A SENSATIONAL Wedding - Carnival Sensation June 11, 2015

[makeese]

My first cruise was on the Carnival Dream and it was for a wedding so I knew what to expect. Jon had heard me rave about how great it was and when we were engaged we didn't even have to think twice about it! Since he is a teacher we had spring break or summer break (and since I'm an accountant spring break was out - tax season) so summer it was! June was our best time so we called and asked about available dates and pretty much had our pick so we decided on 3 nights with a stop in Nassau on the Carnival Sensation June 11, 2015!

 

A Planning Timeline

 

August 4, 2014 - We're engaged!

 

August 18, 2014 - Booked wedding cruise

 

Late August 2014 - Chose wedding party (I had 3 guys and he had 1 girl on his side) so we sent 2 different cards asking friends/family to be in our wedding

 

September 2014 - Sent save the date cards

 

October 2014 - Picked girls dresses - we went with "malibu" from David's Bridal in chiffon and they were to pick whatever style they like

 

November 2014 - Found THE dress! Tux style picked out too

 

December 2014 - Ordered flowers (bouquet, boutonnieres, corsages, and cake picks)

 

January 2015 - Booked hair/makeup (my cousin and her husband came with us - I just paid for her half of the trip). We also ordered our custom map to use as our guest book

 

February 2015 - Ordered cake topper and pins for grandmothers

 

March 2015 - Started on guest welcome bags - drawstring backpack tied with ribbon, lanyard with card holder, sunglasses, sunscreen, cup, bottled water, timeline, and Funtimes room directory (for the sailing guests)

 

April 2015 - Ordered anchor earrings and Carnival gift cards for the girls gift and one for my cousin doing hair/makeup

 

May 2015 - Sent out invitations (we only sent these to our guest list - there is no point in sending an invitation to someone who has already RSVP'd "No"). Finalized guest list. Finalized ceremony outline and details. Finalized reception details.

 

June 2015 - Finish packing and relax!

 

My parents have a huge truck with an enclosed back so they helped us tremendously by getting most of these things to Florida for us! Besides packing our normal bags we were ready to go! We checked and rechecked our lists, bags, and documents. After packing up and getting the house situated we headed to Florida on Tuesday June 9, 2015. We spent the afternoon getting pedicures, I had my manicure done, we ate dinner and just relaxed.

 

 

Here are the pictures that show most of the items I've discussed in planning above. If there's something I don't show that you'd like to see just let me know and I will post it or send it to you. I also have files for the timelines, Funtimes, etc.

 

Note - some of these pictures are screenshots and are poor quality - sorry!

 

Wedding Party Cards (the one's for the girls were each customized to match their hair color/style as close as possible!)

 

 

 

 

Save The Dates

 

 

Malibu Color and Tux

 

 

Flowers

 

My bouquet and Jon's boutonniere

 

 

Thank you for providing the timeline and pictures! I have been debating whether or not to send out save the dates but I think that would be very wise. Where did you get your invitations? Were they cruise décor specific?

[slord12]

Thank you for providing the timeline and pictures! I have been debating whether or not to send out save the dates but I think that would be very wise. Where did you get your invitations? Were they cruise décor specific?

 

You're welcome! Congratulations on your upcoming wedding. We found sending save the dates to be helpful - it gave people an early heads up and also provided them with our wedding website and contact info in case they had questions. There is a picture of my invitations on the first page. We changed the reply card to a welcome dinner invite card (since we already had all RSVPs). I saw pictures on Pinterest and it led me to the artist and I contacted her directly.

[makeese]

My first cruise was on the Carnival Dream and it was for a wedding so I knew what to expect. Jon had heard me rave about how great it was and when we were engaged we didn't even have to think twice about it! Since he is a teacher we had spring break or summer break (and since I'm an accountant spring break was out - tax season) so summer it was! June was our best time so we called and asked about available dates and pretty much had our pick so we decided on 3 nights with a stop in Nassau on the Carnival Sensation June 11, 2015!

 

A Planning Timeline

 

August 4, 2014 - We're engaged!

