Vow Renewal

[stingfancb]

We are planning a vow renewal for the 10 night cruise this Christmas. I was just wondering if anyone has done this and what kind of experience you had. There will only be 5 in our group, so it kinda limits what we do "reception" wise. We really don't want dinner at Palo that evening because we would rather be with the family (which includes our 16 year old). I have also booked the REAS package because of wanting the couples massage and figured the other things were just icing on the cake.
Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Cindy

 

[traycie2201]

I looked at this too but was out of budget take a look at key west they offer vow renewal private cruise with drinks / cake etc at sunset or beach renewals through dreamchasers and various others i just searched google for weddings in key west.

Good Luck

 

[rosemary123]

Hi there,

We renewed our vows on the Wonder in December 2003. Not eveything went to plan, but I am sure they have learnt lessons from our experience as I note the information they provide is different now.

I am sure Disney wll do their best for you, congratulations and have a wonderful time.

If you want to know anything specific, please ask.

Rosemary

 

[yellowlabfans]

Hi,

We renewed our vows in October on the Magic. Everything went well. Although it was expensive we felt it was worth it because of the wonderful memories we will always have! If you have any specific questions let me know. Good Luck!

 

[yellowlabfans]

I forgot to mention that we didn't want to have dinner in Palo on the renewal night either because we wanted to have dinner with DS. We were able to have the vow renewal planner make a reservation for us in Palo for brunch instead.
(You will still have to pay the $10.00 per person brunch fee yourself.)

Lory

 

[jilljill]

stingfancb, Did you book this package already or are you just looking into it? I think Stacey looked into doing the vow renewal and they were already booked.
You should give DCL a call to see if you can still book it.
Good luck.

 

[bridegirl]

Rosemary and Lory -

I would love to head about the good and bad of both of your experiences.

We will be renewing our vows on the Magic this November, and I would love to hear any tips or things to avoid!

How were the photos?
Did they have someone onboard to do your hair?
What did you wear?
Did it go smoothly?
Does the captain do the ceremony?
Which location did you choose?

Thank you so much in advance

Susy

 

[yellowlabfans]

Hi Susy,

1.) We loved the photos. We purchased the middle photo package initially, but then we bought additional photos after the fact at $6.95 each. Although they were expensive, we had never had "wedding pictures" before and so they were very important to us.
The day of our renewal the seas were rough and the wind was blowing! I mean blowing enough that we could only take 2 pictures outside with the photographer after the ceremony. We bought those pictures even though our hair is standing straight up, and they are 2 of our favorite pictures now! It just added to the memories!

2.) The concierge will make a hair appt. for you at the salon if you wish. The cost is not included. My hair was short and a style that was easy for me to do myself.

3.) I wore a floor length fitted gown. I chose not to wear a bridal gown . My dress was more of an evening dress.

4.) Our renewal went smoothly. The only snafu we had was that the cake wasn't delivered to us at dinner until the following night. (You have cake at the reception but then they take it away and are supposed to bring the rest to you at your dinner on the night of the reception.) We felt that this was a minor issue in the grand scheme of things.

5.) The captain did the ceremony. The ceremony was very sweet, although not long. The captain stays for a few minutes and then leaves. We were able to have a picture taken with him, and our son had a picture taken with him.

6.) The only choice we had as far as the location was Sessions.

Hope this helps!
Lory

 

[bridegirl]

Lory -

Thank you so much! It's great to hear from someone who's done it before.

I hope you don't mind a few more questions....

I guess they have an outdoor location on the ship - a private aft deck. If it wasn't so windy on your day - do you think it might have been nice to do it outside?

Was there someone on board to steam your dress?

Did the photographer shoot digital? Is it the 'regular' ships photographer?

Did you have any choices about the cake flavors and/or cake topper?

Do they make your flowers onboard? Before you sailed? Or do they have a florist onboard?

Did you have live music? Taped music? Any music?

Do you have any other advice about things to do or not do?

Thanks so much - I really appreciate it.

Susy

 

[stingfancb]

We have already booked the vow renewal. We were hoping that it could be out on the deck - was that an option for you (weather permitting,of course)? I'm happy about the Palo brunch. I, too, opted to not wear a bridal dress. It is an ivory colored street length cocktail dress. I was hoping to get some nice pictures as the ones for our wedding are not much to speak of. Cost was an issue, and we just had a relative take some. Nothing professional - I can see where the windy pics could become favorites - something definately to be remembered! Keep the tips coming - I really appreciate them.
Oh, just remembered. What about the music? Did they play what you had requested, or did you have change your choices?
Thanks.
cindy

 

[yellowlabfans]

Hi Cindy and Susy,
I don't mind at all.

