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Is Anyone (Else) Thinking of A Wedding for 2022?


runner2013
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Hi all, 

My boyfriend proposed on New Year's Day and whenever we've 'talked' about a wedding in the past, it's always been on a cruise ship. After almost 2 weeks of discussion we've decided to take the leap and book a Princess Wedding for May of 2022.  Before everyone says we are crazy, we are going into this with our eyes wide open. We are well aware how many things can go wrong, from the Pandemic putting everything back into serious lockdown, to friends and family not going for health, personal, or financial reasons. We are a bit older and an 'intimate feel' wedding with fewer people is what we want anyway, so if we end up with a handful sailing with us we are ok with that.  We are not naive to possible postponements, or the fact there likely will be certain health protocols in place while onboard. Our travel agent has been a huge help with all our concerns and questions, and we are purchasing travel insurance as we always do before cruising. We've read the fine print in the contracts and are at peace with our choice. We will also be stressing to our guests all the things to seriously consider before deciding to attend.( We're going to have a small at home reception when we return for those who couldn't make it. A seven day cruise from a port they would have to fly to is a lot to ask, and we know not everyone has the time, money, etc to come). 

I've been reading the postings here for quite a while now, (a lot longer than 2 weeks for sure) and have gotten some really good ideas-and advice- from past brides, and I thought I would post my own situation in the hopes there might be others out there who are thinking of taking the leap and booking a wedding as well. 

Hopefully things work out for us all. Either as a new or forced re-booking. 

Patty

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hello and congrats!

 

We were supposed to get married on a sailing last April 2020 which was canceled.....then we switched it to Aug. 2020 and that was canceled.  Switched it again to April 2021 but the ship (Odyssey) was not going to be ready so we switched it to April 2021 to another ship....but before it was canceled we ended up switching it to Aug. 2021 and we are crossing our fingers that this cruise will go out.

 

With the hopes of the vaccines being in large abundance by the middle of June we have high hopes of it happening.

 

One good thing is with all the Future Cruise Certificates we were able to go from a Junior Suite to a 2-bedroom Grand Suite.  So we are crossing our fingers! 

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Hello Jeepster, 

Congrats on your upcoming wedding as well!! I can't imagine how nerve wracking this has been for you. I'm sorry you've had to deal with so much anxiety and confusion on top of planning a wedding. 

Unfortunately I've just read today several cruise lines have canceled sailings until the end of May.  Princess has cancelled their Caribbean sailings until the end of June 2021, and offered to automatically move  people to the same itineraries in May and June of 2022. This could potentially  fill up the ship we are on if people choose to take Princess up on their offer. Yikes to that😵 

Hopefully you won't be impacted by Royal's decisions  as well. (Though I will say snagging a  Grand Suite is awesome, it stinks you had to go through everything you did to get it) Anyway,  I'll keep my fingers crossed for you 🤞

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Thank you Runner2013!

 

It's been so frustrating since we have to change everything thru the cruiseline and also to with the Royal Celebrations company that does the weddings.....so double the work.  We probably would have just gotten married at the courthouse but since we can't get a refund for the wedding license with the Bahamas Government which cost around $1000. so we just keep switching the date. 

 

I'm hoping even if they cancel until July 1...they will still go in August.  The ship we are going on is only sailing 2 times a month out of Miami...so if they do go starting July 1 there will be only 2 sailings before us.  Even if they go out as of Aug 1 we will be the first sailing.  The best thing is I see since there is a 10 day break between each sailing at least the ship will be cleaned properly and we don't have to wait for every one else to get off....so maybe they can start letting us on earlier like starting 8am?!?!

 

 

Our next date if Aug. doesn't work out will have to be last week of Nov. or first week of Dec.

 

Good luck with everything with your planning also!....Hopefully things will start looking better by the end of May......hopefully!

 

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Yes my fiancé and I are looking at a 2022 cruise wedding in August. We are postponing booking until this summer to hopefully see some news about the UK travel as we will be having guests from the UK on our European Cruise.

