if you have the cash to spend.

 

 

Resort:

Overall, I loved the sleek, sophisticated feel of this resort.  I’m guessing that if you picked it you’re looking for that too.  I definitely did not want the ‘kitchy’ Mexican themed resort and this one delivered!  All of my guests commented on how lovely and manicured the gardens were.  The beach was raked each morning.  We had plenty of places to choose from for photos!

 

Service:

This is where I think that Dreams Tulum has some extra work to do.  I generally got the feeling that the resort staff were not happy.  Don’t get me wrong, I got my morning coffee---eventually.  And sooner or later they would remember that I’d ordered Pineapple juice instead of OJ.  But I never got the feeling that they were willing or excited to go above and beyond.  I’ve been to resorts where they try to get to know you or a little about you and then you’re greeted by name, etc etc.  This staff was simply there to put in their time and go home.  Not bad, but certainly not customer service oriented.  And we were tippers!

 

Room:

We were so excited for our surprise upgrade!!  I knew it was their busy season (Brits and native Mexicans tend to vacation the end of July) so I wasn’t expecting it.  Our room was beautiful.  2 balconies and a Jacuzzi tub on the one balcony.  We had fresh fruit and flowers in the room when we checked in.  Note to future brides who receive these gifts, throw them out asap because we left the fruit sitting there for 2 days and suddenly had a small insect problem.  The housekeeper left a bottle of Raid for us though and we just sprayed when we saw them.  Not exactly ideal, but the view made up for it. 

 

We had several guests who staying in the 5000s.  We found there rooms to be perfectly fine--suite style with the bed(s) on one level and the couch on another.  The main complaint the guests had was that the refrigerators didn’t get cold enough.  Others found that the beds were hard.  But I’ve found this to be a running theme at all Riviera Mayan resorts so I’m not sure what we could’ve done to avoid it. 

 

 

Food:

Most of my guests did not mind the food.  By far the best meal of the week was the wedding dinner, but I’ll get to that in a bit.  The key to these resorts is to discuss the food with everyone.  Each place we went had hits and misses.  For example, the first night we ate at the French Restaurant (Bordeaux).  I ordered the pork tenderloin.  It was awful.  Overcooked, tasteless, and hard.  Completely inedible.  My brother, however, ordered the Duck and it was absolutely amazing—cooked perfectly and melted in your mouth.  Throughout the week we discussed our hits and misses with our guests and by the 2^nd or 3^rd day you’re getting pretty decent meals.  At the Barefoot Grill the best thing we found was the pizza—made to order with exactly what you want as toppings.  The best steak was the beef tenderloin and dessert on the whole resort was the tiramisu both found at the Italian restaurant (Portifino).  We also made a point to always ask our server what they thought was the best.  They usually steered us in the right direction!

 

I was worried because trip advisor had several reviews the week before we left indicating that guests were getting food poisoning.   Being a pharmacist, I warned my guests ahead of time to bring chewable Pepto-bismol tablets and take 2 prior to each meal.  This is recommended by the CDC (fair warning, a side effect is that it will turn your tongue and stool black).  The guests who heeded my warning religiously did not get sick, including myself and my now husband.  I would say that of the guests who did not take the Pepto or took it only every once in a while of them about 1/3 ended up with diarrhea.   Like most other travelers, we couldn’t find a common link (certain restaurant or food item) but the majority of them got sick after they got home, which was a god send. 

 

 

Entertainment:

I’m a huge activities pool junky and I found the entertainment team to be a little lacking.  They had your typical aqua aerobics, beach volleyball, and Spanish lessons if you’re into those things, but at my last stay at the Grand Sirenis they were much more entertaining!  No worries though, the pool bar keeps everyone in good spirits!

 

In the evenings some nights they closed the World Café and had outdoor dinners with a little entertainment.  There was a Mexican Night and a Caribbean night while we were there.  Most nights they had some sort of show around 9pm, but we never made it because we were still at dinner.  I saw some great pictures though!  For example, fire dancers on Friday nights.

 

The entertainment team would also do some fun things at the Sugar Reef Bar from like 9:30pm on.  One night was karaoke, another was a cover band, and another was salsa/latin dancing.  A lot of the younger guests would hang out here after dinner. 

