Dreams Riviera Cancun - Brides post here (new thread)

[SharonMydung]

I am doing a wine and sweets White Welcome Party at Desires lounge on Friday.  Since we are not making it private, we are not being charged for it.  We are planning to go to Costco and get some decent wines to serve to the guests.  We're also buying a bunch of candies and nuts at OHNuts.com and setting up a sweets bar.

 

Was thinking about doing Cataraman but we have 70ppl so too costly.

 

 

Originally Posted by justney 

What are you all doing for a "welcome event"?  We considered a sunset cruise at first but don't know if we want to spend that much.  A dinner doesn't appeal to us because it's an all inclusive and won't feel special but still cost a good amount.  I saw that some other hotels do bonfires on the beach but I haven't seen that at Dreams.  I'm now considering not doing an event and just beefing up the OOT bags with better stuff and handing those out at a "cocktail party" (having everyone meet at one of the bars) early in the trip. Ideas???

 

[SharonMydung]

Youre pictures are beautiful and I love your Maggie Sotero dress, it looks amazing on you.  What time did you have your reception at?  Did you skip the cocktail hour?

 

Thank you

Originally Posted by Missy1 

Hi ladies. Just got back from my wedding which was 4/22/11. I see there have been some issues with the DJ. Let me be the first to say that I used DJ Mauricio and he was great. He played everything we wanted took requests all night long and my guests had an absolute blast. You should be more concerned with the sound technician if anyone plans on using him for your ceremony music. He does not speak a lick of English so word to the wise....keep the music simple.

 

Veronica was my wedding coordinator and she was fabulous! It even rained 45 minutes into my reception and we had to be moved to the ballroom but we were fortunate enough to have beautiful weather all through the ceremony and all through our pictures, first dances and cake cutting. DJ Mauricio even stayed an extra hour free of charge because of the move we had to make to the ballroom.

 

[ajcuce]

Sorry to go back to the lanterns, however if you were quoted $60 a tower I would take it!!!! Lisbeth quoted me 120 a tower because there are 12 lanterns. She sent me pictures and they do look really nice. She also told me if I wanted to bring down my own lanterns they would charge $50 for the tower and to light the lanterns. After looking at pricing I decided it is much easier to just pay the full price for the tower.

 

Did you ever get clarification specifically from Ana on how many lanterns the $60 includes? If you did please tell me, $60 is way better then $120!!!!

 

 

Originally Posted by ursula 

Hi Ladies,  I need some help...I know i remeber reading in a couple of the most recent reviews that DRC now rents for the reception those hanging lantern lights that alot of people were renting from DecoCancun.  and I also rember the price being somethign like $10 each.  so i emailed Ana yesterday saying i want to use those for my reception. 

 

Her answer:  

The rent of this kind of lights is $60usd each tower

Really???  $60   Each that's ridiculous.  since I KNOW I read $10 somewhere.  Am I remembering my info wrong?  Does anyone rember who's review it was that mentioned they rented these from Dreams?

 

[Missy1]

For anyone who previously went to my facebook page and couldn't see any of the pics I uploaded an album last night so you should be able to see them now (look up Melissa Ventura Mattingly). The DJ was 300 an hour and we had him for 4 hours however the 4th hour was free due to the mix up with DJ Doremixx but we tipped him $50 when it was all said and done because he did a really good job. My ceremony started for 4 and only last maybe 20 minutes. We skipped the cocktail hour with the appetizers and just had our guests meet at the Baracuda Bar which is right next to the Gazebo (its the bar with the swings around it) and we had the Carribean Trio play there since they were free with the package and it worked out well because we ended up taking our pictures right on the beach in front of the bar and our guests really liked to watch. The reception started at 6. Just my advise, get all the dances, speeches and cake cutting over with in that first hour. We had our entrance which everyone loved. They all stood up and danced with their maracas when we came in to "Tonights Gonna Be a Good Night" Everyone said it was the best wedding entrance they had ever seen. Right after that everyone went to the buffet and we ate for about 20  - 30 minutes. Then we did speeches , first dances, and then we cut the cake. Shortly after that it started to rain so they moved us into the ballroom and we danced the night away till 11. I did my bouquet toss and garter toss the second to last two songs of the night. My only complaint was that when it rained they weren't able to move any of the food except for some desserts and my cake to the ballroom so the rest of the food went to waste. It was a good thing everyone was able to eat at least one plate of food before then.

[plantcityhome]

HI Missy!

 

Congratulations!!!

 

It is so encouraging to see that the wedding was under $8k with 45 guests! That is wonderful!

 

Do you have any budget tips that you can give?

 

Thanks!

