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Durham Wedding Review - Carnival Magic 9.2.12 - Preamble

WDrake_98

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Preamble

 

My husband and I had been dating for about 2 years when he proposed. It was a very sweet personal proposal done in our home with just the 2 of us. When I begin looking for a wedding location, I was very thrilled about doing it on a cruise ship. I have taken about 8 cruises, all on Carnival; most being either from Florida or Galveston. My husband and I took his first cruise aboard the Carnival Conquest for Halloween of 2010, and he loved it. Our wedding colors were Plum and Platinum, with accents of Champagne and Chocolate.

 

 

Booking

 

I booked the deluxe wedding package (1 ½ hour reception) with Carnival about 2 weeks after our engagement in Oct of 2011, after first booking out balcony state room.

 

My initial requests included,

 

· Entertainment - the Piano bar

· Video - super deluxe video

· Cake - vanilla cake with vanilla cake filling.

 

 

The Dress

 

Around Thanksgiving my mother came to town and we went dress shopping. Finding my dress was really easy at David’s Bridal. I found and purchased my dress the first day, as the sales lady said I should put the order in ASAP to ensure I got it in time. Note, this was November and the wedding was in September. I put the order in, and got my dress before Christmas.

 

Sailing Guests

 

Shortly after booking the cruise and wedding, I personally contacted family members that I thought would be interested and capable of enjoying the cruise with us. Most of those interested were part of our bridal party. By December, we booked the cabins for the guests that could sail with us, 5 total.

 

Guest List

 

On Cruise Critic, I found a post from a Bride that she exceeded the guest limit of 50 non-sailing guests for Carnival

Wedding. I immediately contacted Paula and she confirmed that the guest limit was not written in stone and granted me the option to having up to 100 non-sailing guests, since there was not another wedding on that day.

 

Save the Dates

 

After much searching online for cool save the date options, I found a vendor that made some very unique looking magnets that matched our team very well. We placed and order with them, and eventually mailed out our save the dates around January of 2012.

 

Ship Tour #1

 

While reading the Cruise Critic wedding boards, I found out about the ability to do a ship tour. I contacted my Carnival Coordinator Paula, and she scheduled us for a tour in February of 2012. Hubby and I completed the tour without any problems. We found out the parking and how it would be for our guests to easily get from the parking, into the terminal. During the ship tour, we only looked at the venue locations, as my husband didn’t want to do a grand tour. Immediately after the tour that we contacted Paula and changed our initial reception location to the Vibe Lounge; the colors matched our wedding colors perfect and the layout was very elegant. There was no wedding on this sailing date.

 

Ship Tour #2

 

Since my planner never had an opportunity to see the ship, and our guest list grew, I requested another site tour. It was granted and our wedding planner, I, my matron and maid of honor all went. There were 2 weddings that day, and the ship was coming back from Belize. Due to this, the ship did not clear customs for quite a long time. I think we waited for over 2 hours in the terminal. This time, we got the full tour of the ship. It’s such a nice ship. Nothing new was added during this tour.

 

DIY Projects and Décor

 

I started quite of few DIY projects for décor at the ceremony and reception locations.

 

Rose Petal Curtain – My most time intensive project. Sewed about 9700 rose petals together in strands and then attached the strands to fabric. There were 3 panels of fabric that were suspended from a photography backdrop. The final size was about 9’ft x 9’ft tall. Due to the limited space in the Conference Center were we had the ceremony, the backdrop was not close to us during the ceremony, kinda sad about that.

 

Bling Shoes – I purchased my shoes and then had them custom colored from a vendor online. Afterwards, I glued hundreds of crystals all over them. Due to all the wedding fuss, I actually didn’t finish this project until the night before the wedding. Wish I was able to finish it prior.

 

Bling Cake Topper – I ordered a custom monogram cake topper from a vendor I found. Her initial work was horrible. I did not like how she applied the crystals at all. So I had to order another monogram and applied the crystals myself.

 

Topiary – I made 8 hydrangea topiary plants to line the aisle of the wedding ceremony. Using small (2in) Styrofoam balls, I attached hydrangeas with hot glue. The balls were placed on painted wooden rods that were in plastic pots. I used rocks and sand to anchor the pots. Overall, the balls where too small to even be noticed.

