Low budget on board wedding

[kellilove]

Hello! I am new to the "cruise brides" and I have some questions. Hope someone can help.

 

1. I want the cheapest, budget friendly package. This is my second go round and Im just looking for something basic in regatds to ceremony. We are planning on cruisibg in the summer..perhaps to Bahamas..Key West.

 

2. Can someone do the service on board and we just have lunch or dinner? I am thinking we will have about 15 cruising with us. And we wanna keep it as low cost as possible.

 

Thanks!

[brklyn78]

Is there a particular cruise line you are considering? Are there any particular "must have" items (such as, do you want to be married by the captain, do you want non sailing guests to attend, do you want to be married at sea, are you a same-sex couple, would you be opposed to having the legal ceremony BEFORE you get on-board, would you be opposed to a woman conducting your ceremony?). There are things that can and can't be done on each of the lines, so you'll want to look into that.

 

Much like a land-based wedding, a cruise wedding can be fairly inexpensive, or it can become just as expensive, if not more so, than a land wedding. It's all about your expectations and what you really want.

 

I believe carnival (which I'm using) is on the lower end of the price scale. They have a package that accommodates 8 guests ($1,200-1,500) for a ceremony, toast and cake cutting, then another that accommodates 20 or more ($1,600-2,200 plus $22 per person over 20) with a one hour reception. The price varies based on which port you will be married (carnival does NOT do weddings at sea), and can be found here: http://www.carnival.com/cms/fun/weddings/pdf/wedding-info.pdf Carnival does not accommodate same-sex couples, and in some ports they only have female officiants.

 

Carnival also has a vow renewal program, which requires that you are legally married prior to getting on board. People have been known to go get a court house marriage without telling anyone, then invite everyone to their "wedding" on board the ship. These ceremonies DO happen at sea and ARE conducted by the captain. For this option, it's $385 for up to 8 people ($12 for each additional person) and $735 for up to 20 people ($22 for each additional person). The latter options includes a 1-hour reception, the former does not. Here's that info: http://www.carnival.com/cms/fun/weddings/pdf/vowrenewal08-09.pdf

 

But then there are other things to consider. The packages include flowers, for example, but only a simple white 6-rose bouquet for the bride and a simple rose for the groom. If you want bridesmaids, etc, or if you want prettier flowers, those are going to become more expensive. You can't shop around for photographers, you must use one from the ship (or take the more drastic approach some have taken of hiring a photog, booking them a room on the ship plus providing them spending money, and pretending they are a family friend with fancy equipment--and even then, they may be disallowed from using their equipment on board.) The cheapest photograph package on carnival is $500 and it goes up into the thousands. But, if you think you will be happy with the point and shoot pics your friends take, then you could avoid that.

 

So I guess, in summary, the answer to your question may be "depends on what you want/need"

 

I'd also suggest checking out this article on cruise critic: http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=4

[cruisingreena]

Hello! I am new to the "cruise brides" and I have some questions. Hope someone can help.

 

1. I want the cheapest, budget friendly package. This is my second go round and Im just looking for something basic in regatds to ceremony. We are planning on cruisibg in the summer..perhaps to Bahamas..Key West.

 

2. Can someone do the service on board and we just have lunch or dinner? I am thinking we will have about 15 cruising with us. And we wanna keep it as low cost as possible.

 

Thanks!

 

I am on a budget as well and I was going to do the luncheon with my guests, approx 15 but for 150.00 more you can have hors douerves and open bar for 1.5 hours. I feel that if people are spending around 1000.00 each you at least owe them a meal and some booze. that's my thought and yes im on a budget as well. second wedding for myself as well.

 

ps I am getting married on the carnival splendor out of Long Beach, cruising to mexico next december. under 2k for whole wedding...not bad.

[aprill121]

If you want to go inexpensive you may want to consider getting married in port. There are several in port wedding planners that offer very basic packages, no frills.

http://www.weddingstogokeywest.com/

http://www.cozumelweddingplanner.com/planner/package.htm

 

what ship and line are you sailing on, what are you looking for in a wedding?

