Having doubts about our Disney wedding ... desperately need advice please!

[Gemza]

Hi all,

I am in need of some (or lots) of help and advice! (apologies in advance for the long post!)

Basically, me and my DF have been planning an Escape wedding for May 2012, and as we are from the UK only both of our parents will be able to attend (and theyre not that thrilled tbh)

The thing is, I have got my heart set on a wedding at Disney (so much so that when I hear the Wishes soundtrack I get quite emotional as it reminds me of the wedding we will have) but the thing is we are not planning a Disney wedding because we love Disney… and even though we both enjoyed Disney World when we went during a trip to the USA last year, I am not a Disney fan as much as 99% of people on this board, and everyone else who gets married at Disney seems to be completely in love with all things Disney (I hope this is making sense)

In all honesty, the last thing I want is for it to be completely 'Disnified' e.g. I don’t want a princess-like dress or have characters in attendance… we just want a small low key wedding… but at the same time I wanted to be somewhere where there is lots to do, and I did think Disney world was a magical place when we last visited. So to me, Disney World would be a wonderful place to get married.

But my dilemma is…. I'm not sure if we are doing the right thing.. We are paying a premium to get married at Disney (and being from the UK the flights etc are reasonably expensive) and yet we aren't MASSIVE Disney fans and it won't have any extra Disney touches... So some people have said to me that it seems a bit pointless.

If anyone could offer their opinion on whether you think our reasons for getting married at Disney are justified… or whether in all honesty you think we should maybe look at other options…?

I am feeling totally lost and stressed out about the whole thing so need some help!! :-(

 

[jdb in AZ]

It wouldn't hurt to check into other locations and see if you'll feel better about a different type of destination wedding. It's o.k. to explore other options then make an informed decision about what will work best for you.

 

[DisneyDream88]

I agree with the post above mine, you should check into other destination places if you're wanting a low key small wedding. If only your parents are able to attend and their not going to be staying at the park for a couple days, it may not be the best option. Have you looked at Disneyland Paris? That seems closer to you if you're really thinking about Disney. You could also get married aboard the Disney Cruise Line which does have a lot of options for cruises. That might be a better option for your parents to be able to do a lot of things but not focus on Disney as much, the cruise weddings are also very small and cheap(er?) I think. I think most of the people on here are getting married at Disney not only because they love everything Disney, but they love the feeling that they get when they go to Disney. If you get emotional about the Wishes soundtrack, I think your heart is in the right place. As I said, I would check Disneyland Paris and the cruise line. Wherever you get married, you can also do a Disney honeymoon! hope this helps!

 

[laurafarr]

My DF and I were struggling with the same feelings. We love Disney and since having a destination wedding means your asking almost all of your guest to travel, we wanted the place to be somewhere we knew our guest could find things to do easily and enjoy themselves.
I also am not interested in characters at our wedding/reception and was a little worried that my wedding day would be a bit to "disney". I spoke with the wedding consultant about this and he immediately set me at ease.
My DF and I spoke with 3 different venues before coming back to our original decision to have our wedding at Disney. I've had no regrets so far in the planning process. Good luck to you!!

 

[qtsugarangl]

Hi all,

I am in need of some (or lots) of help and advice! (apologies in advance for the long post!)

Basically, me and my DF have been planning an Escape wedding for May 2012, and as we are from the UK only both of our parents will be able to attend (and theyre not that thrilled tbh)

The thing is, I have got my heart set on a wedding at Disney (so much so that when I hear the Wishes soundtrack I get quite emotional as it reminds me of the wedding we will have) but the thing is we are not planning a Disney wedding because we love Disney… and even though we both enjoyed Disney World when we went during a trip to the USA last year, I am not a Disney fan as much as 99% of people on this board, and everyone else who gets married at Disney seems to be completely in love with all things Disney (I hope this is making sense)

In all honesty, the last thing I want is for it to be completely 'Disnified' e.g. I don’t want a princess-like dress or have characters in attendance… we just want a small low key wedding… but at the same time I wanted to be somewhere where there is lots to do, and I did think Disney world was a magical place when we last visited. So to me, Disney World would be a wonderful place to get married.

But my dilemma is…. I'm not sure if we are doing the right thing.. We are paying a premium to get married at Disney (and being from the UK the flights etc are reasonably expensive) and yet we aren't MASSIVE Disney fans and it won't have any extra Disney touches... So some people have said to me that it seems a bit pointless.