 

How have you done your wedding invitations I'm struggling on how to word them admist all the conventional invitations that just don't seem to work.

 

Edited by SweetFury
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Sweetfury,

I know what you mean about the Save The Dates and Invitations. Everything seems to be  geared towards the 'one day' thing. 

Our STD's are going out this May to give people plenty of time to save and plan. I  found something I think will work for us. 

Basically it says ' Pack Your Bags"

                                 and Save The Dates

                                 for the wedding of

                                     Patty & John

                                   Aboard the Caribbean Princess

                                    May 30th, 2022

                              Cruise Dates May28th-June 4th

 

Then I have the url for our wedding website and the usual 'formal invition to follow"  comments. 

We are keeping our wedding small, and we've verbally let everyone know already so it wouldn't come as a total surprise when the std's  went out. 

Our wedding website is very info heavy. We're working with a travel agent and she has a price page for cabins, we will have a lodging page for the hotels rooms we block off later on, a Question and Answer page, etc.  We're hoping the more info we put on it the fewer phone calls and texts we get 🤞.

 

  

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well I just got an email from an Executive from Royal saying that even thou they think cruises will be going out in limited capacity starting July 4th they are not allowing weddings for a couple of months after that date....which mean our Aug. 8th wedding has been changed again (5 times canceled).

 

We first started planning our wedding in June of 2019....first booked wedding was going to be April 26th 2020 but that was canceled...then we switched to Aug. 2020 but that was canceled.  We then switched it to be on the Odyssey for April 8th 2021...but due to the Pandemic and building of the ship was going slower than expected they said it wouldn't be ready for that date in Oct. so we had to switch it again to be April 21 on Oasis......which was then canceled back in Jan.  We then switched it to Aug. 8th back on the same ship we were orginally picked for the April 26th 2020......and that was this most recent email from Royal about not allowing weddings!

 

So now we moved it to the Oct 17th sailing on the same ship......hopefully this one works out because if not this is the last sailing this ship will do before it moves from Miami to Orlando.

 

I am hopefully for this one because I think cruising will start again at the latest in August.

US has almost 50% of the population 18 and over vaccinated with at least the first shot....so by my calculations over 18 should be fully vaccinated by the end of June (of people that want it).

 

I'm crossing my fingers for this date!!! and pray everyone else's wedding goes as planned also!

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The cost for a marriage license in the Bahamas is $120.  Why were you charged so much?

A ten day break between cruises seems long.  Could the ship be chartered during that time?

Best of luck; you’ve waited a long time.

Edited by 6rugrats
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I have booked our Alaskan wedding cruise for July 2022. We have chosen the new Discovery Princess. I don’t expect many friends or family will join us, but my son, 2 grandkids and my best friend have also booked. I hope they aren’t still canceling cruises by then and things are closer to our old normal. 

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On 4/14/2021 at 8:25 AM, 6rugrats said:

The cost for a marriage license in the Bahamas is $120.  Why were you charged so much?

A ten day break between cruises seems long.  Could the ship be chartered during that time?

Best of luck; you’ve waited a long time.

I think it might be the cost for the entire process of setting up the paperwork and license...since it will be done at sea alot more work is needed for the license to be official.  That's what the cost is thru the Royal Celebrations company that does all the planning and setting up on the cruise ships.

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On 4/15/2021 at 3:58 AM, clc2853 said:

I have booked our Alaskan wedding cruise for July 2022. We have chosen the new Discovery Princess. I don’t expect many friends or family will join us, but my son, 2 grandkids and my best friend have also booked. I hope they aren’t still canceling cruises by then and things are closer to our old normal. 

If cruising isn't happening before Jan 22 than I don't think there will be cruising left for us to worry about.

 

I mean they need to start by July 1 of this year!  The CDC needs to open it up now!  To many months have gone by!  I think the airlines has more sickness and disease with recirculated air than the cruiselines do!...and at least on a ship you can self-distance inside your cabin...on an airline with 3 people in each row how can you do that?  The CDC is now a joke!

