mrseddy

Hi there! Sorry for the delay in responding. I hadn't checked the forum in some time. I'll be sure to check back more frequently! LisaandJeff - we still had a "grand entrance". Once the cocktail hours were over and people gathered to take their seats, the bridal party, parents and grandparents stayed back at the Terrace. The DJ then announced family first, then bridal party (each couple did something funny/cute when they were announced ) and finally the traditional "now introducing for the first time as husband and wife....". We went straight into a dance which got everyone on their feet and then sat down for speeches and a wedding slideshow. Bride2B2012- i want to say MP was about a 10 minute cab ride from Sun Palace. The resort offers shuttles a few times a day to their affiliated Palace resorts ( i want to say every 2 hours or so) but we cabbed it for the TTD pictures. The Sun Palace beach was incredible - white powder sand beach and turquoise waters. The beach at MP was the only disappointment although I was prepared for that ahead of time and i frankly didn't have a lot of time to spend on the beach with all the wedding preparation I was focused on. We still enjoyed our time on the beach - played beach volleyball and just laid out on the chairs a couple of times. Our guests primarily stuck to the pool though. The service was incredible whether at the beach or the pool. The only caveat is, i didn't see many people actually in the water...The seaweed is noticable but it's combed a few times a day. Burlia - the MP was the PERFECT spot for a wedding. We just went back to a different resort on vacation last month and my family couldn't stop comparing our resort to MP saying it didn't even come close. You have unlimited access to the other Palace resorts - you can plan a day trip to the Sun Palace or Beach Palace resorts to enjoy their beaches. But MP puts on an amazing wedding and i can guarantee you, your guests wont lack for things to do, see, and eat. We had all ages there and everyone found something to do. Also, the roof top at the Carribeno restaurant had an amazing view - you can ask about using that space for the reception? I hope that was helpful. Please let me know if you have anymore questions!

The spa and golf credits were a promotion the resort was running at the time of our wedding. Each room got a $150 spa credit and $150 golf credit. Have you checked the MP website to see what they are currently running?

Thanks to everyone for all of the nice messages!! Navi2010, I ordered 110 cups. I doubled the special, which at the time was buy 25 cups and get 30 free. (2x55=110 cups for $115 with tax ). Here's an excerpt from another post where I commented on the flowers: There were limited colors for this special but I was undecided between two colors and Very Berry happened to be one of them and was part of the special. As far as how many to get, I think every single person (43 not including DH and I) grabbed a handful of petals. You want a couple of good pictures and you can get that from just a few people throwing them right in front of you. If you have more questions you should call them directly. I spoke with someone there and she was very helpful and patient and explained how many cups I should get. I gave the flowers to Val at our on-site meeting and explained that i wanted a few scattered on the aisle and in the gazebo. She said the aisle would be hard to do b/c the wind might scatter them but on the stairs and inside the gazebo would be better. As always, I listened to what Val said:) We didn't have flower girls. The petals were there before people arrived at the gazebo. I had the rest sprinkled on the reception tables. We felt 110 cups was the perfect amount. If you have flower girls you can change your allocation of petals (less on tables, etc) or simply order more.

I think the Tucan Terrace can easily fit up to 60 people. It doesn't look so at first, but they do a good job of seeing up the area to maximize the space. We had 45 people including hubby and I set up with 5 tables and 1 table for just the two of us. Of the 5 tables, one had 10 people, one had 9 and the other three had 8. If you look at my review, there's a good picture of the Terrace right after they set it up and with some shifting, another table could have easily fit. Also, although a lot of my guests danced, there were quite a few who were saddled up by the bar or just enjoying the scenery by the beach or at the tables. We never had the sense the "dance floor" was overcrowded.

Bronze 8584-thanks for your kind words! I posted a few more pictures of my hair. See the link below. http://s664.photobucket.com/albums/v...%20Day%20Hair/

Thanks SouthernSweetie! The actual wedding costs were not that much primarily because we got the unlimited private functions. The lanterns were done through a vendor of Moon Palace. Their no vendor policy applies to outside vendors that are not contracted with the resort. The DJ (JS Audio Visual) and Zuniga (company who did the lanterns) are contracted with the resort. Our biggest costs were the DJ and florist.

