Disney Cruise Brides!!! Part Deux!!

[JessieGlitter]

Originally Posted by DisDiana

I have a quick question if you guys don't mind chiming in: how did you handle/are you handling a reception back home if you have close friends and family that couldn't afford/aren't well enough to join you on your wedding cruise?

We're from Michigan and some friends and family are not able to join us on our destination wedding to the Bahamas. We consciously chose a more affordable cruise so we could have friends and family join us, but we're not naive enough to believe everyone will be able to make it.

I don't want to leave anyone out of the celebration, but we have a tight budget. So with 14 months left to plan, I'm wondering what everyone did?

Thanks in advance!

Diana

Hi Diana,
I dont know about everyone else but my hunny and I are on a tight budget as well especially since we have to have two wedding receptions (hes from cape cod and Im from NY) so we decided to have them in our backyards. As lame and birthday party-esque as that sounds, pinterest has been a HUGE help! Also if you look for people just starting their business, you can often get great deals in exchange for future references. Hope that helps!

[JessieGlitter]

Originally Posted by tellemarie

Quick question, brides! I know in the past customs didn't have a problem with taking the bouquet off the ship (since it was made state-side), however I've heard of a lot of brides recently that weren't allowed to bring theirs off. Is this the case now? I'd really wanted to preserve my bouquet so I'd rather just get a paper bouquet if I can't bring home the real one!

Thanks!

I've heard the same thing. As far as I know you can't take the bouquet off because it is cosidered a live plant and customs wont let you bring plants, animals or food off the boat. I think some brides are just super sneaky with their bouquet in the suitcase. You could always get a bouquet from them and bring a paper bouquet if you are worried...that way you are covered on both fronts.

[JBeanBunny]

Originally Posted by dclwonderprincess

Jillian I am the one who wanted pictures of the Cadillac Lounge.

As for the question about receptions, I'm having an at home reception the week after I get home from our honeymoon. I rented a community center near FD's family since they are a larger group than my own family. I ordered a combination of cake & cupcakes and will use my cake topper from the cruise. I cater for extra money so I'm doing all off the food with the assistance of a friend. I'm also making all of the decorations, I love mason jars so it 's a burlap & lace theme with mason jars. I made my invitations and RSVP cards, I love when hobby lobby has sales. I think my reception is going to cost me $500 total. When we registered at Target, they gave me a shutterfly coupon that I'm going to use to make the guest book with using pictures from the cruise.

Great! I'm just glad I remembered to take these photos! On our last day at sea, we had a champagne/ sparkling wine tasting that was hosted in the Cadillac Lounge! It's a really cool lounge- lots of red in the decor! If you can request another location onboard, I would request the Outlook Bar (I know, this is ALSO the name of the wedding locale on the Dream/Fantasy) It's a 'newly' renovated bar on deck 10 that is just gorgeous! It was renovated to be a nice warm indoor location to look out on the Alaskan cruises. It also has a spiral staircase leading down to the Cove Cafe on deck 9! Unfortunately, I didn't get any shots of that one, but I'm sure you can look it up online! The first thing I did when I walked in was say "This would be a gorgeous place for a wedding!"

Anywho, here's the link to those Cadillac Lounge photos for you! I hope they are helpful!
http://s1187.photobucket.com/albums/z393/JBeanBunny/
I added a photo of that spiral staircase from Cove Cafe up to the Outlook Bar for giggles! I'm kicking myself for not taking photos of the Outlook!!!

[momof3poohlovers]

Help! My dd decided finally she wants to get married on the Disney Cruise. Because of schedules, etc it needs to be in Sept. Luckily it isn't a busy time of year (hurricanes! ) but she really wanted to get married on Castaway Cay but it is already booked so she would have to get married on the ship. We have on hold right now Sept. 8th on the Disney Dream. Does anyone know if she got married on the ship if they would allow her on the island in her wedding dress so that we could take pictures on the island? She really wants wedding pictures on the island and if the Disney photographer won't take them, her soon-to-be FIL can take them. Is this possible? Thank you so much!

