How will/have you "customize" your wedding?

[SweetBride13]

Although I love the fact that I won't inherit the stress of planning a traditional wedding, I must say I am somewhat mourning that fact that I can't really go with a "theme" and feel for my wedding (decor- table centerpieces, colors, etc.) When FI and I were in the early stages of planning, we were going to go with a 1940s, vintage meets modern theme. But since we are now doing a cruise wedding, we can't really do that (or can I?)

 

So ladies, how are you "customizing" your big day? I would love to hear some ideas!

[ExcitedBride2Be]

Although I love the fact that I won't inherit the stress of planning a traditional wedding, I must say I am somewhat mourning that fact that I can't really go with a "theme" and feel for my wedding (decor- table centerpieces, colors, etc.) When FI and I were in the early stages of planning, we were going to go with a 1940s, vintage meets modern theme. But since we are now doing a cruise wedding, we can't really do that (or can I?)

 

So ladies, how are you "customizing" your big day? I would love to hear some ideas!

 

 

Thank you for starting this post! This is one of my major concerns. Looking forward to hear from other brides. I'm thinking of doing a customized aisle runner, chair decorations for aisle seats, favor table, customized cake topper, cupcake display..for starters lol.

 

Thanks again and congratulations to you!!

[Artemis908]

by minimizing the cruise ship's involvement. For example, getting silk flowers and providing what I could to customize it as much as possible.

 

Sweet, if you still wanted to go for a 1940s theme here is what I would suggest: Providing the DJ with a CD of music from the era. Since I doubt you could get a band provided by the cruise that would play swing music, next best thing would just be to just provide them music. Then you could provide your own centerpieces, pick a style of dresses and suits that go with the theme, hand out favors in the theme, get silk flowers that go well with your theme, and then lastly go online and look at pictures of your possible wedding venues. Maybe there is one that fits well more than others. You can then request that particular location and hope you get it.

 

Hope that helps. :)

 

P.S. Royal Caribbean have a prohibition themed night, not sure if other cruise lines do something similar but that would probably work really well with your theme.

[Herbaltees]

My theme is Carribean Cruise.

 

1. So our STD's had an anchor on it and were blue, teal and red, to give a hint of the theme.

2. The invitations were ticket jackets, like the old ones you used to get when you booked a cruise. The invitations had info about our pre wedding reception etc. and was tied with raffia to mimic the ships anchor.

3. The gifts/favors kind of complete the theme with a small bottle of captain morgan rum, gold chocolate coins, and a slice of traditinal Carribbean Rum cake. The will be stored in a box decorated to look like a treasure chest.

 

The other things like my cake decor, flowers and aisle runner, just match the color scheme of the theme. So far ppl have been able to get the idea.

[SweetBride13]

by minimizing the cruise ship's involvement. For example, getting silk flowers and providing what I could to customize it as much as possible.

 

Sweet, if you still wanted to go for a 1940s theme here is what I would suggest: Providing the DJ with a CD of music from the era. Since I doubt you could get a band provided by the cruise that would play swing music, next best thing would just be to just provide them music. Then you could provide your own centerpieces, pick a style of dresses and suits that go with the theme, hand out favors in the theme, get silk flowers that go well with your theme, and then lastly go online and look at pictures of your possible wedding venues. Maybe there is one that fits well more than others. You can then request that particular location and hope you get it.

 

Hope that helps. :)

 

P.S. Royal Caribbean have a prohibition themed night, not sure if other cruise lines do something similar but that would probably work really well with your theme.

 

Wow you gave some awesome ideas! I will be sailing with Carnival but I will definitely check to see if they have any "themed" nights. Thanks!

 

Any other ideas? Or would any like to share what they're doing such as decor, wedding favors, etc?

[Herbaltees]

I forgot one other thing. My thank you's will be Message in a bottle's, because I purchased them thinking I would use them as invites, but instead decided to use them as thank you's for ppl who travel for our wedding.

[SweetBride13]

My theme is Carribean Cruise.

