A Disney Wedding for My Daughter

[creativeamanda]

After re-listening to the last podcast, I decided to "play plan" a wedding for one of my daughters. . .$42,000! How 'bout I pay for her college and make sure she has a good enough job to pay for her own wedding?

 

[DexLabDeeDee]

Sounds like a plan to me! Though with college prices, you might be better off paying for the wedding!

 

[UrsulasShadow]

That's exactly the amount that it would have cost my DD to go to UVM for ONE (1) year.

It's a great investment to put it into a wedding, if she's marrying someone who will put her through college!

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

I found some of the prices startling as well. My daughter keeps saying how much she would love to get married @ WDW. She's only 15 so at least we've got some time to convince her how much further that would go on a down-payment for a house!

 

[creativeamanda]

That's exactly the amount that it would have cost my DD to go to UVM for ONE (1) year.

It's a great investment to put it into a wedding, if she's marrying someone who will put her through college!

HMMM. . .Pay for the wedding while she marries a rich doctor. . .hmmm. She keeps saying she wants to go into education. I keep trying to tell her it won't pay for the lifestyle she wants.

 

[slapwhitey]

If you're willing to go small it's really not that bad. We got married at the Wedding Pavilion at the GF last year. It was called an "intimate" wedding. Not sure what they call it now. It included up to 20 guests I believe, the Pavilion, flowers, cake, champagne, music and small reception. It also included limo and photos. (We decided on third party photographer and transferred Disney's package to a Magic Kingdom photo shoot). The cost of all this, the photographer and officiant I think still came to around $5000 or just shy of that. We probably could have had a larger wedding at home but it still would have been at least double that I would think. Instead we had our family and each other in the most magical place on earth. There is nothing better than getting married with Cinderella's castle in the background. I agree that to go custom the costs can get utterly ridiculous, but if it's just the location you want it is actually somewhat reasonable. I thought so anyway. Besides, it gives you an excuse to head back for anniversaries.

 

[DVCsince02]

We only have one princess and we will go all out for her wedding. Of course that's not for another 40 years....

 

[jcb]

We did the same thing! I had DD17 listen to the podcast. (She inherited her Dad's Disney gene.) We had a lot of fun imagining it and pricing it out. Her "problem" is she has a large family on both sides so an "intimate" wedding would be regarded, by them, as if she eloped.

I think she'd be estatic for a disneymoon.

 

[scarlett873]

If you guys are using the online wedding wish list thing, it's not completely accurate. It's good to give you a rough estimate, but there are LOTS of ways to cut corners and save a little $$$

 

[dpuck1998]

If I had it to do over again (perhaps my wife will think I might get that chance) I am all for small weddings. Why pay good money for people you hardly know and family you never see to eat and attend your wedding. Get 20-30 good friends/family and have a nice wedding and spend the extra on a honeymoon or a house for your future. Spending 42K is nutz...even if you have it to spend....which most people spending big money on weddings don't have. We are going to an "over the top" wedding and neither of them have good jobs, a house and they are taking out a loan to pay for it!! INSANE!

 

[tmli]

You beat me to it, honey! I was just coming on to post the same thing!!

Our wedding was like a fairytale and it didn't break the bank!

If you're willing to go small it's really not that bad. We got married at the Wedding Pavilion at the GF last year. It was called an "intimate" wedding. Not sure what they call it now. It included up to 20 guests I believe, the Pavilion, flowers, cake, champagne, music and small reception. It also included limo and photos. (We decided on third party photographer and transferred Disney's package to a Magic Kingdom photo shoot). The cost of all this, the photographer and officiant I think still came to around $5000 or just shy of that. We probably could have had a larger wedding at home but it still would have been at least double that I would think. Instead we had our family and each other in the most magical place on earth. There is nothing better than getting married with Cinderella's castle in the background. I agree that to go custom the costs can get utterly ridiculous, but if it's just the location you want it is actually somewhat reasonable. I thought so anyway. Besides, it gives you an excuse to head back for anniversaries.

