Dreams Riviera Cancun - Brides post here (new thread)

[Chelsey & Travis]

This was the same case as when I was there.  It only rained for about 20 minutes a day (with the exception of a lot of rain one night).  It did get pretty chilly at night, and the pool was relatively cold during the day.  However, it was still warm to lay in the sun and of course very nice, so don't stress about it!!  It will be fine
 

Originally Posted by t1219 

I am so freaking out!! I just saw the weather forecast for DRC and it says 60% chance rain on the day we get there (nov 27th), hi 80 low 58!!! I know it usually says 20-30% chance rain just b/c they usually have a short shower everyday but 60%??????? AHHHH rain rain go away and please let it be warm!!!!!

[Chelsey & Travis]

Missy,

 

We had about 40 guests, and we only paid for an alter arrangement ($88) and the legal ceremony requirements (about $600)...all including taxes and fees.  We found it unnecessary to spend lots of money on extras.  The surroundings are beautiful enough to set the scene, and since everyone's food and drink were covered, we thought it would be silly to spend extra money on that.  We had no problem eating together in large groups and did not pay extra for it.  One thing to skip to save money is flower petals.  It is very windy and they won't stay on the aisle anyway.  We also didn't pay extra for cake or champagne as suggested.  Our cake ended up serving 40 and champagne was available at all bars.  Hope this helps a little!
 

Originally Posted by Missy1 

Brides that have already been married or one that are getting ready to be, Its been one headache after another trying to get a straight answer from the wedding coordinator on what my total cost is going to be for the wedding. Everytime I think I've gotten things squared away the WC quits (I'm on my third) and we're back to square one. I just wann =a make sure we're staying on budget. If you dont mind me asking, could anyone give me ballpark figure of how much they spent on there weddings and any tips on where to save money when planning. I just don't wanna get there and they tell me, ok, that'll be $10,0000. Any help or advise would be greatly appreciated : )

[Chelsey & Travis]

If I were you, I wouldn't pay for one.  There are several restaurants (El Patio and World Cafe in particular) that can accomodate a large group.  They tell you ahead of time that it costs to have tables set aside, but this simply isn't true.  We brought a group of 20 to both Portofino and Himitsu, as well as had our "after wedding lunch" at World Cafe with a group of 40.  We did not pay any extra.  Sometimes they limit you on your menu options, but it isn't a big deal.

Originally Posted by t1219 

Does anyone know if you can order off of the menu for a rehearsal dinner? I have heard that you have to make a selection off the menu but that is ridiculous as it is an all-inclusive resort and you have to pay for the rehearsal dinner!!

[Chelsey & Travis]

Laurern:

 

Your best bet is World Cafe.  For a buffet, it is pretty tasty!  El Patio would also be good.  The remaining restaurants are relatively small.  From my experience, none of the restaurants make you pay for sitting together, but you might have a long wait.  If you get in line for a table about 15 minutes before they open, you can put in your name so that you won't have to wait long.  I would suggest doing this, and telling your guests to meet in the lobby bar.  They will give you a buzzer to take wherever you want, so you can socialize with your guests while waiting.

[Missy1]

We're paying for the restaurant so that we can have a private reception, ie have a dj, which I was told we couldn't do unless we had a private reception. I figured I would save in decorations has far as the reception goes because El patio is such a beautifully decorated restaurant already. How do ya'll feel about a dj...yay or nay? I've  gotten mixed reviews or just getting a sound system and having their technician do it but it is cheaper...is it worth the hassel and money saved to do it that way? Also, if anyone has the menu options can they email me at [email protected]. Thanks everyone for the advise.

[ashleybyers]

Hi Michelle! I can relate to were you are coming from. My sister hasn't even booked! It is a ton of hand holding. Our travel agent has been very good with getting back in touch with people but, I think some people keep thinking they are going to get a better deal somewhere else and have yet to book. Its frustrating because, I really would like to know how many people are coming so, I can have a better idea with the costs. I feel like it is going to come pretty fast with the holidays and all. Have you booked where you are having the reception/wedding. I tried to email Ana but, have yet to hear a response. My Travel Agent said usually people don't book those till 2 months before but, I feel that is a little late. my email is [email protected].

[t1219]

Missy1-

I am getting married next tuesday and having a dj. I will let you know if I think it was worth it when I get back!!

 

Chelsey & Travis-

Thanks for the response!!!

