On board with Cunard

A celebration at sea

Let us take you through a wedding day on board a Cunard Queen, from flowers, to music, to ceremony, to a life begun together.

6 min

Cunard

Author

We offer you the perfect opportunity to create moments that last a lifetime as part of your holiday, and one of our Queens is a one-of-a-kind destination to celebrate your wedding or renewal of vows.

A bellhop escorts the bride to the ceremony, where the couple is married or vows are renewed surrounded by beautiful flowers, before champagne is served by white-gloved waiters and the guests enjoy fine dining – it really is the stuff of fairytales.

To top it off, you can get started on your honeymoon straight away, visiting a plethora of stunning destinations.

Captain officiating a wedding ceremony on board a Cunard cruise ship

When you get married or renew your vows with us, you can be sure that you will have a wonderful celebrations team supporting you, who are dedicated to making your day as magical as possible. For Michael M Chavez, florist on Queen Elizabeth, it’s all about “bringing happiness and unforgettable memories for the couple.”

Michael meets the couple at the beginning of the voyage and discusses the available flowers and colours on board. They decide on the type of bouquet and arrangements they prefer based on the selection available, but occasionally, couples request specific flowers before embarkation, which Michael orders in advance.

The night before the wedding, he creates the arrangements and stores them in the cold room to maintain the freshness of the flowers. He says he enjoys the challenge posed by working as a florist for a wedding on board a ship: “I embrace the challenge of working at sea and always do my very best to create unique and elegant arrangements for the couple.”

"I embrace the challenge of working at sea and always do my very best to create unique and elegant arrangements for the couple."

Michael M Chavez, Florist on board Queen Elizabeth

Another key member of our celebrations team, instrumental in recording your perfect day, is your wedding photographer. Lauren Costelloe, chief photographer on Queen Elizabeth, says her favourite part of the wedding day is accompanying the bellhop to collect the bride: “It’s always a special moment because the bride always looks gorgeous, and she always has a smile on her face when she sees the bellhop at the door. It can be a long walk to the venue, but we always try our best to make her laugh, resulting in some amazing photos.”

The couple meet with their dedicated wedding photographer ahead of the ceremony, where they will run through what to expect on the day and which photography package is best for them and which shots they want to get. A brilliant opportunity, unique to getting married on board a ship, is the chance to go outside on deck to photograph the happy couple with the ocean behind them. Being open to the elements, you never know what to expect, as Lauren says: “It can be a bit blustery, for example, but then we get some great action shots – we call it windswept and interesting!”

"Two cameras is a must. Wedding ceremonies are typically over before you know it and you have to get the key shots that require different lenses. Being able to quickly switch between the two cameras is essential for getting the most important shots perfectly.”

Lauren Costelloe, Chief Photographer on board Queen Elizabeth

Despite being an experienced photographer prepared for anything, Lauren has dealt with some interesting requests during her time on board. She says: “The bride asked to balance both rings inside a book with sunset shining through the rings. It was extremely difficult to balance the rings while holding the book at the right angle and juggling the camera focus. I could not have done it without the help of the events manager, but we did manage to get the shot in the end and the bride said it was incredible.”

With a supportive team dedicated to making your every whim a reality and making your day as special as possible, the opportunity to get married – or to renew your vows – on board one of our Queens is really one not to miss! Find out more about our celebrations at sea, and book your dream celebration voyage today.