[JBeanBunny]

Originally Posted by momof3poohlovers

Help! My dd decided finally she wants to get married on the Disney Cruise. Because of schedules, etc it needs to be in Sept. Luckily it isn't a busy time of year (hurricanes! ) but she really wanted to get married on Castaway Cay but it is already booked so she would have to get married on the ship. We have on hold right now Sept. 8th on the Disney Dream. Does anyone know if she got married on the ship if they would allow her on the island in her wedding dress so that we could take pictures on the island? She really wants wedding pictures on the island and if the Disney photographer won't take them, her soon-to-be FIL can take them. Is this possible? Thank you so much!

Welcome! You've definitely come to the right place! I got married onboard the Disney Dream on 9/14 last year- I got married onboard while we were docked in Nassau, then the next morning we put on our wedding attire and took photos on Castaway Cay, too! If you click on the link in my signature, you can read up on my Planning Journal or just skip to the end with my Trip Report! I added TONS of photos of my onboard wedding in the D Lounge (we had a group too large for the Outlook or the Meridian Verandah) and there's those Castaway Cay photos, too! Everybody has their preferences, but for me, the onboard was my #1 choice and worked best for us! Let us know if you have any more questions

[dclwonderprincess]

Thanks for the pictures Jillian, they're very helpful.

[DisDiana]

Originally Posted by JessieGlitter

Hi Diana,
I dont know about everyone else but my hunny and I are on a tight budget as well especially since we have to have two wedding receptions (hes from cape cod and Im from NY) so we decided to have them in our backyards. As lame and birthday party-esque as that sounds, pinterest has been a HUGE help! Also if you look for people just starting their business, you can often get great deals in exchange for future references. Hope that helps!

This is how we're leaning. Thanks for your perspective!

[momof3poohlovers]

Originally Posted by JBeanBunny

Welcome! You've definitely come to the right place! I got married onboard the Disney Dream on 9/14 last year- I got married onboard while we were docked in Nassau, then the next morning we put on our wedding attire and took photos on Castaway Cay, too! If you click on the link in my signature, you can read up on my Planning Journal or just skip to the end with my Trip Report! I added TONS of photos of my onboard wedding in the D Lounge (we had a group too large for the Outlook or the Meridian Verandah) and there's those Castaway Cay photos, too! Everybody has their preferences, but for me, the onboard was my #1 choice and worked best for us! Let us know if you have any more questions

It's official!!! She decided that it was ok to get married on the ship as long as she could take pictures on the island in her dress! Thank you very much for answering my question so quickly. She will be getting married on the Aug. 8, 2013 sailing of the Dream. Our whole family is so excited.

I had a couple of questions, what are her options for where on the ship she can get married? Also, is it always the Captain who marries them? Would you recommend the ship photographer and what is a good photo package? Any other suggestions?

[JBeanBunny]

Originally Posted by momof3poohlovers

It's official!!! She decided that it was ok to get married on the ship as long as she could take pictures on the island in her dress! Thank you very much for answering my question so quickly. She will be getting married on the Aug. 8, 2013 sailing of the Dream. Our whole family is so excited.

I had a couple of questions, what are her options for where on the ship she can get married? Also, is it always the Captain who marries them? Would you recommend the ship photographer and what is a good photo package? Any other suggestions?

Congratulations! My timing was pure coincidence, but I'm so glad it was of prompt use to you! The two most common locations for onboard weddings on the Dream are in the Outlook, a secluded room in the faux smoke-stack. The other is the Meridian Verandah- at the aft of the ship up between Palo and Remy. Because of the guest count restrictions, I had mine in D-Lounge with 45 guests. It is most commonly the Captain who performs the ceremony, but it's not guaranteed- you may get one of the first officers instead if there's a reason the Captain can't be there... That being said, I don't think I've personally heard of any onboard brides who haven't had the Captain officiating!

