Carnival Breeze Wedding 8/24/14

[Girliegirl9]

Hi everybody this will be a pretty long post because I want to document the experience so you all know what to expect and what to do. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.

 

Miami Arrival

 

We flew into Ft. Lauderdale from Atlanta and took the tri-rail to Miami. We chose to do this because it is cheaper to fly into Ft. Lauderdale you can take the Tri-rail to get to the Miami airport and it is less than $5 per person. Now if you choose to do this beware that you have to catch a free shuttle bus to the Tri-rail station and another free shuttle bus to the Miami airport.

 

We had our rental at the Miami airport and used Dollar for our car rental. The line was insanely long we waited 45 minutes before we got our car! The rental was good but they did have an issue with one of the tires not having enough air in it and the light being on (this is not good because if it would have been too low it could have ruptured) so make sure no lights are on if you rent a vehicle from them they are pretty cheap for rentals.

 

Hotel Stay

 

We stayed at the Homewood Suites Miami Blue Lagoon. I loved our stay there! I would visit this hotel and recommend it to anyone! They serve complimentary breakfast 7 days a week, Monday-Thursday complimentary dinner (including wine), happy hour where they serve beer Monday-Thursday, they do not charge for parking, and they have a free shuttle service to pick you up from the airport. All rooms are suites and you have a little kitchen and a small sofa that can pull out into a bed in the living room area. The staff was very helpful in recommending restaurants and places to visit.

 

Entertainment

 

If you have time got to the Hard Rock Casino in Ft. Lauderdale it is like 45 minutes away but so worth it there is tons of shopping, the casino, restaurants, bars (including Wet Willys), clubs (comedy and dancing), and sometimes live entertainment outside.

 

We had a welcome dinner for our guests at Basilico Ristorante OMG soooo good. It was a little pricey but most of the restaurants in Miami are and it was so worth it. Our guests were not sailing with us because we wanted time to enjoy our honeymoon in private and didn’t want to put any unnecessary financial burden on our guests. We spent the weekend entertaining them but after the wedding it was all about us!

 

Wedding Day

 

I know this is what you all have been waiting for! Before I get into all the good details I must give a shout out to my sister who made my life easier. Ladies make sure you have someone that is organized and can take over for you. My sister took my phone on Saturday evening before the dinner and she handled everything from there. I had NO WORRIES on the wedding day NONE. Everyone was directed to her if they had any questions and she made it clear that I was not to be bothered.

 

I woke up in the morning and had my makeup done by Aimee Ortega she did an amazing job. I had a make-up trial on Friday August, 22nd to pick out what I would like and to ensure it lasted hours. Aimee arrived at 7am and my hair was done first at 8am she worked on my make-up. Several of my brides maids had their makeup done and hair as well.

 

We had a weekend itinerary. The itinerary let guest know what to expect, what they could do in Miami, and most importantly what to expect on the wedding day. My husband (OMG feels so good to say that) and I didn’t want to see each other until the ceremony so we left the hotel at different times. The night before I slept in the room with my bridesmaids.

 

Guests that did not want to drive could take a shuttle to the port. The shuttle was arranged through the hotel it was $20 per person for a round trip. We did not have a videographer but instead rented a video camera from ATS Rentals they have really good prices and will set the camera for you so you just have to shoot. We decided this was better for us financially and we could use the camera when we went on excursions. One of our guests operated the camera and I am happy with the video.

 

I made an aisle runner, we had a engraveable picture frame for guests to sign, coconut flavored chap stick with our wedding date labeled on it as favors, I got my bouquets from etsy (ask me for the info of the seller if you’re interested)and sand ceremony items. This stuff including my dress, shoes, and luggage all had to be taken onboard. My guests carried some things onboard and I made it perfectly clear to everyone caring something that they were not to let anyone tell them it had to be checked in by a porter (things do not get to your room until 1pm the wedding was at 1pm).

 

I left for the port with my parents and sister at 9:15 my husband left at 9:30 so we could avoid seeing each other. When you check in you go to Captain’s Priority Boarding to get your Sail and Sign card. This is also where guests need to get visitor passes if they are not sailing (they didn’t tell me this and all the guests had to go back down when the coordinator got there to get one). They had me secluded in a corner near the restrooms and my husband seated out and about with everyone. When the coordinator and officiate got there they let my mom and bridesmaid come hangout with me.

