Date: April 10, 2013, 4pm

Location: Bugamibilia Gazebo (Ceremony); Lake Terrace (Reception)

Wedding Coordinator: Joselin Hernandez (onsite); Daniella Morales (head office)

 

 

Hotel in general:

This resort is a bit pricier than many others in the area and I was at first hesitant but it was incredible. The rooms were gorgeous, the food was amazing at every restaurant, the service was very good (with the exception of the front desk), the pool area was always fun and clean, and there is really something for everyone at Moon Palace (mini golf, real golf, full service spa, kids pool, flow rider, tons of pool space, beach volleyball, very nice gym.)

I would strongly suggest making a reservation at La Tratorria as soon as you get there, you must try it, amazing food. Also, the sushi (Mo Mo Honah- or something like that) restaurant was another favorite place of my guests. There was an incredible mix of food and it was all great.

One issue I had was that after about 12:30am there is not much to do. We spent most of our evenings at what we called the “swing bar,” which is located in the sunrise section in the middle of the pool area. The nightclub was very beautiful but the un-danceable hard core techno music sent us running back to the swing bar. We eventually just starting giving up at about 12 and heading to bed early, so if you have some hard core partiers at your wedding you may need a couple nights in Cancun.

 

One other thing to note is that this resort is massive so if you have some elderly guests that have a bit of trouble getting around you might want to think about that. You can call the front desk and get them to bring a golf cart around to drive people but just in general for the stay it is a lot of walking.

 

In general I would suggest that if you have a large group and want to have fun time that you should stay in the Sunrise side, if you want a more quiet experience stay in the Nizuc side and if you really want to just relax with no hooplah and commotion go with the Moon Grand side. I am glad we went with the Sunrise side because people would likely not have had as much fun anywhere else.

 

 

Wedding Coordinator (head office/onsite):

The main office coordinator was alright. My coordinator was switched 3 times so it was annoying to have to keep repeating what I requested every time because the communication between coordinators seemed to be lacking. They were also unable to help answer questions about the little details with any accuracy and I had to wait until a month before the wedding to get more ceremony/reception specific questions answered. Also, my wedding contract had to be revised about 20 times because the coordinator would revise it and not correct inaccuracies or would make new errors. It got pretty frustrating but the coordinator did not seem to irritated by my many requests.

The onsite coordinator (I had Joseline) was amazing. She met with us the day after we arrived and went over everything thoroughly. The day of she was there the whole time making sure everything went smoothly and to her credit there was not one slip up at all. She even swooped in mid reception to change my husband's boutonniere because it was wilting. Everything was perfect and I think she had a lot to do with it. Also, we had some issues with erroneous charges that I discovered when we returned and she is currently helping me out with that. She was incredible.

The only real issue was that we were told all along that we were getting a 7 day complimentary stay because we reached the 75 room nights but when we went in for our meeting they told us that instead of rebating it they were going to give us resort credit to use on the wedding or in the gift shop. We were not having that so we refused to sign any release documents until they agreed to give us the money back via refund or wire transfer. It seemed really contrived and sneaky and I didn't like that.

Prior to Wedding Private Events:

Because we had 75+ room nights we were allowed unlimited private functions. We opted for a welcome dinner in the gazebo we would be getting married in later that week (Bugambilia) and a rehearsal dinner (South Terrace). The food at these events was incredible, the drink service was fantastic, and everyone really enjoyed themselves. We were able to book these well ahead of time so we were able to give all guests an agenda outlining the events. It was perfect because the welcome dinner allowed us to have an icebreaker event with all guests so from the onset of the trip they got to know each other and could then have a fun week together.

We did the BBQ buffet for the welcome dinner and the cajun for the rehearsal, both were very good.

Ceremony:

Bugamibilia Gazebo

I was worried no one in our wedding party would know what was going on for the ceremony but we were able to do a run through the night before the wedding in the gazebo before our rehearsal dinner and this helped very much. The day of the coordinator came and gave me my bouquet and the brought the groom his boutonniere (he was in another room) and when the horse and carriage was ready she came up to my room to get me. I really suggest the horse and carriage ride, my Dad said it was his favorite part of the wedding.

 

The ceremony was wonderful except the mic kept cutting out and we could not hear the Justice of the Peace very well. It was also really really really windy so my hair was a bit messy by the end and this also added to not being able to hear the Justice of the Peace.

