2014 Cruise Brides!!

[dst]

Hello - Thank you for starting this thread; we have been together for 10 years and are platinum cruisers so getting married on a ship was an easy decision for us - I am not a first time bride, in my late 40's so I am struggling a bit on things....

 

Carnival Breeze is booked January 4, 2014; currently we have 7 cabins booked (including ours) and expect about 3 more. We are getting married on the ship prior to setting sail

 

We sent out save the dates (boarding pass style). I am struggling with the wedding invitations and how to word the response card. We live in Florida so we expect to have some non sailing guests......any ideas on how to word the response card. I know Carnival requires non-sailing guests to provide additional information (not needed for sailing guests as they will give it at time of booking)

 

Love all the wonderful ideas here -

[Realblonde474]

I am in the "same boat" (sorry I couldn't resist). We have been together 10 years, I won't be wearing white and we have both done the wedding thing before. We will be getting married just before, home party and then celebrating on our cruise.

 

I am sorta of over "the knot" ( I refer to it as "The Noose") but they do have great working ideas for cards and etc. Also I love an invitation web site called Wedding Divas. They have wonderful invitations...

 

Hope everyone is doing well!

Donna

[Ruben&Lindsay]

Ladies looking for great cruise inspired invitations, check out etsy or Pinterest. So many fabulous ideas on there!

 

Here are my favorites!

 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/122347296/vintage-inspired-cruise-ship-ticket?utm_source=OpenGraph&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share

 

http://emdotzee.com/blog/2012/05/blue-swirl-with-fuchsia-accents-cruise-boarding-pass-wedding-invitations/

 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/105859327/cruise-ship-boarding-pass-invitation-or

Edited May 28, 2013 by Ruben&Lindsay

[tinkerbell_82]

Hello - Thank you for starting this thread; we have been together for 10 years and are platinum cruisers so getting married on a ship was an easy decision for us - I am not a first time bride, in my late 40's so I am struggling a bit on things....

 

Carnival Breeze is booked January 4, 2014; currently we have 7 cabins booked (including ours) and expect about 3 more. We are getting married on the ship prior to setting sail

 

We sent out save the dates (boarding pass style). I am struggling with the wedding invitations and how to word the response card. We live in Florida so we expect to have some non sailing guests......any ideas on how to word the response card. I know Carnival requires non-sailing guests to provide additional information (not needed for sailing guests as they will give it at time of booking)

 

Love all the wonderful ideas here -

 

I've been researching the response card thing too. I know some people are funny about writing down their DL #, so I may just contact the people that RSVP for the ceremony only and explain the situation.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Cruise Critic Forums mobile app

[dst]

I am in the "same boat" (sorry I couldn't resist). We have been together 10 years, I won't be wearing white and we have both done the wedding thing before. We will be getting married just before, home party and then celebrating on our cruise.

 

I am sorta of over "the knot" ( I refer to it as "The Noose") but they do have great working ideas for cards and etc. Also I love an invitation web site called Wedding Divas. They have wonderful invitations...

 

Hope everyone is doing well!

Donna

 

Thanks Donna - I will check out the website

 

On top of everything else, I am now second guessing my dress; I went with something that is a bit more formal than I was thinking and now feel a bit out of place with what the groom and wedding party are wearing; I'm a mess :)

[dst]

Ladies looking for great cruise inspired invitations, check out etsy or Pinterest. So many fabulous ideas on there!

 

Here are my favorites!

 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/122347296/vintage-inspired-cruise-ship-ticket?utm_source=OpenGraph&utm_medium=PageTools&utm_campaign=Share

 

http://emdotzee.com/blog/2012/05/blue-swirl-with-fuchsia-accents-cruise-boarding-pass-wedding-invitations/

 

http://www.etsy.com/listing/105859327/cruise-ship-boarding-pass-invitation-or

 

Thanks I like the Blue swirl one - very cute.

 

I am struggling with the wording; between the cruisers and the non cruisers. They have to RSVP but some will be joining us for the week and some won't

 

I knew we should have done this on a beach somewhere :D

[lola2177]

Hey everyone! We are planning a February 2014 wedding in St Thomas. We are using Island Bliss weddings to coordinate the on island wedding and will be treating our guests to dinner a the Steakhouse that evening. We are sailing on the Carnival Valor out of San Juan. Did this same itinerary on the Victory a few years ago and LOVED it.

