Moon Palace Wedding Review – July 2, 2010
OVERVIEW:
Host Resort: Moon Palace Golf & Spa Resort
Room Block: Sunrise Side
Wedding Date/Time: Friday, July 2, 2010 / 11:00 am
Miami Coordinator – Lisa Lizano, Geraldine Flores
Mexico Wedding Coordinator – Angelica Martinez Mauricio (On-Site Assistant: Mimi)
Wedding Package - Complimentary
Welcome Dinner: Arrecifes Restaurant (Nizuc Side) 6:00pm, Mon., June 28
Rehearsal Dinner: Art Terrace (Terrace of La Gondola – Sunrise Side) 6:00 pm, Thurs., July 1
Ceremony: Tucan Gazebo (Nizuc Side – but closer to Grand shuttle stop), 11:00am, Fri, July 2
Minister: Jorge Pinto
Photographer: Moon Palace Photographer (not David Pena), Photo Package E
Cocktail Hour: Tucan Terrace (next to the Tucan Gazebo), 11:30-12:30pm, Fri, July 2
Reception: Aqua Ballroom (Nizuc Side), 1-4 pm, Fri, July 2
Goodbye Brunch: Art Terrace (Terrace of La Gondola Restaurant – Sunrise Side), 9-11am, Sun, July 4
Photos: www.manninganzwedding.shutterfly.com(most of the pictures in this review are not the professional pictures, but there is an album labeled “Wedding Day Professional Photos” on our Shutterfly page where you can view our MP photographer’s work)
OVERALL EXPERIENCE:
It was a dream wedding. Once we were there everything worked out great. I didn’t have much communication with my WC before arriving, but she was completely on top of things once I arrived. Many of my guests commented that it was the most beautiful (& fun) wedding they had ever been to. I only got engaged in mid-March of this year & was able to plan a beautiful wedding in just over 3 months thanks to MP & especially thanks to everyone on this forum. I was so lucky to find this forum the first week I was engaged. The information I found on this site was invaluable, and I hope my review can help others make their dream wedding come true.
My parents are members of Palace Resorts, & my family & I love to play golf, so MP was an easy choice for us. I couldn’t imagine a better wedding. Good luck to all future MP brides, and if you’re still looking at resorts to host your wedding, I highly recommend MP.
MIAMI COORDINATOR:
As soon as we were engaged, I contacted the Palace Resorts Miami office to book my wedding. We chose Moon Palace because my parents are members. I had been to Moon Palace once before and Aventura (very similar to Moon Palace) once before.
The central Miami wedding office connected me to Lisa Lizano, the Miami coordinator in charge of member weddings. I kept getting her voicemail & a few days later she called back & left an email address. From then on, my only contact with anyone at MP or the Miami office was via email. Email is definitely the best way to correspond with everyone at Palace Resorts.
I initially chose a December wedding date, but after considering how much more the rates were the week between Christmas and New Year’s (& how many fewer people would be able to go at that time & spend that amount of money), I changed the plan and picked a summer date. There wasn’t a lot of availability on the summer dates we were considering since it was just over 3 months away, but we settled on an 11:00 wedding on a Friday.
The Miami coordinator, Lisa Lizano, sent us a contract (I originally chose a color package & had to pay 50% down). We signed the contract, sent it back & our date was reserved (& then signed a new one when we switched to the free package—we didn’t get our money refunded from the original contract until we were at the resort—it was subtracted from the total for the extras for my wedding). The contract stated all the perks that we would get with room bookings (described below). My goal was to reach 75 nights and get unlimited events, and we were able to get to that level with some to spare.
For the few weeks I worked exclusively with Lisa, her email responses were very prompt, & she helped get all my guests booked (I put her contact info on my STDs & the guests contacted her directly). As long as my guests communicated with Lisa by email, her responses were very timely. One of my guests was so impressed with her service that she sent Lisa a gift. As part of my parents’ membership, Lisa booked two Presidential suites for my family. During this time she also asked me which side of the resort we wanted to be on. My family & I have always stayed on the Sunrise side, so we chose that side again.
A week or two after our first contact, Lisa put me in contact with Angelica (our onsite WC) since we were already just 90 days out from our wedding date. Quick answers to questions were a thing of the past once I was assigned my on-site WC (although the Miami office did still help me with booking questions and issues after that time). I've attached a file containing all the questions/answers between me and Angelica (my on-site coordinator).
WC Question Summary.doc 924k .doc file
In mid-May, one of my emails to Lisa was answered by Geraldine instead of Lisa. I asked if Lisa was just out of town or if she had left & no explanation was ever given, but I never heard from Lisa again. Geraldine was not as responsive as Lisa, but I always got an answer within a couple of days. (A few weeks ago I sent Geraldine yet another email about getting a refund for our 7 nights, and she told me Lisa had returned & she would handle the refund. I still have not received the refund for the 7 comp nights). But Lisa now tells me “the check is in the mail” (but that was over 2 weeks ago).
Overall, once I had an email address for the coordinator, I had a good experience with the Miami coordinators.
CONTRACT PERKS:
5-9 rooms or 15 room nights= 1 cocktail (function areas are assigned upon availability with the onsite wedding planner and confirmed upon arrival)
10-19 rooms or 30 room nights = 2 nights comp + 1 cocktail (function areas area assigned upon availability with the onsite wedding planner and confirmed upon arrival)
20-24 rooms or 60 room nights = 4 comp nights + 1 private function
25 + rooms or 75 room nights= 7 comp nights + unlimited private function + one room upgrade for the bride and groom to the next available room category
We reached 75 room nights since most of our family stayed 7 nights. We ended up having 36 guests plus the two of us. 34 of us stayed at Moon Palace, 2 stayed at Aventura (their nights counted towards our 75 nights), and 2 stayed off-site at a non-Palace resort.
