alison15

Here is a picture of our first dance during our reception on the Tucan Terrace Getting food during cocktail hour in the Tucan gazebo Below is a picture of us seated during the ceremony to give you a larger view of the chapel

Here are a few on the photographers website, but they do not show the areas too well from the reception http://www.ismaelpachecoblog.com/ I think you have to have a snapfish account to then access the group room. Let me know if that works.

We sent them out right away so it was acknowledged that their gift was received and we are sending another thank you to thank them for their attendance. Otherwise I was afraid they would wonder if we ever recieved the gift. Also we got several checks before, and while it felt greedy cashing them right away, I didn't want them to have to wait 1-2 months to balance their check book.

A little...posed shots were very hard because he can't describe how he wants you to be. Like move your arm or look seductive or pondering kind of shots. Candids were awesome, because he knows how to take them and just runs around and does it and it works. I like candids because it does capture a lot of emotion that you don't get with posed shots. He also took a lot of detail pictures that I liked.

I do know there is a fee for any terrace that does not have handicap access. Which seems weird until you consider the fact that handicap access means easier access for set up. Not actually having to do with accomodating physically handicap guests. If you have a beach reception there is also an additional fee per person as well but it's fairly minimal.

If you are looking for an extremely reasonable photographer, I used Ismael Pacheco. He has a preview up from my wedding this weekend. He barely speaks any English so if you are looking for a lot of posed photographs, he is not what you want. If you are looking for more of the photo journalistic style, he is great. Ton of candid shots which is what I wanted. He does have an assistant to does speak English. He is super nice and great to work with. So far I love the pictures I have seen. I did not do the TTD session that was included in my package but now I wish I would have, I am sure it would have been amazing. http://www.ismaelpachecoblog.com/

No extra fees. They don't mind at all. Just let them know how you want it and the WC will take care of it.

I just got back from MP. The beach is not the greatest out there in the area. It has a lot of seaweed but a truck goes by and picks it up so that helps a lot. The water is normal beach water you would see in South Carolina or Florida. It's not the Turquoise water you see down in the hotel zone just normal beach water. We hung out there one day, it wasn't too bad. There wasn't a lot of people swimming in the ocean as the first two days were red flags that you weren't allowed to be in the water. The next few days had yellow and people did go in. Personally I don't like salt water so only went in the to ankles.

We had 58 guests so a total of 60 with the groom and myself. I bought turquoise organza runners from tableclothesfactory and white starfish from ebay and brought those with me. Then I did 1 large square candle per table through decocancun. I hate large centerpieces on round tables b/c it blocks seeing across the table so I liked this. We had decocancun do paper lanterns surrounding the edge of the reception. We had the reception on the Tucan Terrace. We also did these candle step things. It looked very nice. The total with labor was $850 I believe. It looked amazing and was completely worth it. My only complaint was that one string of lanterns did not stay lit. In fact, I don't know if they were ever lit. We did pay $180 for alter flowers during the wedding. They then moved them to our cocktail hour (Tucan Gazebo) and then go the wedding reception by our cake table and guestbook. Our wedding was a catholic wedding in the Immaculate Conception Chapel, beautiful. Father Benito was interesting... As for pictures try this link http://www2.snapfish.com/snapfish/roommapping/groupname=alieandpaulswedding/groupid=54641027/groupownerid=3265834027/ with the code word: wedding This does have pictures of the entire week from guests so it's a lot go to through. I recommend Paul Gass's photos. He was a friend there with a great camera and took a lot of wedding. I will try and get mine up today but neither I nor the groom took pictures during the wedding. I think one of the groomsman had the camera.

So I am back and everything was wonderful!!! I won't have time to write a review for a while so just ask me any questions and I will be happy to respond. As far as fees goes, I know when dealing with DecoCanucun there is a $150 set up fee, regardless of what they are doing. At first we were only going to do candles on tables which was $105 and the $150 fee which was just stupid to put 1 candle on 7 separate tables. We ended up getting paper lanterns and a candle step thingy added as well, those were $300 and $200 respectively and still only $150 to set up all of it. Sort of dumb but everything looked great. No fees through Palace Resorts really. We were given a complimentary hospitality room to get ready in. It was arranged through Carilis in the Miami office. Before we left, we were charged for the room. We decided to wait and talk to Carilis about it since we were already due a refund (for our stay since we had have 25 rooms) and that goes through the Miami office so it will be a couple of days. Alright, ask away...

I have been here since Tuesday and everything is perfect! Our guests are loving it. The only thing I wish is that it could be longer. The staff here is so amazing. Ok off to our rehearsal and then wedding tomorrow!

I am using Marvin from Mayan Diseno Floral as well. Bouquets were $35 each, so much cheaper than the resort! His options were great. The one thing I have heard about him is time. Make sure you tell him to send it early. We have having him drop them off at 9:00am for a 3:00pm wedding. Hopefully they will keep that long, I am sure if I keep them in the air it will be fine. Not certain how I am going to explain it to the WC. I might just say the real touch? That could be awkward. A few other brides on here have done it was well. Maybe they have some tips? We are only using him for bouquets and corsages. We are skipping boutonnieres for the groomsmen as they are not wearing jackets anyway. And flowers for the chapel will be handled by the resort.

All the resorts seem to be really safe as well as most of Cancun and Rivera Maya. I would just warn guests who travel off the resort to be careful. But I don't think its any worse than being a tourist in any foreign country, you just need to be aware of your surroundings and to not carry a lot of cash or valuable items with you.