 

Wedding Wands – After reading a post online about the wedding wands, and considering that Carnival does not allow rice or bubbles, I made the wands myself. I purchased ribbon in my wedding colors, and custom ordered one ribbon with our name. I attached the ribbon to a 1 ft stick that I painted and put a bell on it. Pretty nice.

 

Treasure Chest – I found a cute chest at Michaels to use as a card box. I painted it and added a few stones to make it look cute. However, I didn’t have much time to decorate it. It was placed on the reception table. I didn’t get any cards however.

 

Photobooth Banner – We purchased a custom photo banner online for guest to take pictures in front of while waiting in the terminal and during the reception. The banner was much larger than I imaged. 4 ½ ft by 9 ft. Due to its size and Carnival’s restrictions on decorations, I also purchased a free standing banner stand to hold the banner. Although I was worried about its size, my photographer had no problems using it at the terminal or during the reception. While at the terminal I had my photographer take professional pictures of the guests. At the reception, there were various photo props for guest to use to take pictures using a polaroid camera. The pictures were for the photo guest book, where people could include a photo and leave a message. However, because the photo booth was in the back of the reception, not all guests saw it and used it. The guests that did use it…loved it. I loved the pictures I got.

 

Guestbook Signature Frame – We had a picture frame for our guests to sign while at the ceremony and reception. Guests didn’t really sign the frame neatly, but it’s still nice to have on the wall.

 

Sand Ceremony – I found a vendor that offered a Custom sealed sand frame for the ceremony. The frame had our names etched in the glass and came with instructions on how to use it. Unfortunately, I was the only one to read the instructions. During the take down of the reception and transport back to the car, the frame was moved around and the sand mixed. I’ll probably get more sand and fix it back to how it looked after we poured it initially.

 

Vases – My aunt made us some very nice centerpieces. They were initially supposed to be used at the reception site, but I guess they felt they looked better at the ceremony site. So instead of the standard flowers on the pillars, I had my aunt’s custom flowers. They were fake, but very pretty and were lighted.

 

Aisle runner – Initially we were told the aisle runner would have to be the same length as Carnivals. But during our 2nd tour, the guide said it could be any size. So we purchased a regular runner with a nice quote on it. It was laid out for all to walk on during the ceremony. My only issue, is that it was very crooket while I was walking down the aisle, as my husband’s grandmother walked with a walker. Nevertheless, in the video it looked

fine. There were roses all over the aisle runner.

 

Misc Décor – At the reception site, we had LED tea lights, bling confetti and tea light vases.

 

...to be continued... will add pictures!

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Engagement photos

Finding a good photographer to do out engagement photos was not very easy, as most included the engagement photos as part of the wedding package. I just kept telling friend and coworkers I was looking for a photographer and was recommended one. We booked her shortly thereafter to do our engagement photos around March. Josh is really into baseball, so I figured we could do something with a baseball theme. Initially we wanted to take them inside the Houston ballpark, but the price was pretty high. All in all the photos came out great!

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/115970343514951528126/EngagementPhotos?authkey=Gv1sRgCNf82r24lbm6WQ

 

Boudoir photos

While at a bridal show, I saw a booth for boudoir photos. I knew I wanted these for Josh. Eventually I found a groupon for a nice deal for them. I took them around early July, but didn’t let Josh know, as it was my wedding gift to him. It was very hard not telling him about the photos. But I was able to hold out until the wedding, sending him one photo a day the week before the wedding. I finally gave him the book before his bachelor party Lol!. Sorry no public pictures. 

 

Bridal Photos - I found a very beautiful photo of a bride in a large grand room and wanted to replicate that feeling for my bridal photos. Once again, it was hard finding a photographer, but through word of mouth I was able to get one. He was great! We took photos at the Hotel Galvez in Galveston, TX.

https://picasaweb.google.com/115970343514951528126/Selected?authkey=Gv1sRgCKTsr5jY4O2irAE

 

Hair design – I searched long and hard for the look I wanted for my hair. Eventually I fell in love with the Tyra Banks swoop. Although it looks simple, it apparently was very hard for the stylists to pull off. I had 3 stylist complete the updo, with the last actually doing it the best. The other two, were not exactly listening or accepting to what I wanted. It was the trials with these stylists that really help me get over being nice and respectful to the person doing my hair or makeup. For the wedding, I was very clear and direct with what I wanted without concern. I was also very sure to look at the progress of my hair and makeup while they were doing it to ensure there weren’t any issues.

