Disney Cruise Brides - Let's Chat about our Weddings/VR's!

[Linden Lady]

Home from my Dream VR!! Here are a few photos. Our photographer was Grace and she was amazing!
I'll post more pics on my PJ. Just follow the link in my signature.
Hope everyone else has fun planning their special day!! If you guys have any questions, just ask.

 

[PrincessTinker11]

Home from my Dream VR!! Here are a few photos. Our photographer was Grace and she was amazing!
I'll post more pics on my PJ. Just follow the link in my signature.
Hope everyone else has fun planning their special day!! If you guys have any questions, just ask.

I LOVE your photos and dress, congratulations!!!!

 

[dolphingirl47]

Home from my Dream VR!! Here are a few photos. Our photographer was Grace and she was amazing!
I'll post more pics on my PJ. Just follow the link in my signature.
Hope everyone else has fun planning their special day!! If you guys have any questions, just ask.

The dress is absolutely amazing and I love the photos.

Corinna

 

[Goldeelox9]

Love your pictures!!! Your dress was so pretty!

 

[princessheather]

For the brides that had their pictures taken by disney photographers.. Did you guys come up with your own poses? or did the photographers help guide you? I know i have certian poses and shots i want to get and im afriad that by the time its ready for us to take pictures im just going to be so excited, nervous, happy, that i will forget everything lol.

 

[Linden Lady]

For the brides that had their pictures taken by disney photographers.. Did you guys come up with your own poses? or did the photographers help guide you? I know i have certian poses and shots i want to get and im afriad that by the time its ready for us to take pictures im just going to be so excited, nervous, happy, that i will forget everything lol.

A little bit of both. I got many ideas from just looking at other couple's photos on DIS. Other shots we just came up with on the fly! Just do what feels natural and hopefully your photographer will capture it. Those are the best type of pics IMO. My fave's usually turn out to be the ones we didn't "pose" for! I love those passionate and/or wistful looks that get frozen in time! The mickey hands were actually DH's idea and the photographer loved it! We had originally brought them to use for the sail away party but sent the kids back to the room to fetch them!
One thing I do regret: not enough pics with my own personal camera!
I carried it with me but became so excited/overwhelmed I forgot I even had it! So, I didn't get ANY pics of how our cake table looked or some of the other details I made, and brought with us to use, like the mickey topiary and pomander. And the ship photographer failed to get those pics either!
Photographer did get close-ups of cake, rings, flowers, etc. but I recommend trying to take those yourself with a personal camera (or having family do it). Those pics, while important, are more like a literary "fluff piece" - you want those shots, but at the same time, they seem like a "waste" of a photo credit when compared to shots that PEOPLE are actually in!
So, depending on which photo pkg you buy, getting those "extra" shots with your own camera may help keep the photo budget under control.
We got the smallest pkg but ended up adding on the CD of prints.
Didn't want to....it broke the bank...but there was just some shots we couldn't bear to leave behind! And some of those included those aforementioned "fluff pieces" since I failed to get those with my own camera!
25 photo credits seems like a decent amount of pics to take home. But when the photographer takes 200, you find yourself in quite the predicament!

 

[princessheather]

so say if you get the lowest package and buy a CD and the photographer takes 100 + photos, you get all the photos he/she took on the CD? if thats the case i think its worth buying.

 

[Linden Lady]

so say if you get the lowest package and buy a CD and the photographer takes 100 + photos, you get all the photos he/she took on the CD? if thats the case i think its worth buying.

Yep. The lowest pkg is $349 and the cd is $399 so you end up paying $748 for 20 5x7 prints, 5 8x 10 prints, 1 DCL folio that holds 1 8x10, and all photos taken on cd.
BUT, I think if you are going to spend that much, might as well upgrade to the $999 Magic Pkg.
It comes with a ton more prints (30 5x7, 30 8x10), 25 wedding announcements, 5x7 photo album, 8x10 photo album....AND the photo cd!
REALLY wanted to just go ahead and do that but couldn't talk DH into spending the extra $251.
If this had been our WEDDING and not just a VR, we totally would've opted for the largest pkg!

 

[stl_figment]

To those who used Disney Photography on the ships....

Did you have enough time to get all the pictures you wanted without paying for extra time?

Where did they take photos? (i.e., Castaway Cay/Reception on Ship/Photos around ship)

Did anyone pay for extra time? How much did it cost?

And if you buy the photo CD - does it include the copyright to print our own pictures?

Thanks so much! I appreciate everyone's help.

 

[Linden Lady]

To those who used Disney Photography on the ships....

Did you have enough time to get all the pictures you wanted without paying for extra time?

Where did they take photos? (i.e., Castaway Cay/Reception on Ship/Photos around ship)

Did anyone pay for extra time? How much did it cost?

And if you buy the photo CD - does it include the copyright to print our own pictures?

Thanks so much! I appreciate everyone's help.

Thankfully, time was never an issue for us so I'm not sure about the cost of extra time.
We did try to make a conscious effort to keep a steady pace though - not rush, but simply keep things moving forward. And we ended up having ample time.
I think it also helped that our boys are older and didn't present too many hassles during posing.
So, we took a few as a family and then let the boys play around while we finished up in peace!
The photographer took pictures in the outlook lounge, outside on deck, and in the lobby atrium.
I'm sure they'd take pics anywhere you chose. We found our photographer to be very pleasant and accommodating.
Also, if you happen to see any characters while you are roaming about the ship, the photographer will take those as well. And you don't even have to wait in line!
Yes, the photo cd does include the copyright.