TonyandTricia, we couldn't find any rules against transporting the petals either. I even asked the vendor at flyboynaturals and she wasn't sure although she had said that she hadn't heard from any customer about problems at customs in Mexico. We lucked out because the petals were with my husband when we went through customs...i got the red light and he got the green. Tthe petals are freeze dried so that they look and feel just like real petals but they've been preserved. not sure if you can replant them. I'd suggest separating them into different suitcases so that if for some reason one of you gets the red light and they give you a hard time, you don't have to worry about all of your petals being together. They come in a plastic bag or bags depending on how many you purchased and they're light. Ultimately, my experience with customs was a non-event. They opened my suitcase and once I mentioned wedding in Mexico, they shut the suitcase back up and said congratulations. Your wedding is just around the corner!! Best of luck with your last minute details. You are going to have the time of your life!!

Thank you! Bronze, I printed out the hairstyles from the links below and took them with me to the salon. You might have to sign onto the knot.com to view them. As you probably read, i had to have the hairstylist redo my hair because i wanted more volume. So just work with them but a picture will give them a basic guide. Let me see if I have a good picture of my hair and I'll post that. In the meantime, i've attached the links for my inspiration below. Weddings Gowns Gifts, The Knot &&specific+detail=updos Weddings Gowns Gifts, The Knot Weddings Gowns Gifts, The Knot Hair Styles & Haircuts Hairstyles: Eva Mendes Updo Hairstyle Eva Mendes Updo Hairstyle

TonyandTricia, we had mixed messages too but ultimately wrote our own vows from A to Z and the officiant had no problems reading it. We didn't get confirmation from our wedding coordinator until two weeks before we left to MX that it would be no problem to write our own vows. I don't know why there are mixed messages but we weren't going to be subjected to pre-scripted vows. JSimMCP, the resort offers to put OOT bags in your guests' rooms for $3 per delivery. We didn't want to #1) pay $3 for each room delivery and #2) take down a separate suitcase for OOT bags so we distributed as many as we could the week before we left for MX and brought down about 5 for guests we wouldn't get a chance to see beforehand.

Thanks! My viel is a white catherdral--90". I got it from David's Bridal. Regular price is $69 + tax.

FOR SALE! I have an extra veil that's identical to the one i wore. I forgot to bring mine down to Mexico so a girlfriend purchased the same one for me and brought it down with her when she came on Thursday. It's never been worn and it's still hanging in my closet. I paid $75 for it but will sell it for $50 plus shipping. See link to pictures on siggy. PM me if you're interested.

FOR SALE! I have an extra veil that's identical to the one i wore. I forgot to bring mine down to Mexico so a girlfriend purchased the same one for me and brought it down with her when she came on Thursday. It's never been worn and it's still hanging in my closet. I paid $75 for it but will sell it for $50 plus shipping. PM me if you're interested.

FOR SALE! I have an extra veil that's identical to the one i wore. I forgot to bring mine down to Mexico so a girlfriend purchased the same one for me and brought it down with her when she came on Thursday. It's never been worn and it's still hanging in my closet. I paid $75 for it but will sell it for $50 plus shipping. PM me if you're interested.

Lady Di, I doubled the order for the petals (25 cups + 30 free = 55 cups * 2 = 110 cups). I spoke with someone from Flyboy because I bought the petals a week before we left for MX and wanted to make sure I still had time. She said she hadn't heard anything negative about customs but if it made me feel better she could split the order into two bags just in case. We put the bags in 2 suitcases that were both checked. In Mexico, I got the red light so they searched the luggage I was wheeling but the petals were in the suitcases my husband was wheeling. I don't know what would've happened if my luggage had the petals. It seemed like they were pretty low-key especially once I told them we were getting married. They opened my suitcase, started to search and I confirmed the contents were primarily candles and centerpieces and they just smiled and said congratulations and didn't unwrap or undo anything. It's really luck of the draw once you get to Mexico in terms of whether you get the green light or red light (where they search your luggage). In a last second decision once I got the red light I gave my husband one of the baggages I was carrying and told the guys that it belonged to my husband and they didn't say anything. That left 1 piece for them to search. Hope that helps. Good luck!

