Disney Cruise Brides!!! Part Deux!!

[JBeanBunny]

It's not as cool as Ginger's Magical Day Weddings blog post, but my photographer posted her blog about our DCL wedding yesterday! She said it was her favorite wedding of 2012 Awwww

http://lorarodgers.com/jillian-michael/

[Evi]

Jillian your bing modest. Your wedding pictures are beautiful. Congratulations on having your wedding featured.

[dawne98]

I would love to get more info.... I am trying to talk my love into getting married on the Dream in July 2014
What time can you get married on the Dream and what day would you is the best day?
(we are not doing Cast away wedding)
how much to add Mickey & Minnie?
I love the under sea cake is it more $$ and how much more?
also how much is it to add Disney photography?
(I don't have the $$$ to bring one)
Thank you

[XxsmortzxX]

Originally Posted by dawne98

I would love to get more info.... I am trying to talk my love into getting married on the Dream in July 2014
What time can you get married on the Dream and what day would you is the best day?
(we are not doing Cast away wedding)
how much to add Mickey & Minnie?
I love the under sea cake is it more $$ and how much more?
also how much is it to add Disney photography?
(I don't have the $$$ to bring one)
Thank you

I will try to answer as much as I can.

The time and day you can get married is not decided by the bride, although I am sure you can make suggestions or a time you would like to have it and they will take it into consideration. I am having an onboard wedding on the Fantasy, and the wedding coordinator made it seem as if a day and time will be assigned and I will know maybe a few months in advance. The only date I am sure of is the legal ceremony one on the embarkation day.
I am not too sure about this, but I am pretty sure Mickey and Minnie is an additional cost, but it is also not guaranteed. If it is a seasonal, pirate night, or the characters are needed elsewhere, they will say no. At least that is what I have heard.
The Under the Sea cake is $75 dollars, and you cannot put a caketopper on it. It is super pretty though!!!
DCL photography is by a third party contractor called Images. You can go on their website and see photos they have taken. There are three packages you can choose from:

Celebration Package $350
- 20 5x7 wedding photographs
- 5 8x10 photographs
- 1 8x10 portfolio
Includes one event photographer

Wishes Package $550
- 30 5x7 photographs
- 15 8x10 photographs
- 1 5x7 photo album
Includes one event photographer

Magic Package $1000
- 30 5x7 photographs
- 25 8x10 wedding announcements
- 1 5x7 photo album
- 1 8x10 photo album
- 1 CD with all images
One Event Photographer

Additional offerings(You must purchase at least one package before adding one of these on)
Photo CD of all images - $400
25 Wedding Announcements - 25$
Additional 5x7's - $6.95 each
Additional 8x10's - $19.95 each.
You can also purchase additional photography time, but I am not sure what that price is.

I hope this helps a bit. I do think a cruise wedding is a bit cheaper than a WDW, and it is a good way to bring family (if you have them coming from different places) together for a period of time to really catch up and not have that 'I'm only here for a few hours' feeling! There is a lot of tweaks you can also do to bring down costs, like bringing your own floral(they have to be artificial flowers though, as you cannot bring real ones onboard)

[dclwonderprincess]

When I inquired about Mickey & Minnie I was told it's an additional charge of $450 per character.

[dawne98]

thank you so much
I called today just to get a little more on who much and for my two DD's and my love and I let's just say $7000. I am too happy! My DD's are happy too I do think I'll do the under the sea cake and I am going to have to say no to Mickey lol now just the wait to hear from family.

[dclwonderprincess]

I opted to use my money for a family cabana instead of inviting Mickey to the reception.

[DisDiana]

Hello, everyone!

I have a quick question about potential perks for my guests.

In 2011, I booked a stateroom for my parents using the onboard booking promo and was able to get the 10% deposit and $100 stateroom credit for a 3-night cruise even though my name wasn't on the reservation. Has anyone else done this? We are embarking on that cruise next month and I want to make some reservations for the wedding party if this is a common practice.

We are expecting about 40 attendees and 20 cabins -- filled with mostly first-time cruisers. Are there any other angles I should be looking at to save them a few dollars or earn some better stateroom credit?

Thanks!!

Diana

[XxsmortzxX]

Originally Posted by DisDiana

Hello, everyone!

I have a quick question about potential perks for my guests.