How cold did it get at night? Was it okay to wear dresses or do you need pants and sweaters? 

[Missy1]

Thanks! For any brides who have gotten or will be  getting married using the gazebo...as far as music for your wedding party to walk up to and for myself, does anyone know much of a song you need to get from point A to point B? I'm trying to pick songs but I'm not quite sure where they need to be cut at or where they should be faded out at.

[Chelsey & Travis]

I don't know the exact temperature, but it was pretty chilly for us even in jeans and a t-shirt.  I would suggest bringing a jacket or two.  And it also depends on how much you want to do outside.  We liked eating at Seaside Grille outside and watching the shows, so when we were out for a long time, it felt cool.  At Seaside, they even gave us blankets to use!

 

Originally Posted by t1219 

Missy1-

I am getting married next tuesday and having a dj. I will let you know if I think it was worth it when I get back!!

 

Chelsey & Travis-

Thanks for the response!!!

How cold did it get at night? Was it okay to wear dresses or do you need pants and sweaters? 

[ddemayo]

 

Ok so we got married at the Dreams Riviera Cancun on Saturday November 13, 2010. We had a 135 of our closest friends and family attend our destination wedding. The Hotel said it is the biggest wedding they have ever had and probably will ever have.

We booked the Master suite for a whole week and stayed in room 1200. The master suite is insane and if you have the money make sure you pay to have this nice room for you and your future husband! We arrived on Wednesday with a few family members and a few guests. Now I have been to the resort for a site visit so I knew what to expect when we first arrived but the few people who hadn’t been there (including my husband) were amazed at how beautiful the resort was. They just said it was breath taking and I had to agree, that’s exactly why we choose the Hotel. We were greeted with bottles of water and glasses of champagne. A great way to start off this vacation, especially with our group, they were bog drinkers.

 

So we chilled the first day and met with Magdalena (Maria) and Walter the banquet manager on Thursday. We went over all the details we had already went over and cleared up a few things. In all honesty, I wish I just waited till I got down there to plan everything. I feel as if I spent so much time and energy getting all worked up and stressed out throughout the year when I could have just planned the whole thing a few days before. Just a little word of advice!  Any which we went over everything and they had provided all that we had hoped and wished for.  We had few minor mishaps but nothing our fun group couldn’t deal with. We met again with them on Friday morning to go over a few more details and to pay for the whole event.

 

In planning a wedding and being the main coordinator, the one thing I would change is I would have arrived on Thursday and had my wedding on Friday so I could actually enjoy myself the entire time and just relax. I would have had the wedding once we arrived. See we got there on Wednesday and didn’t have the wedding until Saturday. Although we planned some wonderful events it would have just been much better to enjoy myself instead of having those days leading up to the wedding worrying and taking care of little things!

 

So here goes our wedding weekend/day:

We asked the wedding coordinator if the Hotel could hand out the Welcome Envelopes that we had made up for our guest once they were checking in, but unfortunately they said they couldn’t because it would be too hectic. So we made sure to meet people in the lobby once they were arriving and handed them out then. If we missed anyone, we just made sure to catch them by the pool, where everyone was. These included a welcome note, details about the wedding day (time, place etc) as well as an invite to meet us for some drinks.

 

We had a welcome cocktail party at the lobby bar (we just told everyone to meet us there) we didn’t pay to have this little event and it was great! It worked out great because everyone came and had drinks for an hour or two and then went off to eat. Some the restaurants had an hour wait so it just ended up being perfect for people. Not only were they at our welcome party, they were having drinks while they were waiting for their tables to be ready for dinner.  

 

As our rehearsal dinner, since we don’t/ didn’t really have one, we rented a private catamaran ride and took our immediate families out on a private sunset cruise! Let me tell you, this was absolutely amazing and beautiful. What I loved about this was we rented it for just our families so we didn’t have to share the ride with anyone else and it was just awesome!

 

Here is how our wedding day unfolded:

Saturday November 13, 2010

I got a Manicure and Pedicure in the Morning

I hired Fernando Fuentes and his team to do hair and make-up. He arrived at 10 am and we all got our hair and makeup done in the Master Suite – He was amazing !!!! I absolutely loved my hair and makeup. He did a great job! I can’t even tell you how happy we all were!

My cousin took the Hair and Make-up appointment at the Salon, instead of me since they wouldn’t let me substitute it. She was my travel agent so it was the least I could do for her.

