Moon Palace 2008 & 2009 Brides - POST HERE!

[mrssharkey2be]

Tina

 

Which package did you go for? Im toying with a couple of them at the mo. What were the fireworks like?

 

cheers

 

Rach

[TinaM2b]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrssharkey2be Tina Which package did you go for? Im toying with a couple of them at the mo. What were the fireworks like? cheers Rach

We had the old packages not the new color schemed ones. Ours was the Deluxe package that had everything included, even bathrobes (package cost - $2200). The old packages didn't have fireworks nor did we see any while we were there. A few pages back a couple brides (Nina and Honey) that also got married said they saw them and said they were not that impressive.

Our extras were

$180 - to upgrade our cake to three tier
$350 - $400 - IPOD music station
$220 - upgrade to photos
$36 - rental of six orange runners for tables at the reception.

Another note for all future MP brides. DH really wanted me to keep things simple so he said no to some things I wanted like bringing decor for chapel / reception / etc...... He said we had the ocean and the palm trees. MP decorated all of it without us asking(except for the runners we rented for the reception). They had orange ties on the end chairs of the chapel, they used my orange fans and added centerpieces to the reception and even had some decor on the cocktail tables. I was pleasantly surprised.

My review and more details / pics are in a link below my siggy photo.

[Bluesun721]

I'm thinking about getting married at the Moon Palace. We have a large group of about 60-80 people and I honestly I don't see any other hotels that provide what the palace resorts provide. They are telling me if i have over 25 rooms I get as many private 2 hour receptions as I want free. Does anybody know anything about this? Are there any brides that have already gotten married there that can give me any helpful hints or let me know how their experience was. This thread seems to be all brides that plan on getting married there. Is there somewhere else I should be looking? Thanks for any help anyone can give me.

[TinaM2b]

Bluesun, I responded to your other post too! Check out the review section and do a search for either "Moon Palace" and MP. I think there are reviews under both from recent brides. There are quite a few recent brides still posting to this thread too.

 

Just a quick note, make sure you get your contract written correctly with them (I would suggest going with a TA that is familiar with this). You get free events and free nights with number or rooms and/or total room nights booked. Make sure your contract reads either because some brides didn't get their contracts written this way.

 

We originally qualified for the unlimited private events (almost 30 rooms) but with the swine flu and economy issues, our rooms dropped down to below 20 rooms. Fortunately, our contract read number of rooms for 3 or more nights OR total room nights. We ended up having a cocktail hour and 5 hour reception at no additional cost...... AND we are also getting a refund for 4 nights of our stay.

[nibsmom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jodimichelle Jsim- Welcome!! Nina.. thanks again for your information. I am still trying to figure out a great honeymoon place! To the rest of the girls who posted their reviews recently thank you. When did you start really planning your weddings?? What do you start with? Actual wedding stuff.. I am getting a littl stressed out.. and my fiance is like just relax everything will work out.. But shouldn't i have somewhat of an idea?? ahhh Jodi

Hey Jodi!

Don't get stressed out! The MP moves a little slow - lots of the wedding stuff you can't really plan with them until you are much closer.

I think I started with Save the Dates and Invitations, then I started collecting things for OOT bags. I also spent time designing informational brochures for my guests (free through vistaprint!! woot!) and reminder postcards about deposits (also through vistaprint!). I spent a lot of time online just browsing for ideas for colors, flowers, bridesmaid dresses, etc.

We started planning I think around 8 months before. I know it's tough, because you feel like you should be planning a lot, but remember that the MP is going to do most of the legwork for you. I think we all get programmed into thinking you need to be super stressed out and busy all the time because for a traditional wedding you have to do a ton more planning. We don't! I would start with OOT bags if you plan on doing them and putting together an idea board!

[nibsmom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrssharkey2be Here's a quick one for anyone!!!! Is it worth upgrading to the different packages for the wedding or just stick with the complimentary one - and then upgrade a few needed items!!!! I am looking at using the tucan gazebo if possible as I think that looks lovely - is this the best choice or is another one better!!!! I just dont want it to look too bare

I went with the free package and just purchased what we needed.

ALL the gazebos are lovely - you really can't go wrong. If you want a super long walkway, go with the Tucan. If not, go with Bugambilla (okay, I massacred that spelling), and it also has a pretty water fountain next to it. Tucan does not. The Chapel Gazebo is very pretty, and it has pews and a cross in it. Chapel has fountains, and I believe the walkway has a little bridge over water between fountains as well. The views are all excellent.

I didn't get any flowers or decorations for the gazebo, and it was still gorgeous. The view is really enough that it doesn't look bare. We had our sand ceremony on the altar, and that was it!

[nibsmom]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TinaM2b Rach, This is just my opinion and an interesting question. It will be interesting to hear from other brides on this. I think you get better service from the WCs if you have a package that you pay for. In a couple reviews from people that had the free packages, it seemed that their wedding coordinators didn't pay them as much attention for the entire day.

That's interesting Tina, I never thought of it that way! I was one of the brides whose WC seemed to be MIA, and my stuff went missing. Claudia was great up until the day of the wedding. I'm not sure what happened. It may have been because I got married on a Saturday, and I know there were several other weddings the day I got married. I did add about $2,000 worth of add-ons though - so it was essentially like I purchased a package!!!

WC present or not, it was still a great time and everything was organized for the most part. I did eventually get all my stuff back!

[TinaM2b]

Quote:

Originally Posted by nibsmom That's interesting Tina, I never thought of it that way! I was one of the brides whose WC seemed to be MIA, and my stuff went missing. Claudia was great up until the day of the wedding. I'm not sure what happened. It may have been because I got married on a Saturday, and I know there were several other weddings the day I got married. I did add about $2,000 worth of add-ons though - so it was essentially like I purchased a package!!! WC present or not, it was still a great time and everything was organized for the most part. I did eventually get all my stuff back!

Good to hear Nina!! Did you get you custom ring bowl back?

[angelalanahung]

Hi,

 

My wedding coordinator is Cristina Doblado. Has anyone used her? I would like to hear of the experiences people have had. It's just that I sent her an email 3 weeks ago and I have heard nothing back. I did send another email a week ago to make sure she got my first email but I still got no response.

 

I am a little concerned at how competant she is going to be if she can't even reply to my questions on email.

 

Thanks for the feedback

[TinaM2b]

Quote:

Originally Posted by angelalanahung Hi, My wedding coordinator is Cristina Doblado. Has anyone used her? I would like to hear of the experiences people have had. It's just that I sent her an email 3 weeks ago and I have heard nothing back. I did send another email a week ago to make sure she got my first email but I still got no response. I am a little concerned at how competant she is going to be if she can't even reply to my questions on email. Thanks for the feedback

Angela, If you will read back through this thread, you will find a lot of that. The WCs at the resort don't really correspond with you much until it is closer to your wedding due to the fact they have so many weddings every week.

I didn't start corresponding with mine till about 1 1/2 month before but everything worked out great. My WC was never good about replying to email but she would call me occasionally the last month and all was taken care of with the phone calls.