 

Lastly, most (all?) nights of the week there is a DJ at an indoor bar between 2 restaurants (Gohan and Bordeaux).  We only went one night, but it was packed!  There happened to be a lot of 15-18 y/o British kids there while we were staying and they were having a blast. 

 

 

Wedding Coordinator:  Anabel and Nayeli (Na-jelly)

During the week we were there, there were only 2 weddings the entire week!  One Weds and ours on Friday.  So, I should preface by saying that I don’t know how they would be when they are under the 3-weddings-a-day pressure. 

 

We arrived Sunday and there was a letter from Anabel asking to meet at 1030am the next day.  We had a civil ceremony, so we met in the Lobby with our 4 witnesses.  The witnesses signed some paperwork and we gave Nayeli our Welcome Bags.  Then Anabel brought us to the ‘Wedding Boutique”-thingy where we went over our Planning Form.  Anabel was wonderful. She has been one of the wedding coordinators at DT for 5 years.  She had very detailed questions about our planning and gave us some added options that she thought might be nice.  Never once did I feel pressured to do anything specific.  And I made it clear that budget was an issue and she was willing to bend on certain items. 

 

I had 2 disappointments, but they weren’t that bad.  The first was that we didn’t get the grooms room the night before.  Apparently the end of July is a very high season for the resort with families from Mexico, Britain, and the USA on summer break.  They said there wasn’t availability.  I wasn’t surprised because we could tell the resort was booked.  And the fact that we were upgraded to the ocean view suite kind of softened the blow.  The second was that our Welcome Dinner was moved outside due to the World Café being closed that night.  It was hot, muggy, and difficult to hear each other during toasts, etc.  But I couldn’t have a different location without being charged an arm and a leg.  L

 

Nayeli:

I have to admit, I wasn’t a fan of her prior to the wedding due to confusing email communication.  I’m sure you all feel my frustration! 

 

I tried on my dress prior to sending it to be steamed on Thursday (day before the wedding).  It was like a potato sack on me.  I was sobbing.  I bought my dress in IL where my parents live and was having it altered there while I was living in PA.  My last fitting was 2 months prior to the wedding and it was a little loose at the time, but comfortable.  Well, long story short, I quit one job after accepting an offer for another, moved across the country, and was planning this wedding in those 2 short months and apparently I lost about 10lbs.  (I don’t have a scale and wasn’t really paying attn.)  Not only was it big on me, but the weight of the dress rested on my shoulders instead of on my waist and it was going to be unbearable pain for the whole night… and I didn’t have a back up reception dress.  I was just going to deal with it, but my dad convinced me to mention it to Anabel.  I did, and she arranged for the dress to be delivered early on the wedding day by Nayeli since Anabel didn’t start work until the afternoon that day. 

 

Nayeli called to confirm that I was in the room at 1045am and promptly delivered the dress at 11am.  She was accompanied by a small Mexican woman who spoke no English named Gilberta.  Nayeli worked as an interpreter and explained the situation to Gilberta.  She said she couldn’t use a machine on it, but would sew it by hand.  Ladies, she literally stood at my bedside for an hour and sewed my wedding dress by HAND!  It was amazing. 

 

Nayeli did a wonderful job interpreting and when it was clear they weren’t going to be done prior to my Spa appointment, offered to call the Spa for me to explain why I would be late.  She has a wonderful, upbeat personality and was making small talk while Gilberta was working.  She said she really enjoys her job and I believe her. 

 

 

Doctor:

I wouldn’t even mention the doctor but we had a weird little incident.  At our initial meeting with Anabel, she called to ask if it was ok if we came over to have our blood drawn for the civil ceremony.  He asked that we come at 1pm.  No problem.  We finished our initial meeting with Anabel, got some lunch, and returned to the doctor (located near the Spa).  He was a very nice man, early 40s, tall.  He apologized and said that he had run out of syringes and they were to be delivered at 2pm, could we return then?  Sure, ok.  How weird that you are a mini-doctor’s office and you’ve run out of syringes!  So we left and putz’d around, then return at 2pm as asked.  The syringes still haven’t been delivered.  At this point I asked him how long it took to get results of the labs.  He said 48 hours, so I asked to return the next morning since our wedding was 4 days away.  He was reluctant, but agreed and we

 

 

Spa:

Thursday before the wedding my mom surprised myself and my bridesmaids with massages at the Spa.  There was a little bit of confusion when we first checked in because one of my BMs is pregnant and the Spa brochure says there are pregnancy massages, but when she checked in and filled out the form they refused to touch her.  It was a huge disappointment.  They did allow her to come into the changing room and the ‘relaxation room’ to sit with us. 