 

1. So our STD's had an anchor on it and were blue, teal and red, to give a hint of the theme.

2. The invitations were ticket jackets, like the old ones you used to get when you booked a cruise. The invitations had info about our pre wedding reception etc. and was tied with raffia to mimic the ships anchor.

3. The gifts/favors kind of complete the theme with a small bottle of captain morgan rum, gold chocolate coins, and a slice of traditinal Carribbean Rum cake. The will be stored in a box decorated to look like a treasure chest.

 

The other things like my cake decor, flowers and aisle runner, just match the color scheme of the theme. So far ppl have been able to get the idea.

 

I love your wedding favors! That sounds so cool!! I will definitely look into favors and cake toppers!

[Gina130284]

We are going with a nautical theme. I have chosen my own bouquet rather than having the one provided by RCL. It is a brooch bouquet and has come nautical brooches such as a star fish and seahorse.

 

Rather than choosing one of the reception options we're going to book one of the speciality restaurants. I've had some luggage tag place cards made with everyone's name on, and am also going to bring some scatter diamonds for the table to match my colour scheme (teal). I did consider purchasing some teal organza sashes for the chairs however as we're travelling from the UK it just means carrying more stuff!!

 

The ceremony room is what Im a little uncertain of. Again I'd love to get a personalised isle runner but no idea how I'd get it there in 1 piece!! I dont particularly like the wedding accessories provided (the white pillars and fake flowers) so no idea what Im going to do yet!

 

As we're travelling such a long way to get married there will only be 12 of us there so we're having a party back home in Liverpool, England. The hotel we're hired is nautical themed and the room were having the party in is decorated like the top deck of a ship which suits the theme perfectly!

 

To carry on our theme we've had magnets made as save the dates which have a picture of the ocean in the background.

Our cruise wedding invites are passports.

Our invites for our party back home are message in a bottle... see the pics below! x

 

As for your theme, you can definitely incorporate it into your cruise wedding. You could bring some props from that era and provide some disposable cameras and people can dress up in them to have pics taken. IE wigs, glasses, plastic moustaches, hats, gloves etc etc.

Your invites can be vintage, you could have a 1940's inspired wedding dress, and even walk down the isle to some music from that era too!!

[WDrake_98]

Although I love the fact that I won't inherit the stress of planning a traditional wedding, I must say I am somewhat mourning that fact that I can't really go with a "theme" and feel for my wedding (decor- table centerpieces, colors, etc.) When FI and I were in the early stages of planning, we were going to go with a 1940s, vintage meets modern theme. But since we are now doing a cruise wedding, we can't really do that (or can I?)

 

So ladies, how are you "customizing" your big day? I would love to hear some ideas!

 

Hey sweet Bride.

 

I'm planning an extensive list of decorations. Runner, cake, backdrop, flowers. Its been kinda crazy trying to come up with light, easily portable decor items that won't violate any carnival restrictions but I have managed.

 

Other thing is assistance. I have a lot of assistance. 5 Bridesmaids, groommen, a wedding planner with, 2 assistants, and 2 hosts from carnival. Should be enough to get everything setting up in time.

 

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[cupcake8503]

I have been toying with the idea of an aisle runner since I was told the one they provide is dirty :(. For those of you bringing your own aisle runner, what size are you purchasing? Also, are you going to help set it up or are you writing detailed directions for people to do it for you? I'm afraid that if I try to customize it too much that there won't be enough time to set up before the ceremony begins. Lastly, is anyone worried about guests sitting in the ceremony room while people are setting up decorations? I find that strange.

[Herbaltees]

I have been toying with the idea of an aisle runner since I was told the one they provide is dirty :(. For those of you bringing your own aisle runner, what size are you purchasing? Also, are you going to help set it up or are you writing detailed directions for people to do it for you? I'm afraid that if I try to customize it too much that there won't be enough time to set up before the ceremony begins. Lastly, is anyone worried about guests sitting in the ceremony room while people are setting up decorations? I find that strange.

