JeanaBeena

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Originally Posted by RexandKia 
 

These photos are for KimmyB (and anyone else that is interested!). Sorry it's taken me so long to post them. We just returned from our honeymoon. Our wedding was on Isla Beach and we held our reception at the Element Terrace. Let me know if you need more info/pictures! 

 

 

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Thanks! Where did you get the baskets for the shoes from? Did the resort provide them?

Quote:

Originally Posted by EVKnowsitall 
 

I love your laidback nature. From your invites I can tell you guys are a fun couple. Invites should say something about the couple and these certainly do. Super cute!

haha - you're like a mind reader!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Peach 
 

I love these! Good job! So awesome!

Thank you They took me all night but everyone loved how they turned out!

Quote:

Originally Posted by soontobeawalsh 
 

 

 

 

I will add my vote to that!!

Hahah - I never really thought of it. I'm not sure it would be worth the time it took me to make this (about 8 hours!). But you guys have me thinking! What would something like this go for? $30? $50? Maybe I'll start taking orders

Quote:

Originally Posted by m8chow 
 

Hmmm.... I guess printing in colour and framing could have a similar affect.  I never thought of that, thanks soontobeawalsh!! 

 

I def still want to do something like this.  It's such a great idea.

You could get cute vinyl letters (sticker packs) from Michael's or Joanns! Then you can mix and match styles too to get a similar look and feel

Thank you  

I came up with this idea by blending together the new trend for chalkboard wedding signs, the “pick a seat, not a side†mentality and the need for something that would pack and travel well to a destination wedding. 

I completed it yesterday in just a few hours - detailed step-by-step instructions are on my blog here.

We wanted a certain retro feel to ours so I did a ton of searching online for inspiration and then designed our own!

Are you available Nov 11, 2013 in Punta Cana?

You should just create your own on your own domain. I did mine!

Since I used to design websites and I'm a blogger, I went ahead and just created my own. Let me know if I can help with yours!

benandjeana.com

Originally Posted by Tammy Host 

 

You might want to try one of the BDW Travel Agents.  We Specialize in Destination weddings and are an ONYX level agency with them.  

 

Also, November is not the slow season in Mexico.  I compared the rates you were quoted to another Moon Palace wedding we have in November and our rates are quite a bit lower.

 

Regarding group blocks and amenities: you only get them on bookings made through the group block.  Expedia, orbitz bookings will not count towards your group amenities.  In fact, even if you book a wedding at a palace resort and qualify for free group amenities like a cocktail hour, etc. your guests that did not book through the group block would have to pay to attend your events.  The free events are only FREE for your guests that have booked via the group block contract.

 

For more info, you can contact us:  Contact a Destination Wedding Specialist HERE

 

You can read some of our reviews here: Wright Travel Agency ~ Destination Wedding Specialist Reviews HERE

Thanks Tammy! I was actually just at Moon Palace last week and did a site tour/inspection with both the sales manager and wedding coordinator. They both told me November (early - before Thanksgiving) was the end of their low season as that is when hurricane season officially ends (end of Nov).

Regardless, I appreciate the insight on pricing and how bookings work. I am very interested in using your agency to assist in planning my wedding. I in contact with Virgilia currently - is this the correct person?

Thanks again!!

Originally Posted by jburress21 

 

Hello! I have my conference call with roxi at the end of this month! But we can't decide on the time for the ceremony. Right now we have 4:00 on the beach booked but are really considering changing it to the sunset at 530? I just want to make sure we will have time for pictures after (we are bringing our own photographer). Any suggestions?!  

If you want sunset photos, i recommend having your ceremony 1.5-2 hours BEFORE sunset. if you have your ceremony at sunset, you wont have much light for your after photos...

Is anyone on here using a travel agent to book their group? What incentives can you earn for large groups? (I'm thinking 50-75 guests...)

Originally Posted by bromadka 

 

You are awesome and thank you SO much for your message! I very recently canceled my wedding bouquet, the boutonnieres AND corsages. I just couldn't see spending that amount of money on flowers. After all, our ceremony will be less than 20 minutes! 

 

I found two websites that are really great who do synthetic flowers. I am getting my bouquet through www.littlebouquetshop.com and the boutonnieres through  www.afloral.com  for anyone else who reads this post. Very reasonable, excellent reviews and the flowers seem gorgeous.

 

Congrats on your April 2014 nuptials! How exciting! I am really counting down at this point.

 

Your jewel and broach bouquets will be amazing!!

 

Thank you again for the info!!!

 

~Brandy

Another idea I saw elsewhere is to get bouquets for the bridesmaids to hold for the ceremony, but then reuse them as centerpieces for the dinner! I thought this was a fantastic idea. Just pull sand in a tall cylinder vase with some sea shells and wrap a ribbon around the outside. Then just put in the bouquet and there are your centerpieces!

Originally Posted by bromadka 

 

Hi Kelly!

 

Where is your wedidng?

 

Yeah, the flowers are a huge expense. When I saw the ideas with the fans I jumped on it! I have seen a lot of gorgeous bouquets on pinterest that are articifical. They don't look artificial at all. That was going to be the way I went if I didn't do a real bouquet.  

