CurlyBride

Hiii MPBP so it sounds like your planning your events similar to what I had. I had the symbolic ceremony in tucan gazebo followes by cocktail hour at venido terrace followed by dinner/reception at carabeno terrace.To have a sit down plated dinner you have to have it as a private function bc you have more then 30 people therefore they won't let you set it up in the carrabeno restaurant. Only the rooftop of the carrebeno which is a private space and will charge you $12 pp for the private space. Also plated means you will have to choose the menu for all. Only 1 thing for appetizer and 1 salad and entre for all. Because of this we chose th Buffet set up which worked out great since we had the lavender lux reception collection and decorated tables w china so people just filled up their own plates and sat down to eat just like plated. Let me know if you have any more questions

That's great thanks! I'm not bothered about a private area really for my dinner. Just would rather a sit down plated meal. So even with unlimited private functions (for having over 75 room nights) there is still a $35pp extra charge for sit down meal? It's a pain when you the resort don't email back to clarify anything! Thanks your help, it's cleared some stuff up! X

Just a heads up. For those who order anytime of videography services along with the photograpther they offer the master DVD for $145/hour which is insane. I really wanted it to so at the resort they told me they would give me 6 hours of my wedding video for the cost of 2 hours $290 and i turned it down. When I got home I emailed the photo department again and they droped it to $145 for the +6 hours and thats what i went with. I should be getting the wedding video and photo package tonight.... keeping my fingers crossed to see what  my pics and video looks like

My refund from the unlimited events was applied to my bill at check out. This was arranged by my onsite wedding planner Emy. However MP forgot to  to take off my initail deposit payment of 2500 from the overall bill and we didnt realize until we got home. So now we are waiting for that refund which they started and stated it takes about 6 weeks. You can call the wedding department at Cancun and see at what process the refund in is.

Hi ladies,

I had my wedding at moon Palace on 11/11/12. IT WAS PERFECT as promised by many brides before. The wedding planner was Emy, she is great... very organized and on point with all details.

Friday night all the guests met for a Meet & Greet at the Sunrise side at the Swing bar which turned out great (even though there was no music because the sound system was broken)

Saturday night i had a rehearsal at 6:30pm at Bungalbina Gazebo followed by Rehearsal Dinner at the Terrace in front.

Sunday we had the wedding at Tucan Gazebo followed by cocktail hour at the Venedo Terrace and reception until 11pm at the Carabeno terrace.

Monday we ordered a private Catamaran cruise for all guests with bus transporation. We did this through Cancun Catamaran but once we got to the hotel we canceled it and made a reservation through Palace Vacation Planner with Albatros Catamran out of Albatros Marina in Cancun.

Hair + Makeup

Deloris is the BEST (at Nizuc Salon), I did a trial a few days prior to the wedding with her because i have had horrible expereinces with my hair. its very thick and long and curly so its hard to straighten and style but she was patient and calm and took her time to make sure it was perfect.  (I took pics of hairstyles with me)

My makeup was perfect as well. all done by her.

All locations mentioned above were perfect. let me know if you have any specific questions about them.

THE WIND IS STRONG. MY veil flew away during the ceremony. but for the reception it was refreashing

Food

For the rehearsal dinner we had the Mexican Buffet option and it was Delish.

for the wedding we had Cajun and it was really good too so no complaints.

THe superier hordorves for the coctail hour were good to (i was told by the guests)

We used the Lavender Lux collection from Colin Cowie and it looks perfect. We also got the Diamond Package from PSAV and they uplighted the place and the flags we rented from Zuniga.

we also rented a white dance floor which was raised a few inches (i didint know it would be).

The DJ, Hector was amazing. he lived in NY not to long ago and spoke English so he made  all the announcments throughout the reception. we just gave him a timeline.

The day after we arrived we had meetings set up all day. Started with Ocean Photo/Smile Market at 9:00 am then Wedding office at 10:00am with Emy, then PSAV in the wedding office at 11 and 3 pm was the trail.

