2016 Brides!

[MissJJVT]

Did you just call or email them to book the videographer?

[Miss Kellybean]

Did you just call or email them to book the videographer?

 

I emailed them. I wanted to have the confirmation in writing.

 

Although I am not a fan of emailing the carnival wedding department. That auto reply and having to wait a day or so for a response and not being able to communicate directly with my wedding planner isn't exactly my favorite part of the whole experience.

[Tiffanyb0625]

My wedding is booked for April 16th, 2016. Is anyone bringing their own decorations for the reception? or is it worth doing since it would only be for an hour. What is everyone's ideas for a wedding favors?

[Ready2Cruise31]

Congrats everyone

Edited July 7, 2015 by Ready2Cruise31
Trying to directly reply, will try again

[Ready2Cruise31]

Looks like we are in this together. We just booked our cabins on Freedom on the Seas May 29.2016 sailing. I have to get in touch with Royal Romance now. Its going to be interesting because I am working overseas which is not ideal for planning things. I look forward in sharing experiences as we navigate this journey. Congrats!!!

 

Thank you. Congrats to you too. I have spoken with Royal Romance and booked the wedding. I'm awaiting for my "phone appointment" with my wedding coordinator. It is scheduled for August 4th. I'm hoping to get more information about the venues, decorations, videography, and photo packages!

[beb08]

My wedding is booked for April 16th, 2016. Is anyone bringing their own decorations for the reception? or is it worth doing since it would only be for an hour. What is everyone's ideas for a wedding favors?

 

April 3rd here, I will not be bringing decorations other than maybe something for the cake. I haven't decided about wedding favors either, its mostly family coming so i am not sure. I might do the chocolate coins.

[MissJJVT]

I was also thinking I'd just do a nice cake topper, one of those antique suitcase looking boxes to use as a card box, and I'm planning to order a guestbook canvas for everyone to sign... Not sure whether I'll stick with the more rustic tree look or do something more nautical.... We were also torn on favors- I saw some cute anchor shaped bottle openers, but who needs another bottle opener? If anyone thinks of creative ideas please share!

[slord12]

I was also thinking I'd just do a nice cake topper, one of those antique suitcase looking boxes to use as a card box, and I'm planning to order a guestbook canvas for everyone to sign... Not sure whether I'll stick with the more rustic tree look or do something more nautical.... We were also torn on favors- I saw some cute anchor shaped bottle openers, but who needs another bottle opener? If anyone thinks of creative ideas please share!

 

 

 

April 3rd here, I will not be bringing decorations other than maybe something for the cake. I haven't decided about wedding favors either, its mostly family coming so i am not sure. I might do the chocolate coins.

 

 

Check out my review posted from my wedding on the Carnival Sensation June 11, 2015 - the beginning has tons of ideas for reception decor and favors.

[MissJJVT]

Absolutely loved your pics and your review!! Thank you so much for sharing! Your timeline was great and eases my mind a bit with all the stress I start feeling! Congratulations and thanks for participating in this forum to help us all out!!! [emoji3]

[wakeupinanewland]

We are touring the ship tomorrow morning. What questions would you ask?

[wakeupinanewland]

Hi everyone.. just wanted to let you know that my cruise tour was amazing. I really enjoyed getting to tour the facilities, see the ship, and meet the coordinators and officiant. I couldn't be happier about the choices we have made!

[MissJJVT]

That's great to hear! How did you set up the tour? That will definitely be something we are interested in doing... Will probably work it in with visits to a few hotels to find somewhere to host our guests the night before and also have our pre-sailing "rehearsal" dinner!

[heather9844]

Yes I agree - how cool that you did a tour! What cruise line are you using? Is it free? I've read that it's free on Carnival but $250 through Royal Caribbean. I may be wrong though.

[heather9844]

Ok, I am following this thread but am not a bride yet lol. However, I anticipate being engaged by the end of the year, and my boyfriend and I have talked about getting married next summer. I am hoping to do the Carnival Breeze out of Galveston, but I want the Eastern Caribbean itinerary and there are limited dates.

Anyway, my question is how far in advance are y'all booking your weddings? Do y'all think it's already too late at one year out? There are really only three cruising dates on the Breeze for next summer for that itinerary, and I'm worried other brides have already staked their claim on them! Thanks :)

[Miss Kellybean]

We are getting married in March and booked last February so, it was 13 months for us. The wedding department told us that was plenty of time and we are still the only wedding booked that day. We are getting married just a few days before Easter and it is spring break in our area.

