Reesespieces

I got married on May 27th at PP. I haven't had a chance to write a full review yet, but I will soon. We uses Photos in Cancun and I really can't say enough about how AWESOME they were! They have shot at the resort for several other wedding too and I only needed a guest pass for them. You are allowed to have any guest that you want at your wedding and they are simply guests. They're prices are very, very reasonable compared to others and their pictures are better than most of what I had researched. I got discs with about 2000 pictures on them before they left the reception, so I could look at them the very next day. They even quickly put together a gorgeous slideshow of pictures from the wedding to watch, just before we left the reception which was a total surprise. Of course we loved it! It took me about three weeks to get through all of the amazing pictures and I got to send Derek my top 150 to photoshop "enhance". I have no idea what he will enhance because they are gorgeous as they are. These photographers are truly artists and they capture the most interesting angles.

So, I've been checking out the Moon Palace forum and the girls were all worked up over the setup fees as well. One was quoted $200/table for reception setup. This is all coming from corporate, not Wilma. For brides considering a Palace Resorts wedding: Plan on dropping some cash for decorations. For 5 table runners and 40 chair sashes, it was going to be about $300. The cheapest centerpiece is $100/table. You really do need the sound system for the beach and it is $300. You only get 2 hours for the events and will have to pay per person, hour, or table, (depending on who you talk to) to extend the time. Get everything in writing before you sign a contract. Wilma did say my sisters could set up the reception room, but I don't think that normally is the case.

A past bride named Tonya said there is a Walmart. She got vases there.

Sharky00, Would you mind posting a picture from your reception to see how you set it up? Or, do you happen to have pictures on Facebook? Thank you, thank you!

Wilma had to "talk to her boss" and she finally got back to me and said that because I started communication with her in Nov 2011 and my parents are Palace Premiere members, she would give me the $100 per event setup fee, instead of $100 per table. She also said my sisters could do it instead too. So, I am only having her setup the reception only. My sisters will help with the few things I have for the welcome dinner and ceremony. If you are planning on bringing your own decorations, I would email her now and start negotiating the rate, or at least make sure that you or your bridal party can set things up yourself. Get it in writing!

That would be awesome!! Can you forward the email from Wilma to [email protected]? My contract was signed last May and after going through several other wedding representatives, I got in touch with Wilma in November 2011. I just noticed you are in Houston! What part do you live? I grew up in the Humble/Kingwood area and moved to Denver a few years ago.

Sorry, that last question was for Sharkyak.

Did you "rent" decorations (ie. table cloths, centerpieces, etc.) or did you bring your own? Wilma says it's now $100 per table (we will have 5) to set up any stuff that I bring.

I'm really freaking out now!!! My wedding is May 27th, 2012 and I will have the 75 nights booked by my wedding group. I had planned on bringing my own decorations, but Wilma just told me that the set-up fee for the ceremony would be $100. I only have small things for the isle chairs and a fan and bubbles for each seat. Also, she says it will be $100 per table to set up the few things I have for the reception tables. They keep coming up with all kinds of expenses that we hadn't planned for at all. If you are only at the stage of considering a wedding a PP, beware! Nothing is complimentary, even if you bring them a ton of business with your guests. Past brides - did you pay these fees for you wedding events there?

For past PP brides: Thank you so much for your advice! How was the minister? Did you provide the vows and/or scriptures that you wanted? Also, did you do a unity sand ceremony?

Brides planning on buying an iPod docking station for beach ceremony and/or reception: My FI and I went to look at some Bose portable systems at Best Buy yesterday. My FI is kind of a technology snob and decided the sound quality on their higher end (reg. $399) Bose portable system was significantly better than the lower end portable system (reg. $299), so we decided that it was worth the $100 for the sound quality difference. While I'm all for quality, I'm always on the hunt for the best deal. So, I decided to see if we could luckily catch a "Black Friday" deal on it. Amazon has it on sale for $349.99 with free shipping and I thought that was a pretty good saving. However, I did some more digging and found it in Target's 4-day, pre T-day deals by "adding it to my cart" for only $249.99! We snatched one up! Here is the link if you're interested too: Bose® SoundDock® Portable Digital Music System http://www.target.com/p/Bose-SoundDock-Portable-Digital-Music-System-Black-43085/-/A-10663624 The headphone jack should make it compatible with non-iPod, iPad, etc., devices as well. If you don't know yet, the fee is $250 for 2 hours and $385 for 4 hours of iPod speaker system setup through the resort. With those rates, we decided to just buy one to keep. Happy Black Friday Shopping!

Brides planning on buying an iPod docking station: My FI and I went to look at some Bose portable systems at Best Buy yesterday. My FI is kind of a technology snob and decided the sound quality on their higher end (reg. $399) Bose portable system was significantly better than the lower end portable system (reg. $299), so we decided that it was worth the $100 for the sound quality difference. While I'm all for quality, I'm always on the hunt for the best deal. So, I decided to see if we could luckily catch a "Black Friday" deal on it. Amazon has it on sale for $349.99 with free shipping and I thought that was a pretty good saving. However, I did some more digging and found it in Target's 4-day, pre T-day deals by "adding it to my cart" for only $249.99! We snatched one up. Here is the link if you're interested too: http://www.target.com/p/Bose-SoundDock-Portable-Digital-Music-System-Black-43085/-/A-10663624 The headphone jack should make it compatible with non-iPod, iPad, etc. devices as well. Happy Black Friday Shopping!

Merrylee, The flowers should definitely be mixed or have outer and inner rings. The grouping of the same flowers looks odd, but the types of flowers together are beautiful! Palacebridex2, I also had two dresses that I couldn't decide between. I really liked both, but wasn't completely in love with either of them because there were a few things I wanted to change about them. I totally doubted the "you will just know" thing that married women say (just like I did with a couple of men I had relationships with before I met my FI). Then, I checked out one more shop that happened to be on the way to an errand and found "the one"... You have to try them both on for sure, but you should be totally in love with one!

Thank you so much for sharing the pictures, hstutz2002! For every day I get frustrated with the resort people for lack of response, I see pics like yours and get excited again. It looked like you went with the complimentary package, but your bouquet was more colorful (what I'm looking for). Was that an upgrade? If so, how much did they charge? Novbride. I'm curious about the reception logistics with the iPod setup ... For those that don't know yet, the iPod speaker setup is $220 for 2 hours and $385 for 4 hours ... What did you do for announcements like first dance, father-daughter dance, BM/MOH speeches?

Thank you so much for all of the info Novbride! You were such a beautiful bride BTW. I hope we get to see more of your pictures. I’m curious about what you did for a DJ or MC? Any other PP brides planning on using the iPod setup for music?

Hi Jamie! This is Bryan's fiance! Crazy coincidence! I went through all the Playcar Palace posts and was hoping to pick up a few more hints from the Moon Palace brides. I read your post without reading your name and laughed because it sounded like it could be us. I laughed even harder when I saw that is was about us! Congrats on your engagement!! Steve let us know that you were getting married and the date because he wasn't sure if he could make it to both. He said yours was in Cancun though, so I was shocked to see you on here. Crazy that you'll be five min away! Bry might even be able to play a round of golf with your dad and Mikey. I was actually thinking about sending you a message on FB to say hi and congrats and maybe share some DW ideas. Sounds like you've had some mutual frustrations with getting in touch with your on-site wedding coordinator. I finally got a name and email for the PP on-site coordinator today from Janessa Lopez in the wedding department. Janessa's email is [email protected], if you want to try to get your on-site coordinator contact info from her too. It's so frustrating that we can't start planning things sooner than 3 months before. Glad I got to say hello! Reese