Carnival Glory St Thomas Wedding May 8 2013 :)

[jaxie001]

After dinner mom in law had offered to take our son with her to her room for the night so off we went to have some drinks and celebrate with some of the guests. It was all very informal, a few had turned in for the night. The rest of us danced near the casino to the small band playing there that night and more Congrats from others and some people buying us drinks. We told them they didn’t have to we had cheers program but they wanted to toast the bride and groom. Others stopped us with best wishes and how they had seen us that morning departing and how was the wedding, the kindness of all these strangers wishing us well and happiness was certainly heartwarming. We wrapped up the night at the Alchemy bar and spent some time with the cruise director Matt who is a blast and hilarious!

After thought …..I didn’t think of it til we had been home a couple weeks but we didn’t designate a wedding dance or song…at the time it didn’t really matter but looking back I kinda wished we’de thought of a song in particular and asked the band to play for us.

Next day was Thursday and we were in San Juan, We took the free trolley to the Fort and paid 4 dollars to go in and explore, after that we wandered the streets down to the old San Juan gate and walked the path back along the water, San Juan is very rich in history and if we get back there we’ll probably tour the city more.

Friday, Grand Turk- we had pre booked golf carts and were going to tour the island on our own. We found Nathan just outside the gate with the carts just as he said, we signed a form and off we went, what a blast!!! There were 3 carts between 9 of us we went all the way to the lighthouse, pet the donkeys at the reserve, and on the way back we veered off and down to a deserted beach. The property looked like at one time being developed for a house or resort but after a hurricane had just been deserted. The beach was gorgeous and we pulled some conch shells from the water. Swam a bit and then made our way back. We pulled up on the street and found the entrance to Jacks Shack!! Jack was there and came over said hi welcome to my place LOL we were down past the business of Margaritaville and it was absolutely fantastic! The atmosphere was great, the drinks were cold, and we had a great time, we wandered down after to meet some of our crew at Margaritaville who were doing the flow rider, I got shots of the guys doing great at it. At some point my hubby and I had decided to part ways and I hung with friends and the kids and boarded back on with them. He went off to show his mom where to shop since he didn’t want her going alone. We met up in the cabin and he said I know I’m a couple days late and gave me a wedding gift…I told him he was nuts and shouldn’t have and he said well ship is moving so I can’t take it back hope you like it LOL…yah right who wouldn’t like a blue and white diamond bracelet :D Hes pretty darn good at getting a deal with the jewelry shops and has managed to come out way ahead on our last cruise with tanzanite and this time with this bracelet, and I am counting myself lucky he has fantastic taste in jewelry.

 

Saturday was a sea day and we just enjoyed our last day with family and friends and our last day of holidays.

Sunday morning we docked again in Miami all very sad our trip was over but so very glad we had planned our wedding the way we had and enjoyed our wedding so much! Our QLS driver was right on time and back to the airport we went with no issues.

Note to those with a sand ceremony……. We got home late that night and pretty much went straight to be since we all had work/school in the morning. It wasn’t until that night I went to unpack our sand ceremony vase and found the TSA sheet in my suitcase. I started to panic as I realized the vase was not safely cocooned in the clothing I had wrapped it in. My advice…if you do a sand ceremony and are flying out…put it in your carry on!!! Hopefully when it goes thru security you standing there explaining what it is will suffice. I wish I had done this….they removed it from my bag, dumped out some sand and then shook the rest…I sat on the kitchen floor and bawled! I was shocked they hadn’t realized what it was, I understand security and all but wonder if they went a bit too far? We have decided we are going to go and buy the same colours of sand and try to somewhat duplicate the original.

 

All in all a fabulous wedding and trip, wouldn’t change a thing even with the few hiccups…that’s what makes for memoriesJ

Would highly recommend Janelle of Island Bliss Weddings , Elisha Orin Photography, Stuart Scott, and Villa Botanica…..they all went above and beyond to make our day truly special and unique to usJ Any questions feel free to email me or post here…Ide be happy to help how ever I can.

Jackie

[jaxie001]

Congrats and thank you so much for your review. It sounds like you had a lovely day and vacation. I have 7 days left until our embarkation day wedding and the nerves are beginning to set in. After seeing your pics of the sand ceremony I am wishing I was doing that with our children to blend our families into one.

 

Thank you again!

Carolyn

Aww how nice!!!I To be honest the sand was bought pretty much the weekend before we went away. I had liked the idea and wanted to do it, but coultnnt find a nice decanter i liked, then the sand was too expensive andd then it was going to take too long to get the sand sent to me. Went to the Michaels a town over and voila! Bought a kit with the decanter and they had enough colours of sand we could all pick one out that we liked and went together well. Just make sure you carry it on carry on if your flying,don't pack it in your checked luggage!! Just a word of advice. Best wishes and congratulations!!! No nerves...just have fun, thats what its all about :) I'll watch for your review :)

[maychild20]

Bought a kit with the decanter and they had enough colours of sand we could all pick one out that we liked and went together well. Just make sure you carry it on carry on if your flying,don't pack it in your checked luggage!! Just a word of advice.

 

Jaxie - why do you highly recommend that the sand ceremony kit is brought in your carry-on luggage? I am reserving that space for my wedding dress, shoes and accessories, and a change of clothes "just in case" the airlines loses our stuff! Or are you referring to embarkation-day weddings and keeping the sand ceremony kit with you while boarding the ship?

[jaxie001]

Jaxie - why do you highly recommend that the sand ceremony kit is brought in your carry-on luggage? I am reserving that space for my wedding dress, shoes and accessories, and a change of clothes "just in case" the airlines loses our stuff! Or are you referring to embarkation-day weddings and keeping the sand ceremony kit with you while boarding the ship?

 

Hi mine went down in checked luggage in the plane we figured wrap tightly in clothes and sand shouldnt displace on trip home. We got home unpacked and found that tsa had removed the cork from decanter and actual shook it around! Maybe they have seen it used as asmuggling source before to hide things in sand but i obviously was heartbrojen to pull it out of my suitcase with a quarter of the sand missing and it all mixed all together. We didnt do embarkation cereminy ut was the trip home where it was ruined.

[maychild20]

Ohhhhh, I see what you mean. How awful. I'm so sorry that had to happen. Thanks for the warning!!!

 

I've heard that folks have had trouble with their post-wedding ceremony sand shifting around in the vase b/c it wasn't tightly sealed or it was unintentionally laid down, etc.

 

Even though it's not the same as from the ceremony, I would just buy the same sand again and re-fill it (together) at home to make it look just as nice.

[jaxie001]

Ohhhhh, I see what you mean. How awful. I'm so sorry that had to happen. Thanks for the warning!!!

 

I've heard that folks have had trouble with their post-wedding ceremony sand shifting around in the vase b/c it wasn't tightly sealed or it was unintentionally laid down, etc.

 

Even though it's not the same as from the ceremony, I would just buy the same sand again and re-fill it (together) at home to make it look just as nice.

 

I really didnt think amything would happen to it i was more worrird sbout the settling thing, the circus show in our cabin was probanly hilarious with us packing sand down filling a bit more packing down filli g a bit more lol.wish ide read that advise before so hoping it helps someone!

Yes the plan is to refill it, just have to buy the sand loland try to make it look close as we can :)

[carcleland75]

Aww how nice!!!I To be honest the sand was bought pretty much the weekend before we went away. I had liked the idea and wanted to do it, but coultnnt find a nice decanter i liked, then the sand was too expensive andd then it was going to take too long to get the sand sent to me. Went to the Michaels a town over and voila! Bought a kit with the decanter and they had enough colours of sand we could all pick one out that we liked and went together well. Just make sure you carry it on carry on if your flying,don't pack it in your checked luggage!! Just a word of advice. Best wishes and congratulations!!! No nerves...just have fun, thats what its all about :) I'll watch for your review :)

 

Thanks for the advice Jaxie. I am trying to calm down. It is just fear of the unknown. I guess there is a little unknown for every couple getting married on a cruise...but that is also what is special about it. I absolutely cannot wait!!

 

I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your sand. I agree- recreate it. It will hold even more memories. :)

[jaxie001]

Thanks for the advice Jaxie. I am trying to calm down. It is just fear of the unknown. I guess there is a little unknown for every couple getting married on a cruise...but that is also what is special about it. I absolutely cannot wait!!

 

I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your sand. I agree- recreate it. It will hold even more memories. :)

 

Carcleland.....hope you see this!! how did your wedding go???

[carcleland75]

Hi Jaxie-

 

Thanks for checking in!! The wedding was wonderful! The staff on the Carnival were awesome. They took care of every little detail and after the nerves of just getting there subsided, everything was easy and smooth.

 

The biggest help of the day however, was the officiant, Gary Fine who works with A Wedding Experience. From the moment he introduced himself he made everyone including our guests feel welcome and an important part of our day. This was especially true of our four children who were standing up with us. He included them in our ceremony flawlessly and in a way that made them each feel special. You would have thought he had known our family forever.

 

The ceremony was the perfect length but the reception went by too fast! We only had an hour reception and my husband and I both wished we had paid for a longer one. Short as it was, everyone had a great time. We had paid extra for the guests to be able to go to the Lido deck and eat before the wedding. They all had a blast and ate and drank and enjoyed the time while we were getting ready. The only thing that was too bad was that everyone was full and the beautiful buffet at our reception was barely touched. I wish we could have just had the open bar and served hors de overs and cake. I felt like there was a lot of waste and since we were setting sail after, it wasn't like we could have taken it home. :).

 

All in all it was a great day and a wonderful memory!!

[jaxie001]

Hi Jaxie-

 

Thanks for checking in!! The wedding was wonderful! The staff on the Carnival were awesome. They took care of every little detail and after the nerves of just getting there subsided, everything was easy and smooth.

 

The biggest help of the day however, was the officiant, Gary Fine who works with A Wedding Experience. From the moment he introduced himself he made everyone including our guests feel welcome and an important part of our day. This was especially true of our four children who were standing up with us. He included them in our ceremony flawlessly and in a way that made them each feel special. You would have thought he had known our family forever.

 

The ceremony was the perfect length but the reception went by too fast! We only had an hour reception and my husband and I both wished we had paid for a longer one. Short as it was, everyone had a great time. We had paid extra for the guests to be able to go to the Lido deck and eat before the wedding. They all had a blast and ate and drank and enjoyed the time while we were getting ready. The only thing that was too bad was that everyone was full and the beautiful buffet at our reception was barely touched. I wish we could have just had the open bar and served hors de overs and cake. I felt like there was a lot of waste and since we were setting sail after, it wasn't like we could have taken it home. :).

 

All in all it was a great day and a wonderful memory!!

 

 

Yeah thats awesome!! Glad you had a fabuloys day, have you posted some pics here? Would love to see them!

[pamlh1]

Yeah thats awesome!! Glad you had a fabuloys day, have you posted some pics here? Would love to see them!

I know its been a while since your wedding,but my niece is getting married on Carnival Feb 8th. and hoping you can give us some tips? Some of the pictures on your post were deleted. We were thinking of also putting in the gift bag a small note of some kind with who is in each cabin as we have 26 pp sailing and 12 cabins.

Thank you ahead of time.

[jaxie001]

Hi...what would you like to know? :)

[pamlh1]

Wow,Thank you for getting back to me so quickly. We are on the Imagination 4 day out of Long Beach CA. We are having about 75 pp and 26 are sailing with us. We are only doing the 1 hour reception. What do you think about the buffet for the guest before the wedding?

Pictures? Do they take a lot of time and are the good? Did they offer a package or did you buy just a few pictures? Did you have non-sailing guests? Was the cabin ready for the bride when you got on board? We have 3 Tuxes ordered hopefully they will be in the cabin waiting? The wedding takes place in one area and then you move some place else?

Thank you I'm sure we have a million more questions.

[jaxie001]

Ohhh boy i really wish i had answers and i feel so bad i cant really answer all yours :( we used an outside vendor and actually got married off the ship. Im going to go back and find a couple gals i know did the on board thing and will be way more helpful than i.....brb

[jaxie001]

These ladies are around regularly and should be more informative to an onboard than me....

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1774666

[jaxie001]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1916201&highlight=shatima

 

Sorry i couldnt be more helpful...best wishes to your neice and good luck!

[jaxie001]

taking a stroll down memory lane :)