I just returned from my wedding at Dreams Los Cabos and it was wonderful! We brought 30 guests with us and everyone stayed for one week (my husband and I extended our stay to 9 days). Overall, this resort was above average but not necessarily my favourite all-inclusive Mexican resort. That being said, I wouldn't have had my wedding anywhere else because Dreams specializes in weddings and it was very evident that they knew what they were doing. They were competent, efficient, and well-informed.

FRONT DESK:

Upon arrival, our guests received champagne and cookies. We (bride & groom) were ushered to the concierge for a faster check-in. We were a little surprised that we did not receive a room upgrade right away but after we inquired about it, our wedding coordinator Shantal Carrizales got on it immediately and made sure we had a honeymoon suite by the second night. Everyone at the front desk was extremely helpful. No matter what I asked for I needed, they were happy to help and did it with a smile on their faces. Everyone at this resort would say "It's a pleasure" no matter how ridiculous my request was. The service here is outstanding!

FOOD:

I was very wary of this resort at first because there were so many negative reviews regarding the food and after 9 days there, I think some people are just too picky. Sure there were some odd things on my plate from time to time, but that happens at any eating venue. Here is a quick review of all the restaurants on site:

Portofino: This Italian restaurant was my favourite. I loved the romantic, upscale atmosphere and decor and the food was delicious! There was a wide selection of meats and pastas, and I thoroughly enjoyed my seafood linguini. The bread with balsamic vinegar and oil at the beginning of the meal was quite a treat as well.

Himitsu: This Asian fusion was surprisingly great! Some of the sushi rolls were a bit odd, but the raw fish was fresh and their deep fried appetziers were to die for. I particulary loved the popcorn shrimp and lumpia. Lots of flavour, great sauces, and beautiful presentation. The service was a little slow on one of the nights but I knew that all the servers were working hard and doing whatever they could do accomodate us. We had, after all, brought in a table of 16 and expected to be served all at once.

Oceana: I am disappointed I didn't get to eat here enough! Their dinner was all right (once again, the seafood appetizers were scrumptious) but the lunch was the best. Several of our guests loved going to Oceana in the daytime. The fish tacos are the best I've ever eaten.

El Patio: I personally wasn't a big fan of this restaurant for dinner. It was typical Mexican fare: tacos, fajitas, and burritos...a little dull. However, their breakfasts were awesome. The omelette bar was great and I loved their empanadas. The one thing I will say about this resort is that buffets are NOT their thing. The buffet at El Patio is extremely limited and small, but as I said, it's the omelettes that are worth eating.

Seaside Grill: I only ate here once for the buffet and as I said, Dreams is not really a "buffet" place. They offer unlimited a la carte visits with no reservations, so I think that more than makes up for mediocre smorgasbords. I was there for 9 days and never felt like there wasn't enough selection. Even now that I'm home, I'm missing some of the food!

Coco Cafe: This was my favourite eatery! It wasn't actually a restaurant - just a little Starbucks-like deli/coffee shop on site. And it's all unlimited, like everything else. There were awesome pastries (croissants, muffins, strudels, etc.) throughout the day, ice cold frappes, lattes, and then deli sandwiches and pretzels in the afternoon. It was a DREAM. I went there between meals on a daily basis.

POOLS:

Loved both the "noisy" pool and the quiet "tranquility" pool. Honestly, they were like any other all-inclusive Mexican resort pool but they were kept clean, lots of fun, and provided much entertainment for our entire wedding party. No complaints here. Because it was low season when we went, there was lots of seating available on the loungers but I'm not sure what it would be like during a busier time of year.

ENTERTAINMENT:

This is probably the only "major" con of the resort. I found that the nightlife was really lacking and if you wanted to party, this wasn't the place to do it. The entire resort essentially shuts down at 11PM (we're talking - lights out, music off, you can't even sit around and chat). The only thing open after this time is the cheesy disco called "Desires". My wedding guests and I made it fun because we had 30 people but otherwise, there was generally no one dancing and very few people even hanging around in there. They serve alcohol until 2AM so you can definitely still drink, but it's certainly not the same "nightclub" atmosphere I've seen at other resort discos.

