Cancel MK photo shoot?

[Mommy Poppins]

I am seriously considering cancelling our MK photo shoot. When we renew our vows, we will have been married for 11 years and have 3 children. We have spent 3-4 of those years apart during different deployments for my DH. He has just returned from an 18 month deployment. That is why we are renewing our vows. He is almost at the point where he can retire from the National Guard and this was hopefully his last deployment.

However, renewing our vows is at the point where it is probably costing more than our original wedding, and we seated 200 people at our reception at the officer's club!

I'm just wondering if I am getting too carried away with the thought of having a "wedding" at Disney and spending money on things that we really don't need. After all, we are already married--as my father-in-law has pointed out.

Since we will be there during Grad Nights, there will be lighting scaffolding around the castle anyway. Disney has said that they can "fix" the photographs to make it appear perfect, but I am afraid that I will be disappointed in their efforts.

For those of you who didn't do the MK photo shoot, do you regret it? For those of you who "had to have it", why?

Thanks!

 

[RangerPooh]

Ultimately it depends on what you decide to do. Personally I would do it. How many oppertunities do you have to take formal pictures infront of the castle? We passed up on having in park pictures and regretted it. This is one that that we ahve decided to spend the extra money on when we have our VR.

 

[Janet2k]

For those of you who "had to have it", why?

As soon as I had booked my vow renewal (I was in the "intimate" category initially), I booked the MK portrait session. I wrote about it in my FTW VR Planning Session Trip Report here on the Dis. I just couldn't see going through with a Fairy Tale Weddings vow renewal without a photo of the castle. I have a very funny sense of humor and anyone who knows me knows that I am so not the Cinderella type (how I wish I were). The castle photos would be something fun to hand down through the generations, and so that is the route that I took.

As has already been pointed out, castle photos are a personal decision that only you can make. But your entire vow renewal is yours and yours alone. Ignore what the others are saying and follow your husband's and your hearts. You can’t go wrong if you follow your hearts.

And that is what I did as I planned my vow renewal (which soon turned into a “custom” one). Believe it or not, on the night of my insanely wild & crazy vow renewal, my parents & Aunt (all in their late 60's / early 70's) stated: "This was the most fun night of our lives. We didn't want the night to end because Disney was continually topping themselves at every bend in the road." I about died when they said it and would never have believed it if I hadn’t heard it with my own ears. And they were sincere when they said it (at 2 AM, no less). So, by my following my heart (and my husband's heart), I gave my family and friends a night to remember. I have no regrets about my vow renewal, not one. Okay, maybe one. The night had to end. Dang it, I hate when that happens.

No matter what you choose to do, I hope your vow renewal is wonderful. The main point is that you are recommitting yourself to your husband and he is recommitting himself to you. Everything else is just icing on the cake (but what fun that icing can be).

 

[Janet2k]

We passed up on having in park pictures and regretted it. This is one that that we ahve decided to spend the extra money on when we have our VR.

RangerPooh, I am sorry that you passed up the photos for your DL wedding and you regretted it. But happy that you will be taking them for your VR. Will that VR be in DL or WDW?

 

[dreams91]

Best thing I did for my wedding was those photos.

 

[sajetto]

Best thing I did for my wedding was those photos.

Did you do yours the day of or the day after? We are debating when to do ours. We have an intimate and are worried that we may be tired the next day. Also all other days are booked so we have to pick between the two days.

 

[TexasCourt]

Sajetto,
Even though my wedding is more than 1 year away (May 2007), I am already trying to get all my plans lined out in my mind. Like you, I am considering when to do the MK photo shoot. I have pretty much ruled out the day of my wedding for a few reasons. First, I just cannot get over the fact that I do not want my fiance to see me before the wedding. I know some people do not care about this, but it is just something I have set in my mind. Secondly, even if you do the 6am MK photo shoot, that means you will be getting your hair/makeup done sometime around 4:30 or 5am the day of your wedding. Now let's say your wedding is as early as 10am (personally, I am going to try to have my wedding early afternoonish), for me personally, the hair and makeup will already be starting to go....makeup fading, hair getting messed up, losing curl, etc.

That being said, our current option seems to be the day after the wedding...I am not too crazy about this idea either, but I do not want to wait 2 days after my wedding, I would rather get all the wedding pictures and stuff like that over with, so the honeymoon can begin, if that makes sense.

Sajetto, what are you leaning towards to?

 

[sajetto]

Sajetto, what are you leaning towards to?

Actually, we are already booked for the day after and still leaning toward it now. You made a good point, I really don't want my hair and make up to fade by the time the wedding rolls around. I think we'll just stick to the day after. I just hate having to pay the hair and make up fee twice!

Thanks for the advice, and I agree with you, I'd really prefer that my DF and I wait to see each other until the wedding. It will be so sweet to see his face when I come down the aisle

 

[hiwaygal]

Check with your EM's ladies...

I think I heard that you can schedule the MK photo shoot up to one year after your fairy tale wedding...

So...if you can't afford it for the wedding, maybe do it for your first anniversary (or any anniversary)...as long as its within one year.

Oh...and to answer the OP...I couldn't afford the MK photo shoot, so I didn't have it. I don't regret it at all (I rarely have regrets about stuff like this, I made a conscious choice). I had a most magical fairy tale wedding...one I will never forget...I didn't "need" the MK photos to make me feel any more special.