 

August 18, 2014 - Booked wedding cruise

 

Late August 2014 - Chose wedding party (I had 3 guys and he had 1 girl on his side) so we sent 2 different cards asking friends/family to be in our wedding

 

September 2014 - Sent save the date cards

 

October 2014 - Picked girls dresses - we went with "malibu" from David's Bridal in chiffon and they were to pick whatever style they like

 

November 2014 - Found THE dress! Tux style picked out too

 

December 2014 - Ordered flowers (bouquet, boutonnieres, corsages, and cake picks)

 

January 2015 - Booked hair/makeup (my cousin and her husband came with us - I just paid for her half of the trip). We also ordered our custom map to use as our guest book

 

February 2015 - Ordered cake topper and pins for grandmothers

 

March 2015 - Started on guest welcome bags - drawstring backpack tied with ribbon, lanyard with card holder, sunglasses, sunscreen, cup, bottled water, timeline, and Funtimes room directory (for the sailing guests)

 

April 2015 - Ordered anchor earrings and Carnival gift cards for the girls gift and one for my cousin doing hair/makeup

 

May 2015 - Sent out invitations (we only sent these to our guest list - there is no point in sending an invitation to someone who has already RSVP'd "No"). Finalized guest list. Finalized ceremony outline and details. Finalized reception details.

 

June 2015 - Finish packing and relax!

 

My parents have a huge truck with an enclosed back so they helped us tremendously by getting most of these things to Florida for us! Besides packing our normal bags we were ready to go! We checked and rechecked our lists, bags, and documents. After packing up and getting the house situated we headed to Florida on Tuesday June 9, 2015. We spent the afternoon getting pedicures, I had my manicure done, we ate dinner and just relaxed.

 

 

Here are the pictures that show most of the items I've discussed in planning above. If there's something I don't show that you'd like to see just let me know and I will post it or send it to you. I also have files for the timelines, Funtimes, etc.

 

Note - some of these pictures are screenshots and are poor quality - sorry!

 

Wedding Party Cards (the one's for the girls were each customized to match their hair color/style as close as possible!)

 

 

 

 

Save The Dates

 

 

Malibu Color and Tux

 

 

Flowers

 

My bouquet and Jon's boutonniere

 

 

Thank you for providing the timeline! That helps things a lot!

 

How did you notify your guests of the 30 day window to lock in the rate? I have considered sending an email out as soon as the 30 days starts and then send the save the date within the next month or two.

[slord12]

Thank you for providing the timeline! That helps things a lot!

 

How did you notify your guests of the 30 day window to lock in the rate? I have considered sending an email out as soon as the 30 days starts and then send the save the date within the next month or two.

 

Not sure what you mean - did you do a group booking and only have 30 days to lock in the group booking rate? We chose not to do a group booking and let our guests book on their own at their leisure. They had from when we sent the save the dates out in late September/early October until April 1, 2015 to book their cruise and hotel and provide us with confirmation #'s for both.

[makeese]

Not sure what you mean - did you do a group booking and only have 30 days to lock in the group booking rate? We chose not to do a group booking and let our guests book on their own at their leisure. They had from when we sent the save the dates out in late September/early October until April 1, 2015 to book their cruise and hotel and provide us with confirmation #'s for both.

 

Yes, that's what I meant. Sorry if it was confusing. I didn't realize that the 30 day rate lock was optional. Seems to make things more complicated when you are trying to send save the dates. Thanks for getting back to me.

[slord12]

Yes, that's what I meant. Sorry if it was confusing. I didn't realize that the 30 day rate lock was optional. Seems to make things more complicated when you are trying to send save the dates. Thanks for getting back to me.

 

Yeah we felt like more people cruised with us because they had longer to think/save/book the trip! Most of our guests used this as a summer vacation since it was in June. Keep in mind, even if you don't do a "group booking" you can still have your reservations linked by the dining department so you can all dine together!

[makeese]

Yeah we felt like more people cruised with us because they had longer to think/save/book the trip! Most of our guests used this as a summer vacation since it was in June. Keep in mind, even if you don't do a "group booking" you can still have your reservations linked by the dining department so you can all dine together!

 

 

 

Good to know!!

[Tajuania82]

Hello, I'll be getting married March 31, 2016 on Half Moon Cay and having our reception on the Carnival Sensation. We have about 40 guest sailing with us. I really love your fun times ideas. Can you please

email me any templates you have?

 

I love your review. It's recent, detailed, and provided lots of great tips. Thanks for sharing.

Edited January 25, 2016 by Tajuania82

[slord12]

Hello, I'll be getting married March 31, 2016 on Half Moon Cay and having our reception on the Carnival Sensation. We have about 40 guest sailing with us. I really love your fun times ideas. Can you please

email me any templates you have?

 

I love your review. It's recent, detailed, and provided lots of great tips. Thanks for sharing.

 

 

Thank you for reading, I'm so glad it helped! I will be happy to send you the templates, just leave me your email address. Congratulations!

