Our Wedding review. June 19th, Carnival Sensation

[nklpikl]

I will do my best to give you a review with the info future brides need without making it too long. I can say our cruise ship wedding was perfect for us. I am using Bekah's review format since it was very accessible and I always get great ideas from her.

 

Like other brides here on cruise critic, I was a little concerned with all that I had read. But this is truly a mind over matter thing. When you decide to get married on a cruise ship you have to understand many things are out of your control. You need to be OK with that. If you are an obsessive bride, it may not be the best choice for you. John and I love to cruise. We knew we wanted a destination wedding of some type and we were very ok with giving up some control.

 

Prior to Cruise: We had guest coming into 2 different airports, some driving, some staying up to a week prior, some coming in late the night before. So coordinating hotels and shuttles was not an option for us. Instead we shared with everyone our plans and let them decide if they would like to follow suit

 

Welcome Dinner: We hosted a Welcome Dinner at Harbor Asian Bar & Grill in Orlando the night before for all our guests. It was very laid back, buffet and menu items which was nice because everyone could find something they liked.

 

Embarkation: My fiancé, John, dropped me, my mom, and my 3 daughters off at the cruise terminal at about 10:10. He then went and dropped the car at the hotel we would be staying at after the cruise and took a taxi back. The baggage handlers went above and beyond, double checking everything. Asking me with each bag if there was anything at all in it I might need for the wedding. They escorted us to the VIP check in where we went through security and upstairs to the waiting area. Our coordinator, Mary, arrived about 10:30, went over details with us. She escorted us to check in as well as other sailing guest. She directed non sailing guest where they should check in. There was another wedding that day, ours was the smaller. The ladies checking in non sailing guests kept asking “are you with the big wedding or small wedding?” Which rubbed me wrong until my brother said “There is no such thing as a small wedding don’t you think?” That helped me a lot. They gave each non sailing guest a clip on ID. Here is a little tip, tell your guests they can take the ID off when they are on board and then they can use the buffet and everything else. I know it is sneaky, but please!!! Mary took all our ceremony items including sand, flowers and favors, as well as the ceremony layout, wording and CDs. We were on board the ship by 11:30am. Once on board, they had our room and my mom’s room ready. I dropped everything off and watch my girls giggling through the hall to drop off the welcome bags and hang the door hangers on guest’s doors. They thought they were on some top secret mission. I was so cute! Our wedding wasn’t until 1:30 and I wanted to visit with guests. Many weren’t sailing and I wanted time with them. So I dropped all wedding stuff off and took off to find guests. About 12:30 I went back to the room to get ready. My best friend and mom helped get my daughters ready and mess with my hair a bit. I purposely chose a style I could do myself so that I did not need to waste precious time with stylists. The officiate met with John prior to the ceremony and went over everything. Giggling at my color coded ceremony outline and wording. The called the room a couple times verifying everything. Mary came to get me at 1:30 and we were off to get married. The photographer came out to take a couple pictures prior to the ceremony.

 

Ceremony: Once I got to the ceremony location, it was just a couple of minutes until the music started playing and my daughters walked the aisle. I was fighting the tears back the whole time. As I walked down the aisle I stopped at my best friend and presented her a single long stem rose. I had my daughters standing up for me, but I wanted to honor her for all that she had done for the wedding and all she meant to me. I read many reviews where brides say “it was a blur” or “I don’t remember much.” It is so true. There is so much emotion that it does not seem real. I remember John and I read and saying our own vows. We did not trust ourselves to remember them completely, so we read them. I remember the sand ceremony blending the two families which was just perfect. Then, kissing the bride. The officiate announced us as “Mr. and Mrs. Xxxxxxxx which I quickly responded to with “Finally” maybe a bit to loud. It was just all a blur. Immediately after I just wanted everyone to eat.

