jaxie001

AHHH! I feel like I have been MIA for a few weeks. It is that time of year where everyone is VERY busy. I am wishing we would have done a wedding date before the Holidays to save on some stress but it will be nice to get to warmer weather by April! Today marks 4 months exactly that we will be married! :) So excited. So far in the planning process we are kind of at a stand still. Mostly everything is paid for and taken care of, now it's just the finishing details and touches that I think will come closer to the day. We saved some money by switching our reception stuff. We cancelled our "wedding reception" and booked a group reception instead. Everything is really the same except we decided to save some money by giving up the appetizers because we will be having dinner right after the reception. My only problem with it is, we will have to settle for a sheet cake because apparently they don't sell tiered cakes in group sales..... Has anyone seen a nice decoration on a sheet cake? (FH and I don't even like cake so this really is just for a picture or two to make people happy for following tradition) I still would like to make it decent looking though, anyone have any ideas?!

Hi, we did the same of ordering a sheet cake, they gave me lots of options for flavours, fillings, icing etc. They told me I was more than welcome to bring whatever I wanted to go on top of the cake. I was contacted by the steakhouse day of embarkation and asked to bring everything and a sketch of how I would like it decorated to the steakhouse (where we had our reception). We were very pleased with what we ended up with and the cake is delish! Hopefully this pic turns out :)

Very nice review, thanks for sharing!

Yeah!! Awesome review, thanks so much for sharing :) Just booked this for end of November and I'm so pumped lol....questions for you if you don't mind? Snorkel...never done it...would love to...not a strong swimmer...they provide life vests you said? Can still see fish if your floating on top? LOL

ok...embarking in San Juan..close by place to buy alcohol if staying the night before...embarkation was pretty easy?

thanks again for sharing...love the pics...:)

Jackie

Hey! You know what isn't dark? Mojitos! I had the first Mojito of my life while I was watching the song-and-dance show. And it was simply delicious! Gently bruised mint leaves floating in an ice-cold glass with fruit juice, ice cubes and rum. This is my new all-time favorite drink to order on a cruise ship. I didn't have a previous favorite. Well, maybe the fruity red one. It didn't just have a pineapple wedge, there was a cherry in there too.

LOL...had my first mojito on a carnival ship as well...Rasperberry mojito in the dining room :)...only place I could get them...they did not like it when i went back banging on the dining room door all the time even tho it was closed ;)

Loving this review...Awesome!!

Really nice review! I love your pics of St Thomas...We were married there a year ago...I want to book another cruise to St Thomas again soooo bad it was beautiful :) Thanks so much for sharing the night time pics...it was cloudy and drizzly by the time we left port...so no really prettty sunset :(...I'll just come back and look at yours!!!

Ditto on the ice cream!!!

going to try and give my experiences...please excuse any typos...not great at doing this on my phone lol

I came across more questions again today...... going to try and give my experiences...please excuse any typos...not great at doing this on my phone lol

 

1. In order to have a reception back on the ship (island wedding) Do you have to book through Carnival for your on island wedding? It states you do on the website but I could of sworn I saw it somewhere that people book third party weddings on the island and still have the Carnival reception back on board.

We ultimately wanted to do this...my experience was that i could get married on island thru an outside vendor...if we wanted a full reception back on board with dj meal etc...i could IF- we paid full price for reception and the reception had to be over before the ship sailed away again. We didnt want to rush our ceremony on island and cut out time for our guests on island so we passed on the reception and booked the steakhouse instead for all our guests. I have read of previous brides booking private functions kinda like the meet and greets that roll calls do sometimes...i cant speak to that as it wasnt of interest to us after looking into the steakhouse lol. We did manage to get a bigger decorated cake thru group bookings which was nice for what we wanted. No huge tiered cake but theymet with us the morning of the first sea day to discuss decorating of table and they did use my topper and decor i brought for it :)...as well as sat with me and took the sketches i had made of how I would like it to look...there was a much better selection of flavours and fillings this way also 2.

