Juneau Wedding Review -5/24/04

[Katriean]

We got married in Juneau on May 24, 2004. The Radiance of the Seas departed Vancouver on May 22nd, and Royal Romance organized our wedding. The wedding was just for the two of us. We did not have any guests, but waited until we returned to Orlando to celebrate with family.

 

I really wish I could go back in time and do it all over. I'm already planning in my head future trips to Vancouver and Alaska. Maybe we'll go back to celebrate our five, ten, or fifteen year anniversary.

 

Vancouver was wonderful. We were really glad that we had extended our trip so that we could spend additional days there. We did a lot of exploring, and by the time we got on the cruise, my muscles were really sore.We loved Stanley Park, as it was so beautiful.

 

The cruise was great.I thought it was a perfect way to explore Alaska. You have plenty of time to relax, so when you're in port you have more energy. After you spend time in the wind and rain, you have some place really wonderful to come home to again. We had our first balcony, and we loved being able to really see these amazing views from our own cabin.

 

As we got closer and closer to Juneau, we got more and more excited. It rained that entire day, and I'm really glad it rained. It added to the experience and it made the rain forest look even more beautiful. We got married outside in the rain. We were given the option of getting married inside, but we had come to Juneau to get married outside in a rain forest. We stood under a tree covering, and the wedding commissioner insisted on standing there without any covering. He said he was an Alaskan and could take the rain. If I had interviewed him myself, I would have chosen him. He treated us wonderfully as did the two wedding coordinators. One coordinator was a social host who stayed on the ship. She helped me get dressed and tried to make sure we had a positive experience from the ship's end. Then the other coordinator met us at the rain forest.

 

It was quite an adventure getting from the ship to the limo. The ship was meant to tender, but luckily we docked. I couldn't believe that I made it down the long and so very high gangway without any problems. I'm not used to wearing such a huge dress and high heels.... However, getting across this bridge was a little difficult since my shoes kept getting stuck between the grates. Once I made it to the limo, I saw my soon to be husband for the first time and he looked so handsome in his tuxedo.

 

We made a stop at the vital statistics office to pick up the wedding license and then it was off to the rain forest. The wedding commissioner and coordinator greeted us there. I was then given my beautiful Alaskan wild flowers bouquet. It was stunning. The ceremony felt perfect to me. I didn't cry, but I felt so emotional. We stayed pretty dry under our covering. After the ceremony was over, we went inside for pictures and cake and champagne. We also later took more pictures outside with this huge black and white umbrella. I liked these pictures the best I think. They're fun... Plus, in the pictures it's the only way you can really tell it's raining...

 

We went back to the ship in our limo. Before going inside, we stopped and called our parents. We told all our family and friends to think of us at five o'clock Alaskan time. I sent my mom irises, so she'd have the same flowers that would be in my bouquet. We wrote his parents a long letter that his brother delivered to them on our wedding day.

 

We took a few more pictures on the ship. Before dinner, we stopped at our room to freshen up, and found another bottle of champagne and a second wedding cake waiting for us. We never ate that cake though a we stuffed from our dinner that night...and really didn't have too much room in our stomachs any other night.

 

We made a reservation at the Portofino's. It had a very romantic atmosphere. We had a great view of first Juneau and then the ocean after we sailed away. They treated us extra special. They gave us champagne,strawberries, and a honeymoon cake. They sang to us....The food was wonderful. It was a great place to have your own private wedding reception.

 

I really felt the entire day was the perfect way to spend our wedding day. I loved our wedding choice so very much.

 

We were so impressed by Alaska. It was even more beautiful than we had imagined it would be. We enjoyed our excursions and the time in the ports so very much. I really didn't want the trip to end, but it was nice to see our family again.

 

We had our party the week after we returned. My mom and his parents organized everything and we just had to show up. They got us a wedding cake and so much food. We had a champagne toast. We showed them our extremely long video and all our pictures. It was really, really nice way to celebrate our marriage.

 

(The only real problem we had was with the photography service. I'm going to include that in a different review.)

 

Any questions?

[kimberly_s_s]

Hello,

The entire wedding sounds just beautiful. Can you email me a few pictures? I would love to see the photographer's work. My email address is kimberly_s_s@hotmail.com

Thanks

[Katriean]

Thank you for saying you thought the entire wedding sounded beautiful. I thought it was just a beautiful day, and I wanted to be able to share that with everyone here. I really appreciated being able to read posts when planning my wedding. I haven't scanned my pictures yet as our scanning isn't working. I am planning on taking my photos to a friend's home and scanning them real soon. As soon as I do, I will e-mail you a few photos.

[EPD]

We are getting married aboard the Infinity in 48 days and I am happy to hear everything turned out so wonderful for you. Unlike you wedding we have 23 guests joining us for the cruise and another 35 joining us for the wedding in Vancouver the day the ship leaves port. Sounds like you had a wonderful day even with the rain. Congratulations to you both!!

[Katriean]

Erin,

 

Thank you so much. I really hope you have a wonderful wedding. I'm sure you must be so very excited by now. Before you know it, your ceremony will be starting in such a beautiful city on a wonderful cruiseline. I'm sure you will have an unforgettable ceremony and a fantastic honeymoon. Enjoy!

 

Katie

[dburke]

Katriena,

 

I enjoyed reading about your wedding in Juneau because we are planning on getting married on Aug 23rd in Juneau.

 

Did you get married at Glacier Gardens? Also who was your marriage commissioner?