Cruise Weddings and Sea Port Ceremonies/Reception on the Beach Centerpiece Question

[BeckiO5]

For the other brides on here who are having thier Weddings on Cruise Ships, what are you doing for your centerpieces/reception on the beach table decor? I was playing with the idea of filling up beach sand pails with sand and topping them with the shovels and various sea shells as something economical and something the kids can play with after. Will most cruise ships have you order centerpieces for your tables? I was just trying to think of something pretty light and easy to put together for a Beach Ceremony/Reception that's easy to pack in your suitcase too to bring on the ship. I was just curious what everyone else was thinking of having as their table decor as well.

[kpuckrin]

Hi Becki,

 

Unfortunately I'm not much help to you as we won't really be having a sit-down reception for our cruise port wedding. We will be getting married on the beacu and having hors d'oevres and cake and champagne and an open bar for a couple of hours but we won't really have formal it-down tables, just the chairs from our ceremony. Our "reception" is going to be in the form of a dinner in one of the private restaurants on the ship followed by dancing in one of the bars plus at at home reception upon our return. I would suggest partnering with your wedding coordinator to see what they have seen in the past. I would recommend something simple and practical like what you have suggested above as you don't want to be lugging a lot of things in your suitcase I assume. It might also be worthwhile to chech with your coordinator to see if having local flowers is an option. That way you don't have to bring anything with you.

 

Best of luck!

 

Kerri

[hunniebee724]

I think it depends on the cruise line. I'm not doing centerpieces. It's only a one hour reception because we're doing it in port before embarkation. I doubt anyone is going to notice if there are centerpieces or not, and I'd rather spend the extra money on favors and OOT bags.

[BeckiO5]

Thank you both for your suggestions. I agree with spending more on OOT Bags, that's why we were going to go for the Beach Sand Pails that the few kids that would join us could keep after and they're light. We're giving everyone their favors early prior to when we leave since we're doing Passport Covers (something everyone traveling with us can use), and I agree with spending the money on OOT Bags. My sister's OOT Bags were so skimpy for her Wedding, they can use them for the cruise. Also I decided with a Cruise Vow Renewal not to have any flowers since they don't last long and all my MOH's and BM's and myself will either carry parasols or fans, which we can all keep and use later on. Our reception also would be drinks, cake and hors d'oeuvres on the beach too, and dancing in the club on the ship. Possibly see if there's a private restaurant for dinner. We were also going to have everyone gather then night prior to sail for pizza and desserts and make Breakfast to Go Bags for everyone for the drive to port.

[kpuckrin]

Sounds like you've got everything quite organized! I'm with you on spending on the OOT bags rather than on decor. With the cruise port weddings, you're there for such a short period of time that the decor isn't really a big focus anyhow (apart from the ceremony area itself). You might find that the coordinator takes care of table decor on your behalf as well (if you're using one).

[BeckiO5]

Thank you for your advice. I will most certainly look into that. I think with the packages even if we can't book a private restaurant for dinner to follow our reception, at least spending the money that would be used for florals and decor toward doing a welcome dinner (even pizza and dessert) the night before and putting together Breakfast Bags so everyone can have a full stomach and not worrying about finding breakfast on their own (especially where I don't think we'll get to organize a Farewell Brunch) guests would appreciate more. We may stick to still bringing with Sand Pails for the kids and they can keep occupied even for an hour reception while on the beach. At least those don't weigh much of anything and we have under 12 younger kids. We have even added to our budget of not making our guests worry about how they're getting to the port, and we're providing a Charter Bus so everyone arrives together. I guess I'd rather spend the money to show appreciation to my guests for coming than putting together centerpieces that won't last long or for such a short period of time. Also sand pails would be easier than lugging glass containers onto a cruise ship and probably won't even have trouble getting them past customs on the ship.