nibsmom

OMGosh - yes, it was the most freakishly hot day! We did pretty good with our reception outside though. We were right on the ocean it was very breezy. Your pics are so gorgeous!! Congrats again!

Thanks everyone!! I'm so happy you're enjoying the pics - hopefully I'll have more to show soon - and a link to my video! We're trying to find a place that's not so public - like youtube - to host it online. Good news about the ring bowl - it somehow wound up being delivered to Matt's parents room... So anyways, they have it and are going to send it to us! I was SOOOO happy when I heard that this morning!

Quote: Originally Posted by midnight24 great review and loved your pics too! how much was your reception costs for MP? just curious, as i didn't realize the legal ceremony is free there. might be an option for us, as we still haven't narrowed down a resort. Hey Midnight! Well, I don't know where my final receipt was, but I think we ended up spending right around $3,000 for wedding stuff. We purchased: A buffet for the dinner reception The iPod speaker system Linen rental A small wedding cake My bouquet The horse and carriage ride Two bags of flower petals The wedding video My mani, pedi, and hair appointment Document Translation Blood tests ..and I think that's what was on our bill. I don't think I'm forgetting anything! The cocktail reception was free because we booked so many nights between us and our guests. I'll try to find my bill to make sure I didn't forget anything. I really was pleased with what I got with what I paid for. If you have any other questions or want to know specifics, just let me know!

Hey Ladies! I posted my review here: http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...011#post913405 There are some more pictures!! I've also put some of the better pictures I could find here: http://s634.photobucket.com/albums/u...ng%20Pictures/ Hopefully I'll be able to add more soon too!

Overall, the wedding was amazing, and I'd get married at the MP again in a heartbeat. Here are the grades: Overall experience: A+ The rooms were amazing, the food was great, and we got room service everyday. It was all wonderful. We didn't use anything in the Palace Passport though - so I can't comment on that! Spa: C+ I wasn't a fan of the spa. Thursday Matt and I had had a couples massage. The water therapy area was really overcrowded and loud, and it was actually kind of stressful to get to use anything. It really put a damper on my experience. I guess when I go to the spa I don't expect to have to share a hot tub with six other women that I don't know. My opinion! Wedding Coordinator: C I was first assigned Kalena, who never contacted me. Two months or so out from my wedding, I got my WC switched to Claudia. Claudia was good via email, but still didn't get a few things right that we had discussed a few times. After the wedding ceremony, she took off pretty much as soon as it was over, and as a result, some of our stuff got lost and we never got it back. Most upsetting was that our custom ring bowl was lost. Other things we recovered, but that is just gone. She never even showed up to the reception. I was a little disappointed. Welcome Dinner: B The food was good - the service just took a really long time. I think some people ended up getting bored. I got bored! Wedding: A It was beautiful, and the MP really was really accommodating. I felt like I got more than I paid for, which is saying a lot! Cocktail Reception: A The food was good and they set up umbrellas for us for free - earlier Claudia had told me they would be $25 dollars each if I had requested them. That was nice! Reception: A The food and everything was great. Everyone had a great time, and we loved our location. The only negative to the night was that at the end, the DJ just kind of cut us off with no warning - it was little abrupt. Like, right in the middle of a song. Weird. Salon: A+ The Nizuc salon did an outstanding job. I cannot compliment Doris, who did my hair, enough!! Videography: A+ I love our video. It turned out great and the turn around time was awesome. I would definitely recommend future brides not to hesitate if they are considering getting the video or if they are on the fence! Photography: A+ We brought down Misti Abner, a forum member, to be our photographer. We haven't gotten our pictures back yet, but I know they are going to be amazing. She is wonderful, very professional, but friendly too! I think a few of my bridesmaids wanted to take her back home to be their BFF. It was kind of funny. I'll definitely post some pics when I get them! Misti getting the shots! Medical Services: A+ The last day of my stay, I had to go see the doctor because I actually got a skin infection on my leg. I was just going to leave it, but my mom, who is a nurse, nixed that idea. It was kinda nasty - it looked a lot like ringworm. The doctor was super nice and wrote me a prescription that I had filled at my honeymoon resort, since I put off going to see him until an hour before we left the MP. Overall, I was the only one with any kind of medical issue. I haven't even heard of anyone reporting any stomach bugs or anything. Okay, well, I think that's all for now. And, my computer battery is dying, so I'll need to stop anyways. I'll try to post a link to my wedding video once I get it up! I know that I write more of a narrative style, and may not have answered everyone's questions completely, so please feel free to ask me if you have any questions!! I'm more than happy to help!! Here's a few more of my favorite pics before I go! The Wedding Party Me and my groom waiting to be announced The doods and groom Well, I like this picture! Because I loved my dress! Another of the wedding party...squinting in the sun. And that's all folks, peace out!!

