shaheenie

Did you look into the palace resorts Collin Cowe Collections for the reception - the quality is way better than Zuniga (I saw them both in person) and they are $300.00 per table - including everything.....chairs, table, and decor. So that would be half of what you were quoted and trust me - much much better quality. Check it out here http://www.palaceresorts.com/weddings/weddingcollection/package4-en.html

Hi Ladies, I have a few tips for the 2013 Brides here if you are interested! Best of luck planning! http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/66759/moon-palace-2012-brides/6160#post_1836847

Maybe the legal ceremony has charges. We did a symbolic ceremony - perhaps someone on here will be able to let you know

I think I was closer to the 30 day mark when they finally contact me!! Are you doing a symbolic ceremony as opposed to a legal ceremony? If so the wedding certificate is a lie - we didn't pay for it - just refuse to. They tried to pull extra charges on us and we just held firm...its a bit of a headache, they will back down eventually. You can mention that you spoke to Miami and asked if there was a charge for this and they said no -- that will work for sure.

Hey Guys! I just returned from the Moon Palace and I will definitely do a longer review in a few days but I have some tips for the next batch of brides Regarding the Construction at Sunrise: I think the construction varries from day to day but it looks like they are done the bulk of it in the lobby. There was still one section shut off for construction but you really have to go a ways to find the area so you still get a wow factor when you walk in. I stayed at Nizuc but didn't see anything at Sunrise that would make me not want to stay there so for those who couldn't switch it do not worry. Onsite Coordinator My onsite coordinator was Zarray - she was really fantastic and definitely knows what she is doing. We had a few hiccups with her but they always managed to get fixed and when it came to the important stuff like running around making sure no random people walked any where near our wedding (we were on the beach) or getting transportation to my grandma who can't walk very far she was on it. We also had a helper coordinator named Karen who was wonderful. One of the wedding coordinator was in an accident and so ours took over her weddings as well so she was running around like crazy and so Karen helped drive us around on the day of our wedding as well as set up our private functions pre-wedding. I would recommend that if you do think you coordinator seems busy that you ask for an assistant. Music We went with a playlist that we created and I had a handful of people tell me it was the best music ever. I say, skip the DJ - use your cash somewhere else and make a playlist on itunes. You can set the crossfade so you don't hear any white noise and as well cut the songs so that the flow is just right and annoying intros or song ends do not exsist. And as a fringe benefit I now have 3.5 hours of dancing music for every party I throw! Spa I saw this on the forum here but couldn't find where so I thought I would mention - if you are doing your hair and make-up for the big day in the spa using your resort credits (which is what I did) request Alfredo - he was AMAZING! And this is from someone who is a make-up artist and insainely fussy! He cannot do individual lashes though nor does he have any false lashes so you will need to bring your own. But he can put on the regular false lashes very well. I would recommend you going to MAC or a make-up store ahead of time and picking out all your colors and purchasing them - his make up color selection is very latin ( a bit darker) and I like more of a californian look so I was glad I had my colors with me. Alfredos hairstyling is awesome as well - I had him do a fishtail braid for my private function pre-wedding and a fairly difficult up do and he did a great job! Just make sure you bring a photo of what you want done as his English isn't the best Resort Credits After reading so many negative reviews on the resort credits I was scared to death about them - it was fine though! They try to get you to sit down with them to go over what you can do with them but since I had already received the email I skipped it and just booked my stuff. It was hard to finish them up but it was awesome to get to do free tours, free hair and make-up and even the romantic dinner. Use them and don't let them talk to you about too much else (ie timeshares) Videography I know most people do not add this into their special day - its a bit of a new trend but we hired Carlos Gallardo to do our videography and they were AMAZING! They came to the resort a few days before to meet with us and get an idea of what we wanted and then they did their thing! I could really see their thought process - they even set up "scenes" for us and directed us on what to do. They put mics on us for our vows - and they were very reasonable! We only booked them a couple weeks before we left and I am so happy we did! http://gallardofilms.com/blog/ Photography We went with Samuel Luna - he was amazing as well! We looked at his pictures online and they looked really good and we were shocked when we got the quote in, very reasonable. We got a portrait/TTD session with the package we selected and we chose to do a few couples pics and I did boudoir as well - Samuel suggested a Cenote for the backdrop and arranged for our transportation (for free) it was phenomenal. I'm super excited to see the images!) http://samuellunablog.com/ Decor For the ceremony we went with the Free Collin Cowe collection and it was beautiful but simple. For the reception we went for the metallic sands square table. It was AMAZING!! Definitely go with something collin cowe - I saw the pure collection set up that looked great too. Its about $300.0 per table which is in line with Zuniga's pricing but much better quality! The table linens are very high end material and nice and heavy and everything matches perfectly without you having to do all the work. For the head table we went with Zuniga's chocolate brown table with candles and it matched perfectly. I think that is all but if you guys have specific questions feel free to ask

