MalibuBarbie

January is a great time to take a vacation. We would definitely go in January if our guests could go too. We are limited to when we can go. My two kids are in college and they cannot take off any time during the year because of the attendance policy at the school. We either have to go during the summer or during one of their breaks but we wouldn't know when those breaks are scheduled until the September of each year. We need the extra time to save so we have decided to just pay the increased fare and do the third week in May--which is exactly the week that the fares start to increase. If you are using a TA, then I am sure that she can arrange for a two tiered cake---TA's can arrange for alot of things. Right now I am trying to come up with some sort of a letter to my guests explaining everything because we are going to book it as soon as the May 2010 rates are released and they will only have 30 days from then to put down their first deposits. I want everyone to sort of know what's going on and to have figured out if they want or can go by that time. I am not having too many people so it shouldn't be too big of a deal but I am not using a TA, I am going to go directly with Carnival. I am going to check with the local TA to see what kind of rates she can get, but I think I would be fine just dealing with Carnival and getting their group rate. I just wish they would release the rates already! Barbie

That is an awesome site! I just printed a Spanish one up as a sample and it took me two seconds to fold it. Thanks so much for sharing! It will be perfect to put into our OOT bags! Barbie

They have a ton of great stuff but I can't even come close to meeting thier minimums. I love their totes and hopefully I can find similar ones without the large minimum order. Barbie

Even if you are not going thru Carnival for the wedding, there is absolutely no reason why you couldn't use the supper club for your reception. The only thing would be that you would have to purchase the cake since you aren't getting it with a package but just how much could that be? How many guests are you having? Oh and I forgot to ask, when is your cruise?We are still looking at May 25, 2010. I definitely feel better knowing that I am not sitting in this forum talking to myself! Barbie

Your ideas are great and pretty much are in line with what we thought we would do. We have spent the last couple of days discussing our options and we have decided that we are still going to get married on embarkation day---it really isn't that expensive and that way the few people that we do want to be there, will be able to come. We found out that the smallest package includes a cake and champagne toast and they will allow us to have it at dinner instead. We are thinking of doing the supper club for dinner that first night...they have live music and a dance floor so we will be able to have our first dance after all. Carnival supper clubs are an additional $30.00 a person but we are only having about 10 people so for $300.00, we are getting a 5 course meal, our cake, music and dancing! I think that will work out perfectly! As far as the extra beach pictures go, we have since decided (after talking to a photographer in Cabo) that we are just going to let our guests go on their own when we are in port and Brent and I are going to do all our pictures. The photographer said that they do this type of thing all the time and that he would meet us at the ship and take us to a couple of places as well as the beach and do our formals and our trash the dress session and then he would bring us back to the ship (or into town if we wanted) He thought 2 to 3 hours should be suffucient time (so for about $1000, we will have the pictures we wanted. Now, all I have to do is find the right photographer! Of course, we would love to get Juan Carlos but I don't think he would be interested in doing our small little photo shoot but I am going to email him. anyway....you never know! I have to get some emails out to the photographers. I am getting more and more excited as things are falling into place. We all have these ideas of what we would like to do but actually getting them done can sometimes be the challenge! Since we are not going to do the actual second ceremony in Cabo, we are basically saving enough money to cover the extra day of photography! I will post more as things come up! Barbie

I just realized that the dress you picked is the one that I am thinking of getting! It is absolutely gorgeous! I would definitely order the petite size in that one and have the alterations made to fit you. Because of the way it is suppossed to fit around the waist & hip area, I think it might not fall right on you. Barbie

What about having bra cups sewn right into your dress? I am having them put into my dress because I needed to fill it out a little more than what I have!LOL Barbie

I am feeling kind of lonely here! Barbie

Hmmmm. I like #3 the best but I guess #1 would look better for the TTD pictures and that is the whole reason for the dress, right? Let us know which one you picked! Barbie

David's dresses are designed exclusively for them but you will find almost identical dresses by other designers. If you aren't too far from the Flint MI store, I'd say take the trip! They carry all the sizes so you could take your dress home with you the same day. If you only need minor alterations like hemming, you could definitely get that done at home. Good luck! Barbie

I voted for the strapless---one of the other posters hit the nail on the head. You look so confident in it!And you do not need to lose weight-you are a beautiful bride-to-be!