We used the unlimited events to have a private rehearsal dinner, a cocktail hour, a private reception and a farewell breakfast.
We chose not to upgrade to the Concierge level since they do not have concierge level rooms on the Sunrise side & we wanted to be near our friends and family.
As for the 7 comp nights, we had to pay for our room and are currently waiting on the refund. They won’t comp the room nights until after you return.
ROOM BLOCK:
Sunrise Side (above)
Grand Side (above)
We prefer the Sunrise side because of the larger lobby bar area. But it is on the far side of the resort, & Nizuc is more centrally located. The Grand side has a completely different look & feel. One of my guests stayed on the Nizuc side, and I had him show me his room for comparison. The only real difference was that Sunrise rooms have hammocks on the balconies & Nizuc rooms do not. They were almost identical on the inside. However, I’m pretty sure that if any of your guests want double beds in their room, they will have to stay on the Sunrise side since I don’t think the Nizuc side has rooms with double beds.
Member prices are set and only vary based on the time of the year, so there was no haggling over prices and I never considered using a travel agent to book rooms.
We blocked 20 rooms from June 27 – July 4. People could reserve as little or as much as they wanted within that time frame. The unreserved rooms were released 2 months before the wedding, but we had guests book after that point and guests that chose to stay beyond July 4th, and no one had an issue getting a room for their dates (& all of their nights counted towards our 75 night room count).
Every room has a Jacuzzi in it and a tiled shower. Each room also has a mini-fridge with drinks in it (that is restocked every day) as well as a hard liquor cabinet in each room. The rooms also have a digital safe. I put our passports, jewelry, laptop & other valuables in there when we weren’t in the room. The rooms also have wireless internet.
The toiletries included in the room are (thought this could be helpful for those planning OOT bags):
- Vanity Kit (which includes a few q-tips, cotton balls & mini nail file)
- Soap
- Sewing Kit
- Shower Cap
- Shoe Shiner
- Large Bottles of Lotion, Shampoo, Conditioner & Bubble Bath (pictured)
We didn’t get the turn down service every night—sometimes we were still in the room when they came by for it & sometimes we accidentally left the do not disturb sign on after we left the room, but one night we were treated to a nice dessert surprise from the turn down service when we came back to our room.
DEPOSIT:
Upon booking, each guest (including us) had to put down a 50% deposit. However, it was completely refundable up until the day we left. One of my guests did pay the full amount early & then decided to stay off-site (she had points for free nights at Marriott), and her money was fully refunded.
Two months before our departure date, the other 50% was due (it was also still fully refundable for any reason up until the day we left). I don’t know if this is typical or a perk of membership, but it was a nice benefit that one guest (as described above) did use.
AIR TRAVEL:
We flew Continental from Houston. At first I had arranged a group rate through their group rate department & when they gave me the price it wasn’t the cheapest fare available (but they were better flight times). But a week after I got the quote, airfare had skyrocketed and the group rate was better than any rate I could get online by a few hundred dollars. They held the group rate for us (with no money down for a couple weeks), then 2 months before our departure date we had to put $50/ticket down on each slot we wanted to hold (but the $50 was fully refundable if we decided not to use the group rate), and then 1 month before departure we would have had to give names & full payment for the tickets.
I had a block of 20 tickets (& they even let you have some people depart or arrive on different dates so long as one leg of the flights overlaps with the main group). The flexibility was amazing. If you plan on using Continental & will be having at least 10 people traveling together, I highly suggest contacting Continental for a group rate.
However, I kept checking ticket prices & a few days before the one month prior deadline, the flight prices plummeted & I was able to save about $60 per ticket from the group rate. I booked everyone (1 or 2 tickets at a time) on the cheaper flights. It was a pain, but it saved a lot of money in the end. I couldn’t book everyone at once because the website kept telling me “only 1 (or 2) tickets remaining at this price.” But I just kept booking, and it kept giving me the same price.
As for baggage fees on Continental, the first bag is free for travel to Mexico (each additional bag is $30 or $27 if paid ahead of time). I had hoped that since I have a Continental credit card that gets me my first bag free on domestic flights, I would be able to get a second bag free on a flight to Mexico. I couldn’t talk them into that. I also couldn’t talk the ticket agent into a free bag since it was my wedding. In the end, I had to pay for both of my extra suitcases (one was golf clubs & one was wedding stuff). I also had three carry-ons (in addition to my wedding dress) & passed the extra carry-ons out among my friends and family that were flying with me. The extra carry-ons saved me the expense of another extra suitcase. Continental gave me no trouble for carrying on my wedding dress and another carry-on. And my dress got an entire overhead compartment to itself on the flights to and from Cancun.
Overall, I had a good experience flying on Continental.
Customs:
I was so worried about going through customs with all of our stuff!!! I was very prepared with receipts of OOT bag contents in each suitcase. I took 140 cups of rose petals with me (spread out among different suitcases & in a number of different ziplock bags) and was super worried that they would be confiscated. My dad isn’t very patient & so we didn’t have all our luggage sorted out when we went through customs. I went through customs with my parents, and we got a red light. However, since we didn’t have all my suitcases with us (someone else in our group ended up with my suitcases with the rose petals), the suitcases that were searched were all cleared. However, the search was so cursory, that I don’t think they would have found the petals even if my suitcases had been searched. No one else in our group was stopped so everything made it through without incident.
As my bags went through the machine the lady asked me how much all of my wedding gifts were worth and I said $200 because I thought that I read somewhere that $300 was the limit. She said ok and then I hit the green light so my bags weren’t checked. Thank goodness!!