Edited by thjeepster
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Thjeepster,

I am so sorry you've had to deal with another cancellation yet again. You both must be so frustrated at this point. I hope Royal is making it up to you in some way. 

Sadly, here's something I did not know until the other day. The CDC has a  No Sail Order in effect until November 1st, and just today they also extended the Public Health Emergency ruling, which was set to expire April 21st, for another 90 days. So basically it sounds like they are refusing to let ships sail in the U.S. until at least the middle of July😭.  Even if they finally let them go at that point, who knows what type of restrictions will be in place, or even if they will allow 'real' passengers or just test cruises. It really makes no sense that planes, trains, and bus travel, theme parks and resorts, etc, have  been given the green light with 'precautions' in place but cruises are still completely shut down. Maybe the CDC knows something the rest of us don't?

On a happier note, I see you're on Indy for your wedding. Have you been on her before? She's a great ship, I really enjoyed her. You will get some amazing pictures all over the ship.

Hang in there, your wedding WILL happen, and it will be everything you've been hoping for.🤞

 

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On 4/19/2021 at 4:52 PM, runner2013 said:

Thjeepster,

I am so sorry you've had to deal with another cancellation yet again. You both must be so frustrated at this point. I hope Royal is making it up to you in some way. 

Sadly, here's something I did not know until the other day. The CDC has a  No Sail Order in effect until November 1st, and just today they also extended the Public Health Emergency ruling, which was set to expire April 21st, for another 90 days. So basically it sounds like they are refusing to let ships sail in the U.S. until at least the middle of July😭.  Even if they finally let them go at that point, who knows what type of restrictions will be in place, or even if they will allow 'real' passengers or just test cruises. It really makes no sense that planes, trains, and bus travel, theme parks and resorts, etc, have  been given the green light with 'precautions' in place but cruises are still completely shut down. Maybe the CDC knows something the rest of us don't?

On a happier note, I see you're on Indy for your wedding. Have you been on her before? She's a great ship, I really enjoyed her. You will get some amazing pictures all over the ship.

Hang in there, your wedding WILL happen, and it will be everything you've been hoping for.🤞

 

Thank you for the well wishes!!

I think the CDC has it out for the Cruise industry!  I mean if they are that worried force the cruiselines to mandate vaccines for everyone!.....Hell at this point I will even wear a mask for everything outside of my cabin and dining room!

I mean they can't stop this forever or cruises will be gone!

I figured if they did start mid-July (test cruises) then by Sept. 1st or the middle of Sept. cruises should have close to 75% to full capacity. 

I will totally understand if they remove some activities on the ship....that's fine. I would be happy to relax in my room/balcony and outside in the open air.

 

Luckily the wedding company/Royal has given us 30% off the wedding package and $200. OBC....plus a couple of extra bottles of champagne for us!

 

Indy is an amazing ship....we were on her like 4 or 5 years ago and loved her.....can't wait to see the upgrades since we were on her last.

 

We are praying it happens in Oct. because that is the last sailing for her before she moves to another port.  In that case we will switch maybe back to Odyssey  in Dec.

 

Thanks again for the well wishes!!!

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  • 1 month later...
On 4/22/2021 at 11:39 AM, thjeepster said:

Thank you for the well wishes!!

I think the CDC has it out for the Cruise industry!  I mean if they are that worried force the cruiselines to mandate vaccines for everyone!.....Hell at this point I will even wear a mask for everything outside of my cabin and dining room!

I mean they can't stop this forever or cruises will be gone!

I figured if they did start mid-July (test cruises) then by Sept. 1st or the middle of Sept. cruises should have close to 75% to full capacity. 

I will totally understand if they remove some activities on the ship....that's fine. I would be happy to relax in my room/balcony and outside in the open air.

 

Luckily the wedding company/Royal has given us 30% off the wedding package and $200. OBC....plus a couple of extra bottles of champagne for us!

 

Indy is an amazing ship....we were on her like 4 or 5 years ago and loved her.....can't wait to see the upgrades since we were on her last.

