It's finally my turn! I can't believe it. I don't know what I would have done without this forum. You all have been so helpful in pulling off this amazing wedding. So many ideas from everyone! Where do I start? I got the ideas for the Welcome Bags, do not disturb signs, ceremony fans etc etc etc from this forum. Thank you so much <3

Thursday

We arrived in Cancun at 7pm and flew with Allegiant Airlines. Everyone was really nice. They let me put my wedding dress and hubbys suit in the closet at the entrance of the plane. I also brought a hand luggage with my wedding shoes and accessories…. Just in Case. My brother’s luggage was delayed for 2 days so bring everything that u can’t live without in your hand luggage.

When we went thru customs we pushed the button and both got green. Whew!!! I would recommend removing all the made in china tags from all your stuff because the people in front of us had to hand their stuff over… not allowed in mexico. (felt so bad).

Also a note – keep the immigration paper they give you when u land in Mexico. You need it for when you leave Mexico. They ask you for it at customs. Shem and I had no idea where we put them and had to wait one hour at immigration office for it. Good thing we were early at the airport!!

We took a taxi to the airport. In Mexico you have to bargain for everything. If they say $100 you say $50. They let us go for $60. My parents didn’t bargain at all and they were charged $100.  (Hotel is 20 minutes away!!). On the return to the airport from Dreams we only paid $30!!

When we got to the hotel we were treated like royalty. The door men took our luggage while we checked in with the concierge desk. They had our room ready for us right away since we got to the hotel room so late! The room was really amazing. It was in the tower, room 6086. It had a really big patio with a Jacuzzi. We were really impressed. We had flowers and champagne awaiting our arrival. We were also given a paper with all our appointments to be scheduled with the concierge since we got the ultimate wedding package. I scheduled everything the next day because the spa fills up quickly!! I confirmed my hair appointment for wedding day and following day for TTD, the Swedish massage and facials for wedding day, breakfast in bed and romantic dinner (p.s the coconut shrimp is amazing).

We met everyone at Rendezvous Bar by the entrance. I had so many Miami Vice’s that night and also ordered lots of tequila shots. Rendezvous closed at 1am which was perfect I needed to get some much needed zzz’s.

welcome champagne and flowers - email concierge and request the honeymoon package one week in advance - also book the spa!!

Friday

I really recommend disconnecting the phone line while you sleep lol! The phone kept ringing off the hook. Room service called to make sure everything was fine and Claudia called to book our appointment for the wedding planning. She told me to meet her in the Wedding Room (her office) at noon. The office was really amazing. She has a bunch of tables that are decorated and plenty of binders with table cloth options, flowers, you name it. I tipped her upfront $200 and my fiancé bought her a perfume at the airport. We arranged to have the decorations delivered to her the day of the wedding. She just came up to my room and grabbed everything the day of and dropped off my flowers. She also arranged to have my rehearsal on Saturday at 12.00 with Cecilia.

On Friday I purchased my mom and sister massages. It was buy one get one for $25. Every day the spa has different specials. If you are unsure of what gifts to buy for your wedding party I recommend the Swedish massage. It was so AMAZING. I loved Doris!!

I met everyone for lunch at the seaside grill. Steak was amazing!! I also had coffee right next to the spa in the coffee shop. It’s amazing. Try the Caribbean Frozen latte (it’s spiked ; ) yumm.

I went to walmart after to buy fish bowls for my centerpieces and candy for my candy bar. There is a market place on the way (3 blocks from hotel). I stopped and bought maracas for the welcome bags. I only paid $1 each. If you want to buy souvenirs I recommend the market place. Again you have to bargain. They said $2 each.

I tanned the rest of the afternoon. We had dinner at Oceana (Welcome Dinner/Rehearsal). I told them I needed a table for 7 and then my father and husband asked for a table of 7 as well. We asked for table on the patio so we were pretty much all sitting together. There was a bit of a wait. 30 minutes but that was completely fine because there is a bar literally 10 steps from the entrance.  Mojitos were delicious. I had the salmon that night and it was great!

 At night we went to The City!! Amazing club. We had so much fun. My husband had his bachelor party and then they all came and met us at the club.  My girlfriend got so drunk and couldn’t walk when we got back to the hotel! They had to wheelchair her back to her room. What a night. Cover was $20 for entrance or $45 for all you can drink.

wedding gazebo and reception location

Saturday

We had breakfast in bed! So amazing. It was sooo good. American Breakfast and Hotcakes. I miss it sooo much. I looked out the window and the weather was horrible. The wind was sooo strong and it was overcast. We couldn’t stand outside because it was so windy! I really started getting stressed out = (. They had two weddings that day and they had to be held inside. I felt so bad for the brides. If I were to book this wedding again I would wait till end of March or April. Summertime is too hot for me. I can’t deal with 40 degrees.