 

The relaxation room was nice with the sound of flowing water, drinks/cookies available, soft music, and a large hot tub in the middle.  But it is lined with doors and none of the doors close quietly.  So you’re laying there half asleep and someone will slam a door startling you awake.  It didn’t seem to bother the workers, but I would think it’s an easy fix if management were aware.

 

The massage itself was your true Swedish massage.  I had Francesca and she had firm, constant pressure.  It was fine, nothing out of this world, but a good solid massage.  The weird thing was that I was in a room where there was a sliding wooden door between the my room and the next.  The sliding door was broken and would only half close.  Luckily my MOH/sister was in the room next to me or that could get very awkward. 

 

Of note, despite the fact that the Spa has a ‘menu’, we found that most of the prices are negotiable.  Do NOT pay full price!  Mexico is the land of Negotiation, work it to your advantage.  My mom got our 80 min massage for $99pp and I think it’s listed at $160 in the brochure. 

 

 

Photographer:

I brought my high school friend who now does professional photography.  She took our wedding day photos and photos throughout the week.  The Dreams of Love package, however, came with 36 print & digital photos so we opted to have the DT photographer photograph our guests prior to our Welcome Dinner.  We had Teo for our photographer.  He is a nice, Italian man.  My guests found him somewhat pushy and hard to understand.  We didn’t mind him and he made sure to photograph every single guest there, which I appreciated.  When we met with him at the shop, he had 140 photos and we had no problem quickly narrowing it down to our free 36.  Many had problems with shadows and catching the guests with weird looks on their faces.  

 

He pulled me aside at one point and asked me when I booked my outside photographer.  When I told him she was my friend, he quickly backed down, saying that he was just trying to figure out when brides are booking their photographers.  What I should have told him is that it was cheaper for me to fly her and her husband from London and pay for their 8 day/7night vacation rather than hiring the DT photographers for a brief amount of time on the wedding day. 

 

What would I recommend?  If you want your day memorialized in a special way, I would recommend hiring your own photographer.  If you just want the job done and don’t mind mediocre photos which take advantage of the beautiful surroundings, Teo will be just fine. 

 

Salon:

As I mentioned above, I arrived late to my appointment due to having my dress altered.  My apt was scheduled at 12noon and I arrived at 1230.  Diana was my stylist and she went straight to work on me.  I had a couple pictures of simple low buns printed out, and one complicated braid thingy from Kate Middleton in the stack.  As soon as she saw that one she asked me if that was what I really wanted.  I told her yes, but it seemed very complicated and we were already running behind, but she said in her way that if that was what I wanted, that was what I was going to get!  It was obvious that she was very serious about her work, rarely smiling or the typical chit-chat.  As I sat there, I could tell that she was directing the other stylists.  It seemed like she was running the show.  In the end, I absolutely loved my hair.  She also did my make-up.  It was a little heavier than I am used to, but it looked great in the photos.  My bridesmaids hair turned out well too.

 

 

Flowers:

Originally I was going to hire an outside florist, but in the end I went with the Dreams of Love package which included just about everything except the bridesmaid bouquets (bride bouquet, 2 corsages, 2 bouts).  After one of the last BDW reviews, I decided to be extra descriptive with the flowers on my 2 month request form.   Anabel delivered them 1 hour before the ceremony and they were beautiful.  They followed what I wanted to a ‘T”.  The unfortunate part was that their flowers weren’t quite as ‘vibrant’.  The hypericum berries were more of a yellow than green.  I actually liked the bridesmaid bouquets better because they used green button mums, unfortunately I don’t have any photos of their’s yet.  Maybe give them a couple options when you’re filling out your form!

