DREAMS PUERTO VALLARTA "thread"

[mllek1986]

Hi ladies

I just got back on Friday from my wedding at Dreams. It was absolutely amazing!! Fatima did such an amazing job with everything. I will post a review within the week for all of you to read.

 

I was in the same position as all of you for the welcome dinner and cocktails, this is what we did (with 49 guests):

We arrived on Friday and had previously reserved tables at the Mexican Fiesta night on the beach for 7pm, I just spoke with Roman Garcia who reserved the spots for us for free ([email protected]). We had asked our guests to meet us at the Rendez Vous (lobby) bar for predrinks, we did not reserve tables, we just showed up right at 5:30 and pulled a bunch of tables together, they did not mind at all. So all in all we payed nothing for our welcome cocktails and dinner.

 

The night before the wedding we had the bonfire as our informal rehearsal with a big pinata (sooo much fun!) a few speeches and we just all got to hang out, have a few drinks and relax the night before the wedding. I would totally recommend this to anyone as their welcome cocktails or rehearsal event. I think we payed around $500 for this so it is a fairly cheap option if you're wanting privacy and your own bartender etc.

 

Most restaurants open at 6:30pm. The largest one is the World Cafe buffet, Oceana I think would be 2nd largest then El Patio, Seaside and finally Portofino.

 

Hope this helps!

 

Originally Posted by Kenna Ranson 

Hi Jennifer,

 

I'm confused too! I also debated the bonfire thing, but thought it would totally kill the special-ness factor for the Caletas bonfire. 

 

The Mexican fiesta actually could be a super viable option for you - I was at the Dreams last year and it turned out to be really neat. Tables fill up fast though, so you would have to get there early to get enough to seat your party. I have about 50 guests as well.

 

I have a feeling my welcome dinner/drinks at the one of the restaurants and pool bar is going to end up being a bit chaotic without Dreams on-board to help me out with it, but it just seems silly to pay so much money when we're already forking out so much for the wedding itself. I really wished they had something a little bit more basic available for people in our situation. I don't mind paying some $$ for something special, but would want to keep it under $1,000 .

 

On another note, we should talk about the change in wedding coordinators at Caletas. I'd be interested to hear your take on it. If you are interested in chatting further, you can ping me for my contact details through my website - kennaranson.com.

 

 

 

[mllek1986]

Our photographer was Cristheell, here is the link to my photobucket slideshow: http://s1107.photobucket.com/albums/h398/katherinecolin2012/Wedding%20Day/?albumview=slideshow

[mllek1986]

Here is the link to my full Dreams review. PM me if you any questions. http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/products/dreams-puerto-vallarta-resort-spa-all-inclusive/reviews/5629

[KrystalKelley]

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[b gardner]

Hey Lady's just seen two things that popped out to me. Maybe it's changed but in November they  charged me 120 or 130 something for my outside guests to come 30 min prior to the wedding and stay till 30 min after the wedding! Just wanted to throw that our there to clarify that and bring a copy of that email so they can't try to fight it! I didn't have many pricing issues but I did have a few for example the 100$ I had to put down to hold my wedding they tried giving me a different exchange for and it was going to make me pay way more!

 

 

Also I had my reception at oceana 38 people and they were great for accommodating we agreed to a set menu of just a few options as with groups that big they. Cant accommodate the whole menu we didn't get charged extra however we didn't rent the restaurant we just made them give us a reservation- we tipped them 100$ and we spoke to the manager the day before to ensure they would do ; tables of 10 in the same area he assured us we would be! If you get a chance to find the manager a day before your welcome dinner( if your there a day before your planning it) I suggest doing so! The manager of oceana was amazing! So so so nice and assuring a tip always makes gem more accommodating!

Best of Luck to all of you - your weddings will be amazing! Dreams is phynomynal 

[danasb788]

Hi mllek1986, congrats!!  I tried to look at your pictures, but it says you need a password?  Also, how did you like DJ Staci?  We are using her too!
 

