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@@Raelynn34 Hi Rae! We chose to do the reception by the pool for a couple reasons. I liked that it was solid ground so that no one had to worry about taking off their shoes/getting sand in their shoes. Also, I wanted to make sure that just in case there was a little breeze there would be sand blowing all over the place or in people's food! As far as the vendor fee's, this will all be built in to your total wedding cost. You will meet with your WC a couple days before the wedding and take care of payment at the resort and that's where they will add in those fees alongside whatever else your package costs. (Side note: Stying Trio takes off $150 from your total cost to cover the vendor fee for them) Welcome Dinner is great to do if you can! And yes, we gave everyone welcome bags when they arrived. They had a plastic tumbler with a straw to refill their drinks, cocoa butter, chapstick with spf, aspirin, and a thank you note/schedule of events for the welcome dinner, ceremony, reception, and then our brunch the following morning. Let me know if there is anything else I can help with!

@@smfahey Hi! You can contact him by email at Hx2photographers@@gmail.com He is currently working on his website, but he could send you some pics He is also fluent in Spanish which actually came in handy more than I thought!

@@Raelynn34 hi! I did the Strawberry package and had my ceremony at 4pm at the Gazebo. I'd say if you aren't having a cocktail hour then that would be a good time because it will give you some time in between to take pictures before the reception! We had 35 guests attend, and since it was a small group we didn't want anyone to feel left out and just do a rehearsal dinner for the wedding party. I asked my WC about doing a welcome dinner the night before so that all of the guests could be there. We were able to have it at the Santa Fe Restaurant, however we didn't get confirmation on that until the day we actually arrived in Mexico! If you ask about this I'm sure they will be happy to do the same, otherwise they also told me if that didn't work out they would have sectioned off an area of the buffet for all of our guests and we could have done it there. As far as decorations, the only thing we brought ourselves were votive candles. Barcelo wanted to charge $7 per candle, and we found a pack of 80 online for $20. The Strawberry package includes all of the ribbons on the chairs! Centerpieces are separate though. We went with one of the less expensive options and then had them set up all of the candles we brought all over the tables. The Strawberry Package comes with hair and makeup for the bride, so I used that for the night of our welcome dinner and had Styling Trio come in for the wedding day! SO HAPPY I did this because while the hair and makeup wasn't bad at Barcelo, the level of expertise from Styling Trio was just incredible. Everyone looked amazing after their work! When I went through the process, the lighting was one of the options when we went through our spreadsheet. I understand they use an outside vendor, however our WC was able to show us different photo options. We went with the Chinese Lanterns and the white dance floor and it looked beautiful! We had our reception around the pool at the Palace and it turned out great. We used Octavio for our Videographer and were pleased with them. We used a family friend from the US as our photographer, who is willing to travel down there should you need! Could be worth looking into. Let me know if you have any other questions or need more info Happy Planning!

@@SamanthaElizabeth I got married at the Barcelo this past May! It's a great month

@@WattGriffiths Congratulations as a bride-to-be, and also as a new mommy! I got married at the Palace on May 12, and I can't answer all of your questions, but I can help with some! We did our reception around the pool at the Palace, and it was beautiful, however if the other option fits better with your budget then I would say do that option. Anything that you do there will be beautiful, and as long as you have all of the people you love it will be perfect. I used Styling Trio on my wedding day for myself, my bridesmaids and my mom and they were absolutely amazing. All 7 of us have gotten our makeup done many times for many occasions, and we ALL agreed that this was the best hair and makeup we had ever gotten done. We all still looked flawless the next morning even after sweating all day and night! For some of the brides you get hair and makeup included from the Barcelo, so I used this for my welcome dinner the night before and I have to say while the women were extremely nice, I was very unimpressed with the results. Apologies for not being able to help with any of your other questions, but if there is anything else that comes up please feel free to reach out! Happy Planning xoxo Ashley

Hi Ladies! I have a question for all of you Is anyone planning to (or did do, for those of you are already married) tip your Wedding Coordinator? I know there are different packages that are different prices, so I'm just wondering if any of you have an idea of what you will be doing. Is there a set amount that is the going rate, or do you base it off of a percentage of what you are paying for the wedding? I figured that it would be easiest for my fiance and I to create envelopes before we go down for each person that we will be tipping so that we have this all sorted and don't have to try ruffling through cash once we are down there. I am also wondering if anyone has ideas about how much to tip for DJ, waitstaff, etc? Any feedback would be GREATLY appreciated!!!! xoxo

@@SammyMac I am using Octavio Montes for the videography http://www.octaviomontes.com/ Even with the fee that you have to pay to get him on the resort, it is still cheaper than using the company that Barcelo can provide.

Hi Everyone! I'm not getting married at the Moon Palace myself (I will be getting married at Barcelo Maya Palace on 5/12/16) but I can't help myself from scrolling through a good wedding blog! I'm not sure if any of you who are recently engaged are looking into photographers, but I will be working with Octavio Montes for my wedding http://www.octaviomontes.com/ Reading through this I could really relate to a lot of what has been stressing all you ladies out, I guess no matter which resort you go to, you always run into similar issues! If anyone is looking for a photographer, I would highly recommend contacting Octavio. He has been such a pleasure to work with so far and has been the most responsive person that I have worked with through this whole process. I'm not sure if Moon Palace charges a fee to bring outside vendors on , but Barcelo does, and even with that fee it was still more affordable to use Octavio instead of the photographer Barcelo recommends. Just wanted to throw that out there. Let me know if anyone has any questions! After the wedding I am happy to share any photos as well Best, Ashley

Hi Brides! I am in the process of planning my wedding at the Barcelo Maya Palace on 5/12/16 and I wanted to reach out to all who are also in the planning process. One of the biggest things that can cause the most stress is finding a photographer, and I was lucky enough to have another bride share her tips with me, so I figured I would pay it forward and do the same. Although the wedding is still a few months away, I would recommend Octavio Montes to anyone who is looking for themselves. http://www.octaviomontes.com/ I was originally just doing google searches, and was only coming up with really expensive photographers, so when I saw this recommendation I was really excited to check it out. Not only is this one of the most affordable options, it is actually cheaper than using the Barcelo photographer even with having to pay the $500 resort fee. I keep hearing that my wedding day will fly by, so I feel extremely relieved to know that we have all of our special moments ready to be captured! Happy Planning to all!

I would like to second the comment above. I have followed a few different chains on here, which is what originally drew me to look into Octavio Montes Photography http://www.octaviomontes.com/ This is an affordable option that will still maintain quality photography! I will be getting married at the Barcelo Maya Palace on 5/12/16 and one of my requirements was that the photographer had been to the resort before. After looking through the albums I am really looking forward to working with Octavio in May!

I have been following this thread for a while, and though I have yet to comment, I can't say enough about how helpful reading everyone else's experiences have been. Thank you all for your comments and tips! Looking forward to hearing more about all of your weddings coming up! I will be tying the knot on 5/12/16 at the Palace