Dreams Riviera Cancun 2014 Brides

[ceciile]

Hi Everyone!

 

Just returned from our trip to Cancun last week. Our wedding was on Saturday August 2, 2014. Just wanted to let you guys know what I learned from my experience just in case you had questions.

 

Ceremony: 5pm @ the Gazebo

Okay so this area is not private at all. It's literally right next to the infinity pool where everyone and their mom hangs out all day. So everyone who's in the pool, around the pool, by the pool, on a bench.. can witness your wedding ceremony, which is what happened with our wedding. It was pretty weird to just have a bunch of strangers standby and watch. I saw some taking pictures and recording the wedding as well. In fact, I'm guilty of this because I witnessed 2 weddings earlier that week while I was busy drinking in the pool. Although strangers did congratulate us and didn't really get too much in the way, it was still weird. So if you're looking for privacy.. I wouldn't pick the gazebo. 

 

I went with the bare minimum on decorations for the gazebo, meaning I only asked for the flowers for the table that were included in our wedding package. However, I was surprised that they ended up pushing sashes on the chairs for me and the aisle was lined with our centerpieces. So it was really nice of them to think to do that because I really didn't care to spend money on decorations for the ceremony.

 

Reception: 7pm @ the pool deck

This turned out perfectly. I brought my own table runners that were gold burlap I purchased from Michael's for like $5. I just handed it to my WC and they were able to cut it and set it up for me for the tables. We had rectangular tables and since they're quite long, the WC suggested that we do 3 small centerpieces. I would only agree to it if they stayed with the same price as $70 (for small centerpieces) and they were able to. They didn't even charge me to rent the vases (which on the budget planner runs for $10 each). The flowers turned out pretty cute as well. The best part about the reception were the amber bulb lights that we decided to go with last minute for $400. Definitely worth it! Everything looked wonderful and we were totally pleased with the reception. Everyone loved it and we kept getting compliments. 

 

Service was great and so was the food. A lot of our guests kept saying how great dinner was and the salmon ceviche app was a hit with a majority of our guests! During the dancing part, the bartender even brought out a huge bottle of tequila to the dance floor and we started making our guests take shots. It was hilarious. At the end, we jumped into the pool even though the staff were a little mad.. they got over it though and high-fived us all. They must have that happen all the time. 

 

Anyway I'll try and post pics soon! Let me know if you guys have any questions I know I had a lot and it's hard to communicate w/ the WC during the planning process, but it really turned out perfectly. Wish I remembered more of it, haha!

[smileitseb]

@@ceciile thank you so much for the review. its really helpful. I have heard mixed reviews from brides about the gazebo and your feedback is helpful as well. Looking forward to the pictures!

[AmberDragon]

Looking for a place to purchase the barefoot sandals.  Any recommendations.  I've checked etsy and ebay. 

 

I love the barefoot sandals from the etsy seller jewelrybyangel.  I'm going to try and make my own though to save money.

 

https://www.etsy.com/shop/JewelryByAngel?ref=shop_sugg

[pekchw]

Does anyone know if we use another vendor as a DJ? I have heard mixed reviews of the DJ that comes along with the packages. If you have had your wedding there as of late, I would love to hear your review please.

 

Any brides been in touch with Dreams about music? Is having another DJ/ or band come to the premise an option at Dreams?

 

Thanks!

[tkennerson]

I was told that you can only pay up to $3000 in a travelers check and that you couldn't pay with multiple travelers checks (i.e. get several in increments of 3k to equal your total balance).  Has anyone been told anything like this?  We prefer to pay via TC to avoid the international fees (and we don't want to get an international credit card.) 

 

Anyone have any advise or knowledge of the above?

I think you can have another DJ you just have to pay the outside vendor fee. 

[ceciile]

Does anyone know if we use another vendor as a DJ? I have heard mixed reviews of the DJ that comes along with the packages. If you have had your wedding there as of late, I would love to hear your review please.

 

Any brides been in touch with Dreams about music? Is having another DJ/ or band come to the premise an option at Dreams?

 

Thanks!

 

@pekchw- We didn't use the DJ they offered because it was so freaking expensive. We had our friend (who is also a DJ) come and he brought his own mixer and computer and DJ'd for us for FREE. We just told the WC that our friend was going to play music off of his computer and there was no additional charge or anything. Hope that helps!

I was told that you can only pay up to $3000 in a travelers check and that you couldn't pay with multiple travelers checks (i.e. get several in increments of 3k to equal your total balance).  Has anyone been told anything like this?  We prefer to pay via TC to avoid the international fees (and we don't want to get an international credit card.) 

 

Anyone have any advise or knowledge of the above?

I think you can have another DJ you just have to pay the outside vendor fee. 

 

@tkennerson- I'm not sure about the traveler's checks. We also ran into this problem and hadn't realized that most banks charge an international fee. My husband has Chase and they charge 3% whereas I'm with a credit union that charges 1%. So we transferred all of the payment to the credit union. However, our bank only allowed us to charge up to $5,000 per day so we had to pay the resort like once a day before our wedding. Make sure you let your bank know that you're going to Mexico and that you'll be paying large amounts so that it's not fishy and the payments will go through.

[AmberDragon]

I was told that you can only pay up to $3000 in a travelers check and that you couldn't pay with multiple travelers checks (i.e. get several in increments of 3k to equal your total balance).  Has anyone been told anything like this?  We prefer to pay via TC to avoid the international fees (and we don't want to get an international credit card.) 

 

Anyone have any advise or knowledge of the above?

I think you can have another DJ you just have to pay the outside vendor fee. 

 

Dreams will only allow $3000 per room for travelers check.  It's per room, so you could always enlist someone to help. 

[tkennerson]

Thank you for the credit union information. I found one in my area that doesn't charge an international fee. Woohoo. That's going to save us several hundreds of dollars!

[Sheaka]

Hi fellow Dreams brides,

 

How early are you planning to arrive at the resort for your symbolic wedding? Does anyone have information about when we HAVE to be there for symbolic? Thank you.

[Magali0622]

Hi ladies!! I just got back from Dreams!! We had our wedding on Sat. August 16th. It was beautiful!!!! I still am on Cloud 9. Dreams really took care of us. Our wedding coordinator, Claudia was fabulous!  I did not know what to expect since we didn't do a tour prior to having our wedding there, but all my worries and concerns were immediately gone after I met with Claudia. We had a symbolic ceremony and arrived four days prior, but I believe that you only need to be there two days prior for that.

 

If anyone has any questions, let me know and I'll be happy to answer them.