Anyone else annoyed with CCL wedding procedures??

This is going to sound super "bridezilla" of me but I am so annoyed with not being able to know the ceremony and reception's times and locations until two weeks PRIOR to the actual wedding. Not only that, but how did people like their wedding photos? I was told that you do not have 15-20 minutes in between the ceremony and reception to take formal pictures with your husband, and instead, have to take the pictures after you've spent (in our case) two hours dancing, eating, drinking, and sweating before you're able to take formal pictures.

Does anyone have any hints on how to work around the lack of information and time? I was thinking of a first-look picture but my fiancé wants to be surprised when I walk down the aisle.

(Background info: we're getting married aboard the 11/9/17 sailing of the Carnival Elation; purchased the "Celebrate Bigger" package with the DJ. So if anyone has any hints to maximize the package and the DJ, I am 100% open!)

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Did you know all this before you made plans and booked the cruise? From what I've read about cruise ship weddings, they are way more expensive than what you could do on your own, and you have to work with their rules.

Did you know all this before you made plans and booked the cruise? From what I've read about cruise ship weddings, they are way more expensive than what you could do on your own, and you have to work with their rules.

Honestly, I did not :( I wasn't smart about it and didn't ask all of my questions until after we were under contract. I figured it would be more expensive to have a "traditional" wedding versus a cruise wedding, so that was a big positive on our side. I have a fairly large family, so hosting an event where all of them could attend would have pushed us into the $30k-40k range instead of the $10k range were in now. Granted, we currently only have 33 people coming, but I just ordered the invitations so I'm expecting that to bump up to 50 at least. Still cheaper (at $36/person) than 210 people haha.

But yeah, I didn't ask about the timeframes and the details. *sigh*

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Our pictures were beautiful. You will have a chance to freshen up before the picture taking. As for knowing the location, most of the ships have only one or two venues so it's not too hard to know where yours will be. You can also request a certain venue and they will try to accommodate you. But truthfully everything is set up for you so nicely that it really doesn't make a difference which venues.

I'll admit going bridezilla on them a couple times because the person working on my dropped the ball. I had to make it clear she wasn't allowed to even touch my file...after that tantrum everything went much smoother.

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Our pictures were beautiful. You will have a chance to freshen up before the picture taking. As for knowing the location, most of the ships have only one or two venues so it's not too hard to know where yours will be. You can also request a certain venue and they will try to accommodate you. But truthfully everything is set up for you so nicely that it really doesn't make a difference which venues.

 

I'll admit going bridezilla on them a couple times because the person working on my dropped the ball. I had to make it clear she wasn't allowed to even touch my file...after that tantrum everything went much smoother.

 

 

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Thanks for the reassurance! I didn't want to look like a hot mess in my wedding pictures! We've requested the ceremony and reception to be as late as possible (so we can possibly flow right into dinner) so hopefully we can get some sunset photos. My experience with the first coordinator was horrible, then she stopped responding and a new coordinator began replying to my emails. She's super nice, so that makes things a little better. Did you get time to rehearse?

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The wedding rehearsal takes place without you. Don't stress it will be beautiful.

I do have three little pieces of advice:

1. Request a second stateroom be available when you get onboard so the guys will have a place to get finishing touches too.

2. If your fiancé and groomsmen are anything like my husband have him wear another shirt until just before the wedding, especially if he's going to grab a bite on lido (mine is incapable of eating without getting a spot somewhere on his shirt)

3. Have somebody calm and low key who is not in the bridal party hang out with you in your room before the wedding. It can seem an eternity while you are waiting (remember they are having a rehearsal and everything without you) and it's nice to have somebody with you to keep your nerves in check.

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The wedding rehearsal takes place without you. Don't stress it will be beautiful.

 

I do have three little pieces of advice:

1. Request a second stateroom be available when you get onboard so the guys will have a place to get finishing touches too.

2. If your fiancé and groomsmen are anything like my husband have him wear another shirt until just before the wedding, especially if he's going to grab a bite on lido (mine is incapable of eating without getting a spot somewhere on his shirt)

3. Have somebody calm and low key who is not in the bridal party hang out with you in your room before the wedding. It can seem an eternity while you are waiting (remember they are having a rehearsal and everything without you) and it's nice to have somebody with you to keep your nerves in check.

 

 

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Thank you for those tips!!

