smilenstacy

@@JennyGoll When is your wedding? If you haven't picked your private event locations, I would do that ASAP. There are usually multiple weddings per day there, so the good locations get booked up fast, esp on the weekends or during their busy season. I brought all my gift bag supplies down in luggages with me. My WP had advised against shipping since it might not go through customs so it's not really reliable. Plus international shipping costs with the taxes are ridic, and it's cheaper and easier to just pay for checked bags. Or if you have guests that can help you bring them down, even better!

@@TheBHolders just emailed you the guide!

@@JennyGoll Did your wedding planner send you the Palace Resorts Wedding Collection Guide? It has pricing info for all wedding related stuff. For private functions, if you don't meet the 75 night min for free events, it's $50/pp. I think for a group under a certain size (I want to say it's either 20 or 30), you have the option of having a semi-private reception at a sectioned off part of a restaurant, so that's an option too if your group is small and you don't want to pay all the additional fees. I can send you the guide if you want, but it's from last year, so you might want to ask your wedding planner for an updated one. I did the sand ceremony also. I brought all my own stuff, vases and sand, and provided our officiant with the script.

@@MBK, here are some photos of the Grand Terrace along with the Venado Terrace. I had my cocktail reception there and it's a really nice area right next to the beach with a beautiful view! I would've totally had my dinner reception there if our group wasn't so big. https://www.flickr.com/gp/smilenstacy/vqg656/ @misbosox How many people are you expecting at your wedding? I had my wedding ceremony at the Tucan gazebo, cocktail reception at the Venado terrace, and dinner reception at Grand terrace. The Tucan and Moon Grand terraces aren't that far apart, I would say a 5-7 min walk, and Venado terrace is in between. You can see the Venado terrace from the Tucan terrace along the beach. I had my dinner reception at the Grand terrace b/c it was the only outdoor venue that would accommodate a group our size. We had a little over 70 guests. The venue's really nice, but since it's not right along the beach and there's a bunch of palm trees blocking the ocean breeze, it got REALLY hot, even though it was nice and cool with the ocean breeze at the Venado terrace where we had the cocktail reception. BUT, the ocean side terraces can get really windy at night, so if you plan on having any tall centerpieces or light weight decorations, they might get blown over. Also, events at Tucan/Venado terraces have to end by 10 pm, whereas Grand terrace events don't have to end until 11pm. This might not matter if you're having your wedding in the winter when the sun sets earlier, but since ours was at the end of June, it made a difference for us. As for lighting, some of the palm trees at the Grand Terrace already have string lights wrapped around the trunks, but you would definitely need additional lighting. We rented two strings of hanging lanterns and criss crossed them across the middle of the dance floor and that worked out really well. We also had about 10 uplights shining at the palm trees for mood lighting. And we had a bunch of votive candles at each table and some other LED lights for decoration. Here are some photos of the Grand & Venado Terraces to give you better idea of layout, https://www.flickr.com/gp/smilenstacy/vqg656/. Hope this helps!

@@MBK, let me know if you still need photos of the Grand Terrace and I'd be happy to send some over!

What's the tipping etiquette for vendors and resort staff? Am I supposed to tip the photographer, videographer, wedding planner/coordinator, salon, etc.?

@@jackielemman Is Gama Grupos a Moon Palace approved vendor? I've only received Zuniga's service packet from my WP. Would you mind sending me Grupos also? stacyweng@@gmail.com Thanks!

Hello! I'm getting married at MP this June and trying to decide what I need for decor, AV, lighting, etc. Has anyone used any outside vendors besides Zuniga and JSAV? My wedding planner said there's a $800 outside vendor fee for each vendor, which I think is ridic, so unless there's a way around it, I'm pretty much stuck with using their preferred vendors. Any suggestions?? Thanks!!

I'm getting married at MP this June and trying to decide what I need for decor, AV, lighting, etc. Has anyone used any outside vendors besides Zuniga and JSAV? My wedding planner said there's a $800 outside vendor fee for each vendor, which I think is ridic, so unless there's a way around it, I'm pretty much stuck with using their preferred vendors. Any suggestions?? Thanks!!

Shell66, I'm getting married at Moon Palace in June too! When are you getting married? Is the $93 outside vendor fee they quoted you for hair and makeup only, or everything? I was told the outside vendor fee was $800!!!

Does anyone have any area videographer recommendations? Thanks!

I'm getting married at Moon Palace on June 29, 2014, and I'm trying to figure out where to have the private events. We're planning on having a welcome dinner the day before the wedding, and a cocktail reception followed by dinner reception on the day of the wedding. Does anyone have any recommendations on locations that would be suitable for around 100 people? I'm leaning towards terraces for all the events, so there'd be a nice view of the beach, but there are so many terraces between Nizuc, Sunrise and Moon Grand! Any suggestions/feedback or pictures would be helpful! Thanks!