That being said, they did have some fun shows at 8:30PM. Some were better than others. The highlights being the Beach Party with fire dancers and the Broadway Musical dancing show. The casino night and their "crazy games" are really quite silly and most people didn't attend. This is not a knock on the staff at all though; the entertainment team do whatever they can to make sure everyone is happy. They really do work EXTREMELY hard at this resort. Our favourite night was the Karaoke as I come from a very musical family. It was your typical bar Karaoke, but we loved it. They did it two nights a week.

REHEARSAL DINNER:

We paid for a rehearsal dinner for our entire bridal party (plus significant others) and parents and I'm so glad we did it. We had the rehearsal at Portofino and when you pay for this service, there is a special menu so it wasn't the typical resort dishes. All our guests reported that it was amongst the most delicious meals they'd eaten during the week. I agreed! The staff was great, they set up an awesome long table for us outside, and the whole party was beautiful. Shantal did the ceremony rehearsal with us at the gazebo and as promised, it was short and sweet but to the point. We were fully ready to go by the time the wedding rolled around.

WEDDING:

Here it is - the main event: This resort throws amazing weddings. They made my job as a bride so easy and I wish I'd been even MORE relaxed during the planning process because I could've probably just said "Give me a perfect wedding" and they would have. We went with the ultimate package, which I would reccommend, just because they have so many wonderful ammenities and wedding decor - you're going to want to use as much as they have to offer. It was all so gorgeous and all our guests were amazed at the beauty.

Our wedding coordinator, Shantal, was so efficient and organized. The wedding timeline literally went (minute to minute) exactly as planned and it was everything I had pictured and more. If I wanted something, Shantal would get it for me. If I wanted something changed around, she would casually say it was no big deal and made it happen. I even hurt my toe (my fault) on the concrete as I was walking in and Shantal was down on the ground putting a band-aid on my foot!

FLOWERS
We used the ones in the package and I was very happy with them. Fresh, gorgeous, and the perfect size (not too heavy, but not so small that they looked bad). We chose white roses for me and calla lillies for the bridesmaids - simple and elegant.

CAKE

We chose tres leche and boy was it ever yummy! It was two layers, which came with the package, and that was the perfect size for our 30 guests. We brought our own cake topper and of course, Shantal made it beautiful.

CHAIRS

We chose the chivari/Tiffany gold chairs and I think that really added a level of class to the overall look. I'm glad we did it, even if it was $8.00 per chair. That was probably our biggest splurge.

WEDDING FOOD

We had the ultimate package so we were able to have our choice of all the menus. We had the snow crab cake appetizer which was delicious. I didn't care for the little melon salad it came with, but that wasn't the main part so I didn't mind. The presentation was lovely. The duck confit salad was great - refreshing with the surprising cuts of duck meat in it. Everyone raved about the beef wellington. It was tender, the pastry was delicious, and they had this sauce on top that added an extra layer of creaminess. I was too full and busy to eat the chocolate mousse but guests said it was delicious as well. The wedding food is DEFINITELY miles above the regular food at the resort.

MISCELLANEOUS

We definitely did not need to purchase a dance floor. Dancing on the concrete was fine. I will, however, say that the lanterns are a must. I can't even imagine what the weddings at Dreams would look like without the lanterns hanging above us at night. We used the slideshow projector and hired the technician, which was pricy, but needed. I'm glad we did it and everything went swimmingly because we had a competent MC and of course, Shantal was there to help if we needed it. You get your own "open bar" setup, which is convenient. We also chose to have sparklers for our first dance so everyone made a circle around us and Shantal lit everyone's up (with the help of a few other servers). It was so gorgeous!

I will say one last thing: Brides, if you can help it, do not get married in August. I am a teacher so I didn't have a lot of options and it was definitely cheaper in August but everyone was sweating. We were BOILING hot and the groomsmen really had no choice but to strip down to their undies in the end and jump in the pool. My bridesmaids spent a lot of time mopping my face and spraying me with water bottles (haha). It didn't change my happiness on the day but if I could do anything over again, it would be to NOT do it in August. TOO HOT!

My goodness though, I am so happy with the way my whole wedding week went. We had a blast, the wedding was great, and I am at least 10 lbs heavier from all the yummy eats. Thank you Dreams Los Cabos!

Now for some pictures: