DREAMS PUERTO VALLARTA "thread"

[bkado]

I am getting married Feb 17, 2011 and I got a quote from Samantha today that the Bonfire was $350 ...  Simplnsweet -Who gave you a quote and when did you get the quote for $300? I have been trying to get prices for things and the prices have been all across the board.. She sent me a 2011 price list today and the prices are higher than what is quoted on the website for 2011.. so I a bit worried.

 

[simplnsweet]

We got our quote from our wedding planner, Rebecca. It was 250 USD...so about 300 Cdn. 

[ChicagoPT]

We are paying 350 for ours. 

[Missjacks]

Hi everyone. I have a question for those who have already been married at Dreams PV or close to it. My FI and I are leaving on the 29^th for our wedding which is the 31st and we still have no idea what we are doing because we have NOT been told by Rebeca. It seems like we are left in the dark. I send her an email with questions and I get responses in pieces within days apart.

I sent her an email questioning about if possible to have a wedding rehearsal and if we are going to meet with her a day before to go over things since we have no idea what the menu will be or what flowers are going to be used etc.

 

Well FI and I are getting a bit frustrated because it seems like she’s not giving us the information we need. For instance she said that the music, flowers, and menu need to be decided before we arrive, yet she has not provided ANY information about what is available for the music, flowers or the menu.

We had already requested about using an ipod and sound system for the music since we are having a small group. I would have no idea that was an option until I found this thread.

 

My question is has anyone else had to go through this frustration? Is she the ONLY WC the resort has? Did/Does she provide information about the ‘protocol’ of how things normally go with the planning process?

[aprilmay]

 

Originally Posted by Missjacks 

Hi everyone. I have a question for those who have already been married at Dreams PV or close to it. My FI and I are leaving on the 29^th for our wedding which is the 31st and we still have no idea what we are doing because we have NOT been told by Rebeca. It seems like we are left in the dark. I send her an email with questions and I get responses in pieces within days apart.

I sent her an email questioning about if possible to have a wedding rehearsal and if we are going to meet with her a day before to go over things since we have no idea what the menu will be or what flowers are going to be used etc.

 

Well FI and I are getting a bit frustrated because it seems like she’s not giving us the information we need. For instance she said that the music, flowers, and menu need to be decided before we arrive, yet she has not provided ANY information about what is available for the music, flowers or the menu.

We had already requested about using an ipod and sound system for the music since we are having a small group. I would have no idea that was an option until I found this thread.

 

My question is has anyone else had to go through this frustration? Is she the ONLY WC the resort has? Did/Does she provide information about the ‘protocol’ of how things normally go with the planning process?

Sucks you guys are so frustrated.  Our wedding is Nov 13th and we haven't heard a thing about having to choose flowers.  We only got the menu options because another bride sent them to me and said I should have it picked out by now!  We want to use our iPod as well and rent the sound equipment (for a ridiculous $300) so I don't think we'd have to let her know anything about the music choices.  Rebeca's gotten back to me fairly quickly when I've emailed her, but if I have more than one question she usually only answers one of them.
 

I just assumed we'd be meeting with her the day before to figure out the details/timing etc.

[1elephant]

i didn't work with rebeca, but was definitely frustrated at many points. in one email, i flat out said that i was getting frustrated with the lack of communication.

 

i always got answers when i put the questions in a list like

 

1.

 

2.

 

gaby (the old wc) would usually respond to all of the questions. personally, i think the only thing that REALLY needs to be decided is the flowers, just to make sure that the florist has them. i had a rehearsal - it was 5 minutes long, just to show us where we'd stand.

 

my only other advice is to demand rather than ask. sounds harsh and obnoxious, but saying "i want to meet at 5 on friday for a quick rehearsal" will get you a lot farther than "do you think we can?". then be super sweet in person.

[saraheya]

Hi Ladies!

I am just booking my Dreams PV wedding... but after reading some of these posts I'm getting nervous about my choice! It is in June 2011, so not too far off to just start planning now.

 

I agree with aprilmay! Before I confim, I sent her a few very simple questions, in numbered format. Do you know what she sent back? Something along the lines of... "A deposit has to be paid before we can discuss details." OMG! Are you kidding? I was asking things like, "What is the difference between the Gold Package Food and Silver?" or "What time can a Reception go until?" NO WAY am I booking my WEDDING without knowing some simple things.

 

So I panicked. I emailed back fairly demanding. I told her point blank that I would not book my wedding without answers. The next day she responded. But like another poster said... in pieces. For instance, instead of sending the dinner menues, she sent the cocktail reception menus.

 

Anyway, I'm so happy I found this board! A great knottie gave me the link!

 

Oh, one more thing... my parents are going a week ahead of the rest of us. I'm hoping that my mom can straighten out the last details with Rebecca. Has anyone else ever done this?

[KarenM]

Sorry you girls are so frustrated and not getting the answers you're looking for! I found some of my emails were really wordy so putting questions in numbered lists should help. And if you don't get a question answered, just email her back letting her know.

 

Just to put you at ease, we emailed back & forth w/ Rebeca for months and, like many of you, weren't thrilled with some of the responses/partial answers we got. But, we did have a meeting with her several days before the wedding to go over everything. We chose the final menu, cake type & shape (square or round are included & she has samples to show you), flowers (she has a book of selections to choose from & we sort of designed our own), and gave her the decorations we brought with us, a printout of the ceremony & tables (# of tables & how many people per table), disc of songs for the dj & the OOT bags to be delivered to guests. We talked about all the details, such as times for getting hair/makeup done, when my dress would be picked up to be steamed (& delivered), when the flowers would be delivered, whether we wanted a signature cocktail at the reception or the Dreams photographer, etc. We opted not to do a rehearsal, but she would've been available if we wanted one.

 

In short, Rebeca was very thorough & we felt totally confident about the details after that meeting. And her office (the wedding room) is in the hallway between the Preferred Tower & the lobby so we could stop by if we had questions.

 

She did request our menu & play list a few weeks in advance (we used the dj) and I think it was just to have an idea of what we wanted down on paper so that when she met with us she'd have something to go on.

 

I know it's frustrating when trying to plan, but it actually worked out fine. What was really helpful for me was to print out inspiration pics of details I liked to give Rebeca. I brought pics of bouquets & chuppah styles I liked and we planned it all during the meeting. I have to say she made all of it happen beautifully.

 

 

Saraheya, if you're having a reception outside it'll end around 10:30 (unless, like Lauren, you get your dj to stay longer; lucky girl).

 

 

I'm attaching the dinner menu options I received from Rebeca. It may have changed in the last several months, but you can mix & match.

 

DREAMS DINNER MENU.doc71k .doc file

 

 

And here is a word doc with info about a lot of the options they have. It's from 2009 so I'm sure prices are different, but it might be helpful for general info.

 

WEDDING INFORMATION 2009.doc1,077k .doc file

 

 

[aprilmay]

Thanks Karen, you had some good points in there.  And you mentioned something that I haven't heard much about on this thread: ceremony/vows.

 

We're doing a symbolic but I'm wondering what script they read and if you can bring your own.  Did your minister (or whatever) speak english well? I know one of the brides had a ceremony where they were giggling because the person was trying to replace the word "god" with something non-religious.  I'd rather bring my own script for them to read.

 

Also, does anyone have a recent cocktail/appetizer menu they could post here or send me?  I think it'd be easier to get it here than email Rebeca again!

[KarenM]

 

 

Originally Posted by aprilmay 

 

Thanks Karen, you had some good points in there.  And you mentioned something that I haven't heard much about on this thread: ceremony/vows.

 

We're doing a symbolic but I'm wondering what script they read and if you can bring your own.  Did your minister (or whatever) speak english well? I know one of the brides had a ceremony where they were giggling because the person was trying to replace the word "god" with something non-religious.  I'd rather bring my own script for them to read.

 

Also, does anyone have a recent cocktail/appetizer menu they could post here or send me?  I think it'd be easier to get it here than email Rebeca again!

 

 

We had a symbolic ceremony too &, yep, we brought our own script for the ceremony (we borrowed ideas from other ceremony scripts & put several together to make ours). Rebeca had sent me two versions of scripts they use, but we wanted to make sure the ceremony reflected us so we opted to bring it. The officiant (Lucie) spoke English perfectly & was very nice. She had no issues at all about using our ceremony. I emailed it to Rebeca a week before we left & also brought a print-out with larger text for Lucie.

 

I'll post the ceremony in case you want to take a look at it. We wrote our own vows when we were there so those aren't in the script.

 

Paul&Karen Ceremony.doc37k .doc file

 

 

And here's the appetizer menu.

 

DREAMS CANAPES.doc88k .doc file