Wedding Photography Process

[mmstone13]

Can someone tell me how the photography process works for weddings on board the Carnival ship? Do they take pictures before the wedding, after the wedding, after the reception? Does it cut into the reception time (my fiance is not about the miss the open bar ;) Also, do they take pictures around the ship in different locations? Any help would be very much appreciated! Excited to get married on Carnival Ecstasty 5/17/12! Also, how soon after the wedding do you get to see/purchase the pictures?

[cruiseonthebrain]

Our photographer took individual pictures before the ceremony, pictures during the ceremony, group pictures after the ceremony and pictures during the reception. After the reception, the photographer went around the ship with us for about an hour and a half and took more pictures of my DH and I. It did not interrupt the ceremony or reception at all. We saw our photos on the fourth or fifth day of the cruise. The photographer called us and set up a meeting time to view the pictures. The process was not intrusive and the pictures were absolutely stunning. Couldn't be happier.

[sescobartx]

Same here, before, as we got ready, during ceremony before reception during reception and after. Pictures were unbelievable!

[HeatherC430]

We had photos taken during the ceremony & reception. After the reception was over, our photography allowed us time to go back to our room & freshen up. Afterwards we took shots of the two of us all over the ship. The photos all turned out great.

 

My advice to other cruise brides:

 

1. Make sure you budge enough for the pictures! On Carnival, you can not pick & choose which pictures you want in each size. For example, if you like a photo your photographer printed in 8x10 (you have to purchase that print at that price) before ordering each additional. Before I went, I was under the impression I'd order the smaller size (5x7) in all the poses I liked then enlarge upon our return. Because this was setup this way, I didn't order as many as I would have liked due to budget. I think I ended up spending 600ish? And had about 10-12 pictures of the two of us? I was really upset at the time this was all I could afford. But in hindsight, it turned out fine. That's probably all I REALLY needed.

 

2. Luckily one of my guests took a TON of pictures (literally over 200 candid shots!). Funny thing is, her photos turned out just as good as the photographer's! Advice: Have at least one person attending the wedding, assigned to take LOTS of pictures!

 

3. If you have specific photos you want taken, have a list or make sure they get done! For example, the photographer had taken a photo of myself & my mother but since he claimed it didn't turn out good, he didn't print it! Therefore, unless we bought the largest package (with CD of all pictures) we couldn't have it. My mom is still sour that she doesn't have a photo of her & I from my wedding!

 

Good luck everyone! Celebrating my anniversary next week on the Freedom!

[cruiseonthebrain]

We must have gotten really lucky because our photographer printed out everything in smaller photos for us to look at. The big sell was the coffee table book he put together for us. I had no intention of spending that much money and he was not pushy at all- he he left the room so we could view everything. The book was SPECTACULAR!!!! I hope that 50 years we look back at the pictures and believe we were really that beautiful and handsome (make up artist and photog were incredible!!!!) Oh- the photog threw in every single picture on a disk at no extra $$$$.

[HeatherC430]

You should consider yourself lucky for sure! haha

[Carnival_Brides]

We must have gotten really lucky because our photographer printed out everything in smaller photos for us to look at. The big sell was the coffee table book he put together for us. I had no intention of spending that much money and he was not pushy at all- he he left the room so we could view everything. The book was SPECTACULAR!!!! I hope that 50 years we look back at the pictures and believe we were really that beautiful and handsome (make up artist and photog were incredible!!!!) Oh- the photog threw in every single picture on a disk at no extra $$$$.

 

What ship were you on and when? We're trying to get an idea of how much we should save.

[HeatherC430]

I was married on the Dream. I had planned on spending about $500 on pictures. In my opinion after seeing what that would get you wasn't enough. I should have planned on spending $1,000 on one of the picture packages. I think spending that much would get you a nice assortment.

 

One thing you do not have to worry about is the quality of the pictures! There will be a ton of outstanding pictures! It really is true when everyone talks about how nice they turn out! I was shocked! Unfortunately, that's probably why I was disappointed I couldn't spend MORE money on pictures! Had there been only a few good shots, it would have been alot easier to swallow! haha

[pinkpumpkin]

Same here, before, as we got ready, during ceremony before reception during reception and after. Pictures were unbelievable!

 

Do you remember the name of your photographer?

[LilBlackDress]

I wasn't on Carnival I was on RCCL.... however I learned a few tips and tricks.

 

We booked an extra hour or so with the photographer during a sea day to take all our pictures around the ship (only because our wedding started late and our reception ran over) I didn't mind getting redressed & I did my hair different. They do have a charge for the extra time but we weren't charged.

 

Our photographer gave us contact sheets with all our pictures on them, when we got to the next port we went to an internet cafe, scanned the sheets and emailed them to ourselves for about 3.00 (our photographer kind of hinted that we could do this even tho its not really allowed). I thought we would get home and lose a lot of detail when I blew up the contact sheets and that we would only ever see them clear in the 3x3's I was able to blow it up with no blur to a 10x12 and print it nicely.

 

We were able to print a release form off the photography site, up to 14 days after the cruise docked. Then we were able to take the pictures we did buy to Walmart (or any photo center) and make copies for our families, Christmas cards etc.

 

As for photos you want. If you do want photos getting ready, I would contact the wedding dept and make sure you let them know. As for poses make a list of who you want to make sure you get a photo with, any special place or pose. I have seen them do a trash the dress in the pools but keep in mind if you do this, you probably will not want to do the extra sitting unless its the last part of the extra sitting. If you aren't sure what type of poses are common or what to ask for research it here and google or ask. Always ASK questions.

 

as for the budget... they should have the photo packages available for you to see the amounts. save enough for the one larger than you think you will want.

 

Best Wishes :)

[sescobartx]

Patrick Venenoso. We were on the Carnival Valor.

[Spiralshell]

Most of the shots in this album were done by the ship's photographer: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150704839852543.401373.703462542&type=3&l=72d39d79ea

(Carnival Miracle)

Our photographer was really fantastic and we had a lot of fun going around the ship with him to take pictures.

We bought the $749 package which was plenty of pics without breaking the bank. (25 8X10s and 18 5x7s) There are much more expensive packages, but these were out of our price range.

He took really great care of the pics and did a little photoshopping on all of them as needed -- did a really nice job.

We were really happy with the photos!

[JulieRose]

We took only the photos that were included in the package and the CD of all the photos ($500) When you buy the CD, they include a release that allows you to have them printed elsewhere (not that anyone ever seems to ask for it.) My best tip is to ask your coordinator for a price list now and if the prices you are given are different when you get on the ship, insist that they adhere to the list you were given. They were asking for $1000 for the CD on the ship but I told them that I had a price list that quoted it at $500 and they actually changed the price for me.