Moon Palace- 2014

[Wafflesmom]

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[llevasseur]

Hi Ladies!

 

I just returned from two weeks at the amazing Moon Palace! We had our wedding last Thursday on November 6th.

 

Everything was even more amazing than I could have imagined!!! REVIEW TO FOLLOW

 

Until I've written the review please let me know if you have any specific questions while everything is fresh in my mind.

 

Lindsay

[jackielemman]

Hi Ladies!

 

I just returned from two weeks at the amazing Moon Palace! We had our wedding last Thursday on November 6th.

 

Everything was even more amazing than I could have imagined!!! REVIEW TO FOLLOW

 

Until I've written the review please let me know if you have any specific questions while everything is fresh in my mind.

 

Lindsay

 

So glad to hear this!! I can't wait to hear about it and see pictures!!!

[FutureMrsSam]

Hi ladies!

 

Can anyone tell me how long it takes for Moon Palace to get back to you when you submit your date reservation request?

 

Thanks

[llevasseur]

My review of the amazing Moon Palace:

 

Travel Dates – October 31 – November 14
Wedding Date – November 6^th  @ 3pm
Number of Guests – 28 (25 adults, 2 kids, 1 baby)
Wedding Location – Ceremony: Beach 3pm
                                     - Cocktail Hour: Toucan Garden 4pm- 5pm
                                     - Reception: Toucan Terrace 5pm – 9pm (paid to extend the reception by 2 hours)

 

Things we brought in our luggage:
- Orange paper parasols for the bridesmaids (3 bought from Luna Bizaare, $8 each)
- Light orange lace parasol for bride (bought from Luna Bizaare, $45)
- Orange maracas (bought, $1.50 each)
- Table numbers (handmade)
- Table number stands (bought from Michaels, $3 each)
- Senor and Senora sign (handmade)
- Tumblers for bridesmaids. These were a big hit as they could fit two full drinks in them and the bartenders and servers were more than willing to fill them up ($6 each from Target)
- Bubba Keg cups for the groomsmen. We ordered special orange writing that said GROOMSMAN and then their name. The guys LOVED these and toted them everywhere (bubba website)

 

Services we used:

 

Dream Art Photography (Perfume Package, 2 photographers for 5 hours (2:30pm-7:30pm) with 1 hour videographer)
Honestly, this was the most expensive part of our entire trip and was a massive splurge but I couldn’t have been more happy with their customer service and amazing photos they provided us with. They were super pleasant and kept everyone smiling at the wedding. Tatti was amazing and took care of us girls…and her artistic eye is unmatchable. Tatti showed up at around 2:15 to take pictures of us doing finishing touches and we got some really special shots. After the reception they let me know that the pictures would be ready in a week and that I could review the photos and pick up the discs from the wedding office before I left. It was incredible, there was over 550 AMAZING photos! Plus the wedding video was sent to me the day after the wedding! My husband and I loved taking a look at it and sent it to everyone right away. They did an incredible job and honestly they were more than worth it even though they were on the pricey side.

 

Gama Decorations
We ordered very minimal decorations from them. Just centerpieces and some orange round lanterns. We wanted Mexico to shine through and be the main focus of our wedding so we just wanted touches of colour and sparkle.

 

Styling Trio (Hair and makeup from Adrian, plus bridesmaids and mother of the bride)
On the day of the wedding, like any bride, I was a little nervous but as soon as Adrian showed up with his team, they completely lightened the mood and put me completely at ease. From the moment I met him, he won me over with his charismatic charm and genuine smile. Not only did he do an amazing job on my makeup and hair but he made me feel like a princess. The techniques with the airbrushing were so flawless and he was able to enhance my features without making me feel like I was wearing a mask. I’m a pretty carefree person, but he constantly checked in with me to make sure he was going in the right direction. I ordered a flower from the resort and they put it in my hair exactly the way I wanted it. The other team members that worked on my girls did an incredible job and for $50 my ten year old niece (flower girl) got her hair and makeup done. I know the Spa is supposed to also be amazing (we used our Spa credits on pedicures, manicures and massages), but honestly I can’t believe that anything can top him! The experience was definitely something I’ll treasure as another amazing moment during the wedding day.  

