The Ultimate Cruise Ship Wedding!

There are a million and one different ways to have a cruise ship wedding. Often times it is just the bride & groom coming off the ship, leaving friends & family at home. Sometimes it is 100 of the bride & grooms closest friends & family joining them in the week long celebration. For those that have guests, we often hear two different opinions on the reception. Some couples choose to have the reception back on the ship, often making arrangements at the higher end restaurants that the ships have...or even reserving the nightclub on their ship for a few hours. But other times, we have couples that want to have a true island experience, get their guests off the ship and show them an amazing time. And this is why we created the Ultimate Cruise Ship Wedding Package! The name is lame, sorry, I couldn't think of anything better....and it really does describe the package! Absolutely everything you need is included in this package...photography, transportation for you & guests, open bar, delicious lunch, live music, DJ, centerpieces....and more! Check out the Ultimate Cruise Ship Wedding Experience here.

Our wedding on Monday wasn't exactly this package, but it did help to inspire the creation of this package. We often do these type of events for cruise ship weddings, but this is the first package we've created specifically for this type of event. Since Monday's wedding was very similar, I took a lot of photos that I'll share here. I'll also point out what would be considered an "upgrade".

First, with the package you have your choice of a garden ceremony or pool ceremony. Here is a picture of Monday's wedding ceremony in the garden:

Upgrades to the package: Chair ties ($2 each) and flowers for the aisle chairs (pricing varies), crystals hanging from the large palm ($200)

You also have your choice of the pool deck for the ceremony which has views of the harbor (and if your ship is in Havensight, you'll be able to see your ship!).

(Photo by Elisha Orin)




One of the best things about Villa Botanica is the covered reception area. We did have a small rain shower (lasted less than 5 minutes) at our wedding on Monday and nothing (and nobody) got wet! Here are a few pictures of the set up:

Upgrades: Flowers (the package includes shell, glass vase & candle centerpieces, with the option of lanterns for no additional charge - pricing on centerpiece upgrades vary), chair covers & ties ($4.50 per chair). Included in the package is table linens & napkins.

And a few special touches added by our bride....luggage tags to direct guests to their table...

And adorable little silver sailboat to hold their name cards

The package does include a wedding cake

But I think our bride had a sweet tooth - she also ordered these adorable miniature fudge cakes for each guest...

She had these adorable shell ring holder and flower girl "basket"...

And of course, the package includes a bouquet & boutonniere, but you do have the option of adding additional flowers for the bridal party:

But you know what the best "upgrade" or "add-on" is?? The Caribbean Dancers!! These are always such a big hit - weddings guests love it. It's so unique and so Caribbean. I wish I had known about them for my own wedding, I would had them in a heartbeat!

Nothing better than a limbo at a reception! I'm not kidding, it gets the crowd moving!

Caribbean Ritual Dancers!

I had such a fun weekend! We worked hard on so many fabulous weddings - my clients were all happy, laid back and fun and you really can't ask for anything more than that. Of course I took a ton of pictures and I thought about doing one large blog post on all our weddings this weekend but I think I'm going to break it down a little. I first wanted to write a blog on the Caribbean Ritual Dancers...they are amazing. If my daughters choose to get married in the US Virgin Islands, you can be that these girls will be at the wedding (well, not these exact girls - they'll probably be too old to move like they do by time my babies get married!).

Look how gorgeous they are!

After dinner, we had the bride & groom cut their cake and then the dancers were introduced and wow'd the crowd with their island girl moves...

My bride & groom mailed me a large box of Mardi Gras masks and boas - in the middle of the performance, the dancers grabbed a handful and started handing them out to the guests. It was a huge hit - everyone on the dance floor, dancing and learning some new moves. You can't ask for any better entertainment at a reception!

We have another full week of weddings ahead of us but I hope to put up as many blog posts as I can to show you all the fun we're having - plus all the great ideas my brides bring with them. Just wait till you see the bouquet from this past Saturday night!