Dreams Cancun - Questions for those married here!

[jwhite789]

Is there a specific part of the resort that anyone would recommend staying in? How do the dolphin rooms compare to the tower rooms? Thanks ladies!

[leigh2011]

I actually couldn't tell much difference in the inside of the rooms on the dolphin or ocean sides of the Pyramid when compared with the regular rooms in the Tower.  From what I could tell, they were the same size and had the same furniture.  I can't recall if the bathrooms were identical or not.

 

I didn't realize before I went that the pyramid was open in the middle with a lot of trees and other plants.  It was actually pretty cool...

[leigh2011]

Like Meghan said, you definitely don't need a dance floor on the Terrace - I think that is one big bonus for that location.  I also used the DJ service through the resort, but my DJ was named Luis.  He did a really good job of playing my music but noting the mood on the dance floor and skipping some of the songs.  My dinner ran a bit long so he had to fill in with some extra slow songs there and thus compensated by pulling the slow songs out of the dancing portion of the reception since we had less time.  I think it was a really good move as throwing slow songs in the middle would have brought the energy down a bit.

 

To be honest, no matter where you have your cocktail hour (I even saw one on Himitsu beach a couple of days before I had my reception there) you are never very far from a bar.  So worse case that your family/friends had to walk to get their own drinks, it would be fine.

 

Originally Posted by jwhite789 

Hi Ladies,

 

Thanks for the responses to my last post. I have been reading through this forum and it definitely eases some of my worries that I previously had about going forward with this resort.

 

Does anyone know whether a dance floor is needed on the terrace for the reception? Also what did everyone do for music during the reception? How were the DJ services for those who purchased them? What did those of you do for music that did not have a DJ? Any helpful hints on timing of the ceremony, cocktail, and dinner and including time for pictures? Mine are currently scheduled back to back (3, 4 and 5 p.m.) I want to be sure to have enough time for pictures and I really do not want to do pictures before hand. Just not sure where pictures would fit in! If any previous brides could comment on this that would be great and very helpful!

 

Good luck to all of the brides getting married over this next week! I am looking forward to hearing your opinions and reviews on everything! 

 

Thanks so much ladies!

A few weeks before my wedding I sent Claudia an email with the run down of the major expenses I knew would be on my bill (number of guests for extra charges, rehearsal dinner, sound system, DJ, dance floor) and she sent me a revised wedding contract (all of my info from when I booked my date had been a complete guess) that had a price on it.  Once there I met with her and we discussed flowers, upgrading the cake, a bag of rose petals, an extra bottle of champagne, etc. and those things were also added to the contract to get the final price.  If my fiance and I had taken our credit card to that meeting then I believe we could have paid then.  As it was we had to come back and meet her the day before the wedding to pay the bill.

 

There was absolutely no expectation that we paid before we arrived because of the number of things that can change at the meeting. 
 

Originally Posted by hairdos11 

Is anyone else paying when they get there for their packages or before hand through their travel agent? Just curious if it makes any difference?

I think there are definitely two different "levels" of what you get when you don't use a service.  If you are looking for a straight credit, then you get a lesser value compared to when you try and trade for another one of their services.  I traded the photographer in my Ultimate package for gazebo decor.  I ended up with 4 floral "corsages" (the big arrangements you see tied to the pillars in pictures) with the sticks in the front ones.  Looking at the planning document online, that was definitely >$240 value (the price of just 2 corsages).  But you know that didn't "cost" the resort that much money where as a credit is straight money out of their pocket.  The fantastic thing about my trade was that I only had 4 round tables at my reception (for 28 guests) and when I tried to tell Claudia that I wanted to buy centerpieces, she told me that they would just move the gazebo decor.  That saved me at least $300 because the centerpieces I was looking at were ~$75 each.

 

I am not sure if this is the case that you are talking about, but the photographer outside vendor fee might be conditional as well.  I didn't pay an outside vendor fee for my photog, but that is because we brought him from home and he was staying as a guest.  I think the vendor fee is required for someone local to Mexico that is just coming on the property for the day.  I thought the vendor fee used to be $100, but I wouldn't doubt that it has been raised to $150.

 

Originally Posted by K Martinez78 

Thanks I purchased the ultimate package. I blocked out 15 rooms. We tried to get preferred but it was all booked up already. I don't get it? I'm just going to see what happens? I just don't like how they seem to give everyone a different deal. I asked her about trading the photographer for something else and she said I only get $150 credit. Someone else got a $300. Then I asked how much for an outside vendor and she said $150. I read that someone else was told $100.

