Camie78

Quote: Originally Posted by nibsmom I know that the rose petals are 40 dollars a bag - does anyone know how big the bag is? Has anyone traveled with freeze dried rose petals? Are they a problem at customs?? nibsmom - I saw the bags as I was getting on the horse carriage, so my memory may be a little foggy but I want to say that they were about 8" x 8". We got two bags and it was more than enough for our 23 guests to throw up in the air 3 times as the photographer took pictures. Below is a picture of the basket that they put the petals in. Not sure if this basket is all of the petals or if they just filled the basket with what would fit. The basket was about 4 inches deep and about 8x8 as well.

Quote: Originally Posted by lizlett3 Is anyone hiring a decorating company for center pieces if you are not traveling with them? I have seen a few brides post that have used an outside company. I just wonder if you dont have a company decorate what the resort has as far as candles. I am a total candle person and cant imaging not having them on all the tables. I also cant see traveling with them. lizlett3 - Below are a couple pictures of the candle decorations that were on each of our tables (we had a private reception). Quote: Did any of the guests feel like you were asking too much. I am hesitant to have a shower though we could really use some housewear things badly. We did not ask for a shower, however my husband's mother (and friends) threw one for us. It turned out to not be as uncomfortable as I thought it was going to be (I too was worried that it would be asking too much). None of the guests who were at the shower came to the wedding. They honestly just wanted to do something nice for us and they did that in throwing the shower.

Quote: Originally Posted by drtracy Just FYI ~ I checked the weather constantly before leaving. I was so depressed b/c it said thunderstorms every day! It rained once, for 15 minutes the whole time we were there. Whew! Try not to put too much stock into the weather reports. Agreed. Weather.com said it was going to rain and be cloudy our week there and there wasn't a cloud in the sky and never once rained. All will be fine, the weather is absolutely beautiful there.

Quote: Originally Posted by momslehcar The witnesses need to be there two days before the ceremony. The taxi from the airport is five dollars per person, very easy. Taxis from the airport were much more expensive for our guests. The average ride costs about $50. Camie

Hi Ladies, I’ve been MIA – closed on my house last week in Minneapolis finally. What a relief to only have one mortgage now. FutureMsMoulton - The bar with the swings is so cool but dangerous. Can't have too many cocktails while sitting on the swings:) Jodimichelle - I think the important thing is that all your guests are on the same side. We all stayed on the Nizuc side and even then it was a haul from our room to some of our guests' rooms. Tina- Regarding laundry... they do have services but I believe they send it off site. One other thing to note that I learned while I was there was that all the water on the resort is filtered and drink-able (including tap water). Fabi – A catamaran is type of boat that has two hulls and usually has a flat area (no seats) and has sails. I’ve been on two in my travels and rum punch always tastes better on catamarans than on land. Not sure why. Nibsmom – Go with an outdoor reception if that is what you really want. There is a generous breeze off the sea that helps with the heat… plus it cools off a little after the sun sets. I really loved our outdoor reception as it just added that extra destination wedding feel… something unique that guests will remember. Camie

Congrats Drtracy! Francisco was our bartender and he was also super fabulous for us. Additionally, I always noticed that the toilet paper was folded in public bathrooms but not so much in our room. Looking back it probably always was because the staff was bored to tears. It is pretty awesome to have a huge resort basically to yourselves, isn't it? While the swine flu blowout caused a lot of undue stress, it was sort of a blessing in disguise.