The reception was free! That's why we didn't care if some tables only had 8 people versus 10. I didn't expect the reception to be included so that was an added bonus.

TonyandTricia, I actually ordered 110 cups. I doubled the special, which at the time was buy 25 cups and get 30 free. (2x55=110 cups for $115 with tax ). There were limited colors for this special but I was undecided between two colors and Very Berry happened to be one of them and was part of the special. I have a hunch that with Valentine's day nearing, they aren't running as many. Have you taken a look at the 'brides on a budget' collection? As far as how many to get, I think every single person (43 not including DH and I) grabbed a handful of petals. You have fewer guests, so that's good and not everyone needs to throw them. You want a couple of good pictures and you can get that from just a few people throwing them right in front of you. If you have more questions you should call them directly. I spoke with someone there and she was very helpful and patient and explained how many cups I should get. I gave the flowers to Val at our on-site meeting and explained that i wanted a few scattered on the aisle and in the gazebo. She said the aisle would be hard to do b/c the wind might scatter them but on the stairs and inside the gazebo would be better. As always, I listened to what Val said:) We didn't have flower girls either. The petals were there before people arrived at the gazebo.

I didn't order the tablecloth so I didn't have to measure out the table width. I had the same problem which is part of the reason I chose to just go with the table runners. Also, I wasn't sure if I was going to do the round tables or do an "L" shaped table on top of the fact that until I received the final headcount, I wasn't sure how many people to a table (how large the tables would be) I'd be seating. Plus, our unlimited private functions wasn't determined until later so we didn't worry at that point about the number of tables whereas before we would've been restricted ($400 a table). The table runners come in one standard size (as do the chairs sashes/bows) so to me, it took out the guessing game. Not sure if you are considering tablecloths or not because those are the only ones that vary in size. Hope that helps!

Thanks for your kind words everyone!! vgirl17, we had 2 tables of 10, 2 tables of 8 a table of 7 and then our "head" table of 2. We had 5 people back out 2 weeks before so we had to reshuffle and rather than force people to sit together just to fill out tables, we made the tables fit to the guests. We wanted them to have fun!!

Hi everyone! I fixed my siggy so that the link to pictures works now. I included pics from my photographer from the wedding day and the TTD session in a photobucket slideshow. I was going to make a slideshow with shutterfly because the pictures can be seen in full screen but the image quality is much much better on photobucket.

Thank for the heads up! I'll fix the links tonight.

Vgirl7, I had initially inquired with Maribel about the paper lanterns and she put me in touch with Zuniga directly. She connected me to Aldo Ameneyro. His email address is [email protected] and website is Zúñiga Productions | Special Event Services for Groups and Conventions. We emailed back and forth, settled on a price and then he sent me a proposal to look over and sign. He then emailed Maribel to put the contract in my file. I followed up with Val once I was assigned to her and forward it to her again, just in case. I LOVED the bouquets. They weren't complicated so that probably helped but I think if you be as specific as possible but not complicated, you'll be pleased with the outcome.

Thanks so much doblauvelt!! Great instructions.

Thanks guys! It was an incredible experience. Vday bride--first of all, are you getting married this vday? how exciting!! I knew someone would ask how many cups of petals I purchased! I forgot to add that bit in my review. The special at the time was to buy 25 cups and received 30 cups free for $49.99. I doubled the order and purchased 50 cups and received 60 free. I had plenty of petals to scatter along the aisle, throw after the ceremony and adorn the reception tables. I loved the quality. The term "freeze-dried" threw me off because i thought they had to be refrigerated or kept cold. They basically look and feel like fresh petals but they've been preserved so that they last. You can bend them just like real petals. The petals come in a plastic bag. They're very lightweight but bulky. I asked them to separate the order into two so that i could put them in separate luggages...especially in the event customs decided to be a stickler with one of us...i'd at least have half my order in another suitcase.

