Wedding Blog

We docked in Bermuda Tuesday morning. The day started bright and early with a 9am spa appointment - Mr. Peony had booked a couples spa package for us! I had never gotten a massage before because I have a complex about strangers touching me (I don’t even get facials, manicures or pedicures), but Mr. Peony really wanted it so I obliged: the package included 50 minutes in an exotic steam room that also doubled as a rainforest-like shower , full body deep-sea salt scrubs, full body mud masks, and a 50 minute side-by-side massage. It was just a tad uncomfortable for me but the facilities and staff were so spectacular that I could really see how some people would want spa treatments all the time. FYI, if you’re ever on a cruise and you want spa treatments, book it quickly, even in advance - all the good treatments and times get snapped up fast!

Glowing and relaxed from the spa, we then changed and headed off to Pearl and Matt’s wedding. The ceremony was small and intimate, held in the chapel of the ship. I loved it! It was personal, sweet, funny, and really warmed my heart. Here is one snapshot I took of the ceremony:

Afterwards we headed downstairs to one of the lounges, where the reception started immediately:

I had originally planned on uploading a lot of my pictures from the wedding, but my camera was going haywire and taking really, really bad shots, as you can see from the photos above. So I decided to ask Pearl for some of her professional photos. She told me that immediately after the reception, they had gone around the entire ship with the photographer, taking pictures. Because almost everyone had emptied out that morning to the islands of Bermuda, they had the entire ship to themselves! As you can see they took some beautiful posed formal shots as well as some goofy ones as well. I love the goofy ones! Have you ever seen a bride playing basketball before?

When I asked Pearl about her wedding, here’s what she had to say:

Our wedding was a package from Royal Caribbean and they made everything so simple! You pick the package you want, add in your ceremony enhancements (like flowers, photographer, videographer, etc.), choose your reception (sit-down, buffet, or hors d’oeuvres) and that’s it! Instant wedding, voila! Pretty much all of our decisions were between two or three choices, so that was actually pretty nice for us. Like for the flowers, you choose either wild flowers or island flowers. For cake you choose either vanilla or chocolate. We were flexible when it came to the wedding options, so not having to choose from 20 different kinds of flowers didn’t bother me at all — I actually liked the simplicity you know? The decision-making process was so easy — that’s not something one can usually claim when planning a wedding.

I think the best thing about having a cruise wedding is that you feel closer to the people who were there with you because you bond over more than just the wedding. We had the cocktail party and bachelorette parties and then all of the cruise activities. It turned out to be everything that a wedding should be - sharing an important time in your lives with people that you love, and making the best memories of your life (and not being completely stressed out!). We wouldn’t have done it any other way because we had a blast and all of our guests had a blast, so what more could one ask for, right?

She’s completely correct about the last part - we really did have a blast! There was always something to do with the plethora of cruise activities and excursions. We got to know Pearl & Matt’s family and friends really well over the duration of the trip, and as soon as we disembarked everyone kept talking about returning again with the same group of people!

If you’re interested in having your wedding onboard a Royal Caribbean ship, you can see more details at their wedding website here.