Looking forward to sharing information with everyone :)

[nixiemaiden]

Thanks Donna - I will check out the website

 

On top of everything else, I am now second guessing my dress; I went with something that is a bit more formal than I was thinking and now feel a bit out of place with what the groom and wedding party are wearing; I'm a mess :)

 

I think it is totally fine for the bride to be dressed more formal than everyone else. I am getting married in port on the beach so I am telling everyone that the dress code I would like is sundresses for the women and shorts with button down short sleeve shirts for the guys. (it is going to be hot out and I want everyone to be comfortable).

 

I haven't picked out my dress yet but if I find something and think "that is the one" I don't care how formal it is compared to the dress code that I suggested. I mean how many times do we get to dress up and look fancy? Just enjoy it!

[kcbella2011]

Hey yall,

 

My fiance and I have booked our cruise wedding out of Seward, AK for May of 2014 on Radiance of the Seas. I LOVE to cruise and he wanted mountains not the beach so we chose an Alaskan cruise as a 'meet in the middle' location. (even though I'm from Texas and he's from Kansas).

 

There is very little info about Alaskan weddings out there. I would like to see pictures of a Radiance shipboard wedding, or any shipboard wedding in Alaska. If possible, I would also like to get an idea of the timeline because the ship doesn't depart until 8:30 p.m. (unlike other destination departures which leave earlier) does that mean that I would have time for a 2 hour reception/more time to get ready? So if anyone could point me in the right direction that would be awesome!

[dst]

I think it is totally fine for the bride to be dressed more formal than everyone else. I am getting married in port on the beach so I am telling everyone that the dress code I would like is sundresses for the women and shorts with button down short sleeve shirts for the guys. (it is going to be hot out and I want everyone to be comfortable).

 

I haven't picked out my dress yet but if I find something and think "that is the one" I don't care how formal it is compared to the dress code that I suggested. I mean how many times do we get to dress up and look fancy? Just enjoy it!

 

 

Thanks so much - I feel a bit better; we only have two in the wedding party - she is wearing a short dress, he is wearing a Tommy Bahama shirt with shorts and my future husband is wearing the same shirt with a pair of nice off white pants - so I guess my dress can be a bit dressy.

 

I started working on the invites; having a company I found on Etsy do them - I'm still struggling with the layout of the invitations (we decided on a pocket design)

 

Thanks again for talking me off the cliff :)

[saibutterfly]

Hi everyone!

 

I just found this site a few days ago, and I'm so excited for our wedding in June, 2014 on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas. I can't wait to read your stories of your planning and weddings. This site has already given me a lot of great ideas so I hope our wedding will be beautiful! I'm just ready for our cruise to hurry up and get here!

[Weewiggles]

Hi everyone!

I'm new to the boards, and love the info out there:) We are taking our wedding cruise Nov 2014 on NCL Getaway, during our 10th anniversary.

Looking forward to all I will learn!

 

Right now we are thinking of doing the ceremony on the ship at port, either in Miami before departing, or in St. Thomas( day of our actual anniversary).

I thought DH would want a beach wedding, but he said ship o it doesn't mess with our holiday :rolleyes::)

[Kshackney1705]

Hi everyone, Im looking at leaving out of Charleston sc with carnival for our renewal vows. We are going on 40 years and I never had the big wedding , just found a justice of the peace. Soooo every girl wants a wedding right!!! So march of 2014 we will be doing renewal vows with our children looking on and all our grandchildren in the wedding. Oldest granddaughter (16) is maid of honor, Grandson (17) is the best man, another granddaughter is the jr bridesmaid (5) and our two littlest granddaughters are going to be flower girls. My son will be walking me down the aisle. Ive not booked anything as of yet , Im just looking at everything. There will be 13 of just our family and a few friends. Small but all the important people. Im excited to be making all the plans for my wedding and its so special to me that my grandchildren are my wedding party. Who has any ideas what colors go with a deep purple. Ive seen pictures of yellow and sky blue and silver with this color. Any opinions which one will look the best? Im full of questions, but I"ll keep it at one at a time. Thanks in advance

[Bo59rt]

Congrats to all the new Brides (and Grooms) for the upcoming weddings!

 

I booked my photographer for my wedding on St. Thomas!! So excited about that! I know that there is time before April but I have a feeling that summer is going to be enjoyed and then time is going to fly!!!! Hope everyone's planning is going well! :D

[tranquilreign]

Congrats to all the new Brides (and Grooms) for the upcoming weddings!