ARRIVAL/TRANSPORTATION (SUNDAY, JUNE 27):
We arrived in Cancun Sunday morning. All of us that arrived on Sunday were staying 7 nights so our transportation to the resort was included (I’m not sure if this normal or a benefit of being a Palace resort member). We had to wait 15 minutes or so, but they got us a bus that could hold all 18 of us & our luggage (which was a lot). I was very pleased that they were able to fit us all into one bus. The other times I’ve been to Palace Resorts we’ve been shuttled to the hotel in a van that held about 8-10 people (& I was worried they wouldn’t have enough vans available at the airport to hold all of us & our luggage). The bus that fit all of us was a pleasant surprise.
SUNDAY – CHECK-IN:
We checked in upstairs at the Members desk. There were snacks waiting and bartenders serving drinks. We had chosen to stay on the Sunrise side as my family prefers that bar area. Next time I go I think I will still stay on the Sunrise side, but I will request to be in a building closer to the Nizuc side. All of us that checked in on Sunday were put in the Pinata/Playa building which is the second to last building on the property. I used my GPS watch to measure the distance (walking along the shoreline) from our room to the first pool on the Grand side & it was exactly 1 mile. There are lobby to lobby shuttles that run all the time, but I mainly walked between the different parts of the resort which made for some long walks. Because of our building location, it was a little bit of a walk for us to even get to the Sunrise pools or Sunrise Lobby. Some of my guests that checked in later in the week got rooms closer to the lobby and pools. I would definitely try to request a specific building next time & not just a side of the resort.
Check-in went pretty smoothly except that I was a little upset that some of my guests got better rooms than me and DH. I would have preferred to be on the top floor with a better view (which some of my guests got), so next time I go I’ll just remember to request the top floor. We arrived before the official check-in time (3 pm), but all of our rooms were ready with the exception of the two Presidential Suites.
OOT BAGS:
Everything that I put in my OOT bags can be found here:
http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/59940/oot-bags-complete-lots-of-pictures
The guests loved them & were very appreciative & surprised to receive them. I had them partially assembled before arriving. The survival kits with the medicines and sunscreen, etc. were already complete, and then most of the other extras (like gum, room key holders, bath loofah, cards, etc) were divided into ziplock bags to be emptied out into each couples’ bag upon arrival. The cups & brochures were packed wherever they would fit & were easy enough to just place in each bag when we got there. I had already rolled all the pashminas & put the tags on them, and since I had a few different colors, I just brought a list of what color I wanted to give to each woman, so I wouldn’t have to think about that upon arrival. I would have never had enough time on the day we arrived to get them put together if most of the stuff hadn’t already been divided.
I would say the most used items were: the bags themselves, the key holders (many people—including me--just used the wrist holder to attach the key holder & key to the handle of the bag, it saved you having to dig through your bag for your key everytime), the lip balm, the band-aids & the sunscreen.
RESORT PROMOTION:
When we booked the Palace Passport promotion was in place which would give us unlimited free tours and discounts at golf & spa.
Lucky for us, before we left Palace had switched over to the $1500/$750 Vacation Dollar promotion. We loved the new promotion because we had lots of golfers in our group and the $300/$150 at the spa/salon was nice too. Most of us that stayed 7 nights did two tours and many of us played golf 2 or 3 times. We had no problem staying under the $1500/$750 limit (except for spa treatments—but that was just because of the $300/$150 limit there).
My DH & I used our $1500 Vacation Dollars for: 3 full price rounds of golf, 1 twilight round (after 1 pm) of golf, 2 club rentals for my DH, 2 zipling tours, 2 Tulum trips, my hairstyle & makeup, & a 50 minute massage. We didn’t spend a dime on any of that & used almost every bit of our $1500 Vacation Dollars. WE LOVED THE VACATION DOLLAR PROMOTION & took full advantage of it!
SUNDAY – BOOKING SPA AND TOURS:
While we were checking in, a woman approached us and told us that a meeting was set up for us that afternoon to arrange tours. (This scheduled meeting also might be a Palace Membership thing—I’m not sure.) We arranged for all of us to meet in the lounge with our rep at 4 that afternoon. The rep sat us down & talked about the tours that were included. For the most part, we knew which tours we wanted to do so we began booking. This process can take a while (especially since we were a large group). Every tour has to be booked one room at a time. One of the Tulum tours we wanted was booked, but they had added an extra day for the Tulum tours so we just changed the day we planned to go. Other than that one day change, I don’t think anyone in our group had any other problems booking the tours they wanted. We were able to book our tours for Tuesday & Wednesday (relatively early in the week). The spa booking did not go as smoothly.
We were directed to the spa booking desk and after waiting a while for someone to help us, we all began booking spa appointments for the week. What I learned from this is that so long as the $1500 Vacation Dollar promotion is going on, YOU SHOULD BOOK YOUR SPA APPOINTMENTS BEFORE ARRIVING. With every room getting $150 or $300 for the spa, the spa appointments were all booked for the beginning of the week. Thursday & Saturday were the only days available for our group (& we were booking on Sunday!). For the most part everyone was able to use their allotted Vacation Dollars for the spa, but there were not a lot of options for times. To give you an idea of what you can get for the $150 or $300 that can be allotted to spa treatments: all 50 minute massages are $119, all 80 minute massages are $189 & couples massages are $301. As Members (& members’ guests) staying 7 nights, each room also received (2) free manicures, (2) free pedicure & (2) free 25 minute back massages. Some people in my group were not able to get all of their free services booked since there were so few appointments available. I had planned to use my DH’s free back massage sometime early in the week (since he doesn’t like massages), but since there were only 2 days available to book massages on, I had to waste one free massage.
The booking process for tours & spa treatments is definitely not fast, but it is necessary and I suggest you get it out of the way on the day you arrive (or ahead of time if possible) so you don’t waste any more of your vacation on this than absolutely necessary.