I'm getting married at Moon Palace on June 29, 2014, and I'm trying to figure out where to have the private events. We're planning on having a welcome dinner the day before the wedding, and a cocktail reception followed by dinner reception on the day of the wedding. Does anyone have any recommendations on locations that would be suitable for around 100 people? I'm leaning towards terraces for all the events, so there'd be a nice view of the beach, but there are so many terraces between Nizuc, Sunrise and Moon Grand! Any suggestions/feedback or pictures would be helpful! Thanks!

I'm getting married at Moon Palace on June 29, 2014, and I'm trying to figure out where to have the private events. We're planning on having a welcome dinner the day before the wedding, and a cocktail reception followed by dinner reception on the day of the wedding. Does anyone have any recommendations on locations that would be suitable for around 100 people? I'm leaning towards terraces for all the events, so there'd be a nice view of the beach, but there are so many terraces between Nizuc, Sunrise and Moon Grand! Any suggestions/feedback or pictures would be helpful! Thanks!

Thanks, congrats to you too!!! =D

We're booked for Moon Palace for June 29, 2014!! Yaayy!! Glad we were able to get something nailed down before everything got booked up! Now on to the fun part... =P How far ahead in advance are we able to choose the ceremony and reception locations? I thought that was something we had to wait til 60-90 days prior to the wedding when the onsite coordinator contacts you, but then I thought I've heard brides say they were able to pick the locations way before? I'd like to pick something sooner than later if possible so we're not stuck with a leftover location or something.

Thanks for feedback dzaccaria! The pics look amazing! The water is such a beautiful turquoise in the last pic! I'm hoping to have our guests stay at Moon and have the wedding at Beach, but we'll see how that goes!

Thanks Shanna! I can't thank you enough for the tremendous help you've been so far! =)

Hello ladies! My fiance and I got engaged back in April and from the beginning, we knew we wanted to have a destination wedding! I'm so glad to have found BDW and have spent hours browsing thru the forums and reading reviews! We started out wanting to have our destination wedding in Punta Cana b/c of the beautiful beaches there, but now we're looking at Riviera Maya since it seems like it would be a more cost effective option for our guests, and having more to do in the area outside the resort is also a plus. After tons of research, we've narrowed it down to a few resorts, with Moon Palace and Azul Sensatori being at the top of the list. It seems like all the brides have nothing but good things to say about their experiences at these resorts! I love everything about Moon Palace, in terms of the resort itself, amenities, the feedback from other brides and travelers, etc. However, I'd say my only concern are the beaches at both of these resorts - that it's rocky, with lots of seaweed, and the water isn't as blue. Maybe I'm making too big of a deal out of something small, but I feel like the whole point of having a beach wedding is to have beautiful clear blue waters in the pictures! My fiance has a huge family and they're all going, so this would be like a big family vacation for them, and with a lot of them having never been to the caribbean, he wants to show them beautiful beaches as well. Have anyone else experienced this and has it been a problem? Are there other beaches nearby within walking distance for pictures? Any feedback would be helpful! We want to book a place soon, as we're aiming for a June 2014 wedding and a lot of the dates are already getting booked up! Thanks in advance!

Hello ladies! My fiance and I got engaged back in April and from the beginning, we knew we wanted to have a destination wedding! I'm so glad to have found BDW and have spent hours browsing thru the forums and reading reviews! We started out wanting to have our destination wedding in Punta Cana b/c of the beautiful beaches there, but now we're looking at Riviera Maya since it seems like it would be a more cost effective option for our guests, and having more to do in the area outside the resort is also a plus. After tons of research, we've narrowed it down to a few resorts, with Moon Palace and Azul Sensatori being at the top of the list. It seems like all the brides have nothing but good things to say about their experiences at these resorts! I love everything about Moon Palace, in terms of the resort itself, amenities, the feedback from other brides and travelers, etc. However, I'd say my only concern are the beaches at both of these resorts - that it's rocky, with lots of seaweed, and the water isn't as blue. Maybe I'm making too big of a deal out of something small, but I feel like the whole point of having a beach wedding is to have beautiful clear blue waters in the pictures! My fiance has a huge family and they're all going, so this would be like a big family vacation for them, and with a lot of them having never been to the caribbean, he wants to show them beautiful beaches as well. Have anyone else experienced this and has it been a problem? Are there other beaches nearby within walking distance for pictures? Any feedback would be helpful! We want to book a place soon, as we're aiming for a June 2014 wedding and a lot of the dates are already getting booked up! Thanks in advance!