Dreams Riviera Cancun - Brides post here (new thread)

[MR1124]

I know!  We have 64 people booked already!   Lisbeth went over every detail!  From locations, decorations, food, flowers, prices, she even sent me a preliminary balance.  After speaking to her I feel so confident that everything will turn out great!  She had all the details and information I had been emailing her since the beginning of the planning.

[MR1124]

@Missy - great video, looks like you guys had a lot of fun...  My fiance wants to know where your husband got his suit.. He liked it..

[DeaChris11]

Do you have a picture of your bouquet? I love it! Your pictures were beautiful.  I want to send a copy of that bouquet to the wedding coordinator to see if I can have one similar! If you could either post it on here or email it to me at [email protected] I would greatly appreciate it.  It won't let me save a photo from your slide show.

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Missy1 

Here's my slide-show I just got:

 

http://220411mattingly.dreamsriveriacancun.adventurephotos.com.mx/
 

 

[brookeh68]

Did you send Lisbeth both of the Q&A questions back before getting the prelim pricing?  We spoke last week but she did not send me any info...Thanks!
 

Originally Posted by MR1124 

I know!  We have 64 people booked already!   Lisbeth went over every detail!  From locations, decorations, food, flowers, prices, she even sent me a preliminary balance.  After speaking to her I feel so confident that everything will turn out great!  She had all the details and information I had been emailing her since the beginning of the planning.

 

[chrissyandrob]

Hi!

I am getting married June 12th and it seems like the hotel is on top of everything so far! I know Lisbeth is swapmed though! Is anyone having a welcome dinner and are they charging you per person? also, has she given you a cost estimate yet?

 

Chrissy

[SharonMydung]

Hello Brooke,

 

So far we have about 62 adults and 8 kids booked.  There might be a few last minute people but we would like to keep it under 75 if possible.  So Linda is an officiant at the resort?  Does she speak English well?  I might ask Veronica to use Linda as well if she is a good officiant. 

 

Wow 13 years together huh, that is a long time.  I thought our five years is a long time but not compared to you guys. 

 

Yea the only thing I am worried now is it running smoothly.  I am pretty much done with all my wedding stuff, so excited.  I have to send Veronica the reading since my gf will not be there to conduct the ceremony for us. 

 

I still cannot believe it's almost here for us. 

Originally Posted by brookeh68 

its so exciting isnt it?! Thats a bummer about yor friend though-we are having a symbolic ceremony with a minister named linda at the DRC. We are getting married in pittsburgh june 10 in front of a judge who is a family friend. We got most of our playlist of songs together last weekend-we opted for the tech only, it eas so much fun putting the songs together!
I telly dont have wedding jitters as mike and I have been together for 13 years ( I think if I did there would be a problem lol) . I am mostly nervous about evrrything coming together as planned!
We have 34 people confirmed 2 STILL need to book their flights!
How many are you having?

 

[Lupita]

Hi Ladies, Its official we are getting married December 10, 2011. 

[JD Hall Wedding]

My Extremley Long Review!!!

 

Hello All, I'm finally a Mrs.!!!

 

First off I want to say that the resort is absolutely beautiful and amazing. The staff are the most pleasant individuals I have ever met. I felt like a princess the whole 11 days I was there. I know you have heard it before and I know how frustrating it is to not get responses back when your trying to organize things, but the WC and all the wedding staff know what they are doing and you will be well taken care of from the moment you arrive until the moment you leave!!!

 

FLIGHTS

We went through Frontier Airlines, which everything was fabulous. Directv on the flight (which was great for my 4 year old) and it included 2 checked bags each. My mother-in-law and my dad let me use one of their bags each and my son we also used his other checked bag so in total I had 12 checked bags plus carry-ons...and believe me I used them all because I brought everything with me (centerpeices, oot, flowers, menu cards etc etc). I put my wedding dress plus my welcome dinner dress in my garment bag and that was my carry-on and frontier was amazing they stored it very nicely and also gave me and my husband a complimentrary cocktail. They seem to change flight schedule alot because on the way there it was changed 1/2hr early which is no big deal...but on the way home they changed to 3 1/2 hrs early....so imagine that mad dash when we found out at 10am that our flight was leaving in an hr and half...YIKES!!! But it's a good story...and only forgot my phone charger and eyeliner!!!! No biggie though, I'm home safe!!! LOL

 

ARRIVAL/ROOM

So upon arrival, as soon as I stepped out of the van it was "Hola Miss Cummings and Mr Hall please come with us to your private preferred check-in" when we got to preferred club we were greeted with champagne and they gave us quick tour of preferred club and we were so hungry we grabbed a couple sushi rolls while we checked in. We had room 2501, Honeymoon Suite, it was absolutely stunning...it was 5th floor oceanfront...and it is was PERFECT!!! The space is more then enough for brides and bridesmaids to get ready in. I was hoping for a "free" upgrade when we arrived but I'm glad we didn't because Master Suite is on the bottom floor and you totally loose they ocean view.