 

Because we have saved with other things for the wedding, we've also been able to have a calypso band for an hour. Just to give you an idea, here's how it will go as far as music at our reception: one hour steel band during dinner ($600). Dinner APPARENTLY runs two hours (I can't imagine that but we'll see). So after the steel band is finished, we are planning on doing an hour (or so) of music on our playlist. That way, we can do our cake cutting, first dances, etc to our own music. During the third hour of our reception we are having a calypso band play for an hour ($600). After that we will have one hour left of our own playlist music. Our reception is a total of four hours. So we will have two bands and we still won't be paying as much as we would have for a DJ ($1400). It's worked out really well. We figured it's an island wedding so why not take advantage of the island music. We saved by not having them play for longer than an hour. It will give us a taste of that music for an hour and then we can have our own music from our playlist. All we had to do was order speakers in order to have our playlist. Done and done.

 

Hope this helps!

 

If you have any other questions please don't hesitate to ask!!

 

~Brandy

The wedding packages don't look like they include cocktail party or the reception dinner. How much does that cost?

Originally Posted by bromadka 

 

Oh, I forgot to mention...the flowers there are VERY expensive. Reason for that is because they have to have all of their flowers shipped. No flowers on site. My bouquet is $400 and I tried in every way to get it cheaper. My bridesmaids bouquets were $180 a piece! I was having a really hard time spending that amount of money for flowers that the girls are only going to carry for 15 minutes!

 

My friend who was just married at Turks had her girls carry white fans. It was the neatest thing and totally beachy and islandy (if that's even a word). So I canceled the girls' bouquets and went with the fans! The fans are $5 a piece!!! You can order them yourself or on the Beaches site (we ordered them through Beaches). So $10 for both girls as opposed to $360! And it totally completes the beach theme and perfect for an island wedding!

 

Just an idea I wanted to throw at you.

do you happen to have a photo of what this looked like? Interesting idea!

do you happen to have a photo of what this looked like? Interesting idea!

Curious how everyone chose to handle the group bookings for their travel. Did you just go through the hotel directly and sign their group contract?

I was originally going to do so, but the group rate they gave me is pretty ridiculous. This is what I was given for November 2013 (SLOW season)

According to this, a room with 2 adults would be $382. On expedia, you can get the same room for $350. Also, if you book direct, by the chart above, 4 adults in a room would cost $688 where on Expedia - it's still just $350. Everywhere else charges PER ROOM, not per person.

I hate to ask people to pay more money to go thru the hotel directly, but with a planned guest attendance of 100+, I need to make sure I earn the 75 room night benefits, and still allow everyone to get their resort credits, etc.

So can I use a travel agent instead and are their rates more in line with Expedia/cheap caribbean? Are you still able to earn the function benefits/upgrades? Has anyone tried asking for a better group rate direct from the hotel?

Curious how everyone chose to handle the group bookings for their travel. Did you just go through the hotel directly and sign their group contract?

I was originally going to do so, but the group rate they gave me is pretty ridiculous. This is what I was given for November 2013 (SLOW season)

According to this, a room with 2 adults would be $382. On expedia, you can get the same room for $350. Also, if you book direct, by the chart above, 4 adults in a room would cost $688 where on Expedia - it's still just $350. Everywhere else charges PER ROOM, not per person.

I hate to ask people to pay more money to go thru the hotel directly, but with a planned guest attendance of 100+, I need to make sure I earn the 75 room night benefits, and still allow everyone to get their resort credits, etc.

So can I use a travel agent instead and are their rates more in line with Expedia/cheap caribbean? Are you still able to earn the function benefits/upgrades? Has anyone tried asking for a better group rate direct from the hotel?

Originally Posted by shan0487 

 

No they do not charge you per guest if you get the free 3 hour event.  What they will charge you is per table after those 2 hours that are included in the dinner reception.  For example- if you have your wedding at 4, cocktail from 5-6 and reception from 6-10- you will pay per table (I think it's like $80-100) per hour for anything over those 2 hours that are included in your "freebees"  The 30 persons you are referring to is the dinner reservation in a restaurnat that you could use in lieu of a private reception. 

Thank you so much! That is much clearer. Just to make sure, do you know if this applies even to the Cowie weddings? I guess I'm confused as to WHEN someone would pay the $300/table charge that is shown with the collections. I suppose it is only for people who don't make the 75 nights and have to pay for the reception dinner?

Hi everyone! I'm sorry if this has already been answered, but I can't seem to find a straight answer anywhere. For those of you that have had your wedding already this year AND YOU MET THE 75 Room night minimum AND YOU HAD MORE than 30 guests, was there a per person fee for dinner for you additional guests?

From what I understand, once you meet the 75 room nights, you get 3 hours of free functions for each day you are there. On your wedding day, most people use this for 1 hr cocktail and 2 hour reception dinner. My question is, is this only for up to 30 people? If so, what is the fee for extra people? lets assume I will have 100 guests.

Thanks for your help in advance! I did just do a site visit and will be posting photos soon (but somehow I missed asking this question - lol)