Courtney Hooker

Yes, I am familiar with the weather situation. We had clear skies for the ceremony and then it rained during our reception. They had to move us inside, which while that wasn't ideal it was fine. They moved us within an hour and managed to save our centerpieces. During that time my guests just hung out in the lobby bar. If it is windy during the ceremony make sure you ask your wedding coordinator to anchor the alter. I've heard of it flying away.

I used Norma from Ultrafemme. She and her stylist Moses by far exceeded my expectations. I am super picky about my hair and makeup and was very nervous, but Norma is so professional, friendly, and fantastic. One of the best decisions I made in regards to my wedding. You won't be disappointed.

To piggy back on this, just so you know the breeze terrace is no longer available, as it is under construction (at least it was for my August 4 wedding at Cancun Palace/Hard Rock. We chose the garden terrace and loved it.

yes. August 4

Hi Melanie, Feel free to send me a PM and I will be able to answer these questions. I just got married August 4 and have tons of pictures posted on the Palace Resort Bride Facebook page. I am not on this website very much anymore so let me know. Courtney

I wanted to share some of the pre-planning ideas with all! Courtney’s Pre-Planning Hard Rock Cancun Turquoise parasols for guests: Luna Bazzar Maracas Tags: Made on Vista Print Door hangers for guests that says “Please do not disturb, we were dancing the night away at the wedding of Courtney and Corey: Etsy seller melinayingling Cocktail Menu: Eat, Drink, and be Married with His, Hers, and Ours cocktails: Etsy Seller fromtheheartinvitations Custom Shot Glasses: Etsy seller Factory 21 (hard to see, but it says Cancun, Mexico 8.4.2012 and then our names and a starfish on the front Guest Book: Etsy Seller ModernShabby Itinerary: Etsy Seller: iDoArtsyWeddings Tags for Hand Fans: Etsy Seller: FromtheHeartinvitations

Hi Ladies, I realize that there are not a lot of Cancun Palace/Hard Rock Cancun 2012 Brides unified under one thread. There are few of us so I think it would be great to stick together and share our experiences, as many things have happened over the past couple months with the resort and its rebranding. Personally, I have found the Miami coordination stressful, frustrating and unprofessional. It has been a horrible experience so far. However, I have heard that it all comes together when you get there, but at what cost? For me to lose my mind before it? Lol. I have heard mixed things about the rennovations. A couple things I do know for sure are the following: 1) The Breeze Terrace is now obsolete. You can no longer book the Breeze Terrace! According to the new wedding planner (Janessa Lopez), you can't book the Breeze Terrace because they are ripping it apart and expanding the balconies on the third floor. They are also taking down The Steak Restaraunt (which is also on the third floor), so if you have reservations/plans to have reservations, don't make them! 2) Maggie is no longer working at the Palace Resorts. My intuition tells me she's been fired. She was completely disorganized, unresponsive, and made things up on a whim. It had to have gotten to the point where they couldn't tolerate the complaints anymore. 3) As of today (June 26), construction is pretty bad. I hear of guests complaining of construction non-stop as early as 9AM. Still no word on what areas are worse than others, but as soon as I know, I will fill you all in. The current wedding coordinator who replaced Maggie (Janessa) was there this past weekend. She has been very responsive to my emails and can fill you in on what the place looks like. 4) Some little reminders: --For ceremony, bring a CD! No iPods are allowed --Steaming your dress at the Cancun Palace/Hard Rock is $79 --I hear it is really impossible to use your resort credits to book room upgrades (they are always conveniently "overbooked") -- There will most likely be multiple weddings they day of your wedding (there are 3 the day of mine) and they give priority of locations to who has the biggest wedding party. I heard this from Maggie so who knows how accurate this is. This is all the info I have for now. Let me know if you have any questions and let's try to keep everyone in the loop! Best Courtney

Hi Ladies, I realize that there are not a lot of Cancun Palace/Hard Rock Cancun 2012 Brides unified under one thread. There are few of us so I think it would be great to stick together and share our experiences, as many things have happened over the past couple months with the resort and its rebranding. Personally, I have found the Miami coordination stressful, frustrating and unprofessional. It has been a horrible experience so far. However, I have heard that it all comes together when you get there, but at what cost? For me to lose my mind before it? Lol. I have heard mixed things about the rennovations. A couple things I do know for sure are the following: 1) The Breeze Terrace is now obsolete. You can no longer book the Breeze Terrace! According to the new wedding planner (Janessa Lopez), you can't book the Breeze Terrace because they are ripping it apart and expanding the balconies on the third floor. They are also taking down The Steak Restaraunt (which is also on the third floor), so if you have reservations/plans to have reservations, don't make them! 2) Maggie is no longer working at the Palace Resorts. My intuition tells me she's been fired. She was completely disorganized, unresponsive, and made things up on a whim. It had to have gotten to the point where they couldn't tolerate the complaints anymore. 3) As of today (June 26), construction is pretty bad. I hear of guests complaining of construction non-stop as early as 9AM. Still no word on what areas are worse than others, but as soon as I know, I will fill you all in. The current wedding coordinator who replaced Maggie (Janessa) was there this past weekend. She has been very responsive to my emails and can fill you in on what the place looks like. 4) Some little reminders: --For ceremony, bring a CD! No iPods are allowed --Steaming your dress at the Cancun Palace/Hard Rock is $79 --I hear it is really impossible to use your resort credits to book room upgrades (they are always conveniently "overbooked") -- There will most likely be multiple weddings they day of your wedding (there are 3 the day of mine) and they give priority of locations to who has the biggest wedding party. I heard this from Maggie so who knows how accurate this is. This is all the info I have for now. Let me know if you have any questions and let's try to keep everyone in the loop! Best Courtney

Beautiful wedding! Unfortunately, they are not letting brides book the breeze Terrace anymore. I just spoke to both Maggie and Yesenia today! Devestating!

