Bestdayever

Thought I would post a couple of pictures of the food at the reception.

What a perfect wedding. Carnival couldn’t have done a nicer job. It was beyond what we could have imagined.

Most of our guest said " that was the best wedding and reception we have ever been to"

The reception food presentation was absolutely BEAUTIFUL.

If you are thinking of doing a cruise wedding and are unsure…..please know that we couldn’t have asked for anything nicer.

Let me start by saying that we only booked the reception thru Carnival. We decided to have my sister in law marry my daughter and her new husband. The actual cost for the wedding on Carnival was a bit more than we wanted to spend. So what we did was:

•Sister-in-law married the couple on the cruise before we left dock. That was a private ceremony.

•The following day in Half Moon Cay, which is Carnival’s private Island, my sister-in-law did the actual ceremony with the guests.

•The reception was 4 hours later on the cruise in the White Heat Dance Club. This lasted 2 hours with a D.J.

Here is a quick outline :

Carnival wedding group called us 2 weeks before the cruise to go over the details. They did say that a photographer would take pictures at the reception and then afterward around the ship. We were not expecting a photographer. I asked if they would go to the island and take pictures. They told me no.

When we booked the reception, we just went with the standard package and did not deviate from the menu. We had open bar for 2 hours. We also knew the package came with a 2 tier wedding cake.

We got to the cruise terminal at 10:00. Once of the workers asked us if we were having a wedding. We said YES, but it wasn’t until the next day. They said “ That’s OK, follow us to the wedding room” We actually got to board with the weddings that were taking place that day.

That evening, MIA, the wedding coordinator contacted us. We met with her around 8:00. She went over the reception details for the next day. She said she would meet us ½ hour before the reception to help with decorations and the favors. She also told us to meet her at guest services the next morning and she would make sure we all got on a tender together. Let me just say the Mia was EXCEPTIONAL. You could not have asked for a nicer coordinator. She went above and beyond.

The next morning there was a photographer at my daughters cabin. He wanted to take pictures. We were a little confused by this. He took a few and then said he was following us to the island. That is not what Carnival wedding group told us. But we went with it. We all met at guest services and MIA took us in front of the lines and got us on a tender. PERFECT. Once on the island, we got a shuttle to take our group to cabana 15, which we had rented. The wedding took place at 11:00 a.m. and was perfect! The weather couldn’t have been any nicer.

We then had the guest go eat at the cruise buffet . Some had brought suits and swam. Or just explored. What a beautiful island Half Moon Cay is. Paradise! We then took the shuttle back to the pier and took the tender back to the ship. We were on the ship around 2:00. The reception was starting at 3:00. Headed to the reception, put out the few decorations we had brought, set up the wedding favors. Mia was an awesome help.

The reception was absolutely gorgeous. What a fantastic display of food and it was fabulous. My daughter is gluten free. The chef had special food for her to eat! If anyone went near the gluten free food, the chef told them that was for the Bride ! They even had an ice sculpture. I didn’t even know this was included in the price.

The DJ announced the new bride and groom. There was their first dance, father daughter dance, mother son dance and cake cutting and toasting. They also had bride and groom toasting glasses that they got to keep. The rest was dancing, drinking and eating. two hours was plenty of time. We never felt rushed for anything.

Please note: that when you book the reception with the open bar. No shots. Anything else is ok. They will have pre made drinks for you and walk around with those. You are ALLOWED to have whatever you want. If you want a pina colada.just ask. Bahama mama just ask. Beer, just ask. You do not have to drink the pre made drinks.

Once the reception was over,Carnival packed up all the decorations and sent to the brides room! We didn’t have to do anything!

The whole process was so easy. There were no bumps in the road. Seriously, we could not have asked for a nicer reception.

So if you are considering a cruise wedding….you will not be disappointed.

We did see Mia a few times during our cruise. She stopped us once and said “ I have been doing weddings for carnival for 9 years. There are only two weddings that have stood out. Ours being one. She said normally family is fighting, they try to do too much traditional stuff…bouquet toss, garter toss etc. It just waste to much time. She said our whole group was so much fun. Everyone got along” So go into knowing that it will not be totally traditionally. You are there to enjoy yourself. Don’t worry about the small stuff.

It has been forever since I have been on here. Not a lot has changed. The wedding is in 4 weeks. We are ready to go. All of our paperwork has been sent to Carnival. There really isn't much to do except pack and get on the boat :)

I will say that this whole process has been very easy. Carnival has been great to work with. We are just hoping everything works out smoothly once we are on the cruise. I am sure it will.

We had the bridal shower last weekend. I will post a few pictures of that.

I guess I probably won't be back on here till after the wedding. Will let everyone know how it went.

Well we are down to 12 weeks. Seems like it will be here before we know it.

I did a few crafts this weekend. My daughter wanted a shadow box. So I designed their last name into a emblem ( monogram type) …established 2015 etc. Bought a top loading shadow box. Used my silhouette to cut out the vinyl. Then put the vinyl on the glass and used etching cream. It turned out really awesome. I also ended up making them coaster with the same emblem. You print on tissue paper. And modge podge onto the tiles. The tissue is thin so you can’t see on the tiles. I think they turned out pretty good also.

A little about my silhouette cameo. I LOVE THIS THING, It is one of the best $260.00 investments I have made. You can do so much with it. My daughter actually wanted the Cricut. I started looking at reviews. The thing that sold me on the silhouette is you DO NOT NEED to buy cartridges. You can actually design something and import into the software and cut. LOVE LOVE LOVE. The vinyl is so much fun to work with. I have made so many projects with it. I have had it for over a year now. Knock on wood….no problems so far.

So I don’t think a weekend goes by without me making something. With it being winter..it keeps me busy. I did a bunch of tags this weekend. Thank you tags for the bridal shower favors. Tags for the welcome bags, tags for the lanyards….ect. I think I am tagged out.

My daughter wanted me to do reception cards. Just so everyone knows where to be. So ended up doing those also. My pile to take to her in April is growing. She is transporting everything to the cruise. They are driving and only have the 2 of them in the car. I will have 4 in our car and will not have the room. So I need to get my stuff done and get to her in April. I just keep adding things on to my list to keep me busy.

I did buy my nephew a few things for his welcome bag. Had to get glow sticks. Like what child or adult doesn’t like glow sticks. Bought enough that he can share with other kids if he so desires. I also designed and printed out on vinyl a zombie for his water bottle. My daughter has his bottle with her. So I will put on the bottle when I see her in April. I had bought some candy for his bag also. And back in the fall I had bought a beach towel for him. I would also like to buy him a snorkel set. Not sure what else to put in his bag.

Does anyone have anything special that they put in a childs welcome bag?

I think it will be pretty easy to put up the banner. She isn't getting married the same day we board the ship, so that will help also.

I think my only concern is that kids will tear it down. I will not worry about it though.

How did you make the door hanger? I love it

Thanks. They did turn out cute! But I can't take credit for it. I ordered those and the timelines off of Etsy.. I was afraid to make the door hangers. They were pretty reasonable.

Here is our door using the blue putty and command hooks and a door poster magnet I bought through vista print.

 

Here are the rules that Carnival Gives to the facebook door decorators group:

Door Information::

Door measurements are 72"x 22". Handicap accessible doors measure 72"x30".

The mailbox wall is 11 inches wide, the ceiling to the top of mailbox is

12 3/4 inches.

From the top of the door to the top of the door knob box is 33 inches.

The doors are actually 77 inches tall, the 72 inch measurement is to the top of the vent. You really shouldn't block the vent.

Doors Are NOT magnetic.

Rules Per Carnival:

The use of 3M command strips, Loctite fun-tak (which is a blue putty) or Scotch removable mounting putty, is recommended to hang any decorations Please take a look in the files tabs for pictures of these products.