I took all the favors to the meeting and handed them off. SHe labeled everything.

I also gave her cake topper, cake knifes which were engraved, table numbers and holders and daimond accents for the reception dinner. We also gave her bags to be delivered to all the rooms.

We did a trash the dress shoot with Gonzalo Nunez at a Cenote and beach. It was hard work but amazing all at hte same time. he  was great, very sweet and patient and interesting to talk with. He even took us out to lunch at a great taco place. I really recommend this expereince but again it was hard work trying not to sink in a wedding dress and diving underwater for 3 hours straight.

I pretty much covered everything, ill prob add things as I remember them.

Ask me anything ladies.... im here to help as best as I can.

Love

Maria

Hi ladies, I spoke with my wedding Cancun rep who confirmed the construction in Sunrise, not only in the lobby and halls but also part of the pool in Sunrise will be under construction too. At this time I have put in requests to have all my guests moved and most were but a few guest have to remain on the sunrise side unfortunatly 

Originally Posted by dzaccaria 

 

I want to start looking into centerpieces and lounge areas to rent for my wedding. Who have you girls used? Any contact information would be great!!

I am using Zuniga for a few decorative peices to add to my reception including the dance floor and candles for the tables on top of the Lavender Lux Colin Cowie collection. The contact for Zuniga was katie at the time the Purchase order was made months ago. Its been added to my overall bill through moon palace. Just contact your wedding coordinator in Cancun and they will put you in touch. I just checked and i no longer have the spreadsheet with all the zuniga options to forward. Sorry

THIS IS HORRIBLE. I am so you have to go through this during your special time!

I am supposed to stay on the Sunrise side with 50 of my guests in the middle of November... Do you know when the construction is supposed to be completed? did they give you any further information. I know you dont need to think of this but if you cuold please ask so we November brides can try to change if needed. I would really really appreciate it!

To my fellow November ladies,

What side are you staying out and how many people?

Originally Posted by chicksmommy 

Ok I just wanted to give you ladies a little bit of a heads up.  We got here today at around noon, and I have been crying ever since.  It is awful. An absolute nightmare.  First of all, if you are booked in the Sunrise section- GET IT CHANGED ASAP!!!  This is a damn construction site.. literally.  The lobby was full of drilling, hammers & drywall dust.  Then our room wasn't ready because somebody was still in it.. so we were told it would be a "few hours".  So in the meantime, we were forced to listen to a TIMESHARE SALES PITCH by a pushy salesperson, pressuring us to meet him for breakfast tomorrow morning "for a quick information session".  Um, no thanks.

Then we were put in to a temporary room while we waited for ours, and we had to walk like half a mile THROUGH A CONSTRUCTION ZONE, complete with all of us getting construction dust in our eyes as we walked like 3 ft away from people drilling into the ground and laying concrete.  Nice.  The hallway of our section of Sunrise is covered in dust, nails, trash, and weird somewhat-skanky guests that look like they were given a free room in lieu of a free timeshare seminar.  

Long story short, we raised holy hell to have us and all of our guests moved to Nizuc.  Thank God our families don't get here until tomorrow- I would have been mortified to have them see this.  I can't even describe how horrible it is.  Sitting here crying as I type this post.  This has been horrible.  This "dream wedding" I have been planning for the last 8 months has just crumbled in a matter of minutes.  I have been living & breathing this wedding, ensuring every detail is perfect.. this couldn't be any less perfect if it tried- it's the complete polar opposite.  

Oh and we were starving so we went to for dinner at Bugambilia- and I can't convey how horrible it was.  Nasty, gelatinous old food.  I ate chips & salsa, my daughters had fries.  That's it.  I took a bite of one of the desserts and had to spit it out and thought I was going to puke.  