Ceremony took place at the Gazebo at 3:00 and this was the perfect time! We had Symbolic Ceremony- NON Legal. We had a aisle runner that I had made, it was hand painted and beautiful. We got it from idoorginals.com. We also had  bamboo fans on all the chairs and a wicker basket full of white parasols (all of which were a major hit). We just had the plain white garden chairs , no bows and it was beautiful/ perfect. People were telling us it looked like a movie and our guests said they felt like they were in a movie. We had a nice flower arrangement in the center table and it was perfect. In my opinion don’t pay the $300 dollars to have the flower arrangement on the gazebo if you do get married there, it’s a waste of money. You are only at the gazebo for 20 mins ( I was glad we didn’t spend the money).We also paid to have a champagne toast afterwards with all our guest but we didn’t even get a chance to do so. Another waste of money don’t bother.  We told all our guest to come in their cover-ups or little dressed because there was a break in between so they could all get dressed for the evening after the ceremony.

We hired Claudia Rodriguez as our photographer and she is insane!!! Absolutely amazing! We were able to get beautiful shots while all our guests were getting ready for the night!

Our cocktail hour was on the  beach at 5:00 and we rented Lounge furniture from EW CANCUN. This was bar far the coolest thing ever. Our guests were seated on the lounge furniture on the beach enjoying the sunset with the mariachi band playing in the background. They were able to enjoy some drinks, conversation and apps. It was amazing…… The furniture was my favorite thing!!!!

 

We were scheduled to have the reception on the Deck from 6-9 and it was setup absolutely beautiful.  I mean picture perfect, like something straight out of the movies. We had all white table linens, with white chair covers and I had these beautiful green and white overlays made out of fabric I got from Joanne’s Fabric store. I will have to show you a picture of how beautiful they were. We had DECO CANCUN do our centerpieces which were three vases filled with water lilies with candles, lights and mini starfish scattered around. We also had the hand painted maracas from Mishka (which turned out awesome) Out table looked amazing! I can’t tell you how happy I was with everything!   We also had white lantern lights from DECO Cancun as well and they were just awesome!

 

Then came the down fall……

Unfortunately right around 5:45 there was a hug storm cloud that came in and it started to spit a little. The Banquet Manager, came and found Jimmy and I and he had a complete look of panic on his face. He said that we need to make a decision as to what we wanted to do as far as move the wedding or not  but we needed to decide right then and there. At this point I was just in complete shock and He had highly recommended that we move because he believed it was going to RAIN, POUR and if we didn’t move at that time he wasn’t going to be able to accommodate us. So we had to put our feelings aside and do what was best for everyone and move. They moved us to the World Café which is still really really nice but it was a little chaotic getting everything setup and getting everyone there. But in the end it totally came together and we had an AMZING time!!! However in the end it never ended up RAINING  just spitted for about 20 mins and was a little windy! SO needless to say I was so bummed!!! But oh well what was I going…..

 

We also made them move the lounge furniture outside the world café so our guests could still enjoy it and it was the biggest hit with everyone.

We had DJ services provided by DOREMIXX  - and it was an absolute party. So many people danced and we had a blast!!!

We had custom box matches made on ETSY and we bought cigars at the Hotel. This was a huge Hit! We brought this awesome double sided box that had the matches and cigars in it and it was just so cool.

 

In all and the we had an amazing time! People still keep calling us and telling us how much fun they had and that they will never forget out wedding!  

 

 

I will be shipping some of my stuff to the Resort since we will be having a lot of guests and I cannot bring it all with me on the plane. I assume I ship it to your attention, correct? Correct

I will like to put welcome bags in everyone’s room.  So I assume I provide you with the list of names. Do you want this when we arrive or a few days prior to our arrival? A few days prior and it will have a cost of $3.00 USD per room.

How many people can be seated at a table? And how many tables can you accommodate on the DECK? 8 per table, we are having a wedding tomorrow for 120 guests.

We will be arriving on Wednesday November 10, 2010 and would like to have a meeting that Day to finalize a number of things and provide you with the Welcome bags.

I would rather finalize everything at least 3 weeks before the wedding, since there are many decisions to be made and 2 days before the wedding is too short.

 

I am sure I forgot a lot so as I remember I will send additional information and I will point my photos up as soon as I get them as well