A Cruise Wedding … Is It For You?
Shortly after the reality hit that we were engaged, came the reality of planning a wedding. To my then fiancé and I, all that stress did not seem enticing. That’s when we decided our wedding would have to be a destination wedding, and one affordable enough for our friends and family to join! As travelers who enjoy cruising, and the ability to “sample” destinations, we decided to invite our friends and family to experience a multi-destination vacation, with the incredible bonus or attending our wedding : )
The major decisions:
As previously mentioned, we weren’t looking to make our big day stressful, so in choosing a destination cruise wedding, our major decisions were pretty minor…
- Cruise Line
- Cruise Itinerary (I.E. Eastern, Western, Southern, etc)
- When to have the wedding, and where?
We chose to get married on the ship, the day we set sail, and here is why….
It was so easy! The entire wedding group was allowed to board the ship before all the other sailing guests. NO LINES! NO STRESS, and quite frankly, we all felt V.I.P. This option also gave us the ability to have a few of our guests, who were unable to sail with us, attend our wedding and short reception on board the ship. (They then disembarked before we sailed)
The only choices we had to make, were worked out in the months previous to sailing, and were done with the cruise lines’ wedding coordinator’s. I will say, if you are a bride or groom that needs to be highly involved with the details, this may not be a style of wedding you’d enjoy. There was definitely a level of trust given to the coordinator and the cruise line!- We wanted our guests to enjoy every port in whichever way THEY wanted. Time is limited, and if our guests were spending their money, we wanted them to have THEIR vacation.
Now don’t get me wrong. The decision to get married on the ship, worked for us, and our guests. It’s such a great option to be able to pick a port for your wedding as well. We personally could have had our ceremony in Key West, Grand Cayman, or Ocho Rios Jamaica…..Three amazing spots, each uniquely special.
Extra Bonus: By having a cruise destination wedding, we were able to have a few extra bonuses.
- We were able to have a wedding and a honeymoon for one price.
- We were able to visit multiple locations, and also have days to relax and enjoy the ship.
- We loved that our guests were able to make their experiences their own, and it made going to dinner every night a fun time to hear everyone’s adventures from the day.
In conclusion, a destination cruise wedding may not be for everyone, but if you’re looking to do something a bit different, you may be able to “sea” your wedding dreams come true!
Shera Westin
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