I’m not going to do a vendor review, because well, there just weren’t enough of them. Instead, I’m going to do a Monday Morning Quarterback Review.
Under the “You Live and Learn” file
- Don’t wear super sticky lip gloss outside in the wind! I made this mistake and all through the ceremony my hair kept sticking to my lip gloss. Not very attractive!
- I had purchased flower wands for the bridesmaids well ahead of time. They came out gorgeous. However, they did not have the same look as the rest of the floral that day. They also got beat up in shipping from the seller to my home, to my sister’s, then to the boat. I keep looking at the pictures and wishing I had more consistency in the floral.
- The Grand Floridian. It has an excellent reputation, but for us it fell flat on our expectations.
- A meet and greet at 2:00 for our family on cruise departure day. I’m not sure if it was just too early, or a logistical nightmare, but no one (including DH and I) showed at the Promenade Lounge for various reasons.
- The water taxi from port to Atlantis on Paradise Island, takes a long, long time to get going if there’s not enough people on the boat. Keep in mind there’s also some walking involved. If you are running on limited time, maybe not so much the way to go. Otherwise, the views from the boat were gorgeous!
Things I would do over and over!
- The cruise itself! I’m going to go further into detail as to why this was the best wedding ever (ok, we may be biased!), but you give me a chance at a spot on DCL again, and hecks yes!
- The photo scavenger hunt. This was really a highlight of the whole trip. It brought everyone together, we all had a blast, and there are now lots of incriminating photos!
- The Castaway Cay ceremony. Being the cheapo depot that I am I would have rather had the ceremony on Deck 7 based solely on the cost. However, we had too many people, and we weren’t thrilled with having it indoors at the Cadillac Lounge. Having now done it now, there’s no question that Castaway Cay was the way to go for us. The scenery was just incredible, and the experience is once in a lifetime. Everyone on the island waved and wished us congratulations as we went by. There’s nothing like getting married with your toes in the sand. There are so many more opportunities for photography. Plus, you get back on the boat, and have pictures taken there as well! Was it worth the extra $1k? Yes sir!
- Ladies tea at the Grand Floridian. We made sundresses and big hats a ticket to entry! This was a lot of fun, and not overly expensive considering other options.
- I’ve said this before, but Old Key West was by far our favorite accommodations. We loved the fact that we had a kitchenette, our room was huge, and it was quiet. Our next stay will certainly be at a DVC resort.
- Atlantis! Oh yes we would go again! Aquaventure was just amazing. We could easily make an entire vacation by solely staying on Atlantis property, and many do!
The Monday Morning Quarterback Review
When we first got onboard there was an issue with our onboard credit. We both threw our hands in the air, and wondered if this was going to be the beginning of a disastrous cruise. As it turned out the issue was our TA’s, and was very quickly rectified. This, thankfully, was the last time we had such thoughts.
We met with Imran and he really helped quell many of our fears and concerns. He was really great with everything. He did everything he said he was going do, which says a lot.
Ok, I never thought I would say this in a trillion years, but going on a four day vacation with our entire family, was absolutely incredible. It was so great to see a familiar face at every turn. It was particularly wonderful because we never get to see our family. Even more surprisingly everyone got along, and both sides of our family were like old friends by the end of the cruise.
There’s something to be said about no one deciding where to go for dinner, how we’re going to get there, when to meet, who’s invited, and only to be exaggerated by family members who do not get along. blah. blah. blah. With the cruise, everyone knew where we were going to eat for the evening, and there were no deviations. Everyone even got exactly what they wanted to eat. We have several family members with specific food allergies, and this was a non-issue. Dinner became our central meeting place, the time to talk about what we did for the day, have a great meal and some fun. I really feel like we had four receptions, which was every night at dinner.
The amount of time we had with everyone was wonderful. A ha! We trapped them on a boat for four days, now they can’t leave, Muhahaha! Actually, there is some truth to this. If we had a traditional wedding, we might get everyone together for a few hours, dancing, and then kisses. We were really able to spend some quality time with all of our guests, and it was truly a vacation.
The ceremony was great. It was a bone of contention in the planning process that there was little control over the ceremony text. The minister chatted with DH for a bit prior, and talked about the ceremony elements. I’m glad this happed, so that the minister got to know a little bit more about us. The ceremony did go off without a hitch. It wasn’t too long either.
Palo was very nice for a reception. It was short and sweet. Had we done dancing I’m sure it would have been longer.
If I have a recommendation for a future bride that is to make sure you set aside some time, but not a lot, to do a group activity outside the wedding. The photo hunt was the turning point in our trip where no one felt awkward, everyone knew “that guy’s” name, and brought the whole group together for a common goal. We also had a ton of laughs along the way! You might do an excursion, an interactive show, or bridal shower games.
If you haven’t seen the video montage of the photo hunt, check it out here-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44DJXrmIbwE
Anytime I need a pick-me-up, I watch this!!
At the end of the cruise, DH and I had a chance to reflect. We loved the fact that there were surprises in our cabin every night. Most of the cast members had gone well out of their way to do anything for us. We felt like royalty, or at least not-so-distant cousins of the queen mum! There was everything already stated above. We were 100% certain in our minds that this was better for us than an Escape wedding. There were no longer any doubts. We had the time of our lives, and nothing, absolutely nothing could have been better.
)
What a perfect end to the day, fireworks.
Thanks for reading along!
The photo scavenger hunt was so much fun, if you do get a chance to do one it's well worth it!
looks like a lot of fun.....
What to do? Turn to the DIS! I read that you could get pretzel bread and cheddar cheese soup to go without a reservation, yipee! So I ask the outside hostess if we could do this, and she says only if there's an available server. We walk inside the lobby and ask again, and there's a server willing to help us out! We waited about 5 mins, and voila! We have an order to go! We also chatted with the host inside the restaurant who gave us the recipe for cheddar cheese soup. A few weeks later DH made the recipe which did come out delicious!
Let's find out!
Since I wasn't paying attention I didn't write down the directions or memorize them, so suddenly we were high and dry! 
To add to this when we finally got off and had to walk home, one of the wheels on our larger bags broke. 
So, to all you future brides, avoid public transportation!