The ceremony probably lasted around a half hour, then we started doing pictures and shots for the video. Unfortunately, not even five minutes out of the gazebo, I tore the front of my dress open. Yes, I should not have cut through the grass. Yes, I should have picked my dress up, whatevs. It was fixable. You couldn't even tell! A pic of my mom fixing my dress, and Matt hovering to make sure I don't freak. Now why would I do that? The cocktail reception started at 2pm, but it was a bust because of the heat. Practically everyone went back to their room to cool off, and didn't come back. Well, good thing I didn't pay for it. It was nice though - they put up some shade umbrellas for free and had some flowers at the tables. We had chosen the Mexican menu and the people who ate said the food was pretty good. The Reception Our reception started at 6pm and was over on the Sunrise side of the resort. It wasn't a big deal for everyone to travel over there, no one complained or anything. Everyone loved the Moon Light Terrace - it was right on the ocean and very large. Probably too large for our group, but everyone loved the ocean view so much it didn't matter. As some of the MP brides know, I had to fight to get my square table set up, but in the long run, well, obviously, I got it and I was really glad. I wanted one big table instead of a bunch of small rounds - our group didn't know each other well and I thought that would have been segregating. We picked the Polynesian menu and it was pretty good! We had read on the menu there would be a pork carving station, and what we got was this! A whole pig! Well, one of the flower girls asked her mom if the pig was Nibbler, my dog (in my avatar). I guess that's what I get for nicknaming him the pig dog. Her mom was like, no, honey, that's not Nibbler. It was hilarious. Anyways, we had also purchased the ipod connection system, which worked out fine. At first they couldn't get our iPhones to connect, so the DJ left to go get a different cord. During that time, he only had two songs to play over and over, which was funny...but luckily it only lasted about 15 minutes until they got our playlists working and hooked up. We had maracas at every place setting that people used to get us to kiss, which was really cute. I also had made little decorated tea lights to set all about the tables, but we never lit them because it was too windy and it probably would have started a fire. I also had brought along glow necklaces, which turned out to be a huge hit with the little and big kids! The Big Kids... And the little! We purchased a small cake, which looked beautiful, but didn't taste especially...tasty. I thought it was dry. Some people thought it was fine. It was okay. Looked really cute though! Cutting the Cake... A close up of the cake...and my candles! We also got a small table off to the side for our guestbook. We purchased ours from theguestbookstore.com and it was a huge hit. I love looking through it! The Guestbook! And continuing on...

