cutierosie

FutureMsMoulton, Glad you found the answers to your questions, let me know if you have any more. Best of luck to you in your wedding, I know it will be great Quote: Originally Posted by FutureMsMoulton YEA I found it!! I have been looking for I can't tell you how long to see a photo from a beach wedding and my eyes welled up with tears because minus the runner to walk on (i want to feel the sand) its how i've always seen my wedding being!! Yours was so beautiful and touching. ) You answered all of my questions in your review and I THANK YOU SOOOO much for it! Congrats to you and you're new husband I hope everyday of your life feels as happy as the day you got married.

Hi Ladies, I placed the slideshow of my professional pictures on my review thread http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t41146 But I totally forgot to place it here. Anyway, Here's the link to the professional slideshow of my wedding at the Moon Palace (April 11, 2009) by Del Sol in case you have not seen it. 04.11.09 Ray And Rosa | Moon Palace Cancun | Photos by Matt and Sol Cheers!

Camie, your review will be very helpful to future moon brides! Looking forward to the pictures of your wedding~!

Quote: Originally Posted by katiemcad This information is so great--has anyone heard anything about Father Benito Aguilar or what he's like? We're considering a Catholic ceremony, but I've heard mixed reviews about the clergy. Does anyone know what he's like or when you meet with him prior to the ceremony? Also, do all Catholic ceremonies there have to be a full Mass with communion or can you leave out communion? Anyone? Thoughts? Katie, my wedding was symbolic (non religious), so I can't really comment on religious ceremonies..I know that other brides on the Moon Palace thread in this forum have had religious weddings..I would search that thread for your information and if you don't find it, post your question there as previous brides check that thread often. Good luck with that! Rosie

Quote: Originally Posted by NJ Hunnie HI MP Brides, does anyone have pics of the ceremony set up on the beach? and how much did it cost for the extras? Hi Hunnie, I posted a review of my beach wedding at the Moon Palace held on April 11, 2009 at the link below (it has pictures and the cost, my beach set up cost was $150). I loved the beach wedding! http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t41146-5 Good Luck with your planning Rosie

Quote: Originally Posted by Jodimichelle WOW- I didn't even finish your review-I am tired from working all day so I will invest more time into reading everything since you took YOUR time to write this! You looked great! Your dresses is gorgeous! Everything seemed/WAS soo perfect at least from your pictures and of course your review. I will read it again tomorrow with my fiance just in case i miss something. One question- When did you start planning everything? I just signed my contract, but the lady didn't say anything about leaving a deposit I just signed and had my credit card on their for the cancellation fee. I am also having my wedding on the beach at 6pm on July 3, 2010~ I want to start planning, I don't know really where to begin! Thanks soo much for your review! JODI Hi Jodi, congrats on getting your wedding date!! As far as the deposit, that is required if you are doing a room block (if you are having guests coming to your wedding). If you want to start planning, make a folder and put all the documents from the Moon Palace there, review them, make a budget, then start a To Do List (of all the items you want, and where you are going to get them and by what date) If you enroll in the Knot.com, they have a checklist where you can click on the items you have done and it tells you which items you have outstanding. I would first focus on the items you have control over and need far in advance, like your save the date, invitations, website, wedding dress (buy magazines, go on the knot, try on dresses), choose your wedding colors or theme, your bridesmaid dresses, groom's clothes, your acessories etc. Then when your wedding is 3-4 months out, you can choose centerpieces, place cards, since you will have a better idea of how many guests you have coming and know how much you can "really" spend. Good luck with your planning

Quote: Originally Posted by kstinson1503 What a great review; so informative!!! I'm sure it will be very helpful to other Moon Palace brides. I just love your hair; do you have a close-up pic of your hair, or do you have the inspiration pic that you used?? You looked beautiful; congratulations!!!! Thank you for your comments! Here's my inspiration picture: (The Knot.com has a gallery with tons of hair pictures, that is where I got this picture) Weddings Gowns Gifts, The Knot If you can't see the picture above, let me know and I will post the actual picture here.

Quote: Originally Posted by Myen Congrats Cutierose!! Thanks so much for the in-depth reveiew, everything looks fantastic. I'm glad that the day went off without any major snags. I have a couple of questions as my MP wedding is coming up in 3 weeks - is it okay if I PM you? Of course you can PM me!!! Talk to you soon

I have posted a very long and detailed Moon Palace Beach Wedding Review with lots of pictures and planning information here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t41146 Enjoy!

CONCLUSION I highly recommend the Moon Palace and highly recommend the ceremony at the beach. It is wonderful that you can have a wedding at the beach, and still take pictures at the gazebo. It is priceless to have a wedding department at the hotel to assist you along the way (even when the wedding coordinator is not in the office) and a wedding coordinator in the United States. It was also not very expensive to have such a beautiful wedding, a wedding like the one I had would have cost about 50 times more in the states, but I got it at a bargain. I feel blessed to have had the good fortune of coming across the Moon Palace and everything turning out better than I hoped for. To ease your stress, try to have everything planned before you arrive (Or ideas of what you want), so that when you get there you only have to worry about where to get your pina colada. Along the way, things can get stressful, just breath deeply and know that these wedding coordinators in Mexico have mastered weddings and will take care of everything. Also, remember that at the end of the day it only thing that matters is that and your future husband will be there…. Happy planning, let me know if you guys have questions! If you are interested in having your wedding at the Moon Palace, there is a thread for Moon Palace Brides Here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/forum/t21569 END OF REVIEW

