Dreams Puerto Aventuras Brides - POST HERE!

MrsRobinson12 · June 28, 2011

AsiaJane, that meal sounds awesome! One more question - where did you have your receiption? How did they set up the tables for you? Will you be putting more pictures up once you receive them? Thanks!

jessicap · June 28, 2011

Here's a more lengthy review...

Travel agent: Teresa Stauring, Vacations for Less

Teresa was very good, and the problems we had were not because of her. A lot of people have asked whether to use a travel agent or not, and I think it's a great idea for a DW. First of all, you don't have to answer anyone's questions because there's always someone else you can point them to. Also, Teresa was able to get us discounts (like free nights for booking a certain number of rooms) that I don't think we would've gotten otherwise.The only complaint I had was that we didn't receive our travel vouchers until about 4 days before we left. According to Teresa (and I believe her), high wedding season means that the hotels were much slower to respond, and they were the ones holding up the vouchers. In the end, it obviously was just fine. The other good part was that Teresa also arranged our transportation to the hotel. I have nothing but good things to say about the transportation service. One advantage of them over, say, Apple vacations, was that it was a private shuttle that went straight to our hotel. There was no stopping at other resorts along the way to drop people off. Also--they consistently told us (the transportation people, the TA, the hotel) that it was 2 hours between the airport and DPA, but it was 45 minutes for us each way.

Wedding planning at the resort: We checked in Tuesday evening, so we met with Sandra Wednesday morning. We used all the resort services (had no outside vendors). We met the photographer first. We knew about the packages in advance (via email, from the photographer), so we had an idea of what we wanted already. 15 minutes later, we had everything confirmed for photography. We met with Sandra right afterwards, and she was AMAZING. We just went with the complimentary package. We confirmed our dinner reservation for 14 at Portofino, went over flowers, confirmed time, ceremony location, etc. This was all done in about 20 minutes. She followed us up to our room to grab our dress and suit to steam. This whole part was just amazing. Sandra was completely on top of things. I didn't need to reference old emails (which I brought) or argue about anything. It was just done.

Spa: The spa/salon gets mixed reviews from me. I used them twice: Wednesday afternoon for hubby and I to get mani/pedis, and then on Friday (wedding day) for hair and makeup for me, plus other services for some other girls in our group. First the mani/pedis. I'm not sure why, but we did not have them done in the salon. Instead, they led us to a converted hotel room they were using instead. This just made it a little awkward because there was hotel furniture, not salon furniture in the room, e.g. my manicure was done sitting on a sofa with a coffee table in front of me. I will say, the mani/pedis themselves were great (though the selection of colors were lacking--definitely bring something with you if you have a strong preference), but it was the ambiance that killed it for me. On the other hand, on the wedding day, they had us set up in the actual salon (just outside the spa), and it was great. I was VERY happy with my services (hair and makeup) that day, as were the other ladies (2 pedicures and a hair styling). My hair and makeup held up through the ceremony and into the evening, despite wind, (happy) tears, and lots of hugs!

Ceremony: It was everything I had dreamed of. My flowers were perfect! It was the one thing that I had discussed at length with Sandra via email, and they turned out exactly like I wanted. We had the violinist play for the ceremony, and she also played a bit before and after as well. We used the gazebo, and it was perfect. Please note that if you're wearing heels, there is sand between the sidewalk through the resort, and the concrete walkway to the gazebo. Not a huge amount, but it's right when people start watching you walk down the aisle. I'm glad I didn't end up wearing heels because of that. The ceremony itself was beautiful (and short and sweet). We did a sand ceremony, and since we both grew up near the ocean (NJ and FL), we combined sand from both places, which was really neat.

Photography: We went with the 36 picture package, and I'm glad we did. The pictures that we chose I loved, but I'm not sure I could've chosen many more than that from the over 300 that were shot. I'm sure that's a combination of photography style, our own personal self consciousness, and personal preference. However, it was really perfect for what we wanted, and we knew we had a handful of skilled photographers as guests, so we still ended up with a ton of great shots in the end.

Dinner: Since we only had a party of 14, we just made a reservation at Portofino, which was our first choice. Everyone got to order off the menu, which was nice for our picky eaters. Our expense was ordering a bunch of wine for the table, and that would be my only complaint about the evening. A couple of our guests wanted to split the wine bill, and due to miscommunications with the staff (and not using the vouchers we provided), both guests were overcharged about $50 each. It took a little more arguing than I would've liked with the front desk the next day, but it was eventually settled. Given the amount of business we felt we generated for the resort that week, we were a little disappointed at how much of a fight they put up when it came to crediting the money back (basically saying that we had already signed for it, so we couldn't argue the charge). In the end, though, it resolved itself.

Back to dinner... the food was AMAZING. We had many people comment that it was the best food they'd ever had at a wedding before. Our table was outside on the patio, and it was beautiful and breezy. The good, long Italian meal was the perfect setting for the many (MANY) toasts that everyone wanted to give throughout the evening. Our cake was brought the restaurant. It was the tres leches cake, and was so good that after dinner our guests divided up the rest to take back to their rooms. I highly recommend it!

