Last minute planned wedding is just perfect

[bwchippie]

Warning, long review, but hopefully good reading!:)

 

Our cruise and wedding on Barbados 32/12/08 was booked and arranged only six weeks prior to the wedding date after our original plans to get married on St. Thomas using TWE, whilst on a princess cruise turned into a nightmare for various reasons. (see previous thread on following link) http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=873334

 

As the wedding day drew nearer we were nervous about how it would turn out, given all that had happened in the 12 months previous but decided to take a view that whatever happened we would enjoy the day. Our worries were unfounded, it was perfect.

 

We had booked the wedding through "weddings beyond your imagination" based on Barbados and dealt with Lisa, the owner.

http://www.barbadosweddings.com/

 

Lisa pointed out at the time of booking that she was incredibly busy with existing clients but assured us that she had booked our date and from around 2-3 weeks prior to and up to sailing Lisa agreed all our arrangements and confirmed everything promptly.

 

The big day arrived and we had the morning to ourselves as the wedding was booked for late afternoon to catch the sunset for our pictures. We spent some time in the port shops at Bridgtown before returning to the ship in time for Hilary's hair and makeup appointments onboard our ship (Ocean Village)

 

I had not seen her dress until the moment she walked into the oval bar on the ship where I was waiting with my dad. It was an emotional moment for both of us and she looked beautiful.

We made our way ashore where we were to be met at the ships gangway by a limo, to take us to the courthouse for our marriage licence application. the limo was delayed by port authorities but arrived soon after and out stepped Lisa who greeted us. We got into the car accompanied by cheers from passengers and ships staff who had gathered on the gangway and the pier

A short limo ride by ourselves got us to "the post office" where Lisa met us and showed us up to the registrars office, the whole application process took only 10 - 15 minutes! before being shown back to the limo for our ride to our wedding ceremony destination "The Restaurant at Southsea," St. Lawrence Gap on the south east of the island.

 

Our arrival was filmed by our videographers and our photographer "steven" greeted us together with Lisa, who presented us with our bouquet and buttonhole, we posed for some pictures and were directed to our waiting relatives whom had previously arrived by taxi.

We had a brief moment to ourselves to view the beautiful location, consisting of a small secluded beach, gardens and small cliff terrace, whilst listening to the sound of a solo steel pan player, before being introduced to pastor "bent" who was to conduct our ceremony.

The weather was perfect, bright sunshine accompanied by a cool breeze from the sea with waves breaking gently on the shore, it was hard to imagine a more romantic setting.

Next we were guided to the floral arch, set up on the beach, where we were read some beautiful readings by the minister followed by our exchange of vows.

After our vows and exchange of rings we were pronounced husband and wife and were congratulated by all. We took a brief stroll on the beach for more video and photos in various locations before being guided back to the terrace for signing of the marriage certificate, and for our sand ceremony, again conducted by pastor Bent.

Cutting the cake and a champagne toast followed together with more photos and video. We were left feeling very special by both the videographers and the photographer who all treated us like celebrities and who produced the most fantastic pictures and video. The last photo in our album is one of my personal favourites as steven captured the moment perfectly with the sun setting in the sky, the two of us standing on a deserted beach, with "Cunard's Queen Victoria" leaving port in the background and situated perfectly centred on the horizon. Click on tthe picture below to view our wedding pictuures.

Lisa had given us a truly memorable day and it was not over yet. Our limo transfered us back to the gangway of the ship where we were greeted by more passengers and crew.

We went to the bar for a drink and I had a quick change of clothes into more formal wear for a photocall around the ship arranged with the ships photographer, everywhere we went we were met by more congratulations, culminating in a photo in the ships atrium accompanied by a dedicated song played by the ships resident duo and a round of applause by the gathered audience.

The night was concluded by a meal in the ships premium bistro where we were presented with a "james Martin" (U.K. celebrity chef) signed menu.

 

The following night was xmas eve where following his performance on stage and a chance meeting in the corridor the .u.k. "x factor" runner up "Andy Abrahams" was nice enough to meet up with us later to pose for a couple of pictuures with us.

 

One week later we were back in Barbados ready for our trip home. whilst on board we were able to choose our pictures via web hosting and were really pleased to be able to meet Lisa on the dockside again who had both our photo album (c/w c.d.rom) and our completed wedding dvd, and to our surprise our fully complete officially stamped Barbados wedding cetificate, all produced and obtained within a week within which was xmas day and boxing day.

 

To sum up our day was fantastic, beautiful, stress free and will stay in our memories forever. Thanks to Lisa, and all who contributed to our day.:)

[simpers]

Wow what wonderful photos..... sorry but did not meet up with you both. we were on the same cruise as you.. Congratulations to you X

[bwchippie]

Wow what wonderful photos..... sorry but did not meet up with you both. we were on the same cruise as you.. Congratulations to you X

 

did you see us on the day onboard????

[ShedQueen77]

I'm so glad your day went well! We loved Steven and Russell (the videographer) as well. They really made our day so fun. They were our witnesses as well because we got married with just the two of us.

 

Congratulations!

[harrodsfan]

What a gorgeous wedding. your pictures were spectacular. you can tell how happy you are.

[txtwinmom]

The photos were gorgeous and you both look so happy. I am glad you had a wonderful day and hope you have a wonderful life together.

[bwchippie]

yes we had a wonderful day!!!!!!!!!:):)