Blue painters tape is okay, as it does not leave a residue, but it only holds lightweight items, so please don't depend on it as your only method to hang your items up with.

Outside lights on the balcony are starting to be banned due to sea regulations.

Other Information:

Please do NOT use anything that leaves a residue behind. Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean it's not there.

That means scotch tape or duct tape or contact paper or Velcro. Do NOT use it.

Inside the cabins: Ceilings are magnetic. Side walls are slightly less magnetic, so use a stronger magnet for the walls.

Decorating Contests are NOT part of each cruise, nor sponsored by Carnival. It is at the discretion of the Cruise Director if they choose to have a contest on a sailing. Some private FB groups may choose to have a contest, but not all of them.

I love your door decorations!

My 8 year old nephew will also be joining us on the cruise. I wanted to make him a special welcome bag. I found this cool bag on etsy. He loves zombies and monsters so I thought it was fitting. I also had it personalized with his name on it. I think its super cute!

We had bought some candy to put in the bag. I was also thinking of buying a snorkeling set for him. I will also make him a special water bottle. Maybe put a zombie or something on it for him.

Any other ideas to put in a bag for an 8 year old boy?

Thank you!!!!!! I didn't realize they had door rules. I really appreciate the information. That would have been awful thinking that a magnet would hold the banner up. :mad:

I did finish the door banner. It measures 16" x 36" so I think that will work. I think it turned out pretty good.

The one thing I wanted to make for the cruise was a banner for the bride and groom’s cabin door.

When we were on the cruise a few weeks ago, I measured the door using my arm. Ingenious I know. Now I needed to try and find banner material. I did not want to use paper. I stopped at our local office supply place. They did not have it. I know Staples online had a sale on banners $9.99 for a 2x3 banner which was almost the perfect size. You could design what you want. I thought that was a really good deal, but I had my design on my silhouette and wasn’t sure how to copy and transfer to Staples site.

So then I thought, go to a local craft supply place that had material. And find some vinyl there. So that is what I did. It cost me $3.00 for 2 feet by about 5 feet.

The actual measurement I needed was 16” x 3 feet. I got that all cut out. I ended up having to order more pink vinyl for the silhouette. I am doing most of the lettering in Black with some pink accents.

I will find some sticky magnets and attached to the back of it. Hopefully it will stick to the door. I should bring some tape just in case ( if they allow you to tape to the door). I will also hand a marker and hopefully people will write a message.

I am hoping this project will be done this week. I will post pictures once it is done.

Here are a couple tags I made this weekend. The yellow ones will go on the wine glasses I made for the bridal shower.

The silver ones I made from clay. I have never worked with clay before. It was trial and error on these. I used an actual starfish to imprint. Then once they were dry I spray painted them silver. Well they crumbled. So my daughter had a great idea. Modge Podge over them. They are still fragile but much better. We are going to used these as tags for either the reception or I may use on the welcome bags. I have made so many different tags now, I am not sure what is what.

Futuremrsraymond,

thank you for following and Congrats! I live in Illinois but we used a travel agent in Florida. She has been wonderful. If you would like her contact information send i can PM it to you.

We made sure to put on our wedding website and to tell the few who don't use the internet that we couldn't accept gifts at the wedding. Most seemed to assume it was because we didn't want to have to fly home with them, either way it worked. :)

That is a great idea! Thanks

Thanks for that info. Never thought of that.

When I wrote about the fish net maybe on gift table I was referring to the gifts for our guests. We are hoping our guest don't bring gifts....spending thei vacation and money on the trip is gift enough.

here are the jackets we did. Forgot, we also did the flip flops for the girls.

the one picture is the back of the jacket, we just put a small starfish on it.

I thought they turned out really nice.

and the box of starfish.

here is the fish net. It is HUGE.

here are the bags I did to put the mini first aid kits in.