I personally brought my own photographers aboard with me. I e-mailed Floridian based photographers until I was lucky enough to have one agree to come aboard with me for only the price of their cruise! I'd heard other brides have this same situation and it took me A LOT of searching and e-mailing to find this deal! The problem with the onboard photography is that the photographers aren't necessarily WEDDING photographers and there have been mixed reviews over the years- some have had great photographers and some have had mediocre photographers. The other issue with the onboard photography is that you're only allotted your photographer for about an hour or an hour and a half. You have to purchase additional time when you're submitting your planning guide- your DFTW coordinator can assist you with the current pricing. Another qualm I had about the onboard photography is that you have to select your wedding photos WHILE onboard the ship, usually the last night of your cruise... If you get any of the packages that DO NOT include the photo CD, then you run the risk of regretting your selections later on. If I were to go back and have onboard photography, I would have purchased the TOP package including the photo CD AND I would have purchased MORE time with the photographer. Now, if you are bringing family or a friend who is talented with photography, then you don't need to worry AS much, because you can go privately around the ship (And Castaway Cay!) to take photos and use inspiration photos from places like pinterest to recreate the look you like.

Coincidentally, I just had my Podcast from the Disney Weddings Podcast released today, so if you want to take a few minutes to hear about my experience, give it a listen!

http://disneyweddingpodcast.com/2013...llian-michael/

[bats]

Hi all .. exciting news to tell you, but shhhhhh it's a secret ok!!

The plan was to get married on the Fantasy in 2015, but the WBTA cruise was sooooooo cheap, we will probably opt for that one. We can't actually get married officially onboard as it's not sailing out of it's home port, but we can do a little quiet secret legal ceremony here in the UK before we leave, then have a nice ceremony onboard. It will be the DCL wedding day that we will consider to be our proper wedding day.

So, shhhhh, don't tell anyone yet as I've just got to sort out the money side of it (paying for other people too).
We have over 50 friends and family booked on the cruise already so it was a no brainer to have the ceremony on this one ... some may not have bene able to afford to cruise with us in 2015 as well as 2014.

If it all goes to plan, it's 19 months until my wedding and not 31!!

[JessieGlitter]

Originally Posted by bats

Hi all .. exciting news to tell you, but shhhhhh it's a secret ok!!

The plan was to get married on the Fantasy in 2015, but the WBTA cruise was sooooooo cheap, we will probably opt for that one. We can't actually get married officially onboard as it's not sailing out of it's home port, but we can do a little quiet secret legal ceremony here in the UK before we leave, then have a nice ceremony onboard. It will be the DCL wedding day that we will consider to be our proper wedding day.

So, shhhhh, don't tell anyone yet as I've just got to sort out the money side of it (paying for other people too).
We have over 50 friends and family booked on the cruise already so it was a no brainer to have the ceremony on this one ... some may not have bene able to afford to cruise with us in 2015 as well as 2014.

If it all goes to plan, it's 19 months until my wedding and not 31!!

Thats exactly what I did!! DF and I got legally married a month ago but we arent considering that our real wedding until August when we get married on the boat! SO SO SO Nice to have it done before hand!

[PixyDusted]

Originally Posted by momof3poohlovers

Help! My dd decided finally she wants to get married on the Disney Cruise. Because of schedules, etc it needs to be in Sept. Luckily it isn't a busy time of year (hurricanes! ) but she really wanted to get married on Castaway Cay but it is already booked so she would have to get married on the ship. We have on hold right now Sept. 8th on the Disney Dream. Does anyone know if she got married on the ship if they would allow her on the island in her wedding dress so that we could take pictures on the island? She really wants wedding pictures on the island and if the Disney photographer won't take them, her soon-to-be FIL can take them. Is this possible? Thank you so much!

That's amazing! CONGRATULATIONS! And Jillian's a great resource for advice. I can vouch for her being an a great person!

[JBeanBunny]

Originally Posted by bats

Hi all .. exciting news to tell you, but shhhhhh it's a secret ok!!

