Carnival Liberty (March 31-April 7) & St. Thomas Wedding Review

[acireta]

We were married on Limetree (Bluebeard’s) Beach in St. Thomas on April 3, 2012. It was a perfect day, and I couldn’t have wished for anything more.

 

When I was planning, I wasn’t able to find a lot of reviews of non-cruiseline shoreside weddings, so hopefully this will help someone out there.

 

Here are some of the vendors I used throughout the process:

· Wedding Coordinator – Janelle Scott of Island Bliss Weddings

· Officiant – Stuart Scott

· Photographer – Eric Johnson of Paradise Pictures

· Ceremony Location – Limetree Beach

· Lunch Reception Venue – Iggie’s Beach Bar at Bolongo Bay Beach Resort

· Wedding Dress – Enzoani “Fabi”

· Clutch – David’s Bridal

· Jewelry – Etsy seller ElegantChicJewels

· Hair flower – Etsy seller EnchantedlyYours

· Groom’s and Groomsmen’s shirt – Kohl’s

· Groom’s and Groomsmen’s pants – Old Navy

· Bridesmaids’ dresses (in Malibu) – David’s Bridal

· Bouquets, invitations, boutonnieres, welcome packets, etc.: DIY

 

Here is a planning thread that lays out all the details: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/78715/aciretas-planning-journal-april-3-2012-cruise-wedding

 

We cruised with 13 other people on the Carnival Liberty (March 31 – April 7). The wedding was on Tuesday, halfway through the trip. We also had 8 people meet us on the island, folks who couldn’t take a week from work or who didn’t want to cruise. We understood the risks associated with this (missing port, weather, etc), and we made sure these guests knew them also.

 

Prior to the cruise, we road-tripped with four friends from Chicago to Miami. It was a crazy cannonball run, doing the whole trip in 24 hours straight, with six people in two cars. We could not WAIT to get out of those cars on the way home! :-) It literally saved the six of us thousands of dollars in flight costs and luggage fees though, so really it was worth a little exhaustion! Plus I didn’t have to worry about checking or carrying on bouquets, dresses, etc.

 

 

 

Sorry I’m long-winded in this review, but I tried to include details about questions I had while planning…

 

 

FRIDAY-MONDAY

We arrived in Miami the night before the trip and stayed at the LaQuinta Inn Miami Airport East. They offered free parking for the week and a free shuttle to the cruise terminal. However, it was so busy on the morning of the cruise, I wish we had just called cabs to take all of us over to the ship. I think that was the most stressful part of the whole week. I almost didn’t get on the last shuttle. Somehow I ended up being the last person to get on the bus because of my dress, and when I got on there were no seats. I almost cried. This wonderful woman got up and sat on her husband’s lap so that I could have a seat. She is my angel LOL it was about a 15 minute ride to the port.

 

Once we got to the cruise terminal, all stress was gone. We booked a Junior Suite (9205), and we will never cruise without VIP boarding again. It was amazing and we loved it. We were from the shuttle to our room in 30 minutes, mostly because of walking distance. We didn’t wait in a single line the whole time, except for a quick one for the security pictures.

 

The suite was really nice and spacious – enough room to let me, three other girls and my mom get ready on morning of the wedding – but the balcony was not private. The grand suite next door had a balcony that looked right onto our balcony and into our room! I knew this going in, but I should have gotten a different suite. It was not a big deal though, we kept our sheers pulled, and we were so busy throughout the week that we barely had time to enjoy the balcony, except during sail away from each port.

 

When I first got onto the ship, I ran around doing errands: picking up our Half Moon Cay cabana ticket, visiting the salon and dining room to confirm all of the arrangements, and it’s a good thing I did this all right away.

 

I visited the salon to confirm the appointments I had made in advance with the spa management company. They had our appointments on the wrong day, but they fixed them right away with no trouble. The staff was very nice, even though there was a mistake, they made it right immediately.

 

Before dinner on the first night, we met in a lounge by the casino and we handed out our OOT bags. It was so fun to see everyone look through them and get excited for everything we included. I have a whole write-up here about the bags: http://www.bestdestinationwedding.com/t/78482/aciretas-oot-bags-tons-of-pictures-templates

 

I waited too long to go to the dining room to check our seating assignments, so by the time I was able to find the maître d’, our assignments were finalized and NO ONE was sitting together! We weren’t even sitting near each other. Most couples were at two-seat tables, but we had a guest sitting by herself at a random table with strangers! So we skipped the dining room on the first night and ate in the steakhouse. It was the most delicious meal ever. I still have dreams about those mashed potatoes! By Monday night, they had moved a few other groups to get us all at tables next to each other. The maître d’ was pretty unpleasant through the whole situation.

 

We spent the first few days enjoying the ship, catching up with guests who don’t live near us and getting some sun without getting burned before the wedding!

 

Our first stop was Half Moon Cay, Bahamas!

