April 11 FOS Wedding.. Fantastic!

[aaskybabe]

Well my husband and I just got back from our Freedom of the Seas wedding/Honeymoon. And we both thought it turned out great! The officiant, Linda was fantastic... as was most everything! :) All the little things I was worried about turned out just great. I have no regrets. Royal Romance was just fine... Hailee was my contact there. I will admit if you are a bride who has to control every, single detail then it might be frustrating for you to just let things happen.

 

We had the ceremony in the Sky Chapel and a reception with dancing in Olive or Twist. I brought wedding favors, "poppers", our own champagne glasses, sand ceremony frame and a signature mat.

 

If anyone has questions, I might be able to alleviate some stress for you. :D

[aaskybabe]

Heres a photo or two...

[LadeeBug100]

I am so glad you posted this. We just reserved my daughter's wedding for May 2011 on FOS. Of course , I have a lot of questions.

Did you do the duet or harmony package? Your cake and bouquet are beautiful. Did you request that or is that standard?

 

How many were at the wedding/reception? What type of reception did you have? How many sailing/ non-sailing guests?

 

Did you arrive with your hair and make-up done? What time was the wedding , did you feel rushed?

 

Oh my, I sound like the game "20 questions" LOL

Thanks for your reply.

[LilBlackDress]

I can't answer for aaskybabe but we got married on FOS in Dec so I can answer a few questions...

 

Did you do the duet or harmony package?

We did the duet package. Our reason was I was going to get silk flowers for the bouquet and the bridal party. The silk flowers didn't happen tho just cuz of my timing. The other lil things didn't matter to us like the breakfast in bed. We could order room service...

 

Your cake and bouquet are beautiful. Did you request that or is that standard?

 

From what I saw in her pictures and she can chime in... The roses on the cake are part of the upgraded cake packages. and I am guessing her bouquet was as well. I had Ivory roses for my bouquet. which was standard. I could have white or ivory. picture below.

 

 

How many were at the wedding/reception?

We had 25 people total at the wedding/reception (originally we only thought it would be our parents, his son and gf but as word got out the siblings wanted to come as well.)

What type of reception did you have?

 

We went with the Hot & Cold Hors D ’ Oeuvres with Bar Service. We thought about the luncheon but we planned a pizza a beer party the night before and breakfast in the morning. Figured those sailing could get a snack at windjammer, pizza or room service if they needed more before dinner and those not sailing would have the opportunity to eat dinner early...

Another reason we didn't do the luncheon was we were paying for everything ourselves including paying for 4 staterooms, the pizza party the night before and the hotel for 20 ppl and then we ended up paying for some of the airfares too. At some point we had to draw the line!

 

How many sailing/ non-sailing guests?

We had 13 sailing guests and 12 non sailing.

 

 

Did you arrive with your hair and make-up done?

 

I spent time curling my hair before leaving the hotel... What a waste of time! There was a delay in boarding due to customs from people just getting off so we were delayed almost 2 hours in a very hot terminal. good-bye curls LOL this however is not normal...

So I redid my hair and I planned on doing my make-up on board anyway. They still gave me just over an hour to get ready even with the delays in boarding.

 

What time was the wedding , did you feel rushed?

 

Honestly I don't even know what time it was since the time got pushed back for the delay and then pushed back again 15 mins for something else..

Timing worked out great according to everyone, there was a light sprinkle and very dark clouds moving in (we got married outside on the golf course) and the second they turned on the music for my husband to walk down the isle they all say the clouds parted and the sun came through. After we all got in the lounge for the reception the rain started!! can't beat that timing!

 

The only time I felt rushed was when the wedding coordinator came to our room to take me to the wedding location. She rushed us to the elevator, she was pushing that elevator button as if the place was on fire LOL and then when we got off the elevator she walked REALLY slow. but that was the only moments I felt rushed.

 

I did have my issues with Royal Romance/TWE and the best advise I can give you is have your daughter give you all the receipts and contracts to have with you for the ceremony/reception. If I had mine with me, I could have proved to them I did pay for the bar service that they refused me.

 

I will be happy to answer any other questions you have :)

Best wishes to your daughter and her fiance' and the families :)

 

 

[aaskybabe]

Hi LadeeBug,

 

My husband and I thought our wedding was great ! I'll answer your questions as best I can. And I have more pictures if you want to see them.

