Commitment Ceremony-Wedding?

[joanjett1976]

Hi everyone-

I am lucky enough to live in a place where same sex marriage is legal. We are looking to do something following that at WDW.

Where could I find information pertaining to this? Something small to celebrate, not the Fairy Tale wedding program.

many thanks!

 

[hematite153]

Can't give you ideas about WDW, but, congratulations on your upcoming wedding.

 

[rpmdfw]

Hi everyone-

I am lucky enough to live in a place where same sex marriage is legal. We are looking to do something following that at WDW.

Where could I find information pertaining to this? Something small to celebrate, not the Fairy Tale wedding program.

many thanks!

First off, Congratulations!

There are TONS of things you can do to celebrate.

You can book a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant. You can order a custom celebration cake for that dinner, if you like.

You can book a fireworks cruise on Bay Lake or Epcot's World Showcase Lagoon and enjoy the fireworks with a bit of privacy, and perhaps some champagne and strawberries . . . .

You can take a romantic carriage ride at Fort Wilderness Campground.

If you're looking for more lively celebrations, wear Minnie Mouse Bride Ears, "Just Married" buttons, and head over to the Hoop Dee Doo Revue! They'll make a big deal over you and it'll be lots of fun.

What kind of thing were you thinking about? Maybe if you gave us a basic idea of what you want, we could come up with more ideas.

 

[cmpdw4me]

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOOO happy for you both. My partner & I are doing the same.

I'd be happy to email our ideas!

PM me

 

[rpmdfw]

I'd be happy to email our ideas!

PM me

Why not post them here?

That way they might be helpful to other people who have similar questions.

 

[wallyb]

You can book a nice dinner at a fany restaurant. 2

What do they serve there ...
Rump roast?
Pork butt?
Burnt ends?

 

[joanjett1976]

Hi Everybody!

Great romantic ideas, rpmdfw!!!

In terms of doing an actual commitment ceremony on WDW property, what are the rules? I am a bit confused as to the legality of things.

In Canada, we would be looking at just driving on up to City Hall and signing some papers. By Florida laws, what can be done?

 

[hematite153]

In Canada, we would be looking at just driving on up to City Hall and signing some papers. By Florida laws, what can be done?

Lots of other options in Canada too....

There are some options that allow you to get legally married under Canadian law when outside Canada. You need to have an authorized Canadian officiant, you and the officiant need to fill out paperwork in Canada within a fairly narrow time window relative to the actual ceremony and legal paper signing abroad. It's been about a decade since I last had friends doing this, so, my memory is sketchy. But, if you wanted to get legally married while in FL and get around their stupid laws that say you can't, I know that there is a convoluted way of doing it. (I think that this option is also only available if both parties are Canadian citizens.)

 

[joanjett1976]

Lots of other options in Canada too....

There are some options that allow you to get legally married under Canadian law when outside Canada. You need to have an authorized Canadian officiant, you and the officiant need to fill out paperwork in Canada within a fairly narrow time window relative to the actual ceremony and legal paper signing abroad. It's been about a decade since I last had friends doing this, so, my memory is sketchy. But, if you wanted to get legally married while in FL and get around their stupid laws that say you can't, I know that there is a convoluted way of doing it. (I think that this option is also only available if both parties are Canadian citizens.)

Hmmmm. Very interesting. But we would need to have a Canadian officiant in Orlando, correct?

 

[rpmdfw]

In terms of doing an actual commitment ceremony on WDW property, what are the rules? I am a bit confused as to the legality of things.

In terms of doing an actual commitment ceremony on WDW property the rules are very specific. It has to be done through Disney Fairy Tale Weddings. If you are caught trying to do a ceremony on property without going through Disney, you will be escorted off Disney property and banned from WDW for a period of time (there are varying reports of this being "a year" to "for life") Either way, it's gonna put a damper on your celebration day. They've spent a lot of time and resources developing a product, and they enforce this rule at every opportunity.

Disney is VERY protective of their interests in this matter. The only "loophole" would be to go through the wedding planning services at the Swan and Dolphin, which are on Disney property, but have their own wedding/commitment ceremony offerings.

Alternatively, since you're not talking about an official wedding in Florida, if you want to to have a friend say a few words in a hotel suite with a couple of witnesses, who would be the wiser? Then go out and celebrate at a restaurant and order a cake and some champagne. Just understand that even this is frowned upon by Disney. That's probably the only thing you could do on the sly.

Honestly, I wouldn't bother with any of that. If I were in your shoes, I'd get married legally at home and enjoy the honeymoon at WDW. There's nothing stopping you from exchanging rings at the Wishing Well near Cinderella's castle while your there. Or anywhere else that you want to, for that matter. Just don't make a big deal about it.

Hope this info helps!