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/115970343514951528126/Hair?authkey=Gv1sRgCL-dgNCHrqzHYw

 

Flowers – Flowers…flowers…flowers… The bane of my existence!! Carnival charges too much for real ones, and vendors charge too much for fake ones. UGH. And to even get some vendors to return my call was difficult. I eventually went into a flower shop to get a quote and the owner told me about Michaels, and my life was forever changed LOL! I never even got a quote from that flower shop. I got all my flowers from Michaels and my aunt volunteered to arrange them for me. I never got any photos of the final ones she made for my brides maids.

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/115970343514951528126/WeddingItems?authkey=Gv1sRgCMCE_u-IouHTrAE#5786761975832764050

https://picasaweb.google.com/115970343514951528126/WeddingItems?authkey=Gv1sRgCMCE_u-IouHTrAE#5786761956975691938

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Planners:

Moments Event Planning – I interviewed about 8 planners while looking for a day of even coordinator to ensure my vision for my day was executed. Of all the planners, Pam Durham with Moments Event’s Planning was the most punctual, poised and organized. Before the first interview she had me setup with her online planning software, adding a milestone for our initial consultation. At the consultation, she was very detailed at explaining her services and at the end, voluntarily offered a list of references.

 

Her day of event services actually start 6 weeks prior to the event. Since my event was very unique, she was very accommodating. She took the ship tour with my maid & matron of honor and I, to get an understanding of the ship.

Leading up to the wedding she was always there to talk to as the stress and drama of wedding increased. She handled the rehearsal and instructing the wedding party on what to do and when to do it.

 

On the day of the wedding, even though I didn’t see her much, I knew she was there, as everything was exactly how I wanted it. She extinguished any and all fires, as there was never a point where anything was brought to my attention. Everything was just done. And I know it took a lot. The one and only issue I had, was that were was a breakdown in communication on what was expected for breakfast the day of the wedding, as my bridesmaids were left with no food until the reception.. Knowing Pam, I know she would do anything I requested within reason. Given the uniqueness of a cruise wedding, I know WITHOUT a doubt that my wedding would NOT have been MYYY wedding without the help of Pam! I’m forever grateful for her services.

 

The Wedding Experience – Carnival provided wedding coordinators. HORRIBLE! HORRIBLE! HORRIBLE!!!!. I have never seen such bossy, strict, over bearing women in my life. My photographer complained about Linda. There was a very visible turf war between my planner and them. I didn’t care for Linda. My GUESTS complained about Linda. The woman was just RUDE. I will be writing Carnival about how horrible her services where and she would NOT be included at a future vendor. She’s the complete opposite of the Carnival way of trying to please it’s guests. It was if her only goal was to say no to everything. She had a very annoying voice, yet was always on the mic telling everyone what to do. At one point in time, I basically told her to shut up and get off the mic (I don't remember that, but a guest told me that's what I did)

I actually requested that she NOT be given the mic anymore. After the ceremony, she made my guests stay seated while we took pictures because it was 1:24 and not yet 1:30. OMG. The woman was just horrible. Because we would be taking pictures at the ceremony location for about 10 minutes, I requested that my guests be allowed to eat and drink at the reception without us. Well she tried to say NO the guests had to wait until I arrived. BOY! She was just horrible.

 

Photography

Amanda Allen Photography – She did our engagement photos. Great to work with. Photos returned quickly. Pricing was very nice. Would recommend.

https://picasaweb.google.com/115970343514951528126/EngagementPhotos?authkey=Gv1sRgCNf82r24lbm6WQ

Photobook: http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/projectdetail.sfly?fid=8b1f2c4612bce3c2&sid=0AYsWTdm0btGjiI&key=0AYsWTdm0btGjiI&shareProjectTitle=Photo+Book&pid=SFLY&cid=SHARE3PSJXX

 

Takes of Temptation – Boudoir photo vendor. Nicole was AMAZING. She’s very good at what she does. Made me feel complete comfortable. Husband loved the photo book. Would recommend.

