Dreams Riviera Cancun - Brides post here (new thread)

[SDbeachgirl]

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Originally Posted by taranyc hi everyone. we just got back from our weekend at dreams riviera cancun...we set it up with ana to view the site, etc. for our sept. 26th, 2010 wedding (our location and date are now changed). arriving onsite, i was immediately happy about our decision to have our wedding at drc...the lobby was amazingly beautiful and i loved our room. everything changed when i saw the pool area and beach. all along i've been like, "those reviews cannot be right...we're different, it's going to be great regardless of the look of the pavilion...the site can't be that bad" etc. i was wrong. here are my impressions of the site and what lead us to rent a car, drive an hour farther down to dreams tulum and book our wedding there. pool area/pavilion to begin with, the pavilion is right on top of the pool area. no matter what, you are going to have people all around you. in addition, the barracuda bar is right below it...just next to the huge kids playground swing set. the pavilion area is so small and the strange thing that you stand under looks even smaller in person. You’re there, you’re getting married and just below you are tourists on swings, people in bikinis (that shouldn’t be in bikinis), kids in the pool, chairs everywhere with rust orange towels on them…it’s just not nice…not for your wedding…and especially not if because you are paying for a wedding and all of your guests are paying to stay there as well. the nice thing is that the palm trees have metal star lanterns hanging from them and they look beautiful at night…actually, the whole pool area is pretty at night and most of the people are gone by sundown…but the sure are there when you’re saying your vows. we saw a couple of receptions out there and they looked nice (on the pool deck). they will add lighting if you ask for it…one reception had a buffet and all along it were the hanging tin stars behind a thin gauze of light blue silk…it was really pretty. beach we had the opportunity to see a wedding on the beach (the first row of chairs were not removed yet). It was a small wedding (appx. 10-15 people), but they were right on top of the guests lounging in the sun. there was an older man sitting right next to the wedding in a speed-o…just too much. the best part was when the group of drunk 40-somethings walked by (mid-ceremony) in nothing buy their bikinis, frozen drinks in hand and started to woo hoo. it’s just not my thing and that pretty much put the nail in the coffin regarding my wedding at drc. I cannot begin to tell you how upset I was over all of this. I remember when I first found the resort…I was so excited, it looked so perfect online. one thing…i’ve read that there is a more private place to have the ceremony, but I did not see that on the beach. The beach itself is rather small and very packed. Note…the ceremony area is just off the palapa rows next to the kids swing set/slide area. in the end, we didn’t even meet with ana…we knew our first day that this was not the place for us. I would suggest that you do a site tour (if you can…ana will work with you on rates for the weekend visit). we ended up going down to dreams tulum (we had visited once before) and met with aurora who gave us a tour. the beach site is great because it’s away from the crowd…there are so many options for the reception…ooh, and there is a beautiful chapel that looks like rustic mexico (I don’t think it even needs decoration inside). dreams tulum felt more fun and lively than drc (I’m not sure how to describe it...drc was just blah) and the beach is larger. while beautiful, the resort and it’s wedding areas seemed so cramped and overcrowded…it wasn’t even at full capacity. the guests I saw (during the wedding at drc) couldn’t have care less that someone was getting married…they just sat there, had phone conversations, ordered drinks…it was so sad. I’m sorry to go on…I wrestled with how much I should say. this has been a great thread and I’m sorry to leave it…the drc brides have been a great resource for info and ideas. thank you all! xo, tara

Hi Tara,

Wow! I did a site visit and thought I made a good decision about DRC. Though I have to agree with the wedding site. I still feel as though this needs to be improved. Ana assures me that she will put up reserved signs around the palapas and said that she was going to propose they remove the first row (not sure if this will get approved). Would you mind if I copy your review into an email to Ana? I sent over another review that I had read. I figure I'll keep sending them over so she can see that the lack of privacy continues to be an issue.

