stephygirl

@@calgarybride2015 - Nope she hadn't gotten it insured yet - not sure why. She was LIVID though. I didn't even bring my engagement ring down to Cancun with me for my wedding. I got a fake CZ made on Etsy and used that, hah! I took my real wedding band though since I wouldn't have been as heart broken if that had gotten lost/stolen.

@@Sophiebride - I chose BP for a lot of different reasons! To name a few - I liked the skydeck, I'd never been to Cancun but always wanted to go, they have great wedding packages, the beach is big and beautiful, there are rooftop pools, and the hotel is close by the airport (about 20 mins away)! I ended up being more than overjoyed at how our wedding turned out. The only other hotel I've been to from your list for a wedding is Azul Fives in Playa del Carmen. This hotel is quite a bit more laid back and secluded than Beach Palace, and is about 45 to 60 minutes away from the airport. The resort has a few pools around the property and also a really nice beach. The property is very very big, and the "hotel" is spread out into quite a few different villa-like structures. The thing I didn't like about Azul Fives is that the resort was so spread out that it was sometimes hard to find where your guests where. The things I did like: Azul Fives also has a stunning skydeck, and you can have both your wedding and your reception on the deck. Contrast that with BP where you're not allowed to have your reception on the sky deck. As far as I know prices are reasonable at Azul Fives as well. Another thing I like about Playa del Carmen is the downtown area that is a short cab ride away - there is great shopping and fantastic night life. Even though I make Azul Fives sound great, I didn't even consider it for a couple of reasons. One - I didn't want to have the same wedding as my friend! Two - my friend who had her wedding at Azul Fives says she will never ever ever stay at an Azul resort ever again (yikes!). She had her engagement ring stolen from her hotel room, and apparently nobody from hotel management cared and said there was nothing they could do about it. This is just one person's story, though. I'm sure there are plenty other happy endings! Overall I think there are positives and negatives about each place, you just have to choose what feels right for you and your guests!

@FutureMrsGarcia @ - Zaray was my wedding coordinator and she was amazing! Very professional and thorough.

@@Danielle1 - Glad it all sorted itself out! I definitely know what you mean about wanting a special place for the reception. I felt the same way. So exciting that it's coming up soon! No need to stress, it will all turn out great. We planned ours in less than 5 months and had the best time!

@@Danielle1 - Hmmm from what I recall the cocktail hour stations don't take up that much room. The Sky Bar space is a big rectangle, with one of the short sides of the rectangle facing the ocean and the other short side facing the lagoon. In the middle of the rectangle there is a kidney bean shaped pool going longways. My guess for how they'd set your reception up is by having the dinner buffet station on the lagoon short side of the rectangle. The cocktail hour buffet station would likely be on the other side (i.e. the ocean view short side of the rectangle). The 10 tables will probably be 5 on either side of the pool. For the dance floor I think they typically create a space between the tables and the dinner stations. Overall I don't think the cocktail stations will change much, because it would have just been empty there otherwise. So I don't think you'll lose space. The reception just may look a little tiny bit more cluttered. Maybe you can ask them if they could break down the cocktail hour stations before your reception started? @ - I felt the same way about communications - but if it's of any reassurance I promise they really start to focus on your wedding in the 1-2 month time frame beforehand. Some of it is just a cultural difference, some is that they're operating on "island time", and some is that I think to a certain extent they have to prioritize their time based on who's wedding is coming up next. I totally feel your pain though about spending so much money and feeling like you're not being heard/acknowledged. If you have Zaray as your on-site WC you'll be in great hands!

@@Danielle1 - so sorry to hear this. They shouldn't just be able to "move locations" on you. Hope everything gets resolved! Just a thought, if you're concerned about location changes, maybe you can leave locations off your invites and put them on an itinerary instead? From experience, we ended up changing some things on our itinerary after we toured the property. We realized we needed to be more explicit on how you access the Palenque Terrace for our reception (since it's behind the elevators on a certain floor). Our onsite wedding coordinator reprinted them for us in color after we made the changes. We also almost didn't even get the Palenque for our reception since our middle-man WC screwed up all our locations! I know the wedding planning stuff is stressful, but it will all work out in the end and I'm sure you'll have the time of your life!