 

RESTAURANTS/BARS/ETC

The resort always has something going on every night, from Fiesta Nites (which includes buffett dinner around pool plus music/show) casino nites, they had a wrestling match, comedians. There is always bands/singers in the lobby every night. All the food is amazing from pool side to the fine dining. They are strict about attire so if you are planning going to Bourdeaux or Portofino they do require the guys to wear collard shirts and closed toe shoes....Bourdeaux was my absolute favorite....the food was amazing. I was going to have my welcome dinner at Bourdeaux but after arriving and touring the restaurants I knew it would not work for a large group unless you pay for wine in the wine cellar ($600) so we changed it to El Patio, which was PERFECT...I meet with the manager earlier in the day slipped her $40 and she reserved a whole area for our guests. We all meet up at the lobby bar at 6pm and went up to dinner at 7pm. We ordered off the regular menu and it was perfect. The food was sooooo good. So I am really glad I saved Bourdeaux for a special intimate night with me and the hubby because it is very romantic. Portofino and Himitisu are good too but they do remind me of restaurants in the states. The World Cafe is great, I did go every morning for breakfast and we hit it up one time for lunch and it is really good for a buffett. Desires lounge is small but we had a lot of fun, I was in good company!!! Things are what you make of them!!! The swing bar Barracudda is probably my favorite, they always had great music playing and I just love the swings as your seat and it was perfect right by the beach, great for day drinking!!! My suggestion is to make sure you bring enough singles for tip money.

 

 

Now to important stuff:

 

WEDDING

 

PRE-WEDDING

We arrived Wed 4/27, all day Thurs 4/28 we met with the different vendors, first it was Lisabeth our WC, she is soooo great!!! We brought her all our wedding stuff we brought with, I had a detailed guideline sheet printed out for her and we went over everything and left her knowing everything was going to be getting taken care of. Her asst Jorge was great too!!! After that we meet Linda the minister and she is great, English Speaking and clear!!! She said that the ceremony script was wonderful. Then we meet with Edgar and DJ Polo with Visual Sound and they were great had my info sheet and playlist and said that there was no issues with the songs we choose. DJ Polo knows what he's doing and spoke English clearly and never messed up names our anything. Then me and the hubby squeezed in our couples massage and lunch in between everything...which the spa is so relaxing and I love that you can just hang around there afterwards/beforehand for how ever long you want. We didn't get to stay too long because we had to meet back with Lisabeth to do Rehearsal. Then after rehearsal we took the family/friends up to our room so they can check it out. Then we all got ready and we went and had our welcome dinner at El Patio. On Friday, the younger crowd went on an excursion Jungle Maya Excursion through playdelcarmendiscounts.com and it was GREAT!! Zip line 3 different time, snorkel cenote, parpell into cave and get to swim around, mountain bike thru jungle, took 4x4 jeep to mayan ranch and had a mayan family feed us lunch and teach us how to take a true Tequila Shot!!! The food was great and the people were better. And all day excursion for only $89 it was well worth it. When we got home we were so exhausted but got dressed and went out to dinner to Sea Side Grill, it was just OK....wasn't my fav but it was alright.

 

DAY OF WEDDING 4/30/11

Me and all the females of our party, the bridesmaid, moms, bff's, cousins, aunts etc took over the spa starting noon. I had mani, pedi, make up and hair done and it was well worth it. It was so enjoyable having all my girls with me getting ready down in the spa. They do an amazing job down there. Everyone got something done and everyone turned out so beautiful! I finally got out of the spa around 2pm and I was starving to I went up to my room and ordered some room service and relaxed for about 10 minutes until all the girls starting showing up.  We had Anel as our photographer and she is AMAZING!!!! I highly recommend her!!! She came to the room about 2:30 and did all the pre-photos (shoes, dress, flowers, me giving gifts to girls, etc etc) then she went to down and did the boys getting dressed in there room. Then she came back up around 3:30 and got me getting my dress on, my dad showing up to room, champage toast, garter etc...then it was GAME ON!!!