Quote: Originally Posted by BeachBride6-6-09 Hi everyone, I have only posted on here a few times, but I have kept up on everyones posts. My name is Jami, and I am getting married at Moon Palace on June 6th at 5pm, despite all the Swine flu drama. Our wedding coordinator is Claudia and other than a couple weeks of no responses she has been amazing. Everything is coming together but I still feel like there is so much to do in such little time! We are our welcome dinner at the Barracuda(sp?) resturaunt on the 5th, we wanted Arrecifes but it was already taken. Does anyone have any reviews of the Barracuda? We are then having a private reception on the Terrace Venado, with the BBQ buffet per my moms choice. And we have Ceclia Dumas booked for our TTD pictures. The only real thing that I am nervous about, at this moment, is the music. Per our wedding package we get live music, and it seems that we got the mariachi band and that is the music during the ceremony?? I am not sure how this is going to work, has anyone had this before and if so how did it go?? I am also interested in my guest throwing the flower petals during our exit, can the resort supply this or do we have to bring our own? Oh also, I am a little nervous bringing our OOT bags and table center pieces in customs, since I have no receipts for anything, did anyone run into any problems with this, or does anyone have any suggestions. Other than that I am welcomed to any previous brides suggestions on anything. Sorry for the amount of questions, I guess it is just last minute anxiety!!! Barracuda is the steakhouse on the Sunrise side and was our favorite restaurant. The steaks were very good for 'resort steak.' The meat at Arrifeces is of lower quality so you came out ahead with Barracuda in my opinion. We had no issues getting through customs and we had 6 bags. The great thing about the Cancun airport is that they have free bag carts. They are a little dirty but they are free so bring some hand sanitizer and you will be good to go.

Quote: Originally Posted by drtracy We were also on the Nizuc side in the section called Bugambilia. If you look on the MP map there's a couple of sections that are closer to the pool. I think the horse can pick you up near there which may work better. I mean for me the horse picked me up literally right next to the gazebo. Easy access for me but weird that everyone was milling around and could see me and my dad take off. I'd definitely ask when you get there for specifics on where your room is in relation to the gazebo and where the horse picks you up. I also ran into this same issue where they picked me up literally right next to the gazebo, sort of ruining the entrance/surprise of it all. Lily, my WC, went over the location of the pick up which was suppose to be outside my room but that plan was foiled in one way or another. So you can definately recommend where you would like to be picked up if you don't like the original pick-up location.

Quote: Originally Posted by TinaM2b Camie and other recent brides. My question, Did you eat at this place and how was the atmosphere? I don't think I have seen anyone mention Manglar. I have been taking notes from brides for a couple months on recommended restaurants and it has never been mentioned. Another question, If I don't do a dinner immediately after, I would have a down time from after the wedding that starts at 2:00 till 5:00 when we will have a cocktail party from 5:00 - 10:--- . We are getting married in the Bugambilias Gazebo. Would the Nizuk Lobby Bar be a convenient location to have guests meet up with us after photos for a toast while we are waiting for the Cocktail Party to start at 5:00? Is there a better place to meet up after photos? Fabi, We did ask that question to our TA. Moon Palace still said we needed to be there three days before (as long as we arrived the 3rd day before a certain time). We are getting married before in the states and just doing the ceremony there. Tina, We had our welcome dinner at El Manglar and the atmosphere was that of a buffet and very bright as there are a ton of windows. They state that it is Italian but honestly the only Italian about it was the 'make your own pasta bar'. The rest of the buffet was a variety of food. We also ate at Arrifeces which is Fogo de Chao-esque (obviously not at that level though) and the atmosphere was much more 'sit down, eat, drink, and conversate' and is much more dimly lit and more intimate. If I had to chose between the two, I'd recommend Arrifeces soley based on atmosphere. As far as where to meet prior to the cocktail hour, I'd ask everyone to meet you at the cocktail hour site if you are having a private cocktail hour. The last thing I would want to do is hussle from the photo location (in your case, most likely Sunrise) to the Nizuc lobby bar to the cocktail site. The day goes super fast so I recommend minimizing all unnecessary stops. Keep it simple - your guests will find the cocktail hour site:) I appointed two friends to scope out our cocktail hour site and lead the group there at the appointed time and it worked out perfectly.

