Dreams Huatulco are there anymore brides?

[Silver]

Ang - have a great time! I know it will be absolutely fantastic! Can't wait to hear about it....

[Silver]

Hey girls - I have some questions that I thought I would throw out there. I am hoping others have some answers:

 

Is anyone using a DJ for their music?

What are others doing for their rehearsal?

Is anyone planning an activity for their guests?

[melberube]

Hi Andie.

Congrats on the beautiful wedding!!!

I am getting married at the end of the month....so little time left to plan.

I was really hoping you could forward me some of your wedding pics?! I am trying to finalize the ceremony and reception location and would love to see how yours looked. My email is [email protected]

Thanks again Andie!

Mel

[Silver]

Nadine - I checked out your website. It looks great!

 

Looking forward to hearing from the March brides!

[*Nadine*]

Aw thanks!!!

 

I know, I am excited for Ang to get back and let us know! I keep reading up on the tripadivsor reviews/forums and everything just sounds so awesome. I dont want to wait until december

 

In different news I am officially getting my dress made!! I met with a designer last weekend and will finalize the sketch this weekend, im so excited

[Asteggles]

Hi Everyone,

I am newly engaged and starting to plan the big day! We got engaged in the Mayan Riviera and would love to go back to Mexico to get married. I have heard lots of great things about Huatulco. My travel agent showed me the Dreams resort and it looks great! Before I book anything I would like to see pictures of what an actual wedding at Dreams looks like. I would really appreciate any pictures that people could send me. My e-mail address is [email protected].

 

I am so happy to find a place were we can all talk and share information!

Thanks,

Amber

[robs4848]

Hey Ladies!

 

I just got back from our wedding/vacation last night! It was perfect. For those of you brides stressing, don't. I had been very busy with school and work and had done little to no planning before I got down there and it all worked out. I am going to briefly go over a few things, and you can gladly email me ([email protected]) with questions or photo requests.

 

Ok, so we got down there on last friday. Half my family is from manitoba and arrived earlier, and they met us at the lobby with drinks. We had 37 guests in total. Josh and I were upgraded to an ocean view suite, which was amazing! We hung out with our guests on friday night and set off on saturday morning to find Rocio. We just went to the concierge desk and asked for them to call her and she came and met us in the lobby immediately. She had our file with emails and we began to go over details.

 

We went over menu choices (and special menu options as my husband's step father has every allergy under the sun). *A side note, if your guests have allergies or anything like that, just mention it to Rocio. She brought up the head chef who went down to the restaurants with Josh's parents to explain and discuss menu options for them.

 

Next we met with the florist. He is a very sweet man, and the flowers were great. Although, I really wanted lilies and was talked into orchids. The orchids were pretty and went well with my dress, but looking back I would have been more pushy in demanding lilies. My bridesmaid's had lilies which were beautiful. They were brought to the room while we were getting ready and we were told to put them on the terrace 15 minutes before so they would open, which they did.

 

I had 4 bridesmaids, and since the nail salon part of the spa wasn't open, we went to La Crocicita to get our nails done the day before. Rocio recommended the place and they were fabulous. Before leaving for the wedding, I went out and bought $300 of MAC make-up and hair extensions and had my maid of honor do trials on me. Totally unneccessary. Renee, from the spa in town, is actually the person included in the wedding package. He was amazing! He uses all MAC and NARS products. If you are uncertain, just slip into town for a few minutes and ask to see his album. He does an amazing job. I had to pay an additional $30 because he was putting in hair extensions on me, which is no big deal because I cannot stress how amazing my hair and makeup were. All 4 of my bridesmaids and myself got pedicures, and I also got a manicure. The whole thing at the spa in town cost $130 for all of us! Plus, there is a really cute shop in the square that sells beautiful dresses.

 

I also met with the photographer the day before. Fabian is amazing! He is so passionate and sweet. Josh and I decided to have him for the entire day. So he started taking pictures of me getting my hair and makeup done, and ended after our last dance of our reception. It was well worth the money. He put all the wedding photos (425) on a disk and made 3 copies, so we could give one each to our mom's. I totally recommend doing this! It was really affordable and he took amazing photos. We got them the next day!

 

The actual day of the wedding went well. I just have a few suggestions for the brides.

1. Make sure your bridesmaids stay out of the sun and watch what they drink. My maid of honor and one of my bridesmaids got drunk the first night down and they slipped on the marble floor and fell and my maid of honor ended up with a sprained foot. Luckily, 2 of our guests are massage therapists and they worked on her and she was able to walk the day of the wedding, although her foot was black and blue. Also, the other 2 bridesmaids had MAJOR tan lines. It was terrible. So at the risk of being the over controlling bride, maybe just mention to your wedding party to watch the tan lines and be careful.

 

2. Be very open minded. If you go down there with a very specific vision, I think you might be upset. You have to trust the vendors and they opinions. Don't panic if you don't have any or all details set when you get down there. It literally takes 3 hours of your time and Rocio is very capable.

 

3. Have a rehersal. We didn't, and the wedding went well, just a bunch of small things would have been nice to have been discussed beforehand.

 

4. Have fun. I was totally a stress case when getting ready and a lot of the pictures of me getting my hair and makeup done I have a frown on my face. I wasn't upset, just stressed with details. Take time to enjoy the moment!

