Deams Resort, Cancun Wedding 4/25/09

[Stacy]

We were married at Dreams Resort in Cancun, Mexico on 4/25/09. We have stayed at Dreams before and love this resort. The food, drinks, beach, service, and location are amazing. You can walk to many popular clubs and bars and it is very safe. The beach is awesome and there is nothing like floating on a raft all day in the little inlet/cove. There is nothing like waking up every morning and seeing dolphins swimming and playing outside of your room. We stayed in and prefer the pyramid rooms vs.. the Towers. There are a lot more children at the hotel now with the dolphins than on our last stay (pre-dolphins), so it's great for families, maybe not the best for singles/party people, but again the location is ideal. This hotel can be pricier than others, however if you are patient and diligent you can find a special and it's worth a little more than others.

 

Wedding Reviews:

Our wedding turned out absolutely perfect, beautiful, and unforgettable. I will break down the positives and negatives below. We also had a total of 30 guests who joined us and choose the highest package (ultimate). We were married at the Gazebo around 5:30pm, had a cocktail hour from 6-7, and reception/dinner on the beach from 7-12.

 

Positives:

*Photographer was much better than I expected. The pictures were great and surprisingly the video was awesome (they even had our real wedding music in the video) (Caveat: they originally gave us another couples wedding video, and since they are contractors, they were not on site. They did, however, drive to Secrets Maroma (our honeymoon spot about 45 minutes away) and brought us the correct one within 2 days)

*Flowers were beautiful - we choose the ultimate package which included my bouquet, 1 corsage, and 2 boutonnieres.

*I made my 4bridesmaid's flowers and my center pieces - we asked the concierge about local florists and they got us a cab, the cab took us about 20 mins away to a street with 3 florists and waited for us the whole time for $30. I ended up using the first florist, Flamingo's (I think). I bought 6 very large bouquets of various wild flowers and lilies', and they delivered them on my wedding day by noon to my hotel room. All 6 bouquets and delivery were $60 (USD). Dreams wanted to charge way more than that for each bouquet and center piece. I found these vases online called blumeboxes and ordered several of them, created wildflower vases and they looked great. My bridesmaid bouquets' were simple lilies' with a few other flowers, and we tied them with sheer ribbon I also brought (let me know if you want to see pictures, it saved a ton of money and only took about an hour to make 4 bouquets' and 5 centerpieces)

*If music is important to you, pay for the sound system during the ceremony, it sounds great. We were afraid you wouldn't be able to hear it due to the wind, but you could and it really added to the ceremony. Also, my father-in-law is a reverend and he performed our ceremony (non-legal), and all the guests were able to hear him.

*We hired DJ Mannia and they were great (we were able to hire them at a different rate b/c about a year ago I received a quote from DJ Mannia, and wanted them, now they have a contract with Dreams and you apparently have to use them). They are pricey to book through Dreams, but well worth it.

*Wedding food is good

*Cake is simple, but still very pretty.

*Cocktail hour is great, and the Caribbean trio was great

*Our reception was on the beach and we paid extra for table lighting (the dj also had lights), if not it would have been dark

*They allow you to bring your own decorations, do not charge you, and set them up for you. They did a great job, it was beautiful

*The beach reception was amazing, and the little cove was nice to break up the wind. It was not too windy at all

*The complimentary couples massage was included and great. We did this after the wedding at one of the massage huts over the water. Much needed and appreciated

 

Negatives:

*When we first checked-in, Dreams did not know who my husband and I were. Apparently their computer system had been upgraded from the year prior when we booked. They eventually found us and gave us a room, but no upgrades were even offered, we had the worst view from all of our guests. We did not complain at all, b/c we wanted all of guests to get great rooms.

*Claudia is the wedding coordinator and she should be replaced. Claudia is my only real complaint about the entire week. I will give her credit for pulling off everything perfectly, however her lack of communication, information, and overall help just adds an extra amount of stress to an already stressful situation. She never returns calls before the wedding, barely responds to emails and if so it takes several days if not weeks.

*My travel agent and I had to ask several times for final pricing, pictures of flower, options etc, rather than Claudia just emailing us a package. If her job is the wedding coordinator, she should have a standard package that is either mailed or emailed to the bride to cover ALL bases, rather than us having to ask for things one at a time.

*In our package a room for the groom is provided the night before the wedding. We asked, on the day we arrived, if we could use this room on the wedding day for the groom to get ready. Claudia said that as long as there were rooms available, that was no problem. Of course the day of the wedding, she swore there were no rooms available, even though everyone in our wedding party had been upgraded to a different room, and we saw many empty rooms.

*The rehearsal night is a joke. You and your party direct everyone and everything. Claudia and her assistants should offer suggestions and organize (they were there, but just stood there, watched, and said nothing)

*We were told that only 1 wedding a day happens, but that is not the case. They squeeze in 2-3, but luckily no one interfered with our time, but I can see it being a potential concern

*It is very windy in Mexico and especially on the gazebo - you need to plan your hair, decorations, dress, etc. around the wind b/c it's no joke

*My mom had to pay a $75 fee to get through customs with all of our favors, decorations, and welcome bags b/c they said she might be selling them (even though many were personalized with our name and wedding date). Check into this and limit what you bring, or pack in separate suitcases.

 

 

Please contact me for any additional questions, concerns, or pictures. Overall I would highly recommend Dreams to anyone getting married. The scenery is breathtaking and most of the staff is amazing!!! Thanks!!

[*Nadine*]

Thanks for the review! Any pics?!

[JT3]

Hi

 

I'm having my wedding in Dreams and thank you for the great review. When you post your pictures can you post the pictures of your bouquet.... thanks.. Cant wait to see pictures..

[Ginalyn]

Great review...sorry to hear about the sucky WC. Congrats Mrs!

[kenlyn8984]

great review!! im surprised they didn't charge you to set up your own decorations you brought?! i have heard in other reviews that they charge, or you can opt to have a family member/friend do it for you. thats great news to hear about your bm bouquets! they do charge an insane amount for those at the resort (so i've heard). thanks for posting, and we will all be on the lookout for pics!

[sunitam]

thanks for your review! happy to hear that your wedding was perfect.

 

Could you post pics of your bouquet and the wedding cake? and also, what kind of cake did you have and did you like it?

 

Thanks!

[cbell]

Thanks for the info! I'm also interested about the cake and can't wait to see pics, please post!

[ahollo02]

Thank you for the review!! Awesome job!

[KelZavs20]

great review...thanks for all the info!

i have one question for you though (and any other dreams bride)...i have many, actually probably most, of my guests attending the wedding, but not staying at dreams. because of this they want me to pay $60 for a day pass for each person even though they are only attending our wedding from 5pm on, and since we are having more than 20 we are already paying for the meal/bar....so far they havent budged on this and i just dont understand it...enlighten me please?!

[sunitam]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KelZavs20 great review...thanks for all the info! i have one question for you though (and any other dreams bride)...i have many, actually probably most, of my guests attending the wedding, but not staying at dreams. because of this they want me to pay $60 for a day pass for each person even though they are only attending our wedding from 5pm on, and since we are having more than 20 we are already paying for the meal/bar....so far they havent budged on this and i just dont understand it...enlighten me please?!

I was told that my guests do NOT have to pay for a guest pass for the wedding day as long as they only arrive 30 mins before the ceremony..I would definitely fight them for this, because we are already paying a lot for extra guests for the day- its like over 80 a person for cocktail hour and reception. you can tell them you know other brides that were told they didnt need to purchase a guest pass and that you arent going to!