I'll give more details later.. just wanted to tell you this in case you are coming here any time soon and are staying at Sunshine.  The guy at the desk told us that our travel agent would have been notified of the construction.. I don't know how true that is, but regardless, I'm pissed.  And sad.  God this is a nightmare.  

Hello,

I am not sure how they play the music for the cocktail hour but as for the food. U can choose from a menu. The superior menu tasted so good, I tried them at a friends wedding and will have it for mine.

Originally Posted by Debbieb1972 

Hi,

 

I'm new to this site, leave for Moon Palace in 5 weeks - soooo excited, can't wait now.  Am liaising with Renee my WC and just have a few questions if anyone can help as we haven't been out there before so trying to judge everything by reviews / photos on the web.

 

We have been booked at the Chapel for our wedding and cocktail reception - we are not religious and although it does look stunning, in some of the pictures there's crosses and religious ornaments which we wouldn't want - would anyone recommend changing gazebo to Bugambilias or staying at the chapel (can we have cross etc taken out)

 

I've read we can play music from Ipod during cocktail reception - do you know if they have player for Iphone ??  If not I'll use kids Ipods :-)

 

Are there any recommendations for the food during cocktail hour ?

 

It all seems to be getting real now and lots of questions popping up :-)

 

Thanks in advance,

Hey girl,

I have 30 days left exactly and just received my final PO last night thankfully.

Anyone have location suggestions for rehearsal dinner and meet and greet?

How about telling my guests to just meet at the sunrise swing bar for the meet and greet? good or bad idea?

Also are people tipping their wedding planners and photographers and djs. how much?

Thanks ladies, cant do this without you

Originally Posted by shan0487 

Keep positive thoughts- I will be thinking about you and hoping the storm misses Cancun!!

 

 

6 weeks for me and I finally got a copy of our prelimanary purchase order yesterday!! Yay!!

Originally Posted by ericamarquez 

 

Hello ladies,

I'm also a November bride - 11/9/12.   Has anyone had any luck negotiating with the in-house vendors?   More specifically Zuniga and JSAV? 

I am using zuniga and PSAV

Zuniga- i worked with Katie who was very helpful with naything i needed to know. She even offered me ways to spend less by suggesting different flowers to substitute the expenisive ones for my canopy.

I went with PSAV because they were more responsive to my emails and more affordable.

Right now im waiting on my coordinator Maria Fernanda to send me the final bill so i know the damages... less then a month to go and i still dont have that. and i still need to plan my events around the wedding.

Hello there,

I am a november bride as well. November 11. My photographer is Ocean Photo/SMile Market. No outside vender fee needs to be paid if you use them. I am having a TTD with Gonzalo Nunez 3 days later.

Originally Posted by shaheenie 

Hi All!

 

I'm getting married at Moon Palace in November!

I'm just trying to decide on photography -- has anyone booked an outside photographer. If so, are they paying the "$500 outside vendor fee" and if not, how did you manage to get around this?

Also, I'm having a hell of a time getting my locations confirmed for any of the wedding events -- any tricks on how to do that. I was told by a wedding coordinator ( I kid you not, I have had 3) that locations are not confirmed until we arrive at MP!

 

Oh and lastly, what section of the hotel did you guys choose? Is one particularly better than others?

Thanks so much for all the help you can provide! This is starting to get frustrating!

Good luck october ladies.... Everything will be perfect and dont think about the weather. The forcast almost always says rain for tropical climates. Best of luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I wanted Del Sol so bad for the TTD but just couldnt afford it.. so we booked Gonzalo Nunez and i am thrilled... his work is great and ill be doing the beach + cenote..... cant wait.. we are doing it 3 days after our wedding and we are wearing our wedding attire.. dont care for it to be ruined, ill never wear it again anyways

Hi ladies,

i feel your frustrations as well. I am in the same boat, trying to finalize all so i can start printing. I was not recieving any word back from Maria so I called 1877PAL4WED and the 1st person that answered I explained my frustration.. i think it was a Norma, I said its so terrible that I might cancel because in that moment i totally felt that way... she transfered me to Maria and we spoke, she started emailing me. I told her straight up. If you want me to pay for anything I need to finalize it all and i need help to do that. She has been good about eveyrthing since. Im speaking with JSAV, PSAV and Smile Market, to figure out prices and get quotes and just be DONE with this damn planning.

