cruisingbride09 Posted February 16, 2012 #1 Share Posted February 16, 2012 So I am back!!! We had an incredible time! We had a total of 39 guests attend and 24 sailed with us on our 8 day cruise! It was amazing and I would do it all over again!!! I will start from when we arrived in FL and hope I don't forget anything important :p Sorry if its long! Arrived Saturday 2/4 in Ft Lauderdale. We drove from ATL which was about 8.5 hours. We stayed at the Fairfiled Inn which was perfect for all our guests. They provided free shuttle services to/from both the airport and cruise port. Both Saturday and Sunday were relaxing days. We didn't have anything planned so we just went with what we all felt like doing (pool, beach, mall ect). I had a lot of friends come in on Saturday so we all went out that night for some fun! Then most of our family came in on Sunday. Being from Boston I am a Pats fan so we found a restaurant that was Boston themed to watch the Superbowl. I made reservations for everyone so we all were able to eat together and had such a great time! Eventhough the pats lost! :( 2/6- WEDDING DAY!! woohoo! Woke up super early and got in a last minute work out before our hair and make up artist arrived at 5:30AM! I felt completely relaxed and was getting really excited! We used Miriam Behar-Makeup by Miriam and she was AMAZING! We were all a little skeptical since we had to start so early but she literally finished me minutes before we had to leave around 10:15am. There was 5 of us total and we all had our hair done and 4/5 had makeup done. She made everyone look beautiful and did exactly what we wanted! Everyone knew we were the wedding party since I got the girls 'bridal entourage' tanks and I had the bride tank top on! It was so fun! Getting to port- We took 2 shuttles which got everyone and all our luggage to the port! I think everyone could agree that the cruise ports in general can be a little hectic but we all made it through easily! No issues with the guest list or anything. We made sure to label our 2 large carry-ons, which held the wedding favors and cake toppers, with 'reception bags' so we knew that these were our carry ons and did not get checked in. I carried my dress and that was it! One of my bridesmaids carried a bag that had my shoes, veil and other accessories in it for me. Our Coordinator Nadine met us as we made our way through the scanners. She got everyone in the place that they needed to be in and everyone got checked in super fast! Me and my husband got to cut the line since we were VIP haha!! It all moved very fast but she wanted to make sure we were boarded by 11:30 so we had plenty of time on the boat. I met with the second coordinator, Judit who was also amazing! I went over the order of the groomsmen and bridesmaids and music with them all as we waited to board. I had confirmed with the DJ that he had all the music weeks before so my cd's were just a back up. Once we finished we boarded and were brought to my room and the guys were brought to another room for them to change. I got my drink of the day and the girls and I hung out in my room until it was time to go. Everyone else went up to the lido deck to get drinks and food. All our guests just removed their badges and got to eat for free! 12:30- We all started to get in our dresses and did a few makeup touch ups! 12:45 Judit knocked on the door and it was time to go!!! Our ceremony was in the Mad Hatters Ballroom. The girls walked in seperately while the guys were already standing up front. Then my dad and I walked down. I felt like it was a 2 second walk! I used Vitamin String Quartet for the ceremony music. The girls walked into "Love Story" by Taylor Swift and my dad and I walked into "Beautiful Tonight" by Eric Clapton. The vows and ceremony lasted about 15 minutes it was SO FAST! I remember standing there and thinking "oh my god I about to say I DO!!" It was perfect though and we both laughed and cried! We exited to the Star Wars metal ceremony song! It definitely was funny to see people start to recognize the song as we walked out! it was great! After the Ceremony we took some group pictures of the wedding party and family. Then it was off to the party/reception!! We had the ceremony in the Frankenstein Lab/Disco with the 1.5 hour open bar and DJ. Okay here is my only change... I would have loved to have 1 more hour of dancing and the big Frankenstein on the wall of the disco was a little much. But most of the pictures did not have him in it so we were okay! I still would have done it all over again:) We did our first dance, father/daughter dance and mother/son dance. All were perfect! We then did the cutting of the cake which was delicious!! We got vanilla with vanilla frosting. Everyone said it was one of the best cakes! We got to have leftovers in the dining room on our second night which was great! Then we walked the buffet which was also good and then we danced!! The coordinator asked what kind of music I wanted played and I told her top hits/dance music and that is what was played! Everyone said the music was great and we had lots of people dancing! Next thing I knew we said good bye to those not sailing and it was time to go :( Our coordinators were amazing and they packed all of our receptions decorations back in our suitcases and they were delivered back to our rooms. Those that were cruising all mingled and then went to there rooms to relax/unpack while we took more photos. We first did the muster station which was fun getting some attention by other cruisers! Roland- our photographer was so funny and fun! He was amazing! I think we took pictures for alteast another hour or hour and a half. I didn't want any overly posed pictures and wanted some fun ones in there and he really listened to us. He did a really great job! I was shocked when I saw the final results! My husbands parents were so nice and purchased the album that Roland made and