Congrats! I am getting married Oct 2nd. What day do you get in? We might be there the same time. However, we leave on Oct 3rd to head to Le Blanc so we might not. Â

You may want to check, but I know outside vendors for flowers is not allowed. I am using an outside florist as well, he has delivered there before, he just says it is a gift from someone from home and brings them in a big box so they can't see. It was only $35 per bouquet instead of $120. So you may just want to check with your florist to make sure they do not let the resort know they are dropping off your flowers. Â We are using the reservation for our rehearsal dinner. We are doing it at Arrifcies (sp?) the Brazilian steakhouse. Since we were at 35 people we didn't have too many choices. How many do you have? That can limited where you will have your reservation. I recommend checking out the Restaurant Review thread on here, it gives reviews of each restaurant as well as someone posted the limits for how many people they can accommodate. Â

Personally, I would take the cheaper reception. I would just try to choose a reception area or gazebo that is close to a bar where guests can go have a drink in between. The other way to do it would be to start the reception immediately following the wedding so the bar will be open but plan for the dinner portion to start an hour in. You will have to make sure you stick to your hour b/c you won't want to shorten your reception any longer. Additionally a lot of the menus for the reception have items that are like hors d'oeuvres. I would ask your WC if you could have those items on a table separate from the dinner buffet if they could be ready to go at the beginning of the reception and then have the rest ready an hour into the reception. You are also able to add only 1 menu item from 1 of the menu to the one you choose so you could choose another appetizer like item. Â If you do have guests just to go a bar in between, I would just make sure you let everyone know exactly where the reception is to take place and that dinner will be starting at an exact time. It is easy to get stragglers who are drinking and not paying attention to the time. Also if you give them a designated bar to go to, you could always swing by for a picture at the "cocktail" hour and round everyone up to head to dinner. You will probably also want a drink at that time too!!

It's so hard not to stress! And it goes by so fast. I really can't believe it's almost here. Â If I were you, I would go with the discounted reception. That way you will have your own space to have speeches. With the restuarant people will be close by so its not as intimate. I would look for a location close to a bar so everyone can go to the bar for a cocktail hour while you take pictures. Â Although, depending on what time your wedding is...the food for a cocktail hour is really nice so they could possibly eat early or late night after cocktails. That would keep it more low key and relaxed. Sorry if I am not much help. Either way would be nice. Â

We went with the compliementary package as we wanted to add our own stuff on, plus since we are having a Catholic wedding, there is only the Immculate package which wasn't that great IMO. I think it will come out a bit cheaper this way plus we get to choose things we want a bit more. Â We are paying the $385 for the Ipod speakers. It comes with lights and 4 hours of a "technician" who helps run the Ipod. And there is the microphone for speakers. I figure that is worth it. If we would have gotten a DJ I would have had a playlist anyway so it would have been the same amount of work on me. I guess the music won't fade or be "mixed" as well. But it will let everyone dance and that's all I care about. Â For our reception, we are using Deco Cancun for candles on each table ($15 each) and then paper laterns around the edge of the terrace ($300). The only thing that bothers me with Deco Cancun is the $150 set up fee. I am sure it will look nice but it seems a bit pricey. At first we were only going to do candles on the table which came to $105 but then a $150 set up fee! Just to put 1 candle on 7 separate tables. Â Less than 2 weeks until I am there. I am happy to answer any questions!

Welcome Melissa. I am getting married in less than 2 weeks! Yes, everything is overwhelming right now!!

The email I have is [email protected]

I am having my wedding at the Moon Palace on October 2, 2010. We have 60 guests coming, which is much more than I thought we would have. I was expecting closer to 30. And like you said, a lot of people gave us verbal confirmations but I really did not expect for them to follow through, however, they did. Â We choose Moon Palace for several reasons, first being the large size. Since this will be a vacation for our guests and not just a wedding, I wanted a resort that would allow them to have "space" from other guests. Additionally it has a ton of resturant options, pools and bars. The second reason is the perks they give you for having a large group. Since we have over 25 rooms booked and 75 guests, we get as many free events as we want (cocktail hours, receptions, private rehearsal dinner, etc.). It does feel a bit like you are mooching off of guests though, as in a way they are "paying" for our reception by coming. They also give us a free stay as well as a free room upgrade. Any of the Palace Resorts will do this, so you may also want to check out Aventura Spa Palace, Beach Palace, etc. The other reason we choose Moon Palace was that they have a Catholic Chapel as well as the location close to the airport. It is out of the "hotel zone" yet not a long drive if guests want to venture into Cancun. Â I would recommned looking at some of the reviews. Many people have had larger destination wedding and have provided reviews of how the resort handled it. Â Happy planning!

I see that it is now all the way through the Yucatan but I did hear on the news that many of the resorts had to have guests seek shelter. Hopefully no weddings were affected by this and it clears up for the weekend weddings. Anyone have any info?

Does anyone know if there is a way to book tour or excursions using the $1500 in palace rewards before arriving at MP? I have contact information for golf and the Spa/Salon but I cannot find anywhere to book the tours. I have heard they are filling up fast with the reward promotion. If anyone has this info and can send it to me, it would be greatly appreciated!!

You may want to check out any deals you can get through any "sister" resorts of Secrets. We are getting married at Moon Palace and having our "mini-moon" at Le Blanc. However, it was much of a deal since Le Blanc costs more but sometimes they have specials they can extend to you.

The Miami coordinator cannot arrange reserving locations, only your on-site WC. However, if you have a group booking you should be assigned a WC at that time. I was given the name of mine immediately after signing the contract. However, I was also told right away that she wouldn't be available for several months. But she still did randomly respond to emails. My Miami coordinator was able to send me info of reception sites to review while I waited to hear back from her. Â I don't think making changes once you are there are too big of a deal but you may need to change times. While they may have 1 wedding an hour, I think they try to make them at different locations on the resort. As far a reception locations, I believe you can change those as well. Additionally there are some spots that they have that are not listed in the info they email you that you may be able to choose from when you get there.