Back from Celebrity Infinity embarkation wedding

[cruiseknotter]

My wedding was wonderful and all my guests had so much fun! :)

I had an embarkation wedding in Vancouver on Celebrity Infinity. The ceremony was supposed to on the deck, but because it was extremely windy, the ceremony was moved to Constellation lounge. So the ceremony & reception took place at the same location. I had 24 guests including 15 sailing guests.

Below is how the preparations & wedding day went.

Rehearsal dinner/Quick reminder to guests

At the rehearsal dinner, we gave a quick reminder of the 2 cabin #s in which my fiancé and I will be prior to the ceremony (and reminding on passport, cruise boarding printout, limo pickup time, etc).

Important to sailing guests: separate check-in & carry-on bags

Important to non-sailing guests: cabin #s where they can change

Makeup/hair

My mom, bridesmaid and I went to get makeup/hair at 7am. We brought our dresses and the wedding favors/decorations with us, so these won’t get mixed with other luggage. Limo was going to pick us up on the way to the pier. Bringing what we need at the wedding was a smart idea. I realized how easily our stuff could be mixed with check-in luggage at the pier. (I was very focused until when I got to the pier, but then…)

My fiancé decided to wear suit before arriving at the pier, and glad he did because he had to do some running around just before the ceremony.

Limo/Check in

I arranged 2 limos and a trailer for luggage. When 1st limo (my fiancé was in) arrived before 10:30am, 2 coordinators were already waiting for us at the pier. I arrived probably around 10:40am on 2nd limo. The limo drivers were on top of everything – upon arrival, they told us to just pick up our carry on bags (tip: load carry on bags last) and immediately follow a coordinator to the check in counter, while the drivers and the porters handled our check in luggage. There was no wait for us. Another coordinator escorted us to the last security check in desk. Majority of my guests got on the ship before 11am.

When my fiancé and I (last ones boarding) were boarding at 11:10am, coordinators told us it was extremely windy to have a deck wedding, so asked if it’s okay to do it at the reception location. We said yes.

Cabins

I gave TWE 2 cabin #s (1 for me/female guests & the other for my fiancé/male guests to change). My cabin was already cleaned, but my fiancé’s cabin was being cleaned and the crew asked them to leave, so he used another cabin (next door) that was cleaned.

As I was walking to my cabin, my phone rang crazy from the non-sailing guests looking for me/wedding favors/cabins to relax or change clothes, etc. My fiancé was running around to find the favors. Apparently what happened was just before boarding, my guests, trying to help me, took my luggage and favors and they had no idea what those were. Anyway everything showed up and it was just a small hiccup.

Flowers

The coordinator delivered all the flowers to my cabin. After the wedding, I realize my fiancé’s boutonnière wasn’t the right one, but it’s okay. 5 min before the ceremony, my fiancé came to my cabin to look for his boutonnière. My fault again because I just handed bunch of boutonnière and corsage to a guest. Boutonnière and corsage look very similar.

Tip (duh!): use the cabin phone to call your guests (anyone) to have them pick up the flower and deliver to your fiancé & others. I was just sitting and waiting for someone to stop by.

Cake (photo attached)

My cake was SO pretty! The 2nd tier is a small cake that comes with the basic package. It’s made of fondant. Surprisingly very tasty. There was an ice sculpture that I didn't order (photo attached) next to the cake.

I lost the cake topper unfortunately. I didn’t realize until I packed at the end of the cruise. The coordinator asked if I want the remaining cake at our cabin and at the dinner table. I chose at the dinner table, but it never showed up. It was okay, too much food on the cruise anyway.

Reception/Buffet

I didn’t eat any food besides a piece of cake and OJ, but my guests said the food was excellent! Having a pianist was great and some guests danced to lovely piano songs.

I ordered 2 hour reception, but the waiters began closing the buffet half an hour early, which was okay because we had been partying after partying in Vancouver and everyone was tired (My fiancé and I were exhausted). Perhaps it was because of the ceremony location change, they had to get buffet/bar ready prior to the ceremony (half an hour earlier than scheduled).

Photography

I purchased 1 hour photo, but the photographer stayed until the end of reception. We decided to stay with our guests without going around the ship, and asked the photographer to take photos of our guests. The photographer gave us more than 10 8X11 prints of a group photo and many more 5X7 prints for our guests to bring home.

Please send me your email if you want to view my photos taken by the photographer.

Tips

My fiancé had his brother take care tips.

My family had so much fun and asked me to get married on cruise again! A few family who weren't happy with my cruise wedding idea now not only appreciate our weird wedding idea, but also they love cruising!

[ShedQueen77]

Congratulations! I'm so happy you had such a lovely day. Hopefully the "changed" attitude of your family and friends will help some of us keep the hope! :)

[finn1913]

Congratulations!

 

I would love to see your pictures! agasnick@yahoo.com

 

Cheers!

[sas80]

Who was your wedding contact? What person did you work with?

[cruiseknotter]

Who was your wedding contact? What person did you work with?

Ginette from TWE handled my wedding planning.

On my wedding day, 2 coordinators (1 of them was an officiant) helped us. Both were very helpful.

As we walked into the ship, the cruise event coordinator was waiting for us and greeted us, and a couple more staff from the cruise greeted us (I believe one of them was the manager of the buffet/waiters, and another one from the Celebrity Captain's club concierge service).

During the cruise, the cruise event coordinator helped us with setting up a group disembarkation, organizing a party in our suite at our request (no charge), etc. The concierge service lady got me and my fiance's royal caribbean membership transferred to Celebrity membership and invited us to the captain's dinner table. The cruise staff treated us special throughout the cruise!:)