Getting Guests to Travel...

Gina Loves Disney

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Feb 7, 2007
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So how did you get everyone to travel if Disney was a destination wedding for you? How did you make sure the dates worked for everyone? Was anyone important to you unable to make the trip?
 
I stressed over this too.

When I first got engaged I thought about doing a destination wedding because I love Disney world and somebody I worked with had a destinatin wedding and had a blast. So I talked to a couple people about having a DW and they talked me out of it and the only place that I would want to go away and get married would be DW.

So I went and planned to have my wedding home in Jersey,booked everything the end of last year for my May 08 wedding.

I started thinking how much money we were going to spend for this wedding and it made me sick because we have to get a home too. So like 3 weeks ago I came across this board and saw how much cheaper a DFTW would be.SO istarted talking to my parents about this and they told me to go for it and then I was worried about what the rest of my family would think.

We just told everybody what we are doing and if they want to go then go,if you can't make it then don't go and I will not be upset.

My wedding is March 12 next year so I gave people plenty notice.Everybody that we have told so far can't wait and wants to go.We are having 50 people at the most,all of which will be family and a couple of our best friends who are in the BP.

The whole point of my story is that you can't worry about others as hard as it is.You have to do what makes the both of you happy. The people who care about you and mean a lot to you will be there.:goodvibes
 
We hemmed and hawed over this for quite a while before finally deciding on our date. My advice is to be considerate of your guests and their schedules/pockets but don't drive yourself nuts trying to please everyone.

There will always be someone who is unable to make it due to distance or expense. We looked at all the different possibilities of dates and tried to go with what looked best for the majority of our guests. We went with a Thursday in value season just before a school break and we let our guests know about it a year in advance so they all had time to plan and save.

We are using newsletters to communicate the information to all our guests and have collected their e-mail addresses so we can let them know about and discounts/good airfare deals/etc in a timely fashion.

So far we've had good responses to this.

HTH
 
i'm in the middle of this right now. DF and I currently live in the FL panhandle (he grew up here, I'm only going to school here)...I am from Tampa, FL, where we plan to move in a few months when i GRADUATE! :cool1: Most of DF's family is in the panhandle, and my immediate family is in Tampa...extended family is mostly up north.

Wherever we have a wedding, people are gonna have to travel, whether it's a 2 hour drive, or a plane trip from 1,000 miles away. But at least having a Disney wedding means that some people can turn it into a vacation if they want! Or, if they can't...most of our family lives in FL anyway so they can just come for a day or two and drive home.

Last week i sent some info to a bunch of our guests just letting them know about our plans for a disney wedding, along with some basic hotel info (save -the-dates have not gone out yet..the wedding is in december of this year). So far, the response has been mixed. I expected that many relatives from up north won't be able to make it, but i did hear back from some who seem very excited! You can't "make" people travel, but you can give them enough information so that they can make an informed decision.

We chose a December wedding (the 16th to be exact) because we love the decorations at that time of year, and since we both plan on working in the school system, it's close to our christmas break so we won't have to take as many days off. This might be the perfect time for some guests, but i know some people might already have plans, or be strapped for money due to the holidays (there will always be reasons why people can't come, no matter what time of year, IMO). You will never be able to cater to everyone's needs!

As for important people being unable to attend, both of my grandmothers won't be there...but this was expected regardless of the location because due to health reasons they're unable to travel and they live up north. Still, i feel sad knowing that none of my grandparents will be there :sad1:

Anyway, do what works best for you and DF, and those that mean the most to you. Everything else will fall into place!
 

Basically, we just made sure the people who mattered the most to us could make the date and anyone else who was interested was also invited to attend. DF's parents weren't too thrilled about a destination wedding (high cost, passport issues, not Disney fans :eek: ), so we chose a date they could attend and then put subtle but direct pressure on them to book the trip. It's not the nicest thing to do, but in the end I believe they'll appreciate the trip, all the work we've put into it (we seem to be managing more details than if we just planned a local wedding) and Disney's ability to host special events.

To soften the disappointment to the many people in our lives who can't make it, we do have a dinner reception back in town two weeks after we get back. It turns out that hosting two events means spending more money than if we'd just get married in town, but.................
 
