September bride

Thanks! We had the harmony package and my flowers were the standard flowers as part of the package. They asked me what colour ribbon I would like before hand and it was a perfect match.

The marriage certificate was fine, they had it and it was all sorted out no problem.

I hope you have a brilliant wedding - I'm sure you will!

I've had many comments on the ring finger pic - everyone thinks we are being rude until they realise - it was a good laugh!

:D

I just wanted to write an overview as I have had many useful tips from reading this forum and wanted to help other future brides.

We got married on the Freedom of the Seas on 27 September 2009 whilst in port at Port Canaveral.

After 11 months of planning (via Royal Romance which I found to be ok service, make sure you are well organised and on top of things, as, they are not!) we flew out to Orlando International Airport from Gatwick, UK to get married, wohoo!!

There were 22 of us in total travelling and staying for the 7 night western Caribbean cruise. Prior to the cruise we stayed at the Best Western Ocean Beach Hotel and Suites where we had 2 days to relax by the pool ready for the big event.

On the morning of the wedding my bridesmaid and I put on our makeup on her room and my brother’s girlfriend did my nails.

My dad had arranged a shuttle bus to take all the guests to the port which was approximately 10 minutes away. My bridesmaid and I were chauffeured in an impressive black private car.

Upon arriving at the port we were mega excited when seeing the size of the ship – she was huge!! It was the first cruise my bridesmaid had been on but I had been on the Carnival Glory but there was no comparison!

We all got in line to go through customs which went quite smoothly. When my fiancé and I got upstairs in the terminal we were expecting to be met by the wedding coordinator, no such luck, and this, is where the nightmare began! We were all so boiling hot and anxious carrying our suits and me, my dress. A few of us must have asked for the wedding coordinator numerous times and were told casually by staff members “that she is around somewhere”. It was useless and I was beginning to panic as there were so many people to board, plus the fact that we were meant to have priority boarding – that’s nonsense, as it was just the same as boarding as a normal guest.

We decided to get ourselves and tell our guests to start checking in. I then found the wedding coordinator. I went up to introduce myself and my fiancé and she introduced herself and the wedding officiant. They were both very nice people. One of the first things the wedding coordinator told me was that my linens hadn’t arrived for the reception, that was the least of my worries at the time, and so unnecessary as it stressed me out! She did tell me that my flowers were there though, which, they should have been as I had paid a fortune for them!! My guests and us checked ourselves in with no help from the wedding coordinator-she was busy on her radio chatting all the time (probably chasing our linens)! She introduced herself and the officiant to my guests and told everyone to be on deck 14 at 12.30pm as the wedding was to commence at 1.00pm. Once we were all checked in and had our set sail cards we proceeded to get board the ship. I handed her a bag with all the items for the service and reception (programmes, favours, cake toppers, guest book, gifts, decorations, CDs). This is a top tip – put everything in a bag and hand it to your wedding coordinator. I was glad I did this as everything was then in place and sorted out otherwise, I wouldn’t be hugely confident that they would think of everything. I then gave my hubby to be a kiss goodbye, he went off on his way with a list of everyone’s rooms (which I had on me which was helpful) and myself, my bridesmaid, and my mother followed the wedding coordinator to my bridesmaid’s room to get ready. As we were on our way a few of our guests were asking me the way to the their rooms to get ready and as I didn’t have a clue couldn’t really advise them, they had to find their own way, and all they were told was to be at deck 14 at 12.30pm. It seemed to take forever getting to the room, we walked and walked the ship from one end to the other, I was worn out upon eventual arrival as I had been carrying my dress which was really heavy! The wedding coordinator was really nice but it all seemed extremely rushed. We were really hot and felt worn out and just wanted a drink of anything, to no avail. I asked the wedding coordinator if we could share a glass of champagne, she tried to call, without success. I felt this was ridiculous. I contacted the salon manager who said I couldn’t have a bottle of champers or any type of drink as nothing was open. I eventually asked the room attendant who pointed out that there were drinks in the fridge in the room so we had some water from there. My mam stayed in the room to get ready whilst my bridesmaid and I were taken to the salon by the wedding coordinator to have our hair done. The wedding coordinator left us to get ready and then insisted that we get back to the room as soon as our hair had been done in time for her to collect us with the photographer at 12.50pm to take us to the chapel on deck 15 where we were getting married at 1.00pm. The salon manager did an amazing job on my hair, she had received a picture of how I wanted it and she really was great, they apologised for not being able to provide me with a drink but said that the bars were closed until 1pm. My husband told me that while he and the other guests were at the bar on deck 14 they weren’t allowed a drink either until 1.00pm when it opened!!

