Tandtglass

Originally Posted by janele0901 

 

Hello all of my fellow 2013 brides!! My name is Janele, we will be getting married on the Celebrity Summit on embarakation day as well.. We are using a TA for the cruise itself, and a Wedding Experience for the wedding/reception. We sent out our STD in early September with all of our travel agents info on it, and also letting people know that we will be having the ceremony, and reception while the boat is still in port so non-sailing guests can come on as well. we invited 125ppl all together. So far we have about 20 people that put deposit down on cabins, but we are expecting most to be non-sailng. I want to start maing my OTT bags, but wanted to wait till we had a better idea of who is def going to sail. What is everyone giving out as favors? Anyone else using the Wedding Experience for the planning?

Hey Janele!

I just finished my OOT bags/ wedding favors (that I found on discountmugs.com).  I got 150 drawstring bags for $307.   They have our monogram and text on them- I just love them! My budget is $5/bag. I bought tissue (8/$1), hand sanitizer (3/$1), advil (3/$1) all from the dollar store.  I'm going to add a CD with meaningful songs to us, a welcome letter and itinerary, and add bottle of water, chips, and cookies once I get to FL.  I am well under budget, so I'm excited!  

What is everyone else doing for OOT bags?

Originally Posted by Deskofgarcia 

 

Congrats TandTGlass!  150 deposits paid?!?!  That's awesome.  We're having a much smaller ceremony.  Probably 25-30 people attending.  Only 10 people have paid deposits but it's all good. 

 

We're getting married 3/24/13 which is spring break week for our 12 year old son.  We always going on a spring break cruise so we decided to add the wedding to our annual routine.  Hubby is military and we're moving to Korea in June so this will be out last vacation in the states too!  We're planning a embarkation ceremony on-board the Carnival Glory in Miami.  We've been using our wedding website (danielandfelicia2013.com) to communicate with our guests.  I sent a electronic save the date and I just finished up our formal invitations today. 

 

Next item on the list is putting together our wedding favor gifts.  I think we're going to do luggage tags, prefilled rum runners and a magic bullet which are all necessary items on every cruise we go on.  But I haven't made my final decision. 

Congrats DeskofGarcia...How did the wedding go?  You may be the first 2013 bride of this forum!  Inquiring minds want to know!  

Originally Posted by andreann 

 

 

Tandtglass

 

I would seriously recommend getting on the same ship on the cruise prior to wedding cruise if its within your budget. It made the experience much less stressful. We were able to meet with group coordinator, dj, resturant manager, etc. And have everything ready. I even made our centerpieces! We organized OOT bags and gave them to coordinator to be delivered. By the time everybody cam onboard, my (now husband) and I had sorted everything plus had time to relax and rest. We were actually able to enjoy the wedding cruise. And it was a hreat bonding experience for us to be working on weddingy things on the pre wedding cruise. We even had two of the onboard dancers teach us a waltz-salsa routine for our first dance!

 

How has it turned out calling and emailing up the chain of command?

 

Let me know if you need any info Id be happy to help!

Andreann-

We have been on that ship before we got engaged, but not after.  I'm 3 months out from the wedding now, so I'm just going to step out on faith that everything will work out.  Maybe if we can find a last minute cruise, that might be a good idea.

Emailing the chain of command didn't get great results, outside of fast return calls.  But some of the issues (lack of communication), are still present, just not as bad as they were.  

I just needed as many details as possible to pass on to my 150 guests.  There is nothing worse than confusion with that many people!  

I will reamin optimistic, and continue to pray!  

Do you have any recommendations for places on the boat to take our pictures?  I've been trying to think of some creative places for some of our wedding pictures.  

If you think of any other info, please feel free to share!  Thanks again!

Thanks Andreann! That gives me some comfort.

Thanks NicoleH!

I'm getting married on embarkation day as well, and I'm wearing what I want!  Yes, the non sailing guests have to get off at 3, but I'm staying in my dress until after dinner.  I really want to take pictures during the captain's drill! LOL! We aren't having a formal reception, since dinner is at 6.  I'm staying in my dress as long as I want! Do whatever pleases you, because that's all that matters on that day!  Cheers!

WOW!  I am getting married on RCCL on July 19, and have already had some of the same issues.  I will remain optimistic, as I have already called and emailed up the chain of command (Corporate director of marketing, and the CEO).  I've seen other posts about the Royal Romance department, so I'll see how this goes.  I have to get married at the port, since I have elders who would not be able to travel to see the wedding.  I will stay subscribed to this forum, and I will post my progress as my 90 and 45 days get closer.  Thanks for the details!

And congratulations on your wedding!  

