Moon Dance Cliffs 2014

[Ken5314]

I am in need of help, I have not booked a photographer yet, everyone I have looked at seems really expensive. Can you guys recommend a good photographer?

@@alicialo Hey im also getting married at MDC on May 3 2014. Im not sure if you found someone yet but im using the photographer Brian Nejedly. I have spoken to him several times and he is the nicest person. He sends me several photos of recent MDC weddings he has done and he loves his job which makes it a great experience for both of you. Check out his website http://www.briandesign.com/

[kempbride]

I am in need of help, I have not booked a photographer yet, everyone I have looked at seems really expensive. Can you guys recommend a good photographer?

Look into Sun Gold Photography. They have decent pricing for their photos, If Paula and Damian are not available, she will refer you to her associates! Say Hi to Paula from Joanne if you do end up emailing her =)

[Mocha Hontas]

Hi Ladies,

 

I marry at MDC next month, April 26th.

 

Resort - We did not do a site visit but this resort was picked by the amazing pictures and reviews on Trip Advisor.

 

DJ - Sound Illusion who comes highly recommended. I will use the lighting package with him as well.

 

Cakes - I am going with Noida for my cakes. We have a 3 tier cake and a sheet cake that they can cut in the back for the guests which will be the same flavor as the cake.

 

Photographer - I went with Sungold. Originally I booked Paula and Damien and then decided to cut cost here because I was hell bent on having a  draped tent. So I am going with one of their assistant photographers which will save me over $1K.

 

Videographer - Brian Needly (sp?) who I realized was also a photographer after the fact.

 

Tent - Cover me up tent rentals in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Also has a FB page. I am also getting a really nice white dance floor from him and my Chivari chairs since his chairs were less than both Moon Dance and the florist. He is charging $5/chair.

 

Florist - Tai Flora, very accommodating, very understanding and has been a pleasure to work with thus far. I have called down to Jamaica quite a few times to speak to the florist (Flavea) and she remembered me and my email request as if she just had my folder memorized. It was very calming.

 

OTT bags - I got one of the bag sets from favorsyoukeep and will fill them with little items I have racked up on throughout the months (mouthwash,bodywash,toothbrush and toothpaste, candy, chips, emergency kit, aloe vera, deodorant, tic tacs, wedding magazine I had created, crayons and coloring books for the guest with children, welcome note, some other things i'm probably forgetting).

 

I am extremely anal and it is very hard for me to relinquish control so instead of relying on someone else to bring things for us we are flying 1st class on Delta which will allow us 2 bags each. Yes its more money to travel first class but the money we would have spent in extra luggage  went to a better seat on the plane and gave us the luggage capacity we needed. BAM, we win! Not to mention we don't fly 1st class regularly......heck at ALL so this is also a nice treat that is well deserved. I am so anal that I have already packed two pieces of luggage and made a list of exactly what is in each bag. Yeah....so........

 

Transportation - We are paying for our wedding guests roundtrip airport transportation as I see some of the other ladies on here are as well. I spoke to Miriam in the Chicago office because I was concerned if Moon Dance had the manpower to deal with going back and forth to the airport in a timely fashion when each trip is 1.5 - 2 hrs to the resort. She assured me that it was something they did often and they actually outsource as well. I looked up a place online as well and called a car service in Jamaica and they were charging the same price that Moon Dance quoted. It was $80 for a 1 way trip to the resort from the airport with a max of 4 ppl in the van. So the key here is to try to get the max of 4 on each van if possible. For the most part it will work since majority of my guest are coming in from the same state. I do have other ppl coming in from other states and in those cases, we may end up paying $80 for 2 ppl instead of 4.

 

So we are just about set and I am so excited to be on vacation! Oh yeah, and get married too....lol

[BMiners]

Thanks for all that info Mocha Hontas! I'm not getting married until next April but love getting ideas from this forum. I have a few questions:

1) Did Kerry tell you that you have to pay extra if you hire SunGold (or any other photographer that's not recommended?) I'm not a fan of that.

