DustinandStacy2015

I don't know how flawless it is but here is the list I started with:

Looks pretty flawless to me!!! :) Thank you!

AAAhhh 31 days! Just had my last shower yesterday. :( Got me to thinking, (mostly because I procrastinate a LOT of things) has anyone found a flawless packing list? I am nervous to start packing but I know I need to otherwise I will forget things....

Oh yes! That reminded me too! Awesome job on that list! It's so organized!

I'm getting married October 16th on Carnival Pride in Freeport, Bahamas!

Welcome! Ask any questions you may have!

OMG guys...... We got our marriage certificate back today! Now it just needs to be signed at the wedding!!!!!!! AAHHHHH! I'm counting down the days every single stinkin' day! :)

Glad you got all of that worked out!! I was going to suggest to just do something on your own. We are doing everything on our own and I feel relaxed that we are following our own agenda and terms. Your shower looks awesome! I love the cake...and your dress! How fun!! Your pictures made me smile while all I've been doing all morning is pulling my hair out.

 

We finally booked airfare so I'm trying to get everyone on that bandwagon while prices are still low.....so many of our guests have never traveled before though so I'm having to hold their hand through this entire process. I've been posting written, explicit instructions and posting them on our FB page and website - I've also been making videos about how to create their account on Carnival and set that up, how to go online and book air and hotel, how to check in online on Carnival.....and still I'm bombarded with questions. Mostly from my mother (who is a world traveler)....oy vey.

 

THEN - this morning it dawns on me that Troy's sister won't be able to cruise because she just found out she is pregnant and will be 32 weeks along by then. I don't think she realizes this because she asked me on Saturday what their balance was. So I've had to break that news to Troy this morning. Now I'm trying to figure out what to do about that - they can fly down for the wedding but should I offer to pay for their air? Or hotel? Even though I'm out $300 from their cruise deposit? Ugh-Ugh-Ugh....

 

On a happy note (I feel bad I loose track) but who is up next for their wedding?!?! We should make a chronological list (I'm an OCD, list maker). :D

I've been such a slacker checking this daily! HAHAHA! Thanks for the lovely comments! We had such a blast. One of my bridesmaids also found out she was pregnant back in September so she could not go but she was so excited to do my shower in a beach theme because she can't have the vacation so it worked out really well. I am FINALLY feeling stress free about the vacation. We figured everything out!!! We are going to do our own thing on the ship. It just wasn't like us to pay that amount of money for something we ultimately didn't want so we are doing it our own way! :) As far as getting everyone booked....bleh. This was a nightmare because I also was playing Travel Agent for my guests, but luckily they kind of just figured it out on their own. We have 26 guests coming to the ceremony and 22 sailing on the ship so we think that was a pretty good turn out for us.

We received our marriage app to marry from Brevard County and got it notorized, sent it back and are waiting for the real thing!!! EEEEK!

We just booked and paid for literally everything we could (honeymoon hotel, rental car, Universal Studios (because I HAVE to see Harry Potter World ;) ) and Discovery Cove (because I have to swim with dolphins. ;) ) So now that everything is taken care of..... I only have a few things on my list to finish.

1. Hem the dress.

2. I'm down 25 lbs but I'd like to lose 15 more. *here's to hoping!*

3. Start packing!

4. Finalize every piece of paper I can think of in my wedding book.

5. Wait and wait and wait for the day we can leave! The temps here have been ridiculous. It's been hovering around 8 degrees for almost 2 weeks. bleh.

These boards have TONS of info! Sometimes you just have to scroll back awhile to find what you are looking for. I started the 2015 Brides forum a year ago and it has a lot of information as well. The trick is to ask specific questions that you need help with because thanks to past brides and grooms they still check emails to follow up. We have changed our plans a billion times but everyone is very helpful on here as far as opinions or what is/isn't going to work. Good Luck and ask away! :)

We ate in the dining room every night and at a table for 11. It was wonderful.

We are thinking of doing this as well but we will have 22 guests and all your time dining. *fingers crossed* they can accomodate.

dustinandstacy - suggestion - since its a group booking can you move your "reception" to another day and time during the cruise? Also, do I understand from your post they won't provide a photographer?

 

You're making me nervous....LoL. I'm getting married on the Valor in Nov, on St Thomas, but booked through the wedding dept.

 

I wish you well in getting it all worked out!

 

Sent from my KFTT using Forums mobile app

Well, we decided to just cancel the group booking and just do our own thing. We are going to buy our guests drinks after the dinner and it will all work out just perfect! If you booked through the wedding department and are fine with all the times they provide you, you will be fine. :)

As for us, today was my first shower!!! :) We had such a good time and are now getting VERY excited! I have the family one in two weeks. Then it will be crunch time!

