Dreams Riviera Cancun - Brides post here (new thread)

[CKNMVS]

Hi Rick,

Is the seaside grill partially outdoors or is it completly inside with a dance floor for recpetion? Does it have AC or fans? I have been trying to get an idea of available areas for reception and cocktail hour but Ana sends me one or two pictures which isnt to helpful. I would love to do the entire wedding outdoors from ceremony to reception but I am nervous it will be to hot. Did you pick your ceremony, cocktail hour and reception when you arrived at hotel right before wedding?

 

 

Any more insight would be greatly appreciated!!

Congratulations!

 

Originally Posted by Rick949 

We chose the Desires Lounge - because it has AC and it was really hot outside - all our guests sat in the lounge eating and drinking while watching the mariachi band do their thing on the dance floor. When you arrive your WC coordinator will show you all the spots you can do it. We didnt like the Jacuzzi so much because we were worried people would fall in the tub, the deck looked like a good possibility but you run the risk of weather conditions.

 

You will also want to consider where your reception will be... We had our reception at the Seaside Grill so bringing everyone inside and then back out was cool - so they couldnt see the reception area until it got dark

 

I am still waiting for my pro photos and I promise to deliver a very thorough review for all DRC community here on BDW.

 

Rick (former groom)

 

[Rick949]

Hi CKNMVS,
The Seaside Grill is completely outdoors but mostly covered by the thatched roof. It's the restaurant right next to the infinity pool/bar. There is no AC or Fans - just the hope of a nice cool breeze. I would recommend (if possible) spend a few days before your wedding to get a feel for it. In terms of the cocktail hour they will give you options.

 

About our reception site...We hired Denise Canon from Travel concepts to (http://essence.travelconceptskc.com/) to be our WC/TA and we asked her ahead of time that we wanted to have our reception at the Seaside Grill. I don't think they offer that location to everyone but I believe since Denise had made that request for us early enough we got it at no extra cost and site unseen as we have never been there before. Once we got there we confirmed it, something to keep in mind - the outside edge of the Seaside Grill is uncovered. We had a small group of 23 people and they positioned the guests tables on the outside. If it were to rain they would have been rained on as well as the buffet. Take a look at my image attached The brown area is covered - this is just an approximation how they set up the tables.

 

Still waiting on my pro photos to deliver my full review… hope this helps.
/R

 

 

[CKNMVS]

Hi Rick,

 

Thanks so much for your reply. Did you TA/WC plan the majority of the wedding for you and work through Ana? Is she based in Riviera Maya? I was under the impression that the rececption/cocktail hour needed to be booked in advance- I am worried that another person may book before me lol. I am planning to get there a few days before wedding but it makes me so nervous not seeing anything until a few days before! Did you book your photographer and DJ through Dreams or did you usse an outside agent?

 

Thanks so much for your replies- it is so helpful! Cant wait to see your pics!

 

Originally Posted by Rick949 

Hi CKNMVS,
The Seaside Grill is completely outdoors but mostly covered by the thatched roof. It's the restaurant right next to the infinity pool/bar. There is no AC or Fans - just the hope of a nice cool breeze. I would recommend (if possible) spend a few days before your wedding to get a feel for it. In terms of the cocktail hour they will give you options.

 

About our reception site...We hired Denise Canon from Travel concepts to (http://essence.travelconceptskc.com/) to be our WC/TA and we asked her ahead of time that we wanted to have our reception at the Seaside Grill. I don't think they offer that location to everyone but I believe since Denise had made that request for us early enough we got it at no extra cost and site unseen as we have never been there before. Once we got there we confirmed it, something to keep in mind - the outside edge of the Seaside Grill is uncovered. We had a small group of 23 people and they positioned the guests tables on the outside. If it were to rain they would have been rained on as well as the buffet. Take a look at my image attached The brown area is covered - this is just an approximation how they set up the tables.

 

Still waiting on my pro photos to deliver my full review… hope this helps.
/R

 

 

 

[LindseyM]

We're doing our ceremony on the north beach.  Then we chose the north jacuzzi for our cocktail hour and the pool deck for our reception.    The choices he gave me were the gazebo - which yes, we felt was too close to the pool with too much risk for people in bathing suits in the background of our photos, the north beach and the south beach.  The north beach, I'm told, is most private.  You can also enter from the presidential suite if no one is staying in it, which I thought was super nice.    Hope I helped.
 

Originally Posted by CKNMVS 

Your tube videos were so helpful thanks so much for posting!! Having visual helps so much! I really want to have entire wedding outdoors but I am  nervous about the heat. From what you saw- what did you guys end up selecting for cocktail hour and reception? Are you having beach ceremony? I orginally wanted to get married at gazebo but I dont like how it is so close to the pool. There was another area on you video that the guide said you can be married- was it on a terrace- I couldnt make it out?

 

Thanks so much for posting!

 

 

 

[CKNMVS]

Thanks so much!!!

