Cruise Ship Wedding

Has anyone gotten married and had a reception on a cruise ship? Just looking for some fun ideas for an easy destination wedding.

define reception. it is possible to spend a butt ton of money on the works (ceremony on board, reception afterward with the usual dining options), but everyone also has to spend the money on cruise fare.

you can have the ceremony onboard before the ship actually departs to allow guests that will not be sailing. but that means they must also LEAVE fairly quickly so that the ship can get underway.

most cruise lines have an extensive selection of packages to choose from but in no way would I consider them inexpensive.

Has anyone gotten married and had a reception on a cruise ship? Just looking for some fun ideas for an easy destination wedding.

You may also want to take a look at the Honeymoon and Wedding forum here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=31

define reception. it is possible to spend a butt ton of money on the works (ceremony on board, reception afterward with the usual dining options), but everyone also has to spend the money on cruise fare.

 

you can have the ceremony onboard before the ship actually departs to allow guests that will not be sailing. but that means they must also LEAVE fairly quickly so that the ship can get underway.

 

most cruise lines have an extensive selection of packages to choose from but in no way would I consider them inexpensive.

We'd like to have food, music, and drinks afterwards. I guess that would be my definition.

You may also want to take a look at the Honeymoon and Wedding forum here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=31

Thanks!!

We'd like to have food, music, and drinks afterwards. I guess that would be my definition.

-Wedding packages start at $2000 for shoreside ceremony with up to 10 guests, $3000 for onboard.

-If you want more than a couple appetizers per person, the luncheon options will run $25-29 per person.

-For a reception, you must purchase extra time for the wedding coordinator ($150/hr, for each 25 guests). Hors d'oeuvres (1.5 pp per hour) with an open bar cost $28 pp per hour. Bar only is $18-21pp per hour. The band is $300 per hour.

Bottom line, 10 guests, wedding, one hour luncheon and a one hour drinking and dancing reception will cost you a minimum of $3200. Each extra person will cost at least $52 pp.

Have you booked a cruise yet? You need to contact the cruise line for pricing, and in my experience it is very expensive. Alternatively, you might look to be married on a beach in one of the ports - certainly do-able and less expensive all around.

Just recently off Adventure and there was a wedding reception (cake, photographer and dad dancing with the bride) going on on the dance floor of the Blue Moon on our first sea day (day 4)...so it doesn't necessarily have to be before the ship departs for the cruise.

Many years ago DD got married onboard Vision when it was doing the Mexico itineraries here from the west coast and at that time it could only be done on that time frame...many of our guests left the ship before we sailed.

So OP check with the cruiseline to see what your options are.

Best of luck and congratulations.

Are guests (some of, anyway) going to be sailing on the cruise with you? We attended an onboard wedding, we did not sail on the cruise. While it was wonderful being part of the ceremony and celebration, I thought the whole event was much to short and it seems as we were getting the bums rush to get off the ship. For what it cost, I don't think there was enough bang for the buck.

I know that three lines registered in Hamilton, Bermuda, allow weddings on board on a sea day. They are Princess, P&O and Cunard.

I know that three lines registered in Hamilton, Bermuda, allow weddings on board on a sea day. They are Princess, P&O and Cunard.

If you want a wedding certificate from Malta, you can add Celebrity to lines that perform weddings in international waters.

JeJeTe, I posed this exact same question about 9.5 years ago. Someone wisely suggested that I look for a wedding package at an all-inclusive resort. I chose one in Negril, Jamaica (west coast) - for a reasonable price, they provided a beach wedding at sunset.

Just something else to consider.

Don't forget tocheck about clergy or justice of the Peace. I am not sure ruisere ship captain has power to officiate lgally recognized in U.S.marriage. YOU my be required tor arrange for clebgy OR.

Don't forget tocheck about clergy or justice of the Peace. I am not sure ruisere ship captain has power to officiate lgally recognized in U.S.marriage. YOU my be required tor arrange for clebgy OR.

No worry about legality. The cruise lines force you to use a third party planner if you want to be married by the captain. A captain is authorized by the nation that flags the ship to perform a wedding in international waters.

