Dreams Puerto Aventuras Brides - POST HERE!

[bridej9]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ginalyn There is no extra fee to have the reception by the lagoon. I had mine by the lagoon because it was pretty much private. I didn't notice an algae smell but then again, I was married almost a year ago and things can change.

Thank you ladies for all of the information on reception places!! I guess I'll just wait until I get there (we leave in 17days!!). I love the lagoon idea because it is private, I'll have to see how the smell of algae is when we get there, I'm guessing depending on the time of year that can change. And if it's cool I'll look at the option above Portfinos. I was hoping to have this planned out before leaving to put it in the welcome booklet, but I'd rather wait for the perfect location then rush and choose the wrong spot for us.

All great ideas! Thanks again laides!

[echo2_62]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rainfall Hey Meghan, OMG it's getting soo close! Good Luck to you! I just brought cash with me and paid with USD, it was a better rate than to put everything on the CC since it will ding you twice. Esp with the rates sooo awesome the last few days I recommend that!. Let me know if you have any other questions!

Thanks for the advice! We are going today to exchange money and you're right that with the dollar so good we may as well just get the cash out. I am just nervous about travelling with that much $$ on us, since we were planning to take a good amount for spending money and to use on excursions. Haha and FI doesn't even want me walking around locally with that kind of cash, nevermind down in MX!

Quote:

Originally Posted by bridej9 Thank you ladies for all of the information on reception places!! I guess I'll just wait until I get there (we leave in 17days!!). I love the lagoon idea because it is private, I'll have to see how the smell of algae is when we get there, I'm guessing depending on the time of year that can change. And if it's cool I'll look at the option above Portfinos. I was hoping to have this planned out before leaving to put it in the welcome booklet, but I'd rather wait for the perfect location then rush and choose the wrong spot for us. All great ideas! Thanks again laides!

I'll have to find you when I get to the resort to see what you end up choosing! We'll be arriving in the evening on your wedding day! So exciting!

[Rainfall]

Quote:

Originally Posted by echo2_62 Thanks for the advice! We are going today to exchange money and you're right that with the dollar so good we may as well just get the cash out. I am just nervous about travelling with that much $$ on us, since we were planning to take a good amount for spending money and to use on excursions. Haha and FI doesn't even want me walking around locally with that kind of cash, nevermind down in MX!

Meghan, Same thing, we just took Travelers check with us. It was soooo much easier and they took those as well. We just had about 500USD in cash for tips and smaller stuff like at the market, Excursions, Payment for Jacy was all in amex travelers checks..

[Sunshine2010]

I am now trying to figure out a way to remember my FI father during the ceremony. I didn't want to go with the traditional bud vase or candle. I was trying to think of a rememberance that would tie in the with the beach setting. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks!

[echo2_62]

I heard mention of someone who'd had a bunch of stones carved/engraved with her fathers name for the funeral and since they had some still, they were going to take a moment for everyone to throw one into the ocean as part of her ceremony. Her father passed very recently too (not sure if it's the same for you) so it all seemed to come together for their family. It definitely made me want to cry!

[2010wedding]

Quote:

Originally Posted by echo2_62 OMG I wish that I knew there was a local rate for the rooms!!!! I think we paid nearly three times that rate even on sale! Way to go for finding that out and I'm sure it will help a lot of other girls out down the road. Damn, damn, damn And yes, we are officially three weeks away from leaving and there's almost nothing I've done this weekend that wasn't related to the wedding. There are a few last minute things that I'm scrambling with and it kind of sucks but thankfully its all pretty easy to get done so that's the best I can hope for. I am definitely getting excited though! Dee, thanks for the extra comments about the poolside location. That's where we're currently thinking of having our reception because we don't really want to pay a lot extra for a private venue but we also want the concrete to make it easier on our grandparents who will be attending and don't have great mobility anymore. Can anyone tell me if there is an extra fee to have the reception by the lagoon? I know someone commented that the algae can make it smell (which of course I don't really want either!) but it might be better than freezing!

