Cruise or Traditional Wedding?

I would personally not have the funds to splurge on someone's cruise wedding. Just have a wedding where the people that you want to be there most would actually be able to attend and then take a cruise for your honeymoon.

I just booked a cruise wedding for next summer. We opted for that because we love to cruise and we wanted to keep things snallabd fun. His sister just got married and had a big fancy traditional wedding which we were both in, so we're gonna do this and have a week long celebration

I was going to have a cruise wedding but opted not too because I would have too many non-sailing guests that are family and I want them at my wedding.

I think Simple has a point. If you do a cruise, you will likely have a much smaller turnout. Especially since people not only have to get to you but spend 5 days of their vacation time on a vacation they may not want to take. Food and decorations seems like the last thing you should be worrying about, but that's probably cause I barely worried about them myself.

I don't see how this is different than charging people to attend your wedding. What does a cruise cost? A few grand? Your wedding should only require people to dedicate one day to it.

Agree completely. More people will come to your wedding at a traditional venue than if you book a cruise. That may not necessarily be a bad thing if you want a small wedding. Just keep in mind that, depending on how long the cruise is, a lot of people don't have the time and money to commit to a destination wedding.

Talk to your nearest and dearest to see if they would be interested in a cruise and/or if they can afford it. That should help you make the decision.

For us, all of our close friends and family are going. We're paying for the wedding ourselves and we like vacationing together with our friends and fam. True there's some family not going, but the ones we really want there are. I have one BFF who unfortunately can't make it, but the wedding isn't really about the guests. It's about our union together and sharing it with those that matter most.

I've asked the main people I want to be there if they are willing to pay to come on the cruise and they all have said yes. Most of them said its a good excuse to go on a vacation. I want a smaller wedding anyways. I don't see why many people would want to buy a plane ticket to come to my wedding for one day rather than actually go on a vacation since they will already be traveling so far.

Also, the decision was easier for me because the only family I have left are my 2 sisters and a traditional wedding would be much harder for me without my mom there. My FH has a large family but he isn't close with many people outside his immediate family (which are all going).

I did think about it. I honestly decided against it because I didn't want people with me on my honeymoon.

Worked out perfect though. A good friend got engaged the same night as me (NYE) and she is doing a cruise wedding.

Elope then if the wedding is only about you. Geez! I would never think to ask my close friends, parents and siblings to splurge on a week long cruise to see me get married. The wedding is indeed focused on you. Why should people have you choose their vacation for them, ask them to pay and have their vacation revolve around your special life event? No they don't have to come, but to even suggest it is such arrogance to me!!

One of the recent brides here, Lorith? Recently had a cruise wedding and it looked perfect. I'll try to find the link to her BAM.

Eta: https://m.weddingwire.com/wedding-forums/bam-from-the-bahamas-pics-not-loading-hold-on/d29ae18004ab30c8

I personally love the idea! We would have done a cruise wedding but I didn't like the fact you have to get married in port. Other than that we would have done it. I guess my friends and family are similar to yours in that we love to travel and vacation together.

Instead of a cruise wedding we decided on a destination wedding stateside. It will be intimate, like we wanted, and we all, including our guests, are staying for the week in a beach house we all rented. We just decided to get married during our annual family vacation. We're not particular about our honeymoon as we will take our week-long honeymoon in October.

There is another Bride here that just got back from her cruise wedding and a few others that are planning one.

Whatever you decide it is primarily about you and FH. Your friends and family that want to celebrate with you will be there for you, no matter where it's held.

@Christina those pictures are beautiful! Thank you!

You can do both. We wanted to do a cruise wedding but knew it may limit some of our guests for the reasons other posters had mentioned. So we are doing our ceremony while we are in port for those who only want to make one day of it. Again, both are quite far from where we live and we knew going into it that many people wouldn't be able to make it. But I feel like giving them an option of attending the ceremony in Florida without committing the time and money to the full cruise was the best fit. Not to mention it was SO much cheaper to do it in port versus on the ship as well. Good luck and happy planning.

I thought about doing a cruise wedding before. They are super cool. It all just depends on how many people you actually want to come to your day. You can't go wrong either way!

Im doing a cruise wedding. If turn out and paying for the cruise is an issue you can actually do an in port wedding before embarking and invite people to cruise or not cruise. Mines in the port of Tampa. Nonsailing guests can get off the ship after the wedding reception and do what they want, but so far I actually have a lot of people cruising and booked already because its a relatively cheap 5 day cruise.

This would not appeal to me as a wedding guest, but you know your inner circle the best.

I like the cruise wedding idea as long as you give your guests plenty of time to save up!

And @simpleseamstress.... honestly, thats really not very informed opinion on how they work... most people are married in port and people dont HAVE TO cruise unless you do one in a foreign port. Also, a cruise many times ends up cheaper than a hotel and food costs for the week, unless you are staying at a motel 6