Review-Inspiration Wedding 11/11/10

[melraemic]

My husband and I were just married aboard the Inspiration on 11/11/10 (4 day cruise from Tampa to Cozumel, with 62 sailing and 24 non sailing guests). I can't say enough about how wonderful our experience is. I will start from the beginning, so this is somewhat organized.

 

We got to the Port of Tampa around 9:45, as our scheduled time for arrival was 10. About 50 of our guests stayed at the same hotel the night before so we took a bus from the hotel to the port. When we arrived, security would not let us off the bus because another wedding group had just arrived, and they stated the line was to long and customs had not yet cleared the ship so no one could go in. Not the end of the world, but a little stressful for an anxious bride. I asked the security guard if I could get off the bus alone to find the wedding coordinator and was denied. I then called Carnival Weddings to ask for a phone number for my "day of" coordinator, which they could not provide me with. It was very frustrating to not be able to contact this person and let them know that we were there, but unable to unload our bus. After about 15 minutes of waiting, we were allowed off and I met up with Celeste, our coordinator, and everything went much more smoothly.

 

Once we met up with Celeste, she ushered my husband and I right through security, took my dress, and placed "wedding party" stickers on all of our guests. Non-sailing guests were checked in quickly and we al went upstairs to wait. The check-in for sailing guests was SO fast...everyone checked in within about 15 minutes. Then we were escorted to a waiting area. It was only about 45 minutes of downtime, which was honestly kind of nice. Celeste and her partner (can't not remember her name, unfortunately) gave everyone instructions for boarding, where they could get lunch, and where to meet for the ceremony. They also finalized all wedding details with me.

 

Around 11:15 we were escorted on to the ship. We were immediately taken to the Candlelight lounge for a quick rehearsal (about 10-15 minutes), then were told to get something to eat, and get ready.

My bridesmaids went to get food for themselves and me, while Celeste took me to my stateroom. Unfortunately, the stateroom was not finished being clean, but Celeste took care of that right away and we only had to wait about 10 minutes. 30 minutes later, my bridesmaids returned with food. The long was extremely long. One suggestion would be for the wedding coordinator to escort the wedding party to the front of the line so they could get food much more quickly. The girls only had about 15 minutes to get ready after that, and my husband said the guys had the same issue.

 

While getting ready, the photographer, Yong, stopped by to take pictures but I wasn't ready yet. He came back about 10 minutes later and took a few with my mom, by myself and with the bridesmaids. Then, it was time to go. Celeste sent my mom and bridesmaids upstairs, then she escorted me up and found my dad. Yong took a few pictures of me and my dad, then it was time to start.

 

We brought our own CD's for the ceremony music and it was played exactly as I had wanted. Ther ceremony was beautiful. They had pillars with white flowers in the front, and a runner put down on the floor. We used a friend as our officiant, and it was fabulous. They set up a table for our sand ceremony, with a white table cloth and rose petals...very pretty. The whole thing lasted about 15 minutes.

 

After the ceremony, they asked our guests to remain seated, and took all of the standard photographs....parents, siblings, wedding party, grandparents, etc. It goes fast, so have an idea of what pictures you would like to have taken so you don't miss any.

 

At 1:30 on the dot, we were taken to the Avant Garde Lounge for our reception. We did the hour and a half hors d'euvres and open bar. The little bit of food I had time to eat was FABULOUS!

 

It definitely went very quickly...the wedding party was announced, we cut the cake, did a champagne toast, best man/maid of honor speeches, gave everyone time to get through the buffet, first dance, mother and father dances, pictures pictures pictures, then it was done. We had a great time, though! We used the Entertainment Host/Technician, so brought all of our own music and it was perfect. No one had any issues getting a drink from the bar, which was nice. Celeste made sure my husband and I had plates of food, and had a small table set up on the side for us with a bowl of fruit. She always made sure I had a drink in hand...which was dangerous!! Be careful with that :)

 

During the reception, we met our on-board wedding coordinator Aleksandra. She was wonderful, and always came by our table at dinner to check on us and our group. She also left a letter in our statroom with her pager number in case we needed ANYTHING during the cruise.

