Help! Lots of questions! (LONG message!)

[turnerx6]

Hello everyone!

My dh and I are planning a vow renewal and we have soooooo many questions! Please feel free to share your tips and opinions because we are pretty much spinning around in confusion at this point!!

*Warning!
This might be LONG and it might be ALL OVER THE PLACE*

We are pretty sure we are doing the Escape package (is that the right name?) because I have my heart set on the Wedding Pavilion. It will only be the two of us (long, LONG story that I hope to share on here eventually - when I have a bit more time). And we are hoping to do this in April 2012 - 8 years after we first said "I do"!!

Now for the questions!

1) Where do you plan on staying during your wedding/vow renewal..and why?

2) Do you plan on getting a photographer, if so..who?

3) What time of day do you want the ceremony and why?

4) Is there going to be a photographer there while you are getting ready or only at the ceremony?

5) If it's just the two of us, and we happen to stay at the grand floridian - where will the limo take us?

6) Am I supposed to get my hair done at the resort or exactly how does that work?

7) 7+ years ago we took my huge, huge Cinderella type dress on the plane to our destination wedding...They stored it in a closet at the front of the plane. I plan on having something easier to haul around this time - but are dresses still allowed on planes with all the security issues?!?

8) How long do you plan on wearing your dress that day? For example; if you get married in the morning - do you plan on wearing it any more that day? Any ideas on restaurants it would be okay to wear the dress at?

9) How does the music stuff work? Do you have to use Disney songs? What happens if you wanted a song - WITH words during part of the ceremony? Is that an option or does it have to be only instrumental?

****************************

Okay..these next questions are for anyone who will be going to Disney for a very SMALL/INTIMATE wedding/vow renewal. Please tell me we aren't the only couple going 'alone'???

1) Do you feel that the wedding pavilion will be too big since it will only be the two of you?

2) What do you plan on doing after the ceremony? Do you plan on going out to eat together - just the two of you? If so, where will you go?

3) Will it be strange for us to be cutting the cake, having a 'first dance', etc without a group of on lookers?

****

Okay! I think that's "it" for now!?! Again, sorry for all of the questions!! We really don't know how all of this works since it will only be the two of us!

Thanks in advance for your tips and advice!!!! We look so forward to hearing back from everyone!

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

Hello everyone!

My dh and I are planning a vow renewal and we have soooooo many questions! Please feel free to share your tips and opinions because we are pretty much spinning around in confusion at this point!!

*Warning!
This might be LONG and it might be ALL OVER THE PLACE*

We are pretty sure we are doing the Escape package (is that the right name?) because I have my heart set on the Wedding Pavilion. It will only be the two of us (long, LONG story that I hope to share on here eventually - when I have a bit more time). And we are hoping to do this in April 2012 - 8 years after we first said "I do"!!

Now for the questions!

1) Where do you plan on staying during your wedding/vow renewal..and why?
You can stay wherever you want for your wedding/vpw renewal. Find the place that best suits your personality and budget, and stay there
2) Do you plan on getting a photographer, if so..who?
It seems fairly common for people to get a secondary photographer. (Assuming you're going to WDW and not DL) Randy Chapman and David and Vicki Arndt seem to be the most popular outside photographers used by people on the boards

3) What time of day do you want the ceremony and why?
I would choose the time that best fits your schedule. April is before it gets suffocatingly hot, but it can still get pretty warm, so earlier in the day might be preferrable. Although, if you're planning to use WP it'll all be indoors anyhow


4) Is there going to be a photographer there while you are getting ready or only at the ceremony?
Someone can correct me if i'm wrong, but I believe it's only at the ceremony (unless you hire a secondary photographer)

5) If it's just the two of us, and we happen to stay at the grand floridian - where will the limo take us?
The answer to that is "wherever you want" There are plenty of couples that use the limo for transportation outside the wedding day itself. Why not use it to cruise up to DTD in style for a special dinner?

6) Am I supposed to get my hair done at the resort or exactly how does that work?
It is your responsibility to book your own hair/makeup. Beaute Speciale seems to be one of the most common people used. They (or presumably anyone you book) will come to your room about 3 hours before your ceremony (yes, even if they have to be there at 5 for an 8am ceremony) to do your hair and makeup

7) 7+ years ago we took my huge, huge Cinderella type dress on the plane to our destination wedding...They stored it in a closet at the front of the plane. I plan on having something easier to haul around this time - but are dresses still allowed on planes with all the security issues?!?
Wedding dresses have to be in checked baggage on planes, but another alternative you might want to look into is having your dress shipped to your hoel. Many brides swear by this technique

8) How long do you plan on wearing your dress that day? For example; if you get married in the morning - do you plan on wearing it any more that day? Any ideas on restaurants it would be okay to wear the dress at?
You are not allowed to wear your dress inside the parks at all, but I'm reasonably certain you can go to restaurants outside the parks in their dress. I would call the restaurant you would like to go to individually and ask about their policies.

9) How does the music stuff work? Do you have to use Disney songs? What happens if you wanted a song - WITH words during part of the ceremony? Is that an option or does it have to be only instrumental?

