The new Dreams Tulum thread! (Post all DT Qs&As here)

[taegan]

We also set up the chapel for the ceremony ourselves, it was super easy. Landi did the rest for the chapel and the reception (flowers and candles in the chapel....everything else for the reception)

[bride81]

What did you ladies do for candles?  How much do they charge? I am trying to decide if i should just pay or bring them myself?!

[texasmandy]

I am trying to figure out what lighting to have at my reception and am shocked at the prices! 10 lanterns will cost almost $300! I think I may bring my own at that cost.

[texasmandy]

What did you ladies do for candles?  How much do they charge? I am trying to decide if i should just pay or bring them myself?!

I am planning to bring some tea lights for the tables...they are just so expensive on all the extras. I don't want to be cheap, but its all adding up quickly!

[Tulumbride2013]

One idea I'm thinking of is to go to the Walmart in PDC the day before the wedding to grab some randoms and maybe they will have candles. I mainly want to go to get a few dozen roses at a decent price. As far as candles I think I'm going to do the little twisty led lights, they will hide in my centerpiece well and match the lights under the table I think we're upgrading to:) plus since ill prob have my ceremony on the beach the wind won't blow the candles out.

[BeaBride]

Originally Posted by AppKate 

 

Hello!!

I cannot believe I leave in 10 days! And I'm freaking out just a bit now!! I had a really busy summer at work and then the month that I was supposed to do all my planning with the coordinator, my Uncle died and my nephew was born and it was just a busy busy month!! So I'm behind the 8-ball and I need some HELP!!!! PLEASE!!! My questions is about adding some things to the reception to make things special. 

 

MY QUESTION:

Has anyone got married at DT and brought their own candles, flowers (fake), lights, table decorations??  

Will they even let you do that??  

Did they charge you to set it up (which is stupid to charge someone to light a candle, but whatever)??

 

Need some HELP on this and what to do!!  Cause I need to send her an email today that basically says, I'm bringing my own decorations and I'm trying to stick to a budget.  

 

THANKS SO MUCH LADIES!!!  Katie

Hi AppKate

 

I just got back from DT last night and had a fantastic wedding!  Everything will be fine!

I brought:

-battery operated votives with mercury glass votive holders for the reception tables (5 per table).I had 6 guest tables, 1 head table, and a welcome/gift table.  The DJ also had a table and set up his own lights around it

-lantern centrepieces with a battery operated pillar candles inside (lantern is made of black metal and plastic windows instead of glass).  We tied ribbon around them and they looked great.

-fake flower petals in ivory and dark pink

-table number holders with table number cards

-menus for each plate

-wedding favours which were airplane shaped luggage tags in a box wrapped with ribbon. Each had a guest's name on it as their place holder

- card box

- self-standing seating cards for guests to know what table to sit at 

- star decoration, spray painted paper lanterns, and tissue paper pomanders for the ceiling at the Seaside Grill

- "Just Married" banner for the reception

- ribbon for the chapel pews and reserved signs for the front pews in the chapel

- fake flower petals in pink and ivory for the aisle

 

I paid to have the wedding staff set everything up.   I didn't have time to set anything up, and I didn't want to add stress to anyone in the wedding to run around and set stuff up because the window of opportunity to do so was pretty tight.   Plus I wanted people to be around for pictures after the ceremony.  I gave Natalia printed instructions on how to set up the chapel and the reception area with a picture of how I wanted the reception tables to look. My sister-in-law to be  and friend made sure that the chapel and reception areas were set up properly once the wedding staff did it.

[texasmandy]

Originally Posted by BeaBride 

 

Hi AppKate

 

I just got back from DT last night and had a fantastic wedding!  Everything will be fine!

I brought:

-battery operated votives with mercury glass votive holders for the reception tables (5 per table).I had 6 guest tables, 1 head table, and a welcome/gift table.  The DJ also had a table and set up his own lights around it

-lantern centrepieces with a battery operated pillar candles inside (lantern is made of black metal and plastic windows instead of glass).  We tied ribbon around them and they looked great.

-fake flower petals in ivory and dark pink

-table number holders with table number cards

-menus for each plate

-wedding favours which were airplane shaped luggage tags in a box wrapped with ribbon. Each had a guest's name on it as their place holder

- card box

- self-standing seating cards for guests to know what table to sit at 

- star decoration, spray painted paper lanterns, and tissue paper pomanders for the ceiling at the Seaside Grill

- "Just Married" banner for the reception

- ribbon for the chapel pews and reserved signs for the front pews in the chapel

- fake flower petals in pink and ivory for the aisle

 

I paid to have the wedding staff set everything up.   I didn't have time to set anything up, and I didn't want to add stress to anyone in the wedding to run around and set stuff up because the window of opportunity to do so was pretty tight.   Plus I wanted people to be around for pictures after the ceremony.  I gave Natalia printed instructions on how to set up the chapel and the reception area with a picture of how I wanted the reception tables to look. My sister-in-law to be  and friend made sure that the chapel and reception areas were set up properly once the wedding staff did it.