2) I always thought we'd have to rent the tent through MDC. How much did your tent cost? How many guests do you have? Is MDC charging you extra for not going through them?

3) Did you look into hiring a large coach bus or something for transportation? I wonder if that will be cheaper. I also want to send ppl to the beach the day before the wedding so transportation costs really add up if I use MDC. 

4) Are you having a rehearsal dinner anywhere? I'm looking into Norma's.

[Mocha Hontas]

MY REVIEW:
 
Ok ladies, so I was married at Moon Dance Cliffs on April 26, 2014. I just came back from Jamaica yesterday.
 
I will start this by saying that Moon Dance DOES NOT COMPARE TO OTHER RESORTS. It is AMAZING!
 
RESORT - I attempted a resort takeover and was short by 2 rooms so my guests took over the entire resort. The resort itself is beautiful. The fountains were not on when I arrived and I asked that they be put on by the time my guest got there so they could get the true feel of the fountains running in the background etc. The grounds were cleaned daily. I can't say much here besides its a beautiful, beautiful place! We did the all inclusive plan which to me was well worth it, no worries about food or drink or the 10% tax and 10% gratuity added to each bill. We stayed the first night on the European plan and spent the most that one night. Each room was given a cell phone that they were able to dial international to US, Canada & UK. I thought that was a great touch. Each guest was greeted at the lobby as they arrived with nice cold rum punches and their suitcases immediately taken from them. They allowed my guest who were early to check into their rooms and get situated (most hotels make you wait until check in time) however, all inclusive did not kick in until check in time which was 2 pm. The guest were informed when they checked in so they could decided if they wanted to wait or just pay.
 
BUTLERS - Titanya & Novia were amazing. She was at my beckon call and I had to get use to that. She made me drinks, carried my luggage, got me visine because of lack of sleep from working for the wedding. Anything I asked for, she made it happen. I asked for food not on the menu and they had it made for me. If I said I was thirsty out loud, she was there to make me a drink. The bartenders would leave their stations and come to me or even deliver drinks to my room. They were literally spoiling me. This service was given to the guest as well. It was not just me! The guest were ranting and raving about how nice and personable everyone was. Novia babysat my son on my wedding day while my bridal party and I were trying to get ready! She sat with him and fed him and played with him.
 
STAFF: All the staff were welcoming, accommodating and friendly. They all remembered our names (all the guest). They played with the kids and were just pleasant to be around. I mentioned I wanted Sorrell and the manager had some brought in for my hubby and I.
 
WEDDING COORDINATOR - Kerry, I met with her the next day of my arrival and we say and went through everything I brought and what m vision was. I informed her that it was very hard for me to relinquish control and she worked with me when I ran around trying to do her job. Everything I asked for was done. She even went to the bank for me and made change as I brought way too many large bills and not enough smaller bills.
 
FIREDANCE: Literally a last minute decision and I am SO happy we did it! It was GREAT! The performance was amazing and everyone loved it.
 
CAKE: Noida cakes (Leanne Cooke) BEAUTIFUL and DELICIOUS. It was soooo good I took home my wedding cake and had them cut a sheet cake I ordered as well. I know, I am full of greed. I am eating wedding cake as I type this..LOL
 
FOOD: Everything was DELICIOUS. ALL of my guest said that.  My only concern here was that I didn't want the same food served for m wedding to be eaten throughout the stay there. What we did for this was the Friday before the wedding we did a BBQ dinner night which ensured that guest would not have wedding food that night and anything that was on the wedding menu I asked that it be changed slightly so it was diff from the menu and it worked out great.
 
TENT - I was determined to have a tent and did not go with the mandatory tent from Moon dance. I went with a vendor call Cover Me Up Rental. He also provided me with the chivari chairs and the white dance floor I wanted. They started setting up the day before which I was concerned about at first because I wanted the WOW factor from the guest buy them putting the structure did not take from the WOW. Trust me!  I had a 40x40 tent with white draping and a chandelier. Beautiful.
 