Did you book with a travel agent? Get your travel agent to get a contract with Palace resorts - the catch to this is that all the bookings must occur under the contract so people who book "on their own" and not through your travel agent do not count. Hope this helps!

I can totally feel your pain! I found the whole planning a wedding experience to be so interesting and now can see the hidden blessing. At the end of the day, you got to find out who is going to be there for you when it matters and who won't be. Its good to have that knowledge about the people around you so early on. I say, accept it and screw 'em. You will have the best time no matter what! And any one who can't come for no good reason isn't worth having attend anyway! Of course there are good reasons for not coming and that is a totally different matter but it seems to me like Sisters of the Groom in the bridal party with around 18 months notice probably do not have a legit excuse.

I've borrowed my cousin's Jimmy Choos for the reception and gold strappy sandals under my Sari for the ceremony! I don't know what color your going for but these from Aldo are super cute - http://www.aldoshoes.com/ca-eng/women/shoes/high-heels/92011419-soshnik/85

I spoke with my WC on the phone today - I was very firm and she let it go -- finally! Phewwph, one less thing to worry about!

Update - I received an email back from my WC again asking for payment via email. So I take it that they are not going to accept payment via phone. I have simply said no at this point - I am super stressed that this will affect my treatment at the moon palace and hope it doesn't affect my wedding. I am reassured to hear mostly once people get there they are having positive experiences so I keep on trying to remind myself of that but this has really put a negative taste in my mouth.

Ok, so I've called my credit card company about this and just and FYI they said you should NEVER email out your credit card number. You'll void your protection on your card. I've asked the WC if they accept payment via phone which my credit card company said would be acceptable to them. I'm waiting to hear back but thought I would share it with you guys in case anyone else ran into the same problem.

Hey all! I need your help - I am not sure why by my wedding coordinator is being super pushy about me paying the PO before arriving in Cancun. I have refused 3 times explaining that I do not provide my credit card number via email and that I will not pay the extra fees it take to wire the money. I mention that if they had a secure method online I would be willing to do so, but since they do not I will wait to pay when I get there. Here is my coordinators most recent comment - it feels a bit like blackmail "I do understand your feelings about providing your credit card number for payment, anyway, all extra services must be pre-paid before your arrival, otherwise they cannot be confirmed and will be based on availability, so we cannot assure that all the requested areas will be set up, as you can imagine we have a lot of events everyday and all of them are previously paid and programmed, unfortunately these are company polices and we have to go by them. I know many brides paid at the Resort, but as you know it used to happen at the Miami office, and we already closed that office because of all trouble little details like this one caused. I’ll be waiting for your kind response." So, brides.....anyone else had to deal with this??? Thanks in advance - I am so perplexed about this situation.

Whaat?!! I definitely did not get that information!

Hey Guys! I just received my PO. I have heard horrible things about the Miami office misusing people's credit card numbers. My current co-ordinator (in Cancun) has asked me to fill out a credit card auth form...did you guys do this or are you waiting to do it once you get there? Thanks for you help!

Hey guys! Can I ask, for those who have gone and come back - did you have your hair and make up done at Moon Palace, who did you use and would you recommend them? Thanks so much!

I'm November 12th! We will be there at the same time We are there from Nov 7 - 16th. We will just miss each other! Our wedding is November 12th! Thanks for the idea of the photographer booking a room I'll definately do that. Are you guys having an outdoor reception. I also just noticed on some fine print that they have a $30/pp charge for "setup" in outdoor locations -- when I called Miami when I was deciding which hotel I was told there is no such charge.....eek!

I was told it was $50.00 per table per hour?!

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!

I was hoping to have my destination wedding (november 2012) at this place but see that it was recently given a really bad review. Does anyone have any experience with the resort that could let me know their opinion of it? Thanks in advance!