Disney provides a list of recommended songs. I believe that (for a fee) they will learn a song for you, and although I've never heard of it being done, I would be willing to bet that they will also provide a vocalist for a fee

****************************

Okay..these next questions are for anyone who will be going to Disney for a very SMALL/INTIMATE wedding/vow renewal. Please tell me we aren't the only couple going 'alone'???

1) Do you feel that the wedding pavilion will be too big since it will only be the two of you?
There was recently a bride who decided to have a WISHES wedding in the WP for just the two of them. Your renewal is about you and your husband. Don't worry about what everyone else thinks. I'm sure this will be perfect for you.
2) What do you plan on doing after the ceremony? Do you plan on going out to eat together - just the two of you? If so, where will you go?
There are tons of things you could do! Lunch or dinner is a good one, but if it were me, I would try and schedule a Wishes Fireworks cruise for just the two of you! How Romantic!

3) Will it be strange for us to be cutting the cake, having a 'first dance', etc without a group of on lookers?
Nope, I think it's kind of awesome actually. If I were having a renewal, I think I would prefer it this way.
****

Okay! I think that's "it" for now!?! Again, sorry for all of the questions!! We really don't know how all of this works since it will only be the two of us!

Thanks in advance for your tips and advice!!!! We look so forward to hearing back from everyone!

Responses above in blue. One additional thing I would reccommend is buying or downloading Carrie's (lurkyloo on the boards) passporters guide to Disney weddings. It will soon become your wedding bible.

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Hi, welcome and congratulations!!!

We recently did a Vow Renewal and it was the best day of our lives!! Our original wedding wasn't everything we dreamed of, so we had the 'wedding' we wanted this time around!!

My VR was at the Swan but most of the answers will apply equally to your venues too!!

1 We stayed at Bay Lake Tower, probably because we own DVC and it is one of our home resorts!

2 We hired Randy Chapman and he was beyond amazing!!! With the Escape package, you have some included photography, but because of inconsistencies in the quality of the DPS photographers, a lot of brides hire outside photographers. So long as your ceremony is not actually in a theme park, this is allowed.

3 Our ceremony was at 3.00pm. I wanted to have it so as we were not getting ready at an ungodly hour, and to tie it in so as we could go straight to dinner afterwards.

4 Randy was there for the tail end of our getting ready, and also took some of those 'arty' photos of the dress, shoes, jewellery, perfume etc.

5 As the previous poster said, anywhere you want - I may be wrong, but I believe that with the Escape package, you can use the limo charter on a different day if you wish.

6 It is your responsibility to make arrangements for your hair and make-up, and there are a few artists who come highly recommended on these boards. I used Patricia LeJeune and she was fantastic!!!

7 My dress travelled on the plane all the way from the UK as hand-luggage, and was stowed in the locker above my head all the way!!! It never left my sight!!! I had the dress boutique pack it in to a special hand-luggage sized box (freely available on the internet), and it stayed in there, untouched until we got to the resort. I scheduled a steaming appointment for it the day before the VR. It all worked out perfectly!!

8 I wore my dress all day. After the ceremony, we went for cocktails at MIzner's Bar and then had dinner at Citrico's (both at the GF). We then took the monorail over to BLT, and finished the day at the Top of the World Lounge, with more drinks and fireworks!!

9 Not sure how this would work at the WP - I am sure some sort of audio set up can be arranged (for an extra fee, of course!!). We hired a harpist for our ceremony and she was fabulous. We told her what we wanted played and she played it!!

As for your other questions, I had 14 guests, so maybe I don't qualify to answer them, but here is what I think (remember these are just MHO)

I, personally, think the WP is big for just two of you but I am sure others will disagree!!

It would be lovely to have a meal after your ceremony (you can still wear your dress provided that the restaurant you choose is not in a theme park). We can highly recommend Citrico's - they treated us like royalty!! Victoria and Albert's would be lovely for just the two of you!!

You must do what you are comfortable with. I personally would not have a problem cutting the cake, but would feel awkward about a first dance

I don't know if this helps at all
Don't hesitate to ask if you need any further help and do feel free to check out my ramblings contained in my PJ/TR (the link to it is in my signature)
Good luck and happy planning!!!

 

[Lulu83]

Hi! We are another "just the two of us" couple

I also wanted to second the advice of the previous poster who recommended purchasing the PassPorters DFTW Wedding Guide. I bought the e-book and it is wonderful and has answered so many of my questions http://www.passporter.com/weddings.asp

I've answered your questions in purple below (to the best of my ability at least!)

Hello everyone!

My dh and I are planning a vow renewal and we have soooooo many questions! Please feel free to share your tips and opinions because we are pretty much spinning around in confusion at this point!!

*Warning!
This might be LONG and it might be ALL OVER THE PLACE*

We are pretty sure we are doing the Escape package (is that the right name?) because I have my heart set on the Wedding Pavilion. It will only be the two of us (long, LONG story that I hope to share on here eventually - when I have a bit more time). And we are hoping to do this in April 2012 - 8 years after we first said "I do"!!

Now for the questions!

