May 1st, Carnival Splendor wedding out of Long Beach, CA

So better late than never, right?! 27 days after my big day I am finally finding the time to fill you ladies and gents in! We had 46 people at our wedding, with 24 cruising.

-Day before- We spent two nights at the Long Beach Hilton. I would 110% recommended them. They offered a cruise and park package when I booked the rooms. It was $99 and included transportation to and from the cruise terminal, as well as parking during the cruise! They were amazing at making sure all of our guests got to the ship on time, and even upgraded my room with my girls to a corner balcony for free when I asked about the price of a suite! :D They are also walking distance the pike area, which was so much fun! Our friends, my hubby, and I all walked down there the night before, the day before, the wedding, and went dancing and to dinner! I would also recommended the Long Beach Café for breakfast one morning when you there. Super yummy and cheap, and close to the hotel. We had our rehersal dinner the night before the wedding at Stefanos. It is a pizza place that is right near the water, with the boats and everything right in front of you. We ate on the patio, and they made EVERY effort to make sure we were comfy. They even had balloons, and bride and groom pins for us!

- Morning of- I had Karen Lee do my hair and make up. She is amazing and even ended up doing airbrush at no extra charge just because she thought it would be better for such a long day. She came to my room around 6:30, did my mother in laws make up, and then started with me. We were done by around 9:30, which was perfect. We took pictures with the parents, and then started to get ready to leave. (this whole time the groom and groomsmen were all in another room on another floor so that we wouldn’t see each other) I had an AMAZING maid of honor btw! That is something I would also recommended having. You will be stressed, and they will take a LOT of the stress away!

- Boarding- My wedding coordinator was AMAZING!!!! My groom got to the terminal before me, and when I got there he walked away so that I could check in. Its really neat, they have a sign saying "wedding guests sign in here". When I went up to check in, they told me that I could go into the VIP check in area, to avoid seeing my groom. Everyone in the VIP check in was really nice, once they confirmed I was the bride. They only allowed one person to wait with me at first, then the wedding coordinator came over and said oh no no no, she can have her mother, and bridesmaids in there! My dad stopped in a few times as well! The officiant/ minister, David, and the wedding coordinator came in for awhile as well and went over all the details of the ceremony and reception with me, then went and did the same with my groom. I had made a small instruction page, and two cd’s, one for the ceremony and one for the reception, of special songs that I wanted played. They had the groom and guests board first so that the guys could start putting on their tuxes, and then I went on with my bridesmaids and parents. The wedding coordinator was SOOOOO great, and tried very hard to make sure the groom and I didn’t see each other, which we didn’t!! She would run ahead, and then call my maid of honor so that we would know it was ok to go on ahead. My dad and other people had the boxes of favors, and flowers, so that the bridesmaids (who were all non sailing and had their dresses on) could help with my dress, veil, and shoes. I think it was about an hour to an hour and half before we boarded. No guests complained as far as I know, they mingled and were fine.

- Once in my room, two of the bridesmaids ran and got food from the buffet, and me some yummy mac and cheese and fruit. SO GOOD!The photographer, Marvin, also called to make sure I was ok with him coming in to take some pictures. Once he got there we took some pictures even though I wasn’t in my dress yet, then the left for a few. While he was gone, we put my dress on, and the girls took off for the rehearsal. My maid of honor's boyfriend was also running around with our camcorder recording the whole day for us as well. Anywho, Marvin came back in and took some pictures of me and some with my parents, and then I had some time alone, which I needed.

- FINALLY the wedding coordinator came back to my cabin to bring me to the ceremony. My dad, and the bridesmaids, groomsmen, and ring bearer were all waiting outside, and after a few minutes “Love like this” by Natasha Beningfield (SP) started to play, and that was the que for the wedding party! Then it was my turn with my dad, I instantly had tears come to my eyes when I saw my groom. Amazing moment.

.-The ceremony was so intimate, quick, and beautiful. The boardroom was the perfect place for the ceremony.

- The reception was in the disco. Before they announced us, the wedding coordinator asked what we wanted to drink, so that it would be ready right when we got in the reception :D I had the important songs on a cd, for the DJ, so we went straight into my first dance with my hubby, then the cake cutting and toasts. After that we did father daughter, then mother son dances. Then mingling, eating, and drinking. Everyone had no problem getting drinks, and the food was GREAT! Everyone loved the cake as well :D

- Apart from our special songs, we told the DJ to play whatever, so at first it was Disco-ish, we then requested he play todays top hits, and he played some GREAT ones and took requests.

- GO WITH ANGELS ACCENTS! The wedding coordinator told me that my flowers were the best fake flowers she has EVER seen, and kept going on about them :D

- Take every moment to enjoy your day. 1.5 hour reception goes fast, but I wouldn’t change my choice. It was perfect.

- We took tons of pictures after the muster drill, but by that time my feet were killing me, I was tired ( I went to sleep late the night before and woke up early that morning), and my veil kept getting pulled which was giving me a head ache. So I wasn’t really into it, which resulted in me not getting a picture of my hot pink shoes L Try to take your outside pictures first, we did that part second, but it was SOOOO windy outside it was really hard.

- I wore my dress to dinner, but changed before we went out for the night. I really liked that, they had 3 large tables set up by the windows for our party, and the matre’d introduced himself, to us, and announced us to the room. We got such VIP treatment with everyone, it was wonderful!

Ask me anything! :D Pictures will be added soon!

Here are some!

& more

& some more :D

Wow, I have to say your wedding sounded brilliant, cant wait for mine now. Really glad to hear you were able to board the ship without seeing the groom, I didnt think it would be possible!