 

I think most our guests would explore the ship, except maybe guests with mobility issues.

 

I don't plan to set anything up, I plan on carnival doing it.

 

I purchased a personalized 100' aisle runner after reading that the one provided by carnival looks dirty. Although I haven't received it yet, from the pictures, it just rolls toward the altar.

[fungirl76]

If you are getting married while in a port, you can use one of their land based wedding planners to have what you would like. I did this in St. Thomas and my planner did everything I asked for, colors, set up, food etc.

[Carnival_Brides]

We wanted a peacock motif with subtle details throughout, so we are bringing our own cake topper, toasting flutes, bouquets and bouts, and linens and items for our candy bar. For the most part everything will be easy to pack, we'll probably transport our bouquets in the Build-A-Bear boxes they're stored in so they don't get crushed.

[cruiseonthebrain]

I don't want to be a negative nelly- but I do want to share a little bit different perspective. We did a ton of stuff to make the wedding and reception more customized. Customized tissue packages, wedding wands, flowers, cake topper, three different favors, sign in picture frame, cameras, OOT bags, etc., etc. etc.

I loved our wedding and reception and would not change a thing- except that I would not have stressed about the custom aspects. In the end it was lots of stress (even though it all worked out perfectly) but the logistics really took away from the blissful feeling I thought I would have beforehand. I don't think I was exactly Bridezilla, but my patience for little crap and complaints was definately worn thin.

I would have still done the silk flowers, cake topper and maybe one type of favor. But that's it. The wedding wands were awesome, but a total pain in the you know what to make. The favors and cameras were totally unnecessary and I don't even know how much of the stuff in the OOT bags people used. I didn't do seat covers or a runner for the ceremony because frankly I don't think anyone (including me) would have noticed- it goes by really really fast.

Nope- if I was going to recommend anything about the process to a friend I would say simplify not customize. The ship's atmosphere was enough to make the ceremony and especially the reception stand out. IMHO.

[WDrake_98]

I don't want to be a negative nelly- but I do want to share a little bit different perspective. We did a ton of stuff to make the wedding and reception more customized. Customized tissue packages, wedding wands, flowers, cake topper, three different favors, sign in picture frame, cameras, OOT bags, etc., etc. etc.

I loved our wedding and reception and would not change a thing- except that I would not have stressed about the custom aspects. In the end it was lots of stress (even though it all worked out perfectly) but the logistics really took away from the blissful feeling I thought I would have beforehand. I don't think I was exactly Bridezilla, but my patience for little crap and complaints was definately worn thin.

I would have still done the silk flowers, cake topper and maybe one type of favor. But that's it. The wedding wands were awesome, but a total pain in the you know what to make. The favors and cameras were totally unnecessary and I don't even know how much of the stuff in the OOT bags people used. I didn't do seat covers or a runner for the ceremony because frankly I don't think anyone (including me) would have noticed- it goes by really really fast.

Nope- if I was going to recommend anything about the process to a friend I would say simplify not customize. The ship's atmosphere was enough to make the ceremony and especially the reception stand out. IMHO.

 

Thanks for the info CruiseOnTheBrain. Very good to know!

 

My Favors are the wedding wands, which in comparison to my "major" project, where not very difficult to make.

 

I've seen so much about brides making oot bags, but this has just never been something that I thought of, as if I were a guest going on a cruise, where a friend just happened to be getting married, I would still pack as if I'm going on a cruise.

 

One last thing, I didn't start any of my decor items, until I confirmed I would have my wedding planner. So on W-Day, I'm not going to be doing anything but helping getting stuff on the ship and getting dressed. Between my personal planner, TWE and Carnival planners, everything should get setup properly. I WOULD NOT...do such decor items without that level of help. As you've said, it would make things very very stressful, as brides want everything...EVERYTHING perfect! And anything not perfect, cuts like a hot, sharp knife emotionally.