 

[dbjess1009]

Hi all! I have a few questions if any one could help! We just recently decided to do a Disney Cruise wedding instead of our original big wedding...the stress level has gone way down and I am actually excited instead of freaking out! We're getting married on the Dec 1st sailing of the Dream & we're doing an onboard ceremony

So I'm falling behind on the invitations- but any advice on the reply cards? I have no idea how to word them!

Dream Brides- how was the cake & champagne reception? and were you able to all have dinner afterward together? What about after dinner? Dancing?

How did you have your guests book their cruise? Did you block off rooms (if that's possible) or did you just send them to the website??

Thanks for any help!

 

[Belleluvswdw]

Hi all! I have a few questions if any one could help! We just recently decided to do a Disney Cruise wedding instead of our original big wedding...the stress level has gone way down and I am actually excited instead of freaking out! We're getting married on the Dec 1st sailing of the Dream & we're doing an onboard ceremony

So I'm falling behind on the invitations- but any advice on the reply cards? I have no idea how to word them!

Dream Brides- how was the cake & champagne reception? and were you able to all have dinner afterward together? What about after dinner? Dancing?

How did you have your guests book their cruise? Did you block off rooms (if that's possible) or did you just send them to the website??

Thanks for any help!

Congrats on your upcoming cruise wedding! One of the reasons we chose to get married on the cruise (88 days and counting!) is the stress-free planning :

Obviously I can't answer the reception question because it hasn't happened yet, lol, but for our guests cabins, I had a wonderful Disney authorized travel agent handle all the reservations. She was able to link all the reservations for us and we could manage coordinating everything through her. That made everything even easier

I really enjoy the point and pick options DCL weddings provide. Having to choose florists, photogs, food sampling, musicians can be sooo overwhelming. I have every confidence in Disney and my TA that everything will be handled beautifully.

 

[stl_figment]

Hi all! I have a few questions if any one could help! We just recently decided to do a Disney Cruise wedding instead of our original big wedding...the stress level has gone way down and I am actually excited instead of freaking out! We're getting married on the Dec 1st sailing of the Dream & we're doing an onboard ceremony

So I'm falling behind on the invitations- but any advice on the reply cards? I have no idea how to word them!

Dream Brides- how was the cake & champagne reception? and were you able to all have dinner afterward together? What about after dinner? Dancing?

How did you have your guests book their cruise? Did you block off rooms (if that's possible) or did you just send them to the website??

Thanks for any help!

Hi.

I can't answer all of your questions - but I will answer what I can.

I am way way way behind in invitations. Just sent "save the dates" 3 months prior to my wedding - Oops. If you are having an "at home" reception, you may want to put something like "Join us for our Disney Dream Wedding or celebrate our union with us back in home town." On the reply card you can put "cruise" "reception" "both" "decline". I'm not good at wording but if you search for ideas on the internet its helped me.

For the people coming on the cruise. I let everyone book individually with the cruise lines and then called DCL to "link" the reservations together.

Our plan is to have our Palo dinner (just the two of us) on a different night of the cruise. So we will have the wedding, cake reception, day on beach, and dinner with our guests (in the standard dining room). Beyond that I'm going to let guests plan their own trips - but I come from a divorced family so I want to avoid lots of "mixed" time.

 

[princessheather]

Are you brides planing to wear you dress the whole time? im getting married on the onboard ceremony and it also just happens to be pirate night.. this should be interesting

 

[Goofy4Ever]

Are you brides planing to wear you dress the whole time? im getting married on the onboard ceremony and it also just happens to be pirate night.. this should be interesting

I haven't made a final decision yet. I keep going back n forth. I found some really cute dresses at David's for $99 that I tried on. I just don't want to get my dress too dirty because I am go to wear it again for our at home reception. If I do change it won't be until after dinner and just during our drinks n dancing at the clubs. I too am getting married on pirate night.

 

[Linden Lady]

I finished a TR detailing my ceremony on the new ship... with pictures!
I hope it will help other brides who have questions about the chain of events on the DCL Dream!
Here's the link:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2730200

 

[princessheather]

I haven't made a final decision yet. I keep going back n forth. I found some really cute dresses at David's for $99 that I tried on. I just don't want to get my dress too dirty because I am go to wear it again for our at home reception. If I do change it won't be until after dinner and just during our drinks n dancing at the clubs. I too am getting married on pirate night.

I think im going to just wear it the whole time, I spent a good amount on my dress and hey how many times do you get the chance to run around a cruise ship in a gorgeous wedding gown? lol

 

[Linden Lady]

I think im going to just wear it the whole time, I spent a good amount on my dress and hey how many times do you get the chance to run around a cruise ship in a gorgeous wedding gown? lol

I couldn't agree more! I wore mine from 5pm til 2am....and that STILL wasn't enough time, IMO. In fact, I almost shed a tear when I had to take it off.
AND if I could've worn it again, the very next day, I totally would have!
You feel like royalty and how many times do you get the opportunity to be treated as such!?!?

 

[stl_figment]

I'll have to take mine off (ceremony at 10 am) for spending some time on Castaway.

But I intend to put it back on later...

 

[Linden Lady]

PLUS:
I think you'll find that your dress really doesn't even get that dirty....unless you are planning a Castaway ceremony??
I was SO surprised at how clean the ship is kept! Crew members are constantly cleaning -- scrubbing windows, doors, and deck railing, vacuuming the hallways, clearing off tables, picking up trash, and otherwise just milling about. They also power wash the outside decks every night thus the floors always look spotless.
Granted my dress was pink, but it shows very little damage. Although, I did manage to snag a bit of the tulle at the very bottom. I just kept it picked up in my hands whenever possible....