And continuing on! Saturday, July 18th - the BIG day! Woot woot! Everybody parrrty! Okay, so I woke up around 8am and made my way over to my Bridesmaid's room, where we had breakfast and chatted about the day's upcoming events. I went to my nails appointment at 10am - got my fingers and toes done real pretty by a super nice woman who's name I can't remember. At 11am, I had my hair appointment with Doris, who was just awesome. I didn't even have a clear image of what I wanted, and she did an outstanding job. Everyone loved my hair - even me - and I didn't even know what I wanted! You would have thought I would have planned that out a little better...whoops. Then I went back to the room to do my own make up and veil... While I was in the salon, the WC assistant showed up with my bouquet to make sure I liked it. It wasn't exactly what I had asked for, but it was still really pretty so I gave it the okay. I thought it was really nice of them to come ask me in advance if it looked good. The bridal party went to the gazebo at 1230, and the guests were asked to arrive by 1240. Around 1245, Claudia arrived at the room to pick me up and give me my bouquet and get me in the horse and carriage. I was glad I had gotten ready in my bridesmaid's room - it was really far from the Tucan gazebo and there was no way anyone was seeing me coming! We rode a few circles around the Chapel gazebo because I think the horse was a little restless, and then went and waited around the corner from the Tucan gazebo for Claudia to give the go ahead. The horse and carriage + me! Woot! Well, we waited for a while because my own Mom was late! But that's another story for another time...and gosh, did I start to sweat. Nasty. For anyone considering an afternoon wedding in July....it's freaking hot. It was REALLY hot. Not so much in the gazebo, but afterwards for pictures, I almost passed out, and I sweated all my makeup off into the inside of my dress. A sweet picture of me wiping sweat off. Anyways. Back to the important stuff - because who can't deal with a little sweat on their wedding day? Right? Okay. The ceremony was absolutely beautiful. We had a civil ceremony, and the MP was great about letting us alter their ceremony a fair amount. We cut out some stuff, and added a reading, a sand ceremony, and our own vows. The justice of the peace was really good about incorporating everything without it sounding strange or disjointed. I am very happy with how the ceremony went. Claudia got everything set up and the fan favors set out very nicely. My sister and Matt's brother doing our sand ceremony. Two thumbs up dood - we're married! And continuing on...

Hey everyone! Well, yes, it's time for me to write up my review! I haven't gotten any pro pics back yet, so all the pics that are included in the review are non-pro - but still gorgeous! I can't wait to see the pro ones...I'm thinking I'm going to just move to Mexico and live at the Moon Palace! First, a huge thank you to all the MP brides who helped out soooo much with helping me with everything - and to all the brides on the forum for your great ideas, feedback, and tips! I can't even tell you - I would have had NO idea about bigggg things if I wouldn't have found this forum (like customs...eeps!)! So, THANKS!!!! Ya'll rock my socks. On to the good stuff! The Details Wedding Date: July 18th, 2009 at 1:00pm Wedding Coordinator: Kalena Arroniz, then Claudia Sanchez Wedding Package: Free Gazebo - Tucan Cocktail Hour: 2:00 to 3:00pm, Tucan Terrace Reception: 6 to 10pm, Moon Light Terrace (Sunrise Side) Bride and Groom stay: July 14th - 19th Guests stay: July 16th - July 20th - most people stayed three nights between these dates. Everyone stayed in the Nizuc section. We had a total of 28 people, including the bride and groom. Four guests were children under 4 years of age. Wedding Events Thursday, July 16th - Most Guests Arrive We didn't have anything formal planned for this night, but ended up having everyone meet up for dinner at Los Corporales. Matt and I had went there the night before, and it was excellent. They got our big group of 20 something into two big tables right near each other, and were really nice about it. The Mariachi came to serenade us many times! It was great! One of the groomsmen and his wife with the Mariachi in Los Corporales! Afterwards my bridesmaids surprised me with custom tees and a trip around the Sunrise side for a 'bachelorette party' - I live in WI, and they live in MA, so we wanted to make sure to live it up! We did some shots at the Sunrise Lobby bar and then went to the fire and drums show - it was awesome! Our custom tees! They all said our names on the back - mine said Matt's Bride to Be! So cute!!! Thursday we also had our meeting with Claudia to go over our wedding stuff. It lasted about one hour. Shorter than most, I think. We had had a lot of things planned out before though. We handed over all our stuff to her and she handled it from there. We picked linen colors and went over line ups and order of events kind of things. I dropped off my dress for pressing. We also scheduled our blood tests for the next morning...which was a bit of a fiasco... Friday, July 17th - Welcome Dinner and Blood Tests Well, Friday morning we were supposed to get our blood tests pretty much first thing. They told us to arrive at 10am to the medical office, so we arrived around 945. We sat waiting until 1045...and no one ever came. So finally we went over to the weddings office to see what was up, and they were scrambling about trying to find a nurse to come in and take our blood. We ended up hanging out in the Nizuc lobby bar until almost 130pm, when someone finally showed up. Then, we had to have our blood taken in a WC's back office...lol, apparently, they can't get into their medical office unless is the normal guy that comes - he must have the key. Kinda sketch, but the nurse that came was very nice and did an excellent job. We had our welcome dinner at Arricifes on the Terrace. It was really nice and breezy - not too hot. The food was good, but I felt like the service took forever. There was a huge gap between dinner and dessert - so much that people were wondering if there even was dessert and if we were just sitting there for nothing. It was pretty strange. The mariachi came out and played the bridal march and a few other lovey dovey songs, which was nice. Overall, it went pretty well! Okay, so this looks like it's going to be a few posts long...here goes!