 

The coordinator will go over the timeline with you again. We made some last minute adjustments. I gave her a cd with our wedding songs and number them as well as labeled the name of the song and purpose. I gave the officiate the marriage license and she handled it from there. Ladies I recommend having your makeup on before you board like I did because we had to wait to clear customs and we didn’t get on the ship until 12:30pm (they usually get on at 11:30am) the wedding was supposed to start at 1pm so if I had not been ready it would not have been good. When we got onboard I was front in line and led to our cabin my husband was already dressed so he went straight to the lounge for the ceremony. I got dressed with my sister and mom helping. The coordinator disappeared and said she would be back when it was time to get me. The photographer called and asked if I wanted some before pictures and he took several shots before the ceremony. Once it was time we made our way to the Limelight lounge for the ceremony. My father walked me down the aisle so she told him how to hand me off to my husband. The ceremony was amazing! Ladies it was just amazing I cannot express my happiness and how well things turned out. After the ceremony we took pictures with the wedding party and parents while guest went to the reception.

 

Once at the reception we were announced and did our first dance, father daughter dance, toast, and then time to each. The cake was sooooooo delicious we had vanilla with vanilla filling. We drank my husband had shots with a lot of our guests like 8 shots I was thinking “if he looks drunk on any of these photos….” Thankfully he did not. We had the DJ and our reception was in the Liquid Nightclub. The DJ was good and she played some good songs so I’m glad we let her make the selections. Most of the activities we chose to do were done at the beginning of the reception so we could mingle with guests. Everyone had a wonderful time it was over way too soon. After the guests left we took photos around the ship which were gorgeous if I do say so myself. We went to our Muster drill in our wedding attire and we went to dinner dressed to impress in our wedding attire.

 

Recommendations

 

Make a list of photos you absolutely want. I forgot to tell him not to just get photos of us at the reception but of the guests too.

 

Make sure you have plenty of people taking pictures. Carnival’s photos are outrageously priced and you are gonna love all of them and if you are like me you can’t afford all of them

 

Go to the spa. The therapeutic pool is amazing!

 

If you’re gonna tip have the envelops ready and give them to a member of your wedding party or someone you trust to distribute them.

 

Don’t sweat the little things it is all about your love for you and your significant other. All you need is you, your partner, and someone to perform the ceremony as long as you have that you have all you need.

 

Don’t be fooled by some of the photo offerings the wedding book can be done on shutterfly all you need are pictures and you can do that yourself and it will look just as nice. There are groupons for canvas photos all the time don’t waste your money. The slide show can also be done by you and you can choose your own music…I’m just saying

 

Put together an “Anyone But The Bride List” this should have anyone in the wedding party, hotel, and shuttle information. I put this together so people would have everyone’s contact information and they would know I am serious about not being bothered. People can stress you out with their worries and I didn’t want to be stressed.

 

I will be adding pictures later ;-)

Edited September 2, 2014 by Girliegirl9

[OnePsychLynne]

Congratulations! I can't wait to see your pictures :-D

 

Sent from my Galaxy S4. Typos inevitable.

[dancinman66]

Great

Loved the detailed review and all your tips

Sounds wonderful indeed

Like especially the photography tips

Thanks and congrats

Greg :)

 

 

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[mrstriceasnice]

Congratulations! Love the anyone but the bride list!

[Zarika21515]

Congrats! Glad you had such a great time. I'm planning a wedding for February and would love to hear more about your experience. We're having a hard time so far feeling confident in our decision. I'd also love to see some pics if you don't mind sharing.

 

Thank you!

[hbicfrd]

Congrats!!! Thank you for sharing, our wedding is Feb 22,2015 on the Beeeze.

 

 

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[Girliegirl9]

Hi All attached is a link to the professional photos that we purchased.

[Girliegirl9]

I was apprehensive as well but everything turned out perfectly. Carnival doesn't tell you a lot so you have to ask all the questions that you have. I did a lot of research before we decided to book. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have :-)

[VASOXFANN]

Beautiful photos!

 

I especially love the ones of the two of you on deck.

Edited September 4, 2014 by VASOXFANN

[mrstriceasnice]

Absolutely beautiful

[DustinandStacy2015]

Absolutely beautiful and glamorous! Love it!

[Zarika21515]

I was apprehensive as well but everything turned out perfectly. Carnival doesn't tell you a lot so you have to ask all the questions that you have. I did a lot of research before we decided to book. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have :-)

 

Your pictures turned out beautiful! Did you go with their photographers on board?