 

We are praying it happens in Oct. because that is the last sailing for her before she moves to another port.  In that case we will switch maybe back to Odyssey  in Dec.

 

Thanks again for the well wishes!!!

 

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Thjeepster, 

I have been thinking of you these past few weeks.  It looks like cruises will be happening in July or August, so hopefully you will get your wedding at sea after all this time.  Granted you'll have to be vaccinated- (I read today they came out with a statement anyone 12 and older will need their shots)-but at this point I feel it's a small price to pay to finally have it happen. 

Patty

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 5/25/2021 at 6:19 PM, runner2013 said:

Thjeepster, 

I have been thinking of you these past few weeks.  It looks like cruises will be happening in July or August, so hopefully you will get your wedding at sea after all this time.  Granted you'll have to be vaccinated- (I read today they came out with a statement anyone 12 and older will need their shots)-but at this point I feel it's a small price to pay to finally have it happen. 

Patty

Hello again!

Well it switched again....same day (hopefully) but we went from Indy to Odyssey.  But of course Odyssey just had like 9 crew members get COVID and now they are not sailing until 8/14.  I just looked and there are exactly 8 sailings before ours.  Hopefully this all works out.

 

Now it's the big battle with the governor here in Florida.  He doesn't any business to require vaccines...which can cause the cruises to look elsewhere...if that's the case we are sunk!

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Oh no Thjeepster,!! 

 I read about the crew members on Odyssey , what a frustrating situation this is for everybody involved. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you, once more of Royal's ships start sailing things will fall into place. 

 

 

 

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On 2/13/2021 at 10:58 AM, runner2013 said:

Hi all, 

My boyfriend proposed on New Year's Day and whenever we've 'talked' about a wedding in the past, it's always been on a cruise ship. After almost 2 weeks of discussion we've decided to take the leap and book a Princess Wedding for May of 2022.  Before everyone says we are crazy, we are going into this with our eyes wide open. We are well aware how many things can go wrong, from the Pandemic putting everything back into serious lockdown, to friends and family not going for health, personal, or financial reasons. We are a bit older and an 'intimate feel' wedding with fewer people is what we want anyway, so if we end up with a handful sailing with us we are ok with that.  We are not naive to possible postponements, or the fact there likely will be certain health protocols in place while onboard. Our travel agent has been a huge help with all our concerns and questions, and we are purchasing travel insurance as we always do before cruising. We've read the fine print in the contracts and are at peace with our choice. We will also be stressing to our guests all the things to seriously consider before deciding to attend.( We're going to have a small at home reception when we return for those who couldn't make it. A seven day cruise from a port they would have to fly to is a lot to ask, and we know not everyone has the time, money, etc to come). 

I've been reading the postings here for quite a while now, (a lot longer than 2 weeks for sure) and have gotten some really good ideas-and advice- from past brides, and I thought I would post my own situation in the hopes there might be others out there who are thinking of taking the leap and booking a wedding as well. 

Hopefully things work out for us all. Either as a new or forced re-booking. 

Patty

 

 

Princess is a great way to do an intimate wedding. We jumped on a seven-day cruise for our wedding in 2018 and scheduled it to occur on a formal night so everyone could have two reasons to be dressed up.
 

If you don’t want to pay the fees to be legally wed per Barbados law (the fee is crazy for what actually happens) have a private, secret wedding pre or post cruise. We did.  It just didn’t make sense to send so much personal info through many hands for us. It can be a secret shared between the two of you. 
 

Word of caution… if you create a welcome letter and app with details about a meet up for sail away, wedding details, etc… Some (ahem… almost all of our guests) will not read it. Just roll with everything… the stories will crack you up later. The only thing that is important is the actual ceremony.
 

Some lessons learned/ideas. Your flowers and cake may not end up how you expect. We brought a custom topper to be the focus of the cake (ask for it before you leave the venue or buy an inexpensive one) and hired someone to make all bouquets out of paper clay (think like sugar flowers but more flexible and less breakable). We also had a wedding certificate for the parents to sign. Bring a portable music device (an iPod is wonderful) with your music. You don’t have to go with what the contract has.