Originally Posted by mllek1986 

Our photographer was Cristheell, here is the link to my photobucket slideshow: http://s1107.photobucket.com/albums/h398/katherinecolin2012/Wedding%20Day/?albumview=slideshow

 

 

[mllek1986]

Try this, maybe it will work: http://s1107.photobucket.com/albums/h398/katherinecolin2012/Wedding%20Day/?action=view&current=405ef3c5.pbw let me know if it doesn't and I will remove the password. You can also look at the one Cristheell put up for us: http://012412katherinecolin.drepvphoto.adventurephotos.com.mx/#/slideshow-1/

 

Staci was nice but we did have quite a few problems with her equipment. She didn't check her equipment beforehand and one of her main speakers were blown so all of our dinner music and first dances sounded terrible. She apparently had lent it out to someone else to use for a gig before our wedding and they must have blown it. We had one of our groomsmen who knows a lot about audio equipment try to figure out how to fix it. After quite a bit of struggling she finally got it to work by around 9:30pm then we only had an hour of good sounding music left. Also, her wireless microphones died on us 3 separate times and had to get replaced, they kept cutting in and out too. She also did not do the dance instruction for us because she's pregnant and not feeling too well (not to be rude but she blamed everything that went wrong on her being pregnant- like not checking her equipment and mentioned it at least 4 times over the microphone). I understand when people are pregnant and you're going through a rough time but maybe ask someone else to do the gig for you and when you're paying them $1,000 you'd think they would check their equipment beforehand.

Other than those issues with her she played a great selection of music (we gave her a list of must plays etc beforehand) and kept us on track when we went a bit late on speeches and were running out of time to do things like the cake cutting and bouquet/garter toss. If we hadn't had issues with her equipment (which is a pretty vital part of being a DJ) I would have recommended her. I'm sure she would have gotten it all fixed by the time your wedding comes around but maybe just mention that she should double check everything.
 

Originally Posted by danasb788 

Hi mllek1986, congrats!!  I tried to look at your pictures, but it says you need a password?  Also, how did you like DJ Staci?  We are using her too!
 

 

 

 

[jeigh02]

Thank you for this info!! so helpful. How far in advance did you reserve the tables for Mexican Fiesta night? I think that's what we are going to do.

 

Originally Posted by mllek1986 

Hi ladies

I just got back on Friday from my wedding at Dreams. It was absolutely amazing!! Fatima did such an amazing job with everything. I will post a review within the week for all of you to read.

 

I was in the same position as all of you for the welcome dinner and cocktails, this is what we did (with 49 guests):

We arrived on Friday and had previously reserved tables at the Mexican Fiesta night on the beach for 7pm, I just spoke with Roman Garcia who reserved the spots for us for free ([email protected]). We had asked our guests to meet us at the Rendez Vous (lobby) bar for predrinks, we did not reserve tables, we just showed up right at 5:30 and pulled a bunch of tables together, they did not mind at all. So all in all we payed nothing for our welcome cocktails and dinner.

 

The night before the wedding we had the bonfire as our informal rehearsal with a big pinata (sooo much fun!) a few speeches and we just all got to hang out, have a few drinks and relax the night before the wedding. I would totally recommend this to anyone as their welcome cocktails or rehearsal event. I think we payed around $500 for this so it is a fairly cheap option if you're wanting privacy and your own bartender etc.

 

Most restaurants open at 6:30pm. The largest one is the World Cafe buffet, Oceana I think would be 2nd largest then El Patio, Seaside and finally Portofino.

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

 

[mllek1986]

We booked ours a few months minimum in advance but I think even a week or two should be plenty for them. The sooner the better
 

Originally Posted by jeigh02 

Thank you for this info!! so helpful. How far in advance did you reserve the tables for Mexican Fiesta night? I think that's what we are going to do.

 

 

 

[danasb788]

thanks for the info on staci....we will see what happens...i am sorry she was not so good for your wedding.  i am beginnig to have doubts about her now too.  she is offering some sale on her services ending tonight, so i think we will do that to save a little money.  however, it seems a bit off.  we will see (fingers crossed).  did she actually talk to you guys before you went to figure out all your choices?  we leave in 2 weeks (well like 18 days) but nothing has happened so far.

 

jeigh02...i emailed Fatima to reserve seating for us on march 23 i think last week and she said she would take care of it...we would have been about 3-4 weeks out at that point. 

 

 

Originally Posted by mllek1986 

We booked ours a few months minimum in advance but I think even a week or two should be plenty for them. The sooner the better