Once I finished adding the wedding package to my cruise reservation, I was told I would hear from the Disney Fairy Tale Wedding team in a few days. I actually heard from them the next day, and that email with the planning packet has been pinned at the top of my inbox ever since!
Guy/F******* Wedding
Sailing on March 6, 2020
Onboard Ceremony…please note this will take place sometime on Nassau Day. The specific time (currently 12:30PM; 3PM or 4:30PM) and location will be confirmed approximately 45 days prior to your sail date once the completed Planning Guide is returned.
Reservation Number: ********
Approximate Guest Count: 16
Good Morning Chelsea,
Congratulations to you and Jason on your upcoming ceremony! My name is Faith and I am your Wedding Services Manager. I will be working with you on all of the details that will make your special day Magical, as well as relaxing!
In order to secure your ceremony venue and all of your selections, please fill out the Disney Cruise Line Ceremony Planning Guide and return it to me no later than Friday, December 20, 2019. The Elements and Enhancements document contains all of the information about our offerings, including pricing, which will assist you with completing the Disney Cruise Line Ceremony Planning Guide. Also, for your convenience, I have included Information on how to obtain the appropriate Marriage License Application for a civil ceremony, which, if needed, will be performed on Embarkation Day prior to the ship leaving.
Please email or fax your documents back to me by Friday, December 20, 2019
Again, thank you for choosing Disney Cruise Line Fairy Tale Weddings for your special day. Please feel free to contact me at ***-***-****; my hours are Monday-Friday between 8:30AM-5:00PM EST. I am happy to assist you with any questions you may have about your ceremony details and I look forward to working with you!
Attached to the email were three PDFs: the Ceremony Planning Guide, the Elements and Enhancements, and the Marriage License Guide. The last one didn’t make sense to me until I realized most people contacting Disney Fairy Tale Weddings aren’t from Florida, and wouldn’t realize they need a Florida Marriage License.
First, I read through everything. Then I had to email Faith back to tell her it’s Jay, not Jason because people calling him Jason makes me twitch. Then I printed everything so Jay and I could look at it together.
I am not going to upload the PDFs because I am not about to mess around with Disney copyright, and I also don’t want anyone upset with me in the future, because something in the packet changes down the road. The whole wedding package price has gone up since I started this. I hate to think what else has increased. However, I am going to go over the basic information included in the planning packet, starting with the Ceremony Planning Guide.
The first page says “Congratulations!”, then has space to fill out basic contact information for the bride and groom, the cruise reservation information, and a place to circle which ship you’re going to be on.
The second page has a chart for you to fill out with your guests’ information. You have to list the first and last name, and reservation number for each guest individually. It mentions how it includes up to 18 guests, including the bride and groom, and that anyone over that number is subject to an additional fee. Page three continues this chart, and it says you can copy it if you need more room for more guests.
Also, on page two, it mentions that if you bring your own photographer, videographer, or officiant, they must be included in the guest count. At the bottom of page three it asks for the total number of guests, including the couple.
Page four is dedicated to the wedding party, if applicable. It has space for Maid/Matron of Honor, Best Man, Bridesmaids, Groomsmen, Flower Girls, Ring Bearers, and Bride Escort.
Page five talks about the scheduled meet and greet aboard the ship with the onboard wedding coordinator to go over everything, and take care of the legal ceremony, if needed. Interesting fun fact: Disney Cruise Line cannot legally marry you at sea. So, you actually get two weddings! You get a civil ceremony before you leave port, with an officiant provided by Disney Cruise Line, and then on your wedding day, the ceremony is performed by ship officer onboard or a Bahamian Government official on Castaway Cay. However, this is only available in sailings out of the US and Canada, so I don’t know what happens if you’re sailing out of an international port.
The second part of page five explains how the complimentary pressing and steaming of the ceremony attire works.
Page six and seven are all about Welcome Gifts and Gift Bags. If you want to bring gift bags onboard for your guests, Disney Cruise Line will deliver them for you to your guests’ rooms for a small fee. They ask for a description of the items. I find it interesting the fee is per room, and not per item. There is also a selection of edible favors you can order from Disney, like chocolates and rice krispie treats, for ships sailing out of Florida ports.
Page eight is dedicated to hair and make-up appointments. You can request up to four appointments for an onboard ceremony, and two appointments for a Castaway Cay ceremony. If you want a nail appointment, you can schedule that yourself. You cannot request it through your wedding planner. The hair and make-up services are not included with the package, and are paid once you’re on the ship. I noticed that the prices in the packet are extremely different than the ones listed on the Disney Cruise Line website for the spas.
Pages nine through eleven are all about floral. There are six preset options you can choose for the included bouquet and boutonniere. Your bouquet and boutonniere have to match. You can’t pick bouquet one, and boutonniere four. Some of them have color options. For example, you can pick up to two colors for the French Rose Bouquet. Color options include: red, white, ivory, hot pink, lavender, orange, or yellow. Two of the six preset options have an upcharge if you choose them. There’s also a disclaimer stating that all offerings and prices are subject to change. There is a list of floral enhancements you can do, like adding a crystal Mickey to your bouquet, and then there’s a price list for additional floral, like bridesmaid bouquets, boxes of petals, or aisle décor.