In 2011, I booked a stateroom for my parents using the onboard booking promo and was able to get the 10% deposit and $100 stateroom credit for a 3-night cruise even though my name wasn't on the reservation. Has anyone else done this? We are embarking on that cruise next month and I want to make some reservations for the wedding party if this is a common practice.

We are expecting about 40 attendees and 20 cabins -- filled with mostly first-time cruisers. Are there any other angles I should be looking at to save them a few dollars or earn some better stateroom credit?

Thanks!!

Diana

I think the easiest way to get credit for a group like that would be to go through a travel agency. A lot of them have promotions such as 'kids sail free' or '$150 stateroom credit'. I went through ******************************* with Lisa R. She was able to give us 100$ stateroom credit. Also, if you are going on a cruise, if you book on that cruise you get 10% off, after that 10% if you transfer the booking to a travel agent, you can get the stateroom credit promotion as well.

If you want to use the onboard booking promo, as long as you have their name, address, and birthdates, you can book their rooms without your name on them. I booked a lot of the wedding party without them actually being their but knowing about the 10% promo. They just transferred the deposit money to me somehow and gave me their info! I walked up to the onboard booking desk with a huge list of names, address, and dates! He was really helpful though and transferred all the information to Lisa to get the credit promos, if they were available.

Hope this helps!

[JessieGlitter]

Originally Posted by JBeanBunny

If you can do a longer cruise, DO IT!!! I had to have a 3 night to allow most of my guests to attend (especially my brother & sister in law who are teachers and could only get off for the weekend) and 3 nights was NOT long enough! I really wish I had more time to spend with my family and friends and my cruise did not allow enough time for that. On our castaway cay day, the day AFTER our wedding, we took some photos on the island, then went onboard and slept the rest of the day away!

You can try looking up my pinterest (Jillian Berner) I have "Wedding-y Things" and "Wedding Photography" as well as "Craft-tastic" as boards that I put wedding ideas into. I think also "Beauty and Style" had a bunch of makeup ideas and "Hairstyles" were wedding related. Heck, I think I even pinned some of my own wedding photos in my Wedding Photography board because I had SUCH a hard time finding DCL wedding photos as inspiration! If you want to see all of the photos from my photographer, check out my PJ/TR. Just be warned- Pinterest is addicting!!!

Jillian, I tried to find you but I couldnt. Can you post a link or something?? I'd love to see your pinterest page!

[JBeanBunny]

Originally Posted by dawne98

I would love to get more info.... I am trying to talk my love into getting married on the Dream in July 2014
What time can you get married on the Dream and what day would you is the best day?
(we are not doing Cast away wedding)
how much to add Mickey & Minnie?
I love the under sea cake is it more $$ and how much more?
also how much is it to add Disney photography?
(I don't have the $$$ to bring one)
Thank you

Hi! Welcome to the DIS Cruise Brides page! I had a gazillion questions about DCL weddings when I was starting to plan my onboard wedding, and this forum was a great way to get advice from those who were planning theirs, as well as advice from those who have gone through it! I got married on the Dream last September- I had high expectations and DCL exceeded my expectations! When you find the time, go through my PJ/TR (the link is in my signature) and you can follow along with my whole planning experience as well as the report of my wedding and a link to ALL of my wedding photos so you can see how they pulled it off! A lot of brides opt for Castaway Cay weddings, so when I was planning, I had a harder time getting info about onboard weddings- especially because I had such a large group (47 of us, total!) that we had to be moved out of the Outlook.

For my cruise, we booked a 3-night Bahamas cruise Sept 13-16. We embarked on the 13th, were at Nassau on the 14th, Castaway Cay on the 15th, and Disembarked on the 16th. With onboard weddings, you are usually docked at one of the ports, in our case in Nassau. (I'm not sure how the 7-night cruise weddings are) Unfortunately, you can only *request* a time of day and you can only *request* a location, but the wedding planners have to work with the preset itinerary of DCL to fit into a schedule. There's seriously events and activities happening ALL over the ship all the time! My wedding was scheduled at 4 PM and lasted until about 5 PM. Now, that sounds short, but short and sweet is what I was looking for! We had a late seating for Dinner, so we had a long opportunity to take wedding photos with out photographers.

When I was planning (and mind you that prices are ALWAYS subject to change and they won't notify you when they do change prices- I learned this with the crystal mickeys in the bouquet went from around $6 to $9 each!) I'm pretty sure it cost $550 to have one costumed character, and around $850 to have two. Again, the characters are only *requests* and may not be available depending on the ship activities. You can ask for Mickey and Minnie or you could ask for Stitch and Goofy or Donald and Daisy... You can request any costumed characters that they have available onboard with the exception of FACE characters (like princesses).

in my 2012 Elements and Enhancements pdf, the Under the Sea cake costs an upcharge of $75 and you must request this cake at least 4 weeks prior to sailing to make proper arrangements.

