nibsmom

Those look amazing! They look like something I would have paid for...LOL!

For Mexico brides - I just got married in July, and the drugs and bandaids and stuff for my OOT bags did NOT count towards my total. I was told that even though they were in individual packets, they didn't count. I know a few other MP brides who were married in July and August were told the same thing! For Jamaica brides - I feel like it should say something on the customs website if you have any kind of restriction! I'm sorry, I have no idea!

Quote: Originally Posted by mrssharkey2be Thanks Nibsmom It certainly is going to be extremely helpful as I am in the UK trying to organise a wedding at a venue I have never been to!!!!!! think from what people have said on here that we have made the right choice though. Rach x You did!! I had never been to the MP either - I had never even been to Mexico!! You made the absolute right choice - your wedding will be absolutely amazing. I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day - and it was wicked hot!! LOL! Luckily, the MP takes care of a lot of planning for you, so you don't have to worry too much about it. Even though you're far away!

Hey act1980! You can download yet because you don't have enough points - you need to post more and then you'll accumulate points for downloading! I always liked to go look at all the wedding dresses and stuff in the attire section - it's easy to comment on so much beautiful-ness!!! Also, for your color choices, I don't think there are any brides on here that have gotten married with the new packages yet - so there probably aren't any pictures out there. I know four or five of us have recently gotten married within the last month, but we were all on the old packages that you didn't have to pick a color for, so we all chose our own colors. I'm sure that there will be by the time your wedding gets a little closer though!

Quote: Originally Posted by mrssharkey2be Hi Everyone Hope you dont mind a 2011 bride popping up on here!!!! Just want to say a big thank you to you all for all the great tips and advice posted on here. Im sure I will be reading and re-reading this forum as the months countdown to our big day Rach x Of course we don't mind! I think you may be the first 2011 bride for the MP! This thread is SOOOO helpful for planning for weddings!!!

Jodimichelle, I sent you a PM about Excellence stuff!

Great review!! It sounds like overall it went well! I'm so excited for you!!! Can't wait to see PICS!!!!!

Hey Eureaka! I totally felt the same way. Two weeks plus later and I'm still sad to be back! I've been looking a little bit into what their timeshares are like I'm so smitten! Welcome back JodiMichelle! You're welcome for the review! Did you see Honey's and Tina's too?? For my honeymoon, we took a taxi ten minutes up the street to the Excellence Riviera Cancun. It was really nice, but after the MP, and adults only honeymooners resort felt stuffy and was hard to adjust to for a day or so. There were also a few things with that resort I was unhappy with. Minor things. I need to write a honeymoon review still. Let me know if you're considering that resort and we can chat more about what I liked and didn't.

I think I might get my pro pics of the TTD back from Claudia Rodriguez soon. I got a paypal request from her yesterday saying all was ready. I keep checking my email to see if there is an online link or something!!!

Quote: Originally Posted by NJ Hunnie for those already married, and didn't get the live bad. How do you determine the timing of the music during your ceremony? Thanks! Hey Hunnie! When I got to the MP, they gave me a little sheet to fill out - here was what they needed... 1 - Bridal Party Entrance - you'll want to make sure this is long enough to cover your peeps getting into the gazebo. If not, they will start it over again from the beginning. 2 - Bridal March - Same deal as the first. They don't start this song until you get out of the carriage and are standing at the head of the walkway - at least that's how mine was. 3 - Signatures - This will want to be your longest song. This definitely takes 4 to 5 minutes. We used the Over the Rainbow song from the 50 First Dates soundtrack. There are multiple copies of the certificate and you, your husband, and each of your witnesses (4) have to sign all of them, then you have to thumbprint all of them. 4 - Kiss - This can be a shorter song. It's for your first kiss and the champagne toast. Mostly this is a pictures time. 5 - Recessional - I think this can also be shorter. I don't even know if we played our whole song - we all walked out, did the petal toss, then peaced out. I also had a prelude song I asked them to play and they did. I didn't know I was supposed to have the kiss song, so they just played the prelude song again. I hope this helps a little bit!!!

I agree - I think that plan would work. Or you could book the photographer's room under your name and your photographers, so you can check in and out of it. Say you're using it as a room to stay in around the wedding so you're not sleeping with your husband to be or something - but I doubt they'd ask. But then you'd have to pay the double room rate...hmm. I would maybe contact your travel agent and see if he/she has any suggestions. My photographer and my mother and sister were thinking of only staying for two nights (neither ended up doing that, but still), I checked with my TA and she said it would be okay and they could still get perks and have it count towards the room total. Maybe your TA can pull some strings for you or suggest how to swing booking those extra nights on the tenth room. I know how you feel - we had just enough rooms to meet our contract too.

