Topic: Weddings at sea - value for money?

With the market for weddings on board your cruise growing as more and more cruise lines are starting to offer wedding packages, I wonder what the benefits of getting married at sea are.

Getting married can be a pricey business, and with the general opinion of many people who haven't cruised before believing that cruising is expensive, I wonder how these 2 work together. The average cost for a wedding these days is somewhere in the region of £11000. I think a package through one of the cruise lines could be much cheaper.

Included in your wedding budget will be things like a wedding breakfast, a reception venue, buffet and DJ for a reception, a venue for the wedding night, church/civil costs and a honeymoon. These are all of course included in your cruise. With the standards on cruise ships these days, food may well be of a much higher standard than could be served at your wedding breakfast, your cruise itself is your honeymoon afterwards, and a wedding at sea means the whole experience lasts for as long as your cruise does, instead of it all being over in one day.
And there is far less running around, as 'included' in your wedding onboard, you get a wedding co-ordinator to help you to organise your special plans.

Perhaps you may feel that it would exclude people from your day, but as many of your friends and relatives can book on the cruise for as long as there is availability, and have a holiday.

Surely, all of this is killing multiple birds with one stone? Surely a wedding at sea compared to a shore based wedding is a no-brainer?

It never ceases to amaze me how much money people are willing to spend on a wedding, especially given the odds against the marriage lasting. Indeed, it often seems that the more you spend the less likely your marriage is to last very long. I'd encourage everyone to do their wedding as cheaply as possible - if that means getting married at sea, combining your wedding and your honeymoon and letting guests pay their cruise fare if they want to join you, then that sounds like a good idea to me.

Hmm, big downside it that everyone at the wedding is still with you on your honeymoon:o.Carol

Not if you book it last minute and then none of them can go, Carol...

(Have been married twice - first time with just two witnesses present and second all of three!)

Good thinking Batman! er- Bosscat.Carol

QUOTE:

Hmm, big downside it that everyone at the wedding is still with you on your honeymoon:o.Carol

My daughter was married at sea

We arrange to meet on formal nights so only really saw the rest of the party on the odd occasion
You get to really meet the captain
Sometimes you get to drive the ship

QUOTE:

It never ceases to amaze me how much money people are willing to spend on a wedding, especially given the odds against the marriage lasting. Indeed, it often seems that the more you spend the less likely your marriage is to last very long. I'd encourage everyone to do their wedding as cheaply as possible - if that means getting married at sea, combining your wedding and your honeymoon and letting guests pay their cruise fare if they want to join you, then that sounds like a good idea to me.

It is much cheaper compared with a shore based wedding so much so I have the next one planned :D
problem is I will run out of daughters soon.
The marriages will last unless I dissolve their other halves in the bath

Yes, Spartan - so many people's shore-based weddings end up spending ludicrous amounts of money. They might as well shovel it out of the window.

Spartan is that you in the photo without your spear? Nice to see the pictures I am sure it was wonderful. My daughter gets married next August and is honeymooning on Arcadia to the Fjords, it will be her first cruise so I hope they get hooked. Bit disappointed that when I made the booking P O said they don't do anything, such as a bottle of 'fizz' ,unless you paid for it but they would add a note and sometimes the ship might recognise the occasion. My daughters wedding is definitely growing as they include more people but too late now to convince her to change as lots of things booked, hope it lasts..Carol

QUOTE:

My daughter was married at sea

We arrange to meet on formal nights so only really saw the rest of the party on the odd occasion
You get to really meet the captain
Sometimes you get to drive the ship

Must admit driving the ship, do they have to change when they are in different countries, Left or right hand driving