Dreams Riviera Cancun - Brides post here (new thread)

[DWB2B2014]

Originally Posted by loripanori 

 

 

We didn't get an invoice or tentative invoice ahead of time at all, but I had our final price figured out almost exactly from the various prices that had been given to me.  The only thing I was off on was the amount of credit given for not having the cocktail hour.  We also added on an extra hour of reception on impulse at the list minute, but I'm glad we did.  I stressed to Lorena that I wanted dinner to move very quickly, and she told me they would have it move as fast as our guests were eating, but it was sooooooooo slooooooooow.  Took pretty much 2 hours from start to finish (I was aiming for 1 hour!), and we only had 24 adults.  I'm sure it would be a lot faster with a buffet.  But anyway, because dinner was so slow I was happy to have the extra hour of dancing.

 

Our final cost was around $7650 (including photography).  It broke down roughly like this:

 

$3000  wedding package

$1100  photographer

  $620  flowers (3 bridesmaids bouquets, 2 extra centerpieces, 4 flower girl baskets, extra boutonnieres & coursages, flowers for the cake)

  $290  extra food & cake

  $450  extra hour of reception

  $400  sound system (2 hours - 1 hour for the ceremony, and 1 hour to play music during the first hour of the reception)

$1000  DJ (3 hours)

  $640  light-up dance floor 

  $550  extra costs for legal wedding

 -$400  cocktail hour credit

 

So this doesn't include our trip itself, or any of the stuff we brought with us, just the actual wedding items we were charged for by the resort. I think we may have been given a few small breaks in some of the prices when we decided to add on the extra hour, like I don't think we paid for the child's meal, or an extra bottle of champagne (for having 4 extra adults), small stuff like that.  But we also realized later that we didn't get one of the boutonnieres we paid for, and we didn't get any cake or flowers returned to our room.  I was mostly sad about this because they told us to just leave all the flowers and they would bring them up, and so I left my bouquet behind, and ended up losing my bouquet photo charm which was a real sentimental item for me.  

Thank you so much for this! This totally helps! Sadly I was off by a few thousand I'm assuming you didn't add any extra lighting then? Was it bright enough?

[AnaSteele58]

Since the dinner comes with a dessert, will the credit us if we skip the dessert since there will be wedding cake? If so, how much?

[loripanori]

Originally Posted by DWB2B2014 

 

Thank you so much for this! This totally helps! Sadly I was off by a few thousand I'm assuming you didn't add any extra lighting then? Was it bright enough?

 

Our reception was on the beach, and the only extra lighting we added was the light-up dance floor.  It wasn't dark at all - they will set up lights for you at no extra charge, they just charge to use the more fun/festive lighting options, like the lanterns, tiki torches, etc.  If you don't purchase extra lighting, your guests won't be sitting there in the dark, so don't worry about that!  People actually commented on how much they liked the lamp posts that they set up for us on the beach (which were included, we didn't pay extra). You can see them in this picture that I posted earlier:  

 

 

 

 

In terms of costs, if I did it again, I would probably cut out the centerpieces - maybe just have one for the table at the ceremony and use the same one at the bride & groom's table for dinner, and then take a credit for the second centerpiece that is normally included.  The centerpieces are expensive, and they're out for such a short amount of time. I don't think anyone would have noticed if they weren't there.  I would probably also cut out all of the boutonnieres, except for the groom's boutonniere, and take credit for those as well.  Our groomsmen and parents etc had on dress shirts but no jackets, and the boutonnieres were too heavy for the shirts. I'm pretty sure most of the shirts were left with holes, and half of the bouts were flipped upside down on their shirts within a short amount of time.  So these changes would probably save a few hundred in the flowers category.  

