Danielle and Osaheni started out their wedding planning like most couples, wondering what the best options are to afford hosting such a large group of people. Being based in New York and with a large family living abroad, they quickly realized that staying in the US was not an option.
Moreover, Dani’s own passion for travelling and wanting to keep things budget friendly made them lean towards a destination wedding. After reviewing several different resorts they ultimately landed on Moon Palace The Grand Cancun. Let’s take a further look at Dani and Osaheni’s destination wedding experience.
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The Resort – Moon Palace The Grand Cancun
Moon Palace The Grand Cancun is a very large, family-friendly resort just south of Cancun. There were several big factors that ultimately led to Dani choosing this resort. One was the incentives they offered to large wedding groups, which they knew they would have. To keep things in budget this was really important for them.
Another factor was the size of the resort, which offers 10 different restaurants and several activities to accommodate all of their wedding guests. There’s technically two resorts on this property, Moon Palace and Moon Palace The Grand, so there was no shortage of activities, pools, and food and drinks to indulge in.
Lastly, Dani also stated that her mother-in-law is an elite member with The Grand, so she knew it would be a quality resort that would live up to her and her guest’s standards. Check out Dani’s video below for more details on how she chose Moon Palace The Grand.
The Wedding Planning
Dani’s wedding planning was very unique compared to a typical destination wedding. This was because her husband’s family is Nigerian, and they wanted to uphold tradition by performing those traditional Nigerian customs based on the specific tribe that Osaheni is a part of.
What did this entail? Their first ceremony was the Nigerian wedding, which started around 1:00 PM and lasted until after 10:00 PM. There was an immense amount of planning required to incorporate all of the Nigerian traditions into their destination wedding and accommodate all 187 of Dani and Osaheni’s guests. All of the attire, which was color coordinated and imported from Nigeria, gifts to certain family members and guests, ensuring Dani’s wedding planner and resort staff understood these traditions and accommodated accordingly, and making sure there was enough food, drinks, and space to comfortably fit everyone.
And that was just the Nigerian ceremony. Dani and Osaheni still had a “white ceremony” the following day, which incorporated more of the American wedding customs like walking down the aisle, the bouquet toss, and dancing.
Planning all of this was no small feat, and Dani did say that hit a few bumps in the road. One of them being that the first wedding coordinator they were assigned was not the most responsive or consistent with their communication. This can cause a lot of stress early on in your wedding planning and make things difficult to keep moving. Thankfully, Dani was able to relay this information to the resort and they were assigned another coordinator who they were much happier with.
Also, because of the fact that they wanted to take advantage of the elite member perks through the resort, they had a difficult time finding a travel agent that was allowed to coordinate a room block for everyone, so they had to forego using one altogether. Dani explained how stressful this was and said if she were to go back, she’d maybe forego signing up for the elite membership and make sure to hire a travel agent to assist with all of her guests’ accommodations, questions ,and issues regarding their travel and reservations.
Danielle and Oseheni’s Experience
Overall, Danielle and Oseheni’s wedding at Moon Palace The Grand Cancun was a wonderful experience for them and all their guests. When asked whether Danielle would have done anything differently she did have some regrets about certain aspects of the planning, but expressed that she didn’t regret having a destination wedding at all.
In fact, she specifically said that if anyone out there is thinking of having a destination wedding that they should 100% do it. Yes, if you’re accommodating for 150+ guests, hosting two separate wedding ceremonies, and traveling out of the country to do so, there will be plenty of stressful moments along the way, but in the end it’s always worth it.
Bridal Q&A
Q: Anything else you would like to add regarding the resort that you would like brides to know?
A: Overall the resort was huge and classy, and our guests were very impressed. I’d say just meet with your onsite planner and hold them accountable for everything they promise. Haggle the best price for everything.
Q: If the resort had wedding packages, which one did you pick?
A: We customized our own package and there is a lot of flexibility.
Q: Where did you have your ceremony and reception? (i.e. pergola, beach, etc.)
A: Our Nigerian wedding on 11/12/22 was on the Starlight Terrace. Our white wedding on 11/13/22 was on the Cusco Terrace.
Q: Did you pay for any add on’s that were not included in your wedding package? If so, what were they?
A: Because the packages were customizable and we opted not to use the free tables chairs, I felt like everything was an add on. It all adds up very fast too.
Q: What was your biggest challenge in planning a destination wedding?
A: There are so many but I’d say the thing that had me the most stressed was the over invitation family/friends and late RSVPs. We picked venues for what we estimated our guest count would be and we went way over that amount. It all worked out in the end but us potentially losing our space for the white wedding caused a lot of sleepless nights for me. At one point we thought we’d have to have an “over flow viewing room” (like in church) for my husbands family that couldn’t fit in the white wedding space. Us working with his mom to choose who would stay and go caused so much division… it was bad.
Q: If you could change anything about your experience, what would it be and why?
A: If I were able to do it over again I probably wouldn’t have my wedding at a resort but at an outside venue nearby to bypass resort prices and high vendor fees. Things would probably be way less expensive.
Q: Anything else regarding your wedding planning and services that you would like brides to know?
A: I’d let them know if your a Type A person that wants everything to be just right- destination weddings could be a VERY stressful experience because you are literally trusting and depending on people that you don’t know to make your dreams come true. I’d say try to schedule as many meetings as possible with the onsite planner, photographer, and saxophone player (lol) even if it is repetitive to get the assurance you need.
If you want to see or hear more about Danielle and Osaheni’s wedding take a listen to the podcast episode at the top of the page where I have Danielle on.
Danielle also expressed the need to help others after her experience as well. When recapping her experience she shared, “I have a calling to help support other brides that are planning destination weddings, especially Nigerian traditional ceremonies outside of Nigeria (which added a whole other layer of difficulty). I’m using both my Instagram and YouTube channel to give helpful advice to Type-A future destination brides to be.”
If you want to see more of this please head to Danielle’s socials here:
Are you considering this resort for your wedding and need some help? Head over to my Let’s Start Planning page to get started with me!
Vendors
White Wedding Dress: Pantora Bridal
White Wedding Groom Designer: Styled By DM
Nigerian Wedding Designers: Omoooba LLC and Trinity Creations
Hair and Makeup: Elegance House of Creations
Bridal Hairpiece: Sureina Bridal
Groom’s Hair: Handz of Godz
Makeup: Ivan at Crispin Beauty
Photographer and videographer: Memories at Moon Palace the Grand
Wedding Planner: Kara Anderson of Petals & Promises Jamaica
Onsite Wedding Coordinator: Fernanda Medina