Where to wed?

[TraceyP]

Fiancee and I decided on a cruise ship wedding. So we booked it last week on the Celebrity Summit sailing December 15, 2012 from San Juan, and visiting Barbados, St. Lucia, Antigua, St Marteen, and St Thomas. We have 22 guests sailing with us so far. Maybe a couple more. But we're still trying to decide where to get married. In San Juan before the cruise? In Barbados, the first port after a day at sea? I would prefer somewhere scenic like a beach or fort to a room on the ship so I am leaning against a wedding on board.

 

Anyone have thoughts to share? I can see pluses and minuses to both options.

[gymbomb]

I'd suggest doing it before/early in the cruise if you'd be happy with one of those locations. Even if you're very low key you (and possibly some of your family members) will be at least somewhat stressed up until the wedding and you want to be able to relax and enjoy most of your cruise! This was something that didn't even occur to us until after our wedding was over, but we were so glad we did it at the beginning of the trip.

[SweetBride13]

I'd suggest doing it before/early in the cruise if you'd be happy with one of those locations. Even if you're very low key you (and possibly some of your family members) will be at least somewhat stressed up until the wedding and you want to be able to relax and enjoy most of your cruise! This was something that didn't even occur to us until after our wedding was over, but we were so glad we did it at the beginning of the trip.

 

I totally agree. I initially wanted to do a beach wedding but after some thought, I decided to do an embarkation day wedding. I decided against the island wedding/beach wedding because we didn't want to be running around and stressed out. We wanted to be able to relax and enjoy our "weddingmoon" :)

 

So I would also suggest possibly doing it early on in the cruise so you have the rest of the cruise to enjoy and relax.

[princesstiffany]

I have a friend who did her wedding in St. Lucia- absolutely beautiful. But it was a little more stressful waiting until that long in the cruise. If it were me I would go with embarkation day and then enjoy the rest of your honeymoon with no worries.

[dcdiva]

A couple of thoughts -- first, I agree with the other posters that suggest having the wedding before you sail, or at the very first port. It will reduce the stress of the big event and allow you some time to relax and enjoy the rest of the vacation. Also -- Celebrity does offer weddings "on deck". It's not a beach, but if you were interested, you would be able to be married onboard, but still have an outdoor ceremony.

 

If you are set on a wedding on shore, consider doing it in San Juan before you sail. You'd have plenty of time for a morning wedding and reception since your ship won't sail until 8pm. Your guests would all need to come in a day early, but that's always a good idea anyway. There are certainly many beautiful venues in San Juan.

[chrisc71]

I would do it on embarkation day. There is always the possibility that the ship will need to skip the port and any arrangements you made will go to waste.

 

Congrats:)

[muah3iluvzu06]

I'm getting married in the middle of our cruise & we went this route for a few reasons.

 

1) I wanted to get married on the beach

2) There are less time restrictions than having an embarkation wedding.

3) We were able to book a 3 hour reception with Carnival

 

As soon as we embark I will take care of making sure our dining is linked in the dining room, and making sure our hair/make up appointments are confirmed. Other than that, we are going to enjoy the cruise with our friends & family. The day before our beach ceremony is a sea-day, so if I need to do any last minute preparations, I can take care of them on this day.

 

P.S. We are also taking a separate honeymoon after the cruise. We actually leave the day the ship gets back, because we wanted some alone time as well.