Bridesmaids makeup bags

The door hangers

Here are the wedding time line cards

well the holidays are over. Our cruise in January is over. So now to finish the wedding plans.

We have got quite a few more things accomplished. First the t-shirts or tanks we were planning on doing. We ended up buying zip sweatshirts/workout jackets in black and screen printed on them with the silhouette machine. They turned out awesome.

Might end up doing the tanks also.

Ordered wedding time lines and door hangers thru someone on Etsy. They turned out really nice.

Made some more thank you tags for some gifts.

Found some awesome starfish at Kohls...ended up paying $1.00 for them.

Found a fish net with starfish at tjmaxx for $10.00. Will use that on the cake table or gift table with starfish and shells on it.

Got the flowers ordered. My daughter found a florist where she lives to do the bridal bouquet for $65.00 using real touch flowers. Can't wait to see how it turns out.

Got the airfare booked for my sons.

Booked hotel for the night before the cruise. Booked a shuttle to pick us up at the hotel and take us to the port.

Booked Godfrey Tours for 18 of us for St. Thomas.

Booked 3 golf cart rentals for Grand Turks.

Finished the bridesmaids make up bags.

Got the bridal shower booked. Having it at a wine bar. Ordered the food. A couple of the bridesmaids are going to make cupcakes for it. Got the bridal shower invites. They will go out in the mail at the beginning of March since the shower is in April.

will try and post some pictures

It seems like forever since I have been on here. Not a lot of wedding planning going on. With the holidays just around the corner, I believe everyone’s focus is on that.

Seems like the wedding will be here before we know it. 4.5 months away. Hard to believe that it is so close.

Here is a list of what I know for sure we have left to do:

• Ordering the bouquets. Still not sure what my daughter has in mind.
  
• Figure out the music for the ceremony and reception: thankfully her and her fiancé are in charge of that. I do have a few songs for the reception that I feel are a necessity. For example “ I’m Happy”
  
• Save the dates for the at home reception. For the original wedding that was to be last September, I had ordered 100 Save the date cards to be mailed. Luckily we hadn’t mailed any before we found out the wedding was cancelled.
  
• Design and mail the invites for the at home reception.
  
• Design and mail the Bridal shower invitations
  
• Find a place to have the bridal shower. Luckily I have all the shower favors done and gifts for door prizes bought. Plus all the decorations are done. My daughter did have a little melt down the other day concerning the bridal shower. You can’t have a wedding without a little drama.
  
• Finish the welcome bags. I think we are pretty close to having everything that we want in them.
  
• Tank tops and t-shirts. We really want to do shirts for everyone attending. The problem is paying $15-20 shirt. I owned an industrial embroidery business a while back. I know what it cost to buy tanks and t-shirts. I have a hard time purchasing these for $15-20 with a print on them when I know we bought t-shirts for $2.00. I do have a silhouette cutting machine. I have not tried the vinyl iron on yet. I am debating on whether to buy t-shirts plain and try and make them ourselves to save a little. When buying 30 the money adds up quick. I may try a t-shirt and see how they are. I don’t want them to look cheap.
  

I am sure there is more to the list, I just can’t think of anything at the moment.

The frustrating part of this is I have already done most of this for the 1st wedding. It is not as much fun doing it again. Save the date cards in the garbage. Bridal shower invites in the garbage etc, etc. The only plus is most of the decorating for the at home reception, the reception favors for the at home reception are done. Bridal shower decorations and favors are done.

so other than that, not much going on.

I hope everyone has a wonderful holidy.

Midamericagal...sorry Friday I only had a few minutes to comment on your post. Congrats on your daughters engagement....I bet you are excited. I remember being a little over a year out and so far it has gone quick. Sounds like you have a lot planned already. T-****s will be awesome for the guests. We are trying to do tanks for all the women....still need to figure out what to put on them.

Good luck and keep me posted on your planning.

And the napkins... I know exciting right:rolleyes: