Moon Dance Cliffs

[cali2010]

Hi Rebecca!

 

I am still really new to this message board and had previously posted on the Moon Dance Villas thread, but this one seems to get more responses. Thank you so much for sharing your review of MDV. I am so happy that you had such a great experience! I am getting married at MDV in May and am a little nervous because I really haven't had much contact with Oneika. I have so many questions! I hope you don't mind!

 

Did you plan any of the wedding when you got to MDV? Or was it all pretty much finalized before you arrived?

 

Was it extra to have the rehearsal dinner at MDC? Also, how did the transportation work? All of our guests will be staying at MDV. Did you request any of the tiki torches, etc. or did they just do it for you?

 

How much was the fire dancer? Did you have him perform at the wedding or the rehearsal dinner?

 

I am so worried because I feel like I haven't really done any "planning", but it sounds like Oneika took good care of you and your group. I would love to hear more about your planning process! I feel like I am so behind!

 

Hopefully you can share your pictures when you receive them!

 

:-)

[negrilbridetoo]

Hi Cali2010 and Rydm

 

Rydm, Congratulations and welcome back!! It sounds like you had an AMAZING time. You have made me even more excited about my day next year. Who did you use for a cake baker? Did you do any off site excursions with your guests?

 

Cali2010 I too am getting married at MDV in May and you asked some great questions.

[gbyrd]

Wow!! I am so excited for everyone, congrats Rydm. My wedding is at the moon dance cliffs on August 21, 2010 but we are all staying at the villas, and then honeymooning for a couple days at the cliffs. I can't wait to read everyone's reviews. It would be nice to do the welcome dinner at the cliffs but I think I am going to make it one of the surprises on the wedding day.

 

I am also wondering whether to do the DJ or the Band. Any suggestions?

[rydm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cali2010 Hi Rebecca! I am still really new to this message board and had previously posted on the Moon Dance Villas thread, but this one seems to get more responses. Thank you so much for sharing your review of MDV. I am so happy that you had such a great experience! I am getting married at MDV in May and am a little nervous because I really haven't had much contact with Oneika. I have so many questions! I hope you don't mind! Did you plan any of the wedding when you got to MDV? Or was it all pretty much finalized before you arrived? Was it extra to have the rehearsal dinner at MDC? Also, how did the transportation work? All of our guests will be staying at MDV. Did you request any of the tiki torches, etc. or did they just do it for you? How much was the fire dancer? Did you have him perform at the wedding or the rehearsal dinner? I am so worried because I feel like I haven't really done any "planning", but it sounds like Oneika took good care of you and your group. I would love to hear more about your planning process! I feel like I am so behind! Hopefully you can share your pictures when you receive them! :-)

Cali2010 - Please don't worry. Any questions you have, throw them all. I am here to help! I know exactly how you're feeling because I was in that same position once.

In the early stage of my planning, Oneika wasn't as responsive as I expected her to be. She did reply my email in a week or two but I found that process to be so slow.... That’s when this forum came in handy. By communicating with past & future brides, I had most of my basic questions answered.

But now after going through the whole process, I understand why things were that slow towards the beginning of the planning. Oneika tries to prioritize her assignments and tries to give her time to those who need it the most at the time. When my wedding had about a month left, Oneika assured me that most of her focus would be on my wedding. And she kept her word. She was available every single time I tried to reach her. The closer your wedding gets, the more available she becomes. I understand how frustrating it is if you're someone like me who tries to be done with everything way in advance. But, please keep in mind that in the end, everything will be excellent!



Now to your questions :-)

***Did you plan any of the wedding when you got to MDV? Or was it all pretty much finalized before you arrived?
It was pretty much finalized before we got there. The only thing I did was giving Oneika every thing I brought for the wedding. We also had a meeting with her to go over all the details.


***Was it extra to have the rehearsal dinner at MDC?
We paid $30 per person. It includes two drinks (fruit punch & rum punch), salad, three entrees of your choice, rice & peas, steamed vegetables, and dessert. I had Oneika get us two cases of assorted sodas. I forgot how much the cost was but it was way less than $50. For anyone who wanted to order liquor, they set up a cash bar.


