Dreams Riviera Cancun - Brides post here (new thread)

[Kthorpe]

My wedding is now less than a year away and I don't have a clue what I should be doing for it!!  I am sure I should be doing something but I am totally lost!  Any ideas from brides who have been in this position?

[RollerBride]

We wanted to have our cocktail hour indoors so our guests could get in the AC for an hour before the reception. Our wedding is the beginning of August so we are anticipating it to still be pretty hot at 5:00pm.  Yamina has told me that our indoor options are the ballroom or the sportsbar. Does anyone know where I can find pictures of these locations....prefereably pictures of them decorated for an event? if not, I will ask her to send some pics and i'll share them here as well.

Thanks

[RollerBride]

I found this on tripadvisor today....because i stalk the reviews for Dreams....

 

We had our wedding with 40 of our family and friends at this resort and I cannot say enough good things about it!! A huge surprise for us was we stayed for 2 weeks for free since we had that many people book! Our travel agent said that was the best discount she had seen from a resort for a wedding group!

We have done many all-inclusive stays at 4 or 5 star resorts before and this was by far our best trip. The resort itself is beautiful and kept up very well. The service was beyond all expectations. There was service around the pool and on the beach. The food was exceptional and it was wonderful that you didn't have to make any reservations for the restaurants. The staff in general was plentiful and amazing. We saw many incidents of staff members going above and beyond their duties. I would recommend that you ask to have your rooms close by if you are in a big group and because we were spread all over the resort.

We had emailed our wedding coordinator back and forth before we arrived, but basically planned our wedding the second day we arrived. Yamina was our wedding coordinator and did a great job! They picked up my dress and my husbands clothes and steamed them for us the day before the wedding and then dropped them off a few hours later. We got married on the beach (the gazebo was nice, but the beach was a little more private). Our flowers were beautiful. Our marriage officiant spoke perfect English and was very good. Everything went flawlessly. I would recommend getting the sound system for the ceremony so that your guests can hear everything, plus then you can have music playing when you walk up the aisle (which they also timed perfectly).

We had a buffet dinner on the beach and it was delicious! The staff set up a full bar and we had servers. They would even take a lady's plate when she was finished filling her plate at the buffet and walk her back to her table. They cut up and served our wedding cake for us as well.
We had minimal decorations on the beach (just centerpieces and flags) and it was absolutely gorgeous. We hired and DJ for two hours and had a dance floor set up. The dance floor lit up with different colours which was really neat and we didn't even tell the DJ what to play and it was awesome. The dance floor was packed for the full two hours. I do not have one single complaint about anything on our wedding day. They were so organized it was amazing. I should mention I saw at least two weddings everyday so we knew we picked a great hotel to get married at. When we got back to our room after the wedding the staff had put rose petals throughout the room and on the bed and left a bottle of champagne and fruit and a lovely letter from the resort.

We stayed for a second week without our guests and still had a great time. They do turndown service at the hotel every night and everyone has robes and slippers in their room. The rooms with the plunge pools are very nice. We stayed in an oceanview preferred club room on the third floor and it was very nice.

We will definitely return to this resort again and will stay at another Dreams everywhere else!!!
Please tip the staff when you go because they are amazing!!!! I still cannot believe how well everything went!

[Rach0636]

I've added myself to the list!

 

5/16/2012 Corio342 (Corey and Andrew)
5/18/2012 Sarah80 (Sarah and Luke)
5/21/2012 CKNMVS
5/23/2012 Aimeelaco28
5/24/2012 weddingprincess (Shannon & Brad)
6/3/2012 Mrskatieperry (Katie and PJ)
6/6/2012 Tiny6812 (Destiny and Jalon)

6/7/2012 ginaf61987
6/9/2012 Ssapper
6/14/2012 torilvv12 (Victoria & Yura)
6/18/2012 juliej84 (Julie and Ash)
6/22/2012 blondgoddesstif (Tif and Tony)
6/30/2012 rachallen18 (Rachel & Allen)
7/20/2012 LindseyM (Lindsey & Kevin)
7/26/2012 JulyDrcBride (Sophie & Rafael)
7/28/2012 Mnunez
8/4/2012 RollerBride (Kip and Kate)
8/7/2012 Nj2012 (Nikki & Joe)
8/10/12 (Annie & Jon)
8/24/2012 Sarah-Jane (Sarah and James)

8/30/2012 Shellbee (Shelby & Josh)
9/1/2012 Cbandemer (Colleen & Brian)
9/2/2012 Ktcblue2012 (Kariane & Nathan)

9/10/12 Mariposaazul (Sheila & Michael)
10/27/2012 Tkb08 (Taren&Collin)
11/8/2012 ahall5665 (Ashley & Ethan)
11/19/2012 melinmontana (Melissa and Kael)
12/01/12 mcree (Christy and Brian)

12/08/12 kellykellz (Kelly and Matt) 

12/8/12 beachbaby12812 (Kim and Jeff)
12/17/2012 Savs1027 (Savanah and John)


2013 Weddings

1/19/2013 marilili (Maritza and Sal)

1/28/2012 Rach0636 (Rachel and Robert)
2/13/2013 newbride2013 (Ashley & Thomas)
4/19/2013Dominique161

4/20/2013 ParadiseBride (Christina and Jeremy)

4/27/2013 Vika Yakovleva (Vika & Anthony)
5/3/2013 Kthorpe
5/18/2013 Eyeball17 (Aislinn & Bob)
5/25/2013 Robynkelly (Robyn & James)

8/6/2013 JustNoelle (Noelle & Phillip)

[Rach0636]

Does anyone have any input on the location of the ceremony? (Beach vs. Gazebo?)