Okay, ladies. My review is finally done!! I am so happy to share my experience with you and to answer any questions you may have. I have it under the "review" forum with a link to it in my siggy. Does anyone know how to change a link's name so that it says for example "Moon Palace Review" instead of listing out the path? Also, the pictures were larger when I was editing them but when I saved the thread, they became thumbnail size. Any suggestions? Once again, I just want to thank everyone on this forum for contributing and making my dream wedding possible. I couldn't have done it without you! Enjoy!

CEREMONY Valeria met me and the bridal party at my room. She handed us our bouquets and my mom her corsage. She assisted me onto the carriage ride. My BM had arranged a golf cart to be waiting at 2:40pm near the carriage to shuttle them to the gazebo. My mom and I rode the carriage ride and Val took off on another golf cart. She’d indicated that we would ride around until she gave the driver the go-ahead that it was showtime. About 15 minutes of riding around, our driver received the signal via walkie-talkie that they were ready for me. We came around the front of the gazebo near the pathway by the beach. Everyone could see me riding around and I saw some tears. I waved to everyone and before I knew it, I was dropped off at the foot of the aisle. My mom assisted me down and Val was on the grass telling me to hold my bouquet lower She was awesome! The officant’s English was perfect. She read the vows that we wrote verbatim. I was worried that we were restricted to pre-scripted resort vows but Val assured me that the officiant could read something that we’ve written. The vows forum on this website was a God-send. I took a lot of material from there. In fact, I copied and pasted a lot because I’d put this off until two weeks before our departure to MX and I wasn’t convinced that I could diverge from the scripted vows the resort provides. The only bummer was that she pronounced my name wrong even after my fiancé clarified annunciations with her prior to the start of the ceremony. After she mispronounced it a second time, everyone corrected her with a sense of humor. Then, in the end she got our last name wrong! It was more comical than anything. Overall, we really liked her but we never got her name. Oh, and she wore black pants and a black shirt and her hair was swept up in a clip. I thought she looked fine but some people thought she was a little underdressed for her role. Here's a picture: The ceremony lasted about 25 minutes. Specific timeline of events: 3:00pm- start of ceremony at the Tucan Gazebo 3:30-4:00pm – pictures with all of our guests 4:00pm-6:00pm – cocktail hours 4:00pm-4:30pm – pictures with our bridal party 4:30pm-5:00pm – pictures with just DH and I 5:00pm-6:00pm – DH and I join cocktail hour 6:00pm-10pm – Reception 10:00pm+ - DISCOTHEQUE!!! Cocktail Hour – A+ The cocktail hour was set up on the grass area right next to the Tucan Gazebo. It lasted from 4pm-6pm and was complimentary due to the unlimited private functions. Chairs were set up for seating, a few high tables were placed and the appetizers were in serving trays. Our guests helped themselves to the apps. I’m not sure if we could’ve arranged for servers to pass the appetizers. No one seemed to care either way. There was also a table set up as the bar area with a bartender. We negotiated a price of $200 with the DJ (see vendor review below) to pipe in music during the cocktail hour. This was a must to really change the ambiance and liven things up. I picked out 7 different appetizers. Most people said the beef medallions were their favorite. 1.Cheese and Mushroom Turnover 2.Chicken Tacos 3.Vegetable Strudel 4.Assorted Cheese and Cracker board 5.Beef Medallions 6.Smoked Salmon 7.Tempura Shrimp DH and I spent about the first hour of the cocktail hour taking pictures. The sun set a little after 5 so we spent roughly an hour with everyone. I was able to sample just about all of the apps and loved the medallions, tempura shrimp and cheese and mushroom turnover. Everything tasted great. The one thing I wish I would’ve known was that the mosquitos were BAD!! They were fine at the terrace so the grass definitely had something to do with it and it had rained a couple of days prior. The girls with their dresses were getting eaten alive. I wish we would’ve either bought bug spray or moved the cocktail hour into the gazebo. The staff was great by rushing to get