 

I am so glad you posted this. We just reserved my daughter's wedding for May 2011 on FOS. Of course , I have a lot of questions.

Did you do the duet or harmony package? We did the harmony package... I wanted the champagne breakfast in bed and upgraded flowers.

 

Your cake and bouquet are beautiful. Did you request that or is that standard? The cake and flowers were standard but I did order the Deluxe Bridesmaid Bouquet for my MOH. I had a choice of ivory or red. I actually think I carried that one and my MOH carried the standard bouquet. (Hailee my RR coordinator suggested that, saying the deluxe bouquet would be nicer than the standard Harmony Bouquet. To be honest I don't know which was which.) I've attached a picture of both

 

I ordered the rose cake topper it was not included. I did that because in the end I was carrying my dress, favors, sand ceremony kit, poppers and champagne glasses. I just couldn't be bothered carrying a cake topper too.

 

How many were at the wedding/reception? We had 25 Non-sailing guests... only my husband and I went on the cruise. (I wanted to be married in the Sky Chapel, I was told it either holds 35 or 40 people max... that includes the bride and groom. So I started out inviting 32 people and wound up with 25 at the end.)

 

What type of reception did you have? I had the lunch buffet with open bar, a DJ, and I purchased 15 standard centerpieces for the tables at the reception site. And I booked the Champagne Toast as well.

 

We originally booked a 2 hour reception. But the cruise now leaves 30 minutes earlier, so later we were told we could only have a 1 hour reception. (I was very upset when that happened.) But it worked out just fine! Our reception started about 130 pm and my guests stayed until "final call to leave the ship"... so about 315 pm. They served food and drink for a solid hour... and there was so much food! And there were waiters constantly walking around taking drink orders. I've attached a picture of some of the ood at the buffet. (It shows about half of it... it doesn't show the "hot" food. ie. salmon, chicken, roast beef with carving chef.)

 

Initially I thought the expense for the DJ was too much but my husband insisted and I'm glad he did... the DJ stayed beyond the hour and we Definitely had dancing... I did NOT do the Garter and Bouquet toss. (And I'm glad I didn't.)

 

How many sailing/ non-sailing guests? We had 25 Non-sailing guests and 2 sailing guests (Bride and Groom)

 

Did you arrive with your hair and make-up done? Yes I arrived with my hair and make-up done. YOU definitely need to do this! (You don't know when you'll be able to board the ship. The morning we were boarding the US Coast Guard decided to have a surprise drill on the FOS and it delayed boarding by at least 45 minutes.)

 

I did my own hair and make up and wore shorts and a shirt during boarding. I changed into my dress in my stateroom. As did my husband, MOH and Best Man... they all changed into their wedding attire in our stateroom.

 

My husband did not want me to see him in his tux before the wedding so he and the Best man changed first while my MOH and I walked around. Then he called me on my cell phone to say he was done and my MOH and I hurried down to change. That worked out great.

 

What time was the wedding , did you feel rushed? The wedding was scheduled at 1:00 pm. And the officiant, Linda, was fantastic... she was so calm and she actually has an office in the Port. She does this all the time and made sure the guys had a quick rehearsal before the ceremony. Meg, the Wedding Coordinator, was supposed to come get me in my stateroom at 1250 pm... she was late and my MOH was starting to think we should head up to the Chapel without her. But I said no and she showed up about 1:05 pm with the photographer and off we went. She told me not too worry that the reception time would not start until my husband and I actually showed up at the reception site! (That was unexpected and an immense relief!) So no, I never really felt "rushed." Although I was a little stressed just because it was my wedding day ! LOL

 

The one thing I would suggest is that you tell the photographer you want pictures during the ceremony but he should be unobtrusive... he took a couple of photos where he actually stepped right up to us during the ceremony. I didn't think that was neccessary.

 

Oh my, I sound like the game "20 questions" LOL

Thanks for your reply.

 

I hope that answers your questions. My husband could not stop talking about how great everything turned out. I thought so too. I did request the Sky Chapel and Olive or Twist for the reception. (They were 2 other weddings that same day, but I never saw anyone else.) I scoured the internet for pictures of the chapel and Olive or Twist, just to be sure I would like it.

[aaskybabe]

Oh! One other thing, towards the end of the reception the photographer was asking us to go take pictures around the ship. My husband and I looked at each other and said "No we are not going anywhere until AFTER our guests leave. And if we don't have time so be it."

