Wedding Date: 6.14.12

On-Site Coordinator: Kalena

Rehearsal Dinner Location:  El Caribeno

Group Room Block: Nizuc Side

Ceremony Location: Tucan Gazebo

Cocktail Hour: Tucan Terrace

Reception: Laud Ballroom (Nizuc)

Farewell Brunch: Bambu (Golf Course)

 

ARRIVAL/CHECK-IN:  From the airport, they picked us up in a special Suburban with ‘weddings’ (pic below - with Olympus tour company) on the side, so we had our own private transportation.  Once we got past through all of the timeshare people, we were on our way to the resort.  As we pulled up to the resort, they handed me a flower and had a glass of champagne for us by the time we reached the counter to check-in.  Check-in was easy, but we did have to wait awhile on our room (as did quite a few of our guests).  But, we did all arrive before official check-in time.

 

 

ROOMS/RESORT: On the first day, I actually wasn’t that impressed with the room/resort.  But, I think it was because I just came from a wedding in Puerta Vallarta at a smaller boutique hotel.  So, I thought Moon Palace was kind of big and needed some upkeep.  But, the longer I stayed at the resort, the more I liked it.  The rooms are indeed very spacious and the Jacuzzi is a definite plus.  They have a stocked bar of course and all the little amenities that you need.  We got the concierge level, so with that, we got the following: personal concierge service, a 25-minute back message at the Spa, and private rooftop dinner, ocean-view, and turndown service daily.  We also got a ‘treat’ in the room every single day (usually chocolate covered strawberries).  Not sure if that is concierge level or because we were having the wedding there (probably done for every couple). 

 

 

The resort itself is huge! We were there for 9 days, so we were able to see just about everything.  We stayed in Nizuc, and by the end of the stay, I would probably stay there again.  The Grand side is absolutely beautiful, the rooms are bigger (we toured the room) and they have beds on the balconies, which is awesome.  The downside is that they have a very small variety of restaurants, so you have to go to the other sides of the resort for any variety.  The Sunrise size is definitely the most lively and crowded, the lobby area is always bustling and exciting. The rooms are the same as Nizuc, they just have hammocks on the balcony.  And I think the Sunrise buffet is a little better than the Nizuc buffet.  The downside of Sunrise is that it is super crowded, if you want a seat in the lobby area, it might be a struggle, the pools are more crowded and there are a lot more kids on that side.  It is very visually beautiful though and the pool area is quite impressive.  I did like Nizuc because it was neutral.  There were a lot of restaurant options, and you could actually get a seat in the lobby and the staff is great and can attend to you so quickly because there are less people.  So, you seem to get more personal attention.  If I went back for an anniversary trip, I would probably stay at Grand because its more quiet and secluded, but because of its central location and what I mentioned above, I think the Nizuc side is perfect for weddings.

(from my Nizuc outside my room)

Grand side (below)

(Sunrise side - lobby area)

 

 

RESTAURANTS:

El Caribeno – On the Grand side. Beautiful atmosphere and view from the restaurant.  The service was great and the food is ok.  I had a set menu, so I did not get a chance to try everything, but it is a great place to have an event because the Grand side is more quiet than the other sides, so you could have a nice private event there.  And the Grand Terrace is right outside up the stairs, so its perfect with a beautiful view.

 

(Grand Terrace- Below)

Los Tacos – On the Grand side around the corner from El Caribeno down the hill.  It’s a lunch spot (completely outdoor with tables and umbrellas) and the food is actually really good (Mexican style food).  It just taste really fresh and I think some of the best that I had when I was there.  Its overlooking a beautiful pool and has lounge beds all around.  Great lunch spot (and they have a gator over there).

(Los Tacos..some drinks and a little background to show atmosphere)

 

Fragata – On the Sunrise side, an outdoor seafood spot for lunch or dinner.  The food was actually pretty good there.  They have a nice variety and isn’t very crowded.  I liked the outdoor setting right by the water…it’s a little out the way and could easily be overlooked if you did not stay on Sunrise side.

 

La Gondala - Its the Italian buffet in the Sunrise side, but I just thought it was ok food-wise.  You can really get the same in their main buffet with a couple of additional Italian dishes.  It is ver beautiful in there and its really big.  They have a little gondola you can sit in and take pics:

 

Los Coparales – Probably spelling it wrong, but this is the Mexican spot in Nizuc lobby.  Pretty good food, service, and drinks.  They also just bring appetizers to your table for you to try.  I heard there is sometimes a band in there, but it was quiet went I went.  I would go back there (just didn’t get a chance) because the food was pretty good).