 

David Walls Photography – He did my Bridal Photo photos. Also very great to work with. Very knowledgeable and easy to work with. Very busy, but always came through with any and all requests. Very good at layout and editing photos. Coffee table book came out very nice. Would recommend.

https://picasaweb.google.com/115970343514951528126/Selected?authkey=Gv1sRgCKTsr5jY4O2irAE

Photo book:

https://picasaweb.google.com/113004365297125761176/IAmGoingToSleep?authkey=Gv1sRgCMuVt7nShLr4Dw&feat=email

 

sixfourteenphotography – Wedding photographer. AMAZING guy. Booked him after seeing his work with another carnival magic bride. He was very easy to work with. Highly respectful, and all about business when it was time to get photos. He took the cruise with us and ensured our wedding day and honeymoon were very well documented in photos. He even played dodgeball with my brother. No photos yet. I highly recommend.

 

Canvas on Demand – Groupon I got when it was available. AMAZING. The service was great. They are all about quality and ensuring their product is perfect. I would highly recommend.

http://www.canvasondemand.com/photos/sharemycanvas/2012-08/Drake_Development_Solutions_5f8b5242-1c4f-4c5d-aff3-344a4c196355_FullSize.jpg

Edited by WDrake_98
link was wrong.
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Thank you for taking the time to do a review.

 

A few????'s

 

When did you take the Bridal Photos?

- I took my bridal photos in Galveston, Sunday July 15th. Most hotels only allow bridal photos Sunday - Thursday, as the venues are usually booked on the weekend.

 

When and where was your ceremony? -

Ahhh...it's coming...it's coming, I promise.

 

What was the job of the carnival wedding planner vs your own provided planner?

Ok...thanks for answering this question as I think it does need to be clarified.

I'll be very detailed based on my experience.

 

Carnival Wedding Department Coordinator - My CWD was Paula. She is a Carnival employee and who I spoke with to order any and all details of the venue, times, entertainment, guest list, etc. for the wedding. I never saw her, only spoke with her many many times over the phone and via email. My personal planner, Pam, was also in communication with her.

 

Carnival Event Coordinator - The Carnival representative on the ship that received all the detailed I requested (sent to Paula) for the wedding. I'm sure she is coordinator who started the initial setup of the venues prior to the ship arriving in port. I'm sure she also coordinated with all the departments of the ship to make sure all my requests were in order. Chief for food, bar for drinks, DJ for entertainment, staff for ceremony and reception hookup, room stewards for requested rooms. I only saw her a few times at the reception when she introduced herself.

 

The Wedding Experience - Carnival provided 3rd party wedding organizer that assists in controlling and instructing wedding guests from the cruise terminal onto the ship. They are responsible for instructing guests where to go and to ensure ceremony and reception run as scheduled. They also provide the officiant if needed. They coordinate the details of the wedding ceremony (bridal party entrance, prayers, unity candles, etc).

 

In the documents I received from them, they are VERY particular about what they DON'T do. They DON'T assist with carrying anything on or off the ship. Overall, having the extra hands to help decorate is all I used them for. Although all the drama they caused was not even worth the extra hands. I was just showing pictures of the wedding to a guest just now and she said...man that one planner lady with the blond hair (Linda) was a Bi*@!. It was really frustrating having TWE, as they refused to work with my planner and kept asking the same questions my planner had already answered via email and I had already emailed. They were VERY much by the book, and tried to make my wedding cookie cutter.

 

Moments Event Planning - My Person planner, Pam. I hired her as a day of event coordinator. Her services started 6 weeks before the wedding. She took care of the rehearsal and organizing the entrance of my wedding party. Making sure the groomsmen were looking correctly, etc. Having her, really made TWE useless.

There were many reasons I hire her, but one that sticks out was that I didn't want a cookie cutter cruise wedding. After reading the boards I got the impression that carnival and TWE were pretty structured on what they did for weddings. I wanted more, I wanted different. So I hired her to ensure that the things I wanted got done. All in all , She did everything I wanted.