That someone was me!!! Chris and I asked Jacy about the odd "smell" that was quite strong as we toured the reception space by Barracuda bar and the lagoon and that's what she told us. It was REALLY off-putting but that was at the end of FEB so perhaps it has changed. Its quite rocky and had uneven sand there Echo so if you are wanting something easier for your grandparents, I'm not sure the lagoon are will work. There is no extra $$ for the lagoon.

[2010wedding]

Quote:

Originally Posted by badrianne How many guest did you have? Would it fit 60 people?

I would think so if you had both sides open. No problem!!!

I had just 1 side open and it fit all 22 of us, the cake table, a highchair and it had a high table with flowers at the back where we plugged in our ipod docking system.

[2010wedding]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bridej9 Thank you ladies for all of the information on reception places!! I guess I'll just wait until I get there (we leave in 17days!!). I love the lagoon idea because it is private, I'll have to see how the smell of algae is when we get there, I'm guessing depending on the time of year that can change. And if it's cool I'll look at the option above Portfinos. I was hoping to have this planned out before leaving to put it in the welcome booklet, but I'd rather wait for the perfect location then rush and choose the wrong spot for us. All great ideas! Thanks again laides!

17 days...yay!!! I kinda wish I did that....just waited till I got there and saw all the spots. I had an idea that I wanted it by the Adult pool with cool lighting with all of us around 1 table. But I'll admit, I wasted some serious time on worrying about it (right Dee!!) and once you get there, it will all fall into place and will be so perfect!!!

[2010wedding]

My long awaited review!!

 

General:

The resort is beautiful. It is very small and after a day, you get the hang of it. When you enter the hotel by the front desk, if you go RIGHT, you hit the beach. If you go straight and pass the concierge desk and the business office you'll hit the marina and adult pool. The resort is pretty quiet after the evening entertainment ends which I didn't mind. We went into Playa a few times for something new (we were there for 2 weeks) and logged some time at Desires!!

 

Check-in: 10/10

 

We arrived on Sunday February 21, 2010. There were no lines and glasses of champagne waiting for us!! I had asked for the 6th floor in a previous email and it was all taken care of without having to show my email as was access to the Preferred Club.

 

Resort: 10/10

Dreams PA is an outstanding resort! We picked well DPA Brides!! It is small, and family friendly which is why it ranked #1 for us. The staff work so hard to keep DPA looking clean. Rooms were very clean and modern. We were in room 650 which had an amazing view, I highly recommend it. The resort offers 24 hour room service, which we and our guests took full advantage of!! Our food was usually delivered in 30 minutes and was good. The room service menu is small, but the items were yummy. The Preferred Club isn't worth the extra $$. You get free internet use and better booze. That's is really. I'm glad we didn't pay for this upgrade.

 

Rooms/Housekeeping: 9/10

We stayed in an ocean view room and had the honeymoon package. There were flower petals all over the bed after our wedding/reception. They had a bottle of wine and two apples for us when we arrived on the 21st. We also got treats every night at "turn down". The rooms were kept very clean throughout our entire stay and the staff came 2x a day. Once in the am. to clean the room and for the evening to turn down the bed, leave treats and fill the minibar with more water. When Housekeeping found out after a few days I was a bride, we got very romantic towel art. One big heart one day on our bed!! I give a 9/10 only b/c I had to call a few times for the mini bar to be restocked. The mini bar isn't done by Housekeeping who clean the rooms...its another division of that.

 

Beach/Pools: 9/10

The beach is beautiful, with warm water and soft sand. There are a few rocks in the beginning of the beach but then it softens up. It didn't bother us, we snorkeled right off the DPA beach and saw tons of fish and sea life.

I didn't get in the pools at all really and never hung out on the Adult side unless I needed to wam up in the hut tub.My SIL and her family spent all their time at the kid pool. It was like bath water and usually more full with kiddies than the beach. The swim up bar was nice and always served quickly. Towels are everywhere and you can have more then 1!! We never had trouble finding one (or 4!!) beach chairs. This might have something to do with the fact that I woke up at 6:30 am. my whole vacation

(what the!!!) and went and saved them but usually, this wasn't a problem.

