We cruised and conquered and had the best wedding experience!

[Arch713]

Congrats and thank you so much for sharing! I too am looking at Janelle from Island Bliss in St. Thomas. A few questions, was there any concerns from your guests about the price of the Oasis vs. other cruises which may be lower in price. I would LOVE to get married on the Oasis or Allure but worry about others. Maybe you posted this but what did you do following your wedding ceremony? You mentioned on having the reception back in board but was curious if there were other activities after the ceremony that Janelle coordinated. Thank you so much for sharing everything!,

[LadyLove]

@Jackie Appleby (Sorry for very delayed response.) Thank you and CONGRATS! No we didn't do open bar in the main dining room on our wedding day. We didn't plan to and it never came up that we should. However, for the reception I do think drinks are expected. When we were pricing it out for the oasis there were 3 options charged per person per hour, for example house liquor, brand name liquor and premium liquor. We were going to use one of these, but God was good and when we booked our cruise we used some of our GAP (points RC gives when you book a cruise, we had 6 points) and chose a cocktail party (the rest we gave each cabin a $50 on board credit), somehow our travel agent was able to book our cocktail party on our wedding day so we used those drinks included for the reception (this did take a lot of follow-up). Honestly, I can't tell you what the drinks were exactly because I'm not a big drinker and all I had was white wine because I didn't want to spill anything on my dress If you're using a travel agent see what they can do if you have GAP points. To get the details on drink options and costs I had called the cruise line itself, because my travel agent originally told us that to have the reception on the ship would be sooo expensive, but when I called RC there was no charge for the room itself, but you pay for things like drink, food (if you want but this I think isn't really worth the cost), music equipment, dj, etc. Good luck. Any clarifications needed pls ask @Arch713 CONGRATS! I completely understand how you feel. When we first stumbled across our travel agent we had asked her to price RC Freedom of the Seas and the Oasis. Of course, there was a good size price difference, but at the end of the day hubby and I decided to do what we wanted ...which was to go big! Our invitations were elaborate to convey the value of the trip. We sold the trip not only as our wedding, but like the ultimate vacation. Plus, we reserved interior, oceanview and balcony rooms so people could price point. As well, we gave lots of notice and even offered that people could do payment plans with the TA (which not one did, they just paid when things were due).I think for people who want to come they will come. And we are sooo happy we went with what we wanted cause looking back we know we would have regretted if we did what we thought others wanted...and there's no guarantee that 'others' would come. Then again, we were okay that some people would not come, butI think that comes with any destination wedding plan. After the ceremony we did the cake cutting and drank champagne at the site, which was coordinated with Janelle and then we took tons of pictures at the site, on the beach and then back at the dock. We did no other activities. For us it worked that we didn't have anything else planned. Our wedding began late, going back to the ship there was traffic, and by the time we went through immigration, got thru the ship to go to our room and freshened up and took more pics it was time for dinner! I think you have to decide what you want from the experience as a couple and go with what will make you both happy. However, saying that when our guests confirmed and were paid we thought of them in what they would expect from us (while still keeping it symbolic of us and within budget) as our invitations were elaborate and since they were paying a lot of money to join us. So the feel of our entire wedding was ..."modern elegance on the beach" as opposed to something like a "casual fun in the sun" feel where people would come in flip flops and shorts and then let's go in the water after the wedding -nothing at all wrong with this, but we didn't want this and we knew our guests wouldn't be down for that either. Good Luck and hope this helps! (Really talk with your partner and decide what's important to you and what you're both expecting from the experience and then just keep shaping that vision together. For every challenge, there is a solution and often time it's better than what you were originally thinking.)

[brookph23]

Oh my gosh! I gasped when I seen your photos!  I am looking at Oasis of the Seas and we were thinking of getting married ON the ship (to make it easier on us!) but this has me considering the islands.  I dont know how complicated it would be to set this all up off the boat.)  Its so beautiful!  Congratulations!  You were a gorgeous bride LadyLove and if you were stressed at any point your photos dont show it!   Many happy years are wished to you!

[Dawn Grobe]

Thanks for the note about checking the ships time vs. Island time...never would have thought of it!

[mscheryl10]

Congrats!! I am happy to hear of another awesome cruise wedding.

[CAKnight]

Originally Posted by Dawn Grobe 

 

Thanks for the note about checking the ships time vs. Island time...never would have thought of it!

Exactly...I think I need to add that to my growing wedding list of things to look into!

[LadyLove]

Thank you ladies! I haven't been on the site in a while...lol...learning how to be a good wife @brookph23 Did you guys decide on the Oasis and whether you're going to get married on the ship or on the island? Hope all the planning is going well brides to be!

[sdbride619]

Did you feel rushed for the wedding and reception?

[BSBRose21]

It is so exciting to hear about a great cruise wedding.  Is there anything you would have changed?