 

CEREMONY

We had our ceremony at the Gazebo at 4pm and everything was perfect the way I wanted it set-up. The only thing was the photo I wanted on ceremony table kept blowing over so they just had to lay it down on the table....but all good!!!! FYI, the Technician SUCKS!!! He didn't know how to work my iphone....so suggestion....give him a CD....I think he knows play and stop!!! My husband had to keep going over there and showing him how to operate it and get the music started and everything. It was so random that during the ceremony music would start playing when it shouldn't have, but it was all good. Nothing that happened would let me stress out that day....everything to me was beautiful....I was no bridezilla!!! But other then that, everything was beautiful, my husband was soooo handsome and Linda was great. The tech did get it right for the procession and played it correctly.

 

COCKTAIL HOUR

Afterwards we did group photos on the staircase in front of hotel lobby. and again ANEL was FABULOUS!!! She did all your basic photos, then we did some by ourselves, while lisabeth guided everyone to the cocktail hr. I had our cocktail hour start 1/2 hr later 5:30 so that we can do lots of group photos and so that me and hubby didn't miss the whole cocktail hour. It worked out perfectly because we went to cocktail hr grabbed a drink and took off and did more photos by the ocean, and when we got back to cocktail hr the mirachi band was still playing and we got to enjoy some of the food/drinks/music!!!

 

RECEPTION

We had our reception on the Pool Terrace 6:30....it was perfect. My shoes would allow the beach or wood deck!!!! It was amazing. DJ Polo introduced everyone perfectly and said there names correctly and all the music and lighting was perfect. We had a sweatheart table the with highback chairs and it was beautiful. The staff was amazing, the food was great and the flow of the wedding was perfect!!! DJ Polo played the right songs at the right time. My cake table was great and the cake was beautiful, we went with just the standard 2 tier cake all white. It was just right, since nobody ate the cake anyways. We had a tequila tasting and they decorated the table beautifully. All the little arts-and-crafts projects that i did and brought with looked so amazing. Reception ended about 10pm and we just kept the party going and some of us went to Desires and had some drinks...all and all I could say PERFECTION!!!

 

POST WEDDING

Sunday 5/1/11 We did Breakfast with the Honeymooners at World Cafe from 9-11. Me and the Hubby got down there about 8:45 and let them know what was going on and they blocked off some tables for us and had popped open several bottles of champagne and brought over a cute breakfast cake all fancy and it said "Happy Honeymoon" it was a cute touch. And then after that everyone was free to do what ever so me and the bridesmaids went to spa and relaxed and had facials, while the hubby and groomsmen went scuba diving.

 

 

We made all the rest of the family schedule to leave by monday so that me and hubby can enjoy our honeymoon and it worked out perfectly. The grandparents took our son home with them and we enjoyed ourselves at the beach, infinity pool, spa, volleyball etc etc. Believe there is something always to do!!! They even have free shuttles to Cancun on Mon Wed & Fri...it's a guided tour to shopping malls and lunch at Senor Frogs.

 

We got the ultimate package and included was the candlelit dinner on the beach!!!! OMG, let me tell you...how romantic. We had our own little hut with candles/torches and our own private waiter. We just listend to the beach and talked....it was amazing!!!

 

 

 

 

I know this is long and once I have some pics/slideshow I will post let me know if you have any questions.

[latinive]

JD Hall.  Your review is amazing.  I can't wait to see your pictures.  My wedding is in October but I'm starting to freak out. 

[Carbaholic]

Hi Ladies!

 

Congrats Mrs. Hall!  Since her review was absolutely perfect, I'll just post a list of things I wish I had done, was glad I had done, etc.

 

Setting: Wedding was May 3, ceremony on the south end of the beach at 5:30pm and the reception at 7pm on the deck.  We were 33 people total.

 

- Was glad the ceremony started at 5:30pm (5:15 would have been perfect actually - the sun set at 7:13 that day and for photos, 15 extra minutes of light would have been great).  Any earlier may still have been too hot for our guests.  As it was, they have you face all of your guests, which is nice except that it means you are standing facing west and the setting sun.  Our video is a lot of shots of us squinting! Haha.  We got some amazing

 

- Wish we had started our reception at 7:30pm.  By the time the ceremony was done (around 6pm) and we made it through all of our pictures, we were running behind and the reception only started at around 7:20pm so we lost 20 precious minutes!  Also, our party would have ended at 10:30pm which would have meant that Desires would already be in full swing after.  We had to wait 45 minutes for the hockey game to finish - it went into overtime.  No big deal!