We hemmed and hawed over this for quite a while before finally deciding on our date. My advice is to be considerate of your guests and their schedules/pockets but don't drive yourself nuts trying to please everyone.

There will always be someone who is unable to make it due to distance or expense. We looked at all the different possibilities of dates and tried to go with what looked best for the majority of our guests. We went with a Thursday in value season just before a school break and we let our guests know about it a year in advance so they all had time to plan and save.

We are using newsletters to communicate the information to all our guests and have collected their e-mail addresses so we can let them know about and discounts/good airfare deals/etc in a timely fashion.

So far we've had good responses to this.

HTH



We also have a wepage up now that guests can view to look over packages.My uncle is a disney travel agent and he put up a rough estimate of what everything will cost.

I sent the link to everybody through email and I also told them that they will get the save the dates 8 months before the wedding. I think a year in advance is plenty of time for people.
 
Basically, we just made sure the people who mattered the most to us could make the date and anyone else who was interested was also invited to attend. DF's parents weren't too thrilled about a destination wedding (high cost, passport issues, not Disney fans :eek: ), so we chose a date they could attend and then put subtle but direct pressure on them to book the trip. It's not the nicest thing to do, but in the end I believe they'll appreciate the trip, all the work we've put into it (we seem to be managing more details than if we just planned a local wedding) and Disney's ability to host special events.

To soften the disappointment to the many people in our lives who can't make it, we do have a dinner reception back in town two weeks after we get back. It turns out that hosting two events means spending more money than if we'd just get married in town, but.................


DF's parents are my problem as well. Well his dad just will go with the flow but his mom is terrible about it. She has TWO years notice and REFUSES to save any money for the trip and basically told us that on top of paying for the wedding she expects us to pay for her trip as well. It's so stressful considering everyone else is so excited. I know it's mean but I feel like she's trying to ruin everything for us just because she doesn't "feel like" making a minor sacrifice to come and enjoy herself (she's an overall miserable person)... IDK it's just hard. I feel like if we give in and pay for his parents we are being rude to other guests who are paying for themselves. Not to mention we really can not afford TWO vacations.
 
DF's parents are my problem as well. Well his dad just will go with the flow but his mom is terrible about it. She has TWO years notice and REFUSES to save any money for the trip and basically told us that on top of paying for the wedding she expects us to pay for her trip as well. It's so stressful considering everyone else is so excited. I know it's mean but I feel like she's trying to ruin everything for us just because she doesn't "feel like" making a minor sacrifice to come and enjoy herself (she's an overall miserable person)... IDK it's just hard. I feel like if we give in and pay for his parents we are being rude to other guests who are paying for themselves. Not to mention we really can not afford TWO vacations.

OH NO!! I do not see why you would have to pay for them to go. First of all its her son for crying out loud. I think she is being a little selfish.

There is no reason why she can't go to her sons wedding.


My mom would go if I was having it in Africa!I'm sorry but you have to make a sacrafice when it comes to your children.

You did your part and gave them plenty of notice.
 
OH NO!! I do not see why you would have to pay for them to go. First of all its her son for crying out loud. I think she is being a little selfish.

There is no reason why she can't go to her sons wedding.


My mom would go if I was having it in Africa!I'm sorry but you have to make a sacrafice when it comes to your children.

You did your part and gave them plenty of notice.


thanks! That what I keep saying. She's being unreasonable. ESPECIALLY, here's the best part, she doesn't need to get a hotel, or go to the parks if she doesn't want to. Her neice's live in Orlando and she and DFs dad are more than welcome to stay there FOR FREE!!!!!

She's got 2 years notice, on top of a year we've already been engaged and talking about this.


She actually said to DF the other day "why don't you just elope" :sad2:


IDK why but she seems determined to ruin this when everyone else is so excited!!
 
DF's parents are my problem as well. Well his dad just will go with the flow but his mom is terrible about it. She has TWO years notice and REFUSES to save any money for the trip and basically told us that on top of paying for the wedding she expects us to pay for her trip as well.