Awe, this is a tough one. I'm assuming you can't move the reception to after dinner and have the open bar then. What about having your guests join you after dinner to party and you pay for their drinks for the same amount of time as the open bar (1.5 hours). If I recall correctly, you can reserve a space for just you and your guests and give the bartender your room card and have everything charged to it. It would probably even cost less than the $800 you are planning on spending. If not then perhaps at dinner you can pay for everyone's drinks and have them serve your wedding cake. :confused:

This is also what we thought of just recently! They won't let us move it back any later (not even close to budging on that one) so I think we will just provide drinks for our guests and all will be good I hope!

Ok so without drawing this out super long..... (because trust me, this story would take days) we need some help.

So for those of you who have been following my posts about Carnival and their lack of care for most things.... here's another one to add to the list.

We originally had booked the Wedding Package on the Carnival Valor and were going to get married on the beach in Nassau. Our plans changed when part of my family (sisters) could not go on the cruise.

We decided to change our ceremony to Cocoa Beach the day of embarkation which screws almost everything up. We thought we had it all planned and here's what our day looked like:

Married at 11am in Cocoa Beach.

Pictures on beach at 12pm

Take shuttle to Port at 1pm

Muster drill/pictures until 5pm

Reception (group bookings not actual wedding booking) with crackers and cheese and open bar from 5-6:30pm

Dinner in dining area at 7pm

Party into the night.

Here's the problem......some of our guests (and us, if I'm being honest) did not like the idea of drinking excessively before dinner. So we were trying to get a hold of someone who could help us (finally did after WEEKS) and told us out right that we could A. Not get photography of the married couple because it doesn't come with group bookings. And B. Could only have it at the VERY latest until 6:30pm.

Now we are stuck. Obviously our 22 people cruising thought that our ceremony and reception would have been during the cruise and now that changed so we said, we would still have our reception on the cruise so that crusing guests got something out of it....WELL...now what do we do? Do we keep the group booking and pay $800.00 without tip....for open bar where people aren't even going to drink that much, or drink too much and not make it to dinner.... or do we say, come to dinner with us and we will buy you all some drinks when we go out afterwards....

As a guest, what would you think would be the best idea, because we need outside perspective as if we weren't the couple getting married. Personally we decided it would be annoying to have to rush into drinking then eat dinner....

What should we do? Any other ideas out there? Thank you.

Hello everyone!!! It's getting down to the wire for some of us including myself!! My wedding is less than 2 months away and I can't believe it! So! I sent out RSVPs and looked at the bookings..

 

So how many are attending your wedding and cruising with you?

 

We have I'm pretty sure 16 all sailing including us and almost 20 going to the wedding.

54 days until our vacation starts! ahhhhh! We are having 23 sailing guests and 28 coming total with the ceremony.

We sent out Save The Dates back in May of last year. We did not do invitations because we knew everyone that was going on the cruise was going by our website at theknot.com Also we added a FB event page to talk about little details. It worked for us. But I know some people send out invites and I've seen the timeline ranging from 2 to 3 months before to 6 months before. We just didn't want to spend the unnecessary money.

Tomorrow I will be officially less than 2 months away! And I'm for sure less than 2 months from leaving cold MN! I'm getting so anxious!

Hey everyone!

 

My fiancé and I just booked ourselves for a cruise on NCL newest ship Escape out on Miami November 28. We are not getting married on the ship, but will be married in St.Thomas. It is just going to be the two of us and are keeping the date a secret from family and friends. It seems like most on this board have invited people, but we just knew eloping was what we wanted from the beginning. We are so excited!!!!

So romantic! We thought about doing this half way through planning because it was becoming a chore rather than fun getting everyone involved. Thank Goodness it turnedout ok but this sounds soooooo fun!

Thanks for the thread and all the amazing details! We are getting married 12/06/2015 on the Carnival Dream on embarkation day out of New Orleans! :)

Yay! Welcome!

My binder never left my side most of the week before, during and after the wedding. I had all our papers, license, tickets, etc in there.

I've literally printed out everything hahaha even stuffi don't think I'll need!

I was thinking today.......does anyone else feel like their lives are in fast forward lately? I started this thread almost a year ago and I can remember thinking I'm sooooo jealous of the brides and grooms getting married within a few months. We have seen some come and go and now I'm thinking in 2 short months I'll be gone as well. :( everything goes by so fast as you get older..... but on a more positive note, in January I started a new weight loss plan followed by my Dr and I have lost 20 lbs! Holy toledo! I'm so excited for that and I think I can lose another 15 to 20 before the wedding *here's hoping* how are my ladies and gents doing out there? I feel like updates haven't happened much lately so here is where we are at:

Ceremony in Cocoa Beach *paid and setup info sent

Marriage License *info sent waiting to get back our app to have a notary sign it.