1) Where do you plan on staying during your wedding/vow renewal..and why?
We are planning on doing a split stay between a few different resorts. We're still deciding which ones, but one will be Port Orleans Riverside and one will be close to our ceremony location for ease of travel on the day (we're planning on SBP so either Yacht/Beach Club or Boardwalk Inn)

2) Do you plan on getting a photographer, if so..who?
Yes. We definitely want "getting ready" shots and figure an outside photographer is the most economical way to do this. Not sure who we'll use yet as we still have a while to go

3) What time of day do you want the ceremony and why?
I think this is a really personal thing - for us we would like a late afternoon (e.g. 5pm) ceremony because I will struggle without sunglasses earlier in the day, I'm very sensitive to glare! Also because we like the idea of going straight to dinner afterwards without time to kill

4) Is there going to be a photographer there while you are getting ready or only at the ceremony?
Yes, we hope so

5) If it's just the two of us, and we happen to stay at the grand floridian - where will the limo take us?
Sorry I can't help with this one!

6) Am I supposed to get my hair done at the resort or exactly how does that work?
I"m pretty sure you have your beautician come to your room to get ready, unless you're using one of the Disney salons for this, in which case you would get ready there

7) 7+ years ago we took my huge, huge Cinderella type dress on the plane to our destination wedding...They stored it in a closet at the front of the plane. I plan on having something easier to haul around this time - but are dresses still allowed on planes with all the security issues?!?
Can't help with this one either sorry!

8) How long do you plan on wearing your dress that day? For example; if you get married in the morning - do you plan on wearing it any more that day? Any ideas on restaurants it would be okay to wear the dress at?
Since we're aiming for a late afternoon ceremony I will probably just wear the dress for the afternoon and at dinner afterwards. I think you can wear a wedding dress anywhere except inside the parks

9) How does the music stuff work? Do you have to use Disney songs? What happens if you wanted a song - WITH words during part of the ceremony? Is that an option or does it have to be only instrumental?
Not too sure about this one sorry! We're planning on just having Disney themed instrumental music played by the violinist included in the Escape package

****************************

Okay..these next questions are for anyone who will be going to Disney for a very SMALL/INTIMATE wedding/vow renewal. Please tell me we aren't the only couple going 'alone'???
Nope - our wedding will just be my DF and I. There are a few other couples on the board who are doing the same thing as well so you're definitely not alone.

1) Do you feel that the wedding pavilion will be too big since it will only be the two of you?
I don't think so. I think it would be very intimate, especially since it's indoors so no onlookers can watch as they may be able to at the outdoors locations

2) What do you plan on doing after the ceremony? Do you plan on going out to eat together - just the two of you? If so, where will you go?
We're planning on having dinner at Victoria and Alberts (taking the limo there from SBP directly after our ceremony)

3) Will it be strange for us to be cutting the cake, having a 'first dance', etc without a group of on lookers?
I don't think so, I think in some ways it will be less strange because you don't have anybody to be self-conscious in front of!

****

Okay! I think that's "it" for now!?! Again, sorry for all of the questions!! We really don't know how all of this works since it will only be the two of us!

Thanks in advance for your tips and advice!!!! We look so forward to hearing back from everyone!

Good luck with your planning!

 

[leonix8238]

We got married in November last year and we also had no guests. I can honestly say it was the best day of my life, everything was perfect, I could not have dreamed up a better day.

You can get your hair and make up done anywhere you like, you can even do it yourself if you're that way inclined. I booked Beaute Speciale who came to my room and worked their magic.

We had Randy Chapman as our photographer and he took a few getting ready shots before escorting me down to meet my DH for our 'first look' .

Our ceremony was at 5pm because I'd always dreamed of a sunset wedding as I love the warm glow it brings to everything.

Initially we did not plan on having a first dance or any of that as we too thought we'd feel ridiculous. However, we both felt completely comfortable and swept up in the moment and just went for it.

Our officiant was kind enough to give us a toast before we cut the cake which was very sweet of him. The Disney team are very good at making you feel relaxed and welcome, I didn't care that I did not know these people. It was my day and they were all so lovely and seemed genuinely interested and happy for us.

After the ceremony we went to dinner at Victoria & Alberts. Following our meal we wandered down to the dock next to Narcoossee's to watch the Wishes fireworks.

It was a wonderful day, we honestly could not be happier. You can listen to me talk about the day and the planning with Lurkyloo on the Inside Disney podcast. There are several other Esape brides on there too, it's worth a listen. My podcast is number 32 :http://disneytravelbabble.com/podcast/

If you've definetly decided on a Disney wedding I also recommend you get a copy of the Passporter's Disney Weddings and Honeymoons.

Enjoy planning and try not to stress, it will all work out in the end.

 

[lea007]

Hello everyone!

My dh and I are planning a vow renewal and we have soooooo many questions! Please feel free to share your tips and opinions because we are pretty much spinning around in confusion at this point!!

*Warning!
This might be LONG and it might be ALL OVER THE PLACE*

We are pretty sure we are doing the Escape package (is that the right name?) because I have my heart set on the Wedding Pavilion. It will only be the two of us (long, