mochamakes3

Tisha you look so beautiful! Our photographers just sent us more. So now I can work on my review. Just looking through them makes me smile all over again.

If the photographer is the owner, it is considered bad etiquette to tip. I think my dad gave the carriage driver a tip but I'm not sure. Which reminds me, when we passed the bar that is on the way to the golf course they stopped so we could have a drink. I should have had another glass of champagne. At first my dad said no, but then changed his mind, so they went back around for us. Rae - We brought chair sashes and table runners. It made a huge difference. We also had freeze dried flowers. I didn't mention them and we weren't searched.

kris10kay - Whenever I had problems or questions that I wanted immediately answered, I posted on the palace resorts facebook page https://www.facebook.com/palaceresorts Rodrigo usually answers with the information you need. Just post your problem/question with your wedding number and he'll help you out. He might even get you in contact with your Cancun WC.

Somewhere on here someone posted something with bridal wedding day packages for the salon. Of course, I never downloaded it and can't find it anywhere. But it is only $86 for hair and makeup. That was confirmed when I made the appointment and also that was all I was charged. I think MIL paid the same. We didn't have to pay extra for our private events. I was worried, since we only had 70 nights booked through our membership. We had another 14 nights booked through tour operators. We got our refund a few days ago and it was only for 4 nights. If we had to pay for the cocktail and private event, it would have been another $2K so I'm really glad they never charged us for our cocktail hour or private reception. I though about complaining and asking for 7 nights credit, but I would rather take the 4 and not have them catch onto the free events.

Terpgurl I had to back the next day and tip Alberto for doing my hair and makeup. We didn't tip the videographer because he took off right after the wedding ceremony. Make sure to carry a few bills for tipping golf cart drivers. My family took one to the ceremony, my sister had one rush her back to the reception, we had one take us from the gazebo to the lobby for pictures and we had to have one rush us across the resort to make it to the ceremony as well. I felt bad because none of us had any money at one point and I gave the guy a rose from my bouquet. And when we got to the reception I had to track down my dad for tip money! I would also make a list of the little details you want to include. I forgot the boutonnieres for my dad and ring bearer, the passed starfish for my bouquet, and my garters.

Sorry to frighten you Tris. I'm going to be 33 soon and hubby is almost 30, so we are ready for that part of our lives. Our jobs are pretty stable, we already have a dog, and it's time to start filling up our house so that I can start looking for a bigger one. Hee hee. Might as well convert the "wedding" room to a baby room. I also know that even if we got preggers right away, we would still have 9 months to prepare. Plus, babies are portable so we can still travel and give them the experience of exploring too.

I know it's another month, but maybe we could move it to Thursday, June 16th? Gives a few more people time to get back and settled.

Erin, that's awesome. I hope you are soon successful. We haven't "pulled the goalie" yet. I have a couple of months of pills left and I didn't want to be preggers for our AHR, so I will probably do it then. It is kind of scary/exciting. Lots of my friends already have babies, but I still am still a little scared. But I also know we can a offer a very stable home for our little family.

Rae - If you use the $1500 towards a wedding package, you have to use the entire amount. Your FI can still play golf, but it is $260 per round plus shoe and club rentals. You can use the palace money towards your hair and makeup, it costs $86 to have both done. Most of us have figured out that since you can't exchange any of the items in the packages for something else, if it's not exactly what you want you are better off getting the complimentary package and then upgrading individual items.

Thanks ladies. Erin, that's great news about the bump. Are you officially TTC? My neighbor told me she was reading "What to Expect Before You Are Expecting" so I bought a copy to read. It's not bad so far. I've also started the appointment/physical process so that we can get started soon. Hubby mentioned that a lot of athletes are born in the first quarter of the year, so I reminded him that we need to get started if he wants to make next year's deadline.

I used an Epson printer with a sheet feeder. I bought some metallic cardstock that was too thick to feed through, but the regular cardstock from Michaels fed through fine. I only loaded about five sheets at a time.

kris10kay - To get assigned to your Cancun WC, just tell the Miami dept that you want to reserve some specific locations for private events and they should provide you with the Cancun contact.

Terpgurl - I know that pressing is pretty cheap. My dress only cost $36 and I think the guys shirts were $8. Make sure you do it right away though. Hubby was starting to get ready for the wedding when he realized his pants weren't there. Minutes before he was supposed to leave one of the staff came running down the hall with his "hot" pants. We also should have had our wedding stuff cleaned before we left. I ended up putting my dress in our front load washer, but hubby's suit is still in the bag.

Kelandjay - Since the supplies in Canada are so much more expensive than in the US, it cost me $12 for the tulle and I bought the comb off an etsy vendor for $3. Most bridal stores want about $100 for a simple veil. Where do you live? If you want mine, I can send it, since I'll probably never use it again.