 

I would probably also switch to one of the buffet options, because I don't think we would have needed an extra hour for the reception with the buffet.  We didn't have a lot of speeches - just a brief thank you from the groom and I, and a couple of short toasts.  So I think with a buffet we could have did dinner in an hour, and then would still have two hours for dancing (which seemed long enough since we had a small group).  This would save on the charge for the extra hour of the reception, as well as an extra hour of the DJ (so almost $800 in our case).  Since our dinner ran so long, we paid the DJ for 3 hours but really only needed him for 2, which bothers me.  I really don't think you need a DJ during the meal - you can rent the sound system and play an ipod, and the technician will turn off the music whenever someone takes the mic to make a toast etc.  I also wasn't super psyched with our DJ - so if I did it again I might just make a dance playlist and use the sound system rather than pay extra for the DJ.       

[MrsShoreytobe]

Originally Posted by loripanori 

 

 

Our reception was on the beach, and the only extra lighting we added was the light-up dance floor.  It wasn't dark at all - they will set up lights for you at no extra charge, they just charge to use the more fun/festive lighting options, like the lanterns, tiki torches, etc.  If you don't purchase extra lighting, your guests won't be sitting there in the dark, so don't worry about that!  People actually commented on how much they liked the lamp posts that they set up for us on the beach (which were included, we didn't pay extra). You can see them in this picture that I posted earlier:  

 

 

 

 

In terms of costs, if I did it again, I would probably cut out the centerpieces - maybe just have one for the table at the ceremony and use the same one at the bride & groom's table for dinner, and then take a credit for the second centerpiece that is normally included.  The centerpieces are expensive, and they're out for such a short amount of time. I don't think anyone would have noticed if they weren't there.  I would probably also cut out all of the boutonnieres, except for the groom's boutonniere, and take credit for those as well.  Our groomsmen and parents etc had on dress shirts but no jackets, and the boutonnieres were too heavy for the shirts. I'm pretty sure most of the shirts were left with holes, and half of the bouts were flipped upside down on their shirts within a short amount of time.  So these changes would probably save a few hundred in the flowers category.  

 

I would probably also switch to one of the buffet options, because I don't think we would have needed an extra hour for the reception with the buffet.  We didn't have a lot of speeches - just a brief thank you from the groom and I, and a couple of short toasts.  So I think with a buffet we could have did dinner in an hour, and then would still have two hours for dancing (which seemed long enough since we had a small group).  This would save on the charge for the extra hour of the reception, as well as an extra hour of the DJ (so almost $800 in our case).  Since our dinner ran so long, we paid the DJ for 3 hours but really only needed him for 2, which bothers me.  I really don't think you need a DJ during the meal - you can rent the sound system and play an ipod, and the technician will turn off the music whenever someone takes the mic to make a toast etc.  I also wasn't super psyched with our DJ - so if I did it again I might just make a dance playlist and use the sound system rather than pay extra for the DJ.       

So there are credits issued for these items if you don't want to take them (e.g. centrepieces etc)....Our thoughts were similar to yours, in that we don't care for extra flowers aside from B&G, big centrepieces, etc. it would be great to spend the money elsewhere.

[loripanori]

Originally Posted by MrsShoreytobe 

 

So there are credits issued for these items if you don't want to take them (e.g. centrepieces etc)....Our thoughts were similar to yours, in that we don't care for extra flowers aside from B&G, big centrepieces, etc. it would be great to spend the money elsewhere.

 

Yes, I think you will get credits for most of the items included in the package, but the credits can only be used within the same category.  So if you cancel the extra boutonnieres or coursages, you can only put whatever credit they give you towards other items in the flowers category.  This works well if you want to have bridesmaids bouquets (which aren't included) but no boutonnieres or coursages (which are included).  But it doesn't really work if there are no other/different flower purchases you want.  If that makes sense, haha.

 

Someone asked about getting a credit for not having a dessert with a dinner - I don't think you would be able to do this, because the cost of dinner per person is just one lump charge, and isn't broken down into the different parts of dinner.  I'm also not sure if they let you take a credit for the Mexican Trio, and if so, what you can use that credit towards.  I'm assuming you may be able to trade the trio for a different type of musician, or maybe you could put the credit towards the sound system or DJ (since it's all "music")?  But I'm really not sure.