Page twelve mentions photography, but it’s just a reference to look at the Elements and Enhancements PDF for photography information. Then page twelve moves on to talking about ceremony music. A pianist is included with the ceremony, and you can choose from a selection of available songs to be played live, or you can bring your own music to play on your phone. Page twelve lists the songs that the pianist can play, and page thirteen gives you space to write down your selections.
It has suggested songs for Prelude/Seating, Processional, Recessional, and First Dance, plus a list of Disney Songs. I still cannot stop laughing over “My Heart Will Go On” from Titanic of all things for first dance.
IT IS A WEDDING ON A BOAT! WHO THOUGHT PLAYING THAT SONG WAS A GOOD IDEA?
Pages fourteen and fifteen are about cake selection. Page fourteen covers the included cake options. You get to pick a style, a cake flavor, and a filling. Page fifteen covers the upgraded styles, flavors, and fillings for an additional fee.
Page sixteen explains the requirements for bringing your own cake topper, and talks about the included Iron Horse Fairy Tale Cuvee and Martinelli Sparkling Cider being enough for only one toast. If you want more, you need to speak to your planner about purchasing more.
Page seventeen talks about the included Palo reservation for the couple, and gives guidelines for this adults–only restaurant, that is normally an additional fee. At the bottom of page seventeen, it gives you space to write in additional comments or requests.
Page eighteen is a list of disclaimers with a place for both the bride and groom to sign.
So that’s the Ceremony Planning Guide. Now onto the Elements and Enhancements!
The first three pages go over the floral options again, but more in depth, with more pictures. Almost every price has a + next to it, meaning that is the starting price and I’m sure they go up from there.
Page four repeats the offered music selections, and I’m still laughing about the Titanic song. They do have quite a few non-Disney songs available on the piano.
Page five goes over the optional photography that is not included in the package. There are three options with three different price points: Celebration, Wishes, and Magic. There is also the option of adding more photography by the hour, and adding additional prints.
Page six covers the hair and make-up appointment information again with a price list.
That’s the end of the Elements and Enhancements PDF. Really the only new information here, not included in the Ceremony Planning Guide, is the photos of the additional floral options, and the photography packages.
The Marriage License Information PDF actually does a great job of breaking down the requirements for a Florida Marriage License. I was looking for an official site I could just link, but I can’t find anything that does as good a job of explaining it, so I am copying and pasting the basic requirements.
- If you will be legally married prior to your sail date, please provide a copy of your official marriage license.
- If a previous marriage ended in divorce within the past twelve-(12) months outside of the State of Florida, a copy of the divorce decree is required prior to the Wedding Ceremony.
- Blood tests are not required.
- Proper identification is necessary, such as a driver’s license, certified copy of birth certificate, or passport.
- The approximate cost of the marriage license is $98.00 (subject to change without notice), payable by cash, money order, Visa, or MasterCard. Personal checks are not accepted.
- There is no waiting period for out of state residents.
- A three-day waiting period is necessary for Florida Residents.
- The marriage license will be issued at time of application, is valid immediately and must be used within sixty days. (Some Florida Counties require a marriage license to be used within thirty days of issuance.)
They go on to list locations and hours for the Osceola and Orange County Court Houses, because those are the two that are likely the most convenient between the airport and Port Canaveral.
The last thing listed is a warning not to engrave or inscribe your wedding date on anything because the date of the wedding could change. Hurricanes, engine trouble, and fog have caused Disney Cruise Line to alter cruises in the past, and that could force a change of wedding date.
Now that I had the packet, I had a pretty good idea of what I was going to pick already, but I wanted time to think on it, in case I had any new or better ideas.
I waited a couple of days and worked on a list of questions for our wedding planner, so I could send a bunch at once at once instead of sending a barrage of emails.
- Can you take the edible favors home?
- How do we all get the same dining rotation?
- Can I pick the dining rotation?
- Do we save money if we opt out of floral?
- What does it mean when it says no tank tops? Are strappy and sleeveless dresses okay?
- Are the photos retouched at all?
- What is the best way for guests to book?
- Can our guest in the Navy wear his uniform?
- Can we leave the flowers off the cake entirely?
- What happens if a guest is allergic to the kind of cake we choose?
- How in depth is the make-up on the ship?
- It mentions a first dance, but no other dances. Do we have time for more songs?
- Should we do the legal ceremony ahead of time to save time on embarkation day?
Of course, I managed to finish this list on Friday afternoon, so I think I heard back sometime on Monday. Honestly, Faith has had great response times every step of the way. It’s just when you’re so excited, everything feels like it takes forever.
These are slightly paraphrased versions of her answers.
- Yes, as long as they are unopened.
- The wedding planner takes care of it.
- Yes!
- No, the package is as is. You could potentially do décor instead.
- Strappy and sleeveless tops and dresses are fine.
- There is no retouching.
- Whatever we are most comfortable with. Facebook groups are suggested for coordinating.
- Yes!
- Yes!
- They will provide an alternative for her.
- Make-up application on the ship is very light.
- You have an hour for the ceremony and celebration to do whatever you want (within reason!).
- Entirely up to us.
I think I did ask more questions than these, but this is what was written in my planner.
So this was the beginning of the planning process. Faith has had to answer many, MANY questions from me over the last year. I’ll talk about turning in the packet and the process for that down the road. Next week we’re talking about the budget!