Quote: Originally Posted by evtalbot Congrats, and thanks for the review! You looked so pretty! And everyone looks like they had a great time. I have the "free" package also, so I appreciate your list of things you added! What is your opinion on having the ceremony in the gazebo vs. on the beach? Nick prefers the beach, but I am worried about wind, and more importantly, looking squinty in all of my pictures! Also, how much did they charge for each bag of flower pedals? These are a MUST for me! Hmm...well, I guess it depends on what time of day your ceremony is. Mine was at 1pm, and I probably would have died of heatstroke if I had my ceremony on the beach, but that was in July! I don't know if you've come across cutierosie's review yet, but she had a beach wedding and wrote a really detailed review that I know has helped some MP brides decide between beach and gazebo ceremonies. I think either would be beautiful. As far as the wind goes, yes, it is always a little windy, but it's not like gale force winds. LOL. I think you'll have to deal with it whether you're on the beach or in a gazebo, but honestly, I think it's more of a bonus than a drawback - it really cuts the heat! The flower petals were 45 dollars a bag I believe. They are smaller bags, but two was enough for me to have my flower girls drop them and to have a petal toss at the end! I thought about bringing my own freeze dried but didn't want the hassle of having to bring them down. I know a few brides have done that though, cutierosie being one of them!

Quote: Originally Posted by slapsappyhappy I just went to david's bridal today, and I had your dresses in mind but my girls picked them out without any input from me! I really like that style, did they wear white or silver shoes? Did they think that it was comfortable? They look fabulous! YAY! I'm so glad you found great dresses!! My bridesmaids wore white shoes. I just told them to find white shoes that weren't flip flops and they found some great ones at payless. They went really well with the white parasols!

Quote: Originally Posted by Mrs D To Be! omg no way!!! honestly they are sooo cute - I wanted them soo bad when i saw them...but don't know if i'm upto the challenge!lol thanks anyway Of course you are! The worst part was the spray painting, and I made Matt do that!! LOLOL! Well, I guess I did burn my finger with the hot glue gun once! Otherwise, I did it while watching TV!

Quote: Originally Posted by Mrs D To Be! Thanks for the review - its got me all excited!!! 9 months and counting!!!hee hee Can I ask - where did you get your personalised maracas? They are AWESOME!! I want!! Thanks so much!!!! I actually made the maracas myself. I had ordered these: Genuine Maracas - PartyMart: party supplies But when they came they weren't as prettily painted as I had anticipated. So, I spray painted them all with white matte spray paint, then glued on ribbon in my wedding colors, and wrote on them with sharpie. It was really super easy. I think the one in the picture has the handle spray painted - that was the only one I did like that. The rest of them I left natural wood. After doing that one - it was my test one - I realized that gripping the handle with the paint on it made your hand smelly.

Quote: Originally Posted by tiffani1980 I am getting married in March 2010, and everyone that is coming keep sending me news reports of all of the gang/drug violence in Mexico.....is anyone else dealing with this? I want everyone to be safe and not have to worry about anything once we arrive, I called our TA just to let her know my guests concern, and she basically put it to me like this: most of the violence is near the border of the U.S.( about 1200+ miles away, so would you worry about stuff going on in CHicago if you are in Los Angels? I had to relay this to my guest, and I am trying to keep them calm.Anybody else dealing with this?? This is a tough one. If you look around the Mexico subsections on the forum, you can find tons of threads about this stuff all on its own! I had a few guests get worried about this stuff, but really not many. I pretty much told them the same thing - that the violence is centered so far away from Cancun that it doesn't matter. Also, Cancun is a very touristy area and there are lots of police around and plenty of secure places you can go. You'll see just as many tourists as you do Mexicans. The Moon Palace is very secure and fenced in, and they take the security of the resort seriously. Your reservation is checked a few times before they even let you through to the lobby. Also, at one point when we were there, something was going on, because there were MP employees riding the lobby to lobby busses with pictures of someone's license - apparently someone did something wrong! It's very safe. I never once felt unsafe at the resort! It's also just common sense. You're at a very safe resort. If you choose to go wandering off on your own off the resort into back alleys or whatnot - that's an unsafe decision. If you stick to the resort, guided tours, or trips to the Cancun mall where there is plenty of security - you'll be fine. Just don't put yourself in a bad situation, ya know?

Quote: Originally Posted by slapsappyhappy I def do not need a soloist during the ceremony. I am contemplating getting fake flowers for the bridesmaids and me having the fresh, but I want to know what flowers each "collection" includes. What is the honeymoon package I could not find it anywhere? What do you think has anyone seen these decorations? Is it worth getting a color package to get the decor or just go with free? Hmm...we never knew about the honeymoon package, so we never really got our stuff. Our WC told us about it late Thursday afternoon, and we left on Sunday morning, with wedding stuff Friday and Saturday, so we didn't get to do a lot of it. Pretty much, you go check in with one of the honeymooners desks in the lobby right when you get there. They arrange a special dinner for you (I think in a resturant), you get a honeymooners tshirt (they only had one size when we were there, so I didn't get a shirt), and there are a few other little things like flowers and champagne in your room upon arrival and stuff that they organize for you. It's nothing really special, at least I don't think so. It's really up to you if you want to go with the package or go with the free ceremony. We picked the free because we didn't want to spend a lot, but Matt ended up wanting to offer a full on dinner at our reception, so that was quite a bit of added expense. If we would have bought a package and the dinner we would have ended up spending closer to 4500 instead of closer to 3000, which made a big difference for us. I would have loved to have all the extras they threw in with the packages, but in the long run, the wedding was still gorgeous and I got to add in everything I wanted. If you like the colors and decor, go with a package. Otherwise, you could go with a free one and pick out and pay for renting your own linens and decorations (or you could buy them in the states and bring them with - just SAVE your receipts!), and end up spending about the same as you would have if you purchased a package. We made a big excel spreadsheet with all the packages and what they offered, then put together a column next to everything with all the things the free package offered, and all our wished for add ons next to the package columns, and then did a side by side comparison to see what was the better choice for us. Once it was all laid out in front of me, it was pretty clear which things mattered and which package I should go with!

