A long, "experience" review of a small wedding - Carnival Breeze 07-31-2013

Hello all!

If there is one piece of advice I could share with any future cruise brides out there, it is that you absolutely have to be able to roll with the punches. There is NO ROOM for Bridezillas in this world, and I planned a cruise wedding both understanding and embracing this fact.

Since there are so many resources available in this forum (many ideas/suggestions/etc. of which I utilized myself!) I thought it would be best to share my overall experience rather than all the nitty-gritty details, which could be found elsewhere. (Sorry!)

Here goes:

Our wedding was aboard the Breeze, departing from Miami on a Sunday. I specifically chose not to do an embarkation wedding because I didn't want to deal with the stress of one. I wanted our guests to be able to board the ship, relax, and enjoy their cruising experience, especially since this was a first for many of them. It didn't bother me that it would deter a lot of guests from joining us for our big day. If we could have had it our way, we likely would have eloped. However, it would have devastated my mother if we had done so. Thus, we chose a small, intimate cruise wedding. (22 guests + bride and groom = 24 total that ended up cruising.) We decided to get married in Grand Turk (one of the easiest ports to be married in, versus Jamaica or the Bahamas) on the TUESDAY of the sailing week.

On the first evening of the cruise, Sunday night, our wedding coordinators Natasha and Alexandra, met with us to schedule a time on the following day for a longer meeting to discuss final details. We decided Monday morning would work well to meet.

At some point between Sunday night and Monday, our photographer also introduced himself and let us know when the bride and bridesmaids would need to be ready by, and confirmed the location we'd wait for him before the ceremony. Same information was confirmed about the groom and his groomsmen, for pre-ceremony pictures.

During the Monday morning meeting, I provided a large box of our programs, sand ceremony kit, and ribbon wands for the ceremony, as well as other decorations we had for the reception. (i.e. framed signs showing our instagram hashtag/"sign our guestbook"/"do us a favor"/etc., wedding favors, flower petals, cake decoration ribbon, topper, gum-sugar flowers, guestbook and pens, mr. & mrs. banner, etc.) We also confirmed the time of the ceremony, when guests should be at the ceremony location by, etc.

Not an hour after our meeting with Natasha and Alexandra, we overheard an intercom announcement asking us to report back to the Guest Services desk. Here, we were pulled into the administrative offices, and into the office of the hotel director. I laughed and asked, "Uh oh, are we in trouble?" It felt like being pulled into the principal's office.

They let us know that due to the Dorian storm, our ship’s itinerary would be changed to avoid it. Tomorrow, Tuesday, we would be going to Jamaica instead of Grand Turk, which would now be on Wednesday. Obviously, since our wedding license was prepared for Grand Turk, this meant that our wedding date would be changed as well.

My groom and I didn't freak. We just wanted to confirm that the date change wouldn't impact our paperwork/license, and that we would still be married. Carnival's hotel director, and the other ship executive that was there, along with Natasha and Alexandra, all confirmed that they would work hard with The Wedding Experience back in Miami, and the officials in Grand Turk, to ensure that we would still be able to get married, only just a day postponed.

We let them know that we completely understood the need for the change, but that our main concern was being married, and still being able to get our marriage certificate ASAP. We explained that since my groom was deploying to the middle-east for the military in one month from the wedding, we couldn't wait the standard 6-8 weeks for our certificates to arrive. I needed to have it nearly right away so I could be added to his benefits as a military spouse. Since our wedding was now changed from originally a morning ceremony to an evening ceremony, I was afraid I wouldn't get the certificate before leaving the port as I was originally assured could be the case.

The ship's hotel director and other executive confirmed that they would do EVERYTHING they could to get us our marriage certificate w/in two days of the ceremony, and mailed to the address of our choice. (For the record, they kept their promise - we received both paid copies to our specified address by the time we arrived home from our extended honeymoon, just 5 days after the wedding. W00t!)

The wedding, now on WEDNESDAY, a day later, was ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL. We were able to move forward with the ceremony and get married, and that was really all that mattered to me and my now-husband.

SO. Here are some of the things that went wrong for us, so you future brides know what to anticipate and potentially learn to brush off for yourselves.

1.) I believe that because the wedding was pushed back a day due to the Dorian storm, we were unable to have a rehearsal. (The new “day before” was a port day in Jamaica so everyone in my party was already busy, and the coordinators were scrambling to make things happen due to the change). As such, we had a lot of funny mishaps in the wedding….:

1a) My dad was still/already sitting in the front row when the bridemaids’ processional music had started. I was like, “Wait, where’s my dad?!” One of the wedding coordinators had to rush up the side of the room to grab him and bring him outside so he would walk me down the aisle.

1b) My dad didn’t know that he was supposed to shake hands with my groom at the front, then place my hand in my groom’s hand, essentially “handing me off” to my future husband. Instead, there was a funny awkwardness of shaking his hand and just leaving me there, when he went back to his seat. (Mom later told me that he actually went to stand at the end of the groomsmen line until she laughed and waved for him to sit back down next to her!)