DJ - Sound Illusions. came prepared with my ipod with my wedding songs in case he did not download the important songs I wanted and was ready to give it to him but he had everything I asked for. He downloaded all the songs I asked for that was not on his playlist. He got the crowd going even though I had a large age gap in my group. I had from 74 - 13 months! We also decided on lighting package last minute and I am so glad I did. The way the tent lit up in the night from afar and even close was soooooooooooooo pretty! Lighting def made a difference!
 
MAKE UP - Rashel Edwards was professional, prompt and a pleasure to work with! She did an amazing job and even did a tattoo cover up for me! She did 8 ppl in my wedding party all by herself with airbrush!!
 
VIDEOGRAPHER - Didn't have much interaction with him but he was always around so hopefully that comes out well.
 
FLORIST - Tai Flora. Flavea, man I must have called that woman 50 million times from the US to Jamaica. She assured me that what I wanted would happen and man oh man. Boy did they deliver. My vision was all white and my floral would make my event and boy was that the case! It was amazingly beautiful! I was just like WOW walking down the isle for the ceremony..lol  My floral was full, the tall vases were even taller than I thought they would be. Crystals, the works!

 

PHOTOGRAPHER - Sungold Photography I used associate photographer Clayton. He came at 3:00 pm which to me was late. Wedding was at 5 pm and I had a large wedding party so I wanted him there earlier but since I didn't want him to leave earlier I agreed to 3 pm. He did an amazing job from thepics I seen thus far. I also had my own photographer come in for the weekend and he was BEYOND amazing! All of my guest have asked about him for events they are having and he is already booked for another wedding just by my pics. He was there the entire weekend so his pics are my guest having fun and just lots of candids, resort pics etc. so its not just the wedding day, its the wedding WEEKEND! Can't wait to see all of his pics!
 
My suggestions to other brides:
 
1. Do not be afraid to ask for what you want. If there is something that you see that you would like handled or something you would like differently ask. They are VERY accommodating
2. When it comes to price I think you can haggle with ANYONE. I am not saying try to get things for free but for instance, we were debating on adding steak last minute to the menu. They quoted 10 pp and then came back and said with tax 12 pp. I said no, I thought it was 10 pp total and that all I was going to pay IF I was going to pay it. They came back and said 10 pp was fine. I ended up not getting it because I decided to use that extra money for tent fans and 1 AC unit which were both ordered with the tent rental company.
3. Bring small bills and envelopes should you decide to tip at the end! They didn't have a lot of US change on the resort so they went to the bank for me.

4. Don't get too aggravated  (like I did) with the photographer for always wanting me to take pics..,DUH i'm the bride...lol I just wanted to join my guest but now in hindsight I wish I would have paid more attention to photos. Those are a lifetime! Be patient with the photographer and ask like you are a super model!!! hahaha!
 
I left Moon Dance and went to another resort in Montego Bay and boy oh boy, the resort was nice but they did not have a chance. Moon Dance totally messed it up for them. It was very impersonal and they would probably laugh in m face if I asked them to cook me something specific. I saw THREE weddings going on at once and if I wanted I could watch at least 2 of them out of m balcony of the hotel room! UGH. So needless to say our last few days were spent missing Moon Dance!  My 18 year old son said Moon Dance felt like home. My only regret was not staying at Moon Dance and switching resorts.  
 
Feel free to ask me anything I may have missed and I wish all of you ladies a great wedding! I had guest calling me and thanking me ALL morning for having my wedding there and some guest, including myself are planning to go back.

 

 

I posted pics but not sure if everyone can see them since its saying something about below a certain amount of posts you cant see the pics.

Edited May 1, 2014 by Mocha Hontas

[MsFaszion]

AMAZING, I love this!!! Your wedding was BEAUTIFUL!

