shan0487

I knew I had to order my save the dates right away and get them mailed out ASAP as the room block rate for the rooms was only good until the end of February. I knew I wanted to do postcard Save the Dates to save money on postage so I went to good ol trusty Vistaprint and created our Save the dates there and sucked it up and paid for rush shipping- which I couldn’t complain as this was when they still had 100 postcards free! To be continued- my computer is not letting me upload pictures at the moment...

Hello ladies! After some persuasion from recent brides (cough ChelseaCat802), I am posting my LONG overdue planning thread! I was married last year- November 23, 2012 and could not have done everything I did for my wedding without this website! I had been a member of the website almost a year prior to getting engaged as I knew it was coming at some point and I am quite a planner and need to be prepared. I like to think that I did a really good job budgeting for our wedding and took full advantage of the free perks that Palace resorts offers. With my fiancé just graduating Law school and having to start paying his student loans and buying a new house in Oct 2012- we could not afford to go all out and pay thousands of dollars for lounge furniture and mariachi bands and all those extras. I kept my head on straight and only bought what was necessary and splurged on the few things I really wanted. In the end I do not regret a single thing- getting married in Mexico was the BEST decision we ever made- our group of 41 people had the time of their lives and we are returning back to Moon Palace for our 1 year anniversary in 2 months! We did not get any “honeymoon†time as we stayed 7 nights with our families and the majority of our friends stayed 5 nights. So I think our anniversary trip alone is well deserved- or at least that is what I tell my husband! We got engaged on Christmas Day 2011 after dating 7 ½ years! After the holidays and my fiancés birthday I started kicking it into high gear and picking a date for our wedding. We met with a local travel agent and set our date by the end of January 2012. I already knew I wanted to get married at Sun Palace and have us and our guests stay at Moon Palace because my fiancé had been to Moon and loved it and with our group of 41 people I knew that Moon would be fun for everyone and people could sneak away from the group if they wanted and make it their own vacation. I did not want my wedding at Moon Palace because I wanted the beautiful blue water that the “hotel zone†offers and I also didn’t want to share my wedding with other brides that day so that is why I went with my wedding at Sun.

Awesome planning thread! You are def diy way more than I did but everything is great!! Wish I would have done a plannigng thread!

We tipped each person of the wait staff individually $10 (you have to hand it to them or they make keep it all for themselves!) Along with the tips they got throughout the night. I tipped our wedding coordinator $50 as she did a great job! I think we had about 7 or 8 people to tip with bartenders, chefs and servers! Hope this helps! Quote: Originally Posted by Britt Does anyone know what to expect for gratuities? I kind of forgot to account for these in my budget and have no real idea what to expect! Thanks

I had the comlimentary reception- . I brought the ceterpieces, maracas and chair bows and table runnners- everything else is proved by the resort. For some reason i cannot upload a pic- but I should have a pic on my profile under my album! Quote: Originally Posted by MrsPeele2B OK Moon Palace ladies I need some help. I'm trying to gather some ideas for how I want to have my creception space decorated. I would love for those of you to chime in . So... I don't have a confirmed reception are yet (working on that) but it's likely that it will be outdoors. I have yet to get in touch with my WC because she's been out ALL week. I have been reassured that she will return, she just hasn't. I'm getting antsy because naturally I'd like to confirm my space so i can start to think about decorations. It is likely that I will use Deco Cancun as i will not have to pay a vendor fee. Does anyone know what the complimentary package (with unlimited private events) comes with? These are questions I'd ask my WC but... you know the rest. Are the White Avangard chairs included with the reception setup? Or are they the covered white chairs? I only ask because I'd like to have an idea of what the bare bones reception space will look like so i can kind of plan what kind of things from DecoCancun I'd like to rent.

Quote: Originally Posted by ChelseaCat802 Do you have the link for your dress? I absolutely LOVE it! I'm looking for something similar for my AHR but don't want to spend a ton of $$! Here is the similiar link I found- itcomes from China so I don't know that you have time as I see you are getting married in November- but the delvery date does say Oct so you may be fine. Just so you know the dress looks like what you see on me and not like the model- I orderedit as is and the color was whtie not champagne like their picture. http://www.ebay.com/itm/ball-gown-prom-bridal-bridesmaid-wedding-evening-dress-custom-V-neck-white-lace-/110999583127?pt=Wedding_Dresses&hash=item19d8173997#ht_5636wt_959 PM Me if you have any questions!

Quote: Originally Posted by RachelHolmes21 I haven't heard much about Marvin. I will have to add him to my list. Did you get married at PP? did thepeople at the resort do your makeup? Maya Floral is Marvin's company. I got married at Sun Palace and I only had the resort do my hair and my MOH did my makeup.

For Marvin I paid $165 for my bridal bouquet and $65 for each bridesmiad bouquet- well worth it in my opinion as the flowers were gorgeous! And way cheaper than the resort!