1c) My parents weren’t aware that they were supposed to respond with “we do” when the officiant asked “who gives this bride to this man?” so it was a funny delay: “…………………..Oh, I do!! Heh!”

1d) No one confirmed that the best man had my ring – it was still in my mother’s purse, who was supposed to bring it to the best man after she did my hair that morning. She had to fumble for it when it was time to exchange rings….which also got a lot of laughs. (Also, my maid of honor almost left my groom’s ring in her purse before she was supposed to walk down for the bridesmaids processional, until I remembered to ask her about it.)

2.) I mistakenly didn’t edit my sand ceremony music properly. I figured that because the song I chose was 4 minutes and change long, it didn’t matter how the song ended. WRONG. The music started playing when the officiant started talking about the meaning behind a sand ceremony. I didn’t realize he would be talking for nearly 5 minutes. As such, at the end of the song (a beautiful piano/violin cover of Justin Timberlake’s mirrors) the musician says, “AND ACTION!” Needless to say, there was laughter there. And since the entire sand ceremony ran approximately 10 minutes long, the song repeated twice. That means, another “AND ACTION!” and subsequent laughter. *face palm*

3.) I upgraded to the deluxe romance package, which was supposed to be an upgrade to a 1.5 hour ceremony and include an ice sculpture. Mostly, we upgraded our package because we wanted our money’s worth, and to get our guests good and drunk and happy. We definitely got this. Carnival certainly kept the liquor flowing no problem, no one was “thirsty,” and a good time was definitely had by all. However, there was no ice sculpture. I paid for one, so what the heck? Oh well… At least we had the extra 30 minutes of dancing and open bar, which was more of what I was after…right???

4.) I specifically asked to use the bouquet that was provided as part of the wedding package already, to be used for my toss bouquet since I made/brought my own silk flowers. This was confirmed with my offsite coordinator via email prior to the cruise. When it was time for the bouquet toss part of the reception, I asked the coordinators about it. One politely whispered to me that it didn’t happen to make it on the ship. I didn’t know what to think…I paid for that too!! What happened if I didn’t bring my own flowers? I wouldn’t have a bouquet at all? Did things get messed up b/c of the unexpected date change?? I don’t know. Anyway, I just grabbed a bridesmaid’s bouquet and used that. Turned out, a bridesmaid caught it anyway, so….it worked out. *whew*

5.) My cake WAS NOT decorated the way I had explained, showed pictures of, and confirmed over email prior to the cruise. Instead of putting a purple ribbon around the bottom of each layer, my cake topper on the top layer, and gum sugar flowers spread over the cake in graduated colors (in 3 different shades of purple), it was pretty awful:

The bottom layer had ribbon in the CENTER of the layer, with a remembrance-type purple ribbon STAPLED to the front of it. (Think the yellow “Support our Troops” ribbon, but in purple. What the heck??? U-G-L-Y)

The top layer didn’t have a round of ribbon on it at all. The cake topper was fine. But they used only 5 of the 20+ gum-sugar flowers I bought. They put piping all over the cake when I specifically asked for no piping so the ribbon and sugar flowers could be used. *sigh*

Needless to say, I was pretty disappointed when I saw how horrendous it looked. But I remembered that the cake is so minor in comparison to being able to go through with the wedding in the first place. My groom and I also only had the pieces of cake that we fed to each other ceremoniously. We didn’t even finish our own slices. I’m not also not even sure if any of our guests actually ate any cake! There was so much food and dessert on the ship for the whole week-long cruise, I didn’t really care. But the cake in my pictures definitely sucks. Oh well. (P.S. We were not offered the remainder of our cake at dinner that night, or any night of the cruise. So either all of the cake was eaten, or destroyed, or no one cared to make sure this happened. Whatever. The standard “melting chocolate cake” at dinner was the hit dessert for our group anyway!!)

The night of the wedding, we came back to our stateroom with a cute heart-shaped towel design, rose petals strewn all over the room, and chocolate-covered strawberries, along with a wedding package evaluation form. On the back of the evaluation form, I gave them all the constructive feedback I shared above, but did say that it was a beautiful wedding nonetheless and that we were glad it didn’t get cancelled completely.

All in all, the ceremony was wonky at times, but made for a lot of memorable laughs. The dates on my ceremony programs, on my sand ceremony frame, and all over my guestbook were wrong b/c of the one-day push back. I didn’t get the ice sculpture or the bouquet we paid for, and my cake was awful. As my mom and I agreed, only I really knew what went wrong. The wedding appeared perfect to our guests, and it was perfect for us. We got married to the loves of our lives. That’s all that mattered in the end. It was just a nice bonus to be able to share it with 22 of our closest friends and family. <3

P.S. Many of our group decided that we should name our first born son “Dorian” in honor of the storm. In other words, just as the storm made our wedding late, a new baby would also make my period “late.” LOL *face palm*

Hello all!

 

P.S. Many of our group decided that we should name our first born son “Dorian” in honor of the storm. In other words, just as the storm made our wedding late, a new baby would also make my period “late.” LOL *face palm*

HILARIOUS! Congratulations! Great review! Thanks for the tips!

LOL love the ending!