I feel your pain - I really, really do! DF's mom was the same way. When possible, I stayed clear of the rift and let DF handle that side of the family. All I can say is it started out pretty roughly, but over time she's softened up and has warmed up to the wedding a bit as details are being finalized.

I would say over 90% of our family and friends are excited about a Disney wedding. Those are the ones who see it as a dream event and a vacation at the same time. DF's mom is the 10% who see it as spending unnecessary money and a pain to travel so far.

We proceeded with our plans the way we wanted because it was our wedding. With or without full support, we forged ahead. (Fortunately, we knew most everyone else was on board). We were always planning and talking about the wedding with our family and friends, but I requested that we don't talk to DF's parents much about it unless they ask. I knew whatever we'd say, DF's mom would probably make us upset. We'd let them know just enough details so they knew we were marching ahead and had everyone else's support. At first it was for my own sanity, but then we saw a slow change in behaviour that we didn't expect.

When it came time to book airfare, DF's dad also booked a ticket for mom. We recommended booking a Value resort and listed all the reasons why guests should stay on site, but they went ahead and booked a cheaper hotel on I-Drive anyway. Regardless, once they did that they were set to travel.

Fast forward a few weeks later, DF and mom were chatting and actually had a regular conversation. She asked how our preparations were going and was genuinely interested in details. That was... unexpected. Mothers usually like to stick their noses in wedding preparations though and I think maybe she felt left out. I think it just took her some time (a) to get used to the idea of a destination wedding, (b) to get used to the costs involved and (c) to see us work so hard and (d) to hear positive reinforcements about what we're doing.

I'm sure to everyone she's met lately, she's probably blabbed about our evil intentions of flying to Disney to get married. Instead of expecting a "how dare they do that!" reaction, she's getting a bunch of "how exciting!" reactions. After hearing that over and over, it's validating that this is more than an okay way to get married. So actually, her acquaintances might be your allies.

So now I have future in laws who didn't want to travel, but has made travel arrangements to be there. They're only staying two nights and won't visit a theme park. DF's mom has previously said she will not buy us a wedding gift due to their travel costs that we imposed on them. However, they will be there and that's more than what they were commiting to do a month ago. Maybe after visiting Orlando their attitudes will improve some more.

In the meantime, I feel for you because I went through every excruciating emotion over DF's mom. I think it just takes time.
 
I'm just subscribing to this thread as I'm hoping to get married at WDW in the not so distant future, but can forsee problems with people travelling so far away!
 
We checked with our family and friends as to whether they would like to come, and stressed that there was no pressure and we would understand if they couldn't come.

In the end 3 people couldn't afford it - my DF's sister and brother in law and one of my friends.

My DF decided it was really important to him that his sister came - she genuinely could not afford to come - so we have paid for her and her husband's travel and accomodation. We just factored it in as a wedding cost and are trying not to think about it! If she wasn't genuinely broke we wouldn't have done it.

I think for everyone else, like we did with my friend, you just have to respect their choice and accept that you will still have a great wedding without them.

Good luck!

Miranda
 
Our date (well month) was picked by the good ol' US Navy....My older brother would be marrying us and his was the only schedule we went by...It didn’t matter to us when we got married and if I had to take into account every guest then we would still be trying to pick a day….

He was set to return from deployment in middle of April and then have a month before being re-assigned...We gave him a two week delay cushion that put us into May....so may 12th it was…lol

As for getting people to travel…don’t even try…if they want to be there they will be…you might be a bit sad at first about the people who wont bother to come…but after all it’s a day for you and your DH…just share it with each other
 
We checked with our family and friends as to whether they would like to come, and stressed that there was no pressure and we would understand if they couldn't come.

In the end 3 people couldn't afford it - my DF's sister and brother in law and one of my friends.

My DF decided it was really important to him that his sister came - she genuinely could not afford to come - so we have paid for her and her husband's travel and accomodation. We just factored it in as a wedding cost and are trying not to think about it! If she wasn't genuinely broke we wouldn't have done it.

I think for everyone else, like we did with my friend, you just have to respect their choice and accept that you will still have a great wedding without them.

Good luck!

Miranda

How far in advance did you ask everyone Miranda?
As I know you need a guest number when booking at the 12 month window.