 

Originally Posted by LindseyM 

We're doing our ceremony on the north beach.  Then we chose the north jacuzzi for our cocktail hour and the pool deck for our reception.    The choices he gave me were the gazebo - which yes, we felt was too close to the pool with too much risk for people in bathing suits in the background of our photos, the north beach and the south beach.  The north beach, I'm told, is most private.  You can also enter from the presidential suite if no one is staying in it, which I thought was super nice.    Hope I helped.
 

 

 

[GCR2011]

just bought a dress for my trash the dress photo shoot at David's bridal for $49.99! It's simple but beautiful. The lady helping me thought it was originally around $600. I can't believe my luck

[Rick949]

Yeah Lindsey, Real good work on the videos - that's a fantastic contribution to the thread.  When we arrived last month and I met Jorge - I was like "Hey I saw you on the video!"

 

[Rick949]

Hi CKNMVS,

Our TA/WC - took all of our requests - which I provided her with a word doc filled with pictures that I downloaded from other people's weddings and passed it along. She retrieved pricing for us ahead of time and answered a bunch of our questions.  I believe she "Planted the seed" of having our reception at the Seaside grill. Originally the Dreams Wedding staff was recommending having the reception on the deck which looked real good - my only concern was the possibility of rain. I was watching the webcams the week prior to our wedding and I noticed a couple times it was raining. Plus after we saw the seaside grill it just felt so right and private - we wanted our guests to feel like they are in a private venue as opposed to out on the deck.

 

Denise Canon our TA/WC is located in Kansas City - but she knows Dreams like her own backyard. We paid $300 for her WC services which gave me and my wife a peace of mind since we were way too busy. There was still a lot of work on my end in terms of conveying the information.

 

We booked Del Sol/La Luna photography outside of Dreams - they are very responsive and their email communication is top notch but there will be a fee to have them enter the resort to shoot your wedding.

 

We did not get a DJ, instead we hired the AV soundsystem for our ceremony and then to play our 1st dance song, and bride/father groom/mother dance and that was it. We also hired the Caribbean Trio to do set while it was dinner time for some backdrop ambiance.

 

hope that helps

[CKNMVS]

Rick,

Thanks so much for all the information- soooo helpful!! I was looking at Del Sol photos- look AMAZING. I am trying to work them into the budget. Did you do trash the dress and or have videographer? If you dont mind me asking how much of a fee does Dreams charge for outside vendors?

 

Originally Posted by Rick949 

Hi CKNMVS,

Our TA/WC - took all of our requests - which I provided her with a word doc filled with pictures that I downloaded from other people's weddings and passed it along. She retrieved pricing for us ahead of time and answered a bunch of our questions.  I believe she "Planted the seed" of having our reception at the Seaside grill. Originally the Dreams Wedding staff was recommending having the reception on the deck which looked real good - my only concern was the possibility of rain. I was watching the webcams the week prior to our wedding and I noticed a couple times it was raining. Plus after we saw the seaside grill it just felt so right and private - we wanted our guests to feel like they are in a private venue as opposed to out on the deck.

 

Denise Canon our TA/WC is located in Kansas City - but she knows Dreams like her own backyard. We paid $300 for her WC services which gave me and my wife a peace of mind since we were way too busy. There was still a lot of work on my end in terms of conveying the information.

 

We booked Del Sol/La Luna photography outside of Dreams - they are very responsive and their email communication is top notch but there will be a fee to have them enter the resort to shoot your wedding.

 

We did not get a DJ, instead we hired the AV soundsystem for our ceremony and then to play our 1st dance song, and bride/father groom/mother dance and that was it. We also hired the Caribbean Trio to do set while it was dinner time for some backdrop ambiance.

 

hope that helps

 

[Rick949]

@CKNMVS

 

In terms of Del Sol/La Luna - here is their contact-  Melissa email: [email protected] - She can give you all the pricing and availability for that time frame. Originally we set out for Del Sol - (not knowing there was a sister company) but they weren't available in August because its their off season - La Luna was and we had the option to pick from their available photographers - they are also a little but less expensive. I think we paid $80 per photographer to enter. Dreams has all these extra fees and taxes so I cannot be accurate but that's pretty close. Play it safe and budget $100 per.

 

We did not end up doing a TTD session - We were going to try and get the photographer/service who was part of the package shoot that for us the next morning but we just lost interest with everything going on. Perhaps if we tried hard enough we could have had that applied but we didn't pursue it.

 

In our agreement with La Luna - we were not supposed to have any other photography or video services at our wedding as part of their "Right of Competition" - so that photographers aren't competing with each other for placement angles etc. I had to cancel the photographer that was part of the package. Strangely enough I thought I had canceled the videographer as well. But apparently I didn't... as I was getting ready I saw him at the gazebo with his camera and got worried that this could be a problem. Luckily Jonathan our photographer made sure he stayed clear. He did shoot the video and we got it back a couple weeks ago.

 

It's a nice to have but I personally don't like video and would much rather let the photojournalistic photography tell the story on its own. The video isn't in HD and I really hate hearing my voice but I would say it's worth having to share among family members. The video is about 30 mins long and it's cute.