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@@soon2BHammel719 Hehe even my engagement ring is pink! We've picked Moon Palace, based on many factors. We wanted somewhere that has kids activities, close to the airport, lots of activities to do, and can accommodate a larger wedding (120+ppl). You never know how many will show up! Our initial guest list has 320 and I'm estimating 40-50% will attend (our family and friends are super excited and have been expecting a DW since we got engaged in January!).

Off season is do-able to get cheaper guest rates. Talk to different travel agents too, as they all have different prices!

I've been driving my TA crazy too! haha. The rates are still high for Aug 2015 @@maredith, but have lowered since March/April when I first started looking. I'm hoping to get rates under $1500 for Moon Palace... I'm expecting to book between Sept 2014-Jan 2015! 

@@soon2BHammel719 Congrats on your engagement! What kind of prices were you inquiring about, cost for guests or for the actual wedding itself?

From my research, destination wedding costs don't vary much from at home, the only reason you save money is because less people attend!

Some resorts have a certain number of people included, but if you go over, you still have to pay for each person's meal/alcohol ($25-100+ per person). Some resorts you also have to pay extra for plated meals. For my wedding I will also need to pay extra ($6/per person) for chairs at the ceremony! There are also costs like DJ, decor, photography, music, speakers, flowers, dress, rings, invitations, etc that you would probably have to pay for regardless of where your wedding will be.

I'm personally getting very overwhelmed with the costs! It sure adds up quickly.

In terms of costs for the guests, I am hoping to secure rates of $1500 or under for hotel, flight, and transfers.

@@maredith Yes I am reserving my date with the resort now and I'm planning to book my flights and all that later on!

@@LisaAnthonyPoppy I'm still in the early stages! And already getting frustrated I have a wedding planner/travel agent that does like 25 weddings at Palace resorts per year, so I'm hoping she will help me avoid vendor fees and other stupid things that these resorts throw at you! I'm hoping I can just tell her what I want and she can figure it out with Moon Palace! We'll see how things go!

Hello everyone,

I was wondering if anyone had any great ideas for engagement photos in Toronto.

Since we're doing a destination beach wedding, we wanted to keep that theme. Our photographers had suggested Centre Island (since there's parks, beach, Centreville) so there's variety for photos. We also live near High Park which would be nice.

I don't really love the whole park thing, I wanted to do something more creative. My fiance wants to do them at the airport! 

Anyone have any other suggestions? I don't mind paying permit fees if it's the right location.

@@maredith I'm in Toronto and the rates I'm getting are ok - around $1650 I think. We're hoping to get it under $1500! But if you factor in the 3 free rooms for every 30 ppl booked it works out pretty well. I'm probably going to wait until Sept/Oct to get my guests to put deposits down. BTW I'm looking at a July 31 or Aug 1 wedding (still waiting to hear confirmation from MP!)

@@LisaAnthonyPoppy Thanks for your post! You've really hit the nail on the head. Glad it all worked out for you.

The whole wedding industry is a sham. As soon as you say wedding, whether you're at home or in Mexico, you're getting screwed. I've debated SO many times whether to just cancel this whole destination thing and just do a wedding at home. The cost wouldn't be much different at the end of the day and I would have more control and the legal system to protect me from fraud/contract changes! I guess the difference is at home the vendors want referrals and want to make you happy, for a destination they don't need business, there are always suckers willing to pay whatever they ask. For all of us brides we just have to make the best of it! Anytime I travel I go with the expectation that I'm being screwed over, but as long as I'm happy with the outcome then it's ok.

Ok I'll look into it! 

That's great to hear that you love your photos! Glad it worked out despite the change.

Let me know if you hear back from a coordinator! I'll ask my TA - she's done a ton of weddings at Palace resorts!

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to make a budget and I am wondering the approx cost of wedding photography in Cancun for 6-8 hours. 

I am doing engagement photos here at home and the photographers have given me a quote for my destination wedding, but it's pretty high, plus I would need to cover their flight/hotel. It would be great to get an idea of what to expect!

Thanks!

Does anyone here know anything about doing a midnight snack table at the Palace resorts?

I am planning on extending my reception (ballroom venue) and would like to do a midnight buffet since everyone will be drinking and dancing all night long. I asked on the Moon Palace thread but no one knows! Since it's at midnight would it count as a separate event? What are the options? I've read on this forum at other resorts people were able to get churro carts or taco carts. Do the Palace resorts have anything like that?

Thanks!

@@LydiaButterfly Do you recall the prices/packages for Dream Art? I'm debating whether to take my own photographers or not.

I love Playacar Palace! If my guest list wasn't so big I would have chosen that resort. It's walking distance (like 5 mins I think) to PDC.

Yeah it's really tough because there are no resorts that have 100% good reviews! Some people just complain about everything.

I'm a huge nerd and what I did was make an Excel spreadsheet with all my resort options and went through TripAdvisor ratings and the wedding ratings here on BDW. I used the overall % on TripAdvisor and took the percentage of the negative reviews.

The best overall (for me - I was looking at all-inclusive children-friendly resorts that would be affordable for 1 week) was Playacar Palace followed by Beach Palace and Iberostar (forgot which one! I think Grand?). I ended up choosing Moon Palace, but I was looking at other factors such as activities, price, and location. 

Great ideas! I'm torn on how much to spend as well.. 7 bridesmaids and 7 groomsmen! The gifts are going to be a solid chunk of our budget :S

I really like the raffia sashes with starfish or shells. Very beachy! And raffia comes in different colours so you can match your theme.

I ordered samples from weddingpaperdivas.com and they turned out pretty nice! I love their designs and I like how the back of the flat invitation is printed. I think Vistaprint does that too. On sites like Wedding Paper Divas, Magnet Street, Mixbook there are always promotions too, I think the base price is around $1.69 (Wedding Paper Divas) each plus you get like 20% off so it's not too bad. 

Could you ask a friend or family member to set it up for you? That would avoid the steep set up fees!

I tried on a couple lace dresses with a sash, one was a Cymbeline (not sure which one..) and another was a Maggie Sottero (Lark)

http://www.theknot.com/wedding-dress/maggie-sottero/lark 

How do the resort credits work for weddings?

I have read that they can only be used for the ceremony, does anyone have any updated information regarding that?

Thanks!

Thanks for the input everyone! After 6 months of ho-humming and making excel charts comparing all the different packages, we finally decided on Moon Palace!

I'm hoping to do a 6 hour reception. It costs extra ($60/per table per hour I think). I just want our wedding day to feel special and different. We're going to be at the lobby bar/club probably every day that we're there so I want the wedding to feel like a separate event.

Officially sent in my form to book my date! After 6 months, we FINALLY decided on Moon Palace!

@@SophiaS

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