Dreams Riviera Cancun - Brides post here (new thread)

[SDbeachgirl]

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Originally Posted by Mon&Tad Hi all! Question for those who have visited or gotten married at DRC. Is there anywhere to have the ceremony that is in a garden area or private area other than on the beach or the Gazebo by the pool? I love everything about the resort, but I want the ceremony to be more private and off the beaten path. Thanks!

I haven't heard of a ceremony in the garden area. It is pretty small. I guess it would depend on the size of your wedding. However, I would say that the garden is not all that private. The hotel rooms all face the garden area. It is a nice change for the cocktail hour, but not sure if you would want the ceremony there. The beach area (off to the side of the resort) is actually really private.

[SDbeachgirl]

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Originally Posted by rdsjcr great pics!! Did you order and bring your own overlays for the tables? Also for your chairs-did you bring ties for those? (do the use diff. chairs for the ceremony and the reception?) Thanks!!

I rented the overlays and chair sashes from the resort. It just seemed easier. I had so many other things to remember to bring. They used the same chairs for the ceremony and reception.

[AlisonJimmy]

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Originally Posted by cindyshininger We just got back yesterday from my daughters wedding. Do not worry about things, Ana is amazing. We met with her the day before the wedding and picked out all the food. We had a cocktail hour which I do not feel we needed. It was good, but our guest were ready for dinner. We used their DJ, we should have also skipped him. He said nothing all night and just played songs. We could have done the same with our ipod, which we took so that we were sure we had the right songs. So $300 an hour, the $900 was not worth the $ at all. You just need to rent the sound system and play your own. Exspecially since the DJ did not speak. Not for the cake or dances, NOTHING. The cake is pretty ugly. They said it was just white frosting, so we assumed there would be some type of edgeing or something, NOTHING So we took the BM bouquet apart and put the flowers on the cake for pictures. But no one ate it because you are so full and had dessert for dinner. So I would not pay to upgrade, just bring artificial or taking our bouquet apart worked. The flowers were pretty dead by the end of the night anyways. You can't take them home, so double use them. The table decorations were glass with rose petals and candles in the middle. If you are outside the candles blow out, it is real windy. We had our inside because of the air conditioner. We also took our own chair sashes and colored cloth napkins. The The had everything set up just like we asked. We took maracas to sit on the napkins and that gave the guest a little extra favor. Shake for a kiss. We used fushia napkins and put an orange ribbon on them and then the maracas. Added alot of color at a low cost. We got the sashes for $1 a piece. The plain white chairs looked pretty stark by themselves. The sashes really look pretty there. Our ceremony was on the beach. It is off to the side and gorgeous. The gazebo is right in the middle of everything. NOT private at all. Exspecially if you have it during the day. Lots of people floating around the pool right next to it. And walking all around. It was pretty, but to much going on for our taste. We used the photographer from the resort. The pictures were amazing. Our package includes 50, but there is not way to only pick 50. They also did trash the dress which they could use as part of their 50. They were all so good that it is impossible to pick ones. The bride and groom are still there and still are trying to dwindle the pictures down. As far as hair and makeup, they did a perfect job. Their hair stayed all night. Lots of product and LOTS of makeup, but they know what they are doing. I had a visor on the few days before the wedding and it is so windy when we were taking pictures that my hair blew off my WHITE forhead. I never even thought about it, so make sure you tan your forhead too. The service is wonderful, but it almost seems like you have to tip. They were very accomadating, but you do have to consider quite a bit of extra $ for tips. They upgraded the happy couple to a master suite. It was bigger than an apartment. They covered their room with roses and candles the night of the wedding. Their is NO privacy on any of the balconys. We never saw anyone in them. And the plung pools only were used by a few people that had little kids. There are kids there, but mostly they were fine. There were two boys around 10-11 and they were terribly obnoxious. We along with others told them we were taking them to their parents. They finally left the infinity pool and went to one of the others and bugged people over there. Alot of kids crying in the restaurants, but we would go to dinner between 6 -8 pm. And remember they are on Mexican time. Evertyhing runs late, so don't frett. Our wedding was first set at 7, we moved it up to 6:30 when we met with Ana. It still did not happen until 7:10. Sunset was at 7:30 and we had to hurry to get pictures, We did not get group shots on the beach because we only had enough light time to get the bride and groom. If we would have known, we would have bumped it to 6. We watched lots of weddings, on day they had 3. They never ran into each other, it is very well organized. So do not worry if there are others on your same day, we had two others and it was just fine. We did not even see the other ones. Any questions that you have, just ask, I will be happy to try and answer.

