AngItalia23's Wedding Review w/ pics LONG

angitalia23 · July 7, 2008

I am sorry that my review is long overdue!!! Its very nice to be back on here!!! We were on our honeymoon directly following the wedding...it has been very hectic since we returned, but im ready to dish about all the wedding details!

Here it goes (I am a teacher so I had to give grades)

DREAMS - A

Upon arrival we were impressed with Dreams! As soon as we got to the hotel, they greeted us with cool towels and a glass of champagne, the staff was extremely friendly and helpful whenever we needed assistance. Our honeymoon suite was huge! We had exceptional maid service, she was very sweet and quick to get done cleaning. Some of our guests did not have good maid services, that would be Dream's only downfall. Unfortuanetly, three of our guests in seperate rooms had toliet issues. They had to receive help from maintence, it was not a big deal but it seemed to be a problem there that week.

I was highly impressed with the quality of food at Dreams. For being an all-inclusive the restaurants were quick to seat us, the food was prepared well and the overall service was great. I would recommend the Japanese resturant (sorry I forgot the name) and the Sea Side Grill....these were by far the best. I had an amazing Mahi dish at Sea Side Grill, it was awesome! Oceana also gets great reviews and it is pretty good, I would skip the Italian resturant...its not worth it. Overall, Dreams is absolutely beautiful!!! Our guests could not stop talking about the ambiance and style.

The ceremony set up at the gazebo was Awesome! We had everything set up perfectly and the entire "El Patio" resturant remained private for our cocktail hour....it was perfect! Our reception was at Oceana Terrace and it was truly breathtaking and more than I expected. I loved the look of the pool glistening, we had tons of candles and luminaries that added to the overall look. It was very romantic and I was so happy to have chosen Dreams!

Mariana (Coordinator from Dreams)- A+++++++++

I can not say enough about Mariana, she is WONDERFUL!!!!! Every single detail was perfectly laid out according to how I wanted it. She met with us briefly two days before the wedding to go over details, she was extremely organized and knew exactly what I wanted...even though some of the details were mentioned months previous, she remembered everything and had notes and emails from me to remind her. NOT ONE THING WENT WRONG AT THE CEREMONY and RECEPTION. Everybody kept saying not to stress about the details and honestly I didn't because I was so confident of Mariana and her help. She met me and my mother several times in the lobby to pick up last minute items like the ceremony fans and some votives, she was always available when we needed her. We tipped her $150 because of her exceptional work, she took it humbely and extremely graciously. I could go on forever about Mariana...anybody who has her for their wedding in the future is extremely lucky!!!!

JUAN CARLOS TAPIA PHOTOGRAPHY- A++++++++++++++++++

Where to begin.....I found Juan's website before I found this forum. I fell in love with his photography and it was my main reason for choosing Cabo. I met Juan two days before our wedding when Anthony and I did our "Trash the Dress" session (we wore simple clothes for this). As soon as I met Juan, I felt like I already knew him because of all the emails, etc. Juan from the very beginning had a warm personality, he made us feel so comfortable. We had so much fun doing "Trash the Dress"...I loved it, even when I was freezing in the water:) After that night, I was even more excited for him to shoot our wedding. Juan is extremely efficient, pays close attention to detail and takes pictures that are always unique and capture the best moments. Juan is another person I could go on forever about....Overall, I am so happy I chose him, as soon as I get the photos I will share them with everyone! He is awesome and I am so lucky to have had him for our wedding.

Jennifer Hatton- A

Jennifer Hatton created an amazing wedding cake for me. I sent her a design that inspired me and she created not only a beautiful cake for 40 people but she managed to be $100 less than other Cabo bakers. Our cake was my absoulute favorite detail at the reception. Our cake was elegant, detailed and extremely clean looking. It was a white cake with a raspberry filling and it was sooooo yummy! The cake was very heavy and delicious, all of our guests raved and some even complimented us by saying it was the best cake they had ever tasted. It was a three tiered cake for fourty people (we had 34 guests) and we had tons left over. I debated over buying cake boxes for the guests to take cake home and I never did.....that would have been helpful because Im sure they would have loved some the next morning. Anthony and I shared the top of the cake at six in the morning the next day....once again, so YUMMY!!!! She did a wonderful job!!!