citronella candles placed around the grass area but it was sort of too late by that point. RECEPTION – A+ By far the most fun part of the whole trip. The reception was the best reception I had ever attended! Sure, I was partial but the music was great and the energy was incredible. I mean how cool is it to be celebrating right next to the ocean?! The reception consisted of a first dance, mother/groom dance, mother-in-law/groom dance, father/daughter dance, best man and matron of honor speeches, slideshow during dinner and a TON of dancing. VENDOR REVIEW Zuniga -$300 - A We negotiated with Zuniga for paper lanterns to be strung around the perimeter of the Tucan Terrace. I can’t believe that I thought I could do this myself! I was going to purchase the lanterns and wire them in Mexico. I was thrilled with how the lanterns turned out and the cost was less than what it would’ve been if I had done it myself. Plus, the ones I was contemplating required AA batteries. That would’ve been a whole suitcase just for the lanterns! DJ-$1400 -B+ We used JS Audio Visual and signed up for the 4 hour lighting and DJ package. We met with Alejandro Vela at Val’s office in the wedding office on Wednesday. We went over our song list and highlighted our procession song, first dance song, cake-cutting song, etc. We also told him that we wanted to have the bridal party and parents introduced. This was cute because after DH’s grandfather, my mom and his parents were introduced, our bridal party did a fun little skit once each of them were introduced. All the songs were perfectly orchestrated. We also had a wedding slideshow and this is why we didn’t give JS Audio an A. The TV was a 42” monitor which made it tough for everyone to see the slideshow verbiage and the screen had tracking issues. Overall, it was fine but it wasn’t ideal. Alejandro was the veejay and he had an accompanying DJ. It took about 15 minutes for the DJ to start playing the songs we had been requesting. Once he understood that I was referencing a separate CD of songs we had brought with us, everything was perfect and the songs he played really got the crowd going. We danced up a storm!! All of our guests danced until 10pm. It was wonderful. Palm Fans-$61.18 We used Flowers and Flowers to order 50 palm fans that were used as programs at the ceremony. OOT Bags-$255 The vendor we used was discountmugs.com. We purchased 50 bags and distributed as many as we could before we left for Mexico. The contents were purchased from the dollar store and bed bath and beyond. Inside each bag, we rolled up a second bag so that each couple received one care-kit. The contents included the following: 1.Tylenol and Imodium (minimus.com) $34.56 for 25 each 2.Aloe and Tide Wipes from Bed Bath Beyond ~$45 (25 of each) 3.Hand sanitizer, gum, chapstick (pack of 3) from the dollar store ~$40 I included bridesmaids gifts in their OOT bag. In addition to the above, I bought each of them a turquoise patent leather Coach passport holder and Coach keychain with their initial. I also bought them swoozie and flip flop cheese spreaders. Freeze-dried flower petals- $115.23 flyboynaturals.com We purchased flower petals in the color Very Berry to be scattered on the aisle and in the gazebo, for the guests to throw as we left the ceremony and to scatter on the reception tables. They came in two large plastic bags which I separated into two different luggages for customs. I’d heard differing views about how customs might treat the flowers but because they weren’t in the baggage that was checked I’m not sure how it would’ve been if they had seen it. You can see the petal color in this picture: Table Runners/Tablecloths-$85.65 My colors were turquoise and white with a touch of fushia. I knew that the resort had limited linen colors and my sister found this website..tableclothsfactory.com. I ordered a sample of the table runner in organza and satin and the chair bows in organza and satin. The color was exactly what I was looking for and I thought it made sense to bring down what I wanted, so I did. I ended up ordering 50 satin chair bows, 10 organza runners and 10 satin runners. The satin runners were layered on top of the organza runners as they were slightly wider. The chair bows were put on the chairs for the ceremony and then used again for the reception. We had 5 tables for our guests and a head table with just my DH and I. Another runner was used for the guestbook table. So, in total 7 runners were used. This