As for the selling of timeshares/memberships, I was hassled less this trip than ever before. The woman we met with to book tours asked my dad (the Member in our group) if any of his guests would be interested in talking about a membership, he said “no” and she left us all alone. I don’t think anyone was approached again.
COORDINATOR MEETING (Monday Afternoon):
We wanted to play golf Monday morning, so we arranged for our WC meeting to be Monday afternoon at 3. We brought the WC an entire suitcase of decorations, etc. The meeting is in the Nizuc lobby in the Weddings office. We were having a symbolic ceremony only, so the only paperwork we needed to bring to the meeting were our passports.
The meeting ran very smoothly. It lasted an hour or less. In the suitcase I brought her: our cake serving set, the rose petals for decoration & for throwing, votive holders, candles (for indoor events), LED candles (for outdoor events), table runners, chair ties, our toasting flutes, shells for decoration, fans for the ceremony with our programs tied on, guest book & pen, CD of music for the ceremony & décor for our farewell breakfast. She would also need my IPod for the reception music, but I just brought that with me on the wedding day & gave it to her then since I wanted to use it between Monday & Friday.
I made a list of how & when each item I brought was to be used, & I also brought her a couple of photos showing examples of how I wanted the tables decorated for each event. I showed her each item, & we talked through each event. She took notes on how everything was to be setup. We confirmed times and locations, and she pointed out all the locations on a resort map. We also confirmed all the menus, flowers, & other selections I had made for all the events. She had a record of every decision I had made through email and she asked if I wanted to add any other extras.
We finalized guest passes at this meeting & they were just added to the wedding total. Afterwards, I found out that 2 guests whom I thought were staying off-site were actually staying at MP, and once I told my WC, she subtracted the total from our bill & the bill I got at checkout was correct.
We also finalized our Honeymooners’ Breakfast menu & time at this meeting. Unfortunately, I can’t review the breakfast because on the morning after our wedding I forgot about the breakfast! I had a spa appointment booked that morning & golf in the afternoon. I woke up early and since my MOH was going to the spa with me later in the morning, I called her to see if she wanted to go get breakfast before our spa appointments. I left & didn’t even think about the breakfast until we were eating lunch at the spa side before golf & my aunt ordered a mimosa. All of a sudden it hit me that I was supposed to have a mimosa (& a huge breakfast) that morning. I found out later that my DH was just leaving the room (for his own breakfast) when the breakfast was delivered. He said he ate as much as he could & he saved me some of the cheese & fruit in the mini-fridge. I couldn’t believe I missed it. I just never thought about it again after we booked it on Monday. Oh, well!
The WC had a large book of all the flowers, etc. to look through, but since we had already made all our selections, I didn’t flip through the book to see how many more options there were than what they send you. But it was a rather large book, so I’m sure there are far more options than they seem to offer over email. The only thing we did add at the meeting were 2 arrangements for the judge’s table & to use again at the reception on the cake table. I had brought a picture from a review from this site & asked if we could have an arrangement like the picture. She showed me the closest thing to it in the book & we selected the arrangement and asked for it to be done in hot pink.
For the ceremony, she took a piece of paper and drew out how everyone would process in & recess out. She also had me write down which song (from my CD) should be played for each part of the ceremony. She asked about who would be introducing us at the reception, how the tables would be set up there (I didn’t have a seating chart but we did have a table set up just for the 2 of us) & in what order we wanted things to happen at the reception. She told me that she or her assistant would be at every event we had scheduled to make sure everything was running smoothly. I left the meeting feeling very confident that everything would be handled just as I wanted. She told me what time her assistant would be at my room on the wedding day (actually my parents’ room since I slept on their couch in the suite the night before the wedding). We would take a golf cart to the convention center where we would meet up with the horse carriage. We also discussed how the guests (& groom) would get to the ceremony—they took the lobby to lobby shuttle over to the grand side. The Grand side shuttle stop is very close to the Tucan Gazebo (even though the Tucan Gazebo is technically on the Nizuc side).
After we were finished discussing the details, she showed us where in the Nizuc lobby the Aqua Ballroom (our reception site) was located. We took a quick peek inside (it was being set up for another wedding) to get an idea of how it would look for our reception. After our meeting, she directed us to the Honeymooner’s Desk in the Nizuc Lobby (I think there’s a Honeymooner’s Desk in both lobbies). We arranged our Honeymooner’s Dinner (at Arrecifes—I think that was the only choice) & picked up our Honeymooner’s t-shirts.
Here is how our costs broke down:
2 Flower Centerpieces: $90
Horse Carriage: $130
Mexican Trio (for cocktail hour): $439
Audiovisual Services (we used our ipod): $385
Photo Package E: $820 (we chose this package b/c we wanted 2 extra hours of photography at the reception)
DVD (of ceremony): $377
Day Passes: $86/each (we needed 2)
Shipping for photos/dvd: $65
Upgrade Cake: $280
Event Set Up: $60 (this was the only surprise charge when we got to the meeting—however, for all the work they do for all of the different events $60 seems more than reasonable) It’s a flat fee for the set up for all events.
GRAND TOTAL: $2,818 (a great price for an AMAZING wedding) (also the money that we had paid up front when we had originally chosen the Amber package was subtracted from the amount we owed—it was already taken into account when I received the bill at the WC meeting)
WELCOME DINNER (MONDAY NIGHT) (22 GUESTS):
Location: Arrecifes (it was supposed to be on the terrace but because of the extreme winds we ended up inside)
We used the included dinner (at restaurant up to 35 people) in the free wedding package for the welcome dinner. I kept trying to find different places for our Welcome Dinner since the last time we had been to MP, my group generally had not been that happy with the food at Arrecifes. I asked the WC for different restaurants, but since we had more than 10 people, the only other options she would give me were Palapa Barracuda, Bugambilia, Gondola or Palapa Fragata. None of those were my top choices, so I finally gave in & settled on Arrecifes. I’M SO GLAD I DID! We all loved it this time. The food was great. Not all of the meat was great, but there are so many choices that everyone found a few types they liked. The salad bar is huge and very good as well.