 

After the reception, Celeste had everything packaged up for us (cake topper, champagne flutes, etc.) and had them sent to our room. We all proceeded to our muster stations for the emergency drill. After that, husband and I met up with Yong the photographer for pictures. We took pictures for about 45 minutes at various locations on the ship. Yong said he would leave a card in our room with a metting date/time to look at our pictures.

 

We opted to have a second cocktail party for our sailing guests, after we set sail. We had open bar, dry snacks(pretzels, goldfish crackers), and a DJ. Everyone danced for the entire 90 minutes and we had a great time! Definitely worth it, because the wedding/reception go so fast!

 

On our last day at sea, Yong had us meet with him at 10:00 a.m. Our parents joined us and we looked at all the pictures, which were wonderful!! He started by showing us a DVD slideshow that I fell in love with. Of course, the only two packages that offered that were the most expensive. I was kind of upset that we were unable to purchase it seperately. It was also kind of rushed to make a decision, which put our parents in an awkward position as far as who would pay for what. We ended up buying the 2nd package on the list the send you in your packet. We got 55 8x10's, 35 5x7's, a DVD slideshow, a coffee table book which is amazing, and 2 canvases. More than we needed, but in the end, you hopefully only get married once. Now that we have them all we are very happy!!

 

Overall, our experience was amazing! We were nervous, because it all seems a little disorganized during the planning process. Once we met up with the wedding coordinators, all of our fears were put to rest. Everything we asked for was taken care of. We had a great time with all of our friends and family, and it was so much fun to be the "bride and groom" all weekend!! I definitely recommend a Carnival Wedding!!

 

Sorry this is soooo long....If anyone has questions, feel free to ask!! :)

 

 

 

P.S. I found out later that Yong showed my husband a picture of me right before the ceremony. Thankfully it was just my face/veil, and hubby turned around really fast so he didn't see much, but still....Remind your photographer to please not show your hubby-to-be a picture of you in your wedding clothes!

[acireta]

congrats to the new married lady! sounds like a great wedding (even if it always goes too fast) and a fun trip!

[katieandaron]

Congratulations! Thanks so much for posting your review! I'm glad everything went so smoothly! Happy marriage!

[mysticair2]

Congratulations!!! I am getting married on the inspiration 1/1/2011 and it was so nice to hear that everything went well. I am a teacher and I am always "in charge" so I was a little bit apprehensive with a cruise wedding. (especially there was no need to be hands on during the planning process because they do everything for you:D) Your post has reassured me that everything will go fine. I have never cruised before but I have a family member who is a frequent cruiser so we booked it. My one concern was the pictures and whether or not they came out good. It looks as though they turned out lovely:-)

 

My only questions is...how does it work out with two weddings on a ship? Were your coordinators running between weddings? While everyone was checking in were both wedding groups in the same waiting room sitting and staring at each other? (Okay so that sounds a bit weird but again I am new to cruising...lol)

 

Thanks again! Congratulations once again!

[Lipz]

On a different cruise line but love reading cruise wedding reviews, especially ship board weddings! Congrats!!!

[melraemic]

Congratulations!!! I am getting married on the inspiration 1/1/2011 and it was so nice to hear that everything went well. I am a teacher and I am always "in charge" so I was a little bit apprehensive with a cruise wedding. (especially there was no need to be hands on during the planning process because they do everything for you:D) Your post has reassured me that everything will go fine. I have never cruised before but I have a family member who is a frequent cruiser so we booked it. My one concern was the pictures and whether or not they came out good. It looks as though they turned out lovely:-)

 

My only questions is...how does it work out with two weddings on a ship? Were your coordinators running between weddings? While everyone was checking in were both wedding groups in the same waiting room sitting and staring at each other? (Okay so that sounds a bit weird but again I am new to cruising...lol)

 

Thanks again! Congratulations once again!