And how many people came in total?

I need figures to help persuade my family when the time comes! :lmao:
 
Wow, does this sound familiar!! :sad2: When we first announced a Disney wedding, the only ones excited were my sister and DF's brother. My mom warmed up when we went on a pre-wedding trip to WDW (just my mom, sister, and I) and had a blast! Df's family has never been to Disney, but he has three young nephews, so they are sure to enjoy.
Anyway, we just kept stressing that this a vacation, family reunion, and wedding all in one. We are also paying for the wedding ourselves since our family has to pay for travel costs. We have given info about prices, hotels, tickets, budgeting, etc... and plenty of time for them to save. We picked around Thanksgiving since the kids won't have to miss too much school and our family won't have to take that much vk time. :woohoo:
I say just stick to your guns. At first I was bothered by everyone's reactions and even put the DFTW on hold to look at more options here in NY, but my heart wasn't in it. I also didn't want a huge wedding with a ton of people, but rather a week with my closest family. The prices are comparable too! I made it clear that we would have no hard feelings if they couldn't come and we are having a BBQ when we come back for everyone. Finally, we said that if it was that much of a hassel to come, let us know b/c we can only have 18 people, and we have lots of extended family and friends who would love to take their spots ;) It will all work out!
 
So how did you get everyone to travel if Disney was a destination wedding for you? How did you make sure the dates worked for everyone? Was anyone important to you unable to make the trip?


I wouldn't stress over it too much. My mom lives in Florida, about 2 hours from Disney, so she didn't really say to much when I brought up a Disney wedding. She told me to elope before because she didn't want to pay for a wedding here in Jersey. Now that I am bringing it all to her, she really can't say to much. His parents.....well we haven't mentioned it yet! They are older and LOVE to travel so it won't be an issue.

Like the other posters said, if they want to see you get married...they will be there no matter what. Plus you have given people 2 years notice! That's more than enough time. I think people hear Disney and automatically think it is expensive. You can totally stay at a value resort for less than $100 a night! I paid more than that for a hotel stay here in Jersey for a wedding I went to. And you can always shop around for air fare. Southwest has some really good deals- I've flown from Jersey to Tampa for $69 one way! Not too shabby! I wouldn't stress over DF's mom.....

Brandy
 
I know this board has been about everyone's families feelings about a DIsney wedding, but is anyone feeling any rejection from fellow coworkers? Let me explain, I work at a TV station with alot of snobby people who make really good money here, unfortunely I'm just starting out in my career and don't make that much. But my point is I've gotten alot of upturned noses when I mention a Disney Wedding. Some even try to talk me out of it!

Alot of my co-workers had big fancy weddings, but I really don't want to go that route and really want to do things a little different, plus my fiance & I are so siked for a Disney wedding. I'm gonna have the wedding I want to have, but has anyone felt this kind of push back from anyone other than family?

Just curious I guess
 
I've only told a few people in my office about it and have gotten mixed reactions. Some think it is the coolest idea ever and others are kinda like "why Disney" To make it worse, some of them have never been to Disney. To each his own, if I wanted a wedding in NJ where I live, I'd have it....since I don't, I'm not. I think whether it be family, friends, or co-workers someone is going to have something negative to say. I let them say it and go about my business. I didn't make comments about thier weddings so they should leave mine alone.
 
I agree, Have the wedding YOU want, not what everyone else wants - you'll be the one who will remember for the rest of you life and you'll be able to enjoy reliving every minute of it for the rest of you life!
 
I must admit that I was selfish in picking the date, and didn't really consider other people. (We picked our anniversary.) When thinking about it, it is a good time for our guests. Disney at Christmas, but still when the parks are really slow and cheaper. We are having the problem of having people commit to going. They haven't made up there mind because of school, work, money, etc.
I know that you all have been here before, and I am wondering how you planned for the food & beverage minimum. Did you give them the number of how many guests you invited, how many had definitly confirmed, or those you think and know were attending? Has anyone ran into the problem of paying for lets say 30 guests when actually 38 guests show up, or vice versa? I know they are rather strict on intimate wedding guests, but how are they with custom weddings? :confused3
 




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