Church wedding and Reception at Disney?

[lstephen]

My fiance and I are both Catholic, (and Catholic Ceremonies can't be performed at Disney World), so we are thinking about getting married at the church we used to belong to in Ft. Lauderdale, and then arranging for a limo bus to take everyone to Disney for a reception (we are having only about 20 guests). Its a 3 hour drive.
Do you think this is possible? I am wondering about logistics -
tux rentals - do we rent in Ft. Lauderdale and how do we return them if we are going right to Disney
Photographer - Do we need 2? One for the ceremony and one for the reception?
etc.
This sounds like a big pain but I am hoping we can make it work because we really really want to celebrate at Disney World, but we also want to get married in the Catholic Church.
Has anyone done something like this before? Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[Darian-Dawn]

Hang in there sweetie, It can be done!!! I would suggest rentng the suits from Ft. lauderdale and ask about a two day rate just in case. I am sure one of your family members could bring them back since not everyone will be spending the night in FTL. As for the photographer, hire one. It is not a rare occurence that the wedding and reception are in two different locations. He may charge you extra for the three hour drive, but you have to expect that. Look around for the best prices and then make your decision. What you could do also is find a Catholic Church in Orlando and do everything there. Whatever you decide will work out fine, I'm sure. Don't stress!! Your a beautiful bride to be!!!

 

[Merandab4]

Just another suggestion on the tux rental, If you are staying at Disney for the honeymoon and don't want to give the resposibility of returning the tux to anyone else, you can opt for what is called a "cruise Package". With this the groom gets 2 pairs of pant, two coats, a bowtie or vest, and a white shirt. With a cruise package the rental is for two weeks. The price is pretty reasonable two. Since we live out of state and will be having a Disney wedding, this is what we are going to do.

I think having a Disney reception after you church wedding is a lovely idea! I would just make sure that it is early enough in the day so your guest feel that the 3 hour ride was worth it. Renting a limo bus is a wonderful gesture. You may be able to hire a Disney photographer for the reception, or just fore go the photographer all together and have friends take photos for you.

Good luck to you!

 

[FranP]

DD28 married here in NJ on a Fri nite in church with a reception following for all of the family. Flew to Orlando on Sunday with 32 people (bridal party, spouses/sig. others, parents, flower girls/ring bearer (& their parents). Had a beautiful ceremony in Wedding Pavillion (which was supposed to be like a vow renewal, but with the help of the officient was really just like a cool wedding ceremony), with reception following at the California Grill.

Groomsmen rented tuxes in New Jersey (with TWO shirts) and carried them to Orlando. This was not expensive at all (I'm not sure if it was at while an earlier poster called "Cruise Rate" or not). When we returned to NJ, the tux shop picked up all of the tuxes at one time - no worries.

DD just had to bring a copy of the marriage license from NJ (and maybe the certificate from church, not sure), to show to the wedding planner in Disney. Otherwise, no special requirements and no worries at all!!!!


Good luck!!!!!!!

 

[lstephen]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts...
I am planning for a late April 2005 wedding.
So far I am just figuring out how to do this as easily as possible, and without inconveniencing our guests so that when I pass on the big news about our plans I can have some idea of what to tell everyone!
We are already having a civil ceremony here in Canada (for immigration reasons, fiance isn't Canadian we want to get that started ASAP) so we don't want to then have the Catholic wedding next year and then another ceremony at Disney (thats 3 ceremonies!)
Heres what I plan so far:

Have wedding at our Catholic church near Ft. Lauderdale
Have transportation for guests to Disney World, hopefully in a limo bus or some kind of vehicle where we are entertained (for ex. bar, movie, music etc) There will be around 15-20 people. Try to include some kind of snacks/lunch during the drive.
Arrive at Disney, check into hotels
Have transportation to reception (at living seas? or napa/sonoma at California Grill?), then Illuminations dessert party.
We'll be visiting the parks for the next couple of days afterward.

We may try to find a tux place in FT. Lauderdale that has another location is Orlando, so maybe we can return the tuxes in Orlando.
We might end up having 2 photographers, one for the ceremony and one at Disney. It would probably cost a furtune for a photographer to follow along for the trip to DW.


I just hope that my guests see some value in travelling to Orlando for a Disney Reception rather than just have it in Ft. Lauderdale (because we do!

Does anyone know if it is more expensive to fly into one airport and leave from another? Some guests may have to do that (fly to Ft. Lauderdale for the ceremony, then return home from Orlando)

Again, Thanks for your input!