Side note:  another trade that I made was to get 1 BM bouquet instead of the 2 corsages and 3 bout's.  All of my guys (including Dad's) wore linen shirts, so the bout's would have been to heavy and pulled the shirts down.  And the corsages for the moms would have been too formal for our attire.

 

 

[jana297]

Leigh2011 thanks for giving us so much information. You are a big help!!

[mgl27]

I also did not pay until the Saturday morning of the wedding.  We met with Claudia on Wednesday to go over final details.  (And since we were dealing with a hurricane, we met again on Fri for a final number count).  I only needed one corsage, so traded the rest for flowers for my hair and my bridesmaids (and she gave me extras for two of of my friends).  I also had gazebo decor and asked that she move it to use as centerpieces (I had six tables), so I only ended up purchasing 3 centerpieces which was nice.  She also added cute little seashells around the table which was a nice touch, I thought.  She also gave us a TON of extra food on our buffet which was awesome!!!  The food was excellent, all my guests loved it.  One thing I wish I would have done, was ask that the "appetizer portion" of the buffet be served later in the evening.  Once we pulled the food, they only thing left was dessert and I just wish I would have had "late night" snacks.  However, there is 24 hour room service!   I was also told that the outside vendor fee was $100, but that could have changed.

 

We stayed in the tower, in a one bedroom suite.  It was on the 15th floor.  The views were amazing and we had two balconies.  The only difference I saw with the two  buildings were, that the Pyramid is smaller (not as many floors), so guests that had ocean view could hear the waves, which I love.  In the tower, obviously the higher you go, the less you can here the ocean.  We couldn't at all, but our room was so big (we also had two bathrooms), it made up for it.  The tower also has its own front desk, concierges, pool, beach and continental breakfast.  It was nice because it wasn't as crowded.  But honestly, the only time I used the pool was the day of the wedding.  I told the guys that they had to stay on the pyramid side, which is where Claudia gave Scott his room for the day.  But some of my guests liked the Tower side for the beach as it is way more relaxing and quiet.

 

I believe that there is no difference with the symbolic ceremony and legal ceremony, in terms of what the pastor, judge (whatever he was) says.  We chose not to do legal because it was extra $, sometimes the judge does not speak English (and you need a translator).  Mostly because all of your documents are issued in Spanish and you have to pay and wait for them to be translated.  I went to wedding in Cabo last October and our friends waited almost a year for all of their documents to prove that they were legally married.  We didn't tell any of our guests that it wasn't "legal" and they were none the wiser.  We stilled signed a marriage document and did everything just as if it was legal.
 

Originally Posted by leigh2011 

Like Meghan said, you definitely don't need a dance floor on the Terrace - I think that is one big bonus for that location.  I also used the DJ service through the resort, but my DJ was named Luis.  He did a really good job of playing my music but noting the mood on the dance floor and skipping some of the songs.  My dinner ran a bit long so he had to fill in with some extra slow songs there and thus compensated by pulling the slow songs out of the dancing portion of the reception since we had less time.  I think it was a really good move as throwing slow songs in the middle would have brought the energy down a bit.

 

To be honest, no matter where you have your cocktail hour (I even saw one on Himitsu beach a couple of days before I had my reception there) you are never very far from a bar.  So worse case that your family/friends had to walk to get their own drinks, it would be fine.

 

A few weeks before my wedding I sent Claudia an email with the run down of the major expenses I knew would be on my bill (number of guests for extra charges, rehearsal dinner, sound system, DJ, dance floor) and she sent me a revised wedding contract (all of my info from when I booked my date had been a complete guess) that had a price on it.  Once there I met with her and we discussed flowers, upgrading the cake, a bag of rose petals, an extra bottle of champagne, etc. and those things were also added to the contract to get the final price.  If my fiance and I had taken our credit card to that meeting then I believe we could have paid then.  As it was we had to come back and meet her the day before the wedding to pay the bill.

 

There was absolutely no expectation that we paid before we arrived because of the number of things that can change at the meeting. 
 