 

- Was glad we did the sit-down dinner.  We chose the sea bass or gigot of lamb menu and everything was delicious and hot!  I wish we had known that we needed numbers for each meal, we would have included it in our response cards.  I had sent an email to Lisbeth explicitly asking her "Guests will choose their main course AT the wedding reception dinner, correct?" to which she replied "yes".  So at our meeting when she said that was incorrect, we had to start guessing who would order what!  I ended up guessing numbers then just asking them to serve our table and our parents' tables last because none of us/them are picky eaters.  It worked out fine!  The only downside to the plated dinner is that it takes longer (3 apps, main course and dessert) so there was less time for dancing.  We did all of our speeches during the dinner.

 

- Wish we had made our meeting with Lisbeth for the day we arrived.  When we checked in, we were told that Lisbeth may be upgrading us and to discuss it with her, so we had to wait a few days to unpack.  In the end, we didn't take the upgrade to a Honeymoon suite.  We had booked a plunge pool and really wanted to keep it!  So they gave us access to the Preferred Club instead of an actual room upgrade.

 

- Was glad that my parents had a suite on the same side as the ceremony on the beach!  We got ready there and luckily, we saw them setting up the chuppah and chairs - they were putting the teal ribbon that was for the reception on the chairs and tying LIME GREEN bows to the chuppah!  It looked ridiculous.  I called down and they removed the lime green bows and replaced them with white and took the ribbon off the chairs.

 

- Was glad I kept everything simple.  Garden chairs for the ceremony, no bows.  White cloth on the chuppah, white bows.  Multi-coloured floral arrangement on the table and that was it.  They put a runner down with starfish and conch shells on it. The view is truly spectacular and you really don't need to doctor it up.

 

- Was glad I kept the reception decorations simple, too!  White covered chairs with one stripe of teal ribbon, white tablecloths and napkins with a menu I had printed and glued to teal cardstock tucked in, teal & white candle holders with LED candles and the white bridesmaid bouquets as centerpieces in glass vases I had rented from DRC for $10 each.  I got the white flags (3x) and two sets of the hanging white lanterns (I paid for 6 on each and they actually put 16 on each!!).  I brought teal ribbon for the cake tiers and fake orchids for them to decorate it.  It looked absolutely stunning and highlighted the amazing view perfectly without trying to overtake it.

 

- Wish I would have paid more to keep the photographer (we had Frank) for longer.  We had 30 minutes of bridesmaids and I getting ready (which was complimentary with Ultimate package apparently), the ceremony, and 10 minutes of family and group shots and about 30 minutes of the two of us after.  It all felt incredibly rushed.  It would have been great to have him there for the reception/speeches/dinner and for longer with the group/family shots.  He took around 300 pictures and we had to narrow them down to 50!  We got it to 56 and just paid the $90US extra for those 6.  It was NOT easy!

 

- Wish I would have used some of the package perks earlier!  We upgraded to the Ultimate package and we got the eternity honeymoon thing for free (maybe everyone gets that or because we stayed for 2 weeks total, I'm not sure) so we had a 50 minute couples massage, 2 x 25 min facials and 25 min massage, champagne, fancy breakfast in bed, fresh flowers to the room, dinner on the beach, etc.  We kind of forgot to use everything so now we have 3 days left here and are doing all of it!  It's still nice, especially since everyone else is gone but I would have loved to do the breakfast the morning after, the flowers at the start and the champagne the day of the wedding.  Silly us!

 

- Was glad my brother officiated!  He did such an amazing job and it was so nice to have someone who knows us so well marry us.  We got legally married quietly before we left for mexico (just to make sure it was all easy and legit) but he got officially "ordained" or whatever it is online anyway.  It was so touching and beautiful.

 

- Was glad I started getting ready at 1:30pm.  I showered in my room at 1:10pm and met my friend/bridesmaid who is a hair and makeup artist at 1:30pm in my parents' room.  I was done by 3:30pm which left me time to help a couple of bridesmaids with their hair (kept me busy) while drinking champagne and chatting and snacking before Frank got there at 4:45.  I thought it would be way too much time but it was perfect.  I didn't feel rushed or bored!

 

- last but not least, WAS GLAD I DIDN'T STRESS!  I didn't do a ton of work before coming, I didn't do much while I was here and I didn't spend a fortune on extras I didn't feel I needed.  Nothing stressed me out and everything was amazing... the day and night are what you make them and DRC does a great job of pulling it all together! 

 

Ok, that's all I can think of for now!  I'm sorry if it was still long and boring...  Since I've been here I've seen all kinds of beautiful weddings.  There are sometimes 2 or 3 a day and each one still ends up looking different, all of them beautiful and perfect in their own way.  Congrats to all the recent and future Brides!