 

JSAV(5 hours of service – microphone and speakers)
Because of our small party, I opted to not get a DJ. I created our entire cocktail hour and reception playlist using an App called Wedding DJ. I LOVE music so I was happy to do it but I spent months figuring out the songs and changing the order, etc. It took a lot of time and effort BUT everyone loved the music and we danced the night away. If you’d like my playlist please let me know J For the service, I can’t say anything bad about them. They showed up on time and went a little late because my playlist had a couple of my favorite songs still on it. It was nice not to have to worry about the setup/cleanup but we probably could have duplicated the services by bringing a speaker system. It was about $425 for the service so I didn’t mind paying it because it was still cheaper than buying a system and lugging it around everywhere.

 

Horse and Carriage
LOVED this. I initially thought it was a little cheesy but the entrance was amazing and it was super special for my brother and I. Everyone was surprised and made most of them cry. I still love watching it on the video…so unique and special.

 

Ok…MOON PALACE
This was an amazing resort and is specially built for large groups that are travelling together. There is a ton of space, so it was easy to find a spot on any given day, no matter the time. We were able to eat at any of the restaurants without a reservation (except the Golf Course). All of the food was spectacular and we made sure to try them all! The Jacuzzi tubs were well used by all of our guests and the Spa was a huge hit. Most of the ladies went for manicures and pedicures and a lot of the couples did massages together.

 

**TIPS**

 

Palace Vacation Planners – you go to these people to book everything from Spa treatments to excursions. They are trained to upsell so be careful of the fine print!! Also keep in mind that they take FOREVER. Every visit I made there usually lasted from 45 minutes to over an hour. Make sure to get printouts of your resort credits to see what they’ve charged you (they double charged me for golf and it was a couple hours before they reversed it).

 

Taxis from the airport – make sure your guests book a shuttle to go from the airport to the resort. It is only a 15 minute drive but the taxis were charging $60-$80 a ride. We had booked a shuttle in advance but some of my guests got stuck with a large bill

 

Resort Credits – As with any promotion, there were of course limitations to what you could use with your credits. Everyone maxed out their Spa credits but most people had a considerable amount leftover. We did use them for golf which was more than worth it (it was amazing). You can use credits to get discounts on some of the items in the gift shop but remember you still have to pay the 16%. The one thing I would NOT recommend is the $300(16% is $48) Romantic Dinner. It was a nice dinner but compared to the rest of the resort we could have had just as nice of a dinner anywhere else.

 

Weather – We were lucky and had AMAZING weather for most of the two weeks. There was only one day that was windy and a bit rainy. It was a warm 25-30 degrees during the day but at night the temperature was quite cool and most people donned sweaters or blankets. No matter where you get married, there is always a chance of rain…we were just lucky.

 

BUG SPRAY – the one low point in our wedding was when the sun went down and we were attached by a massive swarm of mosquitos! Luckily some of my guests retreated to get bug repellent for the group, but some of them already had upwards of 30 bites! I felt horrible for everyone (I was saved by my long dress and husband’s jacket). DEFINITELY BRING BUG SPRAY for the reception!!!!!!

 

My last tip…enjoy your time J Feel free to message me if you’d like to see pictures or the video.

[kimiko5280]

@@llevasseur Thank you so much for your review. It sounds like you had an amazing wedding! I was actually at the resort for part of the time that you were there for my site inspection. The weather was great at this time of year. I'm worried it will be way too hot when I have my wedding in May (at least that is what everyone kept telling me)!

 

I have a few questions for you or anyone else that has input:

• I'm planning on putting together my own music playlist as well and have already have some songs on the list, but would love a copy of your playlist for more song ideas! And if you don't mind sharing your pictures or wedding video, I'd love to see them!
• Did you have to pay the $800 vendor fee for Styling Trio?
• Can the resort credits be used on anything for the wedding reception?
• Did you use your credits for any activities and if so, how were they?
• How did you coordinate when and where to meet up with people, like at the pool or for dinners? Did you have many things pre-planned or did you just go with the flow once you got there? The resort is so huge I imagine it is hard to find people unless you plan where to meet! 
• Which section did you stay in? Did they book all of your wedding party in the same section?