 

We wanted to spend our reception time with our guests. That worked out fine. After everyone left we took pictures around the ship and we even had time to run down and change out of our wedding attire before the boat drill... although we were the last ones to show up for our group! HAHAHA I'm glad we stayed with our guests.:D

[LadeeBug100]

Thanks LilblackDress and aaskybabe for all of the details.

 

My daughter has chosen the duet package.

We are doing the lunch buffet w/ bar service. As of now we have 20 sailing guests(of which I am paying for 8) and probably 8-12 non-sailing. I am sure all of that will change, it is over a year away.

 

About the sky chapel, when did you request that? I was just assuming that is where all of the weddings took place.

Did you use the bride's room that was outside of the chapel?

I know there was one there but did not think to look into it to see how big it is or if it has a mirror.

 

It seems you split up your 1 hour of photography , some with guests and the other after they left. That is good to know, because I was thinking we would have to add one more hour of photography to be able for the bride and groom to spend time with their guests.

[LilBlackDress]

Thanks LilblackDress and aaskybabe for all of the details.

 

My daughter has chosen the duet package.

We are doing the lunch buffet w/ bar service. As of now we have 20 sailing guests(of which I am paying for 8) and probably 8-12 non-sailing. I am sure all of that will change, it is over a year away.

 

About the sky chapel, when did you request that? I was just assuming that is where all of the weddings took place.

Did you use the bride's room that was outside of the chapel?

I know there was one there but did not think to look into it to see how big it is or if it has a mirror.

 

It seems you split up your 1 hour of photography , some with guests and the other after they left. That is good to know, because I was thinking we would have to add one more hour of photography to be able for the bride and groom to spend time with their guests.

 

We did one of the explorer package additions and got married on the golf course, so we didn't use the chapel or the brides room. He got in his tux in our stateroom and then left so I could get ready with my sister.

 

As for the photography, I didn't want to take time from the guests either to split off and take pictures. Since we had such a delay in boarding doing an extra hour after the guests left wasn't an option for us. What we did was booked an extra hour sitting during a sea day, got dressed in our wedding attire and went around the ship and took pictures. We had a great photographer he didn't charge us for the extra sitting time and spent probably close to 2 more hours with us taking pictures. If he gave us more time and didn't charge us due to the fact of all the delays we went through I don't know but the 2nd sitting worked out great for us.

[aaskybabe]

Thanks LilblackDress and aaskybabe for all of the details.

 

My daughter has chosen the duet package.

We are doing the lunch buffet w/ bar service. As of now we have 20 sailing guests(of which I am paying for 8) and probably 8-12 non-sailing. I am sure all of that will change, it is over a year away.

 

About the sky chapel, when did you request that? I was just assuming that is where all of the weddings took place.

Did you use the bride's room that was outside of the chapel?

I know there was one there but did not think to look into it to see how big it is or if it has a mirror.

 

It seems you split up your 1 hour of photography , some with guests and the other after they left. That is good to know, because I was thinking we would have to add one more hour of photography to be able for the bride and groom to spend time with their guests.

 

Hi LadeeBug100,

 

We actually booked 2 hours of photography. One hour would never have been enough. :D And the photographer stayed longer than that... which was great.

 

I never saw the brides room next to the Sky Chapel. I did everything in my stateroom and then was escorted, with my bridesmaid and best friend, up to the chapel. We waited about 5 minutes at the bottom of the stairs and then went into the chapel. :)

 

Oh! And I requested the Sky Chapel about 2 weeks after I booked the wedding.(Once I had looked at a few pictures I found on the internet.) So if you've already booked the wedding... I would request the chapel NOW! Everything is first come, first serve. So you want to be first on the list for it.

[LadeeBug100]

I will request the Sky Chapel right now. Good advice!

[September bride]

Hi

 

I got married on the Freedom on 27 September 2009. Best day of my life. I have previously posted a full review and have pictures on facebook - my name is Hayley Jayne Coffey.

 

Enjoy your wedding :)

[aaskybabe]

Hi

 

I got married on the Freedom on 27 September 2009. Best day of my life. I have previously posted a full review and have pictures on facebook - my name is Hayley Jayne Coffey.

 

Enjoy your wedding :)

 

Hi Hayley!

 

I found your post when I was considering a cruise wedding. And Yes I thought your wedding was beautiful. Your post definitely helped me decide to do a cruise wedding! Thanks!!

 

Christy:D