 

Your travel agent can work wonders, too. Ours managed to get our party of 13 in one corner of Crown Grill for a fab wedding dinner. I will say we ended up having another, small-ish “welcome home” party for those who could not make the cruise, too, so it is great that you are already thinking of that. 
 

Do photos in and around Crooners. You will be glad you did (I won’t spoil the surprise) and the staff will ensure the newlyweds get whatever cocktail they need (trust me, you may need one) in short order.
 

You will have to meet with a crew member who will act as your on-board planner if your wedding occurs during the cruise. If you are lucky, he or she will be an amazing fixer and will be a special escort to get you down to the chapel.

 

I opted to have a second dress for dinner. You do you but it was nice to ditch the veil and train for a chicer and fresher white evening gown. 

 

Also, the photo package is negotiable. Do not pay this fee in advance and negotiate for what you and your family need at a price you can afford.

 

With COVID, 2022 is a great plan and we hope you have an amazing cruise wedding!!

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SwankieG,

Thanks for the tips. Especially about the photographer. The basic package doesn't really have much to offer and I am being told by the wedding coordinator I 'should' be able to work something out timewise with the photographer once onboard. I'll be sure to remember Crooners bar for pics too. (honestly, the pics are one of the only things we really care about)

If things fall into place we will have the ceremony in Skywalker's lounge(where cocktails will be after the ceremony) or up top on a deck outside depending on weather.  We are also planning on just a dinner afterwards at Crown Grille with everyone. From the feedback we've received from friends and family so far we will probably top out with 18-20 people all total.

One of the reasons we picked a cruise was not wanting to deal with all the stress of making so many decisions around a land wedding. We're ok with a smaller cake and 'simple' flowers for me. We're not having bridesmades or ushers, and welcome the fact we can use their music or bring a few songs of our own. We just want something small and then to be able to spend the week celebrating with family and friends. 

 

 

 

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On 6/21/2021 at 2:03 PM, runner2013 said:

SwankieG,

Thanks for the tips. Especially about the photographer. The basic package doesn't really have much to offer and I am being told by the wedding coordinator I 'should' be able to work something out timewise with the photographer once onboard. I'll be sure to remember Crooners bar for pics too. (honestly, the pics are one of the only things we really care about)

If things fall into place we will have the ceremony in Skywalker's lounge(where cocktails will be after the ceremony) or up top on a deck outside depending on weather.  We are also planning on just a dinner afterwards at Crown Grille with everyone. From the feedback we've received from friends and family so far we will probably top out with 18-20 people all total.

One of the reasons we picked a cruise was not wanting to deal with all the stress of making so many decisions around a land wedding. We're ok with a smaller cake and 'simple' flowers for me. We're not having bridesmades or ushers, and welcome the fact we can use their music or bring a few songs of our own. We just want something small and then to be able to spend the week celebrating with family and friends. 

 

 

 

The cruise wedding was great. We didn’t have bridesmaids or ushers, either and just wanted our family to relax on board. 
 

We didn’t order the package at all but they still shot video and still photos and didn’t stop until we asked to stop. Our photographers (literally, we had two—that was a surprise) were great. We took photos all over the ship—inside and outside. We didn’t want the video but ended up getting it and we’re glad we did. It was a fun thing to view on our anniversary.

 

Crown Grille staff were amazing and made our group dinner very special. The wedding coordinator wasn’t great for setting that up but our travel agent moved mountains.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/20/2021 at 7:31 PM, SwankieG said:

 

Also, the photo package is negotiable. Do not pay this fee in advance and negotiate for what you and your family need at a price you can afford.

 

Be very much aware of what the photo package may cost. We met a wonderful couple from the UK, probably in their early 30s, that were getting married on board on our trans pacific cruise.  They were a blast, very excited for the wedding, and it was only them, no family, there was to be a celebration when they got home.

