ndvidul

I did it! Haha, thanks for letting me know about the "quote." Your ideas on decorating have got my wheels turning. Are the rose petals going to be real? If so, how are you going to get them through customs? Also, may I ask, how many sashes are you bringing and what cost did you find them for? I love the idea of paper lanterns or pomanders. I'm still deciding on my colors - I'm definitely doing blue. I was thinking blue and brown with maybe a hint of coral. What are your colors?

We're going to get legally married about 3 months before our DW so that my Granny can have a special role in our wedding (she wouldn't be able to come to Mexico). Someone on here mentioned that there are other threads on here about getting legally married before you go.. has anyone found any really informative ones? Any idea on what your symbolic ceremonies are going to be like? I'm thinking of doing the sand blessing in a picture frame of us. And we want to do our own vows. Looking for ideas!

Yes, I requested to not have Father Benito because as Coconoir beautifully put it - I didn't read the best things about him on here. Mrs. Bruff, I think that for civil ceremonies they use a judge. I'm changing ours to a symbolic ceremony, so my Miami Coordinator said that she'd have to cancel the judge she confirmed in order to now arrange for a minister for us. Thank you so much for posting the script and bringing up this topic! I'm going to make a point to ask to see the symbolic ceremony script. I just don't want to believe that they can't adjust the script in any way. What if we want to add other blessings, etc.? Anyone else know about this? Also, I'm curious about what you're going to use to decorate if you're not using flowers. I'm trying to cut down on costs anyway I can but still make the experience a beautiful one. Are you using any other decorations? On a totally unrelated note - how do you gals include the post you're responding to in your post? Like above, Coconoir, you had MrsBruff's comment in your post? I've been trying to figure this out... Goodnight, beautiful ladies! So thankful we're able to connect on here.

Hi there! I have been looking at this thread for a while and it has totally helped me. Thank you so much ladies, for posting on here! I just had some of my questions answered by my coordinator in Miami, Geraldine Flores, and I thought I'd post them here in case you ladies find any of it helpful. I would strongly suggest that brides who are about to sign their contracts and book their date ask their wedding coordinator about eliminating the outside vendor part in the contract like I requested below. Even though she denied it (which I thought she would), now I have in writing that I only need to pay for a day pass for our photographer, saving us several hundred dollars in paying for a night for him! My initial questions are in black. Her responses are in blue. Then, I responded to her again in red, and her next answers to those are in purple! (Some of the words combined for some reason when I pasted it in here - hope it's clear!) I hope this helps someone! 2) We would like the line in the contract that says "Outside vendorservices.... are not permitted on premises" to be changed or eliminated toallow outside vendors. Please be advised that this line cannot be eliminated from the contract, the only outsidevendor that the onsite wedding coordinator would allow will be thephotographer, everything else will be with our vendors. Okay. Doesthis mean our outside vendor photographer could be on premises for free orwould we need to purchase a day pass? Pleasebe advised that you will need to purchase a day pass of the photographer. 3) We do not have to put any money down in order to book a complimentary weddingpackage, correct? Now that we're doing a symbolic ceremony, does the $300still apply? Will our contract reflect this? Would we be able tobring our own officiant from home? Pleasebe advised that there is no deposit required if you change your wedding tosymbolic, due to it is a complementary wedding. Please be informed that you maybring your own minister, if so please let me know and we will not submit a requestfor ours. Please remember that if your minister does not make it the weddingwill not be performed as our minister has to be confirmed in advance. Is there a charge to use your minister uponthe day of the wedding? ($300?) What are the translation fees for documents? Please be advised that for a minister there is no fee asthere is no paper work. Please be informed that there is a fee if you requestfor a judge and do a civil ceremony, legally binding. 4) Are we able to reserve a beach wedding for our time slot already and get this in writing in the contract? Please be advised that the location of the ceremony is reserved with your onsite wedding coordinator. Please be informed that it cannot be added to the contract as we do not handle the wedding details and locations. Our contract is to confirm the date, time, property and wedding collection. 5) If we do a room block through my parents' membership, do we need to put any money down for this room block? If not, could we have this in writing in the contract? Please be advised that there is not deposit required for the room block. Once we have a signed contract, you will need to let me know about how many rooms you would like for me to hold, so I can request a reservation link form the technicians in Mexico so your guests can make their room reservations at their own time. This link will be available to you and your guests up to 2 months prior to arrival.This is not added to the contract as the contract does not relate to the rooms, just ceremony. 6) Are the Resort Credits (listed below) still available to us (bride and groom) and our guests if we book using our parents' membership? Could our contract reflect this please? - $2000 for 9 or more nights - $1500 Resort Credit per room for stay of 5 or more nights - $750 Resort Credit per room for stays of 4 nights - $500 Resort Credit for stays of 3 nights Please be advised that in order for you and your guests to qualify for the resort credits all rooms need to be confirmed with full payment by December 15, 2011 to be able to qualify. Any rooms confirmed after this date will not qualify for the resort credit.This is not added to the contract as the contract does not relate to the rooms, just ceremony. 7) Could our contract please list in writing the Added Values program for weddings? When would we be refunded any money we've put down towards our room (bride and groom) if we qualify for complimentary nights? Could our contract have this in writing also, please? -15 room nights:Complimentary cocktail (hour?) after ceremony -30 room nights:Complimentary cocktail (hour?) after ceremony, 2 complimentary nights for bride & groom (+$20 per night) -60 room nights:Complimentary cocktail (hour?) after ceremony OR complimentary upgrade to private function, 4 complimentary nights for bride & groom (+$20 per night) -75 room nights: Unlimited private functions, 7 complimentary nights for bride & groom, complimentary room upgrade for bride & groom Please be advised that the refund for the comp nights is handled by the auditors at the property, as I have mentioned before the contract is only to confirm your ceremony. The refund should be received by you within 6 to 8 weeks of your ceremony. 8) As a request, we would like to not have Father Benito as our officiant/judge if we do use a Moon Palace judge. Is this possible? Please be advised that Father Benito is a priest and not a judge. Our judge cannot be substituted as the government assigns one to the region and is the one that needs to be present for legally binding.

So, it looks like we will be switching to a symbolic ceremony at MP since it seems my Granny (a.k.a. my Matron of honor / the most important person in my life besides my fiance) won't be able to make it to Mexico now. The good news is that we will be able to fly down to AZ to become legally married and include her and then still have our wedding at MP. She is thrilled! I just had some of my questions answered by my coordinator in Miami, and I thought I'd post them here in case you ladies find any of it helpful. I would strongly suggest that brides who are about to sign their contracts and book their date ask their wedding coordinator about eliminating the outside vendor part in the contract like I requested below. Even though she denied it (which I thought she would), now I have in writing that I only need to pay for a day pass for our photographer, saving us several hundred dollars in paying for a night for him! My initial questions are in black. Her responses are in blue. Then, I responded to her again in red, and her next answers to those are in purple! (Some of the words combined for some reason when I pasted it in here - hope it's clear!) I hope this helps someone! 2) We would like the line in the contract that says "Outside vendorservices.... are not permitted on premises" to be changed or eliminated toallow outside vendors. Please be advised that this line cannot be eliminated from the contract, the only outsidevendor that the onsite wedding coordinator would allow will be thephotographer, everything else will be with our vendors. Okay. Doesthis mean our outside vendor photographer could be on premises for free orwould we need to purchase a day pass? Pleasebe advised that you will need to purchase a day pass of the photographer. 3) We do not have to put any money down in order to book a complimentary weddingpackage, correct? Now that we're doing a symbolic ceremony, does the $300still apply? Will our contract reflect this? Would we be able tobring our own officiant from home? Pleasebe advised that there is no deposit required if you change your wedding tosymbolic, due to it is a complementary wedding. Please be informed that you maybring your own minister, if so please let me know and we will not submit a requestfor ours. Please remember that if your minister does not make it the weddingwill not be performed as our minister has to be confirmed in advance. Is there a charge to use your minister uponthe day of the wedding? ($300?) What are the translation fees for documents? Please be advised that for a minister there is no fee asthere is no paper work. Please be informed that there is a fee if you requestfor a judge and do a civil ceremony, legally binding. 4) Are we able to reserve a beach wedding for our time slot already and get this in writing in the contract? Please be advised that the location of the ceremony is reserved with your onsite wedding coordinator. Please be informed that it cannot be added to the contract as we do not handle the wedding details and locations. Our contract is to confirm the date, time, property and wedding collection. 5) If we do a room block through my parents' membership, do we need to put any money down for this room block? If not, could we have this in writing in the contract? Please be advised that there is not deposit required for the room block. Once we have a signed contract, you will need to let me know about how many rooms you would like for me to hold, so I can request a reservation link form the technicians in Mexico so your guests can make their room reservations at their own time. This link will be available to you and your guests up to 2 months prior to arrival.This is not added to the contract as the contract does not relate to the rooms, just ceremony. 6) Are the Resort Credits (listed below) still available to us (bride and groom) and our guests if we book using our parents' membership? Could our contract reflect this please? - $2000 for 9 or more nights - $1500 Resort Credit per room for stay of 5 or more nights - $750 Resort Credit per room for stays of 4 nights - $500 Resort Credit for stays of 3 nights Please be advised that in order for you and your guests to qualify for the resort credits all rooms need to be confirmed with full payment by December 15, 2011 to be able to qualify. Any rooms confirmed after this date will not qualify for the resort credit.This is not added to the contract as the contract does not relate to the rooms, just ceremony. 7) Could our contract please list in writing the Added Values program for weddings? When would we be refunded any money we've put down towards our room (bride and groom) if we qualify for complimentary nights? Could our contract have this in writing also, please? -15 room nights:Complimentary cocktail (hour?) after ceremony -30 room nights:Complimentary cocktail (hour?) after ceremony, 2 complimentary nights for bride & groom (+$20 per night) -60 room nights:Complimentary cocktail (hour?) after ceremony OR complimentary upgrade to private function, 4 complimentary nights for bride & groom (+$20 per night) -75 room nights: Unlimited private functions, 7 complimentary nights for bride & groom, complimentary room upgrade for bride & groom Please be advised that the refund for the comp nights is handled by the auditors at the property, as I have mentioned before the contract is only to confirm your ceremony. The refund should be received by you within 6 to 8 weeks of your ceremony. 8) As a request, we would like to not have Father Benito as our officiant/judge if we do use a Moon Palace judge. Is this possible? Please be advised that Father Benito is a priest and not a judge. Our judge cannot be substituted as the government assigns one to the region and is the one that needs to be present for legally binding.

He honored the 5% for me as well! What a great man. SOO looking forward to working with him! I know we will get great pictures. Thanks, ladies!

Haven’t been on here in a few days, ladies -- still spending every waking moment making MIB invites, it seems!! Great to catch up on here. Missed ya'll. DP-Deer: I’ll be using Octavio Montes for our photographer. I’m super pumped because we’re on a tight budget, and he’s got raving reviews for the best prices I’ve seen. We’re doing a trash the dress with him, too on the beach and at a cenote! My plan is to just buy a day pass. It seems like plenty of other brides have done that, and it has worked for them. Also, we are wedding month sisters! Ours is 4 days after yours. J Krsmith: Stunning photos!! Your love for each other radiates. Love your shoes, too! Coconoir: OMG - gorgeous jewelry. The necklace is beautiful. MrsBruff: Adorable video. I love how it captures your natural family at home. People will be so excited to save the date! , Teresa421!

Ooooooh! 5% off would help! Thanks for that. I just emailed him to see if he would honor that, even though we already signed the contract with the prices, etc. He seems nice enough to do so. Crossing my fingers!

That's so generous of you! Adding you now. Everyone on here has been so amazing. I can't wait to pay it forward to other brides when I can!

Coconoir - thank you for letting me borrow ideas from your site. I will definitely pay it forward. I already have our Welcome Page and half of our Wedding Party page done! On another note - I officially booked Octavio Montes for our photographer yesterday and sent him our deposit! Going out to buy the rest of the supplies for our MIB invites today so that some family and I can start putting them together tomorrow night. So excited! Finally, it seems like things are starting to come together.

Thank you, Mochamakes & Future Mrs Hammer. I think I may go through a TA after all to save myself the trouble. Maybe if I go through the TA, then they could contact a WC easier and I could get some answers to my questions. I can keep hoping, right? Coconoir - I found your wedding website on this forum, and I took a peek since I'm in the process of creating ours. It's amazing!! Would you mind if I used some of your ideas for ours?