***Also, how did the transportation work? All of our guests will be staying at MDV.
For transportation, they had shuttles for us. Going to the welcome/rehearsal dinner was complementary but we were charged $2 per person for the ride back, which was completely fair.


***Did you request any of the tiki torches, etc. or did they just do it for you?
I mentioned to Oneika over the phone prior to our arrival to Jamaica but she had already planned on doing it anyway.


***How much was the fire dancer?
The fee was $250.


***Did you have him perform at the wedding or the rehearsal dinner?
This one has a little story to it:-). We almost missed out on having the fire dancer perform at our reception. Oneika and I talked about the details three or four months prior to the wedding. The only thing left was diction on the performance date. However, we never made a reservation because my husband and I were so undecided on whether to have him perform at the rehearsal or the reception. On Thursday, when we got to Jamaica, we asked Oneika if we could get back to her with our answer by Friday morning. She said no problem but guess what? We forgot to do so. We were distracted by the excitement and everything else that was going on, we didn’t realize we forgot to give Oneika the go to hire him. On Saturday, shortly after the reception started, we were like…Oops!!! We immediately called Oneika and asked her if there is anyway she could make it happen. Initially, she had her doubts, as he was never informed about our reception. But half way to the event, there he was putting on an outstanding show! Thanks to Oneika and thanks to him. Our guests were just blown away by his performance and we were so glad he was able to perform with such a short notice!!!



Please don’t hesitate to post if you have additional questions. I’m here to help so feel free to ask me more questions :-))))

[rydm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by negrilbridetoo Hi Cali2010 and Rydm Rydm, Congratulations and welcome back!! It sounds like you had an AMAZING time. You have made me even more excited about my day next year. Who did you use for a cake baker? Did you do any off site excursions with your guests? Cali2010 I too am getting married at MDV in May and you asked some great questions.

Hi negrilbridetoo! Thanks so much for your best wishes!!! We had an excellent time!!! I’m sure yours is also gonna be as beautiful as you imagined it to be! I hope planning is going well for you! Please see the answers to your questions below:

*** Who did you use for a cake baker?
I used Margaret. She’s awesome and so easy to work with. She responded all of my million questions on a timely manner and her price was very reasonable. If you decide to go with her, please deal with her directly. The resort says $350 as a minimum price for a wedding cake but by dealing with her directly, I was able to negotiate and get mine for a cheaper price.

*** Did you do any off site excursions with your guests?
We didn’t do any excursions. My husband and I really wanted to but we were there only for 5 days (Thursday to Monday) and didn’t have enough time for it. Unless you’re there for a longer period, I’m not sure if you’re gonna have enough time to fit it in. I’m gonna break down our schedule to show how fairly crowded the five days were.

On Thursday, our flight got there at 11:30AM. We were expecting to be at the resort by 1:30PM, however, US Airways lost my carryon bag, the one that had every accessory for the wedding (jewelries, shoes, ring pillow, tiara, makeup…etc)…. long story but it was found in the end…so because of that, we didn’t get to the resort until 5PM. On Friday, we had a meeting with Oneika to discuss the final details, then my makeup and hair consultation, and finally the welcome/rehearsal dinner. We did the rehearsal on Saturday morning because Oneika run out of time on Friday getting things ready for the welcome/rehearsal dinner. On Saturday, rehearsal in the morning…. then manicure, pedicure, makeup, & hair…then I started getting ready for the ceremony & reception. We had TTD on Sunday morning and a goodbye barbeque for all of our guests in the afternoon. On Monday, we all left around noon.

So I guess, it depends on what events you have planned and how long you’re staying there. Don’t plan anything major on the day of your arrival and departure, as things may not go according to schedule. For us, it didn’t so we were very happy we budgeted time for some possible delays and baggage losses.

If you have any more questions, please feel free to shoot. I’ll be very happy to answer them :-) :-)

Happy Planning!!!