I am not sure that they would have let us have it outside because it was never presented to us as an option, but you could ask.

My dress was of a fabric that didn't wrinkle but the concierge did ask ahead of time if I would need anything like steaming, etc.

The photographer used the regular ship camera.

We were able to talk to the wedding planner once we were on the ship about the cake flavor, style. etc. She made a special appt. with us to do that as well as go over details about the ceremony. She showed us a photo album that different choices about the cake. We had the mickey/minnie topper. I can email you a picture of it on the cake if you would like.

There were two choices as far as your style of boquet. You will get a planning packet before you go to fill out concerning flowers, music, etc.

There was a pianist who played the choices that we had selected in the planning packet.

If you would like more detail about anything let me know!

Lory

 

[stingfancb]

I have already filled out the planning thing with the flower choices, music, cake, etc. (I swear my parents didn't give me that many choices 22 years ago!!!). Anyway, I am so excited about doing this. Please email any photos that you would like to share.
stingfancb@aol.com

Cindy

 

[bridegirl]

Lory

Thank you so much for all the info!

I know they have already booked another vow renewal for our cruise - and they only do two per cruise - so I think we are it for thanksgiving this year on the magic.


I would love to see any photos you have!

Thanks again

Susy

 

[rosemary123]

Hi Susy,

I see you have already received lots of good info about the vow renewal, but here is mine, if it will help.

our renewal was on the Wonder last December in the Cadillac Lounge, as far as I am aware it has to be inside.

We had the big photo package and we were taken all around the ship afterwards, which was really nice being all dressed up and that. Unfortunately, we didnt have any pictures taken with the characters, which was a shame.

I had an ivory sleeveless dress, chiffon, sort of bridal/evening wear, made for me. I had an ivory stole, a tiara and some glittery jewelry.

My daughter and my sons girlfriend were my bridesmaid. They wore a long cocktail dress in creams and fawn colours. I made their feathery headress and also some dolly bags.

I made all my invitations, order of service and place cards for the table. There were 11 of us travelling so I made the most of it. We all had disney character names so on the place cards I put their disney name on it. I also bought some flashing Mickey mouse small badges that were flashing when we went into Palo's.

The cake, we had a choice, can't remember what it was, but to be honest it was a bit, well, stodgy. We had our cake at the reception but never saw it again - oh dear.

The captain did the cereomy, but as we did, as I say, have a few problems, I note on the web site now it does not state that the captain will do it now.

The pianist played music, and my bridesmaids walked in to Beauty and the Beast and I walked in with my son to 'Evergreen' by Barbara Striesand (CD that I had taken with me).

We then had a few dances to the CD that I had compiled, our first dance was 'How Sweet it is to be loved by you'.

Unfortunately, you have to pay to have the bar open, (unbelievable!) so everyone had to rely on the drinks package we supplied.

The flowers, yes you have a choice, I chose the ivory.

I had all the dresses steamed

The spa provided, an expensive I have to say, hair and make up, I had to supply all my own make up and they charged $60 !!!

All in all, it was expensive, I put everything into it that I could and all did not go to plan, I can let you know the problems if you wish but I really don't want to put you off as I am sure our sad experience was a relative 'one off' and it looks like Disney has learnt lessons from it. We did complain and all our $1000 refunded afterwards plus $450 voucher for a future cruise but it does not eradicte the sad memories that should have been happy ones. I suppose, life is a risk in whatever we do, so there is no reason why yours shouldn't be magical

Hope this has helped, if you need anymore info you can email me on Rmaplecroft@aol.com. I have lots of photographs too.

Rosemary

 

[yellowlabfans]

Rosemary-So sorry you had a negative experience. I am glad that you were able to get a refund. However, as you said it doesn't replace the bad memories.

Susy-I don't know how to add pictures to my post but if you let me know your email I will be glad to send you some pictures.

My email is: jumpnjdy@scinternet.net

Lory

 

[bulacat]