What if the itinerary changes? (it happens a lot with a tender port on the itinerary) Do most third parties change the date for you? I'm worried they wouldn't work with us VS Carnival might. The prices are just WAY better for a third party because they include everything we wanted (arches, walkway detail, flowers, music, pictures, sand ceremony) I know Carnival includes some of those things but some are add ons and I just don't want to start with a 2000 or so wedding package and end up with 4000 by adding on little things. So far we were looking at yourbahamasbeachwedding.com and it looks great for pricing and what not...but I'm worried A. If the itinerary changes they don't. and B. If we book through them can we still get the reception on board with Carnival? My planner had a clause in contract that if our port was missed due to the ship changing itinerary she would either credit us to a future sailing and dat....or work with us on a switch of dates during the same original sailing ( sidenote this almsot happened to us during the time that most cruiseline drpped grand turk due to water issues. They were going to reverse 2 ports which pushed our wedding day up a day. My planner was like do not worry...keep in touch with me and we'll work it out whatever day you get here.as it was the issue was fixed couple weeks before we sailed and all went as planned. I had read a review once where someones ship did totally miss the port due to weather and they managed to get an at sea wedding but i do believe it was a Princess ship since at sea is only done by certain lines.3. Sidenote of the reception on board Carnival. Here's where I'm confused. I see prices for each package on their website. They list what is included in each package. Prices are on there....it all makes sense right? NO then I contact Carnival and she sends me two separate emails. One with wedding ceremony prices and one with reception prices yet they still say the whole package on the ceremony prices.... I'm just really confused. http://www.carnival.com/~/media/CCLUS/Images/pdf/Weddingspricelistpdf.ashx That is the regular prices (we are looking into obviously the beach ceremony in Nassau) The price for the Time to Celebrate Big is 2,175 the Island ceremony is 2,125 then I have prices for the reception at 900.00. So CONFUSING! Did anyone else run into this? How did they describe it to you?( FYI I fully realize this sounds like a ramble lol but I'm getting so stressed trying to plan this shindig!)

 

I'm so glad I started this thread because honestly I'm going to need help from people with experience before I start pulling my hair out! :eek:

 

Well so far I have done:

-Save the Dates out and done.

-Bridesmaids dresses done and going to order in a few weeks.

Awesome Review, love the pictures, thanks for sharing!!

Congrats! Great pics...Elisha is fantastic isn't she?? I liked seeing the Villa pics...makes me want to go back there again soon!!

Congratulations and best of luck ladies and gents!!! This board was a godsend for me thru planning our cruise wedding in May 2013, and i'm happy to say made some good friends here along the way who we are still in touch with:) enjoy every moment and feel free to shoot me any questions thru fb if you have any :)

Hi, we got married in St Thomas in May 2013, We used Janelle...absolutely fantastic...not one complaint....photographer we used was Elisha Oris....she is such a sweet person and definitely captured us on our day...We actually chose Villa Botanica for our wedding venue, (I know I know what?? not on the beach?lol) had the ceremony there in the building and pictures around the grounds and had the bar open. It is absolutely stunning the views from up on the mountain.Our transportation was arranged thru Janelle...I believe at that time it was $20 per person return.

We looked at the cost of the independent vs on island planner and didn't like that there was less offered but had to pay more thru the ship planners...and it seemed very rigid...which wasnt what we envisioned.

I wouldn't change a thing about our day...there is a link to my review in my signature...feel free to ask questions :)

Good Luck and happy Planning :)

Congratulations!! Can't wait to read all about it when your back and see pics!!! :)

Hi and congrats...St Thomas is beautiful. We married there in May of 2013. We used Janelle and she was fantastic! I dont have a single complaint. Her business is definitely growing and she was very good with responses for me. It can be nervewracking being so far from your planner, but i learned to "live like i was on island time" while planning :) probably helped that i didnt want to worry about each detail, we trusted her judgement. Her husband Stu officiated for us and the ceremony was just what we expected for our requests. Elisha Orin was our fabulous photographer. There is a link to my review in my signature so i wont get too detailed but if you have questions feel free to email or ask me! Janelle arranged the travel from port to our venue for 17 guests. I do remember it was pricy when i researched it as well. We had transport for bride groom was included. We paid 20 per head for guests return.. as far as reception back on board we tried to book a full on reception music food etc after sailing and were told it could only be done while docked in port and would be over when leaving port. We chose to enjoy our time on the island instead and booked the steakhouse for dinner for all our guests and arranged for a cake. The folks in the steakhouse were very gracious in helping with cake topper etc. We definitely felt very catered to and special.This was a Carnival ship...i cannot speak to what other cruiselines will do. They may do this, or someone here on the board may have insight. I have read of booking private functions thru group bookings but not sure what the stipulations are.I had gone as far as ask carnival weddings if I booked a wedding package thru them could I pay for the whole package but only use the onboard reception parts and was still told it was only usable before sailing. We wanted to be able to drink and dance...and celebrate...since we all had the Cheers package we just headed down to one of the bars after the steakhouse and made an impromptu reception right there...and had a blast :)

Good luck , happy planning :)

Hi Jaxie-

 

Thanks for checking in!! The wedding was wonderful! The staff on the Carnival were awesome. They took care of every little detail and after the nerves of just getting there subsided, everything was easy and smooth.