OTHER DECORATIONS FROM USA TO MEXICO: Cake Knife & Champagne Glasses Set (bought in downtown Los Angeles, you can buy similar at Walmart, I made the ribbon from double faced satin) I highly advise you take a cake stand!!! The one the Moon Palace provides is NOT really a cake stand but some plate covered with foil paper. Guest Book Picture Frame & Easel (Frame: SalinePictureFrame.com, Easel: Easels - Display Easel - Decorative Easels - Artist Easels - Office Easel) Wedding Ceremony Program Fans (I Made it): I bought thick paper from Blick, Ribbon from the Ribbon Store, and the popsicle sticks that had stars at the top (my motif) at the Blick art store. WEDDING WEBSITE: I used weddingwindow.com They give you a free trial period, it was very easy to use, it looked professional, it provided an RSVP section, it gave you alerts when people RSVP’d, you could put music, album etc, I also put polls and people loved the polls, specially one where we provided them a poll as to where we should go for our honeymoon, people were competing to have the most votes for the place they wanted us to go for our honeymoon. It was actually quite funny that people took the polls very seriously, and religiously voted for certain polls. Obviously this was good as people came back to our website, which was the goal of the polls, I updated them every so often so that people would continue to come. I think for a destination wedding, a website is so important, and people really enjoy it. It was about 10 dollars a month (for 6 months) and it was worth every penny! STATIONARY Save the Date: I used a magnet, from magnetstreet.com, people LOVED IT, they put it on their fridge and constantly reminded them of our wedding. The color also matched my wedding colors and we placed our picture in the center. Here’s the magnet we used: Save The Date Magnets - Surrounded by Love Invitations: we didn’t send any and some people got confused because they didn’t know they had to RSVP on our website, apparently they were waiting for the invitation. So, we sent a reminder, with our wedding motif which was the sea star, it looked like an invitation. The reminder asked people to RSVP and book their room by a deadline. This was less costly, and served as a reminder. In restropect, instead of just putting our website underneath our save the date magnet, we should have put RSVP at blahblah.com to avoid any RSVP confusion and then sent the reminder. I highly recommend the reminder with a deadline because people booked much faster. Ceremony Program: I made my own ceremony program fans.

BRIDESMAIDS ACCESSORIES: Dresses: Bought them through lightinthebox.com it takes about 4-6 weeks to get them back. They are inexpensive (but the shipping is expensive since it comes from China), you just need measurements. I chose the blue color on the palette, they don’t make custom colors. I had them tell me what kind of dress they wanted and I paid for them as a gift. Jewelry: I wanted a Breakfast at Tiffanny’s feel, so I bought them pearl sets of earrings, necklace, and bracelet, each set for about $25.00 at this place Endless Occasions Gift: We paid for one night of their stay at the resort. We did it through Miami days before we left to Cancun, so it would be a surprise. We notified them of this gift, in a thank you note that we put in our OTT bags. GROOMSMAN ACCESSORIES: They chose their own clothing. The Groomsman in the middle of this picture had the following items: Shirt by 7 Diamonds, Pants Tommy Bahama, shoes Banana Republic FLOWER GIRL ACCESSORIES: Halo: Wedding Favors - Wedding Party Favors - Favor Ideas and Decoratons Basket: I made it. RING BEARER ACCESSORIES: Sea Shell for rings: Very pretty, it took about 3 weeks to receive it apparently because it is hand made. beachweddingwhimsy.com MOTHER OF THE BRIDE ACCESSORIES: Dress: Macys Shoes: David’s Bridal (her shoe size is 4 ½, so only children sized shoes fit her, so David Bridal has nice wedding shoes for flower girls that fit my mom). The shoes were very inexpensive at about $30.00

BRIDAL ACCESSORIES: Bridal Dress: Custom Made. I picked out parts of the dresses I liked and put them together into my dress. I went to several stores, tried stuff on, and then realized I had to make my perfect dress that nobody else would have. I drew the dress I wanted, I told the dress maker the material to use, showed pictures of things I liked, and the dress maker did it. It is a risky move as the dress may not turn out the way you want it, in fact, my dress came back not looking exactly what I wanted and took it to two different tailors to finally get what I wanted. At the end, I paid less than at most department stores and got a dress that was one of the kind that I can call MY wedding dress. To minimize the risk, I had a back up dress just in case, it was a very inexpensive dress, I didn’t have to use it because my dress turned out to be my dream wedding gown. Even with my back up dress, I paid less than 2k for the whole ordeal (dress maker and tailor). The dress took two months to make, although you can pay a rush fee to have it shipped faster. Veil: VeilUbridal.com (very nice and inexpensive) Bridal shoes: I bought the shoes (without the broche) Bellissima Bridal Shoes: The Source for Designer Wedding Shoes, they are satin touch-ups, dyable. Tip: Use them before the wedding to break them in, because they hurt the first time you wear them. Bridal Handbag: I bought it at David’s bridal, added the broche to match shoes. Broches: I bought 5 broches made of swarovski crystal on e-bay, I used these to put it on my shoes, handbag, and one as a gift to my wedding coordinator. Earrings: Bought them at Macy’s. Bracelet: Bought them at Macy’s. Engagement Ring: Cushion cut, on crown setting, pave band. Custom made in San Francisco, at Dublin & Company. Wedding Band: Custom made in San Francisco, at Dublin & Company. Bridal Wear: I bought a shirt that said Mrs. Gallenberg, yoga pants that said Bride09 at this place BridalPartyTees- Bridal, Wedding, Shower, Party: T-shirts (recommend the shirts, the yoga pants not so much because the writing was not great) Lingerie: Yandy.com (very fast shipment, good deals) GROOM ACCESSORIES: Suit: Paul Smith Shirt: Paul Smith Cufflinks: Ted Baker Sandals: Kenneth Cole Wedding Band: Scott Kay