 

And a few comments from my weekend:

• There is free wifi throughout the resort, but it was spotty, even in our room. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't.
• I agree that the food is delicious! I wanted to try all of the restaurants while I was there, but since I was only there for 3 days, that didn't work. The servers were all extremely friendly too.
• They have a FlowRider surf machine where you can surf or boogie board. It's fun, but my neck was pretty sore for a few days after, so I may have to wait until after the wedding before trying it again, haha.
• I did a cake tasting. I tried carrot, marble, chocolate and tres leches. They were all pretty good, but I liked the carrot cake the best. The tres leches was actually kind of dry and my least favorite of the ones I tried, which was surprising to me since others liked it so much.
• The dance club is only open on Friday, Saturday, Tuesday and Thursday. 
• They also have a sky bar that has tv for sports and a British pub that has live music (not sure how often).
• It was about a 20 minute walk between Sunrise and Grand. This resort is huge. The shuttle between the sections comes every 15 minutes though if you don't want to walk.
• They need 4 hours advance notice to decide to change the location to indoors for rain for your reception. They will let you make the call, but if you decide to still have the event outdoors and it rains, they will cancel it.
• You can use tiki torches to help keep away mosquitoes. They are 10/$100 from Zuniga. I saw a wedding that had about 25 torches circled around the reception. I didn't actually notice any mosquitoes while I was there, but maybe I just got lucky.

[llevasseur]

Hi Kimiko!

 

Here are my comments to your questions:

 

 

- Send me your email and I'll forward my playlists to you and the link to my video

 

- Styling Trio is on their vendor list so there isn't a fee

 

- I'm pretty sure the resort credits can only be used on the wedding packages and not individual parts of the wedding. You'd have to upgrade from the complimentary package to one of the other packages

 

- We used most of our credits for golf and the spa (which is amazing!!) We also went to Chichen Itza with the credits. Other people upgraded their wine at restaurants, swam with the dolphins, and bought items from the gift shop

 

- The great thing with the resort is that you get WiFi almost EVERYWHERE so we used Facebook messenger and WhatsApp when we found a good spot. Unfortunately, the resort won't give you everyone's room numbers so as soon as someone checked in, I'd write down their room number and kept it on a master list. We didn't do too many mandatory 'group' activities but I always posted when we were going somewhere (shuttle to Beach Palace - which I fully recommend, Chichen Itza, or just hanging at a certain pool).

 

- We were in Sunrise but we were all over the place! That was pretty annoying I assumed we'd all be in the same building but it was like a 15/20 minute walk to some people's rooms. Unfortunately there was no way around this as the resort was sold out

 

Good luck

[agundisv]

Hello I am new to this forum, but I love it! It is so helpful! I am considering bringing my own dock and making my playlist on spotify like I have seen that other brides do. I hope that is a good idea...anybody else reccomend this?

@jackielemman I love your wedding! It was so beautiful. I do have some questions if you dont mind. What size and where did you get your table cloths and runner? I love that gold runner! Thank you!

 

Also I would love any advice I can get...I am getting really nervous that I am not prepared enough.

 

Thank you!

[jackielemman]

@@agundisv

 

I bought the runners from Etsy here is the link!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/155038678/gold-dazzle-square-sequin-table-runner?ref=shop_home_active_5

 

I bought the 84" runners. They were the perfect length. Great price considering the rental prices down there!!

I rented the table clothes... but I should have bought them and brought them with me. You can find them online so cheap and when you get back sell them online to recoup some of the money. All of the small items I would recommend trying to bring with you. Its worth it to beg family member or bridal party member to check a bag for you!! 

 

You've got time to prepare yourself. You wont feel ready anyways until you're down there and nothing will matter anymore! Make lots of lists and put label tags on everything you are bringing with you with what event it belongs to and how it is to be used. I had my groom and groomsmen do all of the decorating while the girls and I were getting hair and makeup done. It was so nice knowing that everything was labeled... I was a little OCD and even made sketches for them and found youtube videos for how to tie chair bows the way I wanted them done...

 

I'm here if you've got questions! I lived on this site before my wedding and it really really helped! 

[agundisv]

@jackielemman Thank you so much for replying so quick...I really appreciate it and the length was my next question which you already answered! Thank you so much...this has really helped me out. I just like to be prepared myself. And that is so awesome that they helped you out...I'm gonna have to get my family members to help me out as well.

I am sure I will have many more questions to come haha.

Thank you so much!!