 

Who conducted your ceremony?

My pastor married us.

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Rehearsal

The Friday before the wedding we had rehearsal at my church. Everything went well, everyone from the wedding party attended. Traffic was a nightmare and everyone was late. Other than that, everything went well. We handed out all our wedding party gifts. The parents all received handkerchiefs with special messages. The ones for the women, were packaged like a mini wedding dress. Very cute. Groomsmen and ushers received beer mugs and custom t-shirts to wear to the ship and while in the terminal. Bridesmaids all received custom dress shirts, jewelry, mini purses and a custom hanger. The bridesmaids really liked the hangers the best.

 

Wedding Eve

 

After the rehearsal, we all went to bachelor and bachelorette parties. After my party, my bm’s and I went to our hotel in Galveston. The men all stayed in Houston. The Saturday before the wedding, I slept off my hang over from the bachelorette party and relaxed. One of my bm’s went with me to the Spa at the hotel Galvez. Very very nice. Best massage I ever had. The relaxation room was just what I needed. We ate at the Gaido’s restaurant later that evening. The reminding bm’s all arrived later that evening and spent the night in the hotel. We had two attached rooms.

 

Wedding Day

 

I didn’t lie down to sleep until after midnight that morning. I could hardly sleep, as I was afraid to oversleep and was just too excited. I woke up just about every 45 minutes to check the time. Finally at about 5:40, the makeup artist called as she was having trouble finding us in the dark. Once she arrived, things got started. The artist was supposed to be there at 5:30 to start setup, so we were already behind. There were about 10 ladies trying to get ready. The makeup artist had 2 assistants, one only doing hair and the other doing both hair and makeup.

 

Back in Houston, around 6:30 am the men are getting up for their photo shoot. I had prearranged for food to be delivered at 6:30 that morning, and it arrived as expected. All the men, about 13 where very happy about the food and it made things go much easier for them. I called the photographer around 6:30 to ensure he was not lost and he confirmed he was on his way to meet the guys for 7am.

He took pictures of Josh getting ready in the house and then took all the men to a nearby park to take additional photos. They guys were all very happy about how the photos turned out. Once back at the house, the men removed their shirts and jackets to put on their t-shirts and headed to Galveston. Due to the confusion of the day, Josh actually forgot his tie and vest in the house after leaving. He went back home to get it, but had already given the key to a friend to house sit, so he couldn’t get back in the house. Eventually, the planner borrowed a tie and vest from Carnival.

 

Back at the hotel in Galveston, my planner arrived around 6am. This is my one and only complaint about my planner which is due to a breakdown in communication. I thought I was clear in requesting coffee and donuts for us at the hotel. But that translated to my planner as, coming to the hotel to get coffee orders. I was too upset to clarify. I’m not sure why she didn’t think we would be hungry, as she admitted to getting food for herself that morning, during the coffee run. She came back with just coffee, but by then it was 7am and we were behind.

 

All of us got dressed in our outfits. Each bm wore her custom blouse that had her name and role in the wedding. I had one also. On my last trip to David bridal the week before, I saw a very cute yoga outfit that had the word Bride in bling on the booty and a diamond bling on the jacket. Sooo had to have it. So that was the outfit I wore into the cruise terminal. I was all bride out!!!

https://picasaweb.google.com/115970343514951528126/WeddingItems?authkey=Gv1sRgCMCE_u-IouHTrAE#5787477842395912162

 

https://picasaweb.google.com/115970343514951528126/WeddingItems?authkey=Gv1sRgCMCE_u-IouHTrAE#5787477846827931778

 

The ring barer and bell girl also had cute shirts saying their role in the wedding. Very very cute.

 

Getting out the hotel room was complete craziness. We were leaving our cars at the hotel, so we needed a taxi. Getting all the luggage out the hotel to the taxi was a pain. The taxi was early, so we were rushing. Due to the rushing, some of the bm’s didn’t get a lot of attention to their hair as they should have for the price. Many complained about the level of service for hair and makeup. My makeup was great. I loved it and looked great all day. However, this was the makeup artist 3rd time making my face. My hair looked great, and my only complaint is that I got it restyled on the ship the next day and it looked better and didn’t cost as much.