Welcome Bags (OOT Bags): People absolutely loved the OOT bags. My idea was to provide items that the Moon Palace didn’t provide in their rooms, so here’s a list of what the Moon Palace provides: •Toothpaste •Bubble Bath •Toothbrushes •Lotion •Shampoo & Conditioner •Razors •Vanity Kit: q tips and cotton balls These were the contents of my welcome bags/OOT bags: oBeach Bag: Everyone loved this bag because it is big enough to be a carry on bag as well, it has a zipper, outside bags, a little bag inside for money, the inside has a plastic cover to protect the bag and easy clean up. I thought about a personalized bag, but didn’t like most of them and the ones I like cost too much. This one cost only $5.00. To personalize these bags, I made tags, with people’s names on them, it said “Welcome X To Cancun!†and the bottom of the tag it had our names and wedding date. I tied them to the bag with ribbon and this was very helpful for the bell hop in his delivery of the bags. I bought them at: Super-Size Microfiber Tote Bag with Large Front Pockets #LT227-Dark Blue Stripe oWater Bottles Personalized with our motif bought at discountmugs.com oLunch Bags/Cooler (insulated lunch bags) Personalized with our motif bought at 99 cent stores, each was 99 cents, I ironed on them the motif with iron-on stuff bought at staples. I thought this would be good if people wanted to go on excursions were food was not provided. oT-shirts with our motif, bought t shirts for $2.00, and ironed our motif, each shirt said Cancun, 4.11.09 oSunglasses: I got a lot on ebay of 40 sunglasses for 35 dollars, it included really pretty aviator and light pink glasses. oToiletry Bag: I put the medicine kit in an aqua organza bag that contained Sunscreen SPF 30 1.89, insect repellent and Advil. I bought these at Minimus - For All Your Travel Size Item Needs oCandy: An organza bag filled with chocolates and gum: Since it was easer weekend, it had chocolate easter eggs, easter bunnie confetti in aqua and silver. I bought the candy and organza bags at Dollar Tree, and the confetti at the 99 cent store) oLight Blue Towels tied with a double faced satin ribbon. I wanted a stuffer since the bags were pretty big, so I added these towels even though the Moon Palace had these already. oWelcome Letter: I made a welcome letter detailing the events, and contact information, the letter itself had our motif and was printed in cream resume paper. This was placed inside an aqua envelope with a map of the resort, and a map of cancun. The envelope was sealed with a label that had our names. I bought the label at My Own Labels | Custom Labels, Personalized Favor Tags, Coasters, Bookplates, Note Cards, Place Cards From all the items, people didn’t really use the water bottle, or the mosquito repellent or the towels, but I saw people using everything else. I wish I had added aloe vera sunburn lotion because many people bought this or needed it.

THE HOTEL: Grand Moon: I spent most of my time in the pool at the Grand Moon, there are chairs available all the time, they have cabanas, the pool is an infinity pool and it is much quieter than the Nizuc. Most of our guests hung out here as there was enough space for everyone at the pool to sit next to each other. They also have a restaurant next to the pool, if I wasn’t getting married, I would stay in this side of the resort. Sunrise: The Sunrise side is where the kids playground/pool is and LOTS of action. Nizuc is where I had all my rooms blocked. It was convenient for the wedding as it was close to the wedding events, wedding dept, salon, my rehearsal place. They had the Mexican a la carte place (called Los Caporrales) which had better food than most places, and had Mexican mariachi hats to try on and take pictures with. They have Karaoke by the pool at night, and other events depending on the day of the week. Shuttle Service: I got a shuttle from the Nizuc lobby to the Sun Palace. The shuttle picks you up at Noon or 2 p.m., make sure you are there early because they get filled fast.They pick you up at 4 and 6 p.m., so if you leave at noon you must be back by 4 p.m. It is very convenient, and since it is free there is no complaints. Actually the shuttle is not a shuttle per se, it is a charter air conditioned bus, with comfy chairs. OTHER PALACE RESORTS IN CANCUN: Sun Palace: I spent a day at the Sun Palace as that hotel is more like the type of hotel I would book as it is adults only, quiet, the beach is amazing, not as nice for weddings as it doesn’t really have palm trees and areas for wedding receptions. Beach Palace: very modern place, but they have NO beach. They have a view of the ocean, but you can’t hang out by the beach because it is in a cliff with high riptides crashing against the rocks. Cancun Palace: smaller than the Moon Palace, their beach is now gone because of the hurricane. For weddings, the Moon Palace is the best hands down, there is no competition whatsoever. CHECK OUT OF HOTEL: You need to call the bell hop to come and get your bags, you reserve them for a specific time, just call the bell hop extension. Check out of the hotel was a MAJOR HASSLE our check out was about 20-30 minutes long. We asked for the bill 2 hours before check out to review it, when we noticed that we were not given a credit for the deposit of the room block. So, we e-mailed our coordinator in Miami, since she was not the one that did the room block apparently she didn’t know about the deposit we had made, and therefore had not issued us a credit to our check out bill or our credit card. Thankfully check out was Monday and we checked out on time to coordinate with the Miami office, the coordinator then e-mailed us and said she had fixed it. We go and check out hoping that we have a credit posted to our bill, and they look and look and can’t find it. So the manager calls Miami and they don’t know what is going on. The manager was claiming that there was a credit in the bill already, but I told her we were supposed to have two credits, one credit for the actual room we paid, and one credit for the room block deposit. At the moon palace, your bill starts with a credit, whatever you paid for your room, and from there they deduct your costs, and the daily charge of the room. Basically, turns out that the person in Miami had given the credit to our wedding account number, but Moon Palace charges all the wedding stuff in one bill in the room account number. So they had to transfer the credit from the wedding master account to the room account number. I asked if instead of this nonsense, they would just credit it to the credit card, but it was not possible as they had already issued the credit. I had no idea that there were two accounts, one wedding and one room. To make matters worse, since we had left a credit card at check in, they were charging everything on a daily basis. I told the guy at check out that we had already paid for everything and he said no you have not. The FREAKING IDIOT decided not to listen to me, and charged my credit card the entire bill TWICE. The card declined as he was charging us our wedding costs twice, so he said your card declined and I was like yeah you F*********** Moron cuz you already charged us once, so the manager said let me see here, so he said “OHHHH I didn’t know you had given a card at check in.†I told him “I told you, you had already charged our credit card, and you decided to do it again.†Even now, our credit card cannot be used because one of the charges is listed as pending, while the other cleared out. TIP: if you gave a deposit for the room block make sure they credit it to your credit card immediately or to the PROPER account, which is the room account not the wedding account. Anyway, they fixed the accounting issue, so we got our credit, and everything else was smooth, they even allow you to use the facilities after you check out even without your bracelet. So you can enjoy the facilities after noon (check out time). After check out, we got a cab back to the airport, they have cabs lined up so the wait was like a minute wait, pretty smooth.

PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER: We used Del Sol Photography, they are outside photographers based out of the Riviera Maya. Their pictures are absolutely gorgeous and they were just voted top 10 photographers in the world!!! They were excellent to work with, they arrived early (both of them Sol and Matt). Sol took pictures of me while I was changing etc and pictures of my dress, shoes, bridesmaids getting ready. Matt took pictures of the groom and groomsmen getting ready. They worked really well together, they are very friendly, and their work speaks for itself. Check them out here: del Sol Photography I know that the Moon has a no vendor policy, but if they are your guests, i.e. they either purchase a day pass (9 am to 11pm) for 100 bucks around per person, or they stay there for a night, they will not have a problem. I actually got them a room because two photographers were coming and I wanted to make sure that they didn't encounter a problem. If you are getting a pass for your photographers just make sure you give your WC in mexico their name so they don't have a problem getting into the resort etc. My photographers were not harassed and had a good time enjoying the room. We treated them as our guests and had place seatings for them etc. I didn't want to go with the resort photographer because while their pictures were nice, I liked Del Sol's pictures better, and unlimited pictures, and a slideshow, and 6 hours of coverage in order to cover the getting dressed portion of the wedding. Anyway, I highly recommend del sol, in fact, I found them in this forum and they have a link here of all of their work at different resorts in the Riviera Maya. Sol Tamargo & Matt Adcock's slideshows of Resorts in the Riviera Maya 8000+ photos I honestly can't recommend them enough, they were great, Sol even helped me try to put on my eyelashes LOL

Cake: My only regret from wedding involved the cake. I was just embarrassed by the way the cake came out. I gave the coordinator a picture of what I wanted, and they followed what I told them, but their execution was just bad, they placed the ribbon on the cake crooked. The cake was watery, it looked really ugly. TO make matters worse, it was placed on top of foil paper, oh my god I was sooooooo embarrassed. Granted I was afraid of this, so one day I went searching for cake stands, went to downtown Cancun, walmart etc, NO cake stands, so please please bring your own cake stand. Also, if I had to do it again, I would have just gone with the blue cake on the menu, I guess they have experience doing those cakes so they would turn out better. The cake also didn’t take very good and didn’t have the strawberries. I can say this was my only let down of the wedding, but it was very miniscule problem. Anyhow, the cake was $210 dollars plus 65 dollars for the hot pink roses on top. Music: they played our songs, although sometimes they wanted to play their own, but I made it very clear that my husband was going to have a fit if that happened, so they played all my songs. They also announced the bouquet toss, bride and groom dance etc. We tipped each DJ 100 pesos. Fireworks: In our welcome letter, we said that there was going to be a surprise at 9:45 p.m. at the ceremony, this was fun because it was a topic of conversation and excitement throughout the vacation leading to the wedding. At 9:45 the DJ asked people to look at the moon to see the surprise we had for them. The DJ started to play Rocky music and the fireworks began, people really loved them!!! We got the package of 12 Multicolor roundshells for $1,1193.50 usd. Video Here: Ray and Rosa Wedding :: MOV01735.flv video by cutierosie77 - Photobucket MENU BODAS2008.doc