The only room nights that count are the ones through your group contract, whether it's set up with MP or through a TA. It made me so angry that my MoH booked through her own TA to save $200 when I would have just paid the difference to have her included in our group. We were only 5 nights away from the 75 and would have gotten way more money back than the price difference. And she would have been in the same section as us in Sunrise. Plus, with our membership, we got way more than $200 in extra included things. If you're unsure of how many qualifying nights you have, your WC can tell you from their rooming list.

Welcome Back QueenDiva! The colors look fabulous. Our photographers posted some TTD shots too.

Terpgurl - I don't know how the beds are distributed. I know we requested to be in Sunrise and my only regret is not picking on the MP map which part of Sunrise. We were kind of far from the pool area and a few of us upgraded our rooms to be closer. Nizuc is kind of boring and so much smaller in comparison. Rae - If you're using a TA, definitely have Tammy hook you up. If you're looking at member rates, I would suggest checking the palace resorts facebook page for members willing to help with your wedding. The people on there will give you pricing and tell you about the perks.

Okay... super excited! Our photographers have put us on their blog! Here's the link: http://lightscapephotography.wordpress.com/2011/05/16/destination-wedding-sherri-brian/ And some of my faves... I can't wait for the rest!

Wow Meggers, great ideas. I think I want to do a wedding wish tree so that we can put them in a scrapbook later on. Plus it will add decor. We didn't have a card box at our DW, and only a few people gave us cards there. The rest mentioned us getting our gifts at AHR. I wanted one of those photo card boxes, but since we've received a few cards already I don't want it to look like a gift grab. Maybe we can discreetly hide the card box as part of the wish tree?

kris10kay, if you book through MP ask for a specific section. Otherwise, you'll probably end up in Nizuc which is the oldest part and pretty quiet. That's where they stick most of the discounted rooms. If people book separately, they won't be near you. They may be able to request a room change once you get there, but not between nizuc, sunrise and grand.

Congratulations and welcome. You will eventually find almost everything you need from this website. Here's my answers/suggestions: Make a playlist of songs that you and your guests will enjoy, and use the iPod speaker system for $250. You can use the $1500 towards wedding packages, but not towards wedding photography and video. You can purchase a family photo shoot from smile market with palace dollars. You get one private dinner reservation for up to 35 people at some restaurants and it depends on how many guests are attending. If you don't qualify for free private events, the cocktail hour starts at $600 and the private functions are $400 for each table of 10 for 2 hours. I ordered my real touch flowers from afloral.com and they were great. I made BM bouquets and boutonnieres. At MP, I had them add my real touch flowers to the complimentary bouquet. The table top arrangements were $90 each and not bad, the mother's corsages were $45 each and totally not worth the money. The palace dollars are per room. It doesn't matter if it is just one person or 4. I didn't change anything in our contract, but we are members, so we knew what to expect. We paid $300 when we signed the contract, 20% room deposit when we reserved, room balance was due 1 month before departure, and everything else was paid when we checked out. It varies depending on how you book. My advice is to get rates from a TA and also try to find a member that will give you their rate. There certainly are a few more perks to membership.

"It's okay, deep breath, it will all work out, deep breath, they know what they are doing." That was how I made it through the MP planning. I think the only reason they contact you 3 months in advance is to ensure they can fill out the paperwork properly. Just try to confirm where you want to hold your ceremony and any reserved or private events. You will be there in June, which is not very busy so don't worry too much about booking tours. You can't do any of that in advance unless you are paying out of your own pocket. Do send an email to the salon requesting all your appointments. Those are a little more difficult to book. Here is Lupita's email for smile market: [email protected] We got the wedding video, so I can send you the youtube link if you want to watch it. It's very basic, but all we wanted since we had our own photographers from home. You may want to find out how much it is to add any special speeches or dances. If you want any other answers or support, send me a PM.

Elese - thanks for the ideas. I was planning a candy bar and then something extra. Maybe a tiered cupcake stand with a cake on top? I don't really like the thick coated feeling of fondant and buttercream is so much more fun to work with. I just need to decide so that I can start making any flowers and such. I would love to take on a more creative outlet, especially once babies come along!

KSmith - Have an amazing trip. I hope you get everything checked off your "to-do before I do" list. Your hormones and stress levels are super high right now, same thing happened to me.

We booked a restaurant for our AHR. Because it is still out of town for us, I didn't want to rush around getting stuff done the day of or before. The only thing we have done is reserve the date and inform a few people. I really want to get the formal invitations out this week because it is in about 8 weeks. Elese, I didn't know you did desserts. I'm trying to decide if we should do a formal cake, cupcakes or what for the AHR. What do you think is a more original, not again, choice?