 

The centerpiece included in the DoL package was surprisingly nice, albeit smaller than pictured in the brochure.  We used it on the table during the ceremony and then on the Bride and groom sweetheart table during the reception.  We didn’t buy any other flowers as centerpieces. 

 

 

Ceremony:

Our ceremony was at 5pm in the Chapel.  There is air conditioning in the chapel, which Anabel said she turned on approximately 1.5hrs prior to the ceremony.  I wouldn’t say it was chilly in there, but it wasn’t bad.  I think the door gets left open a long time waiting for the bridal party and the bride which may have let out quite a bit of A/c.  I had folding fans that were passed out to the guests prior to the ceremony and I remember seeing a lot of them used. 

 

We had paid extra to have the sound system for the ceremony and I’m glad I did.  I don’t think the guests in the back would’ve heard everything.  Plus, I really enjoyed hearing the music played as we walked in and out. 

 

We had sort of a unique situation because we had a civil ceremony which was followed by a religious ceremony.   We had a female judge who presided over the civil ceremony.  Honestly, she couldn’t have been more than 26 years old.  She read the civil ceremony in Spanish very very quickly.  Anabel, the wedding coordinator, then repeated what she said in English.  Anabel did a very nice job pacing her words and giving emphasis where it was needed.  I’m not joking ladies, this part of the ceremony lasted maybe 5 minutes then our witnesses and signed the legal paperwork and it was over in less than 10 minutes. 

 

 

Luckily, I had hired an outside minister, Sr. Alejandro Monroy of Cancun Minister for the religious ceremony.  Both our families are religious and we felt the civil ceremony would not be enough.  I am SO GLAD I DID THIS.  He was wonderful--Jovial, pleasant, and classy.  I cannot recommend him highly enough!  We had traditional vows, a scripture reading, and a poem read.  He is non-denominational and will perform ceremonies toward any religion you choose.  www.cancunminister.com

 

The total ceremony time was approximately 35 minutes.  On a side note, my 89 y/o grandmother was not able to join us in Mexico, but there is Wifi throughout the resort as long as you have an internet code.  My uncle was able to Face-time her during the ceremony and afterwards so that we could say hello to her after.  This was one of my favorite moments of the day!  I know that the Wedding Guide offers this for like $600, but in all honesty, this worked out well.  Grandma said that the connection was choppy but she got to hear us and see us on our wedding day.

After the ceremony, we stood in the courtyard taking pictures, etc for a little while then my photographer ushered everyone out to the beach where we took some photos.  Most people just had 1 or 2 photos taken then headed up to the Lobby for the Cocktail hour.  We missed most of it due to picture taking.  For me in my large dress, the heat was nearly unbearable.  I’m really glad that everything we did involved A/C. 

 

 

Cocktail hour:

The cocktail hour was on the Lobby terrace from 6-7pm.  We missed most of it taking photos on the beach, but it was lovely once we arrived.  They set up the or’dourves on a table on one end and we just got the 20 champagne toasts that were in the Dreams of Love package (despite having 37 guests because several didn’t drink and the lobby bar was right there).  No one went without a drink so I’m really glad I didn’t spend $15pp on extra champagne.  The guests only complaint was that there was no breeze on the Terrace, which surprised me since it is on the 2^nd story, but I guess that far inland you really don’t get much from the ocean.  I didn’t have any of the food because I was too busy making the rounds and taking photos with guests, but no one had any compliants about it. 

 

Reception:

The reception was at 7pm in half of the Chichen Inza Ballroom.  We choose this one because of the high ceilings giving it a light airy feel.  Anabel offered us another ballroom which was really more of a large conference room, but it was too small considering the dinner for 39 people and dancing we had planned.  We arranged to have 4 round tables for the guests (9pax x 3 and 10pax x 1) with 2 on either side of the dance floor and then a sweetheart table at the head of the dance floor.  I wasn’t originally going to have a sweetheart table, but Nayeli suggested it to help keep the # of guests down at each table and I’m glad we did.  It was the only time during the day that I had to talk one on one with my now husband.  Besides, you see your guests throughout the week!