The legal ceremony was short and sweet and I am glad I opted for this option rather than the catholic ceremony.

 

 

         

Mexican Trio                                                                              Bugambilia Gazebo

 

 

 

    Sparkling wine after the ceremony

 

 

 

Reception:

Lake Terrace

I am so glad we chose the Lake Terrace as it was centrally located for everyone and even though it was a large space and we only had 6 tables of guests it looked incredible.

We actually had both our cocktail hour and reception in the same place so people didn’t have to move around so much, so it was perfect. I also loved that there was pretty light posts that outline the whole area and offered extra light and I loved that it was encircled with tall shrubbery so you were afforded some privacy because it was on the beaten path.

I was initially concerned about privacy in having people walking by when we we were doing speeches and what not but it was not an issue at all.

 

We had the French Buffet and the food was alright. I am sure it would have been fantastic if the food was not cold. They put out the appetizers for the cocktail hour at the same time as the food for the dinner that was being served an hour later so it was not very good by the time we got to it. This was disappointing considering the food at the resort was fantastic overall.

 

                                 

                  The lantern structure above the dance floor                                               Cake cutting                                                              Our welcome table.

 

 

VENDORS:

Photographer (Ocean Photographer- resort photographers)- Fantastic

Representative: Lupita

Our photog was great. She had some great ideas about photos and also took some of my suggested locations and ran with them. She was very friendly and the pictures turned out incredibly well. We opted for 2 hours of service, the negatives, and we got a book with some prints in it for about $1000. It was a great deal and I was super happy with the pictures.

 

       

                                                          Some cool photos from Ocean Photography

 

DJ/Audio- PSAV- Incredible

Representative: Miroslava

We were on the fence about getting a DJ and lights and the whole 9 yards instead of just making a play list and using the iPod set up option. In the end I am glad we sprung for the DJ. This was likely the best wedding DJ I have every experienced.

He played every song I asked for ahead of time at the exact right time (entrance song, cake cutting song, first dance song, father daughter song) and kept everyone dancing all night. If anyone requested a song he would blend it into the current song flawlessly. He had every song everyone asked for and it was more than I could have hoped for. The music they played was fantastic and many people told me it was the best wedding reception they had ever been to. When our reception came to an end people were chanting "one more song, one more song" and of coarse he obliged us.

 

 

My 89 year old Nana busting a move on the dance floor : )

Deco Cancun (Zuniga Decor):

Representative: Lily Sanchez

I spent a bit more than I hoped to on decor ($1500) but I was so happy I did. We got a set of columns with lanterns hanging between them to outline the dancefloor and it looked incredible with the addition of the DJs light set up. We also rented a couple beachy looking lounge chairs and tables and it was lovely for people to have a comfy place to sit at the wedding because the folding chairs at the tables are not super comfortable.

 

I also got my bouquet from Deco Cancun because the resort wanted $350 for an upgrade to calla lilies and I instead paid deco cancun $395 for the bouquet and matching boutinere and used the complimentary bouquet as decoration and for the bouquet toss.

 

Lily was incredible to deal with but did not offer a ton of suggestions. I pretty much knew what I wanted and I designed the layout myself. So it is best if you ask for a catalogue and sort of go from there. Also, have a budget in mind so that you know what you can and cannot have from the get go.

 

 

 

My bouquet

 

Moon Spa (at the golf course)

Stylist: Alfredo

Arranging the spa appointments for the entire wedding party was a piece of cake thanks to Karla the spa manager. I was able to book us all in before the wedding for hair and makeup.

Everyone’s hair looked amazing. We had pictures of what we wanted and it looked exactly right. My stylist did not speak English very well so I am glad I had the picture. I did not 100% love love my hair but it looked pretty close to the picture. My bridesmaids however had incredible hair, they all looked amazing.     

My makeup was a bit heavy and I had to go back to the room and tone it down a bit but one of my bride’s maids told them to go very very light on the makeup and she looked incredible.

We were also all able to use resort credits so no one paid anything for their makeup and hair, which was wonderful.

 

Before I flattened my hair a bit and toned down my makeup.

My face says it all...ha ha ha

 

 

Overall, I would highly suggest this resort for a wedding. It went off without a hitch and everyone had a great time at the wedding and during their weeks stay.

 

Happy Planning,

 

Erica