RECEPTION Location: Tucan Terrace (Private Function) Time: 7:00 p.m. Entrance: We had the DJ tell the guests to sign our guest book Picture Frame that was located in a cocktail table at the entrance before the start of the dinner. The people left the cocktail party and all entered the reception at the same time. Food: We choose the Mayan Buffet. We added the following items to the menu: Caesar Salad, Frijoles Charros (beans), Guacamole and chips, cheese quesadillas (for vegetarian guest), Coffee/Tea. Again, we were not charged for the extra items. She said the chef had said they could provide extra items so long as they were in the wedding menus, so combining stuff, as we did. Apparently the manager was the one that made the decision not to charge us for the extra food items. I liked the Guacamole and rice a lot. I didn’t eat much, so can’t really say how the food was LOL Bar: Open Bar, and they serve you champagne and any drink you want during dinner. We had about 4 servers. We tipped every server 100 pesos. Decoration: Tables: I wanted rectangular tables. Before our meeting with lily, I went over to the area and analyzed the set-up. I decided that I was going to put the tables in such a way that people were facing the ocean, or where the ocean was the backdrop. The tables were set up in an L shape. The long table was for 20 people and that included the wedding party and parents. The other table was 11 people, it included the rest of the guests and photographers. As I mentioned before, they charge per table of ten for private functions, so we had 31 people, but were only charged for 3 tables, each table at 400. I was very thankful for this. Table Linen: During my meeting with Lily I provided her with ribbon for the cake, which matched the color of the dress for my bridesmaids, she said she was going to try to obtain table linen that matched the ribbon, and she did I was soooooooooooooooooo very happy. The cost of the linens were 36-40 each. I think we had about 4 linens. Centerpieces: I wanted short stem Hot Pink Roses (color like my bouquet) to be placed in a square vase. They ended up also putting rocks at the bottom of the vase which was a nice touch because it gave it a beach feeling to them. The rose centerpieces were $66 each. We had four in the big table and 3 in the small table. In retrospect I should have had more roses  They hired Zuniga to decorate the tables, so they added greenery to the center pieces, the total cost of the greenery was about 100-200 dollars. We had tea lights in square hurricane holders, each holder was $11 dollars. Wedding Favor We provided the Something Blue Candle, which went well with my blue theme. I told Lily to place it in every plate, on top of the napkin which was to be wrapped around the plate. We obtained the wedding favor from: Wedding Favors I personalized them by placing a label at the bottom of the box. Bought the labels (in Aruba color) at My Own Labels | Custom Labels, Personalized Favor Tags, Coasters, Bookplates, Note Cards, Place Cards Place Cards: I made my own place cards, I bought the template at Staples and printed them out (cheaper than Moon and not too heavy for transport). They were placed inside the napkin because it was too windy, so if you are getting place cards get something really sturdy, or get place cards that can be placed inside the napkin like mine. Chairs: Plain white chairs SETTINGS2.ppt Private Events and Dinning Information.xls DJ Package.xls Fireworks price list.doc Music and Entertainment.DOC

COCKTAIL HOUR: Location: Tucan Garden Price: Because we booked more than 10 rooms for three nights, we received the cocktail hour for free. Also, since we had the free wedding package that includes free champagne at ceremony, I just asked her to provide it at the cocktail hour. The Tucan Garden is right next to the stairs where I got dropped off for the ceremony, so it worked out. Time: The cocktail hour was supposed to start at 6:00 p.m. but since we expected the ceremony to end early at 5:30, Lily opened up the bar at 5:45. Décor: since my cocktail hour started later, we didn’t need umbrellas (cost of umbrellas $25.00) Food: We choose the MEXICAN HORS D'OEUVRES bolitas de queso con chipotle / cheese truffles flavored with chipotle chile sombrero salami / salami sombrero sopecitos mexicanos / mexican sopecitos quesadillas de queso y champiñones / cheese and mushroom turnover sincronizadas de jamon y queso/ ham and cheese sincronizadas tacos de pollo / chicken tacos We added guacamole con totopos / guacamole with tortilla chips and Lily didn’t charge us extra. People really enjoyed the sopes. I didn’t try any of the food because I was busy taking pictures with people. Music: DJ Packet (Number AUX1= 4 hours), 1 hour for Cocktail hour, 3 hours for the reception. We brought CD’s for DJ to play our music. We paid $1265usd for the 4 hours hours of music and the addition of lights (Highly recommend the extra lighting). The Music was great because the garden and the terrace are right next to each other, so there was no break in music, it was seamless.

Ceremony Set Up: Huppa: The day I arrived I saw a set up with a Huppa and flowers at the corners of the huppa. I didn’t really care for the flowers, nor the cost of them. The cost of the huppa alone like the one in my pictures is only $150.00 that is it. But if you add flowers to the corners, then it is $360. Then if you add flower pots in the aisle it gets up to $850. I wanted a simple set up, so even if the huppa were to cost $850 we would have paid for it. Note that the picture Lily gave me of the Huppa had Ivy, I told her I didn’t want Ivy. So my set up was not in the pictures she sent me. Chairs We got the simple white chairs, no decoration, they came free. Aisle Runner: The aisle runner is a light brown, darker than the sand, initially I wanted to have it covered with rose petals, but each bag of petals at the Moon Palace for real flowers, was very expensive for such an endeavor, so I bought tons of Freeze Dried petals (you cannot have silk because it damages the environment, you must have biodegradeable petals). The problem is the wind was too strong, so we used the petals for the exit. I got a very good deal for the petals here: Flyboy Naturals freeze dried real rose petals, roses, flowers, hydrangea, peony petals, wedding toss, eco-friendly petals I wore 4 inch heels and was able to walk down the aisle without a problem. It is a very very sturdy runner, so you can walk in heels, even when you move to the beach portion, standing there is not a problem. My bridesmaids and mom also wore heels and nobody had a problem. Ceremony Programs: initially I was going to have the wedding ceremony programs placed in each chair, but the wind was just VERY VERY STRONG, so much so that it was not feasible. I created my own ceremony fan programs and lily handed them out before the ceremony. I made sure that I matched the ribbon of the program to the dresses of my bridesmaids. I made this the week before the wedding once I obtained the name of the minister. Minister & Ceremony Script Moon Palace has a script that ministers follow, I was not too happy about the script because it was religious and my fiancé and I are not that religious. Also, I wanted the ceremony to be meaningful to us. So, we wrote our own script, the minister made the introduction in English and Spanish (my mom speaks only Spanish). The rest was in English. My husband’s father read a reading “The Art of Marriage.†The Minister did the “Blessing of the Hands†reading. My husband and I did our own vows. I memorized mine, and he read his. My hands were too busy to have a piece of paper to read from, so I just memorized a short and sweet vow. The Minister brought us this certificate to sign, our wedding was symbolic (not legal), so we just signed a certificate, I had no idea they were bringing this certificate LOL. Anyway, we got legally married in San Francisco before our actual wedding in Mexico and we only told one groomsman about this. We didn’t want to go through the whole blood work, multiple day stay in Mexico etc, so we had our civil wedding. Even though our wedding in Mexico was not legal, it was very meaningful, I cried a lot even though I thought I was not going to cry because I was already married he he Exit: Lily’s assistant provided the guests with petals and they tossed petals, since I had tons of petals that were supposed to cover the aisle, it made for a very fun and memorable moment. Price List of Extras.xls Beauty Salon Prices.xls Photo and video packages.xls

CEREMONY: Location: Ceremony was held at the beach near the Tucan Gazebo (that is where they hold the beach weddings.) Entrance: The carriage dropped me off at the top of the stairs near the Tucan garden, the stairs lead to the beach. So, the entrance of the bride is that much more special because you have the people look up as you get dropped off the carriage and walk down the stairs to the aisle. Music: We paid a Harpist, Clarinet and Guitar to play music during the ceremony. We provided Lily the songs via e-mail and she provided them to the artists. Here’s the list: Prelude Music: “Eine kleine Nachtmusikâ€( Romance) Mozart (Harp only) Link: http://www.harpworld.com/music06/romanzekleine64.mp3 Processional Music (Wedding Party) “Canon in D†Pachelbel (Harp & Flute) http://www.harpworld.com/music06/pachelbelgroup64.mp3 Processional Music (Bride) "Here Comes the Bride" (Wagner's "Bridal Chorus")(Harp & Flute) http://www.harpworld.com/music06/bridalgroup64.mp3 Recessional Music (end of ceremony)"Hornpipe" (from Water Music Suite)(George F. Handel) (Harp & Flute) http://www.harpworld.com/music06/wat...callegro64.mp3 The music and the sound of the waves created a beautiful melody. We were supposed to have a Harpist and Flute, the charge for the Harpist was $500, and the charge for the Flute was $310, Lily had told us we should get the Guitar too, but that meant to pay $200 extra dollars (it would be flute and guitar as a duo for $500). We told her we didn’t want to spend more money for a guitar even though the guitar sounded really good (she sent me samples of the music). The day of the ceremony, Lily surprised us by getting the Clarinet and Guitar and the Harpist, while still charging us the $810, so technically we got the guitar for free. I was really pleased  Beach Factor: I had my concerns about the beach given the reviews, but the day I arrived I saw a beach wedding set up and was convinced that that was what I wanted. Truth is that the beach at the Moon Palace has lots of weed, so it is not comfortable to swim in it at the shore. They have trucks that go by cleaning up the seaweed pretty often. During our wedding, they cleaned it up the seaweed, so you can barely see the seaweed in pictures or while you are there during the wedding. Most people hang out by the pool anyway, so not too many people are concerned about the beach. Also, if you want to see the most beautiful beach go to the Sun Palace they have one of the best beaches if not the best in Cancun, you can go there for free by taking a shuttle (they leave the Moon Palace at noon and 2:00 p.m.) Also, when I went to the hotel zone, most hotels over there don’t even have beaches because of the hurricane, so the Moon Palace has a beach, not the greatest beach for swimming, but the beach wedding set up is great. I went to the Beach Palace, Sun Palace, and Cancun Palace during my stay, and The Sun Palace had the best beach, the Beach Palace has NO beach, the Cancun Palace has a tiny beach most of it destroyed by hurricane. I heard reviews from Isla Mujeres Palace and heard the beach there is worse than the one at the Moon. I was pretty pleased with my beach wedding ceremony, it was better than I expected it to be. You will not regret it. Also, if you are like me and love gazebos, you can still take pictures outside of the gazebo after your ceremony, I did that, so I have pictures of the beach ceremony and pictures of my husband and I infront of the gazebo, so you get the best of all worlds I think. Time: We choose 5:00 p.m. because weather wise, it was cool and breezy, and close to sunset, for amazing sunset pictures. Weather: The weather was about 70 degrees with breeze, I didn’t even sweat, which was great. Since it was April, the weather is in the comfortable 70’s for most of the day. May and June gets really hot in the 80-90 and that is also the busiest time for weddings. Date: Place close attention to the date you choose for your wedding. We choose our wedding during Easter, I didn’t realize it when I booked it, but we choose the date based on the weather in Cancun, we didn’t want it to be too hot, we also didn’t want to be there for spring break in late March, so we choose April 11, 2009 because of the weather conditions and because we didn't want to have our wedding during the high wedding season in Cancun (May, June).