We had our rehearsel with Cecilia. She was really nice. We had the rehearsel inside because it was so windy. Rehearsel was really helpful! Cecilia answered alot of our questions during this hour and reassured us that the minister was awesome.

The weather was totally crappy so we went shopping after hahaha. I also hung out in our Jacuzzi with my nephew! He had a blast! We had dinner at Palonoma. It was part of the all inclusive that day if you made reservations early. You will know about the promotions in the morning flyer thats delivered to your room. At night we hung out at rendezvous again. We were about 35 people so it was A LOT of fun!

I prayed and prayed that night for the weather to clear up!

Our wedding Gazebo

Sunday

I woke up that morning…. And it was SUNNY!! I was so happy I was jumping up and down on the bed lol. It was still very windy in the morning but calmed down a lot during the afternoon. My hair and makeup appointment was at 11.00 so Shem and I had our Swedish massage at 9.00. I recommend you do this! It def calmed me down a lot. I was so stressed before. Something about getting a massage outside listening to the ocean breeze!.

When we got back to the hotel at 10, I kicked Shem out of the room. (they gave him his own room). Juan didn't get any photographs of Shem getting ready so I recommend having the photographer come a bit earlier and go to grooms room for a couple of photos. Claudia came and got all her stuff for our room while i was at the hairdresser. I gave her the video cd with the 7 songs I wanted and then rushed down to the spa to get my hair and makeup done. They did exactly what I wanted with my hair. Don’t forget to get all the ladies to hairspray LOTS!! For my makeup I brought my own. I didn’t want them to transform me into someone else. I got the smoky eye look (MAC: Retrospeck eyeshadow, Carbon Eyeshadow and Satin Taupe Eyeshadow, Black Eyeliner and Dazzleglass BabySparks on my lips! I used Bareminerals Warmth to make my face look tanned and Ardell Eyelashes 107). On my body I covered it with Tantalizer by Lorac from Sephora. I didn’t tan at all before the wedding. I was scared of burning and looking red in pictures!!)  Make sure you do all your appointments early! One bride came down to request her hairstyling for her TTD session and they were all booked = (.

We hired the onsite photographer Juan and he was amazing. He got there at 2.00 while I was getting ready. Our ceremony started at 3.00. I was so happy the wind died down during the ceremony. The funny thing is I got fans and I think the guests used them more as wind blockers then fans that day. Lol. The minister was really fun and he gave us the religious ceremony we wanted. He also performed the sand ceremony as well.

After  the ceremony we took pictures with all the guests. I will be sending them a copy of the pictures along with their thank you cards. We took pictures with the guests for 40 minutes and told them to meet us at the cocktail hour at 6pm while we went for more pictures. Everyone really liked the break so they could rest their feet and grab a light sweater and change shoes. We showed up at the beginning of the cocktail hour for 15 minutes and then came back at 7pm so the dj could announce us. ( I wanted pictures with the Caribbean band lol). The DJ was amazing. He really had the party started. We had our first dance at the beginning of the reception, then father – daughter dance. Dinner was amazing as well. We had the Cancun salad. Lobster bisque soup, dreams trilogy and Bella Alaska for dessert. Best meal I have ever had. The shrimp was amazing! The Bella Alaska was VERY hard so I think I would pick a different dessert. (LIKE REALLY HARD). I had a dessert table put up and bought a bunch of props for the dance floor = funky glasses, maracas, tiaras etc. We had lots of fun. We cut the cake right after dinner and then I had my bouquet toss and garter toss.  At 10pm they asked me if I wanted to end the reception and I said yes. I asked everyone to meet us at 11.30 at rendezvous and I arranged to have us all taken to Sweet nightclub. It was so much fun! I def recommend not paying the extra for another hour and just taking the party to the nightclub!! My favorite was coco bongo when all the shows end and its dancing time! YOU HAVE TO GO TO COCOBONGO!!

All in all everything went perfect! There wasn’t one thing I would complain about. I was really lucky with the weather and very thankful that everything went smoothly. I scheduled my trash the dress the next day and we had the time of our lives! I really recommend it. SO MUCH FUN!!  

I dont have my pictures from Juan yet. I'll post them in the Dreams Cancun Forum. xooxx

P.S - I know communication is slow with the wedding coordinators but dont worry about it! Just write out everything that u want in the contract and they will go through it with you on your appointment. I swear I changed my mind about everything during the appointment lol! Good luck brides! Everything will be amazing... trust me!<3

Juan sent us a sneak preview! Can't wait to see the rest!!

Our photos:

http://www.juanphotos.com/blog/?p=10289 

Trash the Dress

http://www.juanphotos.com/blog/?p=10444

view from the patio <3