Quote: Originally Posted by Fabi Camie Do we really have to be there 3 days before the BIG DAY if we are also getting married in the US before arriving to Mexico? Do you think 2 days before the wedding is enough time for last minute changes? PS Thanks for all of your help, I appreciate it so much Sincerely Fabi Cortez Hi Fabi, This is a great question and one I unfortunately do not know the answer to. We were told from the start that we would need to arrive 3 days prior (Mexico law) but that was well before we had decided to get married in TX and just have the Catholic ceremony in Mexico. Additionally, our WC always told us that we would need to be there at least 3 days prior but I can't say if she ever put two-and-two together to realize we were not actually getting married there. I'd recommend posing this question to your travel agent. He/she could look into the Mexico laws (other countries have similar laws like the Bahamas) and see if there is a loop hole there... unless someone else on the forum knows If you can arrive less than 3 days, then the answer to your question is yes, having 2 days to prepare is more than enough time. Happy Friday! Camie

I mentioned that we are having post-wedding swine flu t-shirts printed for our wedding guests and my sister sent me the design today for the front of the shirt (see below). She's keeping the back a secret from me until they have been printed and we have the unveiling and I'll post that sometime in mid-June. There's nothing fancy about the design but it is so funny to me because I "traveled to Mexico during the 2009 Swine Flu nonsense and lived to tell about it."

Quote: Originally Posted by soon2bemsleblanc Camie, thanks for the list of good and bad decisions. I would also love to see the swine flu shirts you made! Eureaka and Tina, we are also getting married before we leave. Our plane departs on July 9th, so we are going to get hitched on 7-8-09. The blood test really turned me off to that whole thing. And its a secret to our guests...my mom would FREAK if she found out! Nibsmom, hopefully you hear back from your WC soon about moving your time. I will keep my fingers crossed for you!! One thing to note soon2bemsleblanc, (and I am not sure if this fits your scenario) is that we had to bring a copy of our marriage certificate in order to get 'married' in Mexico (we had the Catholic ceremony). So there were two waiting periods for us which really surprised me: 1. A 3-day waiting period after we applied for our marriage license before we could get married. 2. After the 3-day waiting period, we got married and then it was about 3 weeks until we got our marriage certificate. If this situation applies to you, then you will want to get married in the US sometime in June. Camie

Quote: Originally Posted by TinaM2b Camie, Thanks for the two lists. I made some notes, especially about the request for specific liquor. One question, If you had your choice of time, what would it of been?? Our wedding is at 2:00. We will have some down time between events but I sort of think that will be good. FI loves it because the wedding will be over and we can enjoy our friends and family. I am still not sure. p.s. I would love to see a photo of your swine flu tees! HAAAAAH!!! Given the time of the sunset on our wedding day (715ish), I would have opted for a wedding at 5pm, cocktail hour from 6-7, private dinner from 7-8ish, then dancing. If you are having a private function, I'd time the dancing to start when it is starting to get dark. There is just something wrong with dancing in the bright sunlight - maybe that's because I am lacking in the dance moves department and would rather dance in partial darkness:)

Quote: Originally Posted by soon2bemsleblanc Hey ladies! I just wanted to share some uplifting information relating to the swine flu. We had some guests back out due to the scare and therefore did not reach our 10 rooms required for the complimentary private cocktail reception. I emailed my WC Rosy Lily about this and asked if it was possible to still receive this. Just heard back from her and she said YES, she will be able to provide us with this!!! This is a huge relief for us and also a reminder that it never hurts to ask!! Take that swine flu... This is awesome news! 1 point soon2bemsleblac, 0 points swine flu. POW!