 

The biggest help of the day however, was the officiant, Gary Fine who works with A Wedding Experience. From the moment he introduced himself he made everyone including our guests feel welcome and an important part of our day. This was especially true of our four children who were standing up with us. He included them in our ceremony flawlessly and in a way that made them each feel special. You would have thought he had known our family forever.

 

The ceremony was the perfect length but the reception went by too fast! We only had an hour reception and my husband and I both wished we had paid for a longer one. Short as it was, everyone had a great time. We had paid extra for the guests to be able to go to the Lido deck and eat before the wedding. They all had a blast and ate and drank and enjoyed the time while we were getting ready. The only thing that was too bad was that everyone was full and the beautiful buffet at our reception was barely touched. I wish we could have just had the open bar and served hors de overs and cake. I felt like there was a lot of waste and since we were setting sail after, it wasn't like we could have taken it home. :).

 

All in all it was a great day and a wonderful memory!!

Yeah thats awesome!! Glad you had a fabuloys day, have you posted some pics here? Would love to see them!

yeah she finally got back to me, supposedly we are handling full payment the day of and I guess talk times closer to the wedding or on the actual wedding day.... I'm getting slightly anxious since we have no contract for this, no money down, I know I probably wont, but I feel like we are going to be stranded. One good thing though is that I'm seeing her a week before for the wedding.

Hey, i dont think you'll be stranded. She didnt seem that way at all when we met her. I tried to find you on the " book of faces" to send you a message. Are u on there?

Thanks for the advice Jaxie. I am trying to calm down. It is just fear of the unknown. I guess there is a little unknown for every couple getting married on a cruise...but that is also what is special about it. I absolutely cannot wait!!

 

I'm sorry to hear about what happened to your sand. I agree- recreate it. It will hold even more memories. :)

Carcleland.....hope you see this!! how did your wedding go???

I always use a previous email when emailing Elisha or Janelle. I'm just going to keep emailing her weekly I guess.

 

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Any luck?

so I am getting slightly (probably closer to very) annoyed with Elisha right now. It has been about a month since I received the email from Elisha that the 7th was good, she could pick us up from the ship and it was XXX.00 amount of dollars. I have emailed her back a few times about updating the contract and setting up the initial payment for the second shoot. No word. don't you think she would want half of the payment now??? I'm just following the same route we took handling the wedding day photography.

Hmm...yes that is surprising. If shes on island there is sometimes a delay tho. Maybe try to reply to an email she sent you from before?

Great review...Thanks so much for sharing!

Yes, the second cruise is booked and so is Elisha! She agreed to pick us up from the ship and take u around before heading to a beach to do the trash the dress. Now my thing to worry about is if I can wear a swim suit under my dress so I can switch out of my dress on the beach, and not wear a sopping dress in a car. haha that would be a sight to see! My Fiancée and I are more excited for the vacation then the wedding, (well as of right now. we are getting sick of wedding planning :p) I love looking at Elisha's photo blog it gets me so much more excited!

Haha...I totally understand the vacay excitement!! We were that way as well!! Try for the bathing suit underneath for sure or bring a little sundress, Maybe if she has some blankets and the beach is somewhat quiet do the whole "change clothes" behind the blanket and get he to take shots...thatde be cute!

we have the wedding day booked and she is aware of the second day but I told her I wouldn't book until with book the second cruise. We are planning on booking the second cruise by the end of the month so hopefully she is still available.

Hey girly....r u excited or what?!? Did you book second cruise yet?

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Congratulations!!!

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Congratulations girlie.....you so deserve happiness :) Thanks for sharing and taking the time for a review...we all know how helpful it is for brides to come back and "help a sista out" LOL

Many happy years wished to you and DD :)

Hey, email Elisha and ask.... no harm in it! Shes a really great girl. Have you booked both days already?

Jaxie!

 

Hopefully you are still lurking the boards! ....HeHe yup....it's like an addiction LOL

 

I know we have discussed your gorgeous wedding pictures by Elisha Orin a month or two ago, and I have since booked her for my wedding but I also want to book her for another day for a trash the dress. I think I recalled you saying that she picked you up from the ship. Did she include this in your time or did you have to pay anything extra? Did it seem like this is something she does often? Thanks!

She picked us up from the ship (and took pictures of us with the ship in the back ground love these!) I think right around 10:45 ish, Pretty sure the "clock" starts as soon as she meets you. With the way our day was arranged it made more sense for her to come pick us up and escort us to the court house then pics around town befroe we went to Vill B for our ceremony. She left Villa B just befre we did at approx 3 pm. We had pre=paid for 4 hours so it was pretty bang on to what we paid. Not sure how often she does this but in conversation it did sound like this was not the first time she had met a bride and groom right in port.

Are you flying back in another time for the Trash the dress?