[Oceansoflove]

Girl, do you have any idea how amazing you are? You are helping all of us future brides in tremendous ways! I am getting married on the Carnival Ecstacy in April and have learned so much from your posts. I really apprecite the time and effort you put into the posts. can you please send me a copy of your files at OceansOfLove2016@gmail.com

[slord12]

Girl, do you have any idea how amazing you are? You are helping all of us future brides in tremendous ways! I am getting married on the Carnival Ecstacy in April and have learned so much from your posts. I really apprecite the time and effort you put into the posts. can you please send me a copy of your files at OceansOfLove2016@gmail.com

 

 

Thank you!! I'm so glad it's helpful - I will be happy to email you what I have!

[jstamper]

Thank you so much for the time that it took to do your review and post the pictures. I hope my day turns out as fabulous as yours did. Can you tell me where you got your cake topper from? Also, I seen the flowers came from Blue Lily Bridal, did the flowers on your cake come from there as well?

Thank you again, You looked beautiful!

[slord12]

Thank you so much for the time that it took to do your review and post the pictures. I hope my day turns out as fabulous as yours did. Can you tell me where you got your cake topper from? Also, I seen the flowers came from Blue Lily Bridal, did the flowers on your cake come from there as well?

Thank you again, You looked beautiful!

 

Thank you! My cake topper also came from Etsy - ThePinkOwlDesigns. I found my cake flowers on Etsy too but I wound up ordering them from somewhere else other than BlueLilyBridal - they came from flowersbythevase! I do think BlueLilyBridal is doing cake flowers now though, they just didn't have the ones I wanted at that time.

[slord12]

I can't say too much here, BUT if you are a bride I have helped and would like me to do even more in regards to your cruise booking and handling your guests bookings please shoot me an email at cruisewithcallan@gmail.com - I am currently working with 2 bride's who I've met on here and on another social media site!

[gatrsailr]

Thank you so much for your fabulous review!! :) I'm considering the time to celebrate big package on embarkation day for my wedding on the carnival conquest out of fort lauderdale but was worried about the time constraints, your review really made me feel a lot more comfortable about the whole situation, looks like you and your wedding party had a blast! If it's not too much trouble could you also send me the documents you used for your carnival wedding? My email is ljwittmann@gmail.com, thanks so much in advance!

[slord12]

Thank you so much for your fabulous review!! :) I'm considering the time to celebrate big package on embarkation day for my wedding on the carnival conquest out of fort lauderdale but was worried about the time constraints, your review really made me feel a lot more comfortable about the whole situation, looks like you and your wedding party had a blast! If it's not too much trouble could you also send me the documents you used for your carnival wedding? My email is ljwittmann@gmail.com, thanks so much in advance!

 

Sorry it's taken me this long to respond - just got back from a cruise! I'd be happy to email you! I'm so glad my review helped.

[princesstiffany]

Your review and pictures are wonderful!

[ktretter]

Your review has been so insightful! The wedding looks absolutely amazing. Mine is scheduled for October 17th on the Valor. I was wondering if you could email me your documents you used, I'm not so organized. My email is ktretter@gmail.com. Thank you so much!!

[slord12]

Your review and pictures are wonderful!

 

Thank you so much!

[slord12]

Your review has been so insightful! The wedding looks absolutely amazing. Mine is scheduled for October 17th on the Valor. I was wondering if you could email me your documents you used, I'm not so organized. My email is ktretter@gmail.com. Thank you so much!!

 

Thank you, it was an amazing day! Our 1 year anniversary is Saturday, I cannot believe the year has flown by like it has. I just emailed you!

[BimTheDuck]

Who did you use on Etsy for your flowers?

[slord12]

Who did you use on Etsy for your flowers?

 

Blue Lily Bridal!

[Julielyn0129]

Could you email me all of your documents as well. Thanks so much for sharing. Julielyn0129@yahoo.com

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Cruising Bride]

Wow your review is awesome! Thanks so much for all the details, pictures, and video.This has been really helpful. I'm doing a cruise wedding next August on the Vista. I'm kind of nervous because it's a new ship and I won't get to see it beforehand, but I've decided to just go with the flow and enjoy my wedding no matter what happens or doesn't (tendering in Grand Cayman, eek) since a lot of it is out of my control with a destination wedding. Would you be able to send me your docs if you still have them? Also I'm loving the map!!! So cute.

 

tiffany.woolston@gmail.com

[slord12]

Could you email me all of your documents as well. Thanks so much for sharing. Julielyn0129@yahoo.com

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

Glad I could help, I will email you!