[BettyT]

Originally Posted by loripanori 

 

 

Our reception was on the beach, and the only extra lighting we added was the light-up dance floor.  It wasn't dark at all - they will set up lights for you at no extra charge, they just charge to use the more fun/festive lighting options, like the lanterns, tiki torches, etc.  If you don't purchase extra lighting, your guests won't be sitting there in the dark, so don't worry about that!  People actually commented on how much they liked the lamp posts that they set up for us on the beach (which were included, we didn't pay extra). You can see them in this picture that I posted earlier:  

 

 

 

 

In terms of costs, if I did it again, I would probably cut out the centerpieces - maybe just have one for the table at the ceremony and use the same one at the bride & groom's table for dinner, and then take a credit for the second centerpiece that is normally included.  The centerpieces are expensive, and they're out for such a short amount of time. I don't think anyone would have noticed if they weren't there.  I would probably also cut out all of the boutonnieres, except for the groom's boutonniere, and take credit for those as well.  Our groomsmen and parents etc had on dress shirts but no jackets, and the boutonnieres were too heavy for the shirts. I'm pretty sure most of the shirts were left with holes, and half of the bouts were flipped upside down on their shirts within a short amount of time.  So these changes would probably save a few hundred in the flowers category.  

 

I would probably also switch to one of the buffet options, because I don't think we would have needed an extra hour for the reception with the buffet.  We didn't have a lot of speeches - just a brief thank you from the groom and I, and a couple of short toasts.  So I think with a buffet we could have did dinner in an hour, and then would still have two hours for dancing (which seemed long enough since we had a small group).  This would save on the charge for the extra hour of the reception, as well as an extra hour of the DJ (so almost $800 in our case).  Since our dinner ran so long, we paid the DJ for 3 hours but really only needed him for 2, which bothers me.  I really don't think you need a DJ during the meal - you can rent the sound system and play an ipod, and the technician will turn off the music whenever someone takes the mic to make a toast etc.  I also wasn't super psyched with our DJ - so if I did it again I might just make a dance playlist and use the sound system rather than pay extra for the DJ.       

Hi Lori,

 

Do you think I could get away with no music for the dinner on the beach since we're so close to the ocean? I'm having the mirachi band play the first 45 min of the dinner than no music planned afterwards.  My thoughts were that the ocean waves would be so loud the music wouldn't be that audible.  What do you think?

[BettyT]

Originally Posted by Eyeball17 

 

Please let me know if you get a response from one of the other coordinators.  I am a planner and wanted to have everything finalized early.  Now I am at the two week mark and need answers!

I ended up calling the resort to get a response.  Luckily, the wedding supervisor picked up and was able to help me. Still no email from Lorena. If it's really urgent like changing a location, I'd recommend just calling them.  

[Savs1027]

Originally Posted by AnaSteele58 

 

For those that received a "credit" for not having a cocktail hour- What did your guest do while you and your hubby were off taking pictures?

 

Also, based on previous posts, is it safe to assume the Seaside Grill is free IF your reception is after 6-6:30?

 

We had all of our guests meet at the beach bar. That's where we had the mariachi band playing and it worked out perfectly. We took pics on the beach right in front of there so everyone watched us and we got pics with the mariachi band. 

[Savs1027]

Originally Posted by JustNoelle 

 

Hi Savs,

 

Was your final costs including the resort's photography? I haven't seen my tentative invoice from my WC and its stressing me out. 

Yup! that cost included the $1500 for the photography package  

[Savs1027]

Originally Posted by JustNoelle 

 

Hi Ladies

 

My FH and I will be getting legally married the day before we fly down. None of our guests know except for his mother and brother and my parents and sisters. Its Top Secret! Lol.

 

So my question is: Has any of you done or will be doing a symbolic ceremony? If so, does the resort offer a substitute for signing and finger printing the marriage certificate?

 

I know its misleading but I would like our ceremony to be as authentic as possible.

We got married before we left and had a symbolic ceremony - and i think this is what most people do! 

You don't do the fingerprints, but you still sign a document during your ceremony. It just has both of your names on it and says you got married at Dreams basically! Nothing legal