I think there are definitely two different "levels" of what you get when you don't use a service.  If you are looking for a straight credit, then you get a lesser value compared to when you try and trade for another one of their services.  I traded the photographer in my Ultimate package for gazebo decor.  I ended up with 4 floral "corsages" (the big arrangements you see tied to the pillars in pictures) with the sticks in the front ones.  Looking at the planning document online, that was definitely >$240 value (the price of just 2 corsages).  But you know that didn't "cost" the resort that much money where as a credit is straight money out of their pocket.  The fantastic thing about my trade was that I only had 4 round tables at my reception (for 28 guests) and when I tried to tell Claudia that I wanted to buy centerpieces, she told me that they would just move the gazebo decor.  That saved me at least $300 because the centerpieces I was looking at were ~$75 each.

 

I am not sure if this is the case that you are talking about, but the photographer outside vendor fee might be conditional as well.  I didn't pay an outside vendor fee for my photog, but that is because we brought him from home and he was staying as a guest.  I think the vendor fee is required for someone local to Mexico that is just coming on the property for the day.  I thought the vendor fee used to be $100, but I wouldn't doubt that it has been raised to $150.

 

Side note:  another trade that I made was to get 1 BM bouquet instead of the 2 corsages and 3 bout's.  All of my guys (including Dad's) wore linen shirts, so the bout's would have been to heavy and pulled the shirts down.  And the corsages for the moms would have been too formal for our attire.

 

 

 

[mgl27]

Welcome back!!!  I am dying to hear all about it!!  How was the weather????

Originally Posted by leigh2011 

Like Meghan said, you definitely don't need a dance floor on the Terrace - I think that is one big bonus for that location.  I also used the DJ service through the resort, but my DJ was named Luis.  He did a really good job of playing my music but noting the mood on the dance floor and skipping some of the songs.  My dinner ran a bit long so he had to fill in with some extra slow songs there and thus compensated by pulling the slow songs out of the dancing portion of the reception since we had less time.  I think it was a really good move as throwing slow songs in the middle would have brought the energy down a bit.

 

To be honest, no matter where you have your cocktail hour (I even saw one on Himitsu beach a couple of days before I had my reception there) you are never very far from a bar.  So worse case that your family/friends had to walk to get their own drinks, it would be fine.

 

A few weeks before my wedding I sent Claudia an email with the run down of the major expenses I knew would be on my bill (number of guests for extra charges, rehearsal dinner, sound system, DJ, dance floor) and she sent me a revised wedding contract (all of my info from when I booked my date had been a complete guess) that had a price on it.  Once there I met with her and we discussed flowers, upgrading the cake, a bag of rose petals, an extra bottle of champagne, etc. and those things were also added to the contract to get the final price.  If my fiance and I had taken our credit card to that meeting then I believe we could have paid then.  As it was we had to come back and meet her the day before the wedding to pay the bill.

 

There was absolutely no expectation that we paid before we arrived because of the number of things that can change at the meeting. 
 

I think there are definitely two different "levels" of what you get when you don't use a service.  If you are looking for a straight credit, then you get a lesser value compared to when you try and trade for another one of their services.  I traded the photographer in my Ultimate package for gazebo decor.  I ended up with 4 floral "corsages" (the big arrangements you see tied to the pillars in pictures) with the sticks in the front ones.  Looking at the planning document online, that was definitely >$240 value (the price of just 2 corsages).  But you know that didn't "cost" the resort that much money where as a credit is straight money out of their pocket.  The fantastic thing about my trade was that I only had 4 round tables at my reception (for 28 guests) and when I tried to tell Claudia that I wanted to buy centerpieces, she told me that they would just move the gazebo decor.  That saved me at least $300 because the centerpieces I was looking at were ~$75 each.

 

I am not sure if this is the case that you are talking about, but the photographer outside vendor fee might be conditional as well.  I didn't pay an outside vendor fee for my photog, but that is because we brought him from home and he was staying as a guest.  I think the vendor fee is required for someone local to Mexico that is just coming on the property for the day.  I thought the vendor fee used to be $100, but I wouldn't doubt that it has been raised to $150.

 

Side note:  another trade that I made was to get 1 BM bouquet instead of the 2 corsages and 3 bout's.  All of my guys (including Dad's) wore linen shirts, so the bout's would have been to heavy and pulled the shirts down.  And the corsages for the moms would have been too formal for our attire.

 

 

 

Originally Posted by leigh2011 

I actually couldn't tell much difference in the inside of the rooms on the dolphin or ocean sides of the Pyramid when compared with the regular rooms in the Tower.  From what I could tell, they were the same size and had the same furniture.  I can't recall if the bathrooms were identical or not.

