Hungry wedding guests...

So IF we are able to board on time, I'm not too concerned about my guests being hungry. I'm assuming our wedding should be around 1230-1pm (Carnival Pride) if all goes as planned.

But when we were on our tour of the ship, there was a major delay with them clearing customs and we didn't board until about 1230-1245p. I kept thinking - if this were my wedding day I'd be a mess. I also read a recent review where they weren't able to board till near 2pm! YIKES!

None of our guests are sailing. We have several kids coming on board for the wedding. And I'm starting to worry about people being famished by the time the reception starts (should there be a delay in boarding). Has anyone had a long delay? I know we can pay $9-10 per person so they can go eat at the buffet, however I feel like I don't want to pay more to have people fill up on the buffet and then not be hungry for the reception we already paid for. Not to mention, if we have a delayed boarding, I'd assume there won't be much time to eat before the ceremony anyhow.

Are we allowed to bring food of any type to the pier, to eat prior to boarding? Or will they not allow food past security? I'm probably worrying for nothing but I just envision people not eating since breakfast and potentially waiting till 130-2pm or so and being starving.

I have the same worries as you!

I am not just afraid of the guests being hungry....I worry about the embarkation process. I read that they may take a couple of hours to do the embarkation, my in laws have NO patience to wait or to be wondering around the boat...I hope we don't have too many delays.

I just got the contract from Carnival legend and I am still deciding if we will pay the buffet. I don't want to spend more than I have to either. Good luck for all us!!!!!!!

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So we get married on the Carnival Paradise June 2015, my side of family is cruising along with us, my fiancé's side is not, so I know with them asking everyone to be there at security by 10am to go thru security & that ceremony won't start til 1:00ish, I asked the wedding dept, what will guests do for 2hrs?? they said tour the boat-well I know most won't want to.. they mentioned lunch buffet for $10 so we decided to do that, since it's included for all sailing guests & thought it'd be rude to have some able to eat & some not.. So we're just providing since his side is mostly guys, & they can EAT! I know they'll eat lunch plus h'orderves later lol.

I think we all worry about the possibility of boarding being delayed. I figure that no matter what happens, we just need to hope for the best and go with the flow.

I figure we only have about 6 guests that are non-sailing (about 20 sailing), so we plan to get the lunch buffet for them also, since I don't want them to be left out. The reception is just hors d'oeuvres, so I wanted people to have the option of a heavier meal, and food sometime before 2pm.

I've taken food/snacks onto previous cruises before, so I don't think it would be a problem. I plan to include some snack items into the OOT bags for everyone, which I actually plan to use as wedding favors. I figured I'd do some fun "nautical themed" snacks (goldfish crackers, chips ahoy cookies, etc.) and some local specialties (wedding is in New Orleans, so I'm thinking praline candy and some Cajun flavored chips or something). I figure that it's always nice to have a few snacks available in your room when on vacation (even for the non-sailing guests). If boarding gets delayed, I will just hand them out early, which gives people something to do while waiting and something to munch on if needed.

I'm kind of imagining that if boarding gets delayed we will find a way to make the best of it. The OOT bags will have color books to keep kids busy. Maybe we can open up a bottle of wine or champagne (if they let us), turn on some music on the I-phone and start the party early. :D I certainly don't want to have everyone just sitting around bored and frustrated. And for non-sailing guests, we have limited time to visit with them there, so I plan to take advantage of that time, no matter where it is.