 

 

There were seperate coordinators for each wedding. In the beginning, I honestly wouldn't have known there was another wedding if someone hadn't told me. It never caused an issue. We were in seperate wedding areas in the port terminal prior to boarding. Their wedding party was slightly larger than ours (by about 8 people), so they boarded first. It went quickly, and then it was our turn.

[pickadill]

CONGRATULATIONS!! I am happy to hear everything went perfect!

I am getting married on the Inspiration in 2 months!! I am so excited. And nervous. Still have many things to do.

I was wondering about the Sand Ceremony. Did you bring your own, or did you use the one that Carnival weddings? If you used Carnival's, then what did it look like?

[mysticair2]

:DOkay so one more question:D

 

I have a party of 35 people attending my wedding...

 

I was planning on Tipping...

 

2 coordinators $20 each

1 DJ/Host $20

1 Officiant $20

servers $20 split

 

Am I forgetting anyone?

[acireta]

:DOkay so one more question:D

 

I have a party of 35 people attending my wedding...

 

I was planning on Tipping...

 

2 coordinators $20 each

1 DJ/Host $20

1 Officiant $20

servers $20 split

 

Am I forgetting anyone?

 

photog after you see his/her pictures at the end of the week, depending on service maybe?

[mysticair2]

photog after you see his/her pictures at the end of the week, depending on service maybe?

 

Yep your right....How much?

[acireta]

depending on how much you buy or how much time spend with him, $50ish if he's amazing and progressively less based on service quality.

[LK0806]

I love your review!! Thanks :)

 

Can I ask what songs you used for the ceremony? Also, what food did you choose, and do you have any more pics we can see?

 

Congratulations on your marriage!!

[LarAndShar]

:DOkay so one more question:D

 

I have a party of 35 people attending my wedding...

 

I was planning on Tipping...

 

2 coordinators $20 each

1 DJ/Host $20

1 Officiant $20

servers $20 split

 

Am I forgetting anyone?

 

 

Bartenders!!!

[canucme_cruisin]

Did you also book the separate cocktail reception through the Wedding Department? I am getting married on-island, but was thinking about coming back onboard and having a reception right before dinner that night, since we won't have real music and dancing at the island one. Was it expensive?

[osuchica]

So glad to hear that it went well! I'm also an Inspiration bride (1/10/11) and am a bit apprehensive about surrendering all control to them, but it sounds like it went great!! The Candlelight Lounge looks really nice - I hope that's where our ceremony will be!!

[melraemic]

CONGRATULATIONS!! I am happy to hear everything went perfect!

I am getting married on the Inspiration in 2 months!! I am so excited. And nervous. Still have many things to do.

I was wondering about the Sand Ceremony. Did you bring your own, or did you use the one that Carnival weddings? If you used Carnival's, then what did it look like?

 

We brought our own, but they were great about having a table set up for us, and packed it all up at the end and had it delivered to our stateroom.

 

I love your review!! Thanks :)

 

Can I ask what songs you used for the ceremony? Also, what food did you choose, and do you have any more pics we can see?

 

 

Congratulations on your marriage!!

 

We chose the 1.5 hour reception with hot and cold hors d'euvres and open bar, so we were sent a pre-set menu prior to the wedding. My understanding was that if there was something we absolutely did not want, they would change it for us, but we liked everything provided. The food was excellent, and exceeded our expectations.

 

For music we played "Kiss the Girl" (steel drum version) for the bridal party, I walked to "Somewhere over the rainbow" (by Irsael Kamikawkole (sp?)) and we walked out to "How Sweet it is".

 

Did you also book the separate cocktail reception through the Wedding Department? I am getting married on-island, but was thinking about coming back onboard and having a reception right before dinner that night, since we won't have real music and dancing at the island one. Was it expensive?

 

We booked the second cocktail party through the groups department. They can send you a whole packet regarding prices, drink/food options, etc. I think our "open bar and dry snacks" was $13.50/pp or somewhere around there. We had open bar for 1.5 hours and it was perfect!