[NJ2012]

Originally Posted by RollerBride 

 

We wanted to have our cocktail hour indoors so our guests could get in the AC for an hour before the reception. Our wedding is the beginning of August so we are anticipating it to still be pretty hot at 5:00pm.  Yamina has told me that our indoor options are the ballroom or the sportsbar. Does anyone know where I can find pictures of these locations....prefereably pictures of them decorated for an event? if not, I will ask her to send some pics and i'll share them here as well.

Thanks

we are arriving for our wedding that day... hopefully we get there in time to see yours... we are going to let everyone be outside all night and sweat it out! just pray for no rain!!!

 

what do you plan on doing as far as tipping goes? who and how much?

[RollerBride]

I'm not too sure. I haven't given it much thought actually, but now i'm really concerned about it.

I found this link from The Knot: http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-budget/articles/wedding-vendor-tipping-cheat-sheet.aspx?MsdVisit=1

And this thread from this message board: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/26560/tipping-etiquette

 

Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by NJ2012 

we are arriving for our wedding that day... hopefully we get there in time to see yours... we are going to let everyone be outside all night and sweat it out! just pray for no rain!!!

 

what do you plan on doing as far as tipping goes? who and how much?

[RollerBride]

I'm sorry, I know i'm posting alot today but i'm bored at work

I get so wrapped in this wedding stuff i lose my common sense! I bartended for years (still do, for the wedding fund) and i've worked plenty of private event ranging from 20-500people. Every event I work, the wait staff gets an automatic gratuity. It's added to the bill, just like it is for our wedding packages. Sure, some hosts left and extra gratuity and thats nice but it's not very common.

I plan on tipping for my hair, make-up, nails and photos (if there is not a gratuity included). I'd like to get my TA and WC some sort of gift.

Originally Posted by RollerBride 

I'm not too sure. I haven't given it much thought actually, but now i'm really concerned about it.

I found this link from The Knot: http://wedding.theknot.com/wedding-planning/wedding-budget/articles/wedding-vendor-tipping-cheat-sheet.aspx?MsdVisit=1

And this thread from this message board: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/26560/tipping-etiquette

 

Hope this helps.

[NJ2012]

Originally Posted by RollerBride 

 

I'm sorry, I know i'm posting alot today but i'm bored at work

I get so wrapped in this wedding stuff i lose my common sense! I bartended for years (still do, for the wedding fund) and i've worked plenty of private event ranging from 20-500people. Every event I work, the wait staff gets an automatic gratuity. It's added to the bill, just like it is for our wedding packages. Sure, some hosts left and extra gratuity and thats nice but it's not very common.

I plan on tipping for my hair, make-up, nails and photos (if there is not a gratuity included). I'd like to get my TA and WC some sort of gift.

thanks!

 

any brides who have already returned ant to share as well?

[cmi1205]

We're on the list!

 

5/16/2012 Corio342 (Corey and Andrew)
5/18/2012 Sarah80 (Sarah and Luke)
5/21/2012 CKNMVS
5/23/2012 Aimeelaco28
5/24/2012 weddingprincess (Shannon & Brad)
6/3/2012 Mrskatieperry (Katie and PJ)
6/6/2012 Tiny6812 (Destiny and Jalon)

6/7/2012 ginaf61987
6/9/2012 Ssapper
6/14/2012 torilvv12 (Victoria & Yura)
6/18/2012 juliej84 (Julie and Ash)
6/22/2012 blondgoddesstif (Tif and Tony)
6/30/2012 rachallen18 (Rachel & Allen)
7/20/2012 LindseyM (Lindsey & Kevin)
7/26/2012 JulyDrcBride (Sophie & Rafael)
7/28/2012 Mnunez
8/4/2012 RollerBride (Kip and Kate)
8/7/2012 Nj2012 (Nikki & Joe)
8/10/12 (Annie & Jon)
8/24/2012 Sarah-Jane (Sarah and James)

8/30/2012 Shellbee (Shelby & Josh)
9/1/2012 Cbandemer (Colleen & Brian)
9/2/2012 Ktcblue2012 (Kariane & Nathan)

9/10/12 Mariposaazul (Sheila & Michael)
10/27/2012 Tkb08 (Taren&Collin)
11/8/2012 ahall5665 (Ashley & Ethan)
11/19/2012 melinmontana (Melissa and Kael)
12/01/12 mcree (Christy and Brian)

12/08/12 kellykellz (Kelly and Matt) 

12/8/12 beachbaby12812 (Kim and Jeff)
12/17/2012 Savs1027 (Savanah and John)


2013 Weddings

1/19/2013 marilili (Maritza and Sal)

1/28/2012 Rach0636 (Rachel and Robert)
2/13/2013 newbride2013 (Ashley & Thomas)

3/12/2013 cmi1205
4/19/2013Dominique161

4/20/2013 ParadiseBride (Christina and Jeremy)

4/27/2013 Vika Yakovleva (Vika & Anthony)
5/3/2013 Kthorpe
5/18/2013 Eyeball17 (Aislinn & Bob)
5/25/2013 Robynkelly (Robyn & James)

8/6/2013 JustNoelle (Noelle & Phillip)