Dreams Puerto Aventuras Brides - POST HERE!

[MrsRobinson12]

I agree with Alison, take full advantage of asking for credits for what you are not using. We got credited for the photographer in the package provided since we brought our own, a credit for the hair and makeup since my friend did mine and also a credit for the flowers since we brought our own. It ended up saving us over $300.00 asking for these credits. Jacki is great! Just ask her anything and she will do her best to help you.

[Julie Carson]

 

Hi Girls, 

 You are wonderful! Thank you so much for returning here and answering questions post wedding. I plan to do the same. Here are things I have settled am I missing anything? Any changes you make?

 

 

August 14th Wedding- Hoping for no rain! 

 

5:00 Wedding 

Cocktail Hour I'm going to keep the cocktail hour, Jacki discounted it a little for me when I said it was too expensive it'll be nice for them to do something while we take pictures

 

Reception- Going to decide the location officially when I get there, but we are leaning towards the room on the second floor because August is hot and it will have AC, and we want to dance comfortably I just hope it will be pretty enough. Any advice on this?? Wish there were more pictures out there of this room, I would really like the EL Patio and every once in awhile you read on here someone got it without the $750 charge.......

 

Center pieces- I've been trying to figure this out, to rent vases or not, just live without, convince my Fiance to spend extra money on flowers when we get there..... any
advice?

 

Buffet Dinner- To save time for dancing and give people more choices on food than one item. 

 

Wedding Cake- Tell her I only want the cake sized for 20 people don't want to pay the $5 per person more, our buffet also has a dessert with it. 

 

Music- Going to skip the DJ, I'm working on play list. Going to do the speaker rental with IPOD hook up, a computer would hook instead of an IPOD too right? You would think its the same plug. 

 

Working on OOT Bags for guests and suggested itinerary, who is who little guide for guests, hangover kit, small gift,

 

 Ruins- should I look for an official tour just taxi vans there? Xplor, Maybe a Cenote Snorkel

 

Looking to do a catamaran tour for my guests http://www.paradisecatamarans.com/current_category.0/Product.14/tours_add.html?t_product=14 maybe this company, or suggestions? 

 

At the end of the night I would love to set off Sky Lanterns  http://www.skywishlanterns.com/ I am afraid to ask and be told no I think I might just bring them and by the time they stop us it would be too late? I'm not sure though I don't want to get into trouble. 

 

Wedding Dress- I found one I love at davids bridal then went online and googled Craiglist then the style number and found the same dress on like 4 different craiglists for sale and working on getting one for half the price. Super excited. 

 

What am I missing?? Advice?? Thanks everyone!! 

 

[AlisonDawn]

Hey Julie!

I'll try to be as helpful as I can with some of your questions!

As for your wedding date, that's my dads bday so I'll definitely be thinking of you!! I'll cross my fingers that it doesn't rain! But if it does, my advice is get yourself a good photographer, because at least then you will have some BEAUTIFUL rain photos    

 

I orginally had my ceremony time set t 5pm, but my photographers told me to move it up to 4 so they had time for "sunset" photos of Calvin and I, and so it was still light for family photos right after the ceremony. Of course this was in February, so you miight want to double check what time the sun sets in August if you don't want to run out of light for your photos. 

 

Reception - we didnt choose our location until we got their either! Jacki told me that it was supposed to be nice all week, with no rain, so we chose the beach.  She did have a backup plan though, so if it started raining, or LOOKED like it was about to rain before the reception, she would have moved everything indoors while guests were still enjoying the cocktail hour. So if you decide you would like the beach but are afraid of rain, just give it a shot anyway and Jacki will take care of you if the weather is miserable.   I have been to Mexico in August in the past, and though it is a little hotter during the day, it still cools off quite a bit at night.  El patio would be a nice indoor location though if you can get it!

 

Center pieces - I didn't want to spend the extra money on center pieces, so Jacki took the gazebo decorative flowers and used them as center pieces. Not as nice as some of the other options out there, but it saved us money. They are still pretty, they just didnt completely match my colour scheme, not that big of a deal.   I'll attach some photos after this post so you can see what they looked like.  If you want your own centerpieces for cheap, my advice would be to make your own

 

We didn't have a buffet dinner, but it would definitely save time!! After we ate and had speeches, we had almost no time to dance! Everyone moved over to the bar anyway and danced and mingled and drank there, but it is not with your chosen music so a buffet would definitely help you out there.

 

Cake - we had 30 guests and went with the 20 person cake. I have no idea how this worked out in the end.. I think they just cut the pieces smaller? It was a pretty big cake, and I am pretty sure everyone got a piece.  

 

OOT bags - I didn't make any, but don't forget to put some Immodium in your bags!! lol

 

Ruins - which ones are you planning on going to? The ruins in Chichen Itza should be done via tour company but keep in mind its a full day. And quite a long drive there, and it is so HOT!! And the ruins in Tulum are a quick taxi ride away I think..

 

Catamaran tour sounds nice, unfortunately I have no advice for you there

 

Sky lanterns - if it was me I would want to ask first, but that's just because I'd be so nervous to do it in case I wasn't supposed to! lol  You could browse around the forums and see if anyone else has done this. If it allowed on other resorts, I am sure it must be allowed at this one

 

 

I would LOVE to see a pic of the wedding dress you are trying to get!!

[AlisonDawn]

Ok ladies, I got some wedding photos sent to me a couple days ago! yay! I'll add some on here that show the resort etc.  If you want to see all of them, you can add me on facebook! Just search "Alison Kirkwood", my network is "university of Lethbridge". Just leave me a message on there as well, so I know who you are.