I like your suggestion about putting the ceremony on the other side of the resort. I think that makes a lot of sense! I may suggest that myself. They've got to get it right eventually. Weddings are a HUGE part of their business. They can't just put up with all of these bad reviews and not attempt to make improvements. I just hope they can do it by May. For those of you getting married next fall...I wouldn't worry. They've got to figure something out by then.

[Laura22610]

Oh no! Hopefully they can figure something out by February because I definitely do not have the option of changing my location! I was just talking to a co-worker today about the privacy issue and she was telling me that she went to Couples Swept Away in Jamaica last year and that the weddings there were also very close to people hanging out on the beach. However, she said that they cleared out the lounge chairs close to the wedding and they had someone blocking people from going too close to the wedding. That seems like a reasonable request to ask of Ana at the very least. Maybe I am missing something but why wouldn't we be able to have our ceremony at the beach location of our choice? If there is a more private area on the other side of the resort, couldn't we ask that they set-up the ceremony there? I really really wish that I could have done a site visit!

I think that I will also email Ana with my concerns. February is coming up so quickly, I can't even believe it!

Thank you, Tara, for your honest review. It really helps to know these issues so that we can address them with Ana!

[michelle2011]

Hi Ladies

 

I heard back today from Ana regarding the decoration of the beach set up so thought i'd let you know what she said.......(copy and pasted from email)

 

Dear Michelle,

 

Thank you for your kind e-mail!!

 

I would like to inform you that I check the picture, and there is an additional chage for the chair ribbons and flowers on the arch, ad well for the drapery in white and orange color.

 

Cost is as follow:

 

$ 3 USD per chair ribbon.

 

$ 180 USD for the flowers on the arch.

 

$ 100 USD for the drapery in white and orange color.

 

Best Regards

 

I hope this is some help to some of you wanting flowers and coloured fabric instead of just the white as in many pictures.

 

Tara, i am sorry you have changed your mind on the resort, It is so upsetting but i am myself in two minds now as to book DRC. After seeing some site visit pictures and reading a few reviews it has put me off. I am gutted. My fiance and I love the resort but cannot get excited about holding our wedding there because of the privacy issue. We are expecting some onlookers but not to the extent of DRC..... We do like the look of Grand Palladium Riviera which has two pretty white Gazebos, one garden and one ocean. So that's a possiblity. We are still undecided (

[SDbeachgirl]

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Originally Posted by SDbeachgirl I think I am going to use the wine cellar (in between the french restaurant and the italian restaurant). It only fits 18 people, so we are just having the wedding party and their dates. We figure the rest of the group can fend for themselves! I believe in order to have that private spot, you only need to pay for $80 worth of wine. You can order from whichever restaurant is open that night. I need to confirm all of this with Ana, but I believe this is how it works. The other options are $10 per pp to have a semi private dinner at one of the restaurants or the buffet can arange for a separate area and if you want your guests to eat the food at the buffet, it doesn't cost anything. So there are a few options.

This thread has been real quiet lately! I hope everyone is just busy with the holidays and not frustrated about the reviews of the ceremony site.

Anyhow, I feel bad for posting incorrect info on this site, but I totally misunderstood how the wine cellar worked. I could have sworn that I read/heard the above info somewhere. Instead it was supposed to be $80 per couple! Basically you have to buy enough wine to equal $80/couple. She said that it would be $60/ couple for us because we were having 18 people. I don't know where the cut off is. I tried to negotiate, but there was no budging. I've still asked her to hold the location for our rehearsal dinner because I thought it was much more private than the other options and $30/person in the states would be normal...even low, if you are including wine. So I think we are still going to do it. I don't think I have to put a deposit down so I can always change my mind. But it is a nice classy touch.