~Rebecca

[rydm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbyrd Wow!! I am so excited for everyone, congrats Rydm. My wedding is at the moon dance cliffs on August 21, 2010 but we are all staying at the villas, and then honeymooning for a couple days at the cliffs. I can't wait to read everyone's reviews. It would be nice to do the welcome dinner at the cliffs but I think I am going to make it one of the surprises on the wedding day. I am also wondering whether to do the DJ or the Band. Any suggestions?

Hi gbyrd! Thanks a lot for your best wishes! Congratulations to you as well on your up coming wedding! Hope planning is coming along great! I’m sure having the wedding at the cliffs will be one nice surprise for your guests. The view there is spectacular!!! My husband and I are already planning on going back for our first anniversary :-). They actually offered us 30% off if we return within a year. We got married on August 15th so we’ll be there a week before your wedding :-).

We hired Front Page band for our reception. They’re REALLY good!!! Claudette, a fellow bride on this message board, used DJ Paul/Sound Illusion for her reception and recommends him very much. I guess it depends on your preference.

We wanted a live band…more specifically…a reggae band. My husband has Jamaican roots and I was born in Ethiopia…so, we both grew up listening to reggae or reggae influenced music all our lives. In addition, we chose the reggae band because they play live for the first three hours and for the forth hour, they let you use their equipment to play anything from a CD or an ipod. So, with them, you get the best of both worlds :-). However, the DJ may be a better route if you’re not into reggae music that much.

Hope this helps! If you have additional questions, you know where to find me :-).

Happy Planning!!!

~Rebecca

[negrilbridetoo]

Rydm, thanks so very much for all of the invaluable information you have provided!! I really appreciate it.

 

Another question, who did your hair and makeup? Were you pleased? You mentioned you paid extra for the rehearsal dinner at MDC, was this the non-all inclusive package?

Thanks again!

[rydm]

Quote:

Originally Posted by negrilbridetoo Rydm, thanks so very much for all of the invaluable information you have provided!! I really appreciate it. Another question, who did your hair and makeup? Were you pleased? You mentioned you paid extra for the rehearsal dinner at MDC, was this the non-all inclusive package? Thanks again!

You’re very welcome, negrilbridetoo! I’m glad I could help!

***who did your hair and makeup? Were you pleased?
I forgot his name but it's the one the resort recommends. They said he's the best in the area but that wasn't the case for my guests. I understand the weather is very humid there and if you have hair that gets affected by it, the moister will cause it to lose the style it has been set into…..but…not before you go outside. Five of my guests got their hair done and by the time he was finished, the style didn’t look right at all. Thankfully, they brought their curling irons so they had to go back and fix it again. Although I didn’t have high expectations, somehow mine turned out to be beautiful (until the humidity got to it). And my makeup was also good. But, I’ve done hair modeling for salons & magazines and I've seen my hair at its best...and his work didn't come anywhere close to that. Don't get me wrong, he's extremely nice, polite and has a positive attitude but I don't recommend his work.


***You mentioned you paid extra for the rehearsal dinner at MDC, was this the non-all inclusive package?
We didn’t do all-inclusive and because we stayed at MDV, we had to pay an extra $30 per person for the rehearsal dinner at MDC.
If you’re staying at MDV, I highly recommend not doing AI. You’ll save so much. We stayed for five days and our overall cost was only $4,000. This covered everything for 20 guests staying onsite including the recommeded10% tip for both of the 5 bedroom villas, some liquor, the wedding reception dinner for 33 guests as well as the good buy barbeque for about 25 guests. If we had done AI, the cost would’ve been $125 x 5 days x 20 people = $12,500 and it doesn’t even cover your outside guests for the reception diner and the good buy barbeque (if you’re having one). We tried not to use their liquor though. We brought some with us and also went out and bought some from the nearby supermarket. But overall, we saved about $8,500 by not doing AI.

[big3n09]

Ladies I wish you all the best with MDC! My wedding plans are off it's posted here http://bestdestinationwedding.com/fo...ml#post1045597 I'm sure you all will have lovely weddings!!!

[dazzliing4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by july2010 dazzliing4--Our date is July 17th, one week from you! I thought the airport transfers are included in the rates, am I wrong?

The airport transfers are definitely included in the AI rates.