 

Food/Restaurants: 10/10

The restaurants to choose from are:

Seaside Grill: By the main pool, easiest to go to for lunch. Food was good, pretty quick. Outside seating. Ceviche was yum-my!!

World Cafe: I really enjoyed breakfast there every morning. We ate outside and the wait staff is excellent!! This is the buffet choice and usually had tons of thing to choose from. When we were there, Mallory, one of the concierge staff, asked my parents for feedback on their thoughts of a smoothie station. It went over big and then next day for breakie.....smoothies!!!

Portofino: Italian: My favorite place to eat!!! The best mushroom risotto I have EVER had.

El Patio: Mexican; My least favorite.

Oceana: Seafood; loved this place; outside seating; tuna steak was mouthwatering. Crabcakes are the other good choice.

Gohan: Sushi; Spicy tuna roll was our favorite! We went there 4 times!!

 

Entertainment/Things to do: 7/10

Although the resort is small they do a great job of keeping things going. They had some sort of show or party each night. A few nights vendors came in to sell various items. Sometimes they walked around the resort with a monkey, iquana or parrot that you could take your picture with (pay about $10 for it).

 

Ok, the stuff you've been waiting for.....Wedding Details!!!

 

Wedding Coordinator: 9/10

I worked with Jacy, she is aware of when we all arrive and leaves a message as to when you will meet her. We met 2x before the wedding. She was very organized and is quite sweet. She did a great job making everything perfect. We did have some trouble with our corsages a 1/2 hr before the wedding, but she sorted it all out and had things under control. I was expecting Jacy to be more "assertive" and guide me more, however Chris and I did get the day we wanted.

 

Initial Meeting:

We met 2 days before our wedding and then the day before. She had everything ready for us and all the details correct. We sat in the lobby and made sure everything was the way we wanted it and then walked to all the sites to make sure we were all on the same page.

 

Spa/Hair: 10/10

I had my hair and makeup done with Lusia who is a miracle worker with the short bob I have. I had an updo!! (pics to follow) She also did an amazing job with my makeup. I had her use my own so that I knew I liked the colors and products. I had Dee on make-up "stand by" but it was perfect and stayed on forever. She even found a flower to put in my hair at no extra $$.

 

Flowers: 10/10

I had my bouquet, boutonnières for Chris/my dad/my brothers/my BIL/FIL, corsages for my SIL/MIL/my mom/and g-ma and two centerpieces on the table. I had red roses with red calla lilies. I brought blue ribbon to tie around my bouquet and Chris's. The flowers were outstanding.

 

Photography: 9/10

Our package came with 50 photos which we exchanged for not having the video for 100. 2 photographers came before I got dressed to take candid pics of my mom and I and were there for the ceremony and part of the cocktail hour. In total 1.5 hrs. I was really worried about the resort pho-togs taking our pics. I am a hard critic on pics of myself and they turned out.....GREAT!!!

 

Ceremony: 9/10

Our ceremony was at 5pm in the wedding gazebo, decorated with simple white chiffon loosely hanging with flowers. The minister was a gem but at times, he was a little hard to understand with his accent and the wind. We used a microphone and they did set up the sound system for us free of charge and hooked up my ipod to it. It was a full moon the evening we got married. I don't want to sound too sappy, but the day was magical.

The best part of the ceremony was seeing Chris and hearing our song as I walked towards him...very emotional!! I was so nervous up until that point but seeing Chris at the end of the aisle so happy was the best day of my life.

 

Dinner: 9/10

We originally had our dinner planned by the adult pool with a long rectangle table but due to the cold evenings and with the help of Dee (another great DPA bride!!) we moved it inside above Portofino. They did a great job. Great atmosphere, hot food, and my floating centerpieces were a hit!!

 

Our wedding was everything we could have wanted. A few stressful points here and there, but we all really enjoyed ourselves and I look at our pictures everyday still!! I am so glad we decided on a destination wedding and DPA!!

[2010wedding]

Gals- do I have to go to photobucket to upload some pics for you? Is there another way?? I'm up to my ears in uploading/downloading of pics right now and can't do another site!