 

[Demosthenes]

For what it is worth, my sister did a beautiful wedding and reception at Disney for about $10k in 2004. She only had about 30 people there, but she used the wedding pavilion, had a rehearsal dinner at Ohanas, a reception at a private room in the California Grill followed by a fantastic dinner at the CG for the wedding party. She also got photos inside the Magic Kingdom the morning after (at 5:00 AM...yuck) and during Wishes the night before. The price included limo transport for the guests and wedding party from the Wedding Pavilion to the Contemporary. She also got two "free" annual pass vouchers and some nice wedding gifts for the guests and wedding party (champagne glasses for the guests, bridesmaids got cinderella slippers with a pearl pendant necklace in them, groomsmen got Mickey cuff-links). All of her flowers were included. My dad officiated, so that saved her some money. She did have a trio play music at the wedding, but a DJ for the reception. I'm not saying it is cheap, but if my daughter wanted to do it, and I could give her a budget of $15k in today's dollars, I'd have no problem with her going to Disney for the wedding. I think the premium paid for my sister to get married at her dream location was worth it, and it would be worth it or my little girl too.

 

[kimbac3]

DD16 has been telling me she wants a Disney wedding too. I told her to have a nice smallish wedding here and I'll pay for her Disney honeymoon. She's starting to come around. She loves all things ornate and expensive - it's the Italian in her

Now I would LOVE to do a vow renewal in Disney. Maybe for our 25th ...that will be in 8 years....probably right around the time DD16 will want to get married OR - GASP - DD10--she'd be 18!!

Then there is DS13 - he'll be 21.............

Ok, I'm going to stop thinking about this

 

[wilde_oscar]

After re-listening to the last podcast, I decided to "play plan" a wedding for one of my daughters. . .$42,000! How 'bout I pay for her college and make sure she has a good enough job to pay for her own wedding?

for $42,000... I'll marry you any where you want, then perform my one man show that is a tribute to all things High School Musical titled, "Zack Effron shops for crushed chintz fabric to make drapes for his 4th floor walk up in Chelsea" twice.

 

[ead79]

I had a Disney wedding back in 2003, and it was much less than that. While "if you can dream it, they can do it" definitely is true, it also costs you. There are lots of ways to have a beautiful wedding that is much more in line with the average cost of a wedding nationwide (which used to be around $20,000).

We had our ceremony at the Wedding Pavilion, then had our pre-reception over on the Italy Isola for an Illuminations party, then had our reception in the American Adventure Rotunda. It really was a dream come true, and we figure that it cost around the same to have the Disney wedding with 78 people there as it would have to have a wedding at home with a ballroom reception for around 175 (we would've had to invite a bunch more people if it had been a local wedding). Plus, at home you don't get fireworks or a beautiful colonial rotunda for a reception!

So don't give up on the dreaming--it's possible to do it much less expensively!

 

[UrsulasShadow]

for $42,000... I'll marry you any where you want, then perform my one man show that is a tribute to all things High School Musical titled, "Zack Effron shops for crushed chintz fabric to make drapes for his 4th floor walk up in Chelsea" twice.

You're really talking up that show, Oskey. I hope your nearest and dearest (i.e., ME) get backstage passes for this event. (really, just the backstage ones...not interested in the actual onstage event)

 

[wilde_oscar]

it was that or summer stock in Central park, and the homeless are a tough audience to impress.

 

[mla1977]

A WDW wedding is cheaper than you think. One bride had hers for about $70 over the minimum. Just don't plan on inviting everyone and their cousin to it!

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

(really, just the backstage ones...not interested in the actual onstage event)

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

Another Disney bride sharing the same story - I was actually never planning a Disney wedding at all. I was writing my invite list for our hometown wedding while waiting for a dentist appt and was using a Disney bride pen I got from Disney (the pen is white and has a veil and bow). Anywhoo, the list was up to 250 people and I was stressing. My dentist saw my pen and said instead of having 250 people (most of them you have to invite because, well, just because) just have the wedding in Disney - it will cut your list dramatically. Sure enough, a Disney wedding is LOTS more expensive but because we are in Maryland and not exactly close to FL, we only had 48 total guests. So even though a Disney wedding was more expensive than a hometown wedding, when you have 48 guests instead of 250 guests, the price was a whole lot cheaper by having it in FL and it was a day we wouldn't have changed for the world. In fact, our 5 year anniversary was yesterday!