Quote: Originally Posted by TammyB Welcome back and great review. So umm how did Matt like his wedding present? :-) Gasp! Obviously, he loved it! LOL...he kicked the poor groomsmen out into the heat for much longer than was necessary!!

Oh, and also, I think if you're nervous about going with a package, you could just go with the free one and add everything on. That's what we did. I put a cost breakdown in a reply somewhere in my review. And, I would imagine they wouldn't limit you to a certain color. That would be weird - I wouldn't that it would be a good wedding business direction, LOL. I would hope you'd be able to say you want the 'green package, but in pink' or something like that! I would ask your WC!

Quote: Originally Posted by honey740 I hope those were the free ones! Nibsmom, I saw them on Friday night when we had our rehearsal dinner. they were done in between the Moon grand and Nizuc side. Oh, then they were different! I saw them on Saturday night during my reception. I have no idea where they went off, but we were on the wayyy end of the Sunrise side. They probably were the ones that came with a package. I think the packages come with the three shells, right? Not sure!

Quote: Originally Posted by slapsappyhappy wow that is really expensive for the fireworks! I wish that the old packages were still available. It is strange how if you want certain colors then it is cheaper, but then I looked and the only difference I could see was the solo music during the ceremony. I wonder if I wanted the green without that if I could get the lower price? I also wonder if the fireworks you saw were the new package or if the people paid for them through the pyro company. If you all had the old package then why would someone who got married when you got married want the new? I am so excited that they take care of everything though... I want as little stress as possible! nibsmom I LOVE the pic of your bridal party on the checkerboard... where is that? Your bridesmaid dresses are awesome too where did you get them? I think the package you used depended on when you booked - maybe if someone booked their wedding more recently they would have gotten a newer package? Not too sure on that one! The checkerboard is right next to the Tucan Gazebo. I saw it and was like - I gotta get some pics on that! I got the bridesmaid dresses at David's Bridal. It's this dress: David's Bridal - Sleeveless chiffon short dress with satin beaded straps. in Watermelon. It's a great color for the beach I think! The beading didn't look tacky at all. In the pictures, it looks a little weird, but in person it looks much better!

Quote: Originally Posted by lawieland Honey740, so you weren't impressed with the firework display. We were actually considering switching packages, I have an old package, my orig wedding date was May 23rd, right up until the swine flu hit & everyone in our wedding party panicked! Anyways, we have moved the date now to February and were thinking of upgrading to one of the newer packages. Now that I've read your comment I'm not so sure it's worth the extra money! Lawieland, I also saw a fireworks display - and it was literally like three shots in the sky. It may have been the same one honey saw, LOL, we got married on the same day. I remember when I saw it also commenting to Matt I was glad we didn't purchase any! I know they have different levels of packages though...let me see if I can figure out how to attach that document! My WC sent me this because I really wanted sparklers - they don't have them - but these seemed kind of expensive so we decided not to get any! PIROTECNIAweddingsmoontax.doc

Quote: Originally Posted by j081717 Wow...After a week or so, i'm finally done reading this whole thread. So as of yesterday, I've confirmed my date May 29, 2010 at 3pm!! I'm super excited! Janina is my Miami WC. Does anyone know how long it takes to receive the wedding contract after you confirm the date? Will the wedding contract also contain the group booking contract? CONGRATS!!! I'm so excited for you! I miss the MP so much - can I come to your wedding? LOL. Juuuusssttt Kidding! But really. LOL. I got my wedding contract almost right away. Within a few days I think. I requested the group booking rates separately, which I also got pretty quickly. I ended up getting a cheaper rate through TammyHost here on the forum, and all the wedding perks, so we went with her instead of through MP though!

Quote: Originally Posted by Dedicated2Us I want to have my wedding there in Feb. I would like to know what the weather is like in Feb. Real windy? Also is the really water green?? Hey Dedicated, MP is a great place to have your wedding! I know three of us just recently got married, well at this point, maybe 4 or 5, and at least three of us have posted recent reviews with pictures! Here are some pics by the ocean so you can see what it looks like normally! These are non-pro, non-edited pics. Let me know if you want more! Also, I think it's always pretty breezy at the MP, year round. That's what I've gathered from all the reviews I've read. The breeze isn't like, hurricane level though. LOL. It's really nice to cut the heat!

Quote: Originally Posted by slapsappyhappy I love looking at all of these pictures! Everyone's wedding looks so amazing! Did anybody have the new packages(the color ones) yet or are the weddings happening now still based on the old packages? Hm...mine was on the old package. I haven't heard anything about the new ones!