 

The beach on HMC, early in the morning

 

 

[acireta]

Our hair appointments were at 7 and 7:45; they opened the salon early for us. The girl who was going to do my hair was this adorable South African chick, and she had asked me to bring my extensions in before the wedding so she could pre-curl them. On the morning of the wedding, she had them ready to go, and my hair looked awesome. She really did an awesome job. I did my own make-up.

 

I had three girls and my mom get their hair done. I was beyond pleased with my hair, two of the others were very happy, and the last two were not so happy. We think it was language-barrier/miscommunication with the stylist that did both of their hair that led to their unhappiness with the final result. They fixed what they didn’t like once we got back to my cabin to dress, and it was all good. Bring pictures to the salon of what you want! I did, and it was perfect.

 

 

 

We all went back to my cabin to get dressed. I had put a breakfast order in the night before, so some fruit, pastries, bagels, cereal, milk and juice were delivered right to the cabin while we were getting ready. My fiancé was out getting breakfast and getting ready with his groomsman. We had planned to meet up in a quiet bar so we could get off the ship together. After getting dressed, one of the girls walked with me down to the bar, and it was so awesome to see my husband for the first time that morning. I will never forget spotting him, walking towards him or the look on his face.

 

Me and my bridesmaids on our balcony

 

All dressed about to go meet my husband

 

 

We got off the ship quickly, everyone let us go in front of them. There was a lot of staring and smiling and “congratulations,” but it was all very fun. We got off the ship more quickly than expected, so we just took our time strolling down the pier to the end where we were going to meet our transportation.

 

Our very first wedding pic together :D

 

 

We used Janelle with Island Bliss Weddings to help coordinate our day, and she was awesome. She kept me calm, handled hiccups as they popped up, and had a great attitude. Her husband, Stuart, was our officiant, and he had us laughing from the time he picked us up at the ship until after the ceremony. He made our ceremony so personalized, it seemed like he’d known us for months, instead of one day. They are a great couple, and we were so happy to have worked with them.

 

Stuart reading our script before the ceremony

[acireta]

Stuart picked us up from the pier, and took us to the courthouse. Eric from Paradise Pictures met us at the courthouse and started helping us to get comfortable with him and the camera. We paid a small rush fee and gave it to him on the wedding day so we’d have our pics within 10 days to use at our AHR. Eric was awesome and we had our pics within a few days!

 

 

 

After signing our documents at the courthouse, we walked around downtown with him for a few minutes taking pics. We stopped at this old building that was beautiful, and gave us some of my favorite pics from the day. We also stopped by the water to get some pics with the ships in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

[acireta]

After the pictures, Stuart took us to Limetree, where Al went down to the ceremony site and I waited in the car in the A/C. Our guests had been picked up from the ship and taken directly to the beach. My bridesmaids came to wait in the car with me until it was time to walk down to the beach.

 

Limetree Beach was stunning. It was quiet and private, there were no uninvited guests walking by :-) other than a few iguanas that got into a wrestling match in the trees above us. I didn’t notice this at all, but some of our guests were joking about it afterwards, and the winner of the fight came down to enjoy some rose petals from our petal toss photo. There is a pavilion in case of bad weather, but usually rain passes in 10 minutes or is a mile away and never reaches you. St. Thomas is weird!

 

 

 

 

 

[acireta]

 

 

 

[acireta]

After the ceremony, we took open air buses to Iggie’s Beach Bar at Bolongo Bay Beach Resort. We got this suggestion from Janelle when we told her we wanted something very casual and relaxed, no frills, where we could just enjoy ourselves all afternoon. It was perfect for us: guests ordered off the menu and from the bar, we had a server just for our group, we did cake cutting and then changed out of wedding clothes and played on the beach!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I didn’t wear my dress to dinner that night, I wore a short white dress. My dress was all sandy, and I didn’t feel like getting strapped in again or being stared at anymore. My hair held up really well though, so it was nice to still feel pretty. It was a LONG day, and we were passed out by 11pm, headed for Puerto Rico.

[acireta]

The rest of the trip was fun, memorable and relaxed. I’m glad we did the wedding midway through the trip. We got the excitement at the beginning and relaxation at the end, with a big party thrown in the middle!

 

Other ports were San Juan, where we took a bus tour and walked around one of the forts and the city, and Grand Turk, where we snorkeled, swam with a barracuda and shopped – and ran into a friend from Chicago who was in port from another boat! Small world!

 

San Juan, Puerto Rico

 

 

 

 

Grand Turk

 

 

 

 

We had an at-home reception two weeks after we got back for about 125 friends and family. It was really important to our moms and aunts/uncles to have this celebration, so we did it and it was a good time. It was cocktails, heavy appetizers and dancing on a Friday night at a local reception hall. I wore my dress and DH wore his wedding clothes. It was an awesome opportunity to show our pictures to everyone and to celebrate with our massive families that couldn’t travel with us. We had a candy bar, a few little games and speeches and lots of food and drinks. Having a traditional big wedding like that was not for us and I’m happy we opted for a destination wedding. But it was a fun party, and I’m glad we did it.

