SChica927

Ladies, my TA went to MP last week and took a ton of photos that I wanted to share with this group... it's an awesome resort, and just looking at these gets me more excited about the weddingggg!!! http://www.kodakgallery.com/gallery/sharing/shareRedirectSwitchBoard.jsp?token=637995911409%3A1870488563&sourceId=533754321803&cm_mmc=eMail-_-Share-_-Photos-_-Sharee

Yes, you can pick stuff now and change later... but it's all based on availability. So if what you want later isn't available, you have to take what you can get... I would encourage people to book through your TA... obviously, I want all of our guests to spend the least amount of money as possible, so just push MP to give you the lowest price possible... They didn't give us the Deluxe Resort View as a category for our room block (for whatever reason...), but now people are finding cheaper rates on Expedia/Orbitz etc BUT it's cheaper because it's the lower room category. So I just called my TA today to ask her if we can get the lower room category added to our room block; I'm hoping this will "match" Expedia's prices and we can get people to book through our link instead...

I have Cristina. Slow to respond, but I heard she's amazing... my wedding's not until November so I try not to bother her too much... I'm just working with all my vendors seperately...

I've heard of a lot of brides on here using Sashca Gluck as well... for the outside vendor day pass, some brides have said it is a $500/day fee and then some said it changed to an $800/day fee, either way, it might cheaper to get a room for the night. Just something to consider. For a WC, I would just tell them you have private events you need to book. They're usually good about giving you one. Hope this helps!

Do your room nights still count towards wedding events then? Because we were told that if the bookings didn't happen through the weddings dept at MP (through the room contract and link they provide), then the room nights won't count towards our wedding events... and we're banking on our unlimited free events, comp nights, and room upgrades with all the room nights we have...

That's a good point. MP didn't even give us the Deluxe Resort View room category as an option... the cheapest option they gave us was Superior Deluxe Garden View... I know that the Expedia/Travelocity stuff is cheaper because it couples the flight in, but I'm going to ask my TA if she can get MP to give us cheaper rates so the rest of my guests don't book through Expedia too... I'll let you know what I find... Quote: Originally Posted by alison15 Another reason people can find cheaper rooms on Expedia and Travelocity is that the rooms that are offered on those sites are often obstructed view rooms. This means that the garden view is obstructed by the building. Your TA can have these rooms added to your group. There are not a ton of these rooms so probably not your whole group. We had 3 added to our group booking and let everyone know that is an option. Only 1 couple chose this option. It was about $40 less than our group rate per night and were still $20 than Expedia and Travelocity were offering them for. Also these rooms are only in the Nizuc section. Since our group was staying in Sunrise they had to be further away from our group. This was a great option for friends who wanted something cheaper. Additionally when they arrived they were able to use their Palace Rewards to "upgrade" their room and ended up with a 2nd floor room in our group section. I wouldn't guarantee guests that they will be able to upgrade and be close to everyone if they were to use this option. Our guests did it figuring they would want to spend most of their time out of their room so not have a great view was fine with them. It was just a bonus since they were not going to use their rewards for much else and would want to be closer to everyone else. Just have your TA ask for you or try to negotiate a lower price. That's why you have one.

Is your TA booking through the link for MP? If so, unfortunately, I don't think there's anything you can do... maybe ask your TA to ask MP if they will lower the group rate for you... Basically, the deals they're getting on Expedia, Travelocity, etc is because of the flight+hotel combo -- you can't say if the discounted price is coming from airfare or from the hotel. Odds are, they're sharing the cheaper price... We had 1 guest find a cheaper package on Expedia, he called MP and they booked him and matched Expedia's price... but then the TA at MP got in trouble with the weddings department, so I would NOT recommend doing that. They told us that we HAVE to use the wedding link for our bookings to get the wedding room nights... I know that sucks, but it's the flight prices right now that are killing us I think...

Hi, We actually decided to go with Moon Palace in Mexico for a few reasons: 1) We had to have Indian food at our wedding. We did not find ANY resorts in DR that would allow this exception for a caterer/chef to come on site. They all were strict about not having an outside vendor come in for this. 2) We're getting married Thanksgiving weekend, so flights to DR were much more exp than Mexico and we didn't want our guests to pay that much... So if Indian food isn't a huge deal for you, then you should have a lot more selection than we did. Good luck! Let me know what you find!

