A Grand Princess Wedding - Part 3

[Nauti-Lady]

Part 3

 

DAY 2 – WEDDING DAY & A BEAUTIFUL DAY AT SEA

Got a morning call that the Groom was not feeling well and it appeared I was somewhat to blame! As I said, we had group t-shirts made that the kids approved, but I also had special surprise T’s made for the Bride and Groom. Hers read “I’m the Bride – It’s all about ME!!”. His read: “I’m the Groom, Please Buy Me a Drink!” They thought they were great, BUT it seems that shirt was taken way too literally the evening before at a pool bar. Nice, fun loving passengers were buying him drinks. They were sending over shots of Patron, and who knows what else!! Fortunately, the groom’s parents arrived and saw the damage being done. His mother stripped him of the t-shirt there and then!

 

Anyway, the bride and groom had not planned on seeing each other on the day of the wedding, but my daughter is in the medical field and once she heard he was sick she couldn’t help but intervene. The vows about caring for each other in sickness and in health started just a little early!

 

After a nice leisurely breakfast my husband and I put together the candle décor we had for the dinner tables and delivered that and the wine we wanted served at dinner to the purser’s desk to be given to Gary and/or Louise. I went by my daughter’s room to get an update on the sick groom. Don’t know exactly what she gave him, but he was feeling much better and had gone down to his friends room to stay and get ready. I had learned that when they opened the tux bag, they couldn’t find the cuff links. Jen called Louise (her onboard coordinator) with the dilemma, and Louise had cufflinks to them within 30 minutes!. When I checked in, I found the bride relaxing with her bridesmaid on the balcony. They had just ordered room service lunch and all was well.

 

I went back to my cabin for a short rest before it was time to shower and dress. The ceremony was scheduled for 3:30. The groom, best man and fathers were told to be in the chapel at 3:00 and that Jennifer was to stay in her cabin and Louise would come and get her. I had myself ready at 2:15 and went to do a quick check on everything. I went to the chapel and it was fine. Lights on, A/C on, enough chairs, very pretty flowers were at the alter. Flowers ,ribbons & candles were at each row of chairs. Very nice! Next to Sabatini’s where I was assured we were expected at 6, and our wine had been delivered and was chilling! The staff loved our wine labels! I went up to Skywalker’s but another reception was going on, so it was not set up for us. This had me a little concerned but at this point I had to hope for the best. The A/c was on, a DJ was already playing and the wedding group was all on one side of the room. Went down to find the bride almost ready. No last minute panics, even her hair was cooperating! I helped her get her dress and jewelry on and then left her and her bridesmaid to wait for Louise to come get them. I arrived in the chapel about 10 minutes after 3. The piano player was already playing. The bouquet flowers and boutonnières had arrived. They were perfect. Just exactly what she had asked and hoped for. The photographer was there setting up and the Captain was there talking to the groom and fathers. Guest were now arriving. The onboard coordinator, Gary was there and asked if everything was ok. I told him it was great!

 

Louise brought my daughter in just a few minutes after 3 and the ceremony began. Captain Edward Perrin of Great Britain was our Captain. We couldn’t have asked for better. He’s absolutely charming. He put everyone at ease. He made the ceremony very relaxed with just the right touches of humor and seriousness. I had heard that these ceremonies were very quick, but he was very unrushed and really seemed to enjoy what he was doing. It was the perfect small, intimate ceremony. I could not have even imagined how enjoyable this part would be.

 

When the ceremony ended, the photographer took more pictures inside the chapel and then took all the guests outside to some steps to take group photos. I had a friend then direct our guests up to Skywalker’s to begin the celebration while the immediate family went for more pictures. Then the bride and groom were taken up to the bridge for pictures and the rest of us headed to Skywalker’s. The reception that I had seen earlier was still going on, but they had our group on the other side of the room and it really didn’t interfere. Actually, that group was finishing up and were gone about 30 minutes after we arrived. The waiters were already serving our guests beverages of their choice and the DJ was playing the music requested. After I ordered the biggest martini they had, I went to check on the cake. This had been set up on a table near the dance floor. If you read my planning page you will remember the hassles I went through trying to get a reasonably priced cake for 30 people. The cake sitting on the table looked EXACTLY like the picture we had faxed –it was gorgeous - only it was 10 times bigger. This cake would have easily fed 300 people! I couldn’t wait for my daughter to see it! They set up the cheese trays I ordered on a table just opposite the cake. These were extremely nice for the price and were well received so I was really glad I ordered them. The reception was scheduled for an hour and a half which seemed ok to most of us but afterwards my daughter felt that it wasn’t long enough. She said she felt there was so much picture taking that she really didn’t get to enjoy it enough before it was time to move to dinner.

 

Sabatini’s was nice. They had 6 tables set for our group. Each table had the candle centerpieces we made on them. No problems! If you haven’t been to Sabatini’s, it is a gourmet tasting menu. You order your main entrée only, but are served a wide variety of small tastes of many dishes. This got mixed reviews from the guests. Most thought it was fun, but the elderly people in our group hated it. They absolutely did not like being served items they didn’t order or the gourmet type foods and just couldn’t seem to open their eyes to a new experience. Oh well, with a group as diverse as ours was (ages 27 to 94), it would have probably been impossible to please everyone anyplace. The dinner is very slow paced and enjoyable. Our wines were graciously served. I believe we were supposed to have been charged corkage fees on the bottles we brought along, but after the cruise we noticed they weren’t on a bill. Maybe because I left a few bottles for the staff! After dinner, the enormous cake reappeared. Barely a dent had been made and even after dinner we had not cut into even a fourth of it, so we asked the waiters to serve wedding cake to everyone in the restaurant who wanted some. The only flaw of the night was that our photographer who had said he would drop in at the reception never showed! I had thought about having him paged, but then decided that we would just take our own photos of everyone at the tables. I gave my son this task.

 

The evening ended close to 9 with everyone each going their own way. Some to the nightclub, some to shows, and some to their cabins. I just remember breathing a BIG sigh of relief. I had a very happy daughter and a new son-in-law and that was what was most important!

 

 

To be continued……………….

[mandabear]

I get so excited reading about all of this! The details are so helpful. Sorry for the millions of questions, but here's one more... Would you recommend a short break between the ceremony and the reception so that the wedding party doesn't miss so much of it?

 

Thanks for the picture of the cards, they look great!

[finn1913]

Manda - you have mail!