 

[hematite153]

Hmmmm. Very interesting. But we would need to have a Canadian officiant in Orlando, correct?

Yes. And, I think you have to all register presence together at a Canadian government office of some form less than 24 hours before the service and register your intent with Canadian customs on your way out of the country.

My memory is that it's quite complicated, but, that it is possible.

The catch that I would worry about is whether you have to register your intent to marry to US customs as you are crossing into the US. They have started being really nasty lately. There is a US Federal law that says if a US citizen is married abroad to a citizen of another country then the US must accept that marriage as legal regardless of whether it would be legal in the US. I am a US citizen. I am married to a Canadian citizen--legally in Canada. In EVERY court case where it has been tested this federal statue has stood up as having a higher authority than the stupid discriminatory state laws that have been passed in recent years. Yet, the last time I crossed into the US the customs agent was quite nasty about saying "well, states get to decide that, but, we're federal and it's not legal" Ummn...no, it's a federal statute that you HAVE to accept my marriage as legal. Urgh!!!! (My DW gets frustrated when I try to educate the customs agents.)

 

[joanjett1976]

In terms of doing an actual commitment ceremony on WDW property the rules are very specific. It has to be done through Disney Fairy Tale Weddings. If you are caught trying to do a ceremony on property without going through Disney, you will be escorted off Disney property and banned from WDW for a period of time (there are varying reports of this being "a year" to "for life") Either way, it's gonna put a damper on your celebration day. They've spent a lot of time and resources developing a product, and they enforce this rule at every opportunity.

Well you have just scared the living bejeezus outta me!!!!! Banned from WDW???

Thanks for the advice. We were trying to make the actual 'official' commitment in a venue outside of our home town but do not want to have it turn into some Bonnie & Clyde type affair as it seems to be the case at WDW. I would prefer tpo see the civil ceremony as the paperwork, and a quick exchange of words in front of TOT as the actual thing. Call me crazy, but we are both film geeks and a nighttime stroll on the TOT grounds is as good as it gets for me!

rpmdfw, I will absolutely check out your Fairy Tale Wedding thread! Looks delightful.

 

[rpmdfw]

Well you have just scared the living bejeezus outta me!!!!! Banned from WDW???

Thanks for the advice. We were trying to make the actual 'official' commitment in a venue outside of our home town but do not want to have it turn into some Bonnie & Clyde type affair as it seems to be the case at WDW. I would prefer tpo see the civil ceremony as the paperwork, and a quick exchange of words in front of TOT as the actual thing. Call me crazy, but we are both film geeks and a nighttime stroll on the TOT grounds is as good as it gets for me!

rpmdfw, I will absolutely check out your Fairy Tale Wedding thread! Looks delightful.

Like I said, there's nothing to stop you from taking a nighttime stroll on TOT grounds, taking a moment to say "I love you, and I'm committing my life to you" while you exchange rings. It's simple, it's beautiful and it means something to you. Heck, people get engaged in the parks that way all the time. So why not make that your "moment"?

I say go for it!

 

[Peepster]

It's so wonderful that you can legallly marry! Congrats and we're so happy for you!

We can't legally marry in our state but we did finally get to register this year as Domestic Partners which coincided with our 20th anniversary. We celebrated that by having a church service to bless our relationship, thank our friends and families for their support and then threw a doozy of a party followed by a wonderful trip to the World.

While at WDW we celebrated by treating ourselves to the Chef's Table at Victoria & Albert's and then booked a private Magic Kingdom fireworks cruise where it was easy to have a few moments of private time for saying the things we needed to.

We wish you much happiness.

 

[joanjett1976]

Peepster - that sounds absolutely delightful!

 

[cmpdw4me]

Why not post them here?

That way they might be helpful to other people who have similar questions.

I didn't want to give too much info away, about us. Last time, well, we all remember that.

We are doing a wedding cake at Ohana's one night. We're NOT having wedding cake at our ceremony. So this will be VERY special, as my family will be there to share with us. You can call the bakery at the Poly or whatever deluxe resort your eating at, and they will personalize a cake for you. We're getting a 10' round (big enough for 7 of us) with Hibiscus flowers on it. Cost is VERY reasonable, $60.

We will also go watch the fireworks on the beach at Poly. This is especially romantic, as last year, I proposed on that very beach.

I also made sure on EVERY ressie we made, I told them we ARE celebrating our recent nuptuals. I want them to make a big fuss over us And we're asking for our JUST MARRIED pins at the resort.

I'm also giving my Beloved her wedding gift, right before our wedding cake. It's the little things...

 

[hematite153]

peepster -- congratulations on 20 years!

I didn't want to give too much info away, about us. Last time, well, we all remember that.

I don't...sorry. If you're willing to clue me in, pm me. Otherwise, I'll just say I'm sorry you've had a previous bad experience and wish you luck for the future.