At first I was disappointed that the wind forced us to be set up inside, but I think everyone was happy to be inside. If I were given the choice again (at the same time of year), I would choose to be set up inside. It would have been warm outside even with the ocean breeze. As you can see from the pictures, they had 2 places set at the head of the table for me and my DH & then one long table for all of our guests. There was a partial wall dividing us from most of the restaurant so we all felt like we had a private party.
REHEARSAL DINNER (THURSDAY NIGHT) (33 GUESTS):
Location: Art Terrace (just outside of La Gondola restaurant in the Sunrise Lobby), 6pm
This event was to be held on the Fragatta Terrace, but there was some sort of conflict so my WC asked if we could move it to the Art Terrace. The location was great. I think it still would have been pretty hot at 6pm in an unshaded area, so we definitely appreciated the shade and the setup looked great on this terrace.
We had the Italian buffet, and it was some of the best food we had on the trip. The table decorations were set up just as I had asked plus an added bonus of some hurricane candles which my WC added on her own at no charge.
WEDDING DAY (FRIDAY):
Since my wedding was at 11:00 am, I had to get my salon appointments as early as possible. I requested appointments at the Sunrise salon since that was closest to our rooms. My bridesmaids & I met at Bugambilias in the Sunrise lobby for breakfast (I knew my DH wouldn’t be going to breakfast so there was no chance of running into him), and at 8:00 am my two bridesmaids and I went to the salon for our appointments. We all had our hair done. I had requested Alberto & he did a great job on both my hair & makeup. My bridesmaids had other stylists do their hair, & they were both happy with their hair as well. The hair appointments were scheduled for 80 minutes & they took about that long. Alberto started on my makeup right after he finished my hair. It was schedule to last 50 minutes, and I think it was just a little shorter than that. I brought some of my own MAC makeup & Alberto used that plus some of the salon’s makeup as well. I brought pictures of how my hair/makeup had been done for my bridal portraits, so he would have some idea of what I was looking for. I think my makeup turned out better here than it had when I had it done at MAC.
My bridesmaids didn’t have their makeup done so they went back to their rooms to finish getting ready while I had my makeup done. It was around 10:30 am by the time my makeup was finished. I had a slight fear that I might run into my fiancé since he would be heading to the lobby around that time to take the lobby to lobby shuttle with all our guests, but luckily I missed him. I did bring a small electric fan with me to keep me cool on the walk back to my parents’ room. It was already hot by that time, but I managed not to sweat (yet!). I had just arrived in my parents’ suite when the WC assistant knocked on the door to pick me up. I didn’t even have my dress on yet. My dad and my MOH were in the room with me to help me finish getting ready and the WC assistant had to help some with the dress too. She brought me my flowers which were gorgeous (I used the free bouquet of hot pink roses).
I gave the WC my ipod which had the music for the reception. The four of us took the golf cart to the convention center where the horse carriage was waiting. My dad & I got in the carriage & the assistant WC and my MOH took the golf cart to the gazebo. It was a VERY LONG carriage ride from the convention center to the Tucan Gazebo. I definitely got my money’s worth on that. Finally, we got near the gazebo & stopped just out of sight until the driver got the call that the WC was ready for us to make our entrance.
MUSIC:
We provided the ceremony music CD to the WC at our meting. We just had the CD player (controlled by the WC) play our music at the ceremony. All of the transitions between songs seemed smooth to me. Here was our ceremony playlist:
1. Trumpet Tune (while guests were getting seated)
2. Jesu, Joy of Man (moms walking down the aisle)
3. Canon in D (bridal party walking down aisle)
4. You’re So Cool-Hans Zimmer (Carriage arrival)
5. Bridal Chorus (bride walking down aisle)
6. Wedding March (for the kiss)
7. Hornpipe (Recessional)
I’m not sure all the songs were played, but I wanted to make sure we didn’t run out of music & we didn’t.
LEGAL VS. SYMBOLIC CEREMONY:
We did the Symbolic Ceremony. Our main reason for choosing this was to not have to worry about getting a copy of our marriage certificate if we should ever need one in the future. I would much rather deal with my local county’s office than to have to deal with the Mexican government. The other reasons for choosing the symbolic ceremony were: (1) you don’t have to pay any extra fees, (2) you don’t have to worry with all the extra paperwork, & (3) you don’t have to have your blood drawn in Mexico.
The only part that bothered me about the symbolic ceremony was the fact that I thought we would have to get married before our trip, & I felt kind of weird about secretly being married before our Mexico wedding. However, I noticed in some of the paperwork MP sent us that it said it was the couple’s responsibility (if having a symbolic ceremony) to get married pre or post travel. That statement contradicts the other statements on their paperwork that say you have to bring your passport & marriage certificate to have a symbolic ceremony. I asked my WC if it would be okay for us to get married after we returned home from Mexico. She said (in an email) it wasn’t a problem. I printed out that email (for proof if necessary), and we did not get married beforehand (although we had applied for our license in Texas so we could get married as soon as we got back). When we got to our WC meeting the woman at the front desk asked for our passports & marriage license. I said we only had our passports, she said okay, & nothing was ever said again about the fact that we weren’t married.
FLOWERS:
I used the free bouquet & boutonniere (both with hot pink roses). I was very happy with my bouquet! The MP bridesmaid flower options seemed expensive to me, so I had my mom make the bridesmaid bouquets. She made the bouquets from flowers from Michael’s. I was happy with those bouquets as well, and they don’t look like fake flowers in the pictures.