I think you literally have to decorate the cake yourself or have a friend do it LOL

Sounds like you have a great attitude and i am happy for your wonderful wedding!

This is one of the best reviews I have read... You are so calm and reflective, with all the good, the bad, and the ugly that you experienced. And, I am so so so impressed with your amazing attitude. It's hard not to get sucked into the things that are not as you perfectly envisioned, and therefore easy to forget that these are minor details. The purpose of the event isn't to have an awesomely decorated cake, it's to marry the love of your life.

Again, thank you, and congratulations!

My wedding is coming up... sail date is just a month away tomorrow! I still have so much to do that it's tough for me NOT to freak and stress out every second of the day. But then I read something like this and it just reminds me that all I truly need for the day to be perfect is myself and my groom present.

You and your husband are such troopers. It sounds like a fun time was had by all at your wedding. I appreciate that you broke your review down piece by piece. Since there were many things off and/or missing it wouldn't hurt to call the Wedding Dept and ask for a partial *reasonable* refund. There were things you paid for that were missing or completely screwed up.

As for the cake, I'm wondering if they weren't able to bring it back on the ship which is why you never saw it again. We gave our coordinator everything the day we met with her and she and sent my Mom to check everything, but there have been cake horror stories on these boards along what you've posted.

Congratulations!

Pix?

kycruiser87 - Haha, thank you, and you are very welcome!

lightskinedgyal - I guess you really do have to decorate it yourself or have someone *ensure* it is done right on the day-of. Not sure!

Queenypink - Yes! It definitely helps to put it all in perspective. That being said, GOOD LUCK TO YOU and advanced congratulations!

Carnival_Brides - I've thought about it, and thought about it, and I honestly don't feel the need to go through the trouble. If my guests let me know that the alcohol wasn't being served at a desired pace, I would have definitely sought a partial refund. They were all drunk and happy, just as I had hoped, and that is what I feel I actually paid for - not the little things that were not met. It was an exhausting ride, so I'm happy to just put things behind me and move on!

Also - forgot to mention that I was an on-ship bride, and we got married in the Limelight Lounge, and the reception was in the Liquid Nightclub. :) Should have been easy to get the remainder of my cake back for dinner...but perhaps it was so delicious that it was all eaten. Who knows?! :D

foxesden1 - I actually prefer not to share too many photos, especially of myself and my guests, but here is one of our cake. Blech. You see what I mean about the "remembrance ribbon." The second and third photos are the one I provided to the coordinator of what I wanted my cake to replicate. DEFINITELY NOT THE SAME! Haha!

Excellent review...and an excellent perspective you had, going into the wedding!

Congrats!

Dwayne

LOL totally, I understand, but it was the cake I wanted to see. Ya, as a cake hobby decorator I would have lost my mind, over that one. ;-)

Thanks for that great review. Your positive attitude is inspirational. You went with the flow and realized the "marriage" is more important that the "ceremony". And please thank your husband for his service. Congrats!!

I love your review.

I also love your spirit and your knowledge that it's really all about being able to marry the person you love, and you did. Your wedding will be a blessed one as it sounds like your new husband is just as accommodating to circumstances.

Happy married life to you both....

dcarter4, Debbdo, Lipz - Thank you all so much!!

foxesden1 - OMG, I KNOW!!! Hahahaha! I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it was awful! Oh well, it tasted really good, and I didn't even think about it at all after the cake cutting anyway!

What a terrific attitude!!!! I am so glad you didn't let any of the little things ruin your day!

YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOO handle that like a Troop.. Your OUtlook on Everything was GREAT!!!!!!!!! Im gonna be 100% with you.. IM NOT THERE yet!!!!!!!!! I would have wnt off afterwards, and My Hersband would had to clam me down Once we got all the ba news.. I totally Undestand teh Strom and Being Safe, so Im not talking about that.. Im talking about everything else... .

I want to say THANK YOU soooooooooooo much for sharing with us, and this really help me bc its was on the Breeze.. I see U were in teh Club for Your Reception..U like it??

Oh my goodness you poor thing on the cake! I hope they didn't charge you anything since they weren't able to do what you wanted. If it's any consolation though, my first thought when I saw the pic was that it was very pretty- I love your banner!

cruiseonthebrain - Thank you! I honestly didn't have time to think about much! With everything going on...and the liquor flowing (!)...I had way too much fun to let any of it really bother me beyond how I described in my review!

shatima - Yes, of course! And good luck to you!! Our wedding guests absolutely LOVED the liquid nightclub. It was a definite *must* b/c we wanted a DJ for dancing, and purple is obviously my favorite color, so it was a no-brainer to ask for that venue! The dance cages were also a big hit! Haha! Enjoy!

tinkerbell_82 - Thank you! I got the banner from Classic Banners' shop on Etsy. The shop owners were so easy to work with, and were able to customize my order to match my exact needs. Definitely recommend them! :)

Love your attitude!!

:)

Thanks for the Tips! I'll make sure to use these when we have our wedding in April 2014! and the end of the story was REALLY funny!!. Also besides the little ribbon on the front I don't think it looks bad at all. You seem to be about the "marriage" and not the show off "party". Congrats!