My bridesmaid and I rushed back to our room, how we found our way I will never know!! We literally had two minutes to get our dresses on when the wedding coordinator arrived to pick us up. It was definitely not enough time for us to get ready and she kept rushing me along but they had another wedding to coordinate which was straight after ours in the chapel which I thought was wrong. My mam helped me in my dress, shoes and tiara. As she was doing up my bracelet the wedding coordinator was putting in my earrings. She kept saying come on we have to go, we have to go. I said that I had to touch up my make up so I insisted on this but wasn’t 100% happy. The photographer had put his head in at some point too and the wedding coordinator said to go as I wasn’t ready. The nerves then really started to kick in because I was rushed, emotional and very sober!!

Our photographer, Robin then came into the room to take a few shots before we left for the chapel. He was really nice and helped me to feel a little more at ease. When we got to deck 14 I asked for the chair lift for my bridesmaid who is in a wheelchair to get to the chapel on deck 15. I was informed it wasn’t ready and wasn’t working because this would have needed to be requested with the office in Miami. I had arranged this many, many months in advance with Royal Romance as this had been one of my main concerns. It was even suggested at one point that my bridesmaid be carried up the stairs, I was disgusted and this was definitely not going to happen with her looking gorgeous in her dress, and on my wedding day. This issue added to my nerves and emotions were then running high. As the wedding coordinator and officiant tried to resolve the problem the photographer was still clicking away! Staff sorted the chair lift out and before I knew it I saw a very nervous dad waiting at the top of the stairs to walk me down the aisle. My mam was escorted to sit down in the chapel and I was then taken to the entrance to greet my dad. This was a very emotional time for both my dad and I. The wedding coordinator and officiant kept walking back and forth and then the coordinator asked me for my wedding certificate. I explained that I had arranged this with Royal Romance. She then went to ask the groom. We had paid a fee plenty of time in advance for them to arrange it for us!! I was appalled. The document miraculously appeared and the wedding march began to play....

My dad walked me down the aisle and handed me over to my fiancé. The men had had a rehersal before hand. The ceremony was amazing, just perfect. The chapel was lovely, very appropriate. We had 22 people including us in our party so it was lovely. We chose the standard wedding vows and they were very touching. My mam cried all day bless her! Meg, our wedding officiant conducted the ceremony beautifully. After we were announced as Mr & Mrs we walked out of the chapel and had a couple of minutes before going back in for photographs. We had plenty of shots with different people as I had requested (I had provided a list of photographs we required). The only thing I was disappointed with was we didn’t get a group shot as the wedding coordinator rushed us out of the chapel in order for the next wedding to go ahead. The photographer was about to take it and simply didn’t have the opportunity.

Our 1 hour reception was due to be held in the Seven Hearts Lounge but it was held in the Cloud Nine room which the wedding coordinator said was a nicer room and was free, so that was a nice touch. A few guests were looking through the glass which was quite funny! We had the assorted h’ordeuvres, sparkling wine per person, a 10” wedding cake, a heart ice sculpture and had linens on the table with turquoise ribbon and ivory rose centrepieces – the room looked fantastic, I was really pleased as I had been concerned about the colour match of the ribbon – it was perfect. We had the cutting of the cake and then the food and drink, which kept flowing – it was great. We had the speeches and then we went around the ship to have our photographs taken. Robin, the photographer was the most amazing photographer, we couldn’t have asked for better, we can highly recommend him, what a nice, genuine guy. He took us all around the ship and we had photographs on the flow rider, the royal promenade, the car, vintages, barbers, boxing ring, outside on deck, by the freedom of the seas sign, outside by the pools, the golf course. It was amazing, we were about 3 hours having our photos taken but it was so worth it – our photographs are so professional – amazing. My brother has a keen interest in photography so he followed us around and took photographs too and Robin did not mind one bit, in fact, he gave him advice. We saw Robin a few times during the cruise and he would always greet us or have a chat.

Mid way through our photographs we were called for the muster drill for which we sat in the main dining room. I was quite tipsy at this point as we had been drinking champagne whilst having our photographs done! We then went back to have some more photographs before joining our guests in the Bull and Bear. They had been in there whilst we had our photos taken. The bar man was really lovely and called me bridey throughout the cruise! The day went so quickly – I know everyone says it does but they really are right, appreciate every minute.

We had the best wedding day. All my husband and I kept saying was “this is out of this world”. We were congratulated so many times by lots and lots of guests, everyone was looking at us all day. It was really special. Even though we went through a lot of stressful things before the ceremony, as soon as we got married everything was out of this world, perfect, I wouldn’t have wished to do it any other way. We had the time of our lives. The ship was huge and very impressive. We had a perfect day. It really was the best day of my life.

I hope this review helps future brides to plan – if you click on the link below you should be able to see our wedding photographs J Hayley Jayne Coffey

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=364193&id=841795626&saved

My email address is hayley.mccauley@gmail.com

Thanks in advance - it looks awesome!