 

Eventually we got out the hotel room and into the taxi around 8:30, arriving at the cruise terminal about 9am. At the drop off point at the terminal, for about 10 minutes, it was very hectic, as we (about 5 girls) had to carry all the carry on luggage and dresses up to the checkin point. I think was made it exact crazy was the water. We got a case of water for the cruise and water can’t be included in your checked bags. So here we are with all this stuff trying to also carry 5lbs of water. In hind sight I should have given the dresses to the wedding planner.

 

It was HOT…I was trying hard not to sweat. It was a very intense, stressful walk. However, once we got inside, everything was great. The terminal was not yet open, so we met my planner with all the décor items, waiting for clearance to enter. A few early guest also arrived. I didn’t want my guests to see be out of my wedding dress, but it was nice talking to them and they were very happy and excited to see me.

 

We waited for about 20 minutes for the terminal to open, and then we were the first to clear though security. We all got through without any problems, which was great considering how much stuff we had.. We had A LOT. By we I mean my bm's and myself. My planner and her assistants where all still trying to get though security. My only goal was to get to my hiding spot so no more guests saw me. So once through security and upstairs at the cruise waiting area is where the drama started with The Wedding Experience…. To be continued....

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Question about your invites. Did you just list the wedding time as the time to be at the port ?

 

At the time I printed my invitations we did not know the wedding time, the ship time was originally 10:30, so I put 10 am on the invites.

 

Later, I got notice from Carnival saying it had to be 9:30, so I made another insert for that.

 

I never informed my guests of the actual time for the wedding, didn't want them thinking they could get on at any time.

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In the Terminal

Upon getting up on the 2nd floor of the cruise terminal I was greeted by Linda, as I walked to the weddings/groups check in counter. She’s the first TWE employee I met. While at the check in counter, I explained to the clerk that while packing I inadvertently switched passports with my husband. She said, I would have to have my passport to check in. Crap. I did not want Josh to see me until I was walking down the aisle. Linda said she would get with Pam and deal with it once Josh arrived. I said ok and started walking to the area of the terminal that I had already scoped out on my second tour to hide. Linda is walking along with me talking telling and how things were going to go and what’s going to happen, but I wasn’t even listening. When we got to a very open section, she tells me this is where I’m to sit. I kept walking and said, no I’m going to sit over there in the corner where no one can see me. She then tells me that’s not allowed. All wedding guests must actually stay in the wedding area, but as a curiosity to you to keep your groom from seeing you, you can sit here. I was like, look…I’m going over there and sit in the corner, if anyone at Carnival has a problem with that, I’m sure they will let me know.

 

I go to my corner and sit. My nerves are on edge. I’m excited, nervous and trying hard not to cry. I was alone for about 5 minutes before one of my bridesmaids found me. We start talking about stuff to pass the time. Eventually my planner Pam comes to tell me the news of Josh forgetting this tie and vest at home. I’m pissed, but trying to keep calm as I try and accept that my wedding day will not be 100% perfect. My mind starts racing for a solution to the problem…and I remember that Carnival has the tux rental and relay the information to Pam. It’s at that point that I tell her not to tell me anything else that goes wrong. I explain that I hired her to ensure this day would be as close to perfect as possible. I had 100% faith in her that she would do everything in her power to make that happen.

A while later more bridesmaids find me and start talking and wasting time. I look at all of them all beautiful with their hair and makeup did, cutely dressed. It’s so early. There are so many people around me…all there for me (and Josh). I start to cry, telling them now special I feel, and honored that they are all there for me. They tell me stop…stop…let’s talk about something else… no crying.. don’t cry… cause I would make them start crying.

 

TWE Comes again...

A while later, another set of women from TWE find me. They say they had walked all over the terminal and couldn’t find me. Hahahahah. Exactly what I wanted. So, I can’t recall her name so I’ll call her Sue. But Sue had some paperwork with A LOT of questions; which I had already answered and emailed to Carnival, my Wedding Planner and in a completely separate email requested by TWE. I was annoyed. Sue had already talked to Pam before seeing me, yet continued to ask me the questions as if it was required by law. Many of the questions I responded that my planner has that information… or she said, I’ll get that information from your planner. I’m thinking, why didn’t you just print the information from the email that I sent. Ugh.

