Anyone had or gone to a cruise ship wedding?

[piccolascimmia]

I searched the forums for previous threads, but only found one where someone decided against it. Others were attending one in the future, but I didn''t see them reply back to say how the wedding went.

I''m considering one, but would love to hear from folks who have either had one or attended one in the past. I''m asking the same question on the knot, too. Thanks all!

 

[Katiemarie]

funny to see this post

i had just been considering this this morning and wondering if anybody does that. you always hear about destination weddings but never cruise ones really i''ll be interested to read the responses too!

 

[piccolascimmia]

Katiemarie - funny we''re on the same wavelength!

I am also considering a DW but have some key family memebers who won''t fly, but who will drive a somewhat long distance to a port. So this cruise research could help me still have a DW and include the core family/friends.

I''m also the kind of girl who doesn''t want to get too deep into the planning details, and relish the idea of having someone else do a turnkey wedding for me. That makes it sound so cookie cutter, but I don''t think I care about the details other than actually getting married! And depending on the cruise selected...it could make for a fun/beautiful trip.

I hope this thread helps you too!

 

[chickflick]

Me!! We were married onboard the Carnival Conquest while it was in port in Galveston, the day we embarked. This allowed people who weren''t going on the cruise to still come to the wedding. They just had to leave the ship as soon as the reception was over.

We were allowed onto the ship early and got ready in our cabin, then the ceremony was held in a lovely room onboard. Our guests got to explore the ship while we got ready, which everyone loved. The reception was held in the ship''s disco which I thought was going to be tacky but turned out to be awesome!! We had an open bar and hors d''ouevres for fifty-five people, and the total price including our seven day cruise with a balcony cabin was about $5K. This normally includes your officiant but we brought our own (my new SIL is a Presbyterian minister). It also includes a bouquet but I brought my own. We would do it again in a heartbeat and highly recommend it, but you do have to be prepared for a few things.

One, you don''t have a lot of control over certain things like food, decor, etc. You can do things like favors, your own music, etc. and that will add personalization. The ceremony and reception are also pretty short- we were limited to a 15 minute ceremony and a 1.5 hour reception. That was as long as it could be. On the plus side, if you''re not concerned about every little detail, they''ll take care of all the essentials for you.

Two, on the day of the cruise ship people and wedding coordinators really don''t help you much. If you want something like special favors, just make sure a member of your bridal party is in charge of getting them on the ship and setting them out.

We encouraged people to come on the cruise with us and wound up with my mom and her two sisters, my husband''s parents, his aunt and uncle, and his grandma! It was a big ship and they knew their boundaries, but we had dinner with them every night and did an excursion with them. It was fun having them with us. I had never been on a cruise before and was a bit sceptical but I loved it! We can''t wait to go on our next one although it will be a few years now that we''re expecting in June.

Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions at all. I''d love to help others out with this!!

 

[chickflick]

Here's a pic that one of our guests took at the reception. There was a professional photographer provided by the ship and we bought a package, after some haggling, for $700. I just think this pic shows you the scope of the reception. The disco had huge windows that are normally covered by large shades, but were raised for our reception. That gave a lot of light and a beautiful view out over the gulf. They scrolled "Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. James K. W______" across the walls of TV screens and we had a DJ, although we just asked him to play the wedding CD that my husband (a former DJ himself) had mixed for us.

The ice scultpture was standard, by the way. All of the guests said it was the best cake they'd ever tasted. We brought our own cake topper- not sure if you can see it but it was Lola and Bugs Bunny.

 

[chickflick]

This gives you a good view of the room where we got married. It was so pretty in person, I was pleasantly surprised. It had huge chandeliers and very comfy chairs for the guests. By the way, excuse the goofy look on my face, this is the moment when my brother was giving me away and we were both crying.

 

[chickflick]

Ok, I''m sure you''re tired of me but this one gives you a sense for the area where we stood while we were married. I looked for a lot of pictures like this before we got married and didn''t find them so I hope these are helpful to you. The officiant stood on a ledge above us. I didn''t care much for the flowers the ship provided but you could always have those removed if you wanted to; I just didn''t think about checking that out prior to the ceremony.

 

[Cailet]

We went on a cruise last year December through Royal Carribean went to Key West,Cozumel,Costa Maya and Grand Cayman.

There were 2 couples getting married on the cruise. The first couple did what chickflick did. They had the ceremony/reception at port and then their guests that weren''t going on the cruise could depart before the cruise started.

The other couple had a rehersal dinner sort of thing on the boat (if you have a group of a certain size, the cruise ship will let you use a room and sometimes give you perks - or so that couple said) and then they had the wedding/reception at one of the stops. Cozumel I think? Not really sure on that point. I think they just planned it like a DW and then the folks on the cruise with you can bethere and if someone doesn''t want to go on the cruise they could always fly out to the stop you plan to have the wedding at? And you would have more say in decorations/food/etc.

Just another thought.

oh! and check out Cruise Critic it is to cruises what Pricescope is to Bling! Tons of forums on there with very helpful people - I''m sure there would be TONS of posts of people doing the wedding thing - Good Luck!

 

[piccolascimmia]

Thanks Chickflick and Cailet! I''m just about to book a cruise for Xmas, and use it as a ''test run'' to see if we really want to get married on a cruise (since we''ve never been on one before). I''ve heard too much about the love it/hate it not to try it out before committing to getting married on one

Chickflick, your wedding/reception looks like a lot of fun! I like the idea of having time limits/limits on all the details...I''m a KISS kinda girl. So you didn''t feel weird about seeing everyone after the wedding? That seems to be the question most friends ask "do you want everyone there for your honeymoon?" Would we rather get married right away, or at a final port? I think we''d take a separate honeymoon after the cruise...I don''t know if I have a preference for getting married at departure, on the ship, or on shore at a port...so hearing your experiences of them all is interesting!

I''m not one to obsess over these details, but one of the selling points to me is to have their coordinator do most of it to take the stress out about it all.

And cruise critic rocks, I agree...they''re helping immensely to figure out which ships fit our needs.