 

Arrefices – The Brazilian place in Nizuc lobby.  I am not a meat eater, so I really didn’t like it at all.  But, I went with a group and they seemed to enjoy most of the food.  And I know they did keep your plates full and came around with all types of meat options very often.  They also had a pretty big salad bar.

 

Bambu – I missed my dinner reservations (was at my TTD shoot), so never got to try the dinner, but we did go there for our farewell brunch and it was pretty good and the atmosphere and view are wonderful.

 

 

MOON PALACE SHUTTLES – The shuttles are available in the lobby and run pretty regularly.  They take you from lobby to lobby.  I honestly wish they ran a little more frequently (but I am just impatient).  Overall, it was pretty to get to other areas of the resort.  If you are central in Nizuc, it’s pretty easy to walk over to the Grand section.

 

We also used the shuttle over to the Beach Palace.  They shuttle at the Nizuc hut (you must be there ½ hour early to guarantee a spot) takes you to Wet & Wild, Beach Palace or Sun Palace (not Cancun Palace).  You have to commit to 4 hours because they drop you off at either 12:00pm, 2:00pm, or 5:00pm and pick you up in the same spot 4 hours later.  The Beach Palace is in the shopping area, so we got off there each time.  Beach Palace also has an amazing beach and is a gorgeous and very modern hotel.  The beach is 100 times better than Moon Palace because its on the Caribbean side.  They also have this sky terrace where there was a wedding going on up there each time I went.  So, its definitely worth a visit (and their buffets was pretty good).

(Beach palace lobby)

(View from sky terrace, it actually just rained)

 

RESORT CREDITS:  Since we were there for 9 nights, we had 2000 resort credits to spend.  And we were actually able to spend the majority of them, here is what we spent the resort credits on:

• Manicure (awesome)
• Romantic Dinner (total waste, would not recommend it)
• 50-minute message (awesome)
• Make-up trial (was great, and so needed before actual wedding)
• Wedding makeup
• Wedding day hair
• Kodak photo shoot (a waste since the changed the promotion and all you get are 5 printed pictures)
• Aquatwister Jungle tour (tons of fun)
• Dolphin Swim (pretty cool)
• Golf

 

I wish we got a change to do the Isla Mujeres tour, but we waited a little long to try to book it.  Also, we booked all the spa/salon appointments, jungle tour, romantic dinner, and golf before we even got there, so it was super easy and everything was set before we got there.  If you do want to do some of the tours you have to wait to get there to sign up, I do recommend you sign-up immediately because they do fill up quickly.

 

SPA/SALON – The Spa was absolutely awesome.  Try to get there early (up to an hour) so that you can take advantage of the hydrotherapy.  Its really relaxing and awesome.  The messages were fantastic and I know some guests got facials and loved everything. 

(Delores in the Nizuc salon)

 

I went to the Golf Salon with my girls for manicures and pedicures and the girls there are super sweet and they did a great job on our nails and toes (they even give you a neck message before doing your nails).  For my makeup and hair I went to the Nizuc salon on the wedding day and Delores did a great job.  For the trial, I showed her a picture and have her an idea of what I wanted.  The lighting in the salon isn’t that great, so my sister actually came in and took pictures of me while she was doing the trail.  That was super helpful, because you can see everything by looking in the picture.  If you are African American (darker skin) be sure to bring your own foundation because their darkest foundation was not dark enough for my skin, so I looked like a clown.  We were able to look at the picture after the trail and show Delores the exact changes needed and she did it perfect on the actual wedding day.  I showed her a picture of the hair I wanted and she did an awesome job with that!  Very happy with that service!

(Golf Spa)

 

 

GOLF – My husband (then fiancé) went golfing the morning of the wedding with some guests and had a great time.  He did says it’s a too costly with the credits plus having to pay for balls and club rentals.  They did love the course though and said the service on the course was awesome as well.