Thanks! Great info! Quick Question....Did the bride and groom have to ask for the roses and candles on the night of the wedding? We really want that done but aren't sure if we have to ask for it.

[AlisonJimmy]

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Originally Posted by jpcmartin Pictures and slideshow taken by the Dreams resort photographer during our site visit: Our Dreams Vacation

Wow!!! Beautiful Pics!!!!

[AlisonJimmy]

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Originally Posted by SDbeachgirl Cocktail hour in the "garden area" and yes, the reception/dancing was on the deck. We had wanted a lit up dance floor but somehow that never happened. So we just danced on the deck...which worked out fine but we would have liked a little more light.

I am worried about there not be enough light. Most of the pictures I have seen look like it's pretty dark on the deck. I'm not sure what I can do about that. The light up dance floor was a little expensive I think.

[wisconsinbride2010]

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Originally Posted by SDbeachgirl I wanted to post the photo album that I created on Shutterfly from the photos that my guests took. These are not the professional photos. I am still waiting on those. Please keep in mind that there are a few photos that were taken with a disposable camera (probably a bad idea) but those look really dark. The cocktail hour and reception were not as dark as they look in these photos. I think the professional photos will come out lighter. Shutterfly | View share

I absolutely love your wedding photos! It looks like you had a perfect wedding! Thanks for sharing!!

[wisconsinbride2010]

A question for anyone who has already been married at Dreams. We are doing a symbolic ceremony, but none of our guests are aware that we are getting married in the States legally first. Did you have to write out your whole ceremony? If not was it very personalized? We are planning on writing out our own vows but I just want it to be personalized also. I asked Ana if we could meet the person who would be officating our ceremony a few days before but she told me no. We can't meet them until the wedding day. Just wondering how this went for everyone else? Thanks

[t1219]

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Originally Posted by SDbeachgirl I should point out that I went over Thanksgiving. I'm sure the rest of the month is fine.

My wedding is right after thanksgiving! I hope it's not too crowded. Can you tell me what the weather was like when you where there in Nov? Also were the pools warm then?

Thanks!

[Kat&Dan]

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Originally Posted by jpcmartin Pictures and slideshow taken by the Dreams resort photographer during our site visit: Our Dreams Vacation

Did you get married there or engaged? Your pictures are great!! Is that the photographer they offer or did you bring someone else in?

[Kat&Dan]

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Originally Posted by SDbeachgirl I absolutely LOVED my wedding at DRC. I would highly recommend this. I went for a site visit in Novemember and the resort was a little too crowded but it was PERFECT in May. I think it depends what time of year you are going to get married. The service was fine. Originally there was only one coordinator, but there is an assistant who is quickly getting up to speed. By the time you get married, I'm sure she and Ana will be able to split the work. I wouldn't worry about that. There were a couple of communication issues that I had, but I'm sure it was the language barrier and could happen at any of the resorts. Just know that this is a lovely resort and the location of the ceremony on the sand was actually VERY private. I was originally concerned about this, but found out that I shouldn't have worried about it for a second! I hope that helps.

Oh it does! thank you so much! BTW I loved your personalized tote idea! One quick question did you have a hard time in the beginning getting in touch with the WC? Also did you go through a TA? Howmany days before did you arrive? SOrry for all the questions!