[cruiseonthebrain]

Thanks for the info CruiseOnTheBrain. Very good to know!

 

My Favors are the wedding wands, which in comparison to my "major" project, where not very difficult to make.

 

I've seen so much about brides making oot bags, but this has just never been something that I thought of, as if I were a guest going on a cruise, where a friend just happened to be getting married, I would still pack as if I'm going on a cruise.

 

One last thing, I didn't start any of my decor items, until I confirmed I would have my wedding planner. So on W-Day, I'm not going to be doing anything but helping getting stuff on the ship and getting dressed. Between my personal planner, TWE and Carnival planners, everything should get setup properly. I WOULD NOT...do such decor items without that level of help. As you've said, it would make things very very stressful, as brides want everything...EVERYTHING perfect! And anything not perfect, cuts like a hot, sharp knife emotionally.

 

 

I wish I had thought to have a personal wedding planner. That is so smart! I thought between TWE and Carnival planning would be a breeze- it actually made things more difficult up front. I have really great people assigned on the ship, and they made things perfect. I think that is the luck of the draw though. Our guests were great in that I had nothing to carry on except a purse with check in info. Everyone else pitched in and hauled our thousands of bags, bins, for us. I would definately recommend soliciting help ahead of time.

 

Good luck and Happy Planning!

[CarnivalDreamWedding]

Congrats!

 

We were married on the beach in the Bahamas, but reception was back on board the carnival dream.... so ours was a bit different.

 

I didnt focus on any of the little things that would add stress wedding day, but did a couple of large things that made a big difference in the personalization of our wedding that i would reccommend.

 

We had a dear friend marry us. This was awesome. It personalized our ceremony instead of having the random person canival provided. Its very easy to become ordained...anyone can do it.

 

Then, we had our brother in law serve as our master of ceremonies for the reception. He is an entertainer and it was perfect and personal.

 

We did a couple of other little things, had canvas beach bags made for guests with their names embroidered on them, T shirts, can coolers (actually my parents did all of that). We had a sand ceremony on the beach with sand from the bahamas.

 

Our wedding was perfect, and one of a kind, for sure. I wouldnt change a single thing.

 

Best of luck :)

[SweetBride13]

I don't want to be a negative nelly- but I do want to share a little bit different perspective. We did a ton of stuff to make the wedding and reception more customized. Customized tissue packages, wedding wands, flowers, cake topper, three different favors, sign in picture frame, cameras, OOT bags, etc., etc. etc.

 

I loved our wedding and reception and would not change a thing- except that I would not have stressed about the custom aspects. In the end it was lots of stress (even though it all worked out perfectly) but the logistics really took away from the blissful feeling I thought I would have beforehand. I don't think I was exactly Bridezilla, but my patience for little crap and complaints was definately worn thin.

 

I would have still done the silk flowers, cake topper and maybe one type of favor. But that's it. The wedding wands were awesome, but a total pain in the you know what to make. The favors and cameras were totally unnecessary and I don't even know how much of the stuff in the OOT bags people used. I didn't do seat covers or a runner for the ceremony because frankly I don't think anyone (including me) would have noticed- it goes by really really fast.

 

Nope- if I was going to recommend anything about the process to a friend I would say simplify not customize. The ship's atmosphere was enough to make the ceremony and especially the reception stand out. IMHO.

 

Thank you so much for your advice! I am thinking I will keep it simple with "hints" of my original wedding theme I had in mind such as the cake topper, wedding favors, and perhaps the aisle runners.

[SweetBride13]

Thanks for the info CruiseOnTheBrain. Very good to know!

 

My Favors are the wedding wands, which in comparison to my "major" project, where not very difficult to make.

 

I've seen so much about brides making oot bags, but this has just never been something that I thought of, as if I were a guest going on a cruise, where a friend just happened to be getting married, I would still pack as if I'm going on a cruise.