I just booked Octavio for our wedding Feb 18, 2012 and for a trash the dress. Soo pumped! I'd love to see anyone's pictures they'd be willing to share that he took. I'm starting to collect inspirational pics that I want to share with him, like you ladies suggest above!

Wow - thanks for the feedback, ladies! It really helps. I love the idea of the ease of a TA (and how it'd be free for me). Teresa sounds great (thanks for the advice about Deanna, too), and I may call her to get some info. Mochamakes - you say that using the membership would be a couple hundred more than using a TA? Did your parents have a certain amount of "rooms" that guests could use? What sort of benefits do you get from a membership that you wouldn't be able to get through a TA - it seems like other girls are saying they still get booking perks, but I'm still unclear. I got assigned a WC! Geraldine Flores. Anyone else have her or have heard of how she is as a WC? KR Smith - We will fly in on the 15th. I'd be willing to meet up for sure - schedule permitting! Man, it DOES feel so good to cross things off this list!

Well, ladies - I've finally finished catching up and reading all of the posts on here! I have to give a huge THANK YOU to all of you. Before I came to this site, I felt so dejected and hopeless about how the Wedding Planning was going. I just moved to Missouri 6 weeks ago with my FI, and all of my Bridesmaids and family are back in Arizona, so I've felt pretty alone with all of this. I now have renewed hope and lots of enthusiasm thanks to your encouraging and helpful posts! And I feel like I'm not alone in this anymore! You have answered my prayers. Even though you all have answered so many of my questions already, I still feel like I have a lot! I will try to spread them out one at a time so it's not overwhelming, haha. So far, this is what I've been able to check off: - Making my own customized checklist - Breaking down our budget - Wedding Dress - bought and paid for! (My beloved Granny treated me to this)! - My shoes & Bridesmaid's shoes (Silver Coach flip flops - mine are bright silver, and theirs are gunmetal. Bought BM's these as gifts) - Reserved date with MP. (Now waiting for them to get my judge and send contract... it's been a week... I think I'll call them tomorrow!) - Started ordering supplies for MIB invitations. - Started making website with all details so guests can check it out when they recieve invites. - Registered at Bed, Bath, & Beyond (want to also do Target and possibly Pottery Barn) - Booking photographer Octavio Montes for 3 hours on Wedding Day + TTD on Beach and Cenote - Compiling a list of questions for Miami and/or WC My next priority (besides sending out invitations ASAP - we didn't do any Save the Dates) is to inquire about blocking out rooms. I saw a bunch of posts about this on here, and I'm wondering about using a TA. I can't decide between just having my guests book directly through MP through a link or getting a TA. What makes you ladies go with a TA? I've never used a TA in my life when I travel, so I feel in the dark. We are inviting 80 households (about 160 people), so I want to make booking as easy as possible. We are on a very tight budget too, so I'm wanting to qualify for as many freebies as possible - shooting for the 75 bookings! What TA's specifically are you ladies using? And, may I ask, what do you generally pay for a TA? My Mom is a Palace Premier Member, so we are going to try to get all rooms through her membership with reduced room rates. I'm aware that our wedding will be in Peak Season! Thanks again ladies - for everything. You are my s! (First emoticon I've ever used... haha - such a newbie at this!) Love, Tammy P.S. Coconoir & KRSmith - Love your wedding dresses! Gorgeous!! KRsmith - you look stunning in your engagement pics. We're also "Wedding Sisters," as my wedding is only 4 days after yours!

These are absolutely amazing. I LOVE your detailed descriptions including How To's, price list, and where you got the items. I'm going to try and order the materials today, so I can make them, too! Thank you for posting these!! I can't wait.

I forgot to ask if I could join this forum with you all? I've never done any discussion boards or anything like this, so I'm learning everything as I go. We're trying to get Feb 18th secured at MP for our big day! Any other February brides out there?

Hi all! I just found this website today because I have had trouble getting my date registered at Moon Palace and have felt overwhelmed and frustrated. I've spent hours on the Moon Palace 2011 Brides forum and got great info. Can't wait to see what I can learn so far here and connect with you ladies! I feel a renewed sense of hope for our dream wedding!