@@laurag85 - Yikes that's a steep price! You should be able to extend your reception. Originally they had only booked our reception from 6pm to 8pm, and I didn't realize it. So the day we got onsite and met our WC i FREAKED out when I realized it was only two hours. We wanted it to last as long as possible - and 10pm is the latest they'll let you go on the Palenque. But....of course that came with a catch. We had to pay for extra time for our lighting and for our DJ. Overall the incremental cost wasn't that bad, although we would have shelled out for the extra time even if it were bad. So in the end our wedding reception was from 6 to 10pm and it was the perfect length for us. At the end of our reception I grabbed the mic and told everyone to meet up at the Sky Bar with their swimsuits on. Pretty much everyone went up to the sky bar and we partied there until really late - it was so fun! @@acw271011 - Thank you so much! I was originally worried about the BM dresses, but I loved how the color popped against the ocean! My BM's got them from Nordstrom's - they were Laundry by Shelli Segal dresses. I can't find them at Nordstrom's anymore but they're still available certain places online (note we removed the gold chain because I didn't like it, hah!): http://www.belk.com/AST/Main/Belk_Primary/PRD~150025995S24119SU/Laundry+by+Shelli+Segal+Tulip+Hem+Maxi+Dress+with+Chain+Belt.jsp?navPath=Women/Shop/Dresses/Casual 1) As far as hair down - I have very fine and very straight hair that does NOT like to hold a curl. That's why I went with a dutch braided side ponytail, with a curly tail. The braided side ponytail was great because it kept my hair off my face and I stayed nice and cool. The curls fell out pretty quickly though...but that's not unusual given my hair type. I didn't wash my hair the night before, but the stylist I went to at BP INSISTED that she wash it...so probably part of the reason my curls didn't stay in! Oh well, it turned out fine overall! 2) My veil didn't mess up my hair at all, thankfully! I bought veil weights from Etsy so that my veil wouldn't flop around in the wind too much - they worked pretty well because I didn't notice it flapping around. 3) Hubby decided upon a 3-piece suit (he's crazy). I just posed this question to him and he said "I was fine but heat rarely bothers me. So I might not be the best case to use as an example. I'd say it depends on the guy." From my recollection, he was sweating, but not overly much so. I was probably sweating just as much (actually probably more) in my wedding dress. He DID buy a linen suit and a linen shirt - which is a lighter fabric overall. Our groomsmen had linen shirts and linen pants. One of them is a sweat-er and it looked like he had jumped into the pool by the time our ceremony was over!

@@laurag85 - who is charging you to set up decorations? Your Beach Palace wedding coordinator, or the outside vendor? I'm curious because my BP WC didn't charge us anything to set up decorations. Granted, that only consisted of a few favors, our guestbook, a sign, and a couple of baskets of flip flops. The rest of our decorations (including centerpieces) were one of the Beach Palace collections. I didn't love the idea of providing my credit card information on the authorization form or giving them a photocopy of my card. But at some point they do have to charge your card and need your information. I think the photocopy is to ensure the information and your signature per the cc authorization form matches back to an actual valid credit card. I have had no issues regarding cc fraud since I provided them a photocopy back a few months ago. However, I did call my cc company ahead of time and told them the specific $ amount of the charge that was to be coming through...and also mentioned that I would be in Mexico from x date to y date so they would allow any of those transactions through as well...but nothing outside of that period!

@@laurag85 - congrats that's so exciting and coming up so soon! Your WC should be sending you a purchase order listing all the costs for the various items you booked. My biggest piece of advice is DETAIL REVIEW the heck out of that purchase order. Make sure you look at times and locations on each sheet as well (my original WC booked all times and locations incorrectly). Also as a tip your fiance and best man don't need to do any of the set up if they don't want to - you can tell your WC exactly how you want things set up and he/she will have their team do it for you! @@SunshineDreamKay - congrats and hope you're enjoying the planning process! I tried to answer what I could below: 1. Maybe reach out to your WC and ask for options? They should know the local business and/or be able to find a couple of options for you. 2. Possibly the shops at Mercado 23? Again, probably ask your WC. Would you be using these during pictures at the cocktail hour? I don't think they'll let you use sparklers inside the ballroom. 3. Are you doing your hair & makeup yourself or getting it done? I had my hair done and it took about 1.5 hours. I did makeup myself, which took a half hour. Getting into the dress, shoes, jewelry, etc. probably takes another half hour. Answering people's questions and organizing everything you need for the ceremony takes forever, too! For example, I was doing my hair from 11:30 to 1. Then I hung out, drank champagne, and ate from 1 to 2. Then I started doing my makeup, answering questions from my WC, talking to my bridesmaids, etc. Then the photographer came and made me take about an hours worth of pictures, and before I knew it, it was 3:30 and I didn't even have my dress on! I ended up being about 15 minutes late for my ceremony - whoops! Best bet is to start on the earlier side rather than later, because the day flies by. 4. Hmmm...I would assume the ceremony itself should be fine if there's air conditioning in the chapel? However, your cocktail hour and picture time will be quite hot if it's at 4pm. My ceremony was at 4pm on June 28th and we were all roasting. It was probably 95 degrees (i don't know what that is in celsius!) and humid. My cocktail hour was from 5pm to 6pm and most people ended up sitting in the shade or inside the hotel area since it was so hot. Me and the husband and family took pictures during this time period and it was a tiny bit cooler, but everyone was dripping sweat. Regardless, our pictures still turned out AMAZING and you couldn't tell all that much how sweaty we all were. It's pretty much going to be hot no matter what you do. Sure, it will be cooler if you move the times later, but then you also run into lighting issues as the sun goes down. Overall advice is do what works best for you and your family - and just make sure you have some ice and face wipes on hand to cool down and mop up any sweat!

@@Danielle1 - I think they technically serve drinks there from 9am to 1am. I think the latest our group stayed out was 1am so I didn't noticed them closing anything on us. Although the servers did leave around midnight so you'd have to go to the bar to get your own drink. Also one night they were cleaning the pool and kicked us out of the pool around 10pm. They don't do that if there's a big group there though! Yes, only one side open to the public - you can definitely go over to the other side any time you want! @@FutureMrsGarcia - Haha sounds like you have a fun crowd going with you! By 1am my whole group was exhausted! People will definitely try to get you in the pool. They tried to get me to come in but I wanted to wear my dress, and not only did I think chlorine might ruin it, but I was also worried about how long it would take to dry (and I was heading back to the states in 2 days). I just hung out by the edge of the pool - I could have put my swimsuit on but I wanted to wear my dress as long as possible . I still had such a blast there though! Honestly the pool at the sky bar is so much fun. Our whole group went and partied there both the rehearsal dinner night and the wedding reception night!

@@FutureMrsGarcia - so true about the partying all night thing! Our reception was from 6 to 10pm on the Palenque, and they abruptly turned off our music at 10pm (although thankfully it was the last song anyway). We made an announcement on the mic that an after party would be held at the Sky Bar and that everyone should change into their bathing suits to swim! IT. WAS. AWESOME. Such a fun after party.

@@Danielle1 - sounds like a good plan! Yeah - I know when we first talked about doing it a lot of people said they wouldn't miss it......and then ended up not being able to make it for one reason or another! 75 is a lot though, especially so far in advance! You should have a great time!!

@@Danielle1 - The sky bar north has a pool as well, and both are open for the day. At night, they kind of barricade your side off with tables for the buffet, dj, etc. However, note that the other side of the sky bar WILL be open to the general public. Also, there is a women's bathroom on the sky bar south side and a men's bathroom on the sky bar north side. So, there will likely be people sneaking over from the other side to use the bathroom on your event side. I know there was a wedding on the Sky Bar the same night as our rehearsal dinner - we all partied on the sky bar afterwards and some of us girls snuck over to the other side to use the bathroom over by the wedding. Also, I'm sure your BP coordinator will tell you that 100 to 110 people is fine. She will probably tell you that you can fit up to 200. But keep in mind that is probably the MAXIMUM they can fit up there. Meaning that is a very tightly packed, bare bones space. If you're looking for a decent-sized dance floor (one where you don't have to break down tables), buffet tables, cake table, DJ, and tables for all your guests - my guess is it would be a very tight space for your group size. Sorry to stress you out and make you anxious about this, I just want to make sure you consider your options. I just separately asked my husband "do you think you could fit a 110 person wedding on the sky bar at beach palace" and here was his response: [7/27/2015 2:51 PM] : not comfortably? seems a bit much you could just packed @ - i think your lanterns will be perfect! Totally know what you mean about wanting to allocate most of your budget to the wedding; that's exactly how we felt!

@@Danielle1 - 200 people?!?!? I can't even picture how that could be physically possible, but I guess they know better than me. I just can't imagine all the tables and a large enough dance floor being able to fit. But like I said, they should know better than me. To give you some idea - you should check out this pinterest board, especially the aerial view and the sky bar pictures. https://www.pinterest.com/allinclusivegal/beach-palace/ Also, watch the video at this link - you can see the aerial view of a setup of a wedding on the sky bar south: http://weddings.palaceresorts.com/en/hotel/beach-palace We did not rent lights for the rehearsal dinner - it was bright enough even after the sun went down. I think they had set up lights for us? I can't exactly remember! I'm sure your reception will be special - not only because of the music and decor differences, but also because people will be so excited about your special day!