 

I would go ahead and just call the wedding department. They will tell you if there is room or not without any commitment. :) Also, you will make a few calls the day you are booked. First, you call the wedding department to hold your wedding date and make sure it is available. Then you have to call your PVP to book your cabin. Then you call the wedding department back and book the wedding with the cabin details.

 

If you need a PVP, let me know. Mine is amazing and is really great at follow-up and communication.

 

Let us know when your engagement become official!! :)

[heather9844]

Wow, thanks so much for the info!!! That was really helpful. And congrats on your engagement and wedding! I certainly will share when we're engaged :) We're booked this Thanskgiving on the Carnival Triumph and I'm wondering if the engagement will happen then... It would certainly tie into our love of cruising [emoji4]

[BimTheDuck]

Is anyone purchasing wedding or travel insurance to cover their ceremony?

[BimTheDuck]

Ok, I am following this thread but am not a bride yet lol. However, I anticipate being engaged by the end of the year, and my boyfriend and I have talked about getting married next summer. I am hoping to do the Carnival Breeze out of Galveston, but I want the Eastern Caribbean itinerary and there are limited dates.

Anyway, my question is how far in advance are y'all booking your weddings? Do y'all think it's already too late at one year out? There are really only three cruising dates on the Breeze for next summer for that itinerary, and I'm worried other brides have already staked their claim on them! Thanks :)

 

I'm in a similar situation heather. Unofficially engaged in the houston area. I was planning on a Sept 2016 wedding w carnival but w work, grad school, and an internship I think I might push everything back to 2017. I've just started the planning process and taking notes from all the wonderful ppl on this forum.

[Miss Kellybean]

Is anyone purchasing wedding or travel insurance to cover their ceremony?

 

I am with Carnival and declined the travel insurance for us since we live near the port. We took the travel insurance for my MIL since she has to make her way from New England. I actually asked the Wedding Department if there was such a thing as wedding/ceremony insurance and I was told there wasn't. Definitely would have considered this.

[BimTheDuck]

I'm looking into the wedding insurance for fear of the boat being chartered and the wedding postponed. I would hate to spend money on save the dates, invites, favors, etc and the date gets changed unexpectedly. I'm a worry wort. This is why I'm giving myself months to plan as worry free as possible.

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G920A using Tapatalk

[BimTheDuck]

Hey ladies, just wanted a quick poll to see what was your timeline between sending out your Save the Dates and the deadline you gave your guests to RSVP for the cruise/book their cruise?

[slord12]

Hey ladies, just wanted a quick poll to see what was your timeline between sending out your Save the Dates and the deadline you gave your guests to RSVP for the cruise/book their cruise?

 

Our save the dates were sent in late September/early October of 2014 with an RSVP deadline of April 1, 2015 (we really didn't need the RSVP by then but for sanity/no stress we chose that date).

[lmcgrail]

Hey ladies, just wanted a quick poll to see what was your timeline between sending out your Save the Dates and the deadline you gave your guests to RSVP for the cruise/book their cruise?

 

For our April 2016 wedding, we sent Save the Dates in Febuary 2015. Just ordered the invitations and plan on sending them out in December for a February 1, 2016 RSVP date.

 

The Save the Dates and a letter with details of the cruise were sent especially for folks who are going to sail with us. Invitations are for sailing and non-sailing so I can get the information for Homeland Security and a final count for the wedding company.

 

Lori

[Miss Kellybean]

We are going pretty informal by design and skipped the Save-the-date printing costs by sharing our date and wedding Website online via Facebook to the majority of our invited guests and by word of mouth to the few others. We sent our formal invitation two weeks ago to our guests with a December 24th deadline (3 months before the wedding and 1 month before final payment).

 

So far we have nearly 30 guests sailing with us (most booked right at the start) and about 20 more saying they will. We anticipate 50 non-sailing guests, too!

 

We liked the idea of a message in a bottle but decided to do that for a thank you note instead of invitation.

Edited July 22, 2015 by Miss Kellybean

[RNG1219]

Hello,

 

That all sounds awesome. You are doing great with planning. I have had a hard time finding information about the carnival weddings. I am getting married March 21, in Grand Cayman while sailing on board the Carnival Paradise. I have that booked and my reception, but they have not gave me a location or choices for any of that. Any advise you have is greatly appreciated.

 

Thank you!

Ryanne