Guides
The answers before the sales pitch
Written so you can plan a cruise wedding well, whether or not you plan it with us.
The Cruise Bride coordinates the sailing, the cabins and the guest travel. The cruise line runs its own wedding program where one is offered.
Tell us about your celebration
A cruise wedding specialist replies personally, usually within one business day.
Most cruise wedding advice online is either a brochure or a blog post from 2016. These guides are neither. They cover the numbers, the deadlines and the legal detail, including the parts that make a cruise wedding the wrong choice for some couples.
Start with cost and timeline. Between them they settle about eighty per cent of the decisions that follow, and they tend to reveal quickly whether your instinct is a sea day, a dockside morning or a beach in a port of call.
Planning
- An eighteen-month cruise wedding timelineWhat to do and when, from the first conversation to the morning you board.
- Choosing the right cruise lineAtmosphere matters more than price. A short guide to which line suits which kind of wedding.
- Hurricane season, honestlySailing between June and November is cheaper for a reason. Here is how to weigh the risk properly.
- Cruise wedding or resort wedding?The honest comparison, including the parts where a resort genuinely wins.
- The honeymoon is already bookedOne of the quiet advantages: you are already on it. Here is how to make the second half feel different.
- At sea, dockside or ashore?The three ceremony locations, compared on guest list, legal simplicity, cost and risk.
- A cruise wedding in JanuaryWeather, pricing, crowds and the honest trade-offs of a January cruise wedding.
- A cruise wedding in FebruaryWeather, pricing, crowds and the honest trade-offs of a February cruise wedding.
- A cruise wedding in MarchWeather, pricing, crowds and the honest trade-offs of a March cruise wedding.
- A cruise wedding in AprilWeather, pricing, crowds and the honest trade-offs of a April cruise wedding.
- A cruise wedding in MayWeather, pricing, crowds and the honest trade-offs of a May cruise wedding.
- A cruise wedding in JuneWeather, pricing, crowds and the honest trade-offs of a June cruise wedding.
- A cruise wedding in JulyWeather, pricing, crowds and the honest trade-offs of a July cruise wedding.
- A cruise wedding in AugustWeather, pricing, crowds and the honest trade-offs of a August cruise wedding.
- A cruise wedding in SeptemberWeather, pricing, crowds and the honest trade-offs of a September cruise wedding.
- A cruise wedding in OctoberWeather, pricing, crowds and the honest trade-offs of a October cruise wedding.
- A cruise wedding in NovemberWeather, pricing, crowds and the honest trade-offs of a November cruise wedding.
- A cruise wedding in DecemberWeather, pricing, crowds and the honest trade-offs of a December cruise wedding.
- A cruise wedding for twoThe logistics, costs and honest advice for a cruise wedding with 2 guests.
- A cruise wedding with 10 guestsThe logistics, costs and honest advice for a cruise wedding with 10 guests.
- A cruise wedding with 20 guestsThe logistics, costs and honest advice for a cruise wedding with 20 guests.
- A cruise wedding with 30 guestsThe logistics, costs and honest advice for a cruise wedding with 30 guests.
- A cruise wedding with 40 guestsThe logistics, costs and honest advice for a cruise wedding with 40 guests.
- A cruise wedding with 50 guestsThe logistics, costs and honest advice for a cruise wedding with 50 guests.
- A cruise wedding with 60 guestsThe logistics, costs and honest advice for a cruise wedding with 60 guests.
- A cruise wedding with 80 guestsThe logistics, costs and honest advice for a cruise wedding with 80 guests.
- A cruise wedding with 100 guestsThe logistics, costs and honest advice for a cruise wedding with 100 guests.
- A cruise wedding with 125 guestsThe logistics, costs and honest advice for a cruise wedding with 125 guests.
- A cruise wedding with 150 guestsThe logistics, costs and honest advice for a cruise wedding with 150 guests.
Money
- How much a cruise wedding actually costsA real breakdown: the ceremony package, the cabins, the reception, and the costs couples forget until the invoice arrives.
- How group cabin blocks workThe mechanism that keeps your guests together, priced fairly, and not paying everything at once.
- A cruise wedding under $5,000What a cruise wedding at under $5,000 actually buys, and where the money goes.
- A $5,000–$10,000 cruise weddingWhat a cruise wedding at $5,000–$10,000 actually buys, and where the money goes.
- A $10,000–$20,000 cruise weddingWhat a cruise wedding at $10,000–$20,000 actually buys, and where the money goes.
- A $20,000+ cruise weddingWhat a cruise wedding at $20,000 and up actually buys, and where the money goes.
- The cheapest way to marry on a cruiseWhat a cruise wedding at the minimum actually buys, and where the money goes.
Guests
- Managing a cruise wedding guest listCruise weddings ask more of your guests than a land wedding. Here is how to ask well.
- Wording invitations for a cruise weddingWhat to include when the invitation is also a travel brief — and how to say it without killing the romance.
- Planning an accessible cruise weddingMobility, dietary and medical needs on a ship — where cruises are excellent, and where they are not.
- For guests who have never cruisedA calm explanation of the whole experience for someone doing this for the first time.
What planning with us costs
- $0.0k–$0k
- Typical cruise-line ceremony package, before the reception
- $000–$000
- Per guest, per night, inside cabin at double occupancy
- 00–00 mo
- Lead time we ask for when a group is coming with you
- $0
- What our planning costs you — the cruise lines pay us