Moon Palace 2008 & 2009 Brides - POST HERE!

In response to your questions above...

1. We wanted Chapel Garden for our private function site as it is right next to the Chapel Gazebo where we are getting married and didn't want our guests to have to haul themselves to a different part of the resort. I submitted my request for Chapel Garden and it was already taken, so we opted for our second choice which is Terrace Venado. It was available so we booked it. I too was concerned about the grass but then I remembered my sister's wedding and how everyone was spilling drinks on the dance floor and everyone was slipping around and falling (my sister-in-law actually fell so hard that she went to the ER that night) and realized that maybe grass is a safer option! LOL.

2. Yes. This was a personal requirement from me as I did not want guests running around the resort, etc. Below is a summary of our day.

6pm: ceremony at Chapel Gazebo

7pm: cocktail hour at Terrace Venado

8pm-10pm: dinner and dancing at Terrace Venado

10pm+: disco/nightclub or another bar on the resort

3. I found out that lighting does come with the DJ packages (1 and 2) but I was not able to get verification if lights come with the iPod packages (3 and 4). If I have the opportunity to ask my WC, I will. As for the iPod hook-ups, I am assuming that the "mixer" my WC speaks of is something similar to a regular stereo receiver. I had to buy a cord in order to hook my iPod up to the stereo receiver up at home and it was about $5 at Best Buy. The cord plugs into the headphones jack on the iPod and then hooks into the receiver. I would recommend a trip to Best Buy to pick one of those up, you can always return it. They may also have these cords at the resort. Sorry I can't provide much more information on this.

One last thing I learned was in regard to the private function automatic backup sites in the case of bad weather. I had asked my WC if it was true that they automatically book a backup site for private functions in the case of bad weather and her response wasn't clear. I asked her to clarify this and she said that the backup sites for outdoor private functions are in the ballrooms (not in the restaurants).

It is fun to meet someone getting married the same day! We fly in on Friday, January 23rd, and we'll be staying at Moon Palace for 8 nights. We're moving to the Aventura Spa Resort the next Saturday, and will be there for 6 nights. We wanted to make sure we stayed at Moon Palace until Saturday because most of our guests will be flying out that day. We had a family friend who is a member of the palace resorts, and has let us use their membership to book all of our guests. So far, I think we have about 40 guests that are confirmed to come. It's so exciting! What about you? When do you fly in? And how many guests?

So you do have a wedding coordinator assigned already? I've been asking Marlyn for one, and should be getting one pretty quick - in three days, it will be exactly three months until our wedding days!

I can't decide what to do with the music. We're bringing a CD for the ceremony, but for the private reception, I haven't decided. I had thought that we'd just go with our Ipod, but I do want some control over the lighting - has anyone had experience with this? I saw someone quote earlier that you can buy the lighting separately from the DJ, but I don't want it to be a lot of work if we do it ourselves.

Have most of your guests paid for their trip already? We are in Calgary, in Canada, and I'm PANICKING over the Canadian dollar and the exchange rate! We are booked to pay in US funds, and our trip is getting more expensive every day! I just feel bad about our guests because it was already a lot of money to be asking them to spend, and most of them have only put down their initial deposits. Yikes.

What are you doing for decorations in the chapel/gazebo (whichever you go with)? I was actually wondering if we could purchased flowers for the gazebo, if those same flowers could be used for the centerpieces on our tables later that night, for our private reception? Has anyone tried that?

We arrive on the 24th of January with most of our guests. Some of our other guests are flying in later that day or on Monday. We have 28 in total - they are paying their last installment this week! Our trip is in Cdn dollars.

My WC is Kalena - I was given her name a few weeks ago. I contacted her via phone and we chatted for a bit - she is very nice. I just sent my email and Wedding Event Info form in this morning. I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will begin to work with me.

We just put our request in for the self-dj option for four hours. I have asked about lighting . . . We are also completing the CD for the ceremony.

Decor - I will determine once we arrive - I just want to reserve our locations and take it one request at a time.

Chat soon

Laura