If anyone could offer their opinion on whether you think our reasons for getting married at Disney are justified… or whether in all honesty you think we should maybe look at other options…?

I am feeling totally lost and stressed out about the whole thing so need some help!! :-(

We are having a DFTW I LOVE Disney but we are not having any Disney touches in our wedding, other then it being there. No characters or hidden mickeys, that's just my choice. I know there are quite a few other brides that chose the same thing.
Since only your parents are able to come I think the question should come down to whether the location is more important or having more friends/family is more important. You could also do an escape or memories package at Disney and an at home reception if you still really want Disney.
You can always look at other options just to make sure that you're getting married where you want. It never hurts to look at all your options that way no matter what you know you're choosing the best option for you two!
HTH

 

[leonix8238]

We had a similar issue in that friends and family would not be able to make it, in fact we had no guests at our wedding. However, we looked into other options in the UK and even started planning for a particular location but nothing felt quite right. Eventually it became obvious we both ad our heart set on a Disney wedding. That said I can't say anything was incredibly Disney at our wedding. I didn't have a big princess dress and we didn't have characters, the only thing Disney was our cake topper.

Cost wise it ended up cheaper for us to have a wedding at Disney and that included heading over there and accommodation.

Have a listen to my podcast on Inside Disney weddings for a bit more information, there are several other UK brides on there too. My podcast is number 32: http://disneytravelbabble.com/podcast/

If Disney really isn't what you want why not check out some of the other locations in Orlando? Cypress Grove is very popular as is Universal's Hard Rock Hotel. Failing that there's always Vegas. My sister married her husband at the Bellagio in Vegas and it was a heck of a lot cheaper than a Disney wedding.

I hope you and your husband to be figure out what YOU really want and you can start planning your big day.

 

[Chilly]

Most Disney weddings are not very Disneyfied but everyone does it coz they love Disney, you would certainly get more for your money elsewhere and probably something just as special.

What were you planning for your honeymoon?

Like someone else suggested i've just been to a Bellagio wedding in Vegas and it was lovely.

I poster above suggested DLRP but that is not an option.

 

[gemmybear83]

Hi I was a uk escape bride and I also did not want any in your face Disney touches like characters, princesses etc.

We had a simple garden wedding at he yacht club gazebo. We fell in love with the boardwalk area and we wanted to have the Disney service and a dessert party.

We did look offsite as well and there are some lovely venues, either way you will have a lovely time!

 

[Sarah84]

I sort of know how you feel, although I am a huge Disney fan.

Will explain my situation.
From the moment I got engaged (Sep 2009) I knew I wanted to get married at Disney and we set a date 30th April or 1st May 2012, I had been planning it and deciding what we want and we wanted the day to flow since then.
I knew a UK wedding wasn't for us, we didn't want that huge wedding with 150+ people and I couldn't think of anywhere else I'd rather get married.
Even though we we're planning on having a Disney wedding we werent going to have many disney touches mainly because my DF isn't a fan so no characters etc it was just a venue plus the chance to say I was a Disney bride and of course have the MK bridal shoot.

However it all started to go pear shape last month when I contacted Disney to get penciled in for our Escape wedding, we wanted to add a private reception and I had my heart set on either of 2 rooms to be told I couldnt use either, i only liked 1 room that was a choice for Escape brides and found out that was booked for the whole week we wanted to get married. So that was the start of the disapointment and I began to question do I want to plan a wedding where we'll be unsure if we'll like our reception room, then I started to feel like I wasn't an important bride because I was only having an Escape wedding and spending around $8500, this is not the 'magic of Disney' I was expecting during the exciting time of being engaged and waiting till I could finally contact them and on top of all that I realised the only reason I wanted a Disney wedding was to have that MK shoot and with all them being cancelled at the moment I started to worry what would happen if mine got cancelled and the answer was 'I'd be gutted and regret spending the extra $$$ to have a Disney wedding rather than just a Florida wedding'

I started to look at other venues and came across Cypress Grove, it looks really pretty and the price differance is shocking.

If its the Florida wedding you want rather than Disney, which considering you aren't a huge Disney fan I'd say that is the case then I'd look at other options in Florida. Theres a lovely lady called Carrie who runs a buisness called Destination Occasion, shes a wedding planner and has helped many UK brides plan their special day and we are now using her ourselves.