 

Reception: Mary was perfect about guiding all of us through events. We went right into toasting and cake cutting. John thanked our guests for coming so far and my father gave a toast as well. The cake was very good by the way. The food was also delicious and more than enough!! The service of the staff was way above and beyond. The kept drinks flowing cleaned up constantly. I would move from one group to the next leaving my drink behind and next thing I would know my drink would be right beside me. They were amazing yet almost invisible. We had booked our wedding a bit late and the hour and half reception was already booked. So we only had an hour. I would strongly suggest getting an hour and half. We wanted more time. We danced our dance and mingled with the guest. Before we knew it is was time for non sailing guests to leave. We took very few pictures during the reception. I did not want to waste any time not being with guest. But after I realized we had not gotten many of the traditional pictures. There are none of my brother and I, as well as professional ones with my mom. Luckily some friends had one of my mom and I.

 

Post Reception: As soon as our final non-sailing guest left, we began rushing around the ship taking pictures with Sammy, the photographer. I knew I did not want many portrait styles so we tried to move quickly. Seeing the photos later, I loved many of the portraits, so who knew. We tried to get some on deck, the sun was very bright and hurt our eyes, but it was still a must!!! We finished up and went and went on to the muster drill.

 

Photographer/Pictures: I am iffy on the pictures. They were about what I expected after reading the reviews. I really disliked how many shots were missed and many had bad backgrounds like a large red sign saying “Firestation No . 224”. But we did end up purchasing a good package for us and were very happy in the long run. I needed the picture to help me relive the wedding because so much of it was a blur. As far as pictures there are a couple things I would do different. First, give them a list of pictures I want done. Second, have someone looking out for things like ugly red signs. Third, I would have had a videographer. We decided to just have a family member do it. But I honestly have no idea if there is a complete video or not. I have to wait until everyone is home. But a video recording of the day would mean the world to me. It just went by too fast.

 

Overall, the wedding was perfect for us. It was just “us” if that makes any sense. Even the food, there was sushi. I did not ask for it, but John and I love sushi and there it was. I wish more of our guests could have sailed. But for us it was the perfect way to officially start our lives as husband and wife. FINALLY!!

 

Just roll with it. Prepare, but don’t obsess. Trust those around you and communicate your desires, but in the end … Just roll with it! One final note, if getting married on the Sensation try to get “Michelangelos”. And do not under any terms get the Touch of Class. Big red and black hands everywhere takes away from the romance.

 

Here is a link to some of our photos. http://www.mywedding.com/nicoleandjohnswedding/galleries.html

There are more on snapfish but they are group protected. You can e-mail if you would like the group code. NicoleandJohnsWedding at gmail dot com.

[Fantasy_Bride]

Beautiful review and photos. The two of you looked awesome. Congratulations.

[merocket59]

Congrats, sounds like a nice day!!!

[Calypso88]

Thanks for the review! I'm getting married Aug 10th on Sensation so your review was perfect timing! Did you bring your own bouquet or was that Carnivals its very nice. We also only got the 1 hr reception. Did you choose any of the music options?

[SayingIDo]

I will do my best to give you a review with the info future brides need without making it too long. I can say our cruise ship wedding was perfect for us. I am using Bekah's review format since it was very accessible and I always get great ideas from her.

 

Like other brides here on cruise critic, I was a little concerned with all that I had read. But this is truly a mind over matter thing. When you decide to get married on a cruise ship you have to understand many things are out of your control. You need to be OK with that. If you are an obsessive bride, it may not be the best choice for you. John and I love to cruise. We knew we wanted a destination wedding of some type and we were very ok with giving up some control.

 

Prior to Cruise: We had guest coming into 2 different airports, some driving, some staying up to a week prior, some coming in late the night before. So coordinating hotels and shuttles was not an option for us. Instead we shared with everyone our plans and let them decide if they would like to follow suit

 

Welcome Dinner: We hosted a Welcome Dinner at Harbor Asian Bar & Grill in Orlando the night before for all our guests. It was very laid back, buffet and menu items which was nice because everyone could find something they liked.

