Dreams Cancun - Questions for those married here!

[cougs]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shanbeth When you say "legal ceremony" do you mean that if if we are getting married in Mexico to make it legal all the witness siging, etc. has to be done "DURING" the ceremony? I thought they do it after? I'm still debating whether to get married at a JP before we leave to save on $ or wait. We are arriving the 4 days before to make it legal, but seems like a lot of work for something to go wrong. Any advice would be great!

i had the legal ceremony at dreams cancun and it was easy ... not a lot of "work" at all. there is the added associated expenses, but they were worth it to me in order to have my wedding day be my ACTUAL wedding day.

you have a short meeting with your WC a few days beforehand. they will need your necessary documentation (passport/birth certificate ... i forget what exactly but it was no biggie), and both the two of you AND your 4 witnesses will need to have the residency requirement and provide your tourist cards and sign some stuff (marriage application, etc.). again, it's a short meeting, no biggie (my witnesses were actually raucously drunk during this meeting as we fetched them from the swimup bar, lol).

the blood test gets scheduled for early the next morning usually, and literally is the quickest, most painless blood test ever. a doc and a security escort come right to your room to do it and it takes seconds. show ID, sign something, get a teeny vial drawn ... DONE! seriously i have never had a blood draw so quick and painless ... maybe my blood was thin from all the liquor, lol! oh and on that note, there are no restrictions on what you can eat/drink the night before.

but yes, you and your husband sign your marriage certificate (in triplicate) and provide your thumbprints DURING the ceremony. then each of your four witnesses is called up and they each need to sign in triplicate. it will take 5-10 minutes of your ceremony time to do so (which is why i suggested providing songs to play during this time).

however, the ceremony is absolutely, positively IN ENGLISH. that is literally why i got married in mexico and not dominican republic. of course the judge had an accent but he was fluent in english and not difficult to understand. i have to mention though that when i got married i was told i was NOT allowed to change the legal part of the ceremony at all, but i could add readings/sand ceremony/etc.

it took 6 months post-wedding for my translated legal documents to arrive, only to find out that NJDMV will not accept translations done anywhere but a few agencies that they use. so i still haven't changed my name just bc i don't feel like dealing with the hassle and it's not that important to me to change it. i'm legally married whether my name ever changes or not, kwim? anyway what you can get away with seems to vary greatly by state and even county.

good luck girls! sorry for the novel but i hope it was helpful. when i had my legal wedding at DC i was pretty much the only one ... everyone did symbolic ... so there was no one to talk to about this stuff!

[KelZavs20]

Quote:

Originally Posted by shanbeth I'm from Decatur, Mi. About 30 miles west of Kalamazoo. How about you? Your wedding is much closer! How are the plans coming? Are you getting stressed yet? This website has helped me a lot, but I'm still figuring out how to get around good. Would love to hear about your dreams wedding! Shanbeth 11-11-10

Sterling Heights! About 30 miles north of Detroit....so pretty far away!!!
I'm in the home stretch and things are going great, just fniishing up (and starting) all the little details which are the most stressful for me!
This website has pretty much been a lifesaver for so many things! I'll be sharing all my projects soon....when i find time at home to be on BDW since i usually sneak it in at work

[KelZavs20]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cougs i had the legal ceremony at dreams cancun and it was easy ... not a lot of "work" at all. there is the added associated expenses, but they were worth it to me in order to have my wedding day be my ACTUAL wedding day. you have a short meeting with your WC a few days beforehand. they will need your necessary documentation (passport/birth certificate ... i forget what exactly but it was no biggie), and both the two of you AND your 4 witnesses will need to have the residency requirement and provide your tourist cards and sign some stuff (marriage application, etc.). again, it's a short meeting, no biggie (my witnesses were actually raucously drunk during this meeting as we fetched them from the swimup bar, lol). the blood test gets scheduled for early the next morning usually, and literally is the quickest, most painless blood test ever. a doc and a security escort come right to your room to do it and it takes seconds. show ID, sign something, get a teeny vial drawn ... DONE! seriously i have never had a blood draw so quick and painless ... maybe my blood was thin from all the liquor, lol! oh and on that note, there are no restrictions on what you can eat/drink the night before. but yes, you and your husband sign your marriage certificate (in triplicate) and provide your thumbprints DURING the ceremony. then each of your four witnesses is called up and they each need to sign in triplicate. it will take 5-10 minutes of your ceremony time to do so (which is why i suggested providing songs to play during this time). however, the ceremony is absolutely, positively IN ENGLISH. that is literally why i got married in mexico and not dominican republic. of course the judge had an accent but he was fluent in english and not difficult to understand. i have to mention though that when i got married i was told i was NOT allowed to change the legal part of the ceremony at all, but i could add readings/sand ceremony/etc. it took 6 months post-wedding for my translated legal documents to arrive, only to find out that NJDMV will not accept translations done anywhere but a few agencies that they use. so i still haven't changed my name just bc i don't feel like dealing with the hassle and it's not that important to me to change it. i'm legally married whether my name ever changes or not, kwim? anyway what you can get away with seems to vary greatly by state and even county. good luck girls! sorry for the novel but i hope it was helpful. when i had my legal wedding at DC i was pretty much the only one ... everyone did symbolic ... so there was no one to talk to about this stuff!

WOW! 6 months to receive your translations! that right there would drive me nuts!!!! glad you got them though!

[shanbeth]

Thanks for that information. I also want my wedding day to be the day I get married!

[shanbeth]

Thanks for this info also! I will check in Michigan what the legal info they need from Mexico so I have it ahead of time. Also right now only my parents are going 4 days early like we are so Claudia said they can provide the other two witnesses. That seems odd, but I did not want to ask someone else to get there 4 days before the wedding. Soooo many people have told me to get married at a JP before I leave, but if I wanted to do that then why would I go to Cancun. I also picked Cancun because it is more americanized with the language etc. Thanks again! I love this forum!!

 

Shanbeth

11-11-10

[peterpanpixiedust]

alright, so I got my pics from the site visit uploaded, and decided to post them review style. Please forgive my spelling errors (especially on captions), I've been doing this for 2+ hours and it's 1:30 in the AM. Plus I'm working extra this week to make up for last weeks hoorah! So I'm beat. I hope this helps! Lots of room views! And I snuck some of us in their too!

http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...5/#post1337696

[Rachel&Chris2011]

Ladies, I am really getting worried about not hearing back from Cecilia. I have reached out to her through email and called the hotel several times, why is it taking so long to get the contract done?

[KelZavs20]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rachel&Chris2011 Ladies, I am really getting worried about not hearing back from Cecilia. I have reached out to her through email and called the hotel several times, why is it taking so long to get the contract done?

How long has it been? And have to put the deposit on your date?

I see your wedding isn't until 2011, and unfortunately until your wedding gets closer....it sometimes takes at least a week to hear back because those girls are SWAMPED!

When I would feel nervous after waiting at least a week, then I would re-send the email so it gets right back to the top of her inbox. I only called once when it was an answer that I needed right away - and I did have to dial several times to catch her.....

[wilsoml2]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rachel&Chris2011 Ladies, I am really getting worried about not hearing back from Cecilia. I have reached out to her through email and called the hotel several times, why is it taking so long to get the contract done?

Another thing to remember is that the contract isn't official until you get to Cancun. You and Cecilia BOTH have to sign it. Even if you sign it and send it to her, she's not going to sign it until you meet with her. As long as she knows the date and the reception location, I believe you'll be fine.

[Rachel&Chris2011]

Great thank you! We are thinking about doing a site visit next month. Is it less expensive when you do a site visit and book with the hotel or travel agent?