picture is great because you can see the whole gazebo along with the chair bows: Cake –$285 - B+ The cake turned out exactly as in the picture. The only reason why we didn’t give it an A was because it came late. They said that was because they couldn’t leave it out in the warm weather too long. We were supposed to cut the cake right after our first dance but it didn’t show up until after the speeches. Of course no one else noticed and the DJ caught on so DH just signaled to him for the speeches. The cake was 3 layers. The bottom and top were vanilla filled with fresh strawberries and the middle layer was chocolate with fresh strawberries. The cake was delicious!! What I thought was so cute was the day after the wedding the top layer was delivered to our room for DH and I to enjoy. I grabed a fork and had it for breakfast☺ If you guys have the cake option powerpoint from the resort, compare this cake versus the pic. Other than the flower colors, not a big difference. I had heard other brides say the more you try to customize, the harder it is for the staff. I loved how clean and simple this cake was. CHECK-OUT This left a bad taste in our mouth but it had nothing to do with the bookings or with the hotel credits. It had to do with the spa charges. I told Reyna that I was paying for my bridesmaid’s hair but they were to be charged for their own make-up. They even purposely left enough spa credits to be charged for the make-up and still not owe any money. Turns out our room was charged for both hair AND make-up. Of course Sunday is the only day that Reyna doesn’t work and it seems like no one can make a decision without the boss there. After a lot of back and forth, we paid the charges but made the front desk compose an email to Reyna explaining that the other girl’s rooms had enough credit to absorb the make-up charges and that I had communicated to her in a prior email (before we got to Mexico) to only charge my room for hair. This wasn’t something I wanted to deal with a week later after my honeymoon. The back and forth took 2 hours so my DH was annoyed that he had to delay his honeymoon. But great service to the rescue, during our honeymoon, Reyna shot me an email and said the credit was all taken care of. Once again, they made up for it. Bridal/Bridesmaid Accessories •My dress - Davids Bridal. Had it altered so that the sheath layer underneath was shortened and more of the lace overlay was exposed. •Bridesmaid Dresses – Bridesmart. I chose two designers, Mori Lee and Watters and Watters, picked two colors by each designer that were very similar (Turquoise and Tiffany) and let the girls pick out the styles they liked best. •Purse – David’s Bridal •Earrings, bracelet and BM brooches – Macys •Shoes – Piperlime •“BRIDE” zip-up – David’s Bridal Groomsmen Accessories •Ties- on sale 2/$50. Countess Mara from Macy’s. •Suits from Jos. A. Bank TRASH THE DRESS SESSION I polled several of the locals regarding the better beach—Sun Palace or Cancun Palace and unanimously, people recommended the Sun Palace. We have access to all of the sister Palace Resorts (except for Le Blanc I think). So, Saturday morning after the wedding, we met our photographer at the lobby and asked to have a cab flagged. The beach did not disappoint one bit. It was some of the most gorgeous water/beach I’ve seen (and I’ve done my fair share of traveling)!! I cannot say enough how floored we are with how our pictures turned out. We will treasure the TTD. The colors of the water will forever be engrained in our minds. CONCLUSION Just relax! The Moon Palace will make your dream wedding come true and have your guests talking about the best wedding they’ve ever been to. Keep in mind that they are on vacation, which already puts everyone in a great mood. You’re not going to please everyone so go with your gut instinct and have confidence in your decisions. You can’t go wrong with anything you choose at the MP. They had events and activities to keep all ages entertained. The older crowd loved the nightly shows and the younger crowd, including my 20 year old brother, closed down the disco every night. Heck, the last night, my mom and in-laws helped shut it down. It’s a wonderful bonding experience for everyone who’s there. Don’t lose sight of why you’re there and why everyone else made the trek. Enjoy every moment because it goes by fast. I hope I didn’t leave anything else out. If you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask me!! GOOD LUCK!! Mrseddy