As for photography- you should at least TRY looking into bringing a photographer with you. I'd heard several brides say that they brought one along for NO CHARGE, only for the cost of their cruise! I thought it was too good to be true and I went on theknot.com and contacted dozens of photographers via e-mail inquiring about cruise photography. Some who have experience with cruise weddings cost A LOT. Many photographers said they'd have to think about it before giving an offer, and just when I'd given up hope, I had my photographer contact me saying that she would go on the cruise WITH a second shooter for FREE! I met with her a week later and booked her cruise, and with two photographers I got dvd's with 1065 images from my wedding, no watermarks, and full printing rights! We took 11 hours of photography total- 8 on the wedding day (4 hours of getting ready 1 hour of family photos 1 hour of the event and 2 hours of photos around the ship) and 3 hours the next morning on Castaway Cay. I got ALL of this for about the same cost as DCL's top photography package.

Good luck with your planning! If you have more questions- no matter how many or how obscure- don't hesitate to ask! We're here to help

[drummergirl]

Hi...I'm new and thinking of a DCL Wedding! We have a limited budget (but who doesn't) and really wanted a DFTW ceremony but those are WAY out of our league. I have enjoyed this thread. Jillian you are just so knowledgable. I'm glad your wedding was everything you had hoped for and more! And your pictures are just so beautiful!

[dclwonderprincess]

I think my wedding is coming in around $7,000 for the cruise, wedding package & largest photo package from shutters. That may sound like a lot to some people but to have a wedding some of the venues are that much to rent with out the flowers, cake, music, etc. I definitely DCL weddings are a great way to go!

[JBeanBunny]

Originally Posted by drummergirl

Hi...I'm new and thinking of a DCL Wedding! We have a limited budget (but who doesn't) and really wanted a DFTW ceremony but those are WAY out of our league. I have enjoyed this thread. Jillian you are just so knowledgable. I'm glad your wedding was everything you had hoped for and more! And your pictures are just so beautiful!

Disney Cruise Line is definitely the way to go for a Disney Fairytale Wedding! When you compare all of DFTW prices, DCL has the best value in my opinion. I could've had a *cheaper* wedding at WDW for at least $5000 for an Escape wedding, but then I'd have to have less than 18 guests- I had no way to reduce my guest list to be that small! Then the next package starts around $10,000 which still costs more than DCL! I was on a budget too and I did a LOT of DIY projects to personalize my wedding. If you think of any further questions, don't hesitate to ask! I felt SO lost at the beginning of my wedding planning once I'd chosen DCL! I'm glad you enjoyed my pictures- I found it so hard to find DCL wedding photos to reference, so I'm trying to make mine accessible!

Originally Posted by dclwonderprincess

I think my wedding is coming in around $7,000 for the cruise, wedding package & largest photo package from shutters. That may sound like a lot to some people but to have a wedding some of the venues are that much to rent with out the flowers, cake, music, etc. I definitely DCL weddings are a great way to go!

You bring up a LOT of good points! The original sticker shock is inevitable, but when you plan a *regular* wedding, each of those vendors adds up very QUICKLY! Before DCL I was planning to have my ceremony/reception at the Orlando Science Center, and with the venue costs, floral costs, catering, cake, tables & chairs, decorations, lights, photography, dj/band, etc... It would've cost A LOT more in the end!!! If I had to put a price tag on EVERYTHING (everything DCL related and also wedding bands, his/hers wedding attire, favors, flowers, invitations/stationary, etc) I'd estimate ours to be around $10,000... But keep in mind that we had 47 guests, and that $20/person adds up after a while in many areas! It was all so worth it in the end and was still a *deal* compared to what I would've spent if I'd gotten married in Orlando. Plus it was also a very memorable and unique experience for myself and my guests! Totally worth it!

[kristinfly2]

Hi! This is a great thread! I read thru all the pages and i didnt see what i was looking for. Has anyone done or planning a wedding on DCL out of Galveston? We are planning a 11/13 wedding on the Wonder out of there. It will be a second wedding for both of us and it will just be us and our 6 kids. Any advice or tips would be appreciated!