 

So that’s it. We’re married, it was awesome, wouldn’t have done anything any other way, glad to be home and back to reality and done with planning! I cannot wait to take another cruise – but not with a big group! I would never be able to make it as a cruise director LOL

 

 

FYI for ladies getting married on-board the Liberty: The huge hands and feet in the Hot & Cool Disco are no longer blacklight tattooed! They are now painted silver!!

[muah3iluvzu06]

Thanks so much for your detailed review! Everything looked gorgeous!

[harrodsfan]

And Best Wishes....

Your wedding was lovely. Your attention to detail was amazing.

We were married in St Thomas at Bluebirds Castle 21 years ago.

The day after our wedding we went to Iggy's beach bar for lunch. What a fun place to have your reception. I remember the Iguanas.

[ExcitedBride2Be]

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR MARRIAGE!! YOUR REVIEW IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I live in the Virgin Islands and your pictures highlighted the beauty of my island as you and your husband are a beautiful couple. Would it be possible for you to email me the attachments you referenced in you review to kiechellew@yahoo.com? Thank you and all the best to you and your husband!

[acireta]

Thanks, everyone!

 

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR MARRIAGE!! YOUR REVIEW IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! I live in the Virgin Islands and your pictures highlighted the beauty of my island as you and your husband are a beautiful couple. Would it be possible for you to email me the attachments you referenced in you review to kiechellew@yahoo.com? Thank you and all the best to you and your husband!

 

Which attachments are you talking about? There are some I don't have anymore and others I have posted on BDW.

[cmt8185]

Beautiful pictures! It looks like you had a blast!

 

In your OOT bags, which templates did you use on Vistaprint for all of your handouts? Not necessarily the design but were they postcards, invites, etc.?

[acireta]

Beautiful pictures! It looks like you had a blast!

 

In your OOT bags, which templates did you use on Vistaprint for all of your handouts? Not necessarily the design but were they postcards, invites, etc.?

 

The welcome letters were standard postcards; the week's events were oversized postcards; the doorknob hangers and wedding day timelines were rack cards... i think that's everything! I do know that everything was free, other than shipping, by signing up for their emails.

[cmt8185]

We have about 40 people cruising with us and I've debated renting a cabana (or two) as a central location for people to mingle. I know they're small and meant for 4 but I thought it'd be nice since some people cruising don't really know anyone.

 

How was your experience with the cabana?

[cmt8185]

Sorry I have so many questions.. it just seems like we think alike with our ideas!

 

In your OOT bags, the labels for the little bags.. where did you get those?

[acireta]

We have about 40 people cruising with us and I've debated renting a cabana (or two) as a central location for people to mingle. I know they're small and meant for 4 but I thought it'd be nice since some people cruising don't really know anyone.

 

How was your experience with the cabana?

 

We had 15 people coming and going throughout the day and it was no trouble. We just had one couple use the priority tender with us and everyone else came when they wanted to. There were only snacks and sodas for 4, but with the waiters and lunch on the island it wasn't a problem - I was so happy we did this. Like you said, it was great to have a central location for everyone to meet and mingle!

 

Sorry I have so many questions.. it just seems like we think alike with our ideas!

 

In your OOT bags, the labels for the little bags.. where did you get those?

I made all of those in Word. I just measured the top of my ziplocs and used a paper folded in half to cover the bag, tied on with ribbon. Let me know if you have any other questions! :-)

[climaticflower]

Thank you so much for all the details and pictures...im getting married on Jan 8 2013....and ur post was SO HELPFUL...and you looked amazing.

[kimberlishaina]

I didnt even start reading these yet and I am SO excited. Thank you so much. Ironically, I am getting married on April 8th at the same location!!! Talk soon!!

[acireta]

Thank you so much for all the details and pictures...im getting married on Jan 8 2013....and ur post was SO HELPFUL...and you looked amazing.

 

Thank you very much! Good luck with your planning, the next two months will go so quickly for you!

 

I didnt even start reading these yet and I am SO excited. Thank you so much. Ironically, I am getting married on April 8th at the same location!!! Talk soon!!

How fun! PM me if you need a response quickly, that way I'll get email notification of a message. I don't come on here too often.

[goofy.girl]

Hi acireta

 

I'm wondering if you can tell me more about Iggies Beach Bar -- I'm getting married in St Thomas in May (pretty much the same timeline for the day as you!) but I'm doing my ceremony with Cheryl from VI Weddings. I'm curious how much lunch at Iggies was - did you pay for it or let your guests pay for themselves?

 

Also curious how the weather was.. It looked gorgeous! Were you very warm, or just comfortable? Just trying to gauge the outfits for my men and family to wear. :)

 

Your photos are gorgeous!! I'm so glad to have found someone else who got married at Limetree so I could see real photos!

 

Cheers! :)