I have already contacted Karen Lee and she is available for my date so I think I will go ahead and book her now! Your hair and makeup looked gorgeous. Thanks for sharing some photos!

Cant think of any questions at the moment but i'm sure i will.

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your experience!

Love it, love it, love!

You looks so beautiful and it looks like you guys had a GREAT time.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

BTW: I'm also an 'Angel's Accents Bride'!!! :D

I hope you don't mind, but I have been saving the picture poses that I like from other cruise brides, and I took one of yours to show our photographer. Somebody else suggested doing that in case there was a language barrier.

Your wedding sounded phenominal! Congratulations. I can't wait for mine 11 days, now.

I totally don't mind and planned on doing so myself but didn't end up doing so! I think it's a terrific idea though! Our photographer was AWESOME! I was so pleased! Enjoy every moment and congrats!!

Can you send me what carnival sent you after you booked?

cassidy henry [at] att dot com

:)

Congrats! Your pictures look great! I heard angels accents were pretty good. So far I like her stuff the best!

Pictures are awesome, thanks so much for the details. I have not been able to make it into the bank to ask you questions like your friend said I could do, but CC is just as easy I guess lol :) So, you waited an hour to hour half before you boarded eh? HMmmm so that time is everyone just standing outside waiting with the rest of the public? And did you guys have any choice where the reception was gonna be? So we are only doing the Hour Reception , hope its not too short, guess we will have to cut mabe the mother son dance :) Did you find yourself going to get as many free drinks as you could during the reception? Or not so much? My grooms men are wondering if they will have time to drink more than a couple beers lol... Oh, did you guys get as many pictures as you wanted? Or was it you who told me it was like $700 bucks for photos and CD? Cause that seems alot, but mabe our parents will buy that for us , MABE... Boy the time is flying but I'm Just worried cause she wants to decorate herself, and I just think she will not have time, nor want to that am??? So once you were in your room on the boat, how long would you say before the wedding started? Can everyone from the wedding party walk around the ship and visit your room while everyone is waiting? Or could they after the wedding? Thanks so much for the info

P.s. Did you guys need to tip the photo guy? and did you need to tip the Wedding planner lady who helps and the music guy??? Things I have been thinking about ...

Pictures are awesome, thanks so much for the details. I have not been able to make it into the bank to ask you questions like your friend said I could do, but CC is just as easy I guess lol :) So, you waited an hour to hour half before you boarded eh? HMmmm so that time is everyone just standing outside waiting with the rest of the public?We did wait that long, but it wasnt bad. I waited in the VIP room with my bridesmaids and mom, so that my hubby and I wouldn't see eachother. My hubby waited with the guests outside near a sign that said wedding guest check in. It wasn't bad, everyone chated.

And did you guys have any choice where the recption was gonna be? We paid for the DJ, so we automatically got the disco. You can request it but if there is more then one wedding that day, you may not get it.

So we are only doing the Hour Reception , hope its not too short, guess we will have to cut mabe the mother son dance :) Did you find yourself going to get as many free drinks as you could during the reception? Or not so much? I wasnt trying to get tons of drinks, but my guests were. They were all double and tripple fisting lol!

My grooms men are wondering if they will have time to drink more than a couple beers lol... Oh, did you guys get as many pictures as you wanted? Or was it you who told me it was like $700 bucks for photos and CD? It is a bunch, but we had so many that we liked, and we REALLY wanted the disc.

Cause that seems alot, but mabe our parents will buy that for us , MABE... Boy the time is flying but I'm Just worried cause she wants to decorate herself, and I just think she will not have time, nor want to that am??? I don't know what you mean by decorate, but I did rose petals, and had my bridesmaids do it. I highly doubt that an hour or two before her wedding she will want to be decorating a room. It would be kind of wierd to because the guests will probably be there, and she will need to change.

So once you were in your room on the boat, how long would you say before the wedding started? I was in my room for about an hour and 20 minutes. Two of my bridesmaids went and got us all food from the buffet, then the photographer took some pictures of us. Then they helped me dress, then they headed to rehersal. My parents came in and we took a few pictures, and then they headed up as well. I had about 10 minutes by myself, which I needed and loved.

Can everyone from the wedding party walk around the ship and visit your room while everyone is waiting? The guests can go anywhere on the ship. From my experince, the last thing she or you will want is them all crowding in your room. The wedding party, yes. But other guests, probably not.

Or could they after the wedding? The non cruising guests have to leave right after the reception so no visiting your room then. Thanks so much for the info

I hope everthing goes great!!!

P.s. Did you guys need to tip the photo guy? and did you need to tip the Wedding planner lady who helps and the music guy??? Things I have been thinking about ...

We tipped the wedding planner because she was AMAZING!!!!!!!!! But we didnt half too lol

So did you book the romantic package? I was wondering what king of flower arraingements and decorations are included in that price. How much more was it for the DJ? BTW your wedding looked awesome!!!

Hi Girls,

I am thinking of getting married on the Splender in February. I love looking at everyones pictures it gives me a better idea of what to expect. I tips or advise are greatly appreciated. Has anyone gotten married on the ship while it is at sea?

I just saw your reply! I would say GO FOR IT! I do not regret our choice, our wedding was so unique and fun. You will be stressed before, but I was so busy waiting for something to go wrong, and it never did!

Was there anything you had to pay for seperatly? Did you hire your own photographer or use one on the cruise?

Thanks so much for sharing, everything was SO nice :D