Cruise weddings - what are they really like?
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The behind the scenes secrets of a marriage on a Princess cruise ship
The ship’s pianist is playing “I love you just the way you are”, candles flicker inside special glass safety holders and everyone shuffles nervously awaiting the bride. Welcome to a wedding, cruise-ship style.
The floor rocks slightly as the tune changes to The Wedding March and the bride appears through the double doors of the ‘chapel’ - a specially decorated room next to the Lotus Spa on Deck 15.
A few moments later the ship’s captain, resplendent in white uniform, black bow tie and gold epaulettes, announces: “As Master of the Emerald Princess and with the legal powers vested in me by the laws of Bermuda, I now declare you husband and wife.”
I’d been allowed aboard a cruise on the Emerald Princess to see why more and more couples are choosing to tie the knot at sea. I met the couples due to be wed who kindly invited me along to watch their ceremonies as we sailed between Naples and the Greek island of Santorini.
“It’s different, special and romantic being married by the Captain of a ship at sea,” said one of the day’s blushing brides. “The cruise company do all the arrangements and it’s like a wedding and honeymoon at the same time.”
The practicalities of the wedding are similar to a wedding on land. One couple from Leeds bought a party of nine with them, all in adjoining cabins. To create additional romance, the night before the ceremony the couple decided to sleep in separate cabins. Emma had carefully had kept her stunning red dress secret from David until she walked through the chapel door the next morning. On the flight to the cruise she had managed to hide it by hanging it in the pilot’s locker.
The non-religious ceremony lasts about ten minutes. After photographs around the ship the party headed for a wedding dinner and cake in a private area of a ship’s dining room. “We’ve told everyone not to give us presents,” they said. “They’ve coughed up enough already to come on the cruise with us.”
Another couple from Kent had simply joined her family on a cruise and decided to wed on board. The family cabins were all together, but the couple had chosen a cabin on the other side of the ship.
“Weddings abroad can be like a conveyor belt. This is a bit different and sounds romantic,” said the bride. “It’s our first cruise - we thought it would be like Poirot and old people - but it’s all types and we’re enjoying it.”
Like most cruise weddings, the couple planned a big party when they returned home for those who missed the ceremony. ‘There’s no-one from my side of the family,” said the bridegroom. “It’s too expensive. But they can watch the wedding at home via the web cam in the wedding chapel.”
If the romance of the occasion had helped a third couple forget that they were not in a local churchyard back home they certainly had a sudden reminder where they were afterwards. As they posed for a group wedding photo a complete stranger in dripping wet swimming trunks walked right through the middle of them.
Useful links
The Passenger Shipping Association`s website is a good place to start with enquiries about cruising
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