 

I booked my photographer for my wedding on St. Thomas!! So excited about that! I know that there is time before April but I have a feeling that summer is going to be enjoyed and then time is going to fly!!!! Hope everyone's planning is going well! :D

 

I hope you are right! I'm waiting for April, too. Save the Dates are out. Starting to feel like my worries about the guest list were not necessary. I think it will be a manageable number based on the feedback that I'm getting. Going to attempt DIY passport invitations later this year and I'm not a DIYer. Start praying! LOL

[CCMS14]

Just thought I would throw this out to everyone. How far in advance of the wedding did you send out the invitations? We sent out our save the dates at 13 months and probably our invites at 7 months or so...thoughts?

[Bo59rt]

We did save the dates at 13-14 months and invites will go out at about 5 months....hopefully :p

[kycruiser87]

Just thought I would throw this out to everyone. How far in advance of the wedding did you send out the invitations? We sent out our save the dates at 13 months and probably our invites at 7 months or so...thoughts?

 

Ha well... We got engaged in January, picked cruise and I immediately made invites at the end of January. I made little message in a bottle invites.Took it to the post office and to my surprise they were going to be something like $4-5 a piece to send locally, and it would cost more the further away I sent them. So I nixed sending all of them and I gave as many people as I could invites by hand. So not all of them were received at the same time. And the people who live further away that I wouldn't be seeing soon, I sent those via usps. I know I probably committed so many faux pas by handing out my invites, but too bad. Atleast I got to see their surprise when I handed it to them, and I got lots of compliments. I sent/ gave them out as soon as I could that way everyone would have time to plan accordingly for vacation requests, financially, all that if they decided they wanted to go.

Now, I'm just freaking out about a dress. I don't know what I want. I try on all of these dresses and I adore every stinking one of them! Its. just. not. fair.!

[kycruiser87]

I hope you are right! I'm waiting for April, too. Save the Dates are out. Starting to feel like my worries about the guest list were not necessary. I think it will be a manageable number based on the feedback that I'm getting. Going to attempt DIY passport invitations later this year and I'm not a DIYer. Start praying! LOL

 

I love the idea of a passport invitation!That is so cute! Pinterest is all about the DIYer, I'm sure you can find help/ideas there if you get stuck! You will have to post a pic after you get them finished!

[CCMS14]

We did save the dates at 13-14 months and invites will go out at about 5 months....hopefully :p

 

Ha well... We got engaged in January, picked cruise and I immediately made invites at the end of January. I made little message in a bottle invites.Took it to the post office and to my surprise they were going to be something like $4-5 a piece to send locally, and it would cost more the further away I sent them. So I nixed sending all of them and I gave as many people as I could invites by hand. So not all of them were received at the same time. And the people who live further away that I wouldn't be seeing soon, I sent those via usps. I know I probably committed so many faux pas by handing out my invites, but too bad. Atleast I got to see their surprise when I handed it to them, and I got lots of compliments. I sent/ gave them out as soon as I could that way everyone would have time to plan accordingly for vacation requests, financially, all that if they decided they wanted to go.

Now, I'm just freaking out about a dress. I don't know what I want. I try on all of these dresses and I adore every stinking one of them! Its. just. not. fair.!

 

We are having our RSVP date about 4 months before the cruise, partially because it is in February and we are kind of pretending December doesn't exist because of the fact that it's Christmas. And unfortunately some of our friends/family members are terrible in terms of responses, so we built ourselves a 1 month buffer to avoid problems with people in terms of timing. Some of his family members struggle with time management (think, we have to tell them dinner is at 3 when its at 6...). Anyway, most of our friends and family are aware, and not bothered by it because I think you kind of need to know if you're planning on going on a cruise earlier on in terms of finances and vacation time.

 

As for postage, if it was $4-5 to mail, I would have done the same thing. We have probably committed the same faux pas, but at the end of the day, these are our friends and family and we love them, and hopefully they love us enough to ignore any "errors" we have made...

 

In other news, this made the Toronto news today for wedding info!

http://www.thestar.com/life/2013/06/20/wedding_gift_spat_miffed_bride_guest_both_made_mistakes_experts_say.html

 

its kind of funny but horrible all at once!

[kycruiser87]

We are having our RSVP date about 4 months before the cruise, partially because it is in February and we are kind of pretending December doesn't exist because of the fact that it's Christmas. And unfortunately some of our friends/family members are terrible in terms of responses, so we built ourselves a 1 month buffer to avoid problems with people in terms of timing. Some of his family members struggle with time management (think, we have to tell them dinner is at 3 when its at 6...). Anyway, most of our friends and family are aware, and not bothered by it because I think you kind of need to know if you're planning on going on a cruise earlier on in terms of finances and vacation time.

 

As for postage, if it was $4-5 to mail, I would have done the same thing. We have probably committed the same faux pas, but at the end of the day, these are our friends and family and we love them, and hopefully they love us enough to ignore any "errors" we have made...