 

One last thing, I didn't start any of my decor items, until I confirmed I would have my wedding planner. So on W-Day, I'm not going to be doing anything but helping getting stuff on the ship and getting dressed. Between my personal planner, TWE and Carnival planners, everything should get setup properly. I WOULD NOT...do such decor items without that level of help. As you've said, it would make things very very stressful, as brides want everything...EVERYTHING perfect! And anything not perfect, cuts like a hot, sharp knife emotionally.

 

Quick question, how did you go about getting a personal wedding planning? Was this a "day of" coordinator? I'm guessing she was listed as a guest? How did it work out having your own coordinator , TWE, and Carnival's planners? Did they work together ok? Clash a bit? Sorry for all the questions! I just never would've thought of this, and this is a wonderful idea I may consider!

[WDrake_98]

Quick question, how did you go about getting a personal wedding planning? Was this a "day of" coordinator? I'm guessing she was listed as a guest? How did it work out having your own coordinator , TWE, and Carnival's planners? Did they work together ok? Clash a bit? Sorry for all the questions! I just never would've thought of this, and this is a wonderful idea I may consider!

 

Yes I found a day of event planner. Her process actually started 6 weeks before so she could have info on what I did and didn't like. There hasn't been a clash with twe or carnival. She's actually been very helpful at getting me things.

 

Twe is god offal. I haven't heard much of anything from them. I got 2 emails from them all with legal paperwork to sign and that was it. Oh and a whole page of what they don't do. Lol

 

Reading that paperwork made me oh so happy I got my planner.

 

And yes. I did have to add her as a guest. She also had 2 helpers.

 

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[cupcake8503]

Yes I found a day of event planner. Her process actually started 6 weeks before so she could have info on what I did and didn't like. There hasn't been a clash with twe or carnival. She's actually been very helpful at getting me things.

 

Twe is god offal. I haven't heard much of anything from them. I got 2 emails from them all with legal paperwork to sign and that was it. Oh and a whole page of what they don't do. Lol

 

Reading that paperwork made me oh so happy I got my planner.

 

And yes. I did have to add her as a guest. She also had 2 helpers.

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

You received a list of things they won't do??? I never received that. Maybe because in NY we have to use "A Wedding For You" (or something like that). I always thought they were the same thing.

[janine1030]

my question is who brings the stuff for your wedding on? Will people help me take the stuff from my car and bring it to the venue...(wish tree, aisle runner, favors...? I am a NCL bride.

[janine1030]

past brides...anyone have an answer to my question above?

[Carnival_Brides]

When we were going to do an embarkation, we were going to ask our guests to each carry on an additional (small) bag since we'd have our gowns.

[RubyBride]

I don't want to be a negative nelly- but I do want to share a little bit different perspective. We did a ton of stuff to make the wedding and reception more customized. Customized tissue packages, wedding wands, flowers, cake topper, three different favors, sign in picture frame, cameras, OOT bags, etc., etc. etc.

I loved our wedding and reception and would not change a thing- except that I would not have stressed about the custom aspects. In the end it was lots of stress (even though it all worked out perfectly) but the logistics really took away from the blissful feeling I thought I would have beforehand. I don't think I was exactly Bridezilla, but my patience for little crap and complaints was definately worn thin.

I would have still done the silk flowers, cake topper and maybe one type of favor. But that's it. The wedding wands were awesome, but a total pain in the you know what to make. The favors and cameras were totally unnecessary and I don't even know how much of the stuff in the OOT bags people used. I didn't do seat covers or a runner for the ceremony because frankly I don't think anyone (including me) would have noticed- it goes by really really fast.

Nope- if I was going to recommend anything about the process to a friend I would say simplify not customize. The ship's atmosphere was enough to make the ceremony and especially the reception stand out. IMHO.

Thank you!! I have been restraining myself from going too crazy with what I will bring with us. We have to fly to the ship and with my gown and his tux, we will already have a lot to handle. Keeping it simple sounds like a good plan... I have a pillow for my ring bearer, a cake topper, garters, custom unity candle, just married window clings... is there anything else you would recommend?