ok.. Disney groom/prince (i guess) here, and i'm actually the one with more time, so i am doing some more research. I posted this in the general thread too, so forgive the duplication.
I love that you're so involved in the wedding planning! Lucky DF! lol You've come to the right place- this site is chock full of wonderful, caring, knowledgeable people. I've made some great friends on here and several will even be on our cruise!
Df and i just booked our
dcl wedding ceremony for 9/10/11 on castaway cay! We're super excited about it. It will be on the dream, which will still have that "new ship smell" and we are planning on having maybe 60 people there. Yes we know that's a lot for a cruise wedding, but big family on her side!
Congrats! We're having a Castaway Cay ceremony as well May 17, 2011 and i agree- new ship, gorgeous island, how can you beat that? With that many people, you guys will qualify to book a Grand Gathering. Use a disney certified travel agent to book everyone's reservations so they can link the ressies together as that makes life a lot easier. They'll handle everyone's airport transfers and dining assignments as well. I don't know what type of discount/gifts you get with a Grand Gathering, since we're only having 6 people attend. But I've heard others have gotten some nice deals this way.
i've started reading all 179 pages of this thing, and am a bit overwhelmed. So i have a few requests from you.
1) any tips or suggestions for the bride on the cruise? What did you regret doing or not doing? What would you have done different? Or didn't know you could do? I can answer this better after our cruise, but I've heard a few nice things to do are:
1. Bring some wine on board with you, order a cheese plate from room service (free!) and head up to a quiet deck and enjoy the sunset; 2. Room service also delivers cookies and milk at bedtime and will deliver coffee in insulated carafes that stays warm until morning- saves a trip up to get some! 3. Take a photo matte with you and leave it a guest services on board (leave them a few markers as well)- they'll have all the Disney characters sign it during the cruise and you pick it up on your last day. Throw your wedding photo in there and you've got an instant unique souvenir! 4. Get a pass for the Rainforest- it's in the spa, and I've heard it's a wonderful, relaxing experience. Everyone on here raves about it- men included! It's like $15 for a day pass or you can buy multiple days/trip long pass and save a little bit per use. 5. I mentioned bringing your own wine above, but that goes for any alcohol- saves big money! 6. Go to the DCL forum on here and look for your cruise date in the Cruise Meets section. You'll meet some great people who will be on your cruise with you! I've met quite a few people who will be on our cruise, and we're planning on meeting up our final day to share the remaining wedding cake! You probably won't have cake leftover with that many guests, but it's still nice to know people who will be on board. It's a great way to make friends before the trip, so you have even more people to share the fun with! Plus many of the people on there are DCL veterans- they have plenty of info and great ideas! In the DCL section, there are also a few threads about fun and unique things to do on the ship that aren't publicized- like the photo matte, cookies and milk, and wine and cheese plate I mentioned above. It's well worth the time to read through the many threads- you'll get lots of ideas about how to make your trip as special as possible without breaking the bank! 7. Remy or Palo- Dinner for 2 at Palo the night of the wedding comes with your package, but if you plan on spending that time with your family instead, which is understandable, or you have children attending (as Palo and Remy are 18yrs+) you can either try to book everyone at Palo, which I doubt because you have so many people and they're private dining room won't hold that many, or have dinner with everyone during the regular dining rotation and save your Palo night for a different night of the cruise (I'd say use it on the final evening- end the trip with a bang!). I haven't heard much about Remy, except that it will be more upscale and expensive than Palo.
2) i've seen a lot of your photographs here, and they are all amazing! I hear a lot of people talking about being a Disney bride gets you access to the park early to take pictures etc.. How does one get that accomplished? Obviously it has to be a Disney photo package. Where do i arrange this? Any recommendations? And cost?
I just booked our MK photo package with Shanda for May 20. It took her a few weeks to get back to me about it, but i heard she was out of the office for awhile. We're set for a 5am photo shoot, as we're thinking of adding on Animal Kingdom after MK. They do photo shoots at 5 or 6am, depending on how many parks you want to visit. The Disney photographer picks you up at the resort that morning, so if your DF is having hair or makeup done for it, have someone come to the resort very early- I've heard Beaute Speciale will come for just 1 person, their prices are reasonable, and they have rave reviews. I've also heard good things about Patricia Lejejune. She comes to the resort as well, but i believe she charges a travel fee and I've heard that recently she implicated a necessary minimum number of services (or people) to travel to the resort. The MK is $1100, and you can add an additional park for a total of $1400. Epcot, AK, and DHS are $650 per park, trash the dress sessions are $650 as well, but if you use resort pools instead of a water park you can do this through an outside photographer for cheaper. I've heard rave reviews about Disney's photographer Amy, and her pictures are amazing! I plan on requesting her. I don't know if they'll steam/clean the wedding attire between the cruise and photo shoot. I need to find that out as well, as i want to to a mini trash the dress on castaway cay and our MK pictures are the day after we arrive in WDW. No deposit is required to book the shoot and full payment is due 30 days prior.
3) does anyone know if disney will pick you up at the port and whisk you back to one of the hotels, or are you on your own?
Disney does have cruise line transfers. They're $35 per person one way or about $69 round trip. If you stay at the Hyatt Regency in MCO or a WDW resort the night before the cruise, they'll pick up your luggage and transport it to your stateroom like DME does for resort stays. With the amount of people you have going, assuming they're all flying into MCO, it may be cheaper overall to charter a bus, unless you're having everyone take care of their own transportation (which there's nothing wrong with- I'm doing it and I'm sure many others have as well). Having a Disney travel agent will make this process easier if your using Disney transfers- they'll take care of signing everyone up and it's one less headache you have to deal with. If you're going to WDW after, which it sounds like you are if you're thinking about a park photo shoot, Disney transportation can take you there as well, and again they'll take your luggage right to your room. I don't know how transportation works if you're staying off-site though. I would guess that you'd either have to rent a car and drive from the port to the off-site hotel, or take the Disney transportation back to the airport and pick up the hotel shuttle (assuming they have one) from there- but that would be really time consuming
thanks for your answers in advance!
Update! Just heard back form Shanda, and the island is ours! We're official!
Yay! Congrats! 
brian
other then that.. i think that there can be up to 3 weddings during one cruise. there could only be 1 castaway cay though. im a bride getting married for the first time and i say hey first come first serve. if you want to have your vow renewal im sure that there is a chance that another bride will be able to get married as well. good luck planning. i check this thread everyday to hear any updates 
; after your ceremony for the dinner .. how many people did you have eating with you? i received the dinning form and i have a total of 30 guest so far.
just saying... hahaha. im just kidding. i would be pretty upset though. but i guess if she hasnt said anything about it being a problem then it should be fine .. hopefully :: crossing fingers ::
We are also only having adults at the ceramony, but kids will be with us at dinner...so I have to make sure I am not charged for the them. I think you are good to go...because I am sure she would have said something by now. Good luck 
