Dreams Site Visit

[SarahMc]

I just got back from a very short (2 night) site visit at Dreams and LOVED it! If you can do a site visit, I definitely recommend it! It really helps you make decisions and calms the nerves a little. I have totally flip-flopped what I wanted to do after being there and seeing it in person. I went with my mom (James didn’t want to do such a short trip for wedding stuff). So here’s my recap. I haven’t been able to post much on this site, just gather great info from everyone else, so hope this helps someone.

 

We got there Monday night (our plane was delayed three hours for a warning light) and our transfer company Epic was there waiting for us with our names on a sign. I’ve been to Mexico before, but never Cabo. The airport there is a total maze of timeshare people and you really do have to just ignore them and get outside. The transfer company did have a salesman in the car because they knew we were there for a site visit, but he was fairly nice and not to pushy.

 

When we got to Dreams, the greeted us with champagne. They had us booked in a honeymoon suite, but quickly changed us to a room with two beds. The staff was really friendly and very helpful. We did tip everyone while we there (except at Portifino – will discuss later). The hotel was very clean and well kept. The rooms are large and very comfortable (I had no issues with the beds and they even have alternate pillows if you want one).

 

We met Mariana the next morning and she is fabulous! She had a bunch of paperwork for us to look at and took us on a tour of all the locations we could have the ceremony and the reception. The gazebo is pretty close to El Patio Restaurant which opens at 5pm so we’ve decided to have our ceremony on the beach right past the gazebo. There’s some pretty rocks in the water (Mariana said they always show.)

 

Probably the most private place for a reception is at the Oceana Terrace pool area. When we got there a wedding reception was going on, and there wasn’t anyone else in the area. You can hear noise from the Oceana restaurant there (and the highway), but if you have music, you won’t hear it as much. Also, you don’t need much in the way of decorations. The palms right be where the tables are have lights strung around them all the time and the there’s nice lighting on the other plants and palms across the pool.

 

We ate at the Seaside Grill twice (dinner and breakfast) and both were great – the wait staff here was really good as well. We had breakfast at El Patio and it was good as well. We also ate at Portofino once and were not too impressed, but I think that had more to do with the staff. We got our appetizer, then it took forever to get our meal. When we got it, mine was okay (tortellini), but my mom’s pork dish was rock hard.

 

We took the shuttle through the hotel and Apple Vacations into Cabo San Lucas. It’s $12 roundtrip and the last one coming back to the hotel is at 9:30pm. They drop off/pick up at a very nice plaza and were very timely. They didn’t charge us for our trip either (must be a perk of being a bride to be!). So the stuff you probably really want to know (I’m sure some of it’s been said before):

 

Legal marriages: They can do your blood work at the hotel. It’s $150 and a lab comes to do it. Mariana said she just found out in October from a bride that got married there that there is something you have to do when you get back to the states to make it legal. She has a website to go to. I’ll post it once I get it from her. Mariana can also translate the Spanish ceremony.

 

Charges for people not staying at Dreams: There is a charge of $85 for adults and $40 for kids, but this is not on top of the Dreams setup fee. You only pay the one fee for non-Dreams residents to attend.

 

Set-up fees: If you have a set-up for your ceremony and reception at $44 per person, you do get the cocktail hour for free with appetizers. Chair ties are $1-2 each (depends on her current vendor prices), hurricanes are $20 each and votives are $2.50 each. Mariana can also help arrange photographer, music, etc….

 

Cake: The cake that comes with the free package at Dreams is only for ten, but you can add to it for $6 per person.

 

Flowers: Mariana said the bouquet that comes with the package is generally just a mix and that all flowers are imported usually. You can ask for all one color. Corsages/boutonnieres (however you spell it) are usually a rose, but you could have daisies. Of course, she can change this for you, but not sure what the cost would be. She'll e-mail pics if you want her too.

 

Food: Mariana provided a great menu (I think it’s been posted before), but the one thing I learned that was helpful is they can double plate the main dish. So you could have a beef and a fish or a beef and a chicken. She didn’t say there was an extra charge for this. It comes with dessert too – she said a lot of people do dessert and a cake!

