InspiredBride

Congratulations! I'm sure you'll find this forum helpful in your planning. I've only been on here a little while and have already gotten so many amazing ideas. Have fun with your planning!

Thanks everyone for the advice, and for sharing your similar issues...that really helps! I ended up talking to my mother about it, and she seems to think that it might cause more issues if we sent out announcments. There is actually not going to be an AHR, because all of my family members who are not invited are from out of state, so she feels like an announcement would just be "rubbing it in" for those who are not included. She also agreed not to send any more emails about my wedding.

So what I'm going to do is just call the people I think might be feeling hurt and let them know why we're keeping it small, and that it isn't because we don't love them or wish they could be there.

I'm kind of late getting in on this thread but...I can totally relate to the sudden desire to elope! I decided to do a cruise wedding because I thought it would be fun and easy, but I guess with any big event complications are bound to happen.

I agree with what everyone else has said about making it clear that if guests are not cruising they will be responsible for all details. I think it's fair to encourage people to come on the cruise, and to explain that if they don't it is at their own risk. And I definitely don't think you should have to pay for uninvited guests.

PLUS, the other thing I've been told about cruise weddings with ceremonies in port is that you always run the risk of not being able to dock, or of having the itinerary changed due to weather or other issues (this is rare but it has happened to me a couple of times). So maybe let your guests know about those risks too.

I am SO Frustrated!!! Due to our financial constraints (and complicated family situations), we are not inviting extended family to the wedding (only local friends, parents, grandmothers, and siblings). I honestly thought that people may be happy not to feel obligated to fly down to Florida.

I chose not to do formal announcments for those who weren't invited because I've heard from other brides that guests sometimes get offended and feel like announcements seem like a request for gifts.

My mom, however, wanted everyone to know our plans so she sent out an email with our wedding plans.

This has started major drama. My mom's sister is in an uproar and feels offended that she wasn't invited. I called to tell her I was sorry and that it was nothing personal, but she was really not open to listening. She is also upset that my mother sent an email to announce, which she says she interpreted as a request for gifts (SOOOOOOO not the case!!!).

Now I'm feeling terrible that other family members may be upset about this too. I'm torn between going back to my elopement plans, just ignoring it and letting them be upset, or addressing it by sending a more formal annoucnement with a note about how I would like to be able to have them all there, but can't.

Has anyone had this same issue?

Any advice? I just want this wedding planning to go back to being FUN!!!

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone. I just got motivated to add the cruise info to my website!

KimberandJustinswedding.com

That's good to know Lauren! Thanks for that feedback.

Also, I just ordered 250 FREE business cards, that I am using as "RSVP reminders" to go along with my travel brochure invitations. On the card it just says to remember to RSVP by July 31 on our website, and it gives our URL.

I'm using VistaPrints. I read on other threads that they sometimes run promotions with free brochures, and that they're really good quality. So I'm hoping to get some ready for when they run the promotion. They've got pretty user friendly templates on there so you can just put your own info and customize however you want.

www.vistaprint.com

Thanks for the input. So Jenny, you sent out your invites already? That was my other issue...I sent out STDs and emails with cruise info but was going to wait until June to send out my invites. Otherwise I'm afraid people will lose them (and the information!).

I also have some questions about your website...

Also, it looks like you're using the Ewedding website. I'm using the same one, but can't figure out how to change my URL (the one I have is really complicated). And my other question is about the RSVP feature. Guests have gone on to RSVP for my cruise (not the ceremony since that is happening before we sail), but when I get the RSVP it only tells me how many guests are coming and not their names. Have you figured out a way to get their names to show up?

I'm working on a very tight budget (cruise wedding) and have found some great ideas on this forum. For my STDs, I did DIY boarding passes which turned out nicely. Now, to cut costs, I'm thinking about doing a travel brochure as my invitation so that I can fit all necessary information (about passport requirements, boarding times, etc.). I was also thinking about simply providing our email addresses and phone numbers and asking guests to RSVP that way, instead of dealing with the formal RSVP cards. We've got about 70 guests coming and 32 of them have already booked their cruise.

Does anyone have any feedback on that idea? Or can anyone see any problems with not doing a standard invite with RSVP by mail card (other than breaking "normal" tradition?)?

Any input would be appreciated!

I've been combining ideas from other posts to come up with a scavenger hunt ice breaker for my cruise guests. I'm thinking of handing out these challenges on the first night at dinner and then having people present them the next night (since these are the times we're all most likely to be together). The first one I realize seems strange...it will make sense to a lot of my guests!

Wedding Cruise Scavenger Hunt

___Find a crew member that speaks another language. Get him to translate this sentence into his/her native tongue ("Have you seen my puppy? He is the one with the large moustache.").

___Find the group member (other than a family member) who has known the bride the longest. Get an autograph and learn a new fact about that person.

___Find the group member (other than a family member) who has known the groom the longest. Get an autograph and learn a new fact about that person.

___Get the names of people staying directly across from you and where they are from.

___Get some currency from a different country.

___Get a Bingo Card.

___Find the person in the group who has been on the most cruises.

___Find the couple who has been married the longest (anyone on ship). Get their signatures and their wedding date, along with a piece of marital advice for the new bride and groom.