 

I didn't realize before I went that the pyramid was open in the middle with a lot of trees and other plants.  It was actually pretty cool...

 

[mgl27]

Welcome back!!!  I am dying to hear all about it!!! How was the weather??

Originally Posted by leigh2011 

Like Meghan said, you definitely don't need a dance floor on the Terrace - I think that is one big bonus for that location.  I also used the DJ service through the resort, but my DJ was named Luis.  He did a really good job of playing my music but noting the mood on the dance floor and skipping some of the songs.  My dinner ran a bit long so he had to fill in with some extra slow songs there and thus compensated by pulling the slow songs out of the dancing portion of the reception since we had less time.  I think it was a really good move as throwing slow songs in the middle would have brought the energy down a bit.

 

To be honest, no matter where you have your cocktail hour (I even saw one on Himitsu beach a couple of days before I had my reception there) you are never very far from a bar.  So worse case that your family/friends had to walk to get their own drinks, it would be fine.

 

A few weeks before my wedding I sent Claudia an email with the run down of the major expenses I knew would be on my bill (number of guests for extra charges, rehearsal dinner, sound system, DJ, dance floor) and she sent me a revised wedding contract (all of my info from when I booked my date had been a complete guess) that had a price on it.  Once there I met with her and we discussed flowers, upgrading the cake, a bag of rose petals, an extra bottle of champagne, etc. and those things were also added to the contract to get the final price.  If my fiance and I had taken our credit card to that meeting then I believe we could have paid then.  As it was we had to come back and meet her the day before the wedding to pay the bill.

 

There was absolutely no expectation that we paid before we arrived because of the number of things that can change at the meeting. 
 

I think there are definitely two different "levels" of what you get when you don't use a service.  If you are looking for a straight credit, then you get a lesser value compared to when you try and trade for another one of their services.  I traded the photographer in my Ultimate package for gazebo decor.  I ended up with 4 floral "corsages" (the big arrangements you see tied to the pillars in pictures) with the sticks in the front ones.  Looking at the planning document online, that was definitely >$240 value (the price of just 2 corsages).  But you know that didn't "cost" the resort that much money where as a credit is straight money out of their pocket.  The fantastic thing about my trade was that I only had 4 round tables at my reception (for 28 guests) and when I tried to tell Claudia that I wanted to buy centerpieces, she told me that they would just move the gazebo decor.  That saved me at least $300 because the centerpieces I was looking at were ~$75 each.

 

I am not sure if this is the case that you are talking about, but the photographer outside vendor fee might be conditional as well.  I didn't pay an outside vendor fee for my photog, but that is because we brought him from home and he was staying as a guest.  I think the vendor fee is required for someone local to Mexico that is just coming on the property for the day.  I thought the vendor fee used to be $100, but I wouldn't doubt that it has been raised to $150.

 

Side note:  another trade that I made was to get 1 BM bouquet instead of the 2 corsages and 3 bout's.  All of my guys (including Dad's) wore linen shirts, so the bout's would have been to heavy and pulled the shirts down.  And the corsages for the moms would have been too formal for our attire.

 

 

 

Originally Posted by leigh2011 

I actually couldn't tell much difference in the inside of the rooms on the dolphin or ocean sides of the Pyramid when compared with the regular rooms in the Tower.  From what I could tell, they were the same size and had the same furniture.  I can't recall if the bathrooms were identical or not.

 

I didn't realize before I went that the pyramid was open in the middle with a lot of trees and other plants.  It was actually pretty cool...

 

[leigh2011]

Meghan -  I can definitely imagine that the weather caused some extra meetings with you and the wedding staff.  I can't imagine the ball of nerves I would have been in your position.  Did you get to have all of your events where you had planned?

 

The tower definitely has a cute pool - which I think is supposed to be for tower guests only, but they certainly don't monitor that...and the beach near the tower is for everyone.  The beach at the tower is great for laying out or staying in the water, but not switching back and forth between a chair and the water.  The beach beside the tower is HUGE - and it is a LONG walk from the chairs to the water over some rough (ground up shells) sand.  But once you make it to the water, it is so pretty and calm (that is where we did the ocean part of our TTD session).  So few people actually go to the beach near the Tower that a lot of my guests didn't realize one of the resort restaurants (Seaside Grill) is located there - and that was our favorite restaurant (steaks at Seaside vs seafood at Oceana and Asian/sushi at Himitsu).  So all of you future brides - make sure you search out Seaside Grill !!!