 

[TexasCourt]

Sajetto,
I know what you mean about those pesky fees....who are you using by the way (for hair/makeup)? Are they charging you the same for both days? What is this fee? I have such thick hair, so I am really concerned about getting a hairstylist....

 

[sajetto]

Sajetto,
I know what you mean about those pesky fees....who are you using by the way (for hair/makeup)? Are they charging you the same for both days? What is this fee? I have such thick hair, so I am really concerned about getting a hairstylist....

I haven't booked yet but I think I'm going to go with this one. One of my friends on the Unoffical Disney Boards who was a bride last year used her and looked fantastic!

Alison H. Atkins, owner
482 Breezeway Drive
Apopka, FL 32717
Tel: (407) 880-8874 (primary number to use after 7:00pm EST)


$90.00 hair and make-up (total service including a consultation prior to the wedding)
$55.00 hair only (set, comb, and style; blowdry, comb, and style)
$60.00 hair (up do's and high fashion styles such as French Twists, Gibson's, Braids, and fancy curls)
$35.00 make-up only
$22.50 flowergirls
$15.00 Groom's haircut (one day prior to the wedding date, time permitting, and by special request only)

 

[TexasCourt]

Wow, thanks. Those seem like very reasonable prices! I will definetely check into her! I am assuming she has no website?

 

[sajetto]

Wow, thanks. Those seem like very reasonable prices! I will definetely check into her! I am assuming she has no website?

That's one reason we like her, every little bit saved helps
Sorry, no website but she is a real sweetheart on the phone

 

[hfehr1s]

We are having an intimate wedding in December and I REALLY struggled with the MK photo shoot. I really wanted it but was really dissapointed to find out that they were only done in early morning-- so they would look like night pictures. But after seeing some of them on the boards, I still think they are beautiful. In addition to that -- I was really concerned with the cost, b/c that is alot of money that could be spent somewhere else either at disney or during my at home reception. In the end we decided to go for it. My wedding Date is 12/18/06 and I talked to Rosie yesterday to schedule the shoot and the 6:00 slot for the day after is already taken, so I have to take the 5:00 shoot. That was a definite bummer for me, but I hope it will be something I can treasure forever.

 

[RangerPooh]

RangerPooh, I am sorry that you passed up the photos for your DL wedding and you regretted it. But happy that you will be taking them for your VR. Will that VR be in DL or WDW?

We decided that this time it will be at WDW. We had been considering having it this year (it's 3 years or marriage but 5 years of togetherness) but we now have a baby on the way and are pushing it back at least a year as I wanted it to be a Christmas wedding.

 

[engagedatWDW]

I think the MK shoot would be nice, but we choose to spend our money elsewhere. We're going to take the $800 we'd spend on the photoshoot and put it towards a nice digital video camera to use for the whole week and beyond. There are some days where I'm torn, but I think ultimately we're making the smarter decision for us. My other concern was the fact that I was afraid they'd be in the process of taking down the 50th Anniversary decorations and photoshop or not, I'd be worried how they'd come out.

 

[JandJ]

Check with your EM's ladies...

Oh...and to answer the OP...I couldn't afford the MK photo shoot, so I didn't have it. I don't regret it at all (I rarely have regrets about stuff like this, I made a conscious choice). I had a most magical fairy tale wedding...one I will never forget...I didn't "need" the MK photos to make me feel any more special.

I completely agree! I didn't need it and didn't want it. I don't regret not doing it at all! The entire wedding was completely perfect We did talk about it, for about 5 minutes in the planning stages but we realized it was just not "us." Getting up at the crack of dawn, putting all the wedding attire on again, doing my hair again, and being shuttled for some pictures that I was paying a lot of money for would not have enhanced our wedding experience one single bit.

I think the pictures of those who have done it are great and this is a personal decision. You have to go with your gut on everything about your wedding, listen to what you really want and you can't go wrong

Best wishes and happy planning!

 

[Janis]

We did it and I wouldn't have missed it for the world! My husband originally wasn't too excited about the idea, but went along with it for me. But when it came time he was thrilled to be in the park with only the early morning workers, in places you normally are not allowed. He had the biggest grin on all of the pictures!

We did ours the day after our vow renewal. Even though we had been married for 27 years, I didn't let Ron see me before the ceremony, so we couldn't do it the day of. As for getting up early the next day, luckily I had short hair so Lisa told me I could sleep an extra half hour!!! We were back by 8:00 and so had the whole day ahead of us.

I know a lot of Disney brides plan to do renewals every five years, but I knew that this would be our "one and only" at Disney. So I knew that we would have to do the MK shoot.

 

[dreams91]

Did you do yours the day of or the day after? We are debating when to do ours. We have an intimate and are worried that we may be tired the next day. Also all other days are booked so we have to pick between the two days.

We did ours the day after. I was tired, but took a nap afterwards.

 

[dreams91]

We did it and I wouldn't have missed it for the world! My husband originally wasn't too excited about the idea, but went along with it for me. But when it came time he was thrilled to be in the park with only the early morning workers, in places you normally are not allowed. He had the biggest grin on all of the pictures!

Same with my husband. He was only going to do it because I wanted it. However, it was such an experience to go into the park when nobody was there (except the cleaning folks). My dress got filthy though from the park!