Hey Tina! I sent you my facebook addy. I'd loooove to see your pics!!!!!

Hmm...does anyone know how to rip the DVD? I'm having troubles! It seems to be encrypted!

Tina, what a great review! I really need to get on writing mine - I just feel like maybe I should wait until I have more pictures! Maybe I can write it an add them later! You look absolutely gorgeous and like you had a fabulous time! I'm so happy for you - you deserved an incredible wedding! By the way, I swear I walked right by you one night. I almost asked if it was you, but I am too shy like that! Matt and I were walking back to our building through the Nizuc courtyard area where the golf cart pick up was (next to the back lobby entrance by the salon) and I saw a tall red haired woman with a Texas accent taking a picture of someone with a golf cart driver...and I turned to Matt and I was like, I wonder if that's Tina?! LOL!

Honey, I love your pictures!!!! The one in your siggy is so amazing too!!!

Hey Pyxy, I flew Mexicana. They let me preboard and I was able to hang it in the first class cabin. I had two dresses, so my bag was pretty big. They were super nice.

Gorgeous! I still have a while to wait for my pics back from Claudia - your pictures are so beautiful - I'm so excited!!

Quote: Originally Posted by TinaM2b Nina, I can't wait to see photos. Have you received your pro pics yet? Oy vey! Both Misti and Claudia told us 30 days for our pro pics. I'm dying with excitement to see them!! Luckily, work has been crazy busy hectic since I got back, so I haven't been able to dwell on it too much. We got our video in the mail yesterday though, so I'm waiting for Matt to wake up so we can watch it. Unfortunately, no ring bowl in the package. Wahhh. pyxystyx, I'm sorry to hear about all your tech problems!!! I'm sure you'll get it worked out. Maybe this is a job you can pass on to FI and tell him he needs to fix it, since it's stressing you out so bad and you probably have other things to do anyways! And, maybe since you have to come back early, this means you get to take a longer honeymoon later this year or next summer! Hello, more vacation!!!

We just returned from Mexico and did our TTD shoot with Claudia last Wednesday. She was super nice and I really liked spending time with her! The few pictures she showed us raw on her camera looked amazing, so I am really excited to see the finished products. The only little thing that was a mix up was that in all our email correspondence, she had said she was going to pick us up at 6pm, but then the day of our shoot, she called and left us a voicemail saying she wanted to pick us up a little later than originally planned - at 4:30pm. LOL. Which was fine. We weren't doing anything but laying by the pool anyways! She came right up and picked us up, and was really great. We went to Puerto Morelos and took some great pictures around the common, and then went down to the beach. The beach was crowded, so she took the extra time and we all drove out to Playa instead. It was really nice to have someone who would take the extra time to go to a different location instead of trying to make a imperfect location work. I saw a few brides post that she doesn't get back to you very quickly - I experienced the same issue when I was arranging things with her. I'm actually still waiting for her to send me the final paypal request to finish paying her!