[amberm410]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SDbeachgirl This thread has been real quiet lately! I hope everyone is just busy with the holidays and not frustrated about the reviews of the ceremony site. Anyhow, I feel bad for posting incorrect info on this site, but I totally misunderstood how the wine cellar worked. I could have sworn that I read/heard the above info somewhere. Instead it was supposed to be $80 per couple! Basically you have to buy enough wine to equal $80/couple. She said that it would be $60/ couple for us because we were having 18 people. I don't know where the cut off is. I tried to negotiate, but there was no budging. I've still asked her to hold the location for our rehearsal dinner because I thought it was much more private than the other options and $30/person in the states would be normal...even low, if you are including wine. So I think we are still going to do it. I don't think I have to put a deposit down so I can always change my mind. But it is a nice classy touch.

Last night I received a e-mail from Ana stating the same thing. We will have 10 adults and 2 children so we were quoted $400 for wine purchased to have this room so we are booking it for our dinner on the night of our wedding. I also inquired about the pool deck and she had quoted us $100 per person for this which I thought was a little steep but would have been a nice option. Anyone else quoted $100/person for the pool deck?

[lilly129]

Okay I think that sometimes Ana emails me a response to a question and my interpertation of her answer is different from what she actually meant...so never feel bad about posting incorrect info!! I think we've all probably misunderstand Ana at one point! I certainly did over the wine room as well!

 

This thread has been quiet - lets discuss something fun! What did everyone pick for colors?

Mine are pink and orange - I'd attach my pictures of my inspiration but I have no idea how to do that because I'm just a Noob.

[Laura22610]

I have been a little absent lately because of Christmas shopping. I actually just started it the other day because I was so preoccupied with wedding stuff! It seems like Christmas just popped up on me!

 

My wedding colors are blue (like a ice or light aqua) and orange. I don't really have any pictures...it's all kind of in my head?! My BM's dresses will be the blue color and the flowers will be orange. Hopefully it turns out okay!

 

So, I found this review today. It's very thorough and has good stuff to say! No mention of weddings though...

Dreams Riviera Cancun Resort and Spa - Associated Content - associatedcontent.com

[SDbeachgirl]

Amber, what package are you going with? I have the Ultimate package which includes up to 20 people (guess you wouldn't need that since you will only have 10 or 12). I can't remember the exact price it would cost for the extra 10 -20 people (we will have 30- 40), but I think it was around $70 pp. Don't quote me...I'd have to go back and look at the pricing, but I know it was not $100 pp.

 

Lilly, my colors were turquoise and chocolate, but I haven't really used any chocolate and so am thinking either just making it turquoise and natural sand colors (shells, starfish, etc) or possibly turquoise and orange (like Laura) because I like the combination of the bright flowers. The dress that my BMs will have is Blue topaz. It is shown in this link (though in a different color). It is the charmuse (shiny) dress on the right.

 

644

 

Laura, Thanks for posting that review! It is very thorough. I'm still reading it but think I might forward it on to some others.

[Princess402]

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Originally Posted by amberm410 Last night I received a e-mail from Ana stating the same thing. We will have 10 adults and 2 children so we were quoted $400 for wine purchased to have this room so we are booking it for our dinner on the night of our wedding. I also inquired about the pool deck and she had quoted us $100 per person for this which I thought was a little steep but would have been a nice option. Anyone else quoted $100/person for the pool deck?

Hmm... I've never heard this $100 per person, except as a rough estimate of the per person cost of the private dinner PLUS cocktail reception. I think the private dinner reception (i.e. on the pool deck) is like $55 per person, or if you have one of the two higher packages the dinner is around $45 per person over the 20 people that are included in the package, no?

[Laura22610]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princess402 Hmm... I've never heard this $100 per person, except as a rough estimate of the per person cost of the private dinner PLUS cocktail reception. I think the private dinner reception (i.e. on the pool deck) is like $55 per person, or if you have one of the two higher packages the dinner is around $45 per person over the 20 people that are included in the package, no?

I thnk you are exactly right. I never heard of $100 pp just for dinner. I think it works out to be about $90 pp for cocktail hour and dinner.