Congrats Maggie39! Yes, you've got plenty of time! Janele- I am slowly working on my OOT bags as well. There's an entire forum on the OOT bags on this site. Be sure to check that out, as they have great ideas with pictures. We were at $10/bag when we had 75 guests, but now that we've doubled that, we've gone down to $5/bag for our budget. I've already purchased cd's that we're making our guests, and probably Dramamine, aleve, and pepto,then hand sanitizer, and something else for them to use on the cruise. We are getting drawstring bags made with our monogram and logo for everything to go in. Good luck and keep us posted on what you find!

Hi MzChyrise! I told my friends and family of the deadline, then told them that if they reserve after the deadline, they won't get the group rate, nor the benefits! I also think my friends and family are soo excited I'm finally getting married too! Everyone had 60 days to get their deposits so we send reminders at 30, 15, 5, and 1 day. DeskofGarcia, I've heard great things about the military bases in Korea (well that was 10 years ago, but hopefully things are still great there)! Your wedding is quickly approaching! I'm excited for you! Your gifts sound great! Keep us posted of your progress!

Congrats! We have been going back and forth about invitations. Initially we had these really glossy (and expensive) invitations created but luckily we hadn't gotten them printed. We realized that since our guests have already paid their deposits for the cruise, they don't need super elaborate invitations! So we're going to go to staples, target, and everywhere else and purchase box sets and create our own. Our families and friends are coming from all over the country, so we decided the invitations didn't even need to be the same! So we're buying whatever is on sale! That was recommended to us by some friends who also had a similar situation as ours. Luckily there are plenty of resources on this site, so whatever you come up with, I'm sure there's someone on here or someone who has left a template for you to use! Good luck with everything!

I'm getting married July 2013 on a cruise! With 150 guests!! I've already begun to pray for no hurricanes!

Great ideas, ladies! I'm purchasing their jewelry, and got them a cute monogrammed bag from the knot.com. I want to get them something else personalized (maybe a towel or a shirt), and a bracelet. Their OOT bags will also include more items.

Great tips! I wish I would've had these for my engagement pictures!

Hi ladies!  I just wanted to get a pulse of who else is out there!  There is a lot of good information on the forum, but some of it is old, so I'm looking for the 2013 brides so I know who else is with me!  So, please share:

Wedding Date, cruise line and port, number of guests, are you an embarkation bride or island bride, and where you are in the process.  

Thanks and happy planning! 

I'll start:

7/19/13, Royal Caribbean Port Canaveral, FL, 150 guests (already paid deposits!), embarkation bride, and I need to send out my formal invitations

Hello all! I am a Royal Caribbean bride, July 19, 2013 out of Port Canaveral, Fl. Are there any other RC brides out there? I do need some guidance, as my 75 guests wedding has doubled to 150! Folks are traveling from all across the country, and I've got to develop a plan to get folks from Orlando airport to a hotel in Port Canaveral. Do any of you recommend a hotel and shuttle service that you've used? Thanks in advance for your help!

Hello all! I am a Royal Caribbean bride, July 19, 2013 out of Port Canaveral, Fl. Are there any other RC brides out there? I do need some guidance, as my 75 guests wedding has doubled to 150! Folks are traveling from all across the country, and I've got to develop a plan to get folks from Orlando airport to a hotel in Port Canaveral. Do any of you recommend a hotel and shuttle service that you've used? Thanks in advance for your help!

Hello all! I am a Royal Caribbean bride, July 19, 2013 out of Port Canaveral, Fl. Are there any other RC brides out there? I do need some guidance, as my 75 guests wedding has doubled to 150! Folks are traveling from all across the country, and I've got to develop a plan to get folks from Orlando airport to a hotel in Port Canaveral. Do any of you recommend a hotel and shuttle service that you've used? Thanks in advance for your help!

Hello all! I am a Royal Caribbean bride, July 19, 2013 out of Port Canaveral, Fl. Are there any other RC brides out there? I do need some guidance, as my 75 guests wedding has doubled to 150! Folks are traveling from all across the country, and I've got to develop a plan to get folks from Orlando airport to a hotel in Port Canaveral. Do any of you recommend a hotel and shuttle service that you've used? Thanks in advance for your help!

Hello all! I am a Royal Caribbean bride, July 19, 2013 out of Port Canaveral, Fl. Are there any other RC brides out there? I do need some guidance, as my 75 guests wedding has doubled to 150! Folks are traveling from all across the country, and I've got to develop a plan to get folks from Orlando airport to a hotel in Port Canaveral. Do any of you recommend a hotel and shuttle service that you've used? Thanks in advance for your help!