We did a vow renewal on the May 8, Magic. Everything went very smoothly, Thierry was our concierge, and he was so wonderful. We were his last cruise before his 2 months-off. He is not sure if he will come back as concierge staff, but if you can get him, he will take good care of you! We made all our spa/palo/salon appts when we boarded the ship, as well as an appt with Thierry to review our renewal plans when things weren't so busy. I had a manicure and pedicure, as well as my hair done on the ship. Note, if you have acrylic nails, they don't do fills on the ship. We met with Thierry to reivew our wedding plans. The pianist was familiar with all the music we requested. I don't know if you can have live music if you have your ceremony in an outside location. I think they have the ceremonies in the sessions lounge because it is easily closed to the general ship population, and there is already a grand piano in the room for music. I think the room is great for weddings etc, because the decor is more muted than the rest of the ship and the photos turn out beautiful, and the bride isn't competing to be noticed against a wild background. I am pretty sure that the boquet and other arrangements were put on the ship at port. Some of the flowers in my arrangement were a little 'worn' at the edges, but the bouquet was still wonderful and you couldnt' tell in the pictures. I ordered the petals for my daughter/flowergirl, and they came with a beautiful basket all covered in satin and bows, and tons of petals for her to cover the floor with. We were able to pick a cake from a huge selection of photos. I had chocolage with chocolage mousse filling...mmmmm so good, and the cake was gorgeous. So many people stopped me in the hall on Thursday evening to ask if I was the bride and to tell me they saw them making my cake that day! The cake was HUGE, so after the ceremony we had them hold the cake downstairs and had them bring it out later at the Rocking Bar D to share with the 'regulars' that we saw there every night. We made sure the waiter/waitress got a big time tip for arranging it all for us. When I had my hair done in the salon (it happened to be the windiest day of our cruise) I mentioned that I had hoped to get some pictures outside, so she really sprayed me good with the hairspray, and I was able to have some gorgeous pictures outside too. It was $40 for an up-do and worth every penny, I have never had such a fancy do in my life. I have pictures of my 5yo son helping me take the bobby pins out later....all 59! Minnie and Mickey cake topper, unless you bring your own, a special gift from the cruise staff, I'll let you be surprised, and a beautiful certificate of vow renewal, the artwork is a wonderful quality, you will want to frame it for your wall. Captain Tom did our ceremony, and he was just wonderful. You could tell that it really meant something to him, he takes it very seriously, and my husband is very sentimental, he cried, and everyone was so touched. They don't have characters at the ceremony, but Thierry did manage a Magical visit from Mickey! He showed up just after we cut the cake for a quick photo with the wedding party. (they don't usually do this). The photographer was so good, and patient, and worked with us. We took lots of photos, and he was great about getting the important wedding photos, like a close up of the hand when you exchange the rings and stuff like that. Lots of candid, unposed shots, which were my favorite. He also did some really cool sillouettes in the giant portholes outside of the Sessions lounge. After the ceremony we took some more photos outside and around the boat, about 4 rolls of film total. We did buy the BIG package, which included all the proofs, negatives and 6 8X10 enlargements of our choice as well as two display folios and two stock photos of our choice. Not a bad deal considering we got so many great photos. I wore an aqua blue full length ballgown, Cinderella style, complete with 3 hoop crinoline petticoat. I was a little worried that I would feel uncomfortable walking around the boat 'overdressed' but everyone knew why I was dressed-up, and so many little girls came up to me to tell me how much they liked my dress that I felt fine and went to dinner in my gown. Like most others, we scheduled Palo for another night, and ate in the main dining room after our ceremony.

 

[bridegirl]

Thank you SO much for the detailed recap!

I love reading all the details. Do you have photos of you in your cinderella dress? Do you have any suggestions for someone else planning a DCL VR?

Rosemary - I am so sorry that yours was not what you had hoped it would be. I would appreciate you sharing the negatives about your experience if you are willing to. Please email me at bridegirl@aol.com

Lory - I would love to see any photos you have - pls email to above address and THANK YOU!

Susy

 

[stingfancb]

Thank you for all the details. How many were at your ceremony? There will only be 5 of us at ours - will we feel silly? I'm beginning to rethink my dress choice. I would love to feel (and look) like Cinderella for the day!

Cindy
(hence the princess choice )

 

[stingfancb]

Forgot to ask: did you get to board early because of the concierage?
Thanks.

 

[bulacat]

There were just the 4 of us, then dh ran into an old friend on the ship, so we asked the family (of 4) to attend. So there were 8 of us total. I don't think I would have feld weird if there had only been the 4 of us. regarding the concierge service. After reading the boards, I thought we would receive full concierge service. Then dh talked to our land based wedding coordinator, who told him that the concierge service was limited to the making of appointments related to the wedding. So we didn't try to board with concierge passengers. After we were on the ship, and met with Thierry in Sessions, I realized that we were getting the FULL concierge treatment. The concierge staff stopped by our room every day to see if we needed anything. Most days we would get a tray of cookies, fruit or other treats delivered in the afternoon. When we had some problems with our bridge tour leaving early (without us) they made arrangements for us to get a private tour!

stingfan, are you on the CA-FL repositioning cruise? DH loved our first cruise so much we rebooked that cruise while on board.,