Hotels booked and paid for.

Transportation to and from MCO to Port Canaveral reserved. (Just have to reserve the family shuttle)

Group booking (reception) on the Valor *booked, gets billed to your room but we have the money set aside.

Dress *fitting at the end of February because I'm losing so much weight we are waiting till the last minute.

Flowers *I'm totally winging it but I will be running to a flower shop the day before to make my own (my sister used to work at a floral shop so she can put them together.) I'm not too concerned with the flowers because we aren't bringing them on the ship so for an hr long ceremony with pictures I'm not spending all that much on them. I bought a fake flower bouquet for the on ship pictures.

Guest gift bags *done! I've gotten so much stuff over the last couple of months in them and now I believe they are fully ready to go. I'm going to have to ship them down though because we are not carrying them on the plane. Bummer.

Dinner the night before for the guests *reserved and trying to get transportation figured out.

Honeymoon! * we are staying in additional week in FL after the cruise and we booked everything for that as well.

All in all things are pretty smooth, just saving money like crazy and trying to get things all put together. I have broke down and bought a wedding planner book just so I can have all the important documents all together when we go. Urghhhhh now it's just the waiting game. Woohoo!

I found it! Ahhhh! Everything looks so nice! I am so glad everything went so well for you! You looked beautiful!

I'm back and a review posted. I have to say I was thrilled with everything.

 

Oh and Lacy, we are doing dinners in Chicago, Indianapolis, and Nashville over the course of the spring and inviting our friend to join us, letting a restaurant take the burden for us.

Ahh I don't see your review! Where would it be?

Is anyone planning an at home reception? Although we have many friends and family booked for our cruise we still have plenty more who are not able to attend, so we will be having a reception about a month after we return. We have another snow day today so I've spent the whole morning trying to lay things out for that and it's just stressing me out! I can't imagine having to plan an entire wedding and reception....this (super) casual reception is enough. I feel that with our wedding planner in KW taking care of most everything I haven't really planned the wedding; it's been so stress free, thus far. But this reception - tents, food, linens, utensils, music, cake, drinks.....AHHHHHH!

We are doing an at home reception about a month after we get home and we are SUPER stressed about it. Not enough time we are starting to think.....

I am so excited to get things going here! We have almost everything done....which has taken so long to get all these fine little details. But I'm pretty impressed we finished with time to spare. Now its just saving money. Woohoo!

Just throwing out what we are doing too so you have another idea.

We are getting married at Cocoa Beach (about 5 min from Port Canaveral) then heading to our ship for the reception (all family members who are crusing can go to this reception) We are doing a group booking from 5 to 6:30p after the muster drill. The reason why we chose a "group" booking instead of a wedding booking is for two main reasons....1. It's cheaper and we can itemize things that we wanted/didn't want and 2. They were more willing to work with an open time frame. When you book a wedding package you only get to work with the times they give you and its a very fast moving pace. We just decided to take our time and did not get the apps, ice sculpture or anything else we really felt like we didn't need. Instead we opted for a couple of cracker/cheese trays and a sheet cake as a more casual feel. Then we are all going together as a group for dinner in the restaurant then partying on the ship for the evening. It worked out pretty well this way. With 1.5 hours of open bar, snacks and a cake it came to about 650.00 We are doing the sound technician instead of the DJ (even though it will be held in the nightclub) because we wanted to be able to choose all the music seeing as its only an hour and a half. When we booked with groups the venue was also more of an open choice. They see us as a "group" not a wedding so you have more movement. But its defintely something to look at the pros and cons of.....they both have great things in both packages, this is just what worked best for us. Good luck!

I am excited for you guys now!!! But I'm also very sad because a 2016 board means we are all getting close to our weddings and it feels like it's been forever since I started the 2015 Brides. So it's a happy thing and a sad thing LOL Good luck in the planning!

It was WONDERFUL! Still honeymooning it will do my review as soon as I get time!

I'm so glad it went well! Please enjoy your vacation! We will here from you soon!

I miss mrstriceasnice!!! I hope her wedding went well!

If you go with the sound technician instead of the DJ at the club (we aren't really into clubs... where is the reception location? Do you provide a disc with all of the songs you'd like played?

 

I understand you don't the call with your exact location until a couple of weeks beforehand, but do you know what the possible location options are?

We are doing the sound tech in the club. No DJ. For the reception I'm just too selfish to give up that short amount of time for songs I dont want to hear, so we are just bringing a cd.