You need tons of paperwork to get married on Celebrity, flagged in Malta. It is both time consuming and expensive. Five years ago, it was around $700 just for the license. That's combined to the third party "facilitator" and to the state of NJ for forms I never knew existed. The forms from the state themselves weren't all that expensive, but each needed an apostille which is where the expense is. Any prior marriage or name change results in more papers needed.

Sometime, maybe months later, after the wedding DD commented, "I think we should have gone to Philly for one of those 'Quaker' licenses." They could have had a heck of a party with the money saved.

If you decide on a wedding at a port of call it's always a possibility that the port will be skipped.

Another idea....

Some will get married before the cruise and do a 'vow renewal'.

We had an embarkation day wedding 4 years ago on the ship in Boston before sailing to Bermuda. 6 guests came for just the wedding (and family dinner the night before and a weekend trip to Boston afterward) and 15 guests sailed with us. It was less than we would have spent to rent a place and get food, cake, photographer, etc. for a land wedding in New England and was just perfect for us. Link to review is in my signature.

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Has anyone gotten married and had a reception on a cruise ship? Just looking for some fun ideas for an easy destination wedding.

I did, on the Carnival Pride 10/4/15. After the ceremony there was a 1 hour reception. Depending on how early you book 1.5 hours may be available. Everybody is still talking about how good the food, drinks and cake were. And how good of a time they had. No one cruised with us so of course they had to disembark so we could set sail. It was short which we knew going in but it is what worked for us. For our anniversary we are planning a formal reception to invite everyone since the wedding guest list was so limited .

I have always felt that getting married was a mostly private affair. Getting married aboard a cruise ship isn't too private. In my [traditional] opinion couples might be better served getting married ashore and then invite several of their best friends to share some fun time cruising with the newlyweds.

I can't even imagine what a nightmare it would be for the ladies to pack for a wedding at sea. Packing for a simple but elegant wedding is going to cost a fortune in excess baggage fees if an airport is needed to get to your ship. Keep in mind that the wedding party will likely be packing considerably more luggage and more luggage can be a problem - especially if your luggage goes to some place you're not. If the bride and her bride maids will be wearing office or casual attire for an at sea wedding the excess baggage issue pretty much goes away.

But that makes me wonder how romantic it's going to be many years down the road when today's bride and perhaps a beautiful young daughter go to that old trunk that was put away all those years ago and pull out the mommy's wedding ----- jeans? It's tough being an old fashioned romantic, but thought I'd share.

Here's what you need to understand about a cruise ship wedding. In many cases, you don't get to pick the venue and usually you don't know what venue will be used until you are onboard the ship. Your wedding might be in the ship's theater or in a nightclub onboard in a dark room with no windows. Some of the older ships do have chapels, so if you choose one of those ships, most likely your wedding will be in the chapel. But otherwise, you don't get to choose and this can make it difficult to plan your color scheme. Imagine having pastel pink color scheme in an electric orange room, for example. Another consideration is your guests. Usually very few people attend destination weddings - usually just your parents and siblings and then your best friends may if they are in your wedding party. Elderly family members sometimes attend, but many find traveling too daunting and don't. The rule of thumb is that only about 50% of those invited to your destination wedding will attend at most. With it being on a cruise, which might be a 3 - 14 day cruise, a lot of people won't have the time off or money to spend to go on the cruise for your wedding, so you might find out that only a handful of people will attend your wedding. In addition only 23% of destination weddings take place outside of the US - the other 77% take place within the US - usually somewhere the guests can easily drive to within 4 hours. What most wedding guests want out of a destination wedding is to be able to get there easily and cheaply and not spend more than 1 -2 nights away from home plus low cost hotel options. This is JMO, but I think you would be wise to plan a close to home destination wedding instead - some place that you guests can easily drive to (unless you live in a cruise port city and plan to do the wedding onboard the ship before it sails so your guests can choose to leave the ship and not go on a cruise.). If you decide to go forward with this plan and decide to do the wedding on a beach or other location in port, then in addition to paying for the wedding, you will need to pay for transportation for your guests from the ship to the wedding site. Sometimes people do destination weddings at resorts and there is a day pass fee for everyone not staying at the resort which you would need to pay as well.

