Getting the family on board for a Disney Wedding!

[popstar7867]

Hi Everyone,

Well I'm not engaged yet, but my boyfriend and I have been together for over 5 years and we are talking about getting married in the next year and a half. I'm thinking the proposal is on the way! lol Anyway, I'm falling in love with this part of the dis and am now determined to have a Disney Wedding. I'm from Massachusetts so I can't expect my whole family (my mom is one of 5, and my DBF's dad is one of 7 and his mom is one of 4) to go to Disney for my wedding. We would probably have about 200 people in attendance when we do get married because both of our families are huge!

Anyway, I was looking up some info and decided an Escape wedding ceremony might be a good idea and to only invite immediate family, then have a big reception back home. Has anyone else done this before?

I'm trying to get the parents and family on board. My DBF and I own DVC and it's the only thing that we own together so Disney is really special for us. We consider it "our" place...almost our exclusive get away from family, work, etc. We both still live at home right now (my mom is very old fashioned when it comes to living with your bf) and Disney is the only place where it's just us....

Ok I'm rambling...!
Anyone else have trouble getting the family on board? And did anyone else do a ceremony in Disney, followed by a honeymoon, and then go back home for a reception? And if so how did everything work out?

 

[jheigl]

I'm sorry, I don't have anything important to add to this thread except that we just got engaged too and we are also in the same boat as you. We are in NY and have fairly medium-large size families and we want to get married in WDW, reception at home, etc. Our situations are so similar that it's like I posted this thread! Thanks for doing it for me!

 

[popstar7867]

I'm sorry, I don't have anything important to add to this thread except that we just got engaged too and we are also in the same boat as you. We are in NY and have fairly medium-large size families and we want to get married in WDW, reception at home, etc. Our situations are so similar that it's like I posted this thread! Thanks for doing it for me!

No Problem!!! Hopefully we get some feedback

 

[PrincessBride07]

(my mom is one of 5, and my DBF's dad is one of 7 and his mom is one of 4)

Sounds familiar only difference is my dad is the one in 5 and not my mom.

We did have a Wishes wedding, but we still said immediate family with a few close friends only. My parents know my obsession for Disney, so it wasn't a surprise to them. They were pretty prepared for a Disney wedding even before we got officially engaged.
His parents were a little more hesitant. They knew that this is what we wanted, so they went along. In the end everyone had a great time.

Our families are scattered in several states. We really couldn't do a big at home reception. There have been couples on here that have done that.
My mom gave us a "meet the newlywed" party. It was an informal get together at her house with sandwich trays and cake. It was a lot of fun, and a very relaxed.

 

[disneygal922]

i think alot of us have had this issue at one time or another. i know my family, (dad, sisters and their families) are all 100% on board with the Disney Wedding! DF's family I'm still not sure about. They tell us to do whatever we want but I'm not convinced they are happy with it. DF is the first in his generation to get married and they were expecting a huge grandeur event. They kept saying no one would come to Disney and it was a mistake and it's too expensive. But we are doing what we want, a disney wedding, and having a big at-home reception for all our family and friends! We are inviting around 60 to Disney but my sister said will probably get around 35ish.

 

[lpizzuro123]

When we told my dad he was surprised (my mom passed away a few years ago) but he has traveled to Disney with us before and we took him with us to our site visit and it definately made him come around and realize what it would be like. I think if you show them it will be a real wedding and all the wonderful things down there they will be more understanding.

Linda

 

[lurkyloo]

My family is scattered across the country and small, but DH's is HUGE and almost all in California. Like PrincessBride07, we invited immediate family, the grandmas and a couple of aunts/uncles, plus a few close friends. I think the rest of our families were relieved not to have to travel all the way to Florida.

Then DH's parents threw a casual open house/reception at their house 2 months later and anyone who wanted to could come. It was really fun!

I'd say that the majority of people who have destination weddings do this - some of them even have full-blown at-home receptions with the dress and cake and dancing. It's becoming very common.

 

[popstar7867]

My family is def more open to the idea of a disney wedding, but my DBF's family have never been and can't really understand why we even like vacationing there...I want to be able to do what we want...but also want to make it easy for the families...Why can't i live closer to florida?!?! lol

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

i too have been with bf for over 5 years and after seeing Lynne's wedding I to now am demanding a disney wedding! lol

since we have a small family i don't want to feel pressured into inviting people to make it look bigger so disney is a perfect excuse! bf's family have never been to disney so i am desperate to ask them whether they would enjoy coming! but to be honest if they don't want to make the trip then i am quite happy for it to be just me and bf!