 

WEDDING PLANNER (ON-SITE) – I had Kalena and she was great.  As everyone has said, by the time you get there they really do know everything you said in your emails and they go over additional options with you.  I arrived at the resort about 1pm, then had my meeting with her by 2pm, so I was able to have the meeting and get that out of the way.  It took a little over an hour and we went over everything.  I told her how many day-passes I needed and went over options, numbers, and locations for everything.  You don’t really realize all the extra touches until the day of, but she really did her best to make sure everything went smoothly.  I did have to look for her one time during the reception as she had my second dress, but the reception staff was able to find her.  She is super sweet, attentive, and absolutely knows what she is doing.  I basically left a suitcase with her with all my stuff in it:  a banner for my welcome dinner, fans for ceremony seats, programs, cocktail hour sign, sand ceremony items, flutes/cake cutter, ceremony CD, etc. She was actually promoted the weekend we were there, so she is no longer going to be doing this side of weddings, but I think she will be doing up front planning, which will be great for future brides.

 

WELCOME DINNER – The collection had a 30-person reservation.  But, I had 36 guests.  Even though everyone did not come to the welcome dinner, they did have it set up for the number of guests that I had instead of the strict 30-person from the collection (so don’t worry to much about that if you don’t have the exact number).  We had it at El Caribeno on the Grand side.  The atmosphere is amazing, it is so beautiful there.  The service was very good, the food was just Ok (like most of the resort) and we had a pre-set menu.  They set up three tables as well as a “sweetheart” type table for hubby and I which I thought was really nice.  I bought a little welcome banner and they placed that for me so the guests saw it coming in.  After dinner, we went upstairs to the Grand terrace and sat outside, had some more dinks and sushi and chilled out and it was awesome.  It’s a great location for a welcome dinner. They even had a random clown there - lol!

 

 

WEDDING CEREMONY – Ceremony was in Tucan Gazebo and it was great (Tucan is actually closer to the Grand side, so guest could stay in either).  I did the horse carriage ride (which is a must) and the gazebo was beautiful.  I had the complimentary package, so we really didn’t have a lot of décor for ceremony.  With the gazebo, you honestly don’t really need any.  I just got the two flower balls on the judges table that came with the package, then had our sand ceremony items and had a couple of sashes (10 of them) on some chairs and we were all set.   We brought the ceremony CD and told Kalena what is to be played and when, and we brought a script for the officiant.  He was great and followed our script with a little ad-libbing.  He did a great job though.  Thanks to Chanel (a fellow BDW bride) for the ceremony script!  The ceremony was a good length of time and all went well.

 

 

COCKTAIL HOUR – I missed all of the cocktail hour, but I heard it was great.  There was the open bar and a ton of food.  I also got a couple of lounge chair sets, so I think that helped to set a relaxed atmosphere.  We also got the mariachi band, which our guests seemed to love.  I heard the food was great (think I got the Superior appetizers).  We had it on the Tucan Terrace, and it was a great location right next to the Gazebo. 

 

RECEPTION – We had this in the Laud Ballroom in the Nizuc section.  I was scared of the weather in June, so we went with an indoor reception and was so glad we did.  The décor was perfect and my guests were so comfortable.  We only had 36 guests, so we only had five tables, so that fit perfectly in the room.  We got the International 2 menu for the dinner and the food was really good.  We did buffet style and that worked great.  They have a waiter staff for just the bride and groom and bring you everything you need. We had a fantastic time at the reception.  I stayed probably 1.5 hours (or more)  later than scheduled, so we did get charged an extra hour, but it was worth it!

 

CAKE – We ordered a two-tier cake, but they accidentally gave a 3-tier.  We only got charged for the 2-tier though.  We were actually supposed to get another cake (the free one) as the groom’s cake.  We told Kalena what we wanted for that cake, but we never saw that cake.  I was quickly over that because the 3-tier was plenty for our 36 guests.  The cake was actually delicious.  At the reception, I only had that one bit with the groom and eye for pictures, but thankfully my sister had them wrap the top layer for us and we ate off that top layer for the rest of our stay – lol.  Delish! We also didn’t get exactly the flavors we ordered, but again I got over that quickly.  I think we ended up having vanilla one layer, marble another layer, and I have no idea what the last layer was (I ordered carrot cake, but I have no clue if that was what was served).

 

PHOTOGRAPHER – I got Ivan Luckie from Luckie photography and he was great.  I won’t have the pictures back for a few months, so I will have more to say then, but he really was everywhere and we did a trash the dress shoot a few days later and it was awesome.  I only got him a day pass instead of a room night and that worked out great for both him and his assistant. I just gave the names to Kalena and let the front desk know he was coming and no issues.  My wedding day was overcast, so I’m hoping for good pics.