Quote: Originally Posted by Fabi Camie Oh my gosh!!! I just saw your slideshow and your wedding was AMAZING!!! I am so happy for you!! Thanks for the information regarding the father of the church. I am currently in contact with him and will definitely get legally married here in Houston about a month and a half before the wedding Is David Pena through the Moon Palace Photography package or someone else? Your pictures are beautiful!!!! Can you give me some recommendations as to the pros and cons of a destination wedding? Our wedding is in November and am not sure if I should try to make wedding program fans PS CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! Sincerely, Fabi Cortez Thanks Fabi! David Pena is with Moon Palace and he is probably their most 'artistic' photographer. Wedding programs: We had them and they were a waste of time and money looking back. Less than 5 people grabbed one as they entered the gazebo. It is hard to define pros and cons because I've always wanted to have a destination wedding, so there are only pros with a destination wedding in my opinion. Lots of decisions are made with a wedding, regardless of location. Below is a list of our good and bad decisions with our wedding. Good decisions: Bringing deodorant to the cocktail hour and private reception Requesting specific liquor from our WC for the cocktail hour and private reception Having a cocktail hour and private reception Opting for the iPod music package and selecting our own music Selecting the Chapel Gazebo Selecting Moon Palace as our destination of choice Having swine flu t-shirts made up (words cannot explain how funny these shirts are) Providing an OOT bag Not spending money on extra decor for the cocktail hour and private reception Having a list of pictures that needed to be taken Asking friends and family for help and giving up control and allowing ourselves to enjoy the day Getting officially married in Dallas beforehand rather than having a civil then catholic ceremony in Mexico Realizing that the sun was to set right after our ceremony and that our family photo session woud have to be before the ceremony (squinting eyes aside) Not the best decisions: Not speaking up and asking to push up our wedding time to an earlier time Not inviting everyone we really wanted to Opting for a custom, 3-tier, lop-sided cake instead of keeping it simple with 1-tier Having the horse carriage Not speaking up to the photographer when my guests kept telling us that we were all squinting in our pictures Not estimating the amount of time it would take to get ready correctly (we ran late) Not having a single day where we did not have any guests there (this was really not in our control but we could have lied about when we were arriving) Buying flowers for the altar - they really jazz up the Chapel Gazebo so the flowers really weren't needed Creating wedding programs Not wearing my glasses in a couple of photos (I normally wear glasses so I think I look funny when I don't have them on) Not firing our really horrible travel agent when we should have

Quote: Originally Posted by Eureaka Camie - Thanks so much for posting your pictures! The beach ones are absolutely beautiful! I am not much of a posing person and my FI absolutely hates getting his picture taken so these sessions should be interesting! Quick question - I really like the ones of you two sitting on the sand together. Did the sand get all over your dress? I definitely want to take pictures on the beach since we are on board with the whole destination wedding thing, but I am super nervous about ruining my dress! I am wearing it again at my AHR. Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks again! ~Erika Hi Erika, Amazingly enough the sand never really got on my dress. The sand is very fine so it stuck to my arms (partly because I was a little sweaty) but the photographer had a towel with him and he just wiped me right off as soon as we were done playing on the beach. At first I was not happy that he was telling me to lay on the sand and he just kept saying "Love the beach! You are in Cancun! Love the beach!" Finally, I just threw my fear to the side and embraced it. On a side note, my dress is super duper dirty on the bottom from the cocktail hour and private reception. I'd definately have to have it cleaned if we were doing an AHR. I've called around for pricing and the cheapest I could find in the DFW area is with Eco Cleaners with a price starting at $180. So, expect that you will have to drop another $200 or so to get it cleaned prior to your AHR, not because of the beach but because of the terraces, gazebos, and walkways. Camie

Hi Ladies, Below is the link to our professional wedding photos by David Pena. My only complaint was that we had our family photo session at 5pm and the way he had us positioned was looking at the sun as it was setting so we are squinting in all of the photos - they are all garbage due to the squinting. Be aware of this factor if you get into this situation and recommend that he use a different angle. Kodakgallery.com: Slideshow Camie

Quote: Originally Posted by soon2bemsleblanc Thanks for the post Camie. I also believe the swine flue has been blown WAY WAY out of proportion...its really irritating My sister and also MOH is on the fence about coming and bringing her 2 year old baby. She says she doesn't want him to get sick in Mexico because of the health care there being so poor. I have ran out of come backs to all of her arguements so I really don't know whats going to happen. Anyway...less than two months to go! I am so sorry - I feel your pain totally. For peace of mind, there is a very nice doctor's office on the Nizuc side that is open 24 hours a day and it is $80 for per office visit. I only knew of one person who went there during our stay... There was a woman who was in her mid-50's who was super drunk on our wedding night (she was not part of our crew) at the Sunrise lobby bar. The lobby bar is a sunken area and she tried to step up onto the main walkway in-between some planters (short cut to the bathroom) and she missed a step, fell and broke both of her arms. My husband and BIL helped her up and away she went to the doctor's office and then hospital. We saw her on the beach 2 days later in a wheelchair with hot pink casts.