I don't think anyone from my group brought converters and everything seemed to be fine. I heard of no fiascos! We went to Chichen Itza, but it was at the Excellence during our honeymoon, so we paid. Honey's right, it is super hot. It did not rain while were were there - I was sort of praying for it to though! It was really hot, but I think it was worth it. After a while, I was so excited by the ruins that I didn't really feel too hot anymore. Right before you go in, there are a few little shops where you can get big liters of cold cold water for 2 bucks a bottle - Matt and I each bought one and we were fine. I'd highly recommend seeing it though - it was awesome!

Hey Ladies! We're finally back from our Honeymoon and boy....am I having trouble readjusting! LOL! Doris did my hair as well...she was amazing. For receipts, customs was pretty much a breeze for us. Just keep things to smaller totals and they won't care. For mine, they didn't even open any of my four bags. They just checked my receipts, and told me I didn't even need receipts for stuff like the tylenol and other drugs I got for my hangover kits. However, they did open one of my fiance's...ahem...husband's...bags. They checked EVERY single of the 30 maracas we brought for drugs. LOL. Shook every single one. Eureaka, I only brought five songs - I thought they were going to be prelude, processional, bridal entrance, paper signing, and recessional. When I got there, I was told I needed processional, bridal entrance, paper signing, announcement/champange toast, and recessional. I just had them replay the prelude song. It was fine. I had told Claudia I wanted the champagne toast during the cocktail hour, but whatever. I'm not sure if they even played a prelude song - I forgot to ask! One thing for future brides: MAKE SURE you designate someone to collect all of your items from the gazebo. We thought we'd be able to go back up after pictures and grab our stuff, and it was gone. Half of it never turned back up, including our custom ring bowl. PISSED!

Oooh....Eureaka you must be getting SOOO excited!!! Tina, it sounds like things went great!! I can't wait to get home and look at your pictures. The resort we are at for our honeymoon's internet doesn't move too fast, and doesn't load pictures very well. Here's a teaser pic though - a friend of ours took this while Misti was getting us all lined up for our photo - it still looks great - I can't WAIT to see the pics from Misti. She was great. We also had our TTD with Claudia Rodriguez today, and I still have sand behind my ears...LOL. But it was sooo much fun and the few raw pics she showed us on her camera looked absolutely amazing! I'll be home Saturday - I'm sure I'll be posting a lot then!! Eureaka - Sorry I'm not much help for the restaurants - we didn't get to go to many while we were there. The Los Corporales mexican restaurant was definitely my fav though! We also had our welcome dinner at Arricifes on the terrace, and it was awesome. Okay okay, I'm gonna go share honeymoon time with my hubby - room service is here! And here's the pic!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Eureaka soon2bemsleblanc - CONGRATULATIONS!!! I am so happy to hear that everything went wonderfully and that you enjoyed your trip to Moon Palace! Your picture above is absolutely gorgeous!!!! Were your colors pink and orange? The presentation of the high top is very nice! Instead of selecting specific colors for our wedding, everything is based off of the warm colors of Gerber daisies. There were too many colors I loved to choose from! Orange and pink will certainly be a part of our wedding though! Any suggestions for upcoming brides? Quick question - Did anyone have (or plan to have) the legal marriage in Mexico ? I called my city hall to ask what records they needed from me since we were getting married in Mexico and got a very rude "NOTHING". The person I talked to was not very helpful to say the least. I just feel like we would need to do something locally so that they know we are officially married. Maybe just having the marriage certificate in our possession is enough? If so, they could have just said that! Sorry for the venting! Any help is appreciated! Congratulations again to all the July brides! I can't wait to see pictures and hear all your reviews!!! 9 days until we leave and 13 until we say "I do"! Yayyyyyyy! Hey hey! Well, we've moved from the MP to our honeymoon locale - the Excellence Riviera Cancun....and while it's very nice, I actually am missing the MP a lot...it's way more stuffy here. Anyways, my colors were watermelon pink (from David's), orange, and teal and they were amazing against the natural scenery. Everyone was commenting on how beautiful the colors were. My local courthouse and registry also said I didn't need to register or file my marriage certificate. I guess when you go to social security and all that, that's good enough. I'll be back in about a week, and I'm excited to write my review. Like Tina said, there were a few minor things that happened that irked me, but nothing big enough to complain about. Overall, I wouldn't hesitate to do it again!!!! I haven't seen any pictures yet...I'm SOOOO excited to see pictures!!!!