 

My biggest regret was that I did not have a camera with me at the time I was goimg down the glass elevator the day of the wedding, as I truly had the money shot in front of me.  Across the atrium the bride was getting in the elevator, there she was, all alone, looking as beautiful as any bride could, staring at her bouquet, and looking scared as hell.

 

Anyhow all of us same old culprits were hanging out as usual the next day at the pool deck.  The groom was so excited as they were going to get their photos shortly, send the images off to the relatives and what not.  A few hours later I saw the groom as asked to see the pictures, he was devistated.  They wanted 5k for the package, huge surprise.  Those were the only photos of their wedding.  Anyhow, in the end they negotiated the next day and got a reduced set for 2.5k, ugh.

 

If only they had known ahead of time.  There were about 20 of us that hung out.  My wife and I are both good photographers, and I'm sure a few others there were too.  We would have been more than happy to take a few hours out of a sea day and give them an SD card loaded with memories.  Honestly when I did see the photos they did purchase one can only say not all photographers are created equal.  I would have chosen much different locations.

 

Good luck, just putting this out there as something to be aware of, and an option to consider. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Only 86 more days until the cruise goes out and finally our wedding.

 

Finally paid off the cruise with our FCCs and still had credit left over for another cruise for next year!

 

Now we have to finalize all the on-board stuff and pay the final balance!!

 

Let pray this will go on as planned now.....7th time is hopefully the charm!!!

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Thjeepster, 

 

Congratulations!!! 

I'm so happy you will finally get to have your  wedding. You two have been waiting for for such a long time. I'm excited things are finally falling into place after everything you've been through. 

 

I still have little over 10 months to wait so we're basically in a holding pattern right now. We've got half the cruise paid off, have a good idea of what we want for cocktails and dinner, the save the dates have gone out and my dress has been ordered. We can't do much more until we know the head count, that should be some time in October when the invites go out. 

We're so excited to get back on the water we booked a 4 day trip for Jan 2022 on a different Princess ship(our wedding isn't until May 30th 2022 and our ship only does 7 day trips) as a trial run to see how things operate. I plan on asking lots of questions while on board 🙂

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  • 1 month later...

Been a long time lurker on the cruise critic board and this is my first post! I felt compelled to really reply to this one since someone else had similar thoughts to us! My fiancé and I are currently booked on a May 2022 cruise to Bermuda through Norwegian and are planning to get married on the island (not booked through Norwegian). It's still 9 months out and I'm already worried about it! It's a pretty small wedding so we're hoping by the time everyone has to pay in full we'll have a little bit more clear direction on where everything is going (though doubt it). I think as a backup we may look at just flying out there instead, but trying to be hopeful on a cruise with our friends and family 🙂. Luckily no save the dates to deal with as we just started a private facebook group with those that were invited. 

My dress is currently hanging in the closet just waiting to be altered once it is closer of course!

We are also from Massachusetts btw 🙂

Crossing fingers for everyone here planning to get married!!!

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On 8/25/2021 at 10:16 AM, PartOfYourWorld said:

Been a long time lurker on the cruise critic board and this is my first post! I felt compelled to really reply to this one since someone else had similar thoughts to us! My fiancé and I are currently booked on a May 2022 cruise to Bermuda through Norwegian and are planning to get married on the island (not booked through Norwegian). It's still 9 months out and I'm already worried about it! It's a pretty small wedding so we're hoping by the time everyone has to pay in full we'll have a little bit more clear direction on where everything is going (though doubt it). I think as a backup we may look at just flying out there instead, but trying to be hopeful on a cruise with our friends and family 🙂. Luckily no save the dates to deal with as we just started a private facebook group with those that were invited. 

My dress is currently hanging in the closet just waiting to be altered once it is closer of course!

We are also from Massachusetts btw 🙂

Crossing fingers for everyone here planning to get married!!!

Congratulations on getting married. A wedding in Bermuda sounds beautiful. I'm also getting married in May 2022 on the 30th. What is your date?. 

Time seems to by flying by, I can't believe its only 9 months away now. 😀

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