Thank you, Obviously I urged my guests to stay with us but some really did get much better deals such as families with children that are staying at resorts where children stay and eat free! for example the difference in price for my cousin is a whole $800 if she stays at a nearby Riu property taht is also all inclusive. maybe the pass is 91 and not 80. I should double check that. Im am annoyed that they are not willing to allow the extra 2 in so far. I cannot confirm to those to book their stay elsewhere until i am sure they will be allowed in. and if they wait for me to see if others will book so i can allow more people, a lot of time can pass as well and their own deals can expire. Very frustrating situation that can be resolved if Palace just says ok to 2 more bodies  

Originally Posted by mpweddingplan 

 

 

All 50 of our guests stayed at Moon Palace.  We did not have any guests stay off the property and did not run into this problem.  I do remember reading that policy, both on the website and on the contract.  I am not sure there is any way around it. 

 

Were you not aware of this policy?

 

I set up a group room block at Moon Palace and strongly urged all our guests to book through us.  They would get a better rate, and have a room in the section of the resort with all the other wedding guests.  After doing all the math, there were little to no benefits for guests to book a resort outside of Moon Palace. 

 

I didn't have to deal with this issue, so I am not exactly sure HOW strict they are with the policy.  The day passes were actually $91 per day for our group.  I had to purchase 2 for the photographers.  I wonder where the $80 day pass charge came from? 

 

Obviously they are trying to force as many guests to stay at Moon Palace as possible.  Allowing people from other resorts to come use all the Moon Palace amenities for the day for only $80 (or $91) not only costs them money by not getting the full amount per person for a room night, but also sacrifices the service for Moon Palace guests, by having more people from outside resorts coming in to use all the facilities. 

 

I can completely understand why they limit the amount of guests you can bring in on day passes.  However, I am not sure how strict the policy really is.  I would think that if you are over the limit by only 2 guests...they would be willing to work with you about it.  Or, if some of your guests have not fully booked yet, I think you should urge them to come stay at Moon Palace for the week with the rest of the wedding group, and you should be good with the day passes situation.

 

Also, if you are bringing in an outside photographer, you may have to purchase day passes for them, and those would count towards your 20% as well.  Just something to consider.

Hello ladies,

I think we will do a private meet and greet on a terrace, or I may just tell all the guests to meet at the swing bar without an offical event. Thanks for all the help with this!

I now ran into a new problem with Palace resorts thats really bothering me.

I have about 10 people who will be staying at other resorts in the area but are traveling to mexico to attend my wedding.

The contract states Palace will onyl allow entry to 20% of my guests from the group booking and each that enters must pay $80. So far I have 38 peopel booked, that means about 8 can enter the resort. What am i to do about the 2 more that i need passes for. I emailed my wedding coordinator at the cancnun office (Maria) who checked and said she cant really do anything? but my family needs to know if they should book or not?

Anyone found a loophole with this yet? PLEASE HELP

PS. i am pissed because they are limitnig access yet still except payment anyways so why not just let people in and charge them?

thanks in advance ladies

Hi ladies, what are your plans for rehearsal dinners? meet and greets or farewell ideas?

I wanted to do a catamaran cruise as a fairwell but I cant do that until I know I have under 50 guests and people are still booking their trips.

Ideas please!

TIA

Originally Posted by Laura1220 

 

do you know what kind of services the DJ offers?  Does it include lights, props, do they need you to provide the music?  The contract they sent me does not describe any of that, mainly just the equipment provided and a DJ service.