 

So then she tells me about the time and what time to be where. She says, about 12:30 we will have a rehearsal, at least 4 times. Each time, either myself or my planner (who has arrived) tell her that we already did the rehearsal on Friday. Nope…so what…still must do one again. Ughx2 . She says, at 12:30 we will get your bm’s and take them to the ceremony location. This will give you time and relax and enjoy a few minutes alone before the wedding starts. Well thanks to the message boards I knew that the idea of the leaving the bride alone 30 minutes before her wedding is relaxing …is only in theory. I found not one bride say they enjoyed being alone. So, I immediately starting thinking of someone not in the bridal party that could be with me. Luckily, my two good girlfriends that I work out with where already there. So I got them to come over to my area and they agreed to stay with me in my room while I got dressed.

 

Photobooth is a hit

One the photographer arrived and Pam got all our stuff though security, the photobooth backdrop was setup. Surprisingly, they were actually able to set it up to the full length of 9ft. The photographer had me come check it out before taking a lot of photos. I took a quick photo and ran back to my hiding spot. By this time most guests had already arrived. According to my photographer, Colton, he was approached by one of TWE witches and asked who he was and that the backdrop was not normal and why was it there.

At one point, I was told that Josh had arrived and they switched passports. They had him downstairs in a secure area and I was clear to check in. I walked quickly out of hiding to the check in area, had my passport scanned and back to hiding I went.

 

About 10:20 ish, all the bm’s leave to go to the group area to listen to the announcement that TWE is about to make to the guests about what to expect for the wedding. I believe Linda made the announcement, instructing all guests to be at the ceremony location at 12:30. Before the announcement she gives Colton the impression that we are about to board the ship and he begins to take down the backdrop, even though the announcement was only for 5 minutes and we didn’t board for about 40. Ughx3.

 

Since the backdrop was broken down, Colton comes over to the hiding spot and takes a few pictures of the bm’s and me in our outfits. It was cute and quick.

 

 

All Aboard!!!!!

 

It’s about 10:40 and we start getting word that boarding is about to begin. I’m anxious and ready to move. There are people everywhere!

 

At the tour I took in July, the ship had returned from Belize. So, the ship had to do a FULL customs clear. It took over 2 hours I think to clear the ship, before passengers could board. However, my problem was that once the boarding started, the wedding party guests somehow started boarding before the actual bride did. I was in shock, and my planner and I both said that would not happen with me.

 

So, I get the signal to start boarding…boy was I off like lighting. I walked quickly though the checkin process, getting my S&S picture and bypassing the boarding photo. At the entrance ramp there was an all stop for some reason. I was the first person in line and hidden in a tunnel. We stood there waiting for about 10 minutes, and at exactly 11:15, we were given the all clear to continue. I would have run, but I didn’t want to sweat and mess up my makeup. I walked really…really…really fast. Fast enough to where Sue had to run to keep up with me. I’m the first to board the ship and proceeded straight to my state room.

...Port stop...reboarding tomorrow...

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WDrake_98

WDrake_98

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Sorry for the delay ya'll....needed a relaxing weekend.

 

Stateroom Surpise

 

Now where was I....right. I'm in my stateroom now. To my surprise a wedding guest actually went to the Carnival Registry I setup and had our state room decorated. It was very cute and I was all in teary eyed yet again. Sue (from TWE) and her trainee was with me as I entered my stateroom. My clique (Tanya and Edrina) was also with me, as all my bridesmaids were in my brother's room next door. The groom and his men all got dressed in our other sailing guests room on the 9th floor.

 

Sue and Tanya left shortly after getting in the room to get me something to eat. Shortly after being in the room I got a call from Federico from audio/video saying he would be coming up shortly to do my initial interview. I got settled into the room, waiting on the rest of the wedding party to make it to the staterooms with our dresses. My planner eventually arrived with my dress, which Colton took along with my shoes up to the top deck to take photos. Once all our stuff got to the staterooms, I began to get dressed. It took both Tanya and Edrina to help me get into my dress, as I had a real, metal boned corset and my dress had a corset tie back. I was dressed in no time and helped my bell girl get dressed after I was finished.