[Mocha Hontas]

Thanks for all that info Mocha Hontas! I'm not getting married until next April but love getting ideas from this forum. I have a few questions:

1) Did Kerry tell you that you have to pay extra if you hire SunGold (or any other photographer that's not recommended?) I'm not a fan of that.

2) I always thought we'd have to rent the tent through MDC. How much did your tent cost? How many guests do you have? Is MDC charging you extra for not going through them?

3) Did you look into hiring a large coach bus or something for transportation? I wonder if that will be cheaper. I also want to send ppl to the beach the day before the wedding so transportation costs really add up if I use MDC. 

4) Are you having a rehearsal dinner anywhere? I'm looking into Norma's.

i'm sorry for being so late on my response!!!

 

1) No, I did not pay anything extra for any vendors that were brought on site. You should not have to. It is probably not even in your contract regarding vendors.

2) Moon Dance did not charge me any additional for any vendors. My tent was with Cover Me Up Tent rental. Originally I was renting a tent with the florist but they were WAY too much. My tent rental was 1100 and I also rented chivari chairs and a white dance floor from the tent vendor. It was all beautiful. I had 56 guest and including myself and my hubby 58 people.

 

3) You are 100% right about this! I did not go with Moon Dance transportation. I found Joe Cool Taxi on trip advisor who was ranked number 1 and I called them. I created a spreadsheet with all of my guest inbound and outbound flights and I sent it to them. I had large groups of ppl coming in at the same time and for those groups, they charged me $15 each way. So instead of $20 for 4 ppl max, I had a group of lets say 11- 18 ppl leaving at the same time and only paid 15 pp. Joe cool does not accept credit cards so I spent the first and last day of my wedding week back and forth in the lobby to pay him as he picked up or dropped off the guest. It sucked but then again not because I got to greet my guests upon arrival and then see them off and thank them for coming when they were leaving.

4) I didn't have a traditional rehearsal dinner because Moon Dance is all inclusive and ppl wanted to get back to having fun including me who wanted to go to the beach. So what I did was have breakfast with everyone and then we walked over to the Gazebo and practiced. took about 1 hr with the large party I had. Once that was over, ppl scattered to enjoy the day!

AMAZING, I love this!!! Your wedding was BEAUTIFUL!

Thank you!!!

[BMiners]

MY REVIEW:

 

Ok ladies, so I was married at Moon Dance Cliffs on April 26, 2014. I just came back from Jamaica yesterday.

 

I will start this by saying that Moon Dance DOES NOT COMPARE TO OTHER RESORTS. It is AMAZING!

 

RESORT - I attempted a resort takeover and was short by 2 rooms so my guests took over the entire resort. The resort itself is beautiful. The fountains were not on when I arrived and I asked that they be put on by the time my guest got there so they could get the true feel of the fountains running in the background etc. The grounds were cleaned daily. I can't say much here besides its a beautiful, beautiful place! We did the all inclusive plan which to me was well worth it, no worries about food or drink or the 10% tax and 10% gratuity added to each bill. We stayed the first night on the European plan and spent the most that one night. Each room was given a cell phone that they were able to dial international to US, Canada & UK. I thought that was a great touch. Each guest was greeted at the lobby as they arrived with nice cold rum punches and their suitcases immediately taken from them. They allowed my guest who were early to check into their rooms and get situated (most hotels make you wait until check in time) however, all inclusive did not kick in until check in time which was 2 pm. The guest were informed when they checked in so they could decided if they wanted to wait or just pay.

 

BUTLERS - Titanya & Novia were amazing. She was at my beckon call and I had to get use to that. She made me drinks, carried my luggage, got me visine because of lack of sleep from working for the wedding. Anything I asked for, she made it happen. I asked for food not on the menu and they had it made for me. If I said I was thirsty out loud, she was there to make me a drink. The bartenders would leave their stations and come to me or even deliver drinks to my room. They were literally spoiling me. This service was given to the guest as well. It was not just me! The guest were ranting and raving about how nice and personable everyone was. Novia babysat my son on my wedding day while my bridal party and I were trying to get ready! She sat with him and fed him and played with him.