 

Paul and I only paid for an oceanview room so we got upgraded to a Honeymoon Suite in the Pyramid - which I am sure isn't as nice as the suites in the Tower.  Basically our room had a different layout than a standard room, so it had a lot of extra space but no extra rooms (like a 2nd bathroom).  However, all of our guests (with the exception of my parents) were in the Pyramid, so it was convenient for us to be there.

 

We did the symbolic ceremony as well just to make sure there were no legal issues back in the US.  One question I have about making it legal in Mexico and having to wait for the paperwork, is whether that will mess up anything with "life event" changes at your work.  Let me explain.  After our legal ceremony here in the US, I worked with my HR department to get Paul added to my health insurance.  Well, it turns out that both my company and his give you a 30 day window from the marriage itself to get things taken care of.  Luckily I had my marriage license back in a matter of 3-4 business days here at home.  How would that work if it took longer than 30 days to get your paperwork from Mexico?  My HR rep required a copy of the marriage license to file with the insurance change request. 
 

Originally Posted by mgl27 

I also did not pay until the Saturday morning of the wedding.  We met with Claudia on Wednesday to go over final details.  (And since we were dealing with a hurricane, we met again on Fri for a final number count).  I only needed one corsage, so traded the rest for flowers for my hair and my bridesmaids (and she gave me extras for two of of my friends).  I also had gazebo decor and asked that she move it to use as centerpieces (I had six tables), so I only ended up purchasing 3 centerpieces which was nice.  She also added cute little seashells around the table which was a nice touch, I thought.  She also gave us a TON of extra food on our buffet which was awesome!!!  The food was excellent, all my guests loved it.  One thing I wish I would have done, was ask that the "appetizer portion" of the buffet be served later in the evening.  Once we pulled the food, they only thing left was dessert and I just wish I would have had "late night" snacks.  However, there is 24 hour room service!   I was also told that the outside vendor fee was $100, but that could have changed.

 

We stayed in the tower, in a one bedroom suite.  It was on the 15th floor.  The views were amazing and we had two balconies.  The only difference I saw with the two  buildings were, that the Pyramid is smaller (not as many floors), so guests that had ocean view could hear the waves, which I love.  In the tower, obviously the higher you go, the less you can here the ocean.  We couldn't at all, but our room was so big (we also had two bathrooms), it made up for it.  The tower also has its own front desk, concierges, pool, beach and continental breakfast.  It was nice because it wasn't as crowded.  But honestly, the only time I used the pool was the day of the wedding.  I told the guys that they had to stay on the pyramid side, which is where Claudia gave Scott his room for the day.  But some of my guests liked the Tower side for the beach as it is way more relaxing and quiet.

 

I believe that there is no difference with the symbolic ceremony and legal ceremony, in terms of what the pastor, judge (whatever he was) says.  We chose not to do legal because it was extra $, sometimes the judge does not speak English (and you need a translator).  Mostly because all of your documents are issued in Spanish and you have to pay and wait for them to be translated.  I went to wedding in Cabo last October and our friends waited almost a year for all of their documents to prove that they were legally married.  We didn't tell any of our guests that it wasn't "legal" and they were none the wiser.  We stilled signed a marriage document and did everything just as if it was legal.
 

 

 

[leigh2011]

Meghan - I will start my review tomorrow, but I let's just say my wedding was far from perfect but I still had a wonderful time.  The weather during my 8 nights was pratically perfect.  It sprinkled rain one night while we were at dinner and then it started drizzling on our way to the airport on our last day.  Other than that we had nothing but passing clouds.  There was one evening where it was VERY windy as I guess there was some sort of front passing through.

 

To all of the future brides, make sure to take a few cardigans and maybe even a couple of pairs of pants/capris.  I took only dresses and I was definitely a bit chilly some evenings due to the wind.

 

Originally Posted by mgl27 

Welcome back!!!  I am dying to hear all about it!!! How was the weather??

 

[bnwedding2011]

We just got back! Our wedding was Tuesday and it was amazing!!!! Cecilia was WONDERFUL! She put our centerpieces out and everything looked perfect. We had our reception on the terrace and I loved it! Luis was our DJ and did a great job! I will be working on my review next week!