MsGin - the resort is HUGE. I'm amazed by the size of it. The walking isn't bad, but there are golf carts EVERYWHERE to take you where ever you want. We haven't used them yet, because we're enjoying walking around, but even when we're walking, the golf carts slow and always ask if we'd like a ride. Everyone is really friendly! Customs was a breeze. I got a green light, with three bags, my dress, and a carry on. Matt didn't though, but they only checked the maracas to see if they had drugs in them...LOL...they shook every single one. The customs man I spoke with while Matt was getting the maracas checked was super nice, and told me I was a smart traveler for bringing all my receipts. Matt was checked by a military man in fatigues that didn't know any English. LOL. But everything was a breeze. It took like five minutes. All that stress for nothing!

If the transfer company you are using is trafic tours - they are really nice. We just got here yesterday and they did a nice job - very friendly. It's absolutely gorgeous here. We saw a bride and groom yesterday getting their pictures done on the beach from our balcony - we've also scoped out all the gazebos - they are all gorgeous! We are sooooo excited for Saturday!!

Hey all! We leave today!!! Well, for our hotel - we fly out in the morning! I've been such a wreck - I've had to take sleep aids for the past like 3 nights - my mind won't turn off!! We ended up needing to bring 5 bags, so I'm definitely freaking out still about customs - I hope I'm freaking out about nothing!!! Thanks for the tips about the ebay seller. I am really still pretty salty about it. TINA - I can't wait to see your pictures. I bet you looked so beautiful. Congrats girl!!! You deserved your beautiful day - and rain is good luck!!!

Honey - thanks for the advice - I think that's what I'll do. Also, for you trip advisor peeps - remember that some people just are NEVER satisfied. Compare the number of bad reviews to good ones - there are WAYYYYY more good ones!! And, Tina must be having such a blast, because she's not been on to say she's bored or complain!! Take them with a grain of salt. Some people just like to complain! I believe today is Tina's wedding day - isn't it?? Happy Wedding Day Tina!!!!!!

Yeah, I kind of have to work Monday - mandatory meetings and I've used ALL my vacation days for the year already for the wedding. Our flight Tuesday morning doesn't leave too early, but we'd have to drive in rush hour traffic into Chicago - through construction - to get to the airport. I have no desire to put anyone through that!! So...okay, now I have another dilemma - what would you do?? I ordered starfish pendants and chains from ebay - a seller with thousands of positive feedback ratings. I get a shipping notification on June 26th - two weeks later, no package. I email him. He says he doesn't know what's wrong, but they should be here this week. I say, I need them by Friday, or they are no good to me. He is just like, keep me informed. I'm like WTF, but whatever. So, today - another week later - almost an entire 3 weeks - I get the package. First, the chains are wrong. Completely wrong. So, I email him. He emails me back, and says oh yeah, I sent the wrong ones - like he knew what he did!! He says, I'll exchange them, but I suggest these other chains with the pendant you purchased. Those chains are 5 dollars more expensive than the ones I ordered - and he says he'll charge me the difference!! AND, I just looked at the envelope - the stamp on the front says it was shipped in JULY - no day. I'm so pissed. I have no idea how to respond to this guy. What I was expecting was "I'll overnight the right chains to you right away!!!" Am I wrong to expect that