 

Embarkation: My fiancé, John, dropped me, my mom, and my 3 daughters off at the cruise terminal at about 10:10. He then went and dropped the car at the hotel we would be staying at after the cruise and took a taxi back. The baggage handlers went above and beyond, double checking everything. Asking me with each bag if there was anything at all in it I might need for the wedding. They escorted us to the VIP check in where we went through security and upstairs to the waiting area. Our coordinator, Mary, arrived about 10:30, went over details with us. She escorted us to check in as well as other sailing guest. She directed non sailing guest where they should check in. There was another wedding that day, ours was the smaller. The ladies checking in non sailing guests kept asking “are you with the big wedding or small wedding?” Which rubbed me wrong until my brother said “There is no such thing as a small wedding don’t you think?” That helped me a lot. They gave each non sailing guest a clip on ID. Here is a little tip, tell your guests they can take the ID off when they are on board and then they can use the buffet and everything else. I know it is sneaky, but please!!! Mary took all our ceremony items including sand, flowers and favors, as well as the ceremony layout, wording and CDs. We were on board the ship by 11:30am. Once on board, they had our room and my mom’s room ready. I dropped everything off and watch my girls giggling through the hall to drop off the welcome bags and hang the door hangers on guest’s doors. They thought they were on some top secret mission. I was so cute! Our wedding wasn’t until 1:30 and I wanted to visit with guests. Many weren’t sailing and I wanted time with them. So I dropped all wedding stuff off and took off to find guests. About 12:30 I went back to the room to get ready. My best friend and mom helped get my daughters ready and mess with my hair a bit. I purposely chose a style I could do myself so that I did not need to waste precious time with stylists. The officiate met with John prior to the ceremony and went over everything. Giggling at my color coded ceremony outline and wording. The called the room a couple times verifying everything. Mary came to get me at 1:30 and we were off to get married. The photographer came out to take a couple pictures prior to the ceremony.

 

Ceremony: Once I got to the ceremony location, it was just a couple of minutes until the music started playing and my daughters walked the aisle. I was fighting the tears back the whole time. As I walked down the aisle I stopped at my best friend and presented her a single long stem rose. I had my daughters standing up for me, but I wanted to honor her for all that she had done for the wedding and all she meant to me. I read many reviews where brides say “it was a blur” or “I don’t remember much.” It is so true. There is so much emotion that it does not seem real. I remember John and I read and saying our own vows. We did not trust ourselves to remember them completely, so we read them. I remember the sand ceremony blending the two families which was just perfect. Then, kissing the bride. The officiate announced us as “Mr. and Mrs. Xxxxxxxx which I quickly responded to with “Finally” maybe a bit to loud. It was just all a blur. Immediately after I just wanted everyone to eat.

 

Reception: Mary was perfect about guiding all of us through events. We went right into toasting and cake cutting. John thanked our guests for coming so far and my father gave a toast as well. The cake was very good by the way. The food was also delicious and more than enough!! The service of the staff was way above and beyond. The kept drinks flowing cleaned up constantly. I would move from one group to the next leaving my drink behind and next thing I would know my drink would be right beside me. They were amazing yet almost invisible. We had booked our wedding a bit late and the hour and half reception was already booked. So we only had an hour. I would strongly suggest getting an hour and half. We wanted more time. We danced our dance and mingled with the guest. Before we knew it is was time for non sailing guests to leave. We took very few pictures during the reception. I did not want to waste any time not being with guest. But after I realized we had not gotten many of the traditional pictures. There are none of my brother and I, as well as professional ones with my mom. Luckily some friends had one of my mom and I.

 

Post Reception: As soon as our final non-sailing guest left, we began rushing around the ship taking pictures with Sammy, the photographer. I knew I did not want many portrait styles so we tried to move quickly. Seeing the photos later, I loved many of the portraits, so who knew. We tried to get some on deck, the sun was very bright and hurt our eyes, but it was still a must!!! We finished up and went and went on to the muster drill.

 

Photographer/Pictures: I am iffy on the pictures. They were about what I expected after reading the reviews. I really disliked how many shots were missed and many had bad backgrounds like a large red sign saying “Firestation No . 224”. But we did end up purchasing a good package for us and were very happy in the long run. I needed the picture to help me relive the wedding because so much of it was a blur. As far as pictures there are a couple things I would do different. First, give them a list of pictures I want done. Second, have someone looking out for things like ugly red signs. Third, I would have had a videographer. We decided to just have a family member do it. But I honestly have no idea if there is a complete video or not. I have to wait until everyone is home. But a video recording of the day would mean the world to me. It just went by too fast.

