Apr 16, 2019 4 min read

Lauren Amrhein and Craig Draper met online in 2014. Working full time as a healthcare administrator, Craig had little time to go out and meet people and Lauren was encouraged after her brother met his wife on a dating site.

For their first date, Craig, who hails from Baldwin, pretended he would pick her up in a minivan when he actually drove a sports car. “I just wanted to see if she’d be willing to go out with a guy who had minivan,” he says.

“I was just happy he had a car!” Lauren, a Cecil Township native, admits.

He took her to Cure Restaurant Downtown and for a walk at the Point. As they walked, Craig scooped up her hand and Lauren was attracted to his confident manner, while Craig says he was drawn to her kind nature. At the time, Lauren was studying for her physical therapy license exams. Lauren passed her exams and the two continued dating. In 2016, the couple made a pivotal decision to move to a warmer climate and chose St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.

They adopted a dog from the Humane Society and aptly named her Carson after Carson Street on the South Side. Carson would be Craig’s accomplice for the marriage proposal. He had a customized, double-sided name plate made for her new collar. The front contained Carson’s information and the back had a heart-shaped plate asking, “Will you Marry Me?” He attached a diamond engagement ring to the collar on Christmas morning 2017 and fully expected Lauren not to notice it for quite a while. But Carson ran straight into Lauren’s lap and she found the ring immediately.

“I have her trained,” Lauren says, “anytime she has sparkly jewelry she comes to me!”

The couple planned to have their wedding on St. Thomas, but tragically, the islands were hit by two massive, category five hurricanes several months before the couple became engaged. It would be quite some time before hotels and other facilities would re-open.

“They were very difficult times,” Craig says. “We went without power for months and months. There was no power to our water pump, we were literally bathing out of buckets of water,” he says. “We had opportunities to leave the island, but we stayed to help out at shelters and help as many people as we could while living camping-style ourselves.”

“It definitely made our relationship stronger,” Lauren said.

With no facilities available on the island, the two decided to take to the seas and have a cruise ship wedding. Planning began in March 2018 and was “very systematic and minimally stressful,” Craig reports.

“It doesn’t take long to plan a cruise ship wedding,” Lauren says. “You basically circle the options for food and show up the day of the wedding in a dress.”

The couple met with the ship’s wedding coordinator and the photographer the day before the wedding to go over the details.

Two days before the cruise, Lauren and Craig had their legal nuptials at the courthouse in Miami, because marriages in international waters are not legally recognized. In a touching gesture, both Craig and Lauren’s fathers completed online requirements to become ordained ministers, wrote the wedding vows and married their children.

For the big celebration at sea, about 50 friends and family boarded Carnival’s Sensation cruise ship and gathered as Craig and Lauren had their symbolic vows with the ship’s captain presiding. A dose of Dramamine kept Craig’s sea sickness at bay.

Lauren’s grandfather and Craig’s yai yai served as ring bearers, which was very special to the young couple to be able to involve their grandparents.

Lauren’s elegant, sleeveless, v-neck dress from the Allure Collection was purchased at MB Bride and Special Occasion in Greensburg. The bridesmaids’ color was called “peacock” and the dresses were bought online from Azazie. The groomsmen submitted their measurements online prior to the cruise and their tuxedos were waiting in their staterooms when they arrived on the ship.

Lauren’s mother made the flower bouquets with silk flowers from Pat Catan’s in Pittsburgh and added some of her own flowers from her wedding bouquet for “something old.”

Following the service, the newlyweds and their guests enjoyed hors d’oeuvres and dancing. The cruise ended on Monday, and Lauren and Craig returned to their island paradise to begin their married lives together. A honeymoon in Thailand is planned for some time in the future.

The Details

Wedding Dress: Allure Collection, MB Bride and Special Occasion, Greensburg

Bridesmaid’s dresses: Azazie

Rings: Palacio Jewelers, St. Thomas

Wedding cake topper: Etsy

Cruise Line: Carnival