Where do I start planning a cruise wedding??

[Minley16]

Hi! So my last post introduced myself...I am Kim. My FI, Jason and I decided to get married and FAST. after years and years together we are going to make it happen this summer.

I have been looking at a bunch of ideas...originally I really, really wanted Aruba but I need to think about what is more affordable convenient for my family. I'm thinking a cruise wedding is the most low-key affordable option for us. However it seems more stressful. I cant find a lot of info.

We will pick the destination and ship based on whats available since it is last minute.

I have always wanted a beach wedding so I would like it to be at one of the ports.

My questions are...

What if the boat gets held up and doesn't make it to port on time or at all?

What if there is bad weather?

Can you still take OOT bags on board?

Is it better to go with an Island WC or should I plan it though the ship staff?

How can I avoid my FI seeing me until I walk down the island?

 

I have read nothing but negative things about a cruise wedding...does anything have any words of encouragement or good stories about theirs?

Thanks!!!

[Brook53]

I have the SAME exact questions hahaha!

I hope we can find some answers on here.

[sofialouise]

Hi! I am getting married Dec 16, 2013 on the Carnival Liberty.....

 

We my FI and I started booking the wedding we found out that you have to book your cruise first before anyone will even talk to you about weddings..... Right ater booking the cruise I called carnivals wedding department (The Wedding Experience) and booked our wedding! They then email a ton of paperwork and the only one that needed to be sent back quickly was the contract. But the Wedding Experience has been very helpful with answering my million questions, and was even very helpful with changing some things that my MIL messed up. With your OOT bags, They have told me they can come aboard along with some decorations (not candles or real flowers). BTW if you want this summer, book ASAP because they only allow a certain amount of weddings per cruise, and the wedding licence needs a set amount of time. I hope this has helped!

[sofialouise]

Also, I have asked about the seeing my FI before the ceremony, and I was assured there are ways for it to happen if you express your wishes to your consultant.

 

I would assume it is better to go with a coordinator based from the cruiseline because I would think they would be able to pull more strings in event of canceled port. lateness, or weather issues. 

[andreann]

I coordinated the ceremony in jamaica with the planner from Rose Hall Development, and the reception through the group coordinator onboard. Both were fantastic, but we had to wait until we were on the ship to really coordinate anything for the reception. The ceremony at Cinammon Hill at Rose Hall was unbelievable. We did the Liberty of the Seas 5 day cruise, had a TTD photoshoot in labadee before the wedding in Jamaica. We went on the same ship for the cruise immediately before to set everything up. I prepared OOT bags, which were delivered by group coordinator to staterooms for $2 per bag. He also printed our itineraries. We used Image, the onboard photography company, and they were incredible. The photographer did pur TTD shoot, wedding in the morning at jamaica, and evening reception. We had a cocktail for everyone before dinner. It was about $400 for 40 people including dj and open bar. We had our first dance etc during that time. Then we did dinner at the italian restaurant Portofino and had dancing at the latin club and then nightclub. The dress rehearsal was done in the side dining room, so we were able to set up everything, including a projector, for our roast and toast dinner. It was an unbelievable experience. I am very happy with how things went. We had 40 people total and everyone had a blast.

[mscheryl10]

We are getting married the day of embarkation, any ideas how to plan a reception with them for embarkation night without getting the run around??

[andreann]

Depending on your budget and the amount of people you have, you might want to buy out the specialty restaurant. I think RC Chops Steakhouse and Portofino is like $2,500 or $3,000 for the whole place. Probably seat around 80-100 with staggered serving. That way you can have the room all night and decorate as you like, and probably set up some sort pf music or dj etc. you will have a different group coordinator onboard than the one that works with you before hand. They prove to be more helpful than corporate BUT if you need something special (ie I wanted manzanita tree arrangements) I suggest you bring it with you and give it to them once onboard. They also have lounges that you can book out for very reasonable open bar charge, like $10 pp. If youre booking the restaurant you can try and get in touch with manager once onboard, he helped us plan set menu and had them printed, set up our table runners and centerpieces, etc. We didnt like the band available so went with dj. We talked to dj once onboard as well, met him at the club and gave him list of songs and then had a couple of calls to follow up. Since you wont have time to do that, I would recommend, if you can budget it, going on the same ship and doing the cruise before your wedding cruise. It will give you and your fiancee (or bridesmaid or mom or whoever) chance to talk to everyone and organize. This was the best thing we could do. Once we sorted everything on the pre wedding cruise, we were able to relax and enjoy actual wedding cruise. You need to really be on top of corporate group coordinators in order to get them to communicate with you Just harass them with emails and calls. I would also speak to different ones when I called instead of asking for my coordinator. Once they realized it was the same person I think they figured it was better to help me out or I would confuse everyone and create double work. Maybe not the best strategy but basically I was a pain in the butt.

[mscheryl10]

Thanks for the advice, I will be sure to do that!! I am going to talk to my fiance about the pre cruise as well.

[CAKnight]

Originally Posted by Minley16 

 

Hi! So my last post introduced myself...I am Kim. My FI, Jason and I decided to get married and FAST. after years and years together we are going to make it happen this summer.

I have been looking at a bunch of ideas...originally I really, really wanted Aruba but I need to think about what is more affordable convenient for my family. I'm thinking a cruise wedding is the most low-key affordable option for us. However it seems more stressful. I cant find a lot of info.

We will pick the destination and ship based on whats available since it is last minute.

I have always wanted a beach wedding so I would like it to be at one of the ports.

My questions are...

What if the boat gets held up and doesn't make it to port on time or at all?

What if there is bad weather?

Can you still take OOT bags on board?

Is it better to go with an Island WC or should I plan it though the ship staff?

How can I avoid my FI seeing me until I walk down the island?

 

I have read nothing but negative things about a cruise wedding...does anything have any words of encouragement or good stories about theirs?

Thanks!!!

As far as the OOT bags go, you should have a problem as long as all of the liquids are 3 oz, per TSA requirements (if you are flying to the port). Cruise lines don't have strict rules like airlines do. Depending on whether you live in relation to the port and the number of guests attending, you could always pre assemble your bags and put them in a suitcase. Or you could just get check in early and assemble them in your room. (The first option sounds more appealing to me personally! I know that I'll be in vacation mode and ready to eat, drink and be merry! lol) 

[Tinkerbell82]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Minley16 
 

Hi! So my last post introduced myself...I am Kim. My FI, Jason and I decided to get married and FAST. after years and years together we are going to make it happen this summer.

I have been looking at a bunch of ideas...originally I really, really wanted Aruba but I need to think about what is more affordable convenient for my family. I'm thinking a cruise wedding is the most low-key affordable option for us. However it seems more stressful. I cant find a lot of info.

We will pick the destination and ship based on whats available since it is last minute.

I have always wanted a beach wedding so I would like it to be at one of the ports.

My questions are...

What if the boat gets held up and doesn't make it to port on time or at all?

What if there is bad weather?

Can you still take OOT bags on board?

Is it better to go with an Island WC or should I plan it though the ship staff?

How can I avoid my FI seeing me until I walk down the island?

 

I have read nothing but negative things about a cruise wedding...does anything have any words of encouragement or good stories about theirs?

Thanks!!!

I think it's pretty rare that the boat gets held up.  Skipping a port, though, is quite common.  There was just another bride on the CC forums who had to adjust her wedding because a port got skipped.  I'm bringing OOT bags and plan to have them delivered.  As far as FH not seeing you, it's possible!  Mine will have a blindfold with him just in case.