Rachel I went the route you are hoping for- I spent $220 for the ipod hookup, $500 on bridal and bridesmaids flowers with Mayal Floral and probably $100-150 on decorations that I brought and made myself. I had the 75+ room nights so my cocktail hour and reception were free!!!! I did fly down my own photographer but that cost me about $2000 and I had her and her assistant for 3 day so she shot the reheresal dinner, a TTD and the wedding and reception!! Quote: Originally Posted by RachelHolmes21 How many room nights will you have? I am hoping get most of the "free" events by booking at least 75 room nights and i am not adding in a DJ (that cost is just insane we will go next door to senor frogs). I am also contemplating bringing my own linens, and using an outside florist. I dont really plan on using any other the resorts "rented" items that cost a fortune.

It was pretty and the most secluded you will get outside but it is not worth $20 a person to me. The Tucan terrace is just fine in my opinion!! The caribbean is nice in case your wedding night is windy- there will be less wind up there! I actually got married at Sun Palace but I had my rehersal dinner on the Verando Terrace on the grand side and it was perfect! It was really windy that night but other than that it was great- that part of the resort is pretty quiet and not as crowded so we hardly had anyone walk by in the time we were there! Quote: Originally Posted by Britt What is your opinion on the Caribbean Terrace? worth the 20$ per person extra? is it nicer or more private than say Tucan terrace in the end? where did you have your reception?

You're welcome! Well nothing is 100% private unless you have the reception in a ballroom. They aren't going to allow anyone come over and "crash" your reception unless you welcome people- which I think Coco did! They didn't let us use but a corner of the bar up there when the reception was going on- there was like an imaginary line we couldn't cross lol. So you will have people watching your reception but they will just be onlookers. And we were the only ones up there that night- but there were 30 of us lol.

Coconoir1908's reception was on the caribbean terrace- look for her pictures or you can probably PM her to get her to send you some! We hung out at the bar there a few nights and the night after our wedding we saw a reception up there where the bride and groom actually lived 10 min away from us..small world!!! It is the best option for a "private" reception as they block off half of the terrace and hotel guests can only use half of the terrace. And the view is pretty!

I would assume they would just charge you a per person fee for anything over 50.

The mexican buffet and caribbean buffets are delicious- we had one for the rehersal dinner and one for the wedding! The only balcony type terrace at Moon is the Caribbean terrace located on the grand side which you will be charged $6 (I think) per person to have your reception there because there is no elevator access. Just a heads up!

Congrats on completing day one! I'm starting to think I'm stuck in a rut..I was married last November and have been doing Jillian workouts too and I think I may need to try insanity soon to get rid of those couple pounds that just won't go away!!!

Congrats to all you new brides!! I was married in 2012 at Sun palace and we stayed at moon palace with our group of 40 people! I'm considering coordinating a "reunion" trip with the group for 2014 and wanted to try somewhere else- has anyone been to Moon Palace and HRPC and can compare the two? We loved Moon and have never been to the DR or anywhere in the caribbean before either! Only Mexico. Thanks for any insight! Shanna

Wow the fact that they are checking this website now is great news for you ladies!! Hopefully they will see the miscommunications and frustrations and compliments and have them fixed!

I used marvin at mayafloral in Cancun- he's very familiar with Moon Palace and will drop them off at your lobby! . His prices are not super cheap but it was way cheaper than going through the resort. Yes you will be responsible to set them up yourself or otherwise your WC can change you up to $150 set up fee...each WC is different and they kind of set their own fee- if you have a nice one like mine she won't charge you anything in hopes of a bigger tip for herself! Here's my bouquet!

PSAV is also a perferred vendor of MP- it is cheaper- that is why I think they do not "suggest" them. I was married in 2012 but her is my contact person if she's still there- Dolores Alvarez- [email protected] I just did the ipod hookup and JSAV wanted to charge me $200 more than PSAV! I cannot help you with the photographer- as I flew down 2 photographers for home- so they were guests of the resort for 3 days- ended up being cheaper for me to do that. Also for the flowers- you can hire outside vendors and have them drop them off at the lobby- the resort can't charge you for that!

Hey Stacy!! In addition to all the info I've given you- just let it be known that Moon is on is own secluded area and there is not another resort for miles away..but as I mentioned in my PM - you can visit any of the other palace resorts for the day on their free shuttle bus and get the pretty beach and pretty blue water that Sun and Beach palace will offer! The seaweed was hardly noticable when I was there in Nov but I'm not sure how it would be in June!

You'll be fine! We actually stayed in the Nizuc section for my 40 guests and we all loved it since Nizuc was centrally located and the pools and beach were quieter!

There is no casino in Moon Palace in Cancun...maybe she si getting confused with the Punta Canta resort. They just renovated the Sunrise section so I'm not sure why the would close that entire section down for a year. I would contact someone else- is your travel agent local?

I would suggest bringing your own music. I was never given an option but you want your music to be personalized to you and your husband!

You are very welcome! I just told him that i wanted bright tropical flowers and my colors were orange, yellow and blue and he sent me some pics and I decided what I wanted from his pictures! I'm sure if you have a certain bouquet in mind he can send you a quote for that! Just keep in mind that he is slow to respond to your emails- just follow up once a week and he'll get back to you! Thank you!

I paid $165 for my bridal bouquet and $65 for my bridesmaids bouquets that were identical but smaller. He is not the cheapest but he is cheaper than the resort and he had delivered to palace resorts many times so i felt comfortable using him!