BeaBride,

 

Congrats on the wedding!  Did you pack and take these items with you, or ship them?

Thanks

[BeaBride]

TexasMandy:

 

Thanks!!  I took all of it with me as I was told by various Dreams staff that shipping could be problematic.  I didn't have to pay for any additional bags as my family was nice enough to take stuff along for us.  We all used little carry-on suitcases; I think we had 5 little carry-on suitcases with wedding stuff and the rest we just spread amongst our regular luggage.  I forgot to mention that we also had programs at the chapel.  

[texasmandy]

Thanks - that is what we were planning to do as well.  I am hoping friends and family will help carry some of our decorations!

[BeaBride]

Hi DT Brides!

 

I had a great wedding all in all.  Of course, there will always be things that didn't go smoothly.  I will be posting a review and some pics eventually, but for now, I just wanted to share a few things that I wish I had known before.

 

1.  SPA: I knew from a previous bride that I needed to give myself plenty of time to get ready so I booked my hair for 12:00 and makeup for 1:00pm.  My ceremony was at 4:00pm.  When I booked the appointments for hair and makeup months before, the spa concierge Adriana assured me by email that everyone would be finished by 2:00pm.  I got to the spa at 11:45, and they didn't start my hair until about 12:30.  The lady that did my hair, Rosely, was very good at her job but took FOREVER.  She started my makeup around 2:30 (half an hour after I was supposed to have been finished completely) and it was also nice but not exactly what I wanted.  I would have been able to fix it if I had enough time to get ready in my room, but I did not get back to my room to get dressed until 3:10pm!!  That left me 50 minutes to get dressed, eat, take pictures and be at the chapel.  I lost my cool.  That last thing you want is to be rushing to your room from the spa and getting ready in a frenzy!  This was hands down the most disappointing thing of the entire day for me. The spa opens at 9:00am, so I actually called them at 9:15 on my wedding day to ask if I could come in any earlier.  It wasn't possible.  I guess I had a gut feeling that I might not have enough time. Plus I wanted to make sure I had plenty of time for pictures pre-ceremony.  

 

FYI: Bring pictures of exactly what you want done with your hair and makeup.   The ladies at the spa speak little to no English.  I brought a picture of my hair that I took after my hair trial at home in Canada, and she copied it and made it look even nicer! However, I wanted a different bang than in the picture, so I showed her a picture of the bang that I wanted but it didn't end up looking like the photo that I brought.  I forgot to take a picture of the makeup that I wanted but either way, it was pretty darn close.  The only thing I would have changed is black eyeliner instead of brown, which she suggested and maybe a bit more blush. ***Also, I would suggest taking your own makeup.  I took all of my own makeup so I wouldn't be stressed about choosing colours, and thank God I did because who knows when I would have returned to my room if I had to choose the makeup!

 

2.  SUNLIGHT: Sunset begins at about 5:00-5:15 which I knew before going there but I was continually assured by Dreams staff, brides on the forum, and my travel agent that I would have plenty of light for pictures.  It was too rushed.  The entire afternoon, I felt stressed because I felt as if we were chasing the light.  (ie.  I wanted to finish my hair and makeup with plenty of time for pre-ceremony pictures because I knew we wouldn't have much light after the ceremony.  Also, I wanted the ceremony to start on time because I knew that we only had about an hour of sunlight after the ceremony for pictures with 55 people.) Had I known, I would have booked my wedding for 2:00pm and booked the spa at 9:00am.  We actually did ask to have the wedding moved earlier than 4:00pm the day before but the wedding coordinator said it couldn't be accommodated.

 

3.  PHOTOGRAPHY: The photographer we hired arrived the evening before and almost immediately asked if we could have an earlier ceremony due to daylight. He also suggested later in the evening that I get an earlier spa appointment just in case so we could have plenty of picture time before the ceremony.  I wish I had received the request earlier because by the time I got it, we were eating dinner and the spa was closed.  If I could change things, I think it may have helped to have him at the resort a day earlier.  He's an old friend of my husband's, and we live in different cities so I never actually communicated with him.  My husband arranged the photography but I wish I had been more involved.  Having said that, I think the photographer was probably one of the best decisions we made throughout the planning process.  He was efficient, very professional, and pretty much ran the rehearsal the evening before while the wedding planner stood by and took notes.  We are so glad that we hired someone because although the pictures we received with the package are nice, we would not have been satisfied with having only those.  We used those shots only for ceremony pictures and a few right after the ceremony.  The vast majority of pics like getting ready, bride/groom before ceremony, ceremony, cocktail hour, family pics, reception, trash the dress were all done by our photographer.   I REALLY want to see them, but he said that it would take about 3 weeks to edit etc. since he also has a full-time job along with shooting weddings.