Looking for advice from Bermuda brides...

[CaitMarae]

My fiance and I are considering getting married in Bermuda during the Carnival Miracle cruise in April 2011. We have toyed with the idea of getting a wedding planner but I really do feel like I can plan it myself with just lots of research.

 

I pretty much have every aspect planned out except the ceremony site and musician. The ship is docking in Kings Wharf so we would like to keep the ceremony within walking distance so that we dont have to pay for transportation to cart our guests around. There are dozens of beaches that I would have loved to have our ceremony at but the closest and most convenient seems to be Snorkel Park. Is anyone familiar with this beach? Anyone have an idea as to who I would contact to reserve the space? I'm sure its a long shot but we would like something relatively private (I know thats pretty much impossible though). We are only having a max of 25 guests so we don't need a ton of space.

 

The only other thing that is still up in the air is the musician. I am open to just using the ipod for most of the reception but we would like live music or a DJ for the ceremony and specialty dances of the reception. So far I have only been able to contact one musician on the island and he was ridiculously expensive. We would only need someone for about 2 hours and would prefer not to spend anymore than $500.

 

Has anyone out there gotten married the day the ship docks? We are considering doing this mostly because we want our guests to be able to enjoy as much time in Bermuda as possible (the ship docks on Saturday at 1 pm and leaves Monday at 4). We're also considering this because I was told it would be difficult to book an officiant on a Sunday and even if we could get someone, our wedding would have to be held in the late afternoon or evening, which we certainly dont want.

 

Thanks in advance for the help! We're SOOOOO excited to get married in beautiful Bermuda.

[Cattie]

First off, welcome! There's a few of us Bermuda Brides, not many though!

 

I know you don't want a planner, but it's a huge help. In all honesty, if you want something private, you're going to have to use a resort.

 

I was married at 9 Beaches, it's beautiful. Between my planner, site fee, transportation for my guests, cake, photographer, etc. My wedding ran around $5000. That's not including our cruise fare. It was well worth it though.

 

We where married the evening the ship docked. We sailed RCCL so we arrived Monday morning and left Tuesday late afternoon. So my guests had the whole first morning and the 2nd day to themselves.

 

We didn't do a reception since we where having one at home when we got back. We did however treat everyone to the gourmet restaurant on the ship the night of the wedding. It ended up being so much cheaper then having a cocktail reception on the beach.

 

Docking at Kings Wharf, there's really nothing in walking distance that I'd make my guests walk to for my wedding, even snorkel park.

 

I think I covered it, if you have any questions, feel free to ask!

 

Here's a link to my pics. If you scroll down to the pro pics those are the ones from the wedding itself.

http://kathyandpawelswedding.shutterfly.com/

[CaitMarae]

When I say private I dont necessarily mean that I dont want to see another person but our guests during our ceremony, I just dont want to be disturbed (i.e. someone walking behind the officiant as we say our vows). I would hope most people would have the decency to keep away for 20 minutes, then again who knows. Did you have a musician? It seems like music has been the most challenging aspect of the wedding to find in Bermuda.

[Cattie]

I just used my Ipod.

[Nikki4]

Cattie - Oh my goodness can I first say how excited I am to find someone that has done a wedding in Bermuda using Royal Caribbean! I have just booked a cruise for April 2011 over Easter Break. It is a 5 day cruise so we arrive Monday morning and leave Tuesday evening. I am in the process of talking with the Royal Romance department in order to book the wedding. I would love for the wedding to be held on Monday. Is there any positive or negative feedback you could give me in regards to booking a shoreside wedding through RCCL? Also are there any ideas or suggestions you may have as a RC bride?? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I have mainly found nothing but negative comments in regards to booking through RC for the ceremony/reception.

[BahamaMama247]

I am looking for information on a Bermuda wedding as well. We will be taking NCL on the Gem in June to Bermuda and I am talink to The wedding Experience and bermuda brides to get an idea o which I want to use. Any ideas??

 

@ Kathy. I would love to see your pictures but it says I need a password to view.:(

[Cattie]

Cattie - Oh my goodness can I first say how excited I am to find someone that has done a wedding in Bermuda using Royal Caribbean! I have just booked a cruise for April 2011 over Easter Break. It is a 5 day cruise so we arrive Monday morning and leave Tuesday evening. I am in the process of talking with the Royal Romance department in order to book the wedding. I would love for the wedding to be held on Monday. Is there any positive or negative feedback you could give me in regards to booking a shoreside wedding through RCCL? Also are there any ideas or suggestions you may have as a RC bride?? Any help would be greatly appreciated as I have mainly found nothing but negative comments in regards to booking through RC for the ceremony/reception.

 

Unfortunately I didn't use RR for my wedding, I went through a planner on the island. We had ours at 6pm on Monday, this way I could get off the boat a bit in the morning and shop then come back to shower and get my hair done. It worked out perfect.

 

I am looking for information on a Bermuda wedding as well. We will be taking NCL on the Gem in June to Bermuda and I am talink to The wedding Experience and bermuda brides to get an idea o which I want to use. Any ideas??

 

@ Kathy. I would love to see your pictures but it says I need a password to view.:(

 

I approved you to have the password, I don't know how to un password it. If anyone else wants to see them the password is Carderwalczak.