MOMENTS BEFORE WEDDING CEREMONY I had breakfast, then went to the salon at 1:30 left salon at 4:10. After our first meeting, I didn’t communicate with lily until the day of my wedding when she arrived to my room at 4:40 with my bouquet of flowers, she told me to go downstairs and the wedding carriage was going to pick me up by the Catholic Wedding Chapel. THE CARRIAGE & CEREMONY ENTRANCE The carriage fits two people, my mom and I rode the carriage, and it was surreal. I was holding on to my veil because of the wind and the movement. It was a fun moment, I looked at people’s faces when the carriage was coming and there was a smile on everyone’s faces, it was a very sweet moment to be there with my mom arriving. BOUQUETS My hot pink long stem (no foliage) was $140.00. The calla lilies for the bridesmaids were $85 each.

TOUR SERVICES This guy Gabriel e-mailed me telling me that reservations for the salon and tours were done through him. Initially I had a problem with him because he said I had to pay him for the tours in advance, and given my contract I wasn’t supposed to pay for those tours, so I e-mailed my wedding coordinator in Miami and they told him he wasn’t supposed to charge me, so then he said that he couldn’t reserve my tours, that I had to do it at Guest Services. I didn’t book anything at guest services, since it always was busy. Our guests didn’t book any tours either because they enjoyed staying at the resort or going to the other Palace Resorts. Also note that going to the Mayan Ruins is an all day excursion they pick you up at 8 a.m and drop you off like at 4. I saw lots of people go to Wet & Wild on my way to the Sun Palace. I highly advise you brides to go to the Sun Palace to take a break from the busy Nizuc and wedding guests. SALON SERVICES I had e-mailed the salon people a list of the services that were supposed to be done for my bridesmaids, my mom and myself. I had scheduled all of our services to begin at noon, given that that was the recommendation Lily had made given that I wanted my hair done, a mani and pedi done on the same day. Gabriel e-mailed me back and told me that the only time he had available was 1:30 and 8:30 a.m. So obviously I took the 1:30 a.m. He then again asked me to pay for everything in advance, including the services for my bridesmaids and mom, and I asked if I could pay once I checked out of the resort, and he was like well you have to leave a credit card on file and call me when you arrive. I called once I arrived to the hotel and left him a message telling him he needed to charge the bridesmaids their services to their room and my services to my room. He never called me back but he didn’t charge me all the services to my room, thank god. It was my impression that given that my wedding was going to be at 5, that my many and pedi were going to be done at the same time, apparently Gabriel didn’t do this. He booked my hair for 1:30, my mani for 3:00, my pedi for 3:30. I had no idea that they separated services like this. I asked if they could do my mani and pedi together and they said no, that I had to have requested things to be done together. I thought that by asking for my services to be done at 1:30 that that was supposed to mean that everything was going to be done at the same time, I guess not. It really stressed me out because I had to be out the door by 4:40, so it was 4:00 and I was still having my manicure done and my photographers arrived to the salon looking for me and were like what should we do while you are here at the salon? I was like go take pictures of the groomsmen I will be out of here in 15 minutes. Matt the photographer tried to call me down by telling me they couldn’t have a ceremony without me, so that everything was going to be ok. I was about to cry thinking I was going to be super late. Lily had told me and I signed a contract at our meeting saying that I understood the minister was an independent contractor and that if we didn’t start the wedding within 15 minutes of the allocated time, the minister would leave and I had to pay. So I was really stressed out. I walked out of the Salon at about 4:07, arrived to my room about 4:15 with my nails still getting dry. This was the ONLY time I felt REALLY stressed. In any case, I HIGHLY advise you to make it clear to the person booking your salon services, if you want things to be done together so you don’t run against the clock. My Hair Style I searched the Knot.com for hairstyles and practiced doing some hairstyles at home to find the right one for me. I had printed a copy of the hairstyle I wanted but I left it in the room, so I explained it to my salon lady Doris using the magazines she had. She did a great job with my hair compared to what happened to my bridesmaids that had their hair done with the other hair stylists. I chose an updo because of the wind (which is REALLY STRONG) and because of the humidity. I HIGHLY rrecommend Doris, she was really caring, she even retouched my hair on my way out after my nails were completed. TIP: Take your veil with you at the hairsalon, I was running late and forgot it and that was not good as my veil was not staying in place at the ceremony and had to be tucked in through the back and then finally I had to take it off. I tipped my hair lady $50 pesos. My Bridesmaids & Mom’s Hair Style I let my bridesmaids and mom pick their own hairstyles. I had three bridesmaids, they all decided to get an updo as well given the wind conditions. Two of my bridesmaids arrived to my room at 4:15 with their hair all messed up because the wind and humidity had somehow messed it up. One of the bridesmaids ran to the salon to have it retouched and they happily did so. The other one decided to have her hair down, but that was a problem because the hair kept on going to her face during pictures. My mom had her hair down, but had the front portion of her hair up, that way the hair did not go to her face. TIP: get an updo of some sort and make sure that you get one that stays on for a long time. My Nails: I got a French tip madi and pedi from Estela, she was really sweet and made me feel as relaxed I could feel despite the stress of being really late. They give you this warm pillow for your neck and shoulders while they do your nails. It was awesome. I tipped my hair lady $50 pesos. My Make Up: I did my own make-up. I bought foundation from Prescriptives that is sweatproof and is good for photos, it worked REALLY Well. I also bought from prescriptives a base eye shadow which stays on all day. I used plum eyeshadow from Sephora. I wore mascara, bronzer, blush, plum eyeliner from prescriptives. I used bronzer on my chest to cover the lines from my bikini top, this covered it up so it wouldn’t look tacky.

REHEARSAL DINNER: Location: Arrecifes Restaurant Day: Friday April 10, 2009 Food: Brazilian (Meat Sticks) Time: 6:00 p.m. At the Moon Palace reservations for the ala carte restaurants are not available. So, when my sisters arrived before me and tried to get themselves seated, according to my sister, they were not very nice to her. I arrived at 6 p.m. and there was a line of people, I went straight to the attendant and told her we had a reservation at 6 and she said we don’t make reservations, are you here for a wedding? I said yes, as soon as I dropped the word “Wedding†I got treated a lot better. I had asked for the tables for my dinner to be placed at the terrace, I wanted one long table for 30 people. I got my long table, and hurricane candle holder, the set up looked really pretty. I highly suggest you choose the terrace, because you can see the sunset, you get the nice breeze, your view is of the pool, your group is the only one there so you essentially have your own private event without paying the price of a private event. We also had a trio come and sing songs for us (they are free), and we just tipped them to sign up beat songs, people loved it. The other good thing is that it is quiet there, at least before the Karoake starts outside. We were served champagne to begin with. They told us to go to the salad bar first, then we were served meat and more meat on these sticks. The lamb was the best meat there. Compared to the other buffets, this was pretty good. After the entre, they come with a big tray to show you the deserts, the best one was the chocolate dessert. They also serve coffee. We were there until 9 p.m. After we went to the Karaoke just next to the pools at the Nizuc, and then we went to the Disco. I was more than pleased with the set-up and the service. We tipped each server 50 pesos, we had about 4-5 servers that were very attentive. I like the set up here and the fun factor of having someone serve you meat from a stick, but the food is better at the Mexican restaurant the Caporrales.

MEETING WITH WEDDING COORDINATOR LILY SANCHEZ IN MEXICO When we met, everything went smoothly as we had discussed everything in our word document, so our meeting took just one hour. At our meeting, she asked us to choose from a breakfast menu for our wedding breakfast the day after the wedding and the time the breakfast should be delivered to our room. At the meeting, we went over the details of the ceremony, i.e. who was the maid of honor, bridesmaids, groomsmen, so that she would know how timing of their entrance. She also let us know that although my wedding ceremony was set to begin at 5:00 p.m. I had to be out the door by 4:40 (time when she was going to give me and the bridesmaids our bouquets) and the guests should be seated down by 4:40. Therefore, we told our guests to be at the ceremony by 4:30. She also let us know that we could start the cocktail hour at 5:45 instead of 6 which gave us 15 free extra minutes. Since we were having a private reception at the terrace, the cost per table is 400 (and each table fits 10). But we were not having round tables, we were having rectangular tables, so the charge is the same, i.e. they still charge per per table of ten. We had 31 people coming to the wedding, so we were wondering if she was going to charge us for 4 tables or 3 tables. She only charged us for 3 tables, she basically put one person at the end of the table. We also discussed how many flower arrangements and candles should go on each table now that we had a final number of guests. At the meeting, we took a large suitcase, with the following items for her to use: 1.Cake Knife Set 2.Champagne Glasses for the bride and groom 3.Petals (I bought about 200 cups of hot pink petals) (almost took entire suitcase) 4.Guest Book Picture Frame & Easel (SalinePictureFrame.com, 5.Wedding Favor 6.Place Cards (Bought at Staples) 7.Wedding Ceremony Program (I Made it) 8.Seating Chart ( I drew it) 9.Special Bottle of Champagne for Bride & Groom (Krug, bought at the Airport) I talked to her about putting petals I brought at the side of the runner leading to the altar, and she mentioned it would be a good idea to save some petals to throw at the end of ceremony. I had no idea that they provided the basket and service for free, which was great, because at the ceremony, one of her assistants passed a basket full of petals for everyone to take and throw and the pictures turned out really cute. WEDDING COORDINATOR DURING WEDDING: Lily stayed at our wedding the entire time, she directed the ceremony, made sure everything was in order, she had an assistant with her that helped out with the petals and making sure I got out of the carriage ok. She made sure everything went without a problem. She did an excellent job. GIFT TO WEDDING COORDINATOR: I brought my wedding coordinator a welcome gift (Jewelry, and a wedding favor), and on my way out I gave her a card and $60 dollars and two wedding favors for her assistants, I am also going to send her pictures of the table set up that she wanted. I didn't know how much to tip, but it was the only money I had left on my way out, I feel guilty because I wanted to give her more. DAY PASSES: We had 31 guests total. 1 couple decided to stay at Cancun Palace, so they had no problem getting into the Moon Palace. 1 couple stayed at the Westin because they had some sort of points, so they bought a day pass, each day pass was $84 from 9 a.m-11 p.m. They spent the entire day at the resort, and changed/showered at the gym in the Nizuc side, and then they left their stuff at the bell hop to pick up after the wedding. Make sure you tell your wedding coordinator at your meeting that you have someone coming with the day pass, so that your guests don’t have trouble getting inside the property, essentially they put them in a list at the entrance of the resort where the security guard is protecting the gate. They ask for your name in order to enter the resort.