All of the above should be included but its based on the package you select. They have a choice of 4 packages i remember, I choose the one with the most stuff in it i think called Diamond. You should email them to confirm... this is the email i have www.jsavmexico.com and the girl that emailed me is [email protected]  /  [email protected] . Hope this helps.

I am using JSAV. My friends were married at Aventura Spa Palace 2 years ago and used their services and were super happy with it so we figured we would use them as well, we picked the biggest package so we get everything possible for the reception since we want to party hard!!! They just sent me an email to confirm everything.

Hi ladies...

1st off... Congrats mpweddingplan, so glad you were able to enjoy yourself and the weather passed. cant wait to see pics!!!

So I just received an email from Ocean Photo Studio saying they cant wait to work with me blah blah blah.... im confused. I thought the hotel photograhper is Smile Market..... are they the smae company??? i see some of the vender reviews for Ocean Photo Studio say smile market. Has anyone else had this issue yet? Past brides... do you know anything about this?

Thanks so much!!!

Hello Fellow Brides,

So I am officaly 3 months out from the day I leave (Nov 6), This morning I decieded to reach out to the new Cancun office. I found 1800-PAL-4-WED on the palace website and called. They connected me to my booking coordinator Maria Fernandez (seems super sweet and nice) who confirmed all my information from the miami office. I am now emailing with her back and forth to finalize a few things. She assured me that the payment process has changed and it is more secure then it was with the Miami office since they process the payments right there through a mexican bank. She said they had a different system before. Seems good so far but its only day 1 so lets see how this goes.

Love

-M

Voted...... good luck

 

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by LRDubbs 

Hi Ladies,

 

My big day will be next year October 19, 2013. I am a finalist in the AMW Destination Wedding Photography Contest. I am reaching out to you all to vote for me and my fiance (LaShawn and Cedric) in this contest and please  please please share with your friends. The link is below 

 

https://amwstudios.com/index.php/blog/

 

Thank you all and I wish you all well in planning for the big day! I just got confirmation from the Hard Rock Punta Cana for my big day, so now it is full steam ahead! I am excited!

Hi ladies... so my Fi and I are using Smile Market for the wedding day photoes, starting from getting ready and going into the night. I just decided to go with Gonzalo Nunez for our TTD and cenote... so exciteddddddddd!!!!!!!!!!! Originally i thought of using Del Sol but the prices are just way to high and I followed Gonzalo on facebook and now completely love his work.

Im this far along because we started the planning process last december and my FI would call the miami office nonstop demanding someone speak with him and he would get all the needed info. We signed a contract a few months back that secured our locations... hopefully it still stands with all the changes. I think that if all you need now are decorations then its simple since the Cancun office has the people in it with the knowledge. I think it will be fine, most of the brides have told us that everything works out.

Originally Posted by DSanz 

Thank you so much Curly Bride. I am so surprised you are this far along. Now I feel like I am behind the power curve.

 

I need to move a little quicker I guess. Please keep me posted on how things are progressing and I will do the same for you.

 

D

Hi Lauren

I went through a local travel agency that i have been using for years. they signed a room contract on my behalf. Whenever you use an agent, you should know that they make a commision of about 15% on each booking. My agent gave up about 8% per booking so that my per night cost decreased by about $30. I think the hotel gave me rates of 360/per night per room, now its 335. WHen you add flight (depends on time of year and location) it should range from 1500-1800 pp for 7 nights. We are 4 months out now its about 1550, my guests that booked 3 months ago paid 1750, so the prices do change.

Originally Posted by LaurenCieply 

Hello brides /grooms,
I was wondering if you could help me with some estimates on rates . I am currently working with a few travel agents to get some rates for my July 20th 2013 wedding . However, many of the rates are coming in 300 per person including air . I was hoping for closer to 200 . Is 300 accurate or high Please help !! If people don't mind if they can share their rates including air per person per night ! Your all the best !