@@Danielle1 - Sorry I think you asked this before and I translated "rehearsal" to "reception" in my head ! We did not have any centerpieces for the rehearsal dinner. We pretty much did a no-frills rehearsal dinner - no music, no decor, etc. I think everyone had a good time and nobody really noticed or cared about the lack of decor. It was mostly just a fun dinner to welcome everyone - and my husband and I gave quick speeches thanking everyone for coming (sans microphone). Any update from your WC on size of your reception location?

@@Danielle1 - We did have centerpieces, but they were provided as part of the Metallic Sands wedding collection we ordered. I didn't want to bother with lugging centerpieces down to Mexico. I've heard people ship them ahead of time so as to not take up luggage space - but you'll want to make sure to do that far enough in advance and read up on the customs rules to ensure they arrive on time. If you do choose to bring your own centerpieces, the WC will ask you to put them in his/her office in advance of the wedding. Your WC will then take your centerpieces to the reception site and set them up for you in the manner you indicate! I gave my WC the following items the day after I met with her on site. I then sent her a separate email detailing where on our reception terrace I wanted each thing placed - and everything was done perfectly! I had an idea of where I wanted everything after doing the reception site tour. - My "guest book" - Two baskets of flip flops (wedding favor) - A wedding sign (with our names & date) - Placecards - Table Number Cards - Table Number Card Holders - Matchbooks for each place setting (no actual matches in them because you can't take them on an airplane ..which I realized the night before we left!) @@jj575757 - Our cocktail hour was the traditional in between the ceremony and reception time frame. This allowed family & the wedding party to take pictures with the newlyweds while the remaining guests could enjoy the cocktail hour. With how rowdy some of my guests can get, I didn't want to encourage TOO much drinking before the ceremony ...especially since it's an all-inclusive and people tend to drink all day at the pool anyway!

@@Danielle1 - You're welcome - and yay get excited! Yes, the rooftop pool is where the Sky Bars are located. Good question about the difference between Sky Bar South and Sky Bar North. I'll tell you what I THINK it means, but I'm not 100% certain...only like 95%. When you take the elevator up to the Sky Bar, you can either exit out to the left or right side. If you exit right, that side is the "Sky Bar South" - because that's where my cocktail hour was set up. I saw a couple of wedding receptions going on at the Sky Bar South. There is a pool and a bar. One side opens up to the lagoon and one side opens up to the ocean. The Sky Bar North is just a replica of the Sky Bar South. I have a few pictures of people hanging out on what I believe is the Sky Bar North so you can see what it looks like (PM me if you can't find them). My main concern for you is that I wouldn't think you can comfortably fit all your wedding guests and tables on the Sky Bar South. Did your WC tell you you'd be able to fit a group your size? It's really not THAT large of an area...and you definitely don't want to do Sky Bar South and Sky Bar North together, since there's a big big big separation between the two (a big elevator lobby). Who is your WC? You may want to consider the Palenque Terrace. That can definitely hold a group your size. @ - Agreed on the Moon Palace thing! It was fine overall, but I was pretty freaked out the first day I got to the resort and saw all those people. Ended up all working out though. For the reception, we chose the BBQ buffet. I barely had time to eat, but people really enjoyed the BBQ chicken and shrimp skewers! We had the Italian buffet for the rehearsal dinner, and the beef lasagna and fish were decent.

@ - Good I'm so glad you're getting excited! It's amazing to pretty much have a vacation with all your closest friends and family...and to be able to celebrate your wedding in such a beautiful location! The Infinity Terrace is fine overall - the view is gorgeous! Just make sure you do it no earlier than 7pm when the pool closes. From what I've read on the forum and from others most people tend to have their rehearsal dinner there! Funny how our cocktail hour and reception places were reversed! I chose the Palenque for the reception because it's a MASSIVE terrace, and I liked the big open space. The Sky Bar South is a lot smaller, but has nicer views overall! Yeah the Moon Palace thing is a bummer, but I hear they're trying to do away with it. We went to BP from Tuesday to Tuesday, and most days it wasn't OVERLY crowded. For some reason BOTH tuesdays were bad - but most other days it seemed fine. All the iPod technician did was set up the audio (before the reception started), plugged in my iphone, and played my playlists! He literally just sat there in case something went wrong (nothing did). I just tipped him at the end of the night since he sat there the whole time in case of emergency. I rented the speakers through JSAV - I did the $450 JSAV Basic Package.