 

We got married on the beach. The wedding started a half hour late becuase a buddy of mine sent up some chapagne for the bridal party, so we were drinking that and lost track of time. We ended up actually starting the ceremony at 5:30, so the pictures were still at sunset. It was a short ceremony. The minister was super casual and funny and kept me from crying during the whole thing.

 

We moved to the terrace for the cocktails. This is my only complaint with the entire wedding. We were charged $1700 for that hour. There wasn't enough food, or chairs, and the drink service was terrible. We had it on the terrace behind the lobby bar and a bunch of the guys had made friends with David the bartender, and usually just stepped out to get a drink from him since it was faster. It was a huge waste of money, and that is really my only complaint.

 

Next we moved to the gazebo and had the dinner and program. The florist had decorated the tables and the floor of the gazebo and the dance floor with rose petals, it was beautiful! The meal was great. They serve the guests first, which is mexican tradition. So if you want the head table to be served first, you are going to have to mention that. There was a sound system set up. Music played in the background and when it was time for toasts and speeches there was a mic. We partied until a little past 11, then we went to the disco. It is on ground floor level and smoky and HOT, so we moved to the lobby bar and drank. I changed out of my dress, into a simple white sundress and partied with our friends until late. When we got back to our room they had decorated it with rose petals. It was beautiful.

 

We had breakfast in bed the next day, had a private romantic dinner with lobster that night and massages in the afternoon. Overall it was amazing. They put all the guests in the same building on the ground floor and us in a suite in the same building but separate from the group.

 

All 37 guests loved the resort. The food was great and the service was amazing. I know I am forgetting stuff, so just email and ask. You can also head onto my facebook page 'robin heppner' and creep on the wedding photos. That is probably a lot easier than me sending them out individually. Josh and I did almost no wedding planning before we headed down there and it was perfect. Just email Rocio a month before you come down with your menu choices and a confirmation on the date and time and everything will be great!

 

Oh, one more thing. Josh and I got married in Canada a week before we went down there. Just a civil ceremony because we wanted to spend more time with our guests and the idea of leaving the resort for an afternoon to get a mexican blood test did not appeal to me. We didn't tell anyone and at the wedding in mexico, they had us sign a null document so no one would know. Just something to think about!

 

I doubt I will be on the forum much from now on, as it is back to work and school and then my husband and I are off to Europe for our honeymoon. But feel free to email, I would love to answer questions!

 

Robin Wilkinson

[kimvdp]

Ok so we have picked our date of November 18, 2009. 19 people so far have booked.

 

Here are my questions:

 

We are having a heck of a time getting in touch with Rocio - we talked to her about a month ago and she said the date was good and ours and she would send the paper work so we can get the deposit to the resort - after sending her many emails we still having nothing - any one else experience this?

 

Also - we have been in touch with the photographer to book a larger package - he too wants a deposit sent but i am not sure why I have to do this if he is already booked through the hotel and we would pay him the difference when we are there??

[*Nadine*]

Hey Kim..

I have had the same problem. I was in touch with Robio and even sent her my credit card info for the deposit, but its still never been charged. And I havent gotten a response since. Im gonna confirm with my TA that it is infact booked b/c Rocio told me before it was fine.

Secondly, Same with Fabian. We booked him for the full day and also a TTD the day after. And I sent him a 50% deposit. I didnt really think of it b/c I knew I would do that with any photographer, but I forgot he was also the hotel photographer. Hmm. maybe just ask him?

After hearing robin and andies reviews I am so much more relaxed (my date is Dec 29) but yah, i would just like to be certain that my day is reserved for me!

[robs4848]

Hey Ladies,

 

Just a note about getting in touch with Rocio…when I was in her office we were going through emails and she is literally bombarded with them. This is no excuse for her not answering; however she made it very clear that her priorities are those getting married immediately. So for those of you getting married in the fall, don’t be surprised if it takes her a while to get back to you. She is very sweet, but she is dealing with a lot since the resort just opened. I am sure once this busy season calms down she will be better with answering emails! She didn’t answer any of our emails the 3 weeks leading up to the wedding and needless to say when I got down there I wanted to rip her head off, but she is very competent and so sweet. She helps to mediate between the florist and photographer and attends all the meetings and her English is great! (she went to school in the states).

 

About Fabian, we only told him on Monday when we met with him that we wanted him on Tuesday all day. He is through the resort and we paid him the total amount on the Monday after the meeting. He takes cheque or cash, but not credit card, which sucked. The interest rate to get a cash advance on a credit card is HUGE out there. But if you walk a few blocks there is an ATM and we took out the money and paid in Mexican currency, which was better than transferring it to American. Because he is the hotel photographer, you should not be charged his usual fee. I’m not sure if I am supposed to disclose how much we paid him, but it was $800 Canadian, so that was around 14,200 pesos or something? Just something to help you budget. That included him taking photographs of everyone getting ready, the ceremony, the reception, the dance, and 425 high resolution photographs and 3 copies of the cds (one of each of our mother’s and one for us).

 

Also, I have been getting emails about the music. We put all our music on cd’s and had them backed up onto an ipod. Just give the music to Rocio and she will personally take care of it all, including the sound systems.

 

Any other concerns just ask, I was a huge crying basket case the weeks leading up to it and I know how that feels!