The plan was to get married on the Fantasy in 2015, but the WBTA cruise was sooooooo cheap, we will probably opt for that one. We can't actually get married officially onboard as it's not sailing out of it's home port, but we can do a little quiet secret legal ceremony here in the UK before we leave, then have a nice ceremony onboard. It will be the DCL wedding day that we will consider to be our proper wedding day.

So, shhhhh, don't tell anyone yet as I've just got to sort out the money side of it (paying for other people too).
We have over 50 friends and family booked on the cruise already so it was a no brainer to have the ceremony on this one ... some may not have bene able to afford to cruise with us in 2015 as well as 2014.

If it all goes to plan, it's 19 months until my wedding and not 31!!

How exciting!!! I want to do a transatlantic (or panama canal) repositioning cruise SO badly, but I don't think I could get that much time off of work! Which ship is that itinerary? Magic or Wonder? We got married onboard while docked in my home port of Port Canaveral, so we technically got married twice in two days!! We're celebrating our ceremony day as our anniversary date, too How exciting that you'll have 50+ guests with you! Mine was almost that big (45 guests) and I only had 3 nights on my sailing, so I didn't feel like I got to spend enough time with my guests! You shouldn't have that problem!!

Originally Posted by PixyDusted

That's amazing! CONGRATULATIONS! And Jillian's a great resource for advice. I can vouch for her being an a great person!

Awww, Mikkel! You're making me blush! I still wish I could've brought you along on my wedding cruise with me Let me know when you're @ WDW and maybe we can meet up sometime!

[bats]

Originally Posted by JessieGlitter

Thats exactly what I did!! DF and I got legally married a month ago but we arent considering that our real wedding until August when we get married on the boat! SO SO SO Nice to have it done before hand!

Our legal wedding will be the day before the cruise! Let's just hope it all goes to plan!

Originally Posted by JBeanBunny

How exciting!!! I want to do a transatlantic (or panama canal) repositioning cruise SO badly, but I don't think I could get that much time off of work! Which ship is that itinerary? Magic or Wonder? We got married onboard while docked in my home port of Port Canaveral, so we technically got married twice in two days!! We're celebrating our ceremony day as our anniversary date, too How exciting that you'll have 50+ guests with you! Mine was almost that big (45 guests) and I only had 3 nights on my sailing, so I didn't feel like I got to spend enough time with my guests! You shouldn't have that problem!!

Come on, book it .. it's sooo cheap! It'd be rude not to at that price believe me!
2 adults in an inside cabin (10c) is only $1500 ... for 2 weeks!
The Magic is doing the WBTA and the ports are:
Day 1 Barcelona
Day 2 At sea
Day 3 Malaga, Spain
Day 4 At sea
Day 5 At sea
Day 6 Tenerife, Canary islands .. great volcanic sands here
Day 7 At sea
Day 8 At sea
Day 9 At sea
Day 10 At sea
Day 11 At sea
Day 12 St Johns, Antigua
Day 13 St Maarten (where the planes land on your head!)
Day 14 St Kitts
Day 15 San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Flights back up to Orlando are around $140.
Bargain!!

I'm all booked with Meredith now by the way .. very helpful, but we've got ages yet so won't bother her just yet for more info!
Luckily, we're on the Magic this summer in the Med, so we can visit Sessions and speak to the current on board co-ordinator to see whats what and how things will go. meredith has put a 40 person limit on our ceremony, but she said a few extra would probably be fine ... if not, then it'll be 40, I can work with that number.

Jillian .. if I could ask about your music please. How many tunes did you choose and what was the one you would suggest to pay the most attention to for getting right (walk down aisle, first dance etc)?

Thanks
Joa

[andeesings]

Originally Posted by bats

Our legal wedding will be the day before the cruise! Let's just hope it all goes to plan!

Come on, book it .. it's sooo cheap! It'd be rude not to at that price believe me!
2 adults in an inside cabin (10c) is only $1500 ... for 2 weeks!

Joa

Wait.... What?? Where is THAT price? What cruise, what dates??