Just posted my review in my planning thread - let me know if anyone has any questions!

Below is my review of BP and the wedding. I’m sure I’m forgetting a lot, so please let me know if anyone has questions! I also posted a few more pictures: Airport Review (getting my dress through security and on the plane): - Arrived at O’Hare airport and were able to check 2 bags for free since we flew business class. I HIGHLY recommend upgrading to business class if you can (priority checked bags, free bags, free drinks, first on the plane – which is super important for your dress!). - I carried on my dress, which ended up being a great decision. To get it through security, I had to put the dress on the belt, which was fine since it was in a garment bag and wrapped in plastic underneath the garment bag. - Since we were some of the first people on the plane, I was able to get my dress in the short airplane closet in the first class section. About 15 minutes later, another lady sitting in economy boarded and tried to put her dress in the airplane closet, but it was already too full. Cancun Customs: - Breezed through and had no issues Trafic Tours Transportation from Airport to Hotel: - Initially horrible to work with as far as setting up transportation. Service got better in the 2 to 3 weeks before the wedding. - On arrival day, walked outside of airport and had no trouble finding the Trafic Tours representatives. We were loaded into a van and waited about 10 minutes for two other couples. Then off to the resorts we went! It took us about 35 minutes to get to the resort, but we were the last stop along the strip. - All of our guests used Trafic Tours, and only one family had an issue – they took them to Moon Palace instead of Beach Palace (total pain). Hotel Check-In: - Upon arrival at the hotel, the women were greeted with a fresh flower, and then we dropped off our bags and my dress with the bellhops. I was terrified to drop off my dress, but no problems there. - The check-in process was relatively quick. Everyone checking in gets a wristband, and if you lose it you have to pay $100+. However, if you cut it off for the wedding day and then bring it back to the front desk to get a new one, they shouldn’t charge you. Rooms: - Rooms typically aren’t ready until 3pm (we got there around 1pm) so we headed to the buffet and wandered around the resort. - Eventually we headed to our room and fell in LOVE with our Ocean View balcony. There is a Jacuzzi tub in every room, a lounge bed on every balcony, dual sinks, a nice shower, L’Occitane or Chi bath products, Chi straighteners, a safe, stocked refrigerator, Lavazza coffee maker and products, and steamer in every room – just to name the things I can remember off the top of my head. - If you’re lucky enough to get a suite, they’re pretty sweet! They are large rooms with HUGE balconies and are a great place to have groomsmen/bridesmaids get ready. We had two couples get upgraded to suites…only because their original rooms started flooding . Resort: - Pros: § Service is fantastic § Food is quite good, especially at outside food stations § Lots of activities available § POOL BAR! § Infinity pool § Waterslide for kids (or adults ) § Beautiful beach § Lots of chaise lounge chairs § ROOM SERVICE BREAKFAST IS THE BEST THING THAT’S EVER HAPPENED TO ME! There are room service cards they should hang on your door each night that you have to fill out by 3am the night before. You can check when you want it to arrive (e.g. between 9 and 9:30, 9:30 and 10, etc.). The waffles, bacon, and jug of coffee are so so so good. § Sports bar is great and there are pool tables § Nice spa § Rooftop pool bar is open late § Specialty restaurants have good food (Asian = 1st place, Italian = 2nd place, Steak = 3rd place) - Cons: § Can get SUPER crowded. There is a shuttle bus from Moon Palace to Beach Palace at noon every day (leaves at 5pm) that brings a TON of people in. Some days it’s worse than others. § Sometimes a “college-y” crowd § Need to put your stuff down on chaise lounge chairs early in day (before noon, ideally) § Restaurants don’t require reservations, so you have to line up and wait – which can be for a while depending on how crowded the resort is that day. However, they do give you a pager that will work in the sports bar § Elevators sometimes take a long time On-Site Wedding Coordinator Meeting: - Headed over to meet our AMAZING wedding coordinator, Zaray on Day 2 at 9:30am (Day 2 was Weds and wedding was on Sunday). Zaray is so great. She will walk you through the whole wedding from rehearsal dinner through the reception, going over specifics. - During this meeting, we realized that our interim wedding coordinator booked EVERYTHING for our reception wrong. (You work with 3 people – 1 for your initial wedding day reservation and room block, 1 for the interim wedding planning, and 1 on-site wedding coordinator). Our interim lady