___Find the person in the group who can play the most musical instruments.

___Find a person in the group who has the strangest or most unique talent.

___ Find the person in the group with the most siblings.

___ Find the person in the group who came the farthest to be here.

___ Without asking the bride or groom for help, get signatures of all group members who have lived with the bride at some point in her life.

___ Find a group member who has lived in Florida for his/her whole life.

I got those books at Target yesterday too! Thanks for the Michael's tip...I'll head over there today to see if the same sale is going on!

Another cruise bride here! Carnival Inspiration out of Tampa on October 1. We've got about 70 people coming to the wedding/reception on the day of sailing, and then about 30 of them staying on to sail with us to Cancun. We're so excited!

So far this seems like an awesome way to do things...very stress free as far as planning big events go.

I am working on a scavenger hunt for the first day of sailing. I may use some of the above ideas, but am leaning toward something that involves getting my guests to meet eachother. I'll post again when I get something together...

I'm hoping you've probably found something by now...I initially wanted to do the DIY passport invite too but haven't really found anything workable. There are great links to "paid" passport invite sites on here but I haven't found any DIY templates yet.

We're doing a cruise to Cozumel for our wedding, and I've been trying to find free (or cheap) maps of Cozumel to put in my OOT bags. I know I can find free maps once I get there but haven't found anything that I can get from home.

Anyone have any ideas?

We are trying to do EVERYTHING for under $10,000 so I really appreciate this thread.

I'd like to add another tip...

Aside from the dollar store, I really like the bargain dollar bin at Target. Yesterday I found a bunch of spanish phrase books for a dollar which I'll put in the OOT bags (since we're cruising to Mexico).

I'm up in the air now too!!! I think it must be partly due to all of the fabulous ideas on this forum. There are just too many possibilities!

We have a cruise wedding booked out of Tampa to Cozumel, but now I'm considering just eloping somewhere and then doing the cruise with friends as a "Post-Elopement Cruise Celebration."

My fiance thinks I'm nuts and that we should just stick to the plan. But honestly our initial plan was to elope to Greece. Then his mother kind of guilted us into changing our plans since she was sad about not being able to attend the ceremony.

At this point, I'm thinking I want this to be more about what would make us happy and what would be most fun for us...

That sounds like so much fun! I'm considering changing my plans to an elopement as well...But keeping the cruise plans just as a post-elopement cruise celebration with friends and family...

Good luck with your planning! I'll be interested to see what you decide to do...

Actually the actual art is a clip art from microsoft word...I initially used powerpoint to design a logo using this clip art and a circle shape, but my fiance didn't like it. I used powerpoint because I saw someone mention the idea on another forum. So anyway, my fiance took my design and made another logo using photoshop (not exactly sure how). He did a lot of cutting and pasting and drawing and things that I don't know how to do. But I've seen a lot of them made on powerpoint that were pretty simple to make and that still look really nice.

Thanks everyone...We're sailing out of Tampa and going to Cozumel. I've been on the Sensation and the Holiday but this will be my first time on the Inspiration.

Congrats Andrea! Yours is coming up so soon!

This forum is amazing! I just signed up and have already gotten tons of ideas. Thanks everyone for sharing. After reading ALL these posts, I'm thinking of doing tote bags with iron on transfer of my logo and...

personalized door hangers

water bottle with personalized label

travel advil/tylenol

Spanish phrases

newsletter

sudoku puzzles

lip balm

suntan lotion with personalized label

Thanks everyone for the awesome ideas!

Those do look really cute...Does anyone know what the actual covers look like? Like is the cover itself plain (without anything written on it), and then the designed part (with "Passport to Love") is just on the wrapping?

I'm wondering if these would be appropriate for males and females...

Thanks! My fiance actually helped make it since I'm no good at those kinds of things and he didn't like what I came up with. I'm hoping to be able to use them to make labels for our gifts (like making personalized water bottles), and maybe even programs.

I like your weight loss ticker...I might go get one of those!

Hi everyone,

I'm very excited about finding this forum! I heard about it on a cruise forum, and am mostly hoping to find and share ideas about do-it-yourself wedding projects. Since I'm getting married on a cruise ship (Carnival Inspiration Oct.1) and they take care of most details, I don't feel like a have all that much left to do. Just the fun stuff!

I've never actually been on a cruise ship wedding so I'm not sure what to expect. So I guess I'm also looking forward to reading from others who might have a little experience in this area.

Hi everyone,

I'm very excited about finding this forum! I heard about it on a cruise forum, and am mostly hoping to find and share ideas about do-it-yourself wedding projects. Since I'm getting married on a cruise ship (Carnival Inspiration Oct.1) and they take care of most details, I don't feel like a have all that much left to do. Just the fun stuff!

I've never actually been on a cruise ship wedding so I'm not sure what to expect. So I guess I'm also looking forward to reading from others who might have a little experience in this area.

One thing I'm wondering is why there is no place on the bottom of this to add my signature...I tested it out in the "siggy testing" thread and it workd. I must be missing something...