 

After getting dressed, Colton had all of us go to the 11th deck to take photos. He made sure Josh and the groomsmen stayed in their room. Walking to the deck was really fun as it was the first time people saw me and they were all complementing how pretty I looked. I was soo happy and smiling. We took a few pictures on the deck and I headed back to my room, while the bm's went to the Ceremony site for rehearsal.

 

From about 12:20 ish until 12:50, it was just my clique and I in the room. Frederico came in and did a quick interview. It was ok, kinda awkward since the camera was facing the mirror and I had to talk into the mirror. But in the end it turned out really cute. After the interview my girls and I just had a good time talking and laughing. It was a great time, and I absolutely recommend having 1 or 2 people that will be with you while waiting for the ceremony to start. Eventually Sue came and got us, as it was time to start!!!

 

 

We Say I Do

 

Our stateroom was located on the 7th deck, port side, aft. The ceremony was held in the Conference Center at 1pm. Getting to the location was very easy, as we took the aft elevator down to the 4th deck (promenade), and the Conference Center was just a little way down. While I was walking up, the wedding party was all lining up to enter and I could hear the prelude music playing. Once I got to the area, I saw Pam and asked her if she had my vows. There was a little stress as they did not know where my vows were given all the stuff we had. Nevertheless, Pam was able to figure out where they were and her assistant was able to get them right before it was my turn to enter.

 

It was really nice watching my bridal party enter the ceremony location. They were happy to see me and I was sooo happy to see them. My uncle walked me down the aisle and at one moment had to focus on not crying. He was very happy to be there.

 

Our ceremony started with our Pastor, Josh and his bestman walking down the aisle. The seating of the parents followed, and included, Josh's grandmother, his father and then my mother. His grandmother and my mother were escorted by ushers. Then the bridal party (3 bridesmaids, maid of honor, 4 groomsmen, matron of honor) entered. The ring barer and bell girl then entered. The ring barer was all good and ran down the aisle like a champ. My poor bell girl, got stage fright and didn't want to go down the aisle. At the rehearsal Pam warned us this may happened, so we were not shocked or upset at Kyle and were just going to continue on with the ceremony. However, there was one member of the family that didn't know to just let the child alone, and forced her to walk down the aisle. It was not a good thing, because there after Kyle was not in a good mood and got really attached to the other bm's when she finally got to the alter. In her tantrum, she caused one of the bm's to stumble and bump the while column, knocking over the vase that was on top of it.

 

So now it's my turn, the door open and I walk in, everyone stands up. Something happened at the door and my uncle stopped for some reason. But then we started walking down the aisle. The lights from the video camera was directly in the middle of the aisle. The way the room was lit made it very difficult to see everyone standing at the alter until I was a good ways down the aisle. I couldn't even make out who was who for a few seconds. But eventually I saw my honey...standing there...both his hands in his pockets with tears running down his face. He was soo handsome.

 

Once at the alter, my uncle gives me away. We have a small prayer, followed by biblical vows, our personal vows, the sand ceremony, our first kiss as husband and wife, and finally we jumped the broom as we walked back down the aisle together.

 

Cheese!!

Once the ceremony was done, we walked back to the stage and took family pictures. TWE planners were rushing us and then not rushing us....they were a complete mess. It was about 1:25 when the ceremony was over, but Linda wouldn't let our guests leave the ceremony as we took pictures because it wasn't 1:30. UGH! Most left anyway. We took very quick pictures of various family group photos with his family and mine. very quick. Right before leaving the ceremony we were able to get a group photo of the entire wedding party. Bride, Groom, Matron of honor, maid of honor, bestman, 3 Bridesmaids, 4 groomsmen, 2 ushers, Bell girl and ring barer. WOW...16 people. Hadn't even counted that before. After the pictures we all head down to the reception location.

 

Cocktail hour..... I'm going to try and get a snippet of the wedding ceremony video and post it.

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