David's dyes shoes....why not take them back there to have them dyed the pink that you wanted? My daughter had her shoes dyed twice-once in the prom color and then to black afterwards. Barbie

Mine is cathedral set and it never gets caught on anything. It kind of surprised me though because I have a marquise diamond and I am really hard on my hands due to my job. It's a beautiful ring! Good luck deciding! Barbie

That's a great help to anyone who is considering a cruise wedding. Although I do visit cruisecritic (a little too much sometimes LOL) Thanks for posting it here! Barbie

That's a great find! I love Dollar Tree! Barbie

I have horror stories about unscrupulous (sp?)shops that order dresses too big because they then hit the brides up for huge alteration fees! I am sure you will be fine! Barbie

I picked #3. You just look so comfortable in it. Barbie

Your dress is very different and looks great on you. I also really like the BM dress- one that they can wear again. Barbie

Well, I guess I will be the first to post here in the Mexican Riveria forum---hopefully, I won't be too lonely down here! LOL I know that there HAS to be more of us! I would have loved to go on the Carribean cruise and get married in St. Thomas but we don't want to fly to the port so the only cruises really out of LA are Mexican Riveria ones! We have not booked anything yet because we want to know what we can and can't do before we plunk down large amounts of money on deposits. My FH, Brent and I want the best of both worlds---the traditional/formal wedding as well as the fun destination/beach type wedding so we have decided to go with a cruise. Neither of us have alot of family so no one will be disappointed in our choice, which is great! This is my second marriage and Brent's first so we are paying for it ourselves.We have been engaged for a LONG time and we keep having to postpone it because of finances. It is so hard to save because Brent got into a car accident and now he is on Social Security Disability and I am the only one working. But, we have decided that we are tired of putting it off and waiting so here I am! I think we are shooting for May 23, 2010 which will give us plenty of time to save what we have to. We are planning on being "officially" married on the ship in Long Beach on the embarkation day. We are doing it that way so we can avoid all those licensing issues in Mexico as well as having the more "formal" type of wedding. You know, big poofy dress & tuxedo---pictures on deck, that sort of thing. If you are a cruise ship bride, then you already know that you pretty much have little to say about any of the arrangements for the cruise ship wedding and I really don't even want to get into the whole The Wedding Experience issue. I have no idea of any of our options/upgrades that we will have since we can't get any info prior to us booking. So, if anyone has the upgrade/additions list that Carnival offers, PLEASE email it to me. I know that we can't do any of that until right before we leave so we want to be financially ready for anything that TWE or Carnival throws our way. The last thing we want is to have to do without something because it wasn't in our budget. Anyway, we will only be in Cabo San Lucas for a short time on our 5th day so this is really where we have the most questions and we are most undecided about. We have to decide whether we want to just hire a local photographer and do our beach pictures as well as our "trash the dress" pictures (if they even do that!) and let our guests do their own thing that day or if we want to hire a local coordinator and have a symbolic 2nd ceremony, a mini reception and then the pictures, etc. We are only having like 10 people sail with us so we don't know what to do. For us, the most important thing is the beach photos but we want to also keep our guests occupied. Does anyone know which coordinators stay away from cruise brides?Anyone have any recommendations for people who handle smaller weddings? Obviously, I won't be having anything elaborate (due to time, money and small guest list) but we would love to hear how other cruise brides decided to do their beach weddings. I have been reading alot of the Cabo forums and it just seems that it doesn't apply to us---most of the brides are staying there for a week so I am sure that things are handled much differently than a cruise bride would have. I have emailed a few local coordinators but only heard back from one and they were way out of our price range ($5800.00) YIKES! Well, I would love to hear from anyone who has done this type of wedding or anyone who has any alternate ideas. I am so open to anything! Barbara [email protected]

Hi Everyone, My name is Barbara and although we have been engaged forever, we are just starting to plan a Mexican Riveria cruise and a Cabo San Lucas wedding while we are in port. Right now we are shooting for May 2010 as we are paying for everything ourselves but who knows...maybe we'll win the lottery and not have to worry about the finances!! LOL I have been lurking here for a few weeks and you all seem to have such wonderful ideas, suggestions, and advice! I look forward to spending some time here although I am not really sure where I fit in. It looks like I will be very lonely in the Mexican Riveria Cruise forum! LOL Barbara