we bought one of the packages. He ended up giving us 2 cd's with ALL the images, the slide show and we got 55 large prints and 35 smaller prints! We opted not to get the canvas. It was worth it! he gave us a better deal since his parents bought the album we spent $799. We have over 150 pictures! That night we met at Nick and Nora's steakhouse for a group dinner for all those cruising. Everyone stayed dressed up. The dinner was fabulous! My husband and I went back on another night just the two of us for a date night because the food was so good! All in all it was absolutely perfect!! I could not have asked for anything more and wish I could do it all over again!! :D:D Here is a link to my pictures on facebook! Let me know if you have any problems seeing them! I will eventually get them all in an album but these are just our top pics! Please feel free to ask me any questions!!! http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=180646385377225&set=at.107102436064954.13394.100002955954450.539741735&type=1&theater#!/media/set/?set=a.10150530274791736.371418.539741735&type=1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridetobe52012 Posted February 16, 2012 #2 Share Posted February 16, 2012 I'm so happy you had such a wonderful wedding! I hope mine goes as smoothly as yours. That is so awesome about the pictures! I hope we are able to get a good photographer that will work with us on the packages... I have heard some will and some won't. I am all about pictures. My finace gets aggitated because I take so many. So I couldn't imagine not getting all the photos! I wasn't able to pull up your pictures though. I would love to see them! And CONGRATS!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisingbride09 Posted February 16, 2012 Author #3 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Thanks! I am sure you will get a great photographer! I just made the album public on my facebook so I think if you go to the link and log in on your account it should bring you to it.. sorry I am not the best at this kind of stuff... let me know! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twin A Posted February 16, 2012 #4 Share Posted February 16, 2012 Awesome photos! Looks like it was a great time. Thanks so much for sharing! This is making me more and more excited about the idea of a cruise wedding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiserJess Posted February 17, 2012 #5 Share Posted February 17, 2012 PICTURES ARE GORGEOUS!!! I love the outdoor pics! Exactly what I want for our wedding :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
withaneye7 Posted February 17, 2012 #6 Share Posted February 17, 2012 you looked stunning! congratulations! thanks so much for all the detail. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDrake_98 Posted February 17, 2012 #7 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Great review I'm so happy everything turned out good for you!! I take it you and your hubby saw each other the entire day on Sunday?? I LOVE LOVE LOVE the outside pics. Very beautiful! Nona Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harrodsfan Posted February 17, 2012 #8 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Loved your pictures...your joy really shows. And your dress is just stunning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccrystal Posted February 17, 2012 #9 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I just had a look at your photos, you looked beautiful, thank you for taking the time to post. Good luck on married life xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albean86 Posted February 17, 2012 #10 Share Posted February 17, 2012 your wedding looked absolutely amazing!! We are getting married on the dream 2/9/13 so we have another year to go haha. We are also from boston and were totally bummed about the pats loss booo but on a side note i just ordered my patriots garter as a little surprise for my husband to be hehe :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisingbride09 Posted February 17, 2012 Author #11 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Great review I'm so happy everything turned out good for you!! I take it you and your hubby saw each other the entire day on Sunday?? I LOVE LOVE LOVE the outside pics. Very beautiful! Nona Thank you so much! Yes we saw each other all day on sunday although we did stay in seperate hotel rooms the night before the wedding for a little tradition! We saw each other on the morning as well but he had not seen my dress until I walked down the aisle :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisingbride09 Posted February 17, 2012 Author #12 Share Posted February 17, 2012 your wedding looked absolutely amazing!! We are getting married on the dream 2/9/13 so we have another year to go haha. We are also from boston and were totally bummed about the pats loss booo but on a side note i just ordered my patriots garter as a little surprise for my husband to be hehe :) Congratulations to you! Thats a great idea! I am the one from Boston so I've just converted him into being a Boston fan haha!!:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lipz Posted February 17, 2012 #13 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Loved your review and your pictures are beautiful. I love the one of you looking over his shoulder and him showing off his Darth Vader cuff links. ~Happy Marriage~ to you both! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cupcake8503 Posted February 18, 2012 #14 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Amazing pics and your shoes are so hot! Congrats! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tennisgirl31712 Posted February 18, 2012 #15 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I love your blue sparkly shoes!! And you look beautiful, congratulations! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaxie001 Posted February 18, 2012 #16 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Congratulations! Thanks for the review and sharing your pics,..currently I'm trying to figure out if we want to be married on the ship or a beach, your review certainly makes embarkation day wedding sound appealing!! Best wishes for a happy marriage :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasha4199 Posted February 18, 2012 #17 Share Posted February 18, 2012 Your photos are amazing! Love the cake topper! :D My fave pic was you in the porthole window. I may need to look for a window like that on the Dream! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spiralshell Posted February 22, 2012 #18 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Awesome pics!!!!!!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NikNik1505 Posted February 27, 2012 #19 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Your pics are gorgeous. Thanks for posting your review. I'm going to have to find a porthole window now. I love that picture. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dancing bear Posted February 27, 2012 #20 Share Posted February 27, 2012 Cngratulations! My wife and I shared an elevator ride with you and your folks on the cruise and it brought back lots of happy memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meaghanvb Posted March 21, 2012 #21 Share Posted March 21, 2012 Just wanted to thank you for posting this review. I am getting married on the Carnival Miracle in March of 2013 and was a little nervous about how it would look. Thank you for setting my mind at ease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaded99 Posted April 24, 2012 #22 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Wow I'm just seeing these now and those pictures are so amazing, you both look so happy. I really love the pics in Gatsby's Garden. I hope our photographer does some of our photos there too, we are getting married on the Miracle in a few weeks :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseBride2014 Posted July 19, 2012 #23 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Thank you for your review! I will be getting married on this ship on 1-5-2014 and cannot wait, we are doing the same package as you!! I absolutely love your pictures you looked stunning and absolutely love your shoes!!! I have a couple of questions though! Did you use the flower upgrades? and if so how much were they? Also do you have pictures of the different rooms for the ceremonies and receptions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisingbride09 Posted July 19, 2012 Author #24 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Hey! I actually got flowers through wedideas (they are fake). I would recommend bringing on your own fake flowers. The flowers on board are SO expensive! I still received the basic bouquet that they offer with the package but I liked my fake flowers better! Plus I am not a flower girl... I hate spending money on them since they just die anyways! I also got the guys boutonnieres through wedideas as well. As for pictures of the ceremony rooms and reception rooms I only have the rooms that we were in. Our ceremony room was in the Mad hatters room and the reception was in the disco-Frankenstein lab. If you google for these images you can see a full picture of the rooms. The ceremony room depends on the # of guests you are having. I had around 40 so that was too many for the chapel. The big Frankenstein was a little weird to have at the reception but no one cared once they started dancing and drinking! You can't stress too much over the decor. Cruise boats are known to be a little quirky but the photographers work magic! Everyone was shocked when they saw our pics! So was I!! My amazing in-laws bought my fiance and I the photo album and he and I purchased a bunch of prints and received the CD with all the images. We spent $799. Just be sure to be extra nice and tip the photographer well! They usually will make a deal with you!! :) Let me know if you have any other questions! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shatima Posted March 27, 2013 #25 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Go back RE READING!!! I though for sureeee I commented on this the 1st time.. LOVE LOVE LOVE UR Review adn Pix.. Thanks SOOO much for taking time out of UR day to give us a Review and pix.. Its been a YEAR now... Congrats.. Hey! I actually got flowers through wedideas (they are fake). I would recommend bringing on your own fake flowers. The flowers on board are SO expensive! I still received the basic bouquet that they offer with the package but I liked my fake flowers better! Plus I am not a flower girl... I hate spending money on them since they just die anyways! I also got the guys boutonnieres through wedideas as well. As for pictures of the ceremony rooms and reception rooms I only have the rooms that we were in. Our ceremony room was in the Mad hatters room and the reception was in the disco-Frankenstein lab. If you google for these images you can see a full picture of the rooms. The ceremony room depends on the # of guests you are having. I had around 40 so that was too many for the chapel. The big Frankenstein was a little weird to have at the reception but no one cared once they started dancing and drinking! You can't stress too much over the decor. Cruise boats are known to be a little quirky but the photographers work magic! Everyone was shocked when they saw our pics! So was I!! My amazing in-laws bought my fiance and I the photo album and he and I purchased a bunch of prints and received the CD with all the images. We spent $799. Just be sure to be extra nice and tip the photographer well! They usually will make a deal with you!! :) Let me know if you have any other questions! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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