Just to give you an idea we are now having the wedding at Cypress grove, private reception, Wishes cruise on Grand 1 and extending our photographer from the 4hours we originally planned to 8 hours and still saving around $4000 than what we were plannng on spending on a Disney Escape wedding

 

[tinkerbell 766]

As everybody seems to have said already, you need to really search your heart and see what you want. Most Disney locations can be so non-Disney that anybody looking at the photos would not even suspect that the wedding was at WDW (if there were no characters, coach etc). I admit to being the biggest Disney fan, but wanted my recent VR (at the Swan) to be elegant and although I had Disney touches, they were subtle.
I agree that a big plus with WDW is that there is a lot to do there and you can have a great holiday in to the bargain!!! It is also, without doubt the most magical place on earth!!
Good luck with your decision!!!
Oh and I agree with Claire - Disneyland Paris is not an option as they simply do not do weddings!!!

 

[tinkspark]

We had a small low key wedding at the Polynesian. My husband did not want a disneyfied wedding at all.

We have no regrets. It was the best decision we ever made!

Disney made it the most wonderful day we could possibly have with the least amount of stress in planning a wedding. It was completely worth everything we paid for it!

 

[transfergirl]

I thought I was the only one having a non-Disney Disney wedding (reception). I chose WDW for several reasons:

-It's familiar territory
-Our families are spread across the U.S.
-I know from a Disney wedding I attended that the quality would be spectacular
-I'm lazy and I don't want to shop around for vendors
-Since it's a destination, the obligatory invited parents' neighbors, etc., are less likely to attend (i.e., minimize the guest list riff-raff)
-Hopefully everyone in attendance will take the time to enjoy the area, as opposed to "wedding-ing" and flying back home immediately.

Maybe your parents need to see your wedding as opportunity to see the U.S... They could travel after the nuptials.

 

[sambycat]

i'm wondering why you have your heart set on a DFTW? just curious - now i totally understand all the cool things about it and totally agree with all the other posters that you can have an eventwith as much or as little "disney" as you'd like!
i'm wondering why, because it sounds like you are unsure (duh), and, as others have already said, you have to think about what it is you want.

ok, so "wishes" makes you cry! there must be something else that you are crazy about at WDW or why on earth would you want to haul everyone over! is it florida? is it a weather thing? certain location? i'm sure it may be all of these or something you can't express, just "know" and that is all ok - just that from your short post, it seems maybe like you somehow were trying to talk yourself into one?

there are lots of other florida locations, so thats one thing, and area locations that are less spendy. and if your parents really aren't super excited, what about having a wdw honeymoon for the two of you? mst likely that could all be done at the very least on the same budget as getting everyone out here?

anyways, there is so much self doubt and over thinking and rethinking in the engagement period! i know i don't miss that part of it!! hang in there, i am sure the two of you and your families can arrive at something meaningful! good luck!

 

[NatsyNoo]

Why don't you look at other places in Florida?! We were planning a DFTW but when we were looking decided that other venues offer more bang for their buck, so have opted for a far cheaper (and equally as nice) ceremony at Cypress Grove. We are still having our reception in WDW and lots of photos there also but we aren't paying the premium and benefit from all the things to do which you seem to want.

 

[DisneyBride1207]

I thought I was the only one having a non-Disney Disney wedding (reception). I chose WDW for several reasons:

-It's familiar territory
-Our families are spread across the U.S.
-I know from a Disney wedding I attended that the quality would be spectacular
-I'm lazy and I don't want to shop around for vendors
-Since it's a destination, the obligatory invited parents' neighbors, etc., are less likely to attend (i.e., minimize the guest list riff-raff)
-Hopefully everyone in attendance will take the time to enjoy the area, as opposed to "wedding-ing" and flying back home immediately.

Maybe your parents need to see your wedding as opportunity to see the U.S... They could travel after the nuptials.

well said! that's why we chose it!

 

[epcot.girl]

I thought I was the only one having a non-Disney Disney wedding (reception). I chose WDW for several reasons:

-It's familiar territory
-Our families are spread across the U.S.
-I know from a Disney wedding I attended that the quality would be spectacular
-I'm lazy and I don't want to shop around for vendors
-Since it's a destination, the obligatory invited parents' neighbors, etc., are less likely to attend (i.e., minimize the guest list riff-raff)
-Hopefully everyone in attendance will take the time to enjoy the area, as opposed to "wedding-ing" and flying back home immediately.

Very similar to our reasoning. Ironically, because of the fact that we are avoiding a huge wedding (that we would feel somewhat obligated to have if we were having a more local ceremony) we're probably spending less - and that includes flights, accommodation, tickets and honeymoon!