Quote: Originally Posted by agirolamo Hey, I was told that you had to pay extra for the wedding 'reception/dinner' true? Is it per guest? Was it an expensive wedding/vacation for you brides? Also, did most of you ladies do a wedding package , or plan your own?? which do you perfer? Thanks...much appreciated. ~Adriana Hi Adriana, You can have a private reception for an extra fee and the fee is per table, $400/table and each table can seat up to 10 guests. This fee includes food and two hours of service. Each additional hour of service thereafter is $60/table. OR you can have up to 35 guests seated together in a private area in one of the restaurants on the property for no charge (included in your package). Over the wedding was much cheaper than if we would have had it in the states. Overall we paid about $5,000 for the resort stuff (private reception, photographer, wedding package, iPod package, cake, horse carriage, pedicures/manicures, etc). This $5,000 does not include our trip (airfare, hotel stay), wedding attire for entire party, gifts, etc. We had one guest golf and he said that it was good but not the best golf course he has played at for $170/round. He much preferred the scuba diving over golfing. You have to buy a wedding package in order to have your ceremony at MP. I say book it as the swine flu blowout will be long gone by the time you get married. Camie

Hi Ladies, I heard a news story on NPR on my way to work this morning about the overblown swine flu threat and its impact on tourism to Mexico, specifically to Cancun. It pains me to think how much the media has blown this out of proportion and the impact of their actions (although it is nice to have the resort basically to yourself!). This post isn't meant to bring down the excitement - just merely sharing the information. Swine Flu Takes Toll On Mexico Tourism Industry : NPR Below is the most interesting excerpt from the article: In the past two weeks, the number of international tourists arriving in Cancun has dropped 82 percent and the number of tourists from other parts of Mexico is down 40 percent, according to Sara Latife Ruiz Chavez, secretary for tourism for the state of Quintana Roo, which includes Cancun and the beaches known as the Maya Riviera. Swine flu is costing the region millions of dollars in lost revenue and has forced 22 hotels to temporarily suspend their operations, she says. More than 10,000 waiters, cooks, maids and other hotel employees in Cancun have been furloughed from their jobs. Dive boat owners say they're going out with just two or three customers. Jungle tour boats sit tied up at the docks. Parasail operators kick soccer balls on the empty beaches. In April, before the swine flu virus, also known as H1N1, burst into the headlines, about 75 percent of Cancun's hotel rooms were occupied. Now, the occupancy rate is running at about 20 percent.

Quote: Originally Posted by kmac Great pics Camie. I can't wait to see the rest. Did you give the photographer different poses that you wanted or did he basically tell you what to do? Did he take any during the cocktail party or while you were getting ready? What package did you get? Sorry for all the questions. No problem kmac - I'm here to help. I would say that the posing was mostly the photographer. I felt so cheesy in some of the poses but kept thinking 'maybe these will turn out great' They didn't -they are still cheesy. He definitely has a process for doing things and after his poses were taken, I directed the traffic with some specific shots that I had seen at many of the weddings I have attended in my life. He will take pictures of you getting ready if you like however we chose to use the hour before the ceremony for the family photo session as the sun was scheduled to set right after our ceremony. Photo package E which includes: family photo session, ceremony, bride/groom session, and an hour at the reception. It was $950 + $65 shipping + tip (if you decide to do so). Camie

Below is a picture of my brother's wedding cake. We wanted our cake to be lopsided like this so we sent Lily this picture as well as another picture of another lopsided cake. As you can see, our cake (which arrived about an hour late) looked improperly made more than anything. MP did make the mark with the custom design and colors which match our invitations. Overall, if I had to do it all over again, I'd get the single tier cake with the custom design and save myself $200. Also note that Pete and I are cutting the cake with the serving piece versus the cake cutting knife (Pete's fault). Lily was too the rescue a couple seconds after this photo was taken. LOL.

Hi Ladies, Below are some of professional pictures from MP by David Pena. 99% of the pictures on the CD are in color and I used Microsoft Office Picture Manager to convert them to black & white. I'll post a link to Kodak Gallery after I go through them all and pull out the good ones.

Fed Ex just showed up at the door with our photos. I will post them as soon as I get through them all (there are about 1,000 pictures on the CD). Does anyone know how to post the pictures within the thread versus having a link to the pictures? If so, can you send me instructions on how to do so? Thanks, Camie