Some more pictures:

I'll try to write some more later, but am happy to answer any questions!

604bride2be · June 29, 2011

Hi ladies,

Question about DJ/music for reception...

I was thinking about going with an outside vendor for a DJ, since theirs says it costs about $220 an hour. We will be needing services from about 7-11pm. It would cost $900 from resort DJ, or about $800 from outside vendor plus day pass.

My friends brother is also a DJ, so he was thinking he'd join and we'd pay him a few bucks to play music off his laptop system - BUT we would need to rent speakers/sound equipment...then i saw the cost for the sound system................................

It says on their website :Sound system equipment for Reception : $300 per hour

SO, just to rent sound system, for 4 hours is $1200??? lol.....but its only $900 for 4 hours, for the actual DJ..Does that mean the DJ comes without sound system??

Id sooner bring my own friend, and rent equipment but it would cost us about $1400 if we pay him $200 for the night!

Anyone have any answers to this?

I'm also having a difficult time with them right now as I was told we could use the Patio for our reception dinner - unless is was already reserved. So, I said I wanted to book it before another bride does.....THEN they say they can't book it until 2 weeks prior to the wedding date. When I made a fuss and said I don't want to wait, if its not already booked I should be allowed to book it....So then they tell me if the hotel has a high occupancy that month its unavailable for reservations...THENNN they tell me its impossible to be booked in my month due to the hotel being too high of capacity..

And i wasn't told any of this until we paid deposit/guests started booking. Months before we even paid money, I was speaking with Jacy about EL Patio, and she never warned me that due to the month of our wedding-it wouldn't even be available or an option. I'm definitely hesitant now as to what other things we "wont be allowed"

604bride2be · June 29, 2011

Unreal photos...love it! YOu look fantastic!!!!!!!

Im using Sascha as well

I see you have some party favors for the reception...was that provided by the DJ? how long did you have their services for and what was the total cost? (I assume they charge you for the dress up gear)

Originally Posted by m&d2011

here are some of my professional pics - by Sascha Gluck - who is AWESOME!!!!

604bride2be · June 29, 2011

(i tried to quote this before but ti didnt work so ill try again)

You look amazing!!!!! Fantastic photos...I am using Sascha as well

Your dance party looks fantastic! Did Dj Doreemix bring those party favors to dress up in? How long did you have the Dj, and what was the total for it all? I see you have lighting too! AWESOME!

Originally Posted by m&d2011

here are some of my professional pics - by Sascha Gluck - who is AWESOME!!!!

Sunsetselene · July 3, 2011

Hi! I'm getting married In may of next year at DPA!!! totally excited, dont know where to begin! my wedding coordinator is Sandra.. anybody had her? she seems good so far, got lots of questions and am looking forward to hearing as much about weddings at DPA as possible.

I really want some nice drapery decor for the gazebo, sunset colors are the theme. Any pictures or stories? love to hear from you brides!

cheers! good luck to all the brides of DPA!

Sunsetselene · July 3, 2011

Hi Asia Jane, I just joined the forum, I too am getting married at the dreams in may, I saw your pictures and noticed that they were done by the resort photographer, who were they? did you have a videographer? I really like the picture of you, holding the bouquet behind you. very romantic.

AsiaJane · July 6, 2011

Originally Posted by MrsRobinson12

AsiaJane, that meal sounds awesome! One more question - where did you have your receiption? How did they set up the tables for you? Will you be putting more pictures up once you receive them? Thanks!

We changed our location once we got there. We initially booked El Patio, but decided at the last minute that we wanted to go with one of the locations offered in our wedding package (El Patio was going to cost us $700) We had our reception indoor above El Patio/Portafino. It was amazing! Air conditioned! We had 4 tables of about 8 people. I will post pics of the table set up and some of what the potographer took. I was nervous about them setting the table up for me but it turned out amzing.

AsiaJane · July 6, 2011

Originally Posted by Sunsetselene

Hi Asia Jane, I just joined the forum, I too am getting married at the dreams in may, I saw your pictures and noticed that they were done by the resort photographer, who were they? did you have a videographer? I really like the picture of you, holding the bouquet behind you. very romantic.

Hello Sunsetselene, Congrat of the destination wedding & Welcome to the thread. You will find a lot of helpful info on here. My photographer was Alberto Ponce and there was another guy but I didn't get his name. I did not have a videographer b/c my friend videotaped it but previously in this thread a girl said she got the videography from the resort and it was amazing. I liked my photographers and there work. let me know if you have any other questions

AsiaJane · July 6, 2011

Originally Posted by MrsRobinson12

AsiaJane, that meal sounds awesome! One more question - where did you have your receiption? How did they set up the tables for you? Will you be putting more pictures up once you receive them? Thanks!

this is the best pic I have of the room and the tables. It had big window so you could see the ocean and we were dance machines so it was nice to have air conditioning so we didn't sweat

here are a few more that the photographer took...