[ciarra220]

Ok, well this is what I am doing, at first was very upset but now looking forward to it. I will be getting "married" on the carnival Glory, but actually we will be getting married before hand by a Judge in our home town, I talked to someone in the wedding department and what we are doing is a vow renewal, but they said they will keep it a serect that we are already married and go through the whole ceramony like a typical wedding ceramony. This was SO SO SO much cheaper then getting married in port and having to deal with marraige certifcate, then we are having a reception which is included for 1.5 hours witha open bar. plus it will be held on a sea day which i am happy about because really there is really nothing to do. So my opion is that this is a much better deal.

[New2cruisen]

Ok, well this is what I am doing, at first was very upset but now looking forward to it. I will be getting "married" on the carnival Glory, but actually we will be getting married before hand by a Judge in our home town, I talked to someone in the wedding department and what we are doing is a vow renewal, but they said they will keep it a serect that we are already married and go through the whole ceramony like a typical wedding ceramony. This was SO SO SO much cheaper then getting married in port and having to deal with marraige certifcate, then we are having a reception which is included for 1.5 hours witha open bar. plus it will be held on a sea day which i am happy about because really there is really nothing to do. So my opion is that this is a much better deal.

 

That sounds like a great compromise! How much was your wedding package on board by doing it that way? Will your receptions still be a be a private event or will you have to share the room with others since this will take place while at sea? Also, just curious, which day will you choose to celebrate your anniversaries?

[jebuell]

We are doing a port wedding in Grand Cayman. We chose Simply Wedding Grand Cayman to officiate the ceremony and booked their $700 package. Then our reception will just be the dinner at the MDR, so it will cost us nothing... except we plan to buy a couple bottles of wine for toasting and a cake for cake cutting. So it'll probably cost between $75-100 depending on the wine we select. This is for 9 people total (including us).

[Carnival_Brides]

Carnival does not accommodate same-sex couples

 

Actually, they do--or at least they have been accomodating same-sex couples since May 2011. My partner and I are getting married on the Pride next January.

[Lipz]

Actually, they do--or at least they have been accomodating same-sex couples since May 2011. My partner and I are getting married on the Pride next January.

 

 

Well that is GOOD to hear. We inquired in July 2010 with their wedding department and were told they do not allow same-sex weddings. This was the reason why we then looked into RCCL and NCL. Carnival was our first choice since it was the line we had had the most fun on up until that point. The cost of the cruise was also more reasonable for our sailing guest.

Once we got the 'no' from Carnival we decided to use RCCL because it was going to Bermuda. Then we realized cruising from NJ would be a pain in the butt being that we live in NYC, don't drive and most of our guest didn't drive either. NCL pretty much 'won' by default and like they say EVERYTHING happens for a reason and what's meant to be is meant to be.... and so it was, and so it was also FANTASTIC!!!

 

 

Hello! I am new to the "cruise brides" and I have some questions. Hope someone can help.

 

1. I want the cheapest, budget friendly package. This is my second go round and Im just looking for something basic in regatds to ceremony. We are planning on cruisibg in the summer..perhaps to Bahamas..Key West.

 

I think an embarkment day wedding is not expensive at all. What makes it costly is the number of guest you have and all the added touches. If you keep it initimate and don't go crazy with adds-ons it can still be a beautiful wedding.

 

2. Can someone do the service on board and we just have lunch or dinner? I am thinking we will have about 15 cruising with us. And we wanna keep it as low cost as possible.

 

This is possible. If you do the lunch you have the option of sit down or cocktail. Cocktail is the cheapest. Since everyone is cruising and will be able to eat on the ship before and after the wedding, I say go with the cocktail lunch!

 

Thanks!

 

Ladies just be sure to get all 'promises' in writing!!

[Carnival_Brides]

We wouldn't have done a cruise wedding if we couldn't have done Carnival because the majority of my family has platinum status.

 

We actually changed to a "vow renewal" today because there is a $2100 difference (when you count our extra guests fees) between the Welcome Aboard and the renewal and there is no big difference (for us) other than the early embarkation that we already get as Platinum guests. We have to be married before the cruise regardless, so we'll pocket the $$ and spend it on excursions.