 

 

 

[MrsRobinson12]

Alison - Love your pictures! They look great. Mine should be arriving soon

[MrsRobinson12]

Hi Julie.

 

I agree with Alison, I got our time moved to 4:00 too and found that it was perfect. 5:00 might be getting a bit dark for picttures.

 

For the location, I would say the beach is the best way to go. $750.00 to rent out El Patio is a bit expensive, although, it is very nice inside. The room on the second floor is VERY plain. It gets a lot cooler at night, and a bit windy, so honestly, you don't have to worry about it being too hot. If it doesn't rain, it will be the perfect weather.

 

I would say don't waste your money on ceterpieces. They are WAY too expensive for something that you can get for free. The flowers they used from the gazebo looked great. Which package did you end up getting? We got the most expensive, and it was worth it. They include SO many extras that you don't even realize until you get there and speak with Jacki.

 

Buffet is a good idea, if you want time for dancing. Our dinner was very good though, we got steak and lobster for everyone and everyone loved it.

 

We were all SO full after dinner, hardly anyone ate the cake. I think you will for sure be fine with a cake for 20 people.

 

I say for sure skip the DJ and bring an Ipod. Money saver, and it worked out great for us.

 

We did not do OOT bags. I honestly think they are a waste of money. A lot of people already bring what you provide for them.

 

For excusions - If you want to go to the Ruins, do Tulum. We did a day which consists of Tulum and Xel - Ha in one day, and it was perfect. DO NOT do anything that has the word "Extreme" in it. We did Tulum Extreme and it was SO boring and childish. We also did Xplor a few years ago and it was AWESOME. It is a full day and a bit more expensive, but it is really fun.

 

The resort provides catamaran rides for free, once a day, per person. Just FYI.

 

I would love to see the dress as well. I went with a pretty light / thin dress (only spent $600.00) I am glad I did becuase it was pretty hot out! Also, I wore flat sandals (Steve Madden, super pretty and sparkly) and I am glad that I didn't wear heels. It's way too hard to walk in the sand.

 

My advice is to just relax! I wish I would have taken that advice prior to going out there. Everything will work out!!

 

 

[Julie Carson]

Hi Girls! Your Amazing!

 

I’m going to see if I change my time to 4:00 that’s a really good idea. As much as I want to just pick the location and relax about it I’m just going to let it go and wait until I get there.

 

Your right about center pieces I don’t want to spend money on them. I didn’t know they would reuse flowers without a fee I would love that. We signed up for the middle package not the most expensive. I think I may still bring table runners.

 

My oot bags are going to have cute little hangover kits, a cocktail book, a little Spanish/English guide that I found online, a who is who document of the guests with little descriptions, and then a suggested agenda. Maybe a cup or towel or tshirt or something else too.

 

 I’m nervous about getting there and having 30 people try and coordinate activities together. So here is my agenda that I am working on…any feedback??

 

Saturday August 11th	Arrive and Relax
Sunday August 12th	Rio Secreto   http://www.riosecreto.com/
Monday August 13th	Ruins and Tulum Beach and Rehearsal Dinner
Tuesday August 14th	Wedding Ceromony Gazebo 5:00 Cocktail Hour Barbaca Bar 6:00 Reception/Dinner  7:00
Wednesday August 15th	Afternoon Catamaran Ride  http://www.cancun-discounts.com/tours/riviera-maya/private-catamaran-charter.htm-
Thursday August 16th	Centoe Snorkling Ojos Dos? http://www.playamayanews.com/area_info/cenotes_the_sacred_waters_of_the_riviera_maya.html#Gran%20Cenote There are several different centoe’s but ojos dos has both suba and snorkeling spots so it might be a good one to go to for everyone
Friday August 17th	Resort Day  or Xplor http://www.xplor.travel/ or Xel Ha http://www.xelha.com/ or http://www.xcaret.com/
Saturday August 18th	Resort Day and Leave for the majority of people

 

 

Here is the dress I got http://www.davidsbridal.com/Product_Soft-Chiffon-A-Line-Gown-with-Ruffled-Skirt-9PK3218_Bridal-Gowns-Shop-By-Size-Plus-Sizes from a girl on craig list that got a different dress and its new with tags. I’m so excited.

 

 

Alison your pictures are BEAUTIFUL congratulations!

 

Thank you both so much I’m feeling pretty good about things but I’m sure you will from me again J

 

Enjoy married life!

 

Julie 

[FutureMsWalters]

I wanted callas too & they are pretty expensive but apparently they do have local flowers called cannon lillies which looked exactly the same to me
 

Originally Posted by Sunsetselene 

Hi ladies!

With just a little over a month to go.. am in a bit of a panic.. first of all, where would you recommend to find a good affordable florist in puerto aventuras, and secondly, is it worth it to skip cocktail hour... I heard a few of you mention that.

but first the flowers! Im looking for callas, which are expensive no matter where I go and they have to be imported, so the sooner I get on it the better.

Thank you

Selene

 

[Julie Carson]

Anyone considering doing pictures before the ceremony? I don't like the idea of everyone seeing me before the ceremony but I really would like the reception have plenty of time for speeches and dances and really party. I was thinking about skipping the cocktail hour like mentioned before and using that reception time.  I would want grab a few sunset pictures of course but do the bulk of them prior to the ceremony.

[Sharon Sellers]

Hi everyone,

I am getting married at DPA May 5th, 2012....I have been keeping up with all the posts and can't thank you all enough for all the helpful information you have shared.

My WC is Jacki and she has been wonderful, always had lots of advice and great ideas/options to keep costs down.

If anyone would like me to check anything out for them seeing as we will be there May 1st thru 9th, perhaps take some photo's for you I will be happy to do so.

 

Sharon