Congratulations Rae! 1. Totally up to you. I've heard the resort DJ's not great -- but someone else might be able to speak to this more. I've heard DJ Mannia and DJ Doremixx are really good, but they're outside vendors and are subject to the $500/day fee. 2. Yes, you can use your dollars towards photo and video. 3. Your room contract should outline that if you get a certain number of guests you get x free events... all of the events you listed count towards free events... I'm not sure how much it costs if it's not considered a Free event. I think I read $400 per table of 10 somewhere, but I'm not sure. 4. I've heard Real Touch Flowers are really good fake flowers... 5. Guests get resort credit depending on the length of their stay -- this should also be outlined in your room contract. Something like this: 3 nights = $500 credit, 4 nights = $750 credit, 5-8 nights = $1,500 credit, etc. 6. Make sure you read over your contract and question anything you don't like/agree with. I had a lot of changes to my document before I submitted and they agreed to pretty much all of them... For example, their website says that children under 4 are free but it didn't say that in my contract, so I had them add it in. I was super neurotic with my room contract... 7. No idea when the money's due or how payment works... I'm not there yet! Hope this helps a little bit... you'll find awesome info on this website! Congrats again!

Thanks! I can't wait!

Ladies, Just wanted to let you know -- for those of you getting married at the end of this year (late Nov/Dec) -- AirTran just posted their prices and it seems pretty cheap compared to the rest of the airlines... Furthermore, you can set up a group event and get your guests 10% off. It's super easy, free for you, and takes 5 minutes to set up! Here's the link for more informaiton: http://www.eventfares.com/eventsavers.aspx We just set ours up -- of course I booked all of my family's flights on AirTran BEFORE I knew about this... go figure! Argh!!

Yayy! Good luck! Can't wait to see pictures and hear about everything! I'm sure it'll be perfect!

In some of the photogs and videog blogs I've seen, you should see if you could have them take your dress and hang it in a tree... it looks really cool out doors...

Hi ladies! I am having a traditional Indian DW on November 26, 2011 at Moon Palace in Cancun! We got engaged in July 2010 and sent out our Save the Dates in February/March 2011! Right now, I'm working with designers in India to get our invitations done, I went to India to do all of my clothes shopping, and am starting to look into decor and OOT bags... so much to do! But I love this stuff! Haven't gone through this entire post yet, but looking forward to talking you guys across the next several months to share ideas!

I LOVE this hanger! It could be a super cute bridesmaid gift too... with just the girl's name in the hanger...

Quote:Originally Posted by SChica927 I'm 95% sure they had Black Label when we went... let me ask my FI, whiskey's his drink... Â Â

I'm 95% sure they had Black Label when we went... let me ask my FI, whiskey's his drink...

They have Absolut, Black Label, Bacardi etc (at that level).. they don't get into Grey Goose, etc. And FYI -- here's a pic of the mini-bar that comes in all of the rooms, 4 bottles of liquor!

Good luck! Can't wait to read all about it!!

I hear that the round tables at MP are 72" diameter... good luck!

Sure! We're working on our invitations this month, so I'll certainly share them when we're locked down!

When FI and I went to MP for our site visit (before deciding to move fwd with MP), the second they slapped a wristband on us, we weren't happy... it will definitely look stupid in pictures... not just for us, but for all of our guests! So when I asked them what to do, they told us that we can tell people to cut them off during the ceremony and to hang on to them. Then, take the cut one back to the lobby and they would just replace it with a new wristband... I asked the question generally, and that's the answer they gave me. So I assumed it applied to all of our guests, not just the bride and groom... I'm emailing my TA (who's there right now) to see if she can confirm this... Here's a pic of the wristbands -- they have different colors for different groups I guess, weddings get off-white:

Yeah, that's my understanding too... that's why I was surprised that my TA agreed to still manage our group after finding out that she can't give our guests the deals, they have to book through the resort link directly... So now, a guest calls, she answers all their questions, and then she makes the booking for them through the link that MP gave us... and doesn't charge any extra! She takes the guests CC number and puts it into the site for them to pay the deposit... she's so sweet! And I have NO idea how she's making money?!?

Awesome, so this is from the in house videographers at MP?

Kris10kay, good question. If you are referring to the resort credit, your guests will get it no matter how they book -- it's an offer from the resort itself (not specific to wedding parties). PS -- you guys all heard that the resort credit promotion is extended through October, right? A word of caution: So we started working with a TA before had the room contract thinking she'd be able to get good air+hotel deals for our guests. Once we rec'd our wedding rates, it turned out to be much lower than any deals our TA could get... and we HAD to use the room contract and link to get the low hotel rates. Now our TA is literally fielding our guests and booking their stay through the link itself... so we get our room nights... so basically, if your guests book through expedia, or if your TA finds a cheap package deal that's better than the room price, then you WILL NOT get the room nights... just FYI. We have a LOT of people, and I didn't want to send our guests the link directly because 1) I didn't want to take all the questions and 2) I didn't want to manage the list of everyone's arrival and departure times, transfers, room type, etc. So our TA is doing all of that. The funny thing is, I have NO idea how our TA is making money... they usually get a cut from the hotels and airlines they work with. But in this instance, she's not getting anything from the hotel because it's their link she's using to book AND the rates she gets for flights alone aren't much lower than flights we've been finding on our own... so we've been telling our guests to book flights on their own and then contact the TA for their transfers and room reservation... Hope this helps.