Merocket59's Cruise Wedding Planning Thread

[merocket59]

Thanks to everyone on BDW, you made my planning much more fun and so much easier with all of your help! Sorry it took me a while to post this, I had so much fun on our cruise wedding it was hard getting back into the swing of things.

 

The proposal:

I went on one of my many trips to Ireland to visit family and FH could not stand being without me so he got an emergency passport, a ring, and hopped on a plane to Ireland. He masterminded a plan with my family in the states and in Ireland to surprise me and it worked; not only did I not know he was coming, I did not know he would be proposing either. He and one of my cousins planned a wonderful dinner and afterwards he began to thank everyone for letting him come visit but then he said “and as most of you know I'm here for another reason†I thought that was a strange comment and then as I looked around the table people either completely avoided looking at me or gave big goofy grins so I was even more confused. Then I glanced down and noticed the ring box shape in FH’s pocket and it all became a little clearer. Then he proposed and I of course said yes!

 

The rings:

Mine is a channel band and his is a plain yellow gold band.

 

The ceremony/reception:

It was Destiny…

We wanted to do something unique and more suited to us for our wedding so got married aboard Destiny, a Carnival cruise ship in the port of Miami, Florida and then sailed away with our guests to Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Planning was easy because they took care of the location, coordinators, catering, cake, photography, videography, and DJ.

Carnival Destiny Cruises, Destiny Cruise Ship - Carnival Cruise Lines

 

The wedding colors/monogram:

Blue: Soothing, compassionate and cool, blue is the color of tranquility and royalty. Blue belles are deliberate, introspective, conservative, and patient, tending to be sensitive and wise. Serene and cool, blue denotes cautious partners who are faithful but require a calm and harmonious existence. From watery aqua to a deep shade of midnight, blue can be soft and sweet or strong and bold.

Yellow: The color of a sunny day, yellow denotes happiness and hope. Exuding warmth and vitality and usually possessing a great sense of humor, people who love yellow have cheerful spirits and optimistic values. You tend to look forward to the future and are intellectual, creative, and idealistic. Yellow represents enlightenment and spirituality, lending itself as a great color on your day of matrimony.

 

Save the dates:

This was a DIY project. First, I cut white card stock to a size that would fit in an envelope then stamped it with a boat stamp in navy ink. Next, I used teal card stock and cut out the shape of a luggage tag, then used a sea shell hole punch and punched out a shell and looped teal ribbon through it. I printed out my save the week message on white card stock and glued it to the face of the luggage tag. Then, I affixed the luggage tag part onto the white card stock with double sided foam to make it lifted off the paper, that way people know they can take it off and hang it somewhere to save it. Then I used the sea shell hole punch and punch out teal and navy shells and put them in the opposite corner of the ship stamp.

 

The invitations:

After some unsuccessful DIY attempts I decided to buy the ones I really liked from the beginning. I had tried passport invitations but the paper was not working and there was no way I could start over with the time frame I had left. So I bought invitations from Invitations by Dawn. Overall, I was satisfied, there were a few errors but I was reimbursed some and they were easy to work with. They would have redone them but I just wanted to get them out to my guests and it was just a different font but still looked nice and the anchor icon was missing on the RSVP cards.

 

Presailing packets/luggage tags:

I made packets for my guests and mailed them a few weeks before we were to set sail, there were brochures for both sailing and nonsailing guests along with a packing list and luggage tags, and for the sailing guests there was also a flyer with info about the ship.

[merocket59]

The attire:

I bought Maggie Sottero ~ Connie used, it fit great and was fairly easy to carry around the airport, and I wore pearls with it that were my grandmothers so I could have her with me. And my shoes were Touch Ups Scarlet. Hubby, his best man, and our fathers wore traditional tuxes rented from Carnival, they could keep them the entire week so there was no rush, which was nice. My MOH wore a dress I got on sale from J Crew, I loved the nautical feel, and it really helped set the theme of my wedding. My ring bearer wore a navy polo shirt, plaid shorts, and brown sandals.

And I bought this necklace as one of my MOH presents to wear that day

 

Hair:

This is what I wanted:

And this is what I got:

I got my hair and makeup done at Panache Salon in Miami, there was communication barrier, but I liked how it came out so I didn’t complain.