 

We also opted to add an additional hour at the end of the night during our initial meeting with Anabel.  She actually encouraged it and I’m glad she did.  We didn’t cut the cake until 8:30pm and, if we hadn’t purchased an additional hour, we would’ve only had an hour +/- 15 minutes for dancing.  I told her my concern was the fee and she gave us the additional $10pp. 

 

As far as decoration, I had brought 32 paper lanterns which were hung from the ceiling a little lower in an ‘X’ configuration over the dance floor.  We paid the $150 for set up, but I’m glad I did this because it gave the room a little bit of pizzaz.  For centerpieces, I had brought small real touch bouquets and 3 mercury glass votives with battery operated candles.  Each table had a ‘table number’ that was a vintage airline poster in postcard form.  I think this was plenty and I’m glad I didn’t spend $60 per table for a real floral centerpiece.  We also used the centerpiece from the ceremony and the BM bouquets to decorate.

 

 

 

Reception Food:

We had the Silver menu with the Dreams of Love package.  Our menu included:

- Azteca fried tortilla with shrimps and cream  àawesome, everyone loved it

- Mixed salad with house dressing  àlovely presentation but I’m pretty sure they forgot the dressing

- Chicken Breast filled with spinach cream cheese and pepper sauce àwonderful.  Had a nice sauce on top which everyone loved.

- Fruit tart with amaretto mouse  àI had cake instead, but I heard it was a little dry.

 

Cake:

We went with the Silver 01 option, and Tres Leches flavor (based on reviews on BDW).  Tres Leches isn’t listed as an option on the Wedding brochure, but I went ahead and wrote it on the ‘2 months prior’ form I filled out and Anabel didn’t have a problem with it (AKA I was not charged extra, Yay!).  It was 3 tiers with bright pink roses like my bouquet.  For a destination wedding, I had really really low expectations for what it was would like (I was picturing a bad grocery store cake), but I was pleasantly surprised at how professional it looked and how nice the flavor was. 

 

At my fiancé-now-husband’s insistence, we ordered enough cake for each guest (39 in all).  BIG MISTAKE.  We would have easily had enough for everyone with just the 20 slices that come with the Dreams of Love package.  The remaining cake was delivered to our room with our ‘breakfast in bed’ the morning following the wedding.  We brought it down to the outdoor bar that night after dinner where we had an impromptu meeting and asked the bartenders for plates and forks and everyone was able to have a second slice. 

 

 

DJ Doremixx (Ivan):

Don’t think about it, don’t delay.  Just hire him.  It made a huge difference in our wedding! Ivan got every single person out on the floor.  It was wonderful.  I was the bride that, a year ago when I started planning, was going to fill an Ipod up with songs and just have someone press play.  I’m so glad I didn’t do that.  Around For one, how much $$ would I have spent on buying just the right songs?  Second, how much time would I have spent on getting the playlists just right?  For $800 (+$120 resort offsite vendor fee) it was totally worth it. 

 

Ivan met myself and my fiancé in the Lobby on Tuesday.  He reviewed our music timeline form and made notes and changes.  He asked a lot of questions, which made me feel better about how the night would go.  We had 2 complicated situations/requests which he handled with ease.  My now husband in a pilot, so our entrance song was “Highway to the Danger Zone” from Top Gun and his cousin ‘marshalled’ us into the room.  Ivan did a great job with the introductions and had spot lights on us.  Also, our father-daughter dance was a surprise fun dance which we gave him an ipod loaded with the song that night. 

 

I was surprised when I saw the ballroom that it was entirely illuminated with lights that the Doremixx team brought.  They had everything from spot lights to fun shapes to strobe lights.  Looking back at the photos, the entrance and the first dance seem more special with the spot lights on us.  At one point I did ask him to cut down on the strobe lights because they were giving me a headache, he did this without a problem.  His team passed out long balloons at one point in the night and then fun masks a little later. 

 

Of note, cold fireworks are included in his package however management at DT did not allow them either in the ballroom (for obvious reasons) or after the reception on the conference center walkway, which was a bummer. 

 

 

 

Overall experience:

I was very pleased with our wedding experience and I would choose DT again in a heartbeat!