 

In other news, this made the Toronto news today for wedding info!

http://www.thestar.com/life/2013/06/20/wedding_gift_spat_miffed_bride_guest_both_made_mistakes_experts_say.html

 

its kind of funny but horrible all at once!

 

That's so funny, I was about to post that too! That made my day! I thought that was hilarious! Its just so hard to believe that someone would have the audacity to think they are owed a monetary gift to cover their wedding expenses.

And we have to do the SAME thing with his sisters. They need a solid 1-2 hours buffer before an event to be there. Which kinda worries me because they were planning on going on the cruise, and now they are planning on just driving to Key West (where we are getting married). Keep in mind, that is roughly an 18 ish hour drive from where we live. AND they have 6 kids between the two of them. I think I will tell them the wedding is the day before the actual date...otherwise I can see them driving up to Mallory Square as we sail away! Oh well. We planned a destination wedding for a reason... fewer worries.

[CCMS14]

That's so funny, I was about to post that too! That made my day! I thought that was hilarious! Its just so hard to believe that someone would have the audacity to think they are owed a monetary gift to cover their wedding expenses.

And we have to do the SAME thing with his sisters. They need a solid 1-2 hours buffer before an event to be there. Which kinda worries me because they were planning on going on the cruise, and now they are planning on just driving to Key West (where we are getting married). Keep in mind, that is roughly an 18 ish hour drive from where we live. AND they have 6 kids between the two of them. I think I will tell them the wedding is the day before the actual date...otherwise I can see them driving up to Mallory Square as we sail away! Oh well. We planned a destination wedding for a reason... fewer worries.

 

The part that baffles me is that, you know what, let's call it like it is, wedding gifts are amazing. We are hosting a 100 person at home reception after our ceremony on the ship, but we aren't inviting them expecting money or gifts. We wanted the low key aspect of an intimate shipboard wedding where there was less going on (I get anxious in big crowds, so even though there are a lot of people ON the ship, and we have 60 or so sailing guests, I know that the people who are at the wedding on the ship are those who understand my anxiety and would never add to it intentionally/unintentionally), but some people who are really important to us couldn't come (grandparents), and we want to celebrate with everyone. So in my perfect world, the reception at home will be less stressful because we will already be married, so its just a big party!

 

Those sisters must be a part of my fiance's family. I love them to death, they are amazing people who I wouldn't trade for anything, but sometimes I just wish they could be a little bit more organized.

 

We are working on our transportation to the point, I think we are leaning towards A1A Limos. We have used them before for prior cruises and have had great experiences. It feels like it will be here in no time flat!

[dst]

We mailed out Save the dates (passport ones) about 13 months in advance and gave all the info to book the cruise as a separate insert. We are finalizing our invitations now and expect to mail them out in August. We hope by doing this a few more people will hop on the cruise.

 

We also made our RSVP for mid-November; although with the wedding on January 4th - we did not need it that early. I figure this way folks who are late in responding will still get the info in Carnival's time frame; not to mention holidays.

 

This is not our first wedding and we are both older (40's) we actually put on the invite "no gifts please, bring words of wisdom" - we really don't need anything.

[TxDivaCruiser82]

Hello fellow cruise couples,

 

I have been reading on here for awhile and decided to join today. Especially since we booked our cruise today . We plan to cruise on the " Carnival Triumph" and wed in Cozumel on March 22, 2014 . Now I have no clue where to start the planning. We want to get married on the actual beach . Then possibly have lunch in Cozumel or on the actual ship. My mom suggested we just make a reservation at a on-board cruise restaurant . Is that even possible ? Help

[lola2177]

Hello fellow cruise couples,

 

I have been reading on here for awhile and decided to join today. Especially since we booked our cruise today . We plan to cruise on the " Carnival Triumph" and wed in Cozumel on March 22, 2014 . Now I have no clue where to start the planning. We want to get married on the actual beach . Then possibly have lunch in Cozumel or on the actual ship. My mom suggested we just make a reservation at a on-board cruise restaurant . Is that even possible ? Help

 

 

We are doing an on-island wedding and we booked the steakhouse as our "reception". We have about 50ish guests so I didn't reserve the whole restaurant, just one half(it was 54 seats). I wasn't in need of a fully private venue, as we weren't going to do speeches and all that jazz so this worked for us....simply a nice dinner for everyone and it will be semi-private. I have heard of people renting the entire steakhouse(you must pay for all the seats) and they got more of a traditional reception feel. Depends what you are looking for, but dinner in the steakhouse is absolutely an option!