 

STAFF: All the staff were welcoming, accommodating and friendly. They all remembered our names (all the guest). They played with the kids and were just pleasant to be around. I mentioned I wanted Sorrell and the manager had some brought in for my hubby and I.

 

WEDDING COORDINATOR - Kerry, I met with her the next day of my arrival and we say and went through everything I brought and what m vision was. I informed her that it was very hard for me to relinquish control and she worked with me when I ran around trying to do her job. Everything I asked for was done. She even went to the bank for me and made change as I brought way too many large bills and not enough smaller bills.

 

FIREDANCE: Literally a last minute decision and I am SO happy we did it! It was GREAT! The performance was amazing and everyone loved it.

 

CAKE: Noida cakes (Leanne Cooke) BEAUTIFUL and DELICIOUS. It was soooo good I took home my wedding cake and had them cut a sheet cake I ordered as well. I know, I am full of greed. I am eating wedding cake as I type this..LOL

 

FOOD: Everything was DELICIOUS. ALL of my guest said that.  My only concern here was that I didn't want the same food served for m wedding to be eaten throughout the stay there. What we did for this was the Friday before the wedding we did a BBQ dinner night which ensured that guest would not have wedding food that night and anything that was on the wedding menu I asked that it be changed slightly so it was diff from the menu and it worked out great.

 

TENT - I was determined to have a tent and did not go with the mandatory tent from Moon dance. I went with a vendor call Cover Me Up Rental. He also provided me with the chivari chairs and the white dance floor I wanted. They started setting up the day before which I was concerned about at first because I wanted the WOW factor from the guest buy them putting the structure did not take from the WOW. Trust me!  I had a 40x40 tent with white draping and a chandelier. Beautiful.

 

DJ - Sound Illusions. came prepared with my ipod with my wedding songs in case he did not download the important songs I wanted and was ready to give it to him but he had everything I asked for. He downloaded all the songs I asked for that was not on his playlist. He got the crowd going even though I had a large age gap in my group. I had from 74 - 13 months! We also decided on lighting package last minute and I am so glad I did. The way the tent lit up in the night from afar and even close was soooooooooooooo pretty! Lighting def made a difference!

 

MAKE UP - Rashel Edwards was professional, prompt and a pleasure to work with! She did an amazing job and even did a tattoo cover up for me! She did 8 ppl in my wedding party all by herself with airbrush!!

 

VIDEOGRAPHER - Didn't have much interaction with him but he was always around so hopefully that comes out well.

 

FLORIST - Tai Flora. Flavea, man I must have called that woman 50 million times from the US to Jamaica. She assured me that what I wanted would happen and man oh man. Boy did they deliver. My vision was all white and my floral would make my event and boy was that the case! It was amazingly beautiful! I was just like WOW walking down the isle for the ceremony..lol  My floral was full, the tall vases were even taller than I thought they would be. Crystals, the works!

 

PHOTOGRAPHER - Sungold Photography I used associate photographer Clayton. He came at 3:00 pm which to me was late. Wedding was at 5 pm and I had a large wedding party so I wanted him there earlier but since I didn't want him to leave earlier I agreed to 3 pm. He did an amazing job from thepics I seen thus far. I also had my own photographer come in for the weekend and he was BEYOND amazing! All of my guest have asked about him for events they are having and he is already booked for another wedding just by my pics. He was there the entire weekend so his pics are my guest having fun and just lots of candids, resort pics etc. so its not just the wedding day, its the wedding WEEKEND! Can't wait to see all of his pics!

 

My suggestions to other brides:

 

1. Do not be afraid to ask for what you want. If there is something that you see that you would like handled or something you would like differently ask. They are VERY accommodating

2. When it comes to price I think you can haggle with ANYONE. I am not saying try to get things for free but for instance, we were debating on adding steak last minute to the menu. They quoted 10 pp and then came back and said with tax 12 pp. I said no, I thought it was 10 pp total and that all I was going to pay IF I was going to pay it. They came back and said 10 pp was fine. I ended up not getting it because I decided to use that extra money for tent fans and 1 AC unit which were both ordered with the tent rental company.

