Cruise Weddings/STD & Invitation Question-How far in advance do you send these?

[BeckiO5]

Since I know Cruise/Destination Weddings take more time for guests to book their reservations and make travel plans and get their passports (if they don't already have one), I was wondering for those who are doing Cruise Weddings, how far in advance did you have to book your Cruise Wedding (or make sure enough rooms for guests to be able to book their rooms for the cruise), How far in advance did you send out your STD's and invitations? I do want to make sure I give my guests enough time to be able to reserve their rooms and flights for the Cruise and obtain their passports if they don't already have one or need theirs renewed in order to sail with us. Any help will greatly be appreciated! Thanks everyone!

[Positanobride10]

Hi. I cannot speak to the cruise but I am getting married in 11 months and am sending out my save the dates next month.

[BeckiO5]

Robin, thank you for your reply! I appreciate it. I just want to make sure that I'm giving enough time for especially a couple of families on my list that are families of 4 that need to save up have enough time that they can afford to book a room at the hotel the night prior to sail, and cruise cost.

[kpuckrin]

Hey Becki

 

I am a cruise bride as well. As soon as I chose our cruise and made a group booking to reserve some cabins for our guests, I sent an e-mail out to everyone with all of the details. I didn't do a STD as I didn't feel the need. Most of our gusts booked within the a month of us having reserved the space on the ship. Our wedding is Jan 12th, 2010 and I intend on mailing out our invites in Aug/Sept of this year.

 

I think normal for a wedding, you would mail them out 3 months in advance (from what I understand), but given the cruise requires a lot more money and advanced planning on behalf of the guests, we opted for 5-6 months.

 

I hope this helps!

[merocket59]

I sent out a STD email right after we booked the wedding and our cruise, then sent out real save the dates approx. a year before, and I am sending out my invites now for our August 15th wedding, but I need all the info in to Carnival by July 15th so I wished I could have gotten them out sooner but I had a lots of complications.

[hunniebee724]

We booked today, and I'll be sending out our save the dates next week because the first deposit through our TA is July 11th.

[BeckiO5]

Thank you all for your replies. I know it's standard for a non-major travel Wedding for STD's to go out a year in advance and invitation 2-3 months prior, but given I know some of our guests live pay check to paycheck as we do, we want to give them an adequate amount of time to save the money and be able to afford to join us especially where I want one of my MOH's to be there, and I know a few of us have children still in diapers on my guest list, my hubby and I included and we know how expensive those all are. I'm glad to see some cruiselines have rooms available for $159pp or slightely more, which would be an affordable way for us to do this, but I do realize those who have families of 3-4 that we're inviting might need a little more time in order to book airfare and pay for their rooms on the cruise. When I saw those prices and looking for hotels near the cruise ports so we can all travel over to the port together, some of those prices are more affordable than a luxury hotel to block rooms at per night and having guests pay for 3 or 4 nights adds up. Also at least food is included in the cruise too, except for our reception, but this seems more fun than throwing together a Wedding on a Beach in Florida and having a reception at a restaurant.

[Natural]

My wedding in July 2010 and I'm sending my invitations out by July 15...so everyone can plan ahead accordingly...

[hunniebee724]

I just saw that your wedding isn't until 2013....maybe you could start spreading the word by mouth/e-mail now so people can start saving if they need to, and send out your save the dates about a year in advance so people can request the time off of work.

[jamaicabride10]

Hi Becki!

We just managed to book our hotel today yet our wedding date is March 2011. We are sending out save the dates in a few weeks to give our guests LOADS of time to save. We did not think we were going to be able to book until next year and were still planning to send the STD's now without an actual date on it. Wording along the lines of '...plan to get married March 2011...Date, formal invitations & travel arrangements to follow'. Then we will send the formal invitations 10-11 months before again just to give plenty of notice! I reckon if you know which month you want & which year then send STD's asap with only this info. If it changes you can put it on the formals.