Baja Video ( Marci & Enrique)- A

Marci and Enrique are adorable!!!! I barely noticed that I was being taped throughout the ceremony or afterwards. Enrique does a great job of capturing the best moments without interfering...he is also very kind. Marci does alot of work also, she made sure all the groomsmen and Anthony were positioned well, microphoned properly and that the best moments were captured...she is extremely sweet and very personable. She complimented me several times on my wedding planning, she also sent her condolences regarding my grandmother....I really appreciated her kind words. I am very excited to get the video!!!

Suzanne Morrel- A

Suzanne has a wonderful salon and does a beautiful job! I had my hair & make-up trial on Tuesday and then they came for the wedding day as well. Lea did my hair & make-up on both days and although she did not speak English, I had several girls to help translate. I am really bad at names and do not remember the girls that translated at the trial...regardless, there were two very sweet girls. I was able to meet Suzanne on the trial day, she has a great personality. She made sure Lea was doing exactly what I wanted and she kept making sure I was comfortable with everyting. On the day of the wedding Paola came with Lea, Paola was very sweet and made sure I was getting everything I wanted as well. I received alot of compliments on my hair and make-up, my bridesmaids were a little bummed they didn't get their hair and make-up done by Suzanne's girls. My hair stayed the entire night even though it was very sticky and hot. My make-up stayed well too, I had to re-apply my lip gloss often but that was expected. Overall, they did a great job!

Arturo Sotomayor Tamaris (Guitar Player)- A

I was very pleased with Arturo, he played beautifully at the ceremony. We hired him for only one hour and I thought it was a perfect amount of time. I do remember walking down the aisle and thinking, "this music is beautiful". Arturo does not speak English well, because of that emailing was difficult at times. Maye Cortinez apparently does work with him, so she was often emailing me on his behalf. She was usually quick to respond and helpful when I had questions. I was glad we had Arturo, the solo guitar sounded romantic and beautiful!

Fun & Motivation Rentals- A

I ordered the gold chivari chairs from Fun & Motivation Rentals and they were great. The chairs added a beautiful and unique look to the reception decor. Fun and Motivation gave me the best quote and overall they were very professional.

Tammy Wright/ Wright Travel - A

Everyone knows how great Tammy is and how helpful she can be, this held true within her travel agency and her professional help. Tammy was able to get us a great rate for rooms at Dreams, many of our guests tried to shop elsewhere and eventually came back to Tammy's quote...it was good. She was extremely patient when it came to last minute guests and made sure everyone got booked quickly. Tammy spent alot of time speaking with me and my mother about their possible flight changes and this was very much appreciated. I spoke to Tammy right before we left for Cabo, she gave me some very kind words regarding my wedding and also about my grandma who was sick. She is very sweet and professional, im really glad I found this website and was able to choose her as our travel agent!

I believe that's it....If I have forgotten anything I will update my post. I am also going to post some pics right after this.

My wedding was sooooo perfect, I may have to plan a vow-renewal real soon:) I hope this helps future Cabo Brides, if you have any questions I would love to answer, just pm me.

Cabo & Dreams is a beautiful location and an ideal setting for a *dream* wedding~*

1elephant · July 7, 2008

wow, nothing lower than an A!!!!!! congratulations, i'm so glad everything was perfect!

pics...pics...pics...

cessyboston · July 7, 2008

oooo..i am so happy for you both it was so nice to meet you i am so happy everything was what you wanted....cant wait to see pics...yay congrats.....p.s. you where even more beautiful in person if that was even possiable,.,.