inq Posted April 3, 2014 #1 Share Posted April 3, 2014 My daughter will be getting married on the dawn while docked in Bermuda. We are booking one of the garden villas and will be having the ceremony on the sun deck ( weather permitting). We are expecting 40-45 guests. I would love input from anyone that has held a wedding or party in the GV. Any tips or things to keep in mind? Not sure if we should go with wedding reception package as the offerings dont really appeal, or if we would be better off with just planning a reception as a private party. I'd also be interested in any decoration tips that you might suggest. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksimpso3 Posted April 3, 2014 #2 Share Posted April 3, 2014 My daughter will be getting married on the dawn while docked in Bermuda. We are booking one of the garden villas and will be having the ceremony on the sun deck ( weather permitting). We are expecting 40-45 guests. I would love input from anyone that has held a wedding or party in the GV. Any tips or things to keep in mind? Not sure if we should go with wedding reception package as the offerings dont really appeal, or if we would be better off with just planning a reception as a private party. I'd also be interested in any decoration tips that you might suggest. Thanks. That will be amazing!! We were in the Dawn GV in Jan 2013. We only had a few people up to the suite but it is the perfect suite for a big party...plenty of room inside and outside. You get 6 bottles of alcohol included and we had our butler bring us a blender and kept a cooler full of ice in the kitchen. All mixers were included (sodas, margarita mixes, pineapple, orange, cranberry juice, etc). I am sure you can arrange a nice party there with your butler. Have a wonderful time and take lots of pictures!! I have a review in my signature if you'Re interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexddd Posted April 3, 2014 #3 Share Posted April 3, 2014 My daughter will be getting married on the dawn while docked in Bermuda. We are booking one of the garden villas and will be having the ceremony on the sun deck ( weather permitting). We are expecting 40-45 guests. I would love input from anyone that has held a wedding or party in the GV. Any tips or things to keep in mind? Not sure if we should go with wedding reception package as the offerings dont really appeal, or if we would be better off with just planning a reception as a private party. I'd also be interested in any decoration tips that you might suggest. Thanks. There was one lady on her about a year ago who got married in the GV - pretty sure it was the Dawn. She had many questions and then posted after her trip. Sorry I don't have more specifics. BTW - how do you know how windy it will be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_sobe Posted April 3, 2014 #4 Share Posted April 3, 2014 Wow...what an exciting place and exciting day it will be for all of you. Please keep us posted how it goes. That room is so big I am sure you can have your own reception ;) Congratulations to everyone! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inq Posted April 3, 2014 Author #5 Share Posted April 3, 2014 There was one lady on her about a year ago who got married in the GV - pretty sure it was the Dawn. She had many questions and then posted after her trip. Sorry I don't have more specifics. BTW - how do you know how windy it will be? I would imagine it may be windy on sun deck. As it will be August, I think we will appreciate a breeze. We will be docked so I'm not as concerned as I would be if we were underway. Weather is always a concern for an outdoor wedding. We will have a plan B if necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyotaford Posted April 3, 2014 #6 Share Posted April 3, 2014 We have hired someone from the ship to provide live music when we have entertained in the GV. This may be an option you want to consider for the reception. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bguppies Posted April 3, 2014 #7 Share Posted April 3, 2014 (edited) We have the Garden Villa on the Dawn next week. The cruise is to celebrate my Parent's 50th Anniversary and my Aunt and Uncle's 45th and my other Aunt and Uncle's 40th. They just wanted a simple vow renewal ceremony. We looked into trying to get the Captain or other officer to perform a simple vow renewal, which NCL said (after alot of back and forth through NCL corporate offices) they could not do. (It actually got sent all the way up through a VP, to try to get it done) Had to be done as a package, through a secondary company for $600 per couple. Most of the items in the package, were already part of the perks of the Garden Villa. (except photographer, photo package, officiant and a certificate. :rolleyes: Wow) So we decided to just have a ceremony and party in the Garden Villa and I went online to get ordained to officiate. (that was a hilarious 5 minutes after dinner) Just 3 couples who have been together for 135 years, who don't need a stranger, come in and read some vows for 10 minutes and fleece them for $1,800, (actually $1,500 since NCL offered $100 off if all 3 couples booked it. :rolleyes:) after already spending thousands on the Garden Villa. Hopefully your day in the Garden Villa goes well. It should definitely be a memorable venue, no matter what your group decides to do. Enjoy.. Edited April 3, 2014 by bguppies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inq Posted April 3, 2014 Author #8 Share Posted April 3, 2014 We have hired someone from the ship to provide live music when we have entertained in the GV. This may be an option you want to consider for the reception. That's a great idea! How did you go about arranging that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inq Posted April 3, 2014 Author #9 Share Posted April 3, 2014 We have the Garden Villa on the Dawn next week. The cruise is to celebrate my Parent's 50th Anniversary and my Aunt and Uncle's 45th and my other Aunt and Uncle's 40th. They just wanted a simple vow renewal ceremony. We looked into trying to get the Captain or other officer to perform a simple vow renewal, which NCL said (after alot of back and forth through NCL corporate offices) they could not do. (It actually got sent all the way up through a VP, to try to get it done) Had to be done as a package, through a secondary company for $600 per couple. Most of the items in the package, were already part of the perks of the Garden Villa. (except photographer, photo package, officiant and a certificate. :rolleyes: Wow) So we decided to just have a ceremony and party in the Garden Villa and I went online to get ordained to officiate. (that was a hilarious 5 minutes after dinner) Just 3 couples who have been together for 135 years, who don't need a stranger, come in and read some vows for 10 minutes and fleece them for $1,800, (actually $1,500 since NCL offered $100 off if all 3 couples booked it. :rolleyes:) after already spending thousands on the Garden Villa. Hopefully your day in the Garden Villa goes well. It should definitely be a memorable venue, no matter what your group decides to do. Enjoy.. I would love to hear the details when you get back. NCL gets $2695 for very basic wedding package. Considered having the couple get legally married at home and doing the same thing, but the couple wants their wedding day to be their "real" wedding and have their heart set on a Bermuda wedding. I would imagine it would be difficult if not impossible to get an officiant on board in Bermuda without going through NCLs wedding company. Otherwise I'd go that route. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toyotaford Posted April 4, 2014 #10 Share Posted April 4, 2014 That's a great idea! How did you go about arranging that? Our concierge arranged it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dexddd Posted April 9, 2014 #11 Share Posted April 9, 2014 The user who did a review of the GV on the Dawn with a wedding was "gymbomb". If you find her through a search you will see a link to her review in her signature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gymbomb Posted April 9, 2014 #12 Share Posted April 9, 2014 I have a Dawn review in my signature, but we did an embarkation day wedding in the star bar. It was wonderful, can't imagine the GV would be anything but amazing!! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inq Posted April 10, 2014 Author #13 Share Posted April 10, 2014 Gymbomb, I have studied your review and wedding pictures and can't thank you enough for sharing. I am planning on adding a cake topper to the cake and have used pictures of yours to figure out what would work. Did you purchase a photography package? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gymbomb Posted April 11, 2014 #14 Share Posted April 11, 2014 We did not pre purchase a photo package. We had planned to buy individual prints after we saw them, but then liked so many that we would have had a really hard time choosing! We were offered a DVD with all of the photos on it for $750 so we decided to just get that. We split the cost with our parents and made them copies. We also made a photo book on shutterfly when we got home. I would tell them ahead of time that you are bringing a topper and ask them to leave the top plain (or whatever you want done to it). Hope you have as good a time as we did! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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