The only other flowers I had were two arrangements for the judge’s table (pictured above). I was glad to have some flowers at the ceremony (& then on the cake table at the reception), and the expense of the two arrangements ($90) seemed reasonable. It would have been nice to at least bring the arrangements to my room so I could have enjoyed them the rest of the trip, but I forgot to ask.
PETALS:
I ordered petals from Eco-Friendly Freeze Dried Rose Petals I ordered 140 cups for the aisle, guest toss after ceremony, and reception tables. I had WAY TOO MANY! I spent $155 on them. I ordered marina, red gold and orange ginger snap. They came in 2 big bags and were a little hard when they arrived. I ordered them at the end of April and stored them in a dark closet like they recommend until we left for our wedding at the end of June. They were the same as when I got them two months later. When we got to our room at the resort I put them in the bathroom, turned on the hot shower, and shut the door. They softened up and were perfect. I was very happy with the petals.
CEREMONY:
Location: Tucan Terrace – Nizuc side (11:00 am)
Our carriage entrance song started and we came into view of the guests. We made a loop around the gazebo & ended up at the end of the long aisle. The WC was waiting there to give me & my dad our final instructions. My dad walked me down the aisle, and the ceremony began. Our minister was Jorge Pinto. We didn’t make any changes to the script (& never saw the script ahead of time). He did a great job. His English was very good as was his pronunciation. He did the whole ceremony from memory. My parents and guests that had a chance to talk to him at the ceremony said he was very nice. He slipped away quickly after the ceremony & I never had a chance to talk to him. The ceremony was religious and although my DH are not very religious, I appreciated all the words spoken in the ceremony. But if you want a non-religious ceremony, I would suggest giving them your own script. During the ceremony, the minister had us sign a piece of paper that makes the ceremony look more official to the guests, but it mainly just says “congratulations.” You receive the signed certificate when you get your pictures.
During the ceremony, we were very hot! I was thankful to have a handkerchief to dab the sweat from my face & chest. All the guests had palm fans on their chairs with our programs tied to them. (For my programs, I just had a business card printed by Vistaprint with our names, our parents names & our wedding party’s names. It was too much trouble to figure out exactly how the ceremony would run ahead of time, so that seemed like the easiest way to go). The fans were passed out as the guests arrived. The fans were appreciated, but it was still warm for the guests since they’d arrived about 10:40 am. Even though it was very windy too, it wasn’t enough to cool it off. The priest instructed my DH to tuck my veil into the back of my dress during the ceremony so I wouldn’t have to deal with it blowing the whole time & that definitely helped.
The only real snag in our ceremony was getting our rings on. It took quite a while because our fingers were so swollen from the heat. You might be sure to try them on ahead of time at the same time of day as your ceremony, & if they’re tight, maybe you could put some Vaseline or something on them or your finger to help move along the process. The videographer did cut some of the time it took out of our video, so that was nice. But my knuckle is red & swollen in the pictures when there’s a close-up. Our rings weren’t too small either, now that I’m home they’re almost too big.
After the vows were said, the rings exchanged and the certificate signed, the guests all recessed out of the gazebo & the wedding party stayed behind for our champagne toast. After those pictures were taken, the wedding party recessed & then we walked out and all the guests were lining the aisle & throwing rose petals. I wanted the Mexican Trio to be there at the end of the aisle as well for some good pictures, but they hadn’t arrived yet.
PICTURE SESSION:
Immediately after the rose petal toss, all of the guests gathered to take our group picture. The non-family guests then headed over to the Tucan Terrace (just to the side of the gazebo) and starting enjoying the Mexican Trio & the cocktail hour. We took the family pictures in the grass above the beach. Then my DH & I headed down to the beach with the photographer & videographer. I brought white flip flops to wear for the beach part. A tractor (shown below –but not shown in any of our professional photos) came by the clean the beach for the area where we were taking pictures. The tractor went over the space quite a few times to get it much cleaner than most of the other beach. We were there right after Tropical Storm Alex and the seaweed on the beach was worse than my parents or I had ever seen there before. The smell would get overwhelming at night when they didn’t run the tractors. Even though they had tractors running all day with dump trucks taking away the seaweed, they couldn’t keep up with the influx of seaweed. I was very glad not to be having a beach wedding at this time, but the pictures on the beach look good & there’s just a little seaweed in the pictures. I would definitely say this amount of seaweed was abnormal and just as they cleaned a nice area for our pictures, I’m sure they would do the same & more for someone having a beach wedding. The pictures of family and our beach pictures came out great. There are some really beautiful pictures captured in this photo session.
COCKTAIL HOUR (Tucan Terrace, 11:30-12:30) (38 Guests):
We had the Superior hors d’oeuvres for our cocktail hour.
- pimiento piquillo relleno de queso crema y nuez / bell pepper filled with cream cheese and nut
- camarón con piña / shrimp with pineapple
- blue cheese hors D'oeuvres
- brocheta de pollo / chicken shish kebab
- medallones de res / beef medallions
- volován relleno mariscos / seafood vol au vent
I asked about mixing and matching from different menus (I was going to pick the appetizers that had been the favorites of people on this site), but my WC told me I had to pick one menu & she could add one item to that menu. We added the cheese & mushroom turnover. Every hors d’oeuvre I had was delicious. I think my favorite was the cheese filled pepper, but they were all very good and I definitely suggest the Superior menu.
We also had the Mexican Trio for our cocktail hour. I think they really only play for 45 minutes, so we missed most of that while we were taking pictures, but my guests did enjoy them.
RECEPTION (Aqua Ballroom, 1-4pm):
We chose to have our reception in a ballroom because we knew we wanted to be inside since 1-4pm would be the hottest part of the day, and we chose the aqua ballroom because it is the only ballroom with windows. It looks out to the Nizuc pool section, and we loved the room. We had the French buffet, and we liked it (but not as much as the Italian buffet though). The desserts on the French buffet were good.
The tables were set up exactly as I requested, and everything looked great. The guests took the lobby to lobby shuttle from the Grand to Nizuc & the WC took us on her golf cart to the Nizuc lobby. I purposely put 30 minutes between the cocktail hour & the reception because I didn’t want to lose part of my 3 hour reception in transition between the cocktail hour & the reception. We arrived a few minutes early & just hung out in the Nizuc lobby bar area until our WC told us the room was ready. Our guests filed in first & once everyone was settled, the WC came to get us & we made our entrance. One of the groomsmen made announcements for us. He announced our entrance, our first dance, the father/daughter dance & the mother/son dance (they actually just joined my father and me on the dance floor halfway through our song—“Through the Years” by Kenny Rogers).
We ate lunch, ut the cake, cand my father walked around & had people give toasts. Then the dancing started. We danced & danced until 4 when the ipod operator played what I had labeled on my ipod as “Last Song.”
MUSIC:
iPod vs DJ. The DJ prices were very expensive & since when you rent the sound equipment you get an ipod operator included in the price, we saw no reason to pay all the extra money for a DJ. It took some time to come up with our playlist, but it was definitely worth it to save on the expense of a DJ. I would have wanted to have a say in what was played anyway, so a DJ was unnecessary. The ipod operator faded the songs in & out, stopped the music for the toasts & kept everything running smoothly. I just had playlists to help the operator along like: “First Dance,” “Father/Daughter Dance,” “Dinner Music,” “Dancing Music,” & “Last Song.” I told him when to switch from Dinner to Dancing music & that was about it.
Tables/Centerpieces:
I brought chair ties & had them tied on every other chair. We used the same chair ties as table runners too. We just had votive holders with tea light candles in them & rose petals on the tables for decoration. The simple decoration was enough, & we didn’t have to pay for anything extra at the reception (except the cake).
CAKE:
We decided to upgrade the cake because we liked the design of one of the larger cakes. Everyone thought the cake was beautiful & tasted good too. We got vanilla with strawberries for one layer & chocolate with chocolate filling for another layer, & the top layer was tres leches (milk cake). However, I didn’t talk to one person who tried the tres leches (even though when I went back at the end of the ceremony and asked for a piece of tres leches to go, there wasn’t any left). Overall, I’m glad we upgraded to the larger cake.
Photographer:
We went with the resort photographer, not David Pena though, but we all thought the photographer (whose name I don’t know) did a great job. We chose Photography package E because it gave us two extra hours of photography at the reception. We used ½ hour of it at the cocktail hour & 1.5 hours at the reception. I’m so glad we have all those extra pictures. Overall, the disk had 480 photos on it. They printed 100 6x8 pictures for us & 17 black & white. Most of them were put in an album & there were a few loose ones including 5 8x10s. I couldn’t be happier with the pictures.
I do have a complaint about the shipping though. The pictures were scheduled to be ready Tuesday afternoon (we only had guests staying through Tuesday morning, so we had to pay for shipping). I expected the pictures to be shipped out on Tuesday or Wednesday (but I forgot to confirm this at my WC meeting). My AHR was 11 days after the day they were supposed to be ready, and I thought since I was paying $65 for shipping, it would be pretty fast shipping. I should have emphasized when I needed them! They didn’t mail them out until the following Monday & then the pictures were stuck in customs in Ohio because they didn’t have my social security number. If I hadn’t contacted my WC for the tracking number, called the shipping company & given them the information they needed, who knows how long they would have sat on hold in customs. They sent them DHL, and I worked with DHL’s customer service department & was able to get the pictures on the Friday before my AHR. If you are having your pictures shipped, just make sure to confirm with your WC when they will be shipped & make sure you ask her to send you the tracking number.
Videographer:
I love our video! Definitely worth the money. I expected it to just be a montage, but the music stops when the ceremony begins & every word of the ceremony is recorded as well. They used parts of the music from our ceremony as background & then for the video of the photo session they used I’m Yours by Jason Mraz. The DVD is great! Another thing to think about when you’re deciding whether you want the DVD or not is that as the bride, you miss all the processions and what goes on before you arrive. I was glad to see what I had missed while my dad & I were on our carriage ride.
HONEYMOONER’S DINNER:
I reviewed our Honeymooner’s Dinner as well as all the other restaurants we ate during our stay at MP here:
http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/thread/52868/the-moon-palace-restaurant-review-thread/60
SPA:
Once again, the biggest recommendation I have for any brides going to MP during the $1500 Promotion is BOOK YOUR SPA APPOINTMENTS BEFORE YOU LEAVE. You should also try to arrange appointments for all your guests too.
I had arranged nail appointments and hair/makeup appointments for myself and my bridesmaids in the Sunrise salon before arriving, but I wish I had arranged my massage appointments ahead of time as well.
The spa was wonderful. We had hair/makeup/nail appointments in the Sunrise salon (they have the same thing in Nizuc), but our massages were in the main spa at the golf course. They recommend that you arrive at the spa an hour before your appointment for hydrotherapy.
The hydrotherapy is great. You check in and they give you a robe, slippers & a locker. You take a shower & then they have a series of treatments that they lead you through (or you can skip any or all & just relax in the lounge chairs). They first take you into the sauna where you stay 5-10 minutes, then you take a quick cold shower, then you go into the steam room for 5-10 minutes, then you walk through a cool whirlpool, then you go into the hot whirlpool and then you can go sit with just your feet in another whirlpool if you choose.
A few minutes before your appointment, they call your name & they take you to another waiting area. I had the deep tissue massage & thought it was very good. I’ve had the hot stone massage before too, & it’s wonderful too. However, I find it too relaxing so that I sleep through the whole thing & feel like I missed out since I’m not awake for most of the massage. My mom had the holistic massage & she didn’t think it was a deep enough massage. Overall, everyone loved their massages. Other services my guests had that they enjoyed were: couples massage & a chocolate wrap. Overall, the spa is WONDERFUL!
TOURS:
My DH & I (& many guests) chose the Zipline Tour & the day trip to Tulum. We used Vacation Dollars to pay for both tours. Some others in our group used Vacation Dollars for the Chichen Itza tour, but most of my family went on that tour last time we were there. My guests enjoyed the Chichen Itza tour but it is farther away &, thus, a longer day trip. My mom and aunt went to Isla Mujeres, but the heavy winds canceled all activities there (I’m not sure what all they had planned to do), so their day trip ended early.
ZIPLINING:
The Zipline tour only takes about 2-3 hours. Our tour was in the afternoon. You can extend the length of the tour if you add boating, horseback riding, ATV rides, or other activities (that cost extra). I think there were about 8 zipline towers. You go from tower to tower. Most of them are regular ziplines & a few are obstacles (as shown in the picture) like walking across logs or a bridge. The scariest part of the tour was climbing up the towers. The wooden ladders (as you can see in the picture) are not protected at all & very steep. There’s no protection from falling off the ladders, so you better hang on & not lose your footing. If you want to go ziplining make sure you bring tennis shoes or sandals that strap on. My aunt just had flip flops on so she had to go barefoot & it hurt her feet to walk across the logs.
TULUM:
This tour took over half a day. We left in the morning and got back around 3 I think. The first stop is a market. None of us found anything to buy here, but lots of buses stop here. I’m sure they have some arrangement with the owner of the market. Then we traveled on to Tulum. We had a very boring tour guide who mostly liked to sit in the shade & talk about corn (I can’t tell you why). So after listening to him for a while, we wandered off & explored the ruins on our own. The beach at Tulum was beautiful, but the water was so rough we couldn’t walk all the way down to it. When my friend went before, she was allowed to walk on the beach. After we finished looking at the ruins & the beach, we went back to where the bus would be meeting us & shopped a little at the market there. This market was better, and some of us bought souvenirs. We went back to the bus at the allotted time, & headed to Xpu-Ha (another Palace Resort).
This is their ecological resort and is very different from MP (for example the gym is outside under a hut). We ate lunch here (all food & drinks were included since it was a Palace resort), & then some of us went snorkeling (one of the main reasons I went on this tour). The snorkeling was free, but there was pretty much nothing to see except roots of trees. After 15 minutes or so, we just headed to the pool (pictured above). I walked down to the beach, but it was a rocky beach (also pictured above) & not one you could lay out on. I then explored the resort a little more. Parts of it are kind of like a zoo—they have alligators, flamingoes, deer, monkeys, coatis, turtles and other animals in enclosures. We were at the resort less than 2 hours & then headed back to MP.
GOLF:
The golfing at MP is great. I’ve played the PlayaCar course before too, but if you’re staying at MP, I would suggest just playing at MP. They have 27 holes. We played 3 times, and it was a challenging course every time. If you go to another course, you spend so much time commuting that you lose a whole day. If you stay at MP, the golfing only takes up a half day. The Vacation Dollars are great for golfers in your group.
You can use the Vacation Dollars for the greens fees and club rental. You can’t use the Vacation Dollars for shoe rental, range balls or items in the Pro Shop. We arranged our tee times ahead of time. Once again it’s hard to communicate with them & everything wasn’t set up exactly right, but we got it all straightened out, & it worked out in the end. We had a group of 8 play one day, 12 another & 6 the third time (playing in threesomes or foursomes each time). In the summer, the green fees are $210 or $110 (if you play after 1 pm). Club rental is $30. The Vacation Dollar promotion is GREAT for golfers!
FAREWELL BREAKFAST (Art Terrace, 9-11am, Sun, July 4) (28 Guests):
This was our final wedding event at MP—another free event since we reached 75 room nights. I wanted to have a breakfast/brunch before everyone had to leave Sunday afternoon. Most of us were on a late afternoon flight, so we scheduled the breakfast from 9-11 am. My WC gave us 2 buffet menu options—American or Mexican breakfast. Since it was 4th of July, I chose the American breakfast. The food was very good. I had simple decorations for this event—blue table runners (the same ones from the rehearsal dinner) & mints with flag wrappers. A full bar was set up for this event too, & the bartenders even stayed a little past 11 since people were still talking & drinking. The setup was similar to our rehearsal dinner since it was on the same terrace, but the food was set up against the building this time so the food wouldn’t get hot in the sun. Our WC was there to make sure everything ran smoothly. Overall, the guests enjoyed this last event to all get together one more time before we left.
Checkout:
We did not get a bill under our door (some of our guests did). We just saw it when we went to the front desk to checkout. I wasn’t too worried since our flight was in the late afternoon & if there were any issues, I would have had a few hours to deal with them. But, for the first time ever (including all the times my parents have been), there wasn’t a single issue with anyone’s bill in our group—impressive since there were 38 of us! The Vacation Dollar promotion worked out just as expected for everyone, & there were no surprise charges on anyone’s bill.
A GREAT END TO A WONDERFUL TRIP!
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I know this review is very long, but the reviews on this site helped me more than anything (including my WC) in preparing for my wedding. I wanted to make sure I provided a thorough review for future MP brides. I'll try to answer any questions you might have.
Cheers to you Smile Market, you did a great job with my Cancun Wedding and I especially loved my photo book, I wish I could have purchased a bigger book because the pictures and the layout was totally awesome, You Rock! 