Some resorts in the Caribbean, such as Sandals will include your wedding for free. If you manage to book guests into 5 rooms, the 6th room for the bride and groom is free. Couples Resorts also offer complimentary weddings.

After deciding not to do a cruise ship wedding, due to some advice on here, we chose Sunset at the Palms, an all-inclusive resort in Negril, Jamaica. It was just the 2 of us (we were older with no kids) but we made so many friends at the resort that we ended up with a lot of guests at the beach wedding. We handed the guests cameras and a video camera, which saved us a lot of money on pictures. The resort also gave us a small reception with a wedding cake. It was perfect.

My family threw us a small reception when we got home.

I'd always wanted to get married barefoot on the beach at sunset - and I did!

I hope the OP comes back to let us know what she has decided.

I have always felt that getting married was a mostly private affair. Getting married aboard a cruise ship isn't too private. In my [traditional] opinion couples might be better served getting married ashore and then invite several of their best friends to share some fun time cruising with the newlyweds.

I can't even imagine what a nightmare it would be for the ladies to pack for a wedding at sea. Packing for a simple but elegant wedding is going to cost a fortune in excess baggage fees if an airport is needed to get to your ship. Keep in mind that the wedding party will likely be packing considerably more luggage and more luggage can be a problem - especially if your luggage goes to some place you're not. If the bride and her bride maids will be wearing office or casual attire for an at sea wedding the excess baggage issue pretty much goes away.

But that makes me wonder how romantic it's going to be many years down the road when today's bride and perhaps a beautiful young daughter go to that old trunk that was put away all those years ago and pull out the mommy's wedding ----- jeans? It's tough being an old fashioned romantic, but thought I'd share.

I've seen several weddings onboard...no jeans....just some beautiful dresses of different styles all worthy of being a keepsake ;)

I've seen several weddings onboard...no jeans....just some beautiful dresses of different styles all worthy of being a keepsake ;)

Because we often sail from Southampton, with several sea days at the beginning and end, I've seen many brides- all in beautiful gowns, with husband and family in equally fine clothes. Each sea day has only one wedding; everything has been planned in advance by the ship's organisers, so flowers and décor are in keeping; the day begins with a champagne breakfast, and the reception is in one of the speciality restaurants. The couple have photographs taken around the ship; clothes have been ironed and hairdresser arranged. There are also renewal of vows, with the same scrupulous organisation, and second weddings with fewer guests.

All beautiful. :)

Nowadays there is a whole category of wedding gowns designed for destination weddings. They tend to be made of fabrics that don't wrinkle easily and are less bulky so it is easy to transport them in a garment bag if desired or in a suitcase. I've seen plenty of brides on ships and they do tend to wear destination type wedding gowns - never seen one in jeans.

We did not have to fly to the port we left from (though all of our guests did) so dress was no problem. Had best man's rental tux delivered to our house too. Waiting area before boarding and wedding venue on the ship were both private. That said it is certainly not for everyone, but ours was lovely and perfectly fitting or our personalities. We are NOT

Big fancy wedding people, and are pretty private in that we preferred to share that experience with just immediate family and a couple of our closest friends. It was our second time on that specific cruise so we kind of knew what to expect.

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"After deciding not to do a cruise ship wedding, due to some advice on here, we chose Sunset at the Palms, an all-inclusive resort in Negril, Jamaica. It was just the 2 of us (we were older with no kids) but we made so many friends at the resort that we ended up with a lot of guests at the beach wedding. We handed the guests cameras and a video camera, which saved us a lot of money on pictures. The resort also gave us a small reception with a wedding cake. It was perfect".

"I'd always wanted to get married barefoot on the beach at sunset - and I did!"

Now here's a young lady that knows how to use her head----er, feet! A belated congratulations for your big day on the beach almost 10 years ago.