On Board Reception

[as1anp3rsuas10n]

I will be getting married on the beach in St. Thomas on March 15, 2010- I'm doing everything through Carnival- We will be having 16-20 guests total that will be coming with us on the cruise. I was thinking about having an on board reception- 2 hour open bar with hordeuvres and cake. Obviously when planning through Carnival- you don't really get to have it your way lol- ideally- I would like to have dinner in the dining room (a table reserved for my party) then go to the reception for the cake cutting, drinking, some more eating and dancing. I would like to have a pianist- and also play our first song with a cd player (if possible). Most guests will be in their 20's- and 4 of the guests will be in their 50's-60's. After the reception- I would like to go out to a club on the ship and dance with those who want to join.

For those who have gotten married with Carnival- was the reception worth it- how was it orchestrated? Is it our responsibility to keep everything moving smoothly- as in when the cake cutting is- our first dance- toasting ect? or is someone there to help the reception move smoothly- I don't want it to be boring and awkward- and my main goal is to be stress free. Also will there be a photographer there?

Is it worth it for me to have the reception with such a small number of guests attending (we will be having one when we get home). I thought it would be nice to treat everyone to free drinks since it is expensive to have them on board and just thank those who were able to come. I don't know- I need to book soon I'm just up in the air about it- Any input/advice would be MUCH APPRECIATED!

[KSMandMJG]

I am also concerned that my reception will be a little rushed an awkward - how do I fit a cake cutting, first dance, mother/father dance, and speeches into an hour long reception?!?!

We still decided to go with Carnival because it is way less expensive than doing a wedding the "traditional" way, so for us the sacrifice is worth it. There is a link titled "Megan's cruse wedding review" that may answer some of your questions. Also, you could try calling Carnival.

[merocket59]

They have a great system, it isn't awkward at all, the coordinators move you from one location to the next and the photog is there taking pictures of everything and will ask you to look when he wants but also take candids. They are always pointing you in the right direction. After the wedding you move to a reception local and they will introduce you as husband and wife and then you will move to the dance floor for the dances then over to the cake for cutting/toasts, then you get to mingle with the guests. It does go by very quickly but it is really fun and the best part is having the time after to spend with your guests, I got together with a lot of my guests the first night and hung out on the deck then went to watch karaoke but you could def get everyone to go to the club together. I liked how they organized things but that is my way, I'd rather have someone else plan out the little details but if you want to be more involved with that then having a cruise wedding is probably more stressful. The best thing to do to find out about options for rooms is to call the wedding coordinator for your ship and find out which rooms are traditionally used and why. HTH

[tricy99]

[quote=merocket59;22051147]They have a great system, it isn't awkward at all, the coordinators move you from one location to the next and the photog is there taking pictures of everything and will ask you to look when he wants but also take candids. They are always pointing you in the right direction. After the wedding you move to a reception local and they will

I was also concerned with the reception and how it was organized. I have read many post on here where the bride and groom was taking away from the reception for pics. Merocket..was your reception cut short by the photographer?

[merocket59]

It had to be because I had family that was nonsailing so in order to have formal pic with them we needed to start before the reception ended and the nonsailing guests left but I did delay it for a little while.