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Missy1 

And to the brides stressed out about decor and such, less is more. Trust me on this, the scenery is so beautiful you really don't need much.  I bought the centerpeices through the resort and they came out beautifully. I brought the chair bows and table runners with me and bought 10 paper lantersn through the resort. I have 45 guests and with everything inlcuding the dj and and additional package of pictures my wedding costed under $8000. I have pictures up on my facebook, just go under my tagged pictures, i just turned off my privacy settings so you should be able to see them : http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/profile.php?id=23442211

 

[plantcityhome]

I am unable to view the pics, I am sure that they are gorgeous though!

 

Originally Posted by Missy1 

For anyone who previously went to my facebook page and couldn't see any of the pics I uploaded an album last night so you should be able to see them now (look up Melissa Ventura Mattingly). The DJ was 300 an hour and we had him for 4 hours however the 4th hour was free due to the mix up with DJ Doremixx but we tipped him $50 when it was all said and done because he did a really good job. My ceremony started for 4 and only last maybe 20 minutes. We skipped the cocktail hour with the appetizers and just had our guests meet at the Baracuda Bar which is right next to the Gazebo (its the bar with the swings around it) and we had the Carribean Trio play there since they were free with the package and it worked out well because we ended up taking our pictures right on the beach in front of the bar and our guests really liked to watch. The reception started at 6. Just my advise, get all the dances, speeches and cake cutting over with in that first hour. We had our entrance which everyone loved. They all stood up and danced with their maracas when we came in to "Tonights Gonna Be a Good Night" Everyone said it was the best wedding entrance they had ever seen. Right after that everyone went to the buffet and we ate for about 20  - 30 minutes. Then we did speeches , first dances, and then we cut the cake. Shortly after that it started to rain so they moved us into the ballroom and we danced the night away till 11. I did my bouquet toss and garter toss the second to last two songs of the night. My only complaint was that when it rained they weren't able to move any of the food except for some desserts and my cake to the ballroom so the rest of the food went to waste. It was a good thing everyone was able to eat at least one plate of food before then.

 

[Missy1]

You can definitely save money by buying your own bows and table overlays or runners...they took no room to pack. I was so concerned about the budget as well so at first I was even going to try and bring my own centerpieces but it would have costed just as much to pack or have them shipped. The centerpieces I had were $60 a piece and I thought they came out beautifully. We had four tables for our guests...each table held 8-10 people...so I only had to buy 4. If you have the ultimate packageit comes with the a free centerpiece for the bride and grooms table and a free one for the ceremony table. I got those two to match and had them take the one from the ceremony table and move it to our table for the reception so I had one on either side of the table. I had my entire wedding party all sit at one table with us which was a 11 people. Definitely forgo the cocktail hour. There is no need for it. Your at an all inclusive resort...drinks are free. Have your guests meet at one of the bars around the resort for that hour and if you plan to have the mariachi or carribean trio play the WC will be happy to tell them where they need to be. Be aware that the pool bars close for 6 so if your cocktail hours after that they should probably just go to the lobby bar. I also got a $1500 photo package....if you don't need all those pictures then thats saved money. And the main thing is like I said before don't spend all kinds of money on decorations because in the end the scenery is so beautiful there you truly do not need them. Chair bows, table runners and centerpieces...thats all you need. Don't bother with flowers on the Gazebo or on the side of chairs because there just not nessassary. And also, my bouquet was free and I paid for 4 bridesmaids bouquets which were $60 a piece but I absolutely loved my flowers...they were my favorite part of the whole thing. I sent my WC a picture of what I wanted and they came out exactly like the pictures.

[Missy1]

And for those of you who still can't see my pictures feel free to friend request me and I'll gladly except. I'm not quite sure why some people still can't see them, I thought I turned off all of my privacy setting but agian feel free to friend request me

[brookeh68]

@ Sharon- How are you getting all of your "supplies" down to the resort?  It seems like wine bottles would take up a lot of room.  Are you just packing 2 or 3 more suitcases?  I was thinking maybe some of my girls could divide up some of the extras so we only have to use 1 extra bag.  Thanks!

[Lindsay in love]

And for those of you who still can't see my pictures feel free to friend request me and I'll gladly except. I'm not quite sure why some people still can't see them, I thought I turned off all of my privacy setting but agian feel free to friend request me

Missy your pics are awesome, and hilarious! Seems like you guys had a wild time for sure! I imagine my group will be similar....I'm in good company with a bunch of crazy partyers. :-) Thanks for sharing your special day. You look stunning in your dress and your photos. Made me all the more excited to leave a week today! Congrats to you Mrs. Mattingly!