reserved the wrong terrace and the times were wrong. We initially worked with Alejandro to book our wedding day and the locations – he got everything reserved perfectly. Then Margarita took over and apparently changed all the bookings! - I highly recommend THOROUGHLY reviewing the times and locations on your final purchase order. I didn’t give them a 2nd look over because we’d already coordinated everything with Alejandro. ..but they were totally messed up. Thank GOODNESS nobody had reserved our location in the meantime. Zaray re-booked it ASAP, and then we had to track down our DJ services, lighting, etc. in order to extend the times for everything. Margarita booked our reception from 6-8pm (that is SO short!), so we extended everything – and had to now pay more for 10pm. - Zaray fixed everything. She’s so great. She also took us around the resort and showed us all the terraces and helped us envision our wedding. Additionally, she set up our meeting with Dream Arts photography (they have a desk in the lobby of BP resort). Lastly, she told us we could drop off all our wedding-related stuff in her office and she’d set it all up for us at the reception. Rehearsal Dinner (Infinity Terrace): - Per my other post, don’t love the Infinity Terrace for a rehearsal dinner. Not my favorite spot. It's RIGHT by the pool and the showers where people wash off sand after coming up from the beach. There is basically a big row of chaise lounges and umbrellas there during the day that they clear out for the event at night. - If you HAVE to do your rehearsal dinner there, try to do it NO EARLIER than 7pm...because people were typically still in the pool until it got dark out. We made the resort take down the pool volleyball net and basketball net so that people wouldn't be hitting us with balls during the dinner! - The spot I'd recommend is probably the Sky Bar South - it's more private. We weren't able to get that spot because there was another event going on that night...and we didn't want the Palenque Terrace since we wanted that to be special for our wedding reception. - Overall the rehearsal dinner on the Infinity Terrace worked out great - it just could have been a bit more private. No real complaints though - it still ended up being a lovely event with a beautiful view! They even had these nice little cosmopolitans they served, which was a nice touch. It could be cool to do an event on the beach, too, but I think they charge more per person to bring the food out there. Our cost was $55/person. We did not have music during the event. We had the Italian buffet, and we liked the lasagna, fish, and chicken. Desserts were MEH. - After the rehearsal dinner, we went to the rooftop pool. Victor (best server ever!) gave us bottles of champagne and LOTS of drinks. Everyone partied pretty late and really enjoyed ourselves. WEDDING DAY! It was like 95 degrees with no clouds…ouch. Got my hair done by Minerva at BP and loved it. Did my own makeup. Got ready, the photographer came, Zaray came and coordinated the wedding party to head to the rooftop sky deck. Ceremony was at 4pm on Sky Deck. Zaray coordinated the wedding music and lined everyone up. She had an assistant play the music, and she cued the wedding party to walk down the aisle. All worked out great. We met our officiant for the first time on the Sky Deck, and she pronounced both my last name and my fiance’s last names wrong – hah! It ended up being really funny, but must have been embarrassing for her. She was great though and I loved the ceremony she gave! Wedding ceremony was only like 20 minutes, which was nice considering how hot it was up there. We made fan programs so our guests were fanning those like crazy! Cocktail hour (5 to 6pm) on the Sky Bar followed the ceremony, but we were too busy taking pictures so didn’t get to partake in it. We had the Mexican appetizers and the guests told me they were good. Reception started at 6pm on the Palenque Terrace. There was a nice breeze on this terrace so it wasn’t nearly as hot. It was perfect when the sun started going down! Had the BBQ buffet and really liked the chicken and shrimp kabobs. The wedding cake is SO good – we had the chocolate with vanilla Chantilly frosting. Pretty cake, too! Had the iPod and no problems with that – there is a “technician” there to help you with any problems. Basically we had full control of what we played and it was awesome. For lighting, we only had 2 gold votive candles, under the table lights, and the 4 column and 2 string lantern lights from Zuniga. The lighting was perfect! We seriously had the BEST time at the reception. Everyone danced all night, drank all night, and partied all night. After the reception, we went to the rooftop pool again and everyone went swimming. Victor again gave us LOTS of drinks. Great time! Overall, everyone in our party had a blast. Got a lot of compliments on how it was the best wedding ever!