Hi Liz! I am so sorry I have not responded to you. I have been so swamped with the wedding and this school year ending. We have had so SO many problems with the Cancun Palace/Hard Rock. All of these problems stem from the Miami office. I think we all share the same frustrations, so hang in there! We had a couple friends book through a travel agent, and we just got an email saying that those rooms will not count toward our room nights which was NEVER told to us. If I were you, I would double check because apparently the room nights only count if you book them through your (overpriced) group link. We are now in the process of battling to get these people approved and linked to our wedding party. In addition, when I asked for an update on our guest count/hotel nights, they missed over half of our reservations! So, something else you will also want to check on. They are so disorganized and not responsive over there and don't count on them to have things correct. From my understanding, they still have the older packages. If you have in your contract that you signed up to get the Amber collection package, then they must honor it. As long as you refer to the contract, they really don't have a choice. I had the Diamond package and put down a deposit, but after looking at what was included I decided to go with the complimentary package. I wanted to make sure the fabric for the old complimentary was still available (I loved the white fabric on the chuppah), and Yesenia called the hotel and they said they still have it and that it wouldn't be a problem. So, be persistent! If its what you want, you need to make it happen! I am doing the complimentary package and coordinating with the decorating company (Zuniga) for the ceremony and reception. I was fortunate in that I got 3 outside vendors approved (florist, DJ, and photographer). I organized EVERYTHING by myself. Don't count on Maggie to do anything for you. She is unresposive and will not contact you until a week before your wedding. She will make promises and not keep them. If you PM me, I can give you Lily from the decorating company's email. She is a JOY to work with and is always very responsive. I found there prices very fair (I also live in Los Angeles, where these things are naturally expensive). I got the following from her: Ceremony: Shepherd Hooks with pink and purple roses for entrance Silver Sashes for chairs Starfish with turquiose ribbon for back of chairs Chandelier for Huppah White platform for aisle My florist is decorating the huppah with white roses and purple magenta orchids. I bought orchid petals for the aisle. Reception Tiffany Chairs Table linens Lounge furniture Cocktail Tables Napkins Silver Chargers To be honest, what you can do is just get the complimentary package and rent all of the amber collection stuff from the decorating company. That is where they got ALL the decorating stuff for the old packages anyway. I did the math and the hotel upcharges for the items. Get a quote from Lily and I guarentee you it will be cheaper then the Amber collection. Remember, you can't bring ANYTHING from the ceremony to the reception. So, you are spending $1500-$2000 for only a few minutes. Consider allocating your money elsewhere. Once again, Maggie is not helpful. I did all of this myself by directly contacting the decorating company. I also found it helps to get my fiance to call them and yell at the people in the Miami office. Groomzillas tend to have a higher impact for some reason. If your man can, write out a list of concerns, and have him call and fuss at them. Feel free to PM me with any questions (I don't check the forums that much). It will all be OK! All the other brides say that once yuo get there, its smooth sailing! I will be on my honeymoon in Playa Del Carmen the day of your wedding! Best Courtney

Hi Ladies, I am getting married August 4 and am having similar angry feelings as you all have. What is even most upsetting is that I had to find about the rebranding through the blogs. I think it is horrible customer service that our wedding coordinators would not even mention this to us during booking (hotel rebranding takes years, so I am positive they knew about this when we booked, which is annoying)! I called Yesenia several times with no answer (typical). My fiance turned into Groomzilla and finally got a hold of her. I spoke with her and she said that they sent an e-mail to all the brides "notifying them" of the rebranding. I call bull s**t, but thats what she said. I let her know that if I wanted to get married at a Hard Rock, I simply would have gotten married in Vegas. I also was upset because our guest CAN NOT travel to other Palace Resorts after the rebranding is made official. So, no going to Moon Palace, Sun Palace, etc when it turns into a Hard Rock. Complete and utter nonsense! While this is frustrating for us all, we were able to use this as leverage to get some things we were not getting. Yesenia was actually polite and understanding, which was extremely refreshing. I recommend you call her (she made me feel better about the situation). I was literally about to switch to the Beach Palace. From what I hear, the rebranding is very minimal. They are transforming the lobby and making some guest rooms nicer. At the end of the day, you will still get married on the same beautiful beach and on whatever Terrace you like. If you have any additional questions, PM me and I can give you more details. Best Courtney

Hi Nikki, What food buffet did your choose? Also, do you have pictures of your hair and makeup? I am still trying to decide if I should get my Hair and Make Up done there