 

Overall, the wedding was perfect for us. It was just “us” if that makes any sense. Even the food, there was sushi. I did not ask for it, but John and I love sushi and there it was. I wish more of our guests could have sailed. But for us it was the perfect way to officially start our lives as husband and wife. FINALLY!!

 

Just roll with it. Prepare, but don’t obsess. Trust those around you and communicate your desires, but in the end … Just roll with it! One final note, if getting married on the Sensation try to get “Michelangelos”. And do not under any terms get the Touch of Class. Big red and black hands everywhere takes away from the romance.

 

Here is a link to some of our photos. http://www.mywedding.com/nicoleandjohnswedding/galleries.html

There are more on snapfish but they are group protected. You can e-mail if you would like the group code. NicoleandJohnsWedding at gmail dot com.

Your wedding was beautiful. The review with the pictures completely put me at ease about my upcoming wedding. Thank you so much!

[J's Gal]

Nicole, it looks like everything turned out great for you, too!!! :) Your pictures are great! Your little girls are too cute!

Congrats and best wishes to you both! :)

[nklpikl]

Thanks for the review! I'm getting married Aug 10th on Sensation so your review was perfect timing! Did you bring your own bouquet or was that Carnivals its very nice. We also only got the 1 hr reception. Did you choose any of the music options?

 

Glad I can be helpful. Can I ask how many guests you are having at your wedding? We might be able to speculate on what room you get. As far as music, we chose to bring our own for the ceremony and reception. We made a song list and included the songs in an outline for the ceremony. We also labled the CDs. We did not have a DJ instead we had a sound tech.

 

We brought our flowers. First off I had a vision of what I wanted and my daughters were even more picky. Plus we wanted silk so we could keep them. You are not suppose to bring fresh ones off the boat. I went through www.detailsbyjlynn.com Our flowers are actually in her Wedding I Portfolio. She was very easy to work with, really flexible, and helpful all at the same time. They turned our great. Guests could not tell the were silk. John's granddaughter kept having people smell her corsage.

 

The flowers you see on the cake are from Carnival, also the bouquet in front of the cake is the bridal bouquet that came with the package only upgraded to red http://www.mywedding.com/nicoleandjohnswedding/photo_94840_11340402.html

Here is another cake picture: http://www2.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=235075504/PictureID=5258823273/a=135437517_135437517/t_=135437517

 

Let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

[Fantasy_Bride]

nklpikl when the ceremony music was played, did they fade the music off for the cermony, or was there an abrubt stop in the music. I too will have the sound tech, will that mean that I must appoint someone to introduce us?

[nklpikl]

nklpikl when the ceremony music was played, did they fade the music off for the cermony, or was there an abrubt stop in the music. I too will have the sound tech, will that mean that I must appoint someone to introduce us?

 

I thought I already replyed to this, but I do not see. Sorry If I double post.

 

We had asked that Canon in D be faded yet still lightly playing during the ceremony until the sand ceremony song. They instead stopped it or played it so lightly I could not hear it. But is was a fade, not abrupt.

 

As far as intro, I can't really answer. Our wedding and reception was in the same room (our request) so the only intro we had was the offiate announcing us as Mr. and Mrs.

[Calypso88]

We're a small party, 13 sailing, 3 non sailing. I am going with the Carnival bouquet for mine and fake for everyone else. We thought about just bringing an mp3 player and some speakers to play music during the reception.

[MaraNY177]

I will be getting married on Sensation on August 14th!!!! Please let me know how it goes & CONGRATULATIONS!!! :D

 

Thanks for the review! I'm getting married Aug 10th on Sensation so your review was perfect timing! Did you bring your own bouquet or was that Carnivals its very nice. We also only got the 1 hr reception. Did you choose any of the music options?