 

Flowers:

PM for information if you like them:

[merocket59]

OOT bags/First aid kits/Welcome passports:

I loved making my OOT bags and couldn’t have done it right without this site! Thank you all for the ideas I borrowed, there are too many to properly credit, and everyone is welcome to any new idea I may have created.

I made a “passport to destiny” with white folders from Staples (penny sale!) and used the image I had made when was making DIY passport invitations. They included a wedding day timeline, welcome letter, maps of Miami, photoshare cards, postcards, doortags, puzzle books, bookmarks, and a list of cabin numbers of sailing guests.

 

I got the bags on sale from Target and the tags on them are “to have and to hold your stuff on the beach” (credit to starlitk) I used half of a VP business card to make these. Also, on the outside are sign and sail cardholders (carnival’s credit card/room card). I used plastic holders from Office max closeout sale, business cards from VP, and mini key chain clips from OTC (I thought they would be too small but they worked really well and lots of people actually used these).

Other items included:

Playing cards, mini purell hand sanitizer with “share you love not your germs” sticker (sanitizer from staples penny deal, sticker from VP), sunglass cases and cleaner both from Target sticker on the glass cleaner packages that says “to keep your shades clean”, tissues from dollar tree, highlighters from office max closeout sale, pens from VP, pencils from staples penny deal, pencil sharpeners from dollar tree, VP sticky notes, VP key chains, VP hat that says “I went on a cruise… and saw Megan and Doug get married!”, and snacks which I tried to give a Miami/Cruise theme: goldfish, lifesavers, granola bars, sunblock from Target travel section, and gum from Sams Club and jelly beans in fish shaped packages and gummy gators from OTC.

I also did ladies kits with wedding day prep stuff: mini nail polish from target dollar spot, nail files, nail polish remover, cuticle pushers, lip gloss from the dollar tree, makeup wedges, bobby pins, bath flower floats from Christmas Tree Shop, loofas from dollar tree, eye masks from Target dollar spot, and put them in cello heart bags that I got after Valentine’s Day at Michaels. And for the men I got travel size Nautica voyage cologne and a comb (let’s face it that’s all they really need to get ready).

The First Aide Kits were DIY, I got pencil cases from the Staples penny deal to hold everything, for a label I used Starlitk’s idea again and make a sign that said “in sickness and in health” using the other half of the VP business card and taped in on to the front of the pencil case with bandaides. Inside they include: alcohol wipes, alka seltzer, Tylenol, motrin, bug wipes, chapstick with a “pucker up” sticker from VP, and earplugs

 

Programs:

I almost didn’t make these but I figured I had a little time left so why not start a new project?!? I used tongue depressors from work, oversize postcards from VP with our info and cut down a little, I decorated them with ribbon and metal starfish from OTC.

Ring bearer starfish:

I bought a large white starfish from The Christmas Tree Shop and glued/tied ribbon around it and some fake rings. My nephew bailed and didn’t walk down but I didn’t even know until after hehe. He is 3 so it was a little expected and he had fun at the reception so it was no biggie.

 

Songs:

First Dance:My Wish ~ Rascal Flatts

Father~Daughter Dance: Butterfly Kisses ~ Bob Carlisle

Mother~Son Dance:Mama ~ B Street Bombers

[merocket59]

Postcard Guestbook:

My guests had a lot of fun with this one, I put postcards out on a table with pens and had them write postcards to me, and my MOH collected them. They thought it was fun, wrote nice messages, and we have a great keepsake.

 

Favors:

In pail

Photoshare cards:

 

Cake:

The cake was provided by Carnival but we were able to choose the flavors, we chose vanilla with strawberry, it was delicious!!

 

Ice sculpture:

 

Carnival did a great job, we had so much fun! Thanks for reading this it feels long now that I’m finally done, feel free to ask questions or PM me if I don’t answer in a timely fashion because I’m not on here every day like I used to be.

[~Angela~]

Thanks for sharing, and congratulations!!!

[Erika J]

Everything looks great!!

[*Nadine*]

You looked beautiful, thanks for sharing!!

[*Heather*]

Thanks for sharing! The proposal story is too cute. You looked so beautiful on your wedding day! Congrats!

[sunstarsmoon]

everything looks really good, thanks for sharing

[snoopAsh]

You look beautiful! AND your wedding looked like it was a blast!

 

Congrats!