 

DÉCOR – I did all décor with Zuniga.  I spent way too much on décor for 5 tables, but I was really happy with the outcome.  I still think it costs too much, but they are professional, very easy to work with, and they had every single thing I ordered and had the room set up exactly as I expected.  It was great!

 

VIDEOGRAPHER – We are still waiting for the video, so I may have more to say later.  This was a last minute decision that I booked the day before the wedding.  It probably costs way more than it needed to, but the grooms parents and lots of family were not able to attend (some due to medical reasons), so I really got it for them to be able to see some of the moments.  I can’t say I loved the videographer, he was nice, but seemed to be chillin on his phone when I thought he should be capturing moments.  He also jumped in several shot in front of photographer, which just annoyed my photographer.  I also told them when I set it up that guest interviews were super important and he was actually going to leave without doing a single one.  I had to send him back in to do them and I know he didn’t get everyone.  So, just got the video.  The quality isn't very good, but it really is worth it to be able to see the wedding.  So, at the end of the day, I am glad I did it.  But, if you can get another vendor, I would probably do that, or ask them about a better quality of video.

 

FLOWERS – We got flowers from Marvin with Maya Floral.  It took me FOREVER to get in contact with him (I mean, like 3 months!).  But, when we finally connected, he gave me exactly what I wanted for a much better price than the resort.  We set a time for him to meet up with one of my friends and provided exactly what I wanted and how I wanted it and the flowers were absolutely beautiful!

(flowers, shoes, and cake topper)

 

 

DJ –We worked with DJ Dorremix.  They were super easy to work with before hand and very professional.  I met with them a few days before the wedding to discuss locations and things I wanted for the reception. I even gave them a couple of CDs with some of the more uncommon songs we had on our list.  They did a pretty good job.  He did mess up on a couple of the entrance songs and the garter toss song.  So, I was a little annoyed about that. He also played like 3-4 songs with the dirty version when I specifically said only clean version.  Besides that, I thought they were super nice to work with, very professional, kept the jams coming!  They provided great DJ lighting, smoke machine, balloons, masks, the guests had a great time with all the props that they provided.  They really kept the party going and even stayed longer than we originally agreed! 

 

EXCURSIONS – The day after the wedding, we did the Aquatwister Jungle Tour.  The Aquatwister portion was an absolute blast, we had the best time.  The second part of the tour was on wave runners out to a snorkeling spot.  I thought the distance to the snorkeling spot was kind of far, so we were on the wave runners for a while. It probably would have been fine if we didn’t run into a monsoon! So, the snorkeling tour turned into running from a rainstorm and the guides weren’t deterred at all.  We did snorkel in the rain and saw some cool fish, but it was actually stressful and all the ladies were freezing by the time we came back.  On a nice day, I think the whole tour would have been awesome.  It can be pre-booked before you get to the resort, so I highly suggest it.  You do have to get transportation to the marina though.

 

We also did the Dolphin Swim.  We took a taxi because the free shuttle was full, but otherwise you can take the free shuttle.  We actually paid to get into Wet & Wild, but could have used our resort credits and should have because Wet & Wild is just ok. Its owned by the resort so its free food and drink, but the food isn’t great at all, but probably what you would expect at a water park.  The Dolphin Swim was pretty cool.  They set you in groups and you have some group activities and a couple of moments with the dolphins yourself.  You also get to ride it, which was pretty cool.  It was a good experience.  Now, the pictures cost a fortune, so come prepared to spend that if you want memories of the day. 

 

Dolphin Swim

 

 

Oh, and the day after the wedding we did the Cancun Crawl and went to Congos (we skipped this one), then Carlos and Charlies (so fun), the Coco Bongo (crazy).  We all just had the very best time the day after the wedding, and I very highly recommend it!

 

OVERALL – The wedding was fantastic and we had a great time. Everything would have been perfect except for one incident.  On the last day after we packed all our stuff, then left the room to go to breakfast, someone stole my bridal jewelry out of my carry-on bag.  The whole time, we definitely used the safe, but we were leaving that very morning and was all packed up.  So, I was super upset about that because of course I didn’t realize it was gone until I got back home.  But, besides that dark spot, the wedding really was amazing.  The resort and the staff are fantastic and I got incredible service everywhere we went.  They think of everything and even though there are a gazillion weddings going on there, they make you feel like the only bride there.  So, they really know how to throw a wedding and I have no complaints worth mentioning there.  Our guests had a blast and it was an overall wonderful time.  And I could not have done it without all the help from BDW brides, so I hope this review is helpful for future brides!