We are actually getting married in the third day of the cruise, so we were thinking of using my stateroom and the stateroom across the hall for the girls and have the guys get ready on the opposite side of the ship. My cousin is the officiant and is fairly calm (she got married in October and wrote her vows while getting ready... but still managed to keep it together lol), so I'll keep her close to me.

That's another one of my fears! I am far from a messy person, but what happens if something accidentally spills on my dress before we can take formal photos? Eeeeeek!

For those who are sailing with you, did you leave something in their staterooms?

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We are an older couple and each have one adult daughter, so our daughters were my matrons of honor and their husbands were our best men. They were the only guests who sailed with us and we paid for their cruises so we didn't leave anything for them...the cruise was enough.

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We got married on the third day of the cruise as well. Everything went SMOOTHLY. I can't say it enough, it was absolutely perfect. We literally had 2 things that went wrong and they were so insignificant that I truly felt the day couldn't have been any more perfect than it was.

Regarding your make up, I bought a setting spray and it helped so much in keeping my makeup in place that I didn't really have to do much of a touch up before the pictures. The pictures came out perfect, I was torn about which ones I wanted to buy, that my mother-in-law ended up buying all of them for us as a wedding present. See my signature for one of the pictures they took.

I did little brown bags for everyone (everyone sailed with us since we were married the 3rd day) and just put in travel size items like antacid, aspirin, ear plugs and honestly right now I can't remember what else!

Enjoy your cruise and your wedding day. It will be magical but go by so fast!!

We got married on the third day of the cruise as well. Everything went SMOOTHLY. I can't say it enough, it was absolutely perfect. We literally had 2 things that went wrong and they were so insignificant that I truly felt the day couldn't have been any more perfect than it was.

 

Regarding your make up, I bought a setting spray and it helped so much in keeping my makeup in place that I didn't really have to do much of a touch up before the pictures. The pictures came out perfect, I was torn about which ones I wanted to buy, that my mother-in-law ended up buying all of them for us as a wedding present. See my signature for one of the pictures they took.

 

I did little brown bags for everyone (everyone sailed with us since we were married the 3rd day) and just put in travel size items like antacid, aspirin, ear plugs and honestly right now I can't remember what else!

 

Enjoy your cruise and your wedding day. It will be magical but go by so fast!!

The picture didn't show :(

Thank you for the well wishes though! Did you bring decorations aboard or did you use the ones they provided? I guess the follow-up question depends on if you brought your own stuff to decorate, but if you did bring stuff, how much time did you get to set up/ clean up?

We didn't really bring decorations, just some stuff for 2 tables, which I asked them to set up. One table had my parents wedding picture and a guest 'book' to sign. It was actually a picture of our name and everyone signed it. And the other table had our wedding favors which were Autism Speaks bracelet in honor of my son who has autism. I just made my wedding photos on Facebook public, look up my profile Didi Concepcion and you should be able to go through my photos. I don't have every single photo in there, but all that are in there are the ones that the Carnival photographer took. Later today when I have time, I'll go add more wedding photo pictures in there so you can see them.

We didn't really bring decorations, just some stuff for 2 tables, which I asked them to set up. One table had my parents wedding picture and a guest 'book' to sign. It was actually a picture of our name and everyone signed it. And the other table had our wedding favors which were Autism Speaks bracelet in honor of my son who has autism. I just made my wedding photos on Facebook public, look up my profile Didi Concepcion and you should be able to go through my photos. I don't have every single photo in there, but all that are in there are the ones that the Carnival photographer took. Later today when I have time, I'll go add more wedding photo pictures in there so you can see them.

Your pictures looked beautiful! Did you get married on the Elation as well or a different ship? Thank you for sharing! :D

We actually got married on the Paradise. I'm glad you were able to see them!!

Thank you for those tips!!

 

We are actually getting married in the third day of the cruise, so we were thinking of using my stateroom and the stateroom across the hall for the girls and have the guys get ready on the opposite side of the ship. My cousin is the officiant and is fairly calm (she got married in October and wrote her vows while getting ready... but still managed to keep it together lol), so I'll keep her close to me.

 

That's another one of my fears! I am far from a messy person, but what happens if something accidentally spills on my dress before we can take formal photos? Eeeeeek!

 

For those who are sailing with you, did you leave something in their staterooms?

 

 

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We bought a $50 onboard credit for my MOH, a flower girl tshirt and hair piece for my niece, and nothing for our best man (he did not sail with us, we did embarkation day ceremony) because we paid for his tux, hotel, and most of his airfare -- he couldn't have afforded to come otherwise.

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