3. Bring small bills and envelopes should you decide to tip at the end! They didn't have a lot of US change on the resort so they went to the bank for me.

4. Don't get too aggravated  (like I did) with the photographer for always wanting me to take pics..,DUH i'm the bride...lol I just wanted to join my guest but now in hindsight I wish I would have paid more attention to photos. Those are a lifetime! Be patient with the photographer and ask like you are a super model!!! hahaha!

 

I left Moon Dance and went to another resort in Montego Bay and boy oh boy, the resort was nice but they did not have a chance. Moon Dance totally messed it up for them. It was very impersonal and they would probably laugh in m face if I asked them to cook me something specific. I saw THREE weddings going on at once and if I wanted I could watch at least 2 of them out of m balcony of the hotel room! UGH. So needless to say our last few days were spent missing Moon Dance!  My 18 year old son said Moon Dance felt like home. My only regret was not staying at Moon Dance and switching resorts.  

 

Feel free to ask me anything I may have missed and I wish all of you ladies a great wedding! I had guest calling me and thanking me ALL morning for having my wedding there and some guest, including myself are planning to go back.

 

 

I posted pics but not sure if everyone can see them since its saying something about below a certain amount of posts you cant see the pics.

 

Oh man, I can't see the photos Please post your photos online if you are willing, once you get them from the photographer! Thank you so much for all that info! And I'm so glad your wedding went so well!

 

Did you tip Kerry? I'm always unsure about the tipping, who to tip, when to tip, etc. The website also said you have to pay extra to get the butler service, did you have to pay that? 

[Mocha Hontas]

Oh man, I can't see the photos Please post your photos online if you are willing, once you get them from the photographer! Thank you so much for all that info! And I'm so glad your wedding went so well!

 

Did you tip Kerry? I'm always unsure about the tipping, who to tip, when to tip, etc. The website also said you have to pay extra to get the butler service, did you have to pay that? 

I am big on tipping so I pretty much tipped everyone. Just as you would normally tip your vendors at a non destination wedding. I brought clear envelopes and at the end of the wedding reception I tipped:

 

1. Kerry - (Wedding coordinator)

2. DJ

3. Videographer

4. Photographer and the 2nd photographer

5. Make up artist (before she left not after wedding)

6. Fire dancer

 

The next day when I was leaving I walked around the resort  after breakfast and tipped:

 

7. Bartenders (the ones I remembered I wrote their names on envelopes and tipped them. I did not tip throughout my stay.

8. Richard the front desk manager. Now you normally would not tip him but he went (what I thought was above and beyond for me). Day of my wedding I had a blinged out headband that BROKE that morning. I asked my butler for crazy glue because I was going to try and fix it. She gave it to Richard and he came back with it as if it were brand new!  He went out of his way to get me a drink off property that I really wanted that they didn't have. I felt that tip of serviced was tip worthy. He could have politely told me he could not help me.

9. My butler

 

Those are the ppl I tipped. Remember, our money is a lot more so you don't have to be outrageous with the tipping. It is at your discretion and if you feel it is deserved. With the bartenders, hopefully your guest will tip too (most ppl did not walk around with money on the resort since it was all inclusive) so they tipped at the end. So your small tip along with the ones from the guests add up. My bridal party stayed in the 4 & 5 bedroom villas. I had 10 girls in the villas and they tipped 5 each at the end of the vacation. That was 50 bucks from just 10 guest. So if each guest tipped something they made a pretty penny at the end of it all without you having to shell out too much.

 

The villas automatically come with a butler. You probably have to pay additional for a butler for standard rooms.

[MontegoBayBridePA]

This makes me feel better about Tai Flora. I have emailed them and never gotten responses. I guess call in them is the way to go. I'll have to give it a try.