 

Outside Vendors: I did notice on the info she gave me that it said photographers, musicians and other vendors were commissionable to Dreams. I plan on asking for clarification, because I thought it was okay to hire outside vendors.

 

The only real negatives for me were the proximity to the highway as we could hear it from our room at the Southeast end of the hotel and the beach is a federal beach, so there were some vendors. They did leave us alone when we said no thanks though. However, they can pull down to the beach and park right next to Dreams. Dreams does have a rope up along the beach that I believe they are not supposed to cross.

 

Overall the hotel is beautiful and I’m so excited! It’s very clean and well kept. Mariana is FABULOUS (did I say that yet)! I’m not having an outside coordinator because our wedding is so small (18-25 people), but after meeting her I’m totally confident she can handle everything I want to do. I’m sure that there’s more stuff I forgot to say, so if you have a burning question, let me know and I’ll see if I can answer it. I’ll try and post some pics too (I am not the best photographer).

 

Sorry for the long post too, but I was only gone for three days and came back to 2330 unread posts so I had to get you guys back with a long one!

 

 

Sarah M

[-Kate-]

Thanks for the great review. I'm glad to know about the double-plating option. Our site visit isn't until August and I'm already dying to go!

[TammyWright]

great post sarah!

 

i am so glad it worked out for you. i did not hear the freeway at all when i was there...weird.

 

isn't mariana great!

 

i wa able to pick a beef and fish for my reception and they even threw in some pasta dishes for the few vegetarians.

 

you may just want to stick to the cake they give you because we ordered this big cake but NO ONE ate it because they were so stuffed. it is a 4 course sit down meal AFTER a cocktail hour with hors d'oevres so it is sooo muh food.

[SarahMc]

The highway sounds sort of like the Ocean, until a big truck goes by ). You really can't hear it from other parts of the resort though, so I don't want to freak people out.

 

I definitely think we'll go with the Dreams cake - none of us are really big cake people anyway, so as long as it looks pretty...

[EDYTA]

Thanks for the great review Sarah....how come all you get to work with Mariana and I get someone else??

 

Sarah did you ever meet the other WC Yesica?

[SarahMc]

No I didn't get to meet her. I'm sure if Mariana's training her she'll be great though! All the staff at Dreams was so helpful and accomodating, I don't think you can go wrong with anyone you work with there.

[jpkw]

Hi Sarah - Great review! I'm SO glad you loved it! My site visit made such a difference for me too, I can't wait to go back and get married there!! We are doing the double plate option too (fish & pork - i'm not a beef eater). Did you do a tasting? I loved the food!

 

I agree - Mariana is great! I'm using Maye and Mariana just because we are having a big wedding and Maye is helping with some of the outside coordination and decorations. One thing to be aware of is if the vendors are hired directly from Dreams, they will be more expensive than if you contact the vendors on your own. You could easily get the contact info for the vendors that you want to use from this site and contact them directly. I'm hiring the DJ, photographer, cake and mariachi on my own.

 

I also didn't notice the street noise at all when I was there. Where was your room located?

[jpkw]

one more quick question - how did you hire the transport company Epic? from the US or thru Dreams? I'm still deciding if I will arrange transportation for my guests or just have them do the public shuttles. thanks!

[Natalie Z]

Sarah, Thanks for the post!! I can't think of anything right now to ask you but I'm sure I will be able to think of something!!

[SarahMc]

Epic was the airport transfers and that was through Tammy (host) then the shuttle we took into down was through Apple Vacations, but we arranged it through the bell boys at Dreams. I think Epic has a representative at Dreams though too.

 

Luckily I already have Juan booked as my photographer! I think I'll do the cake through Dreams, but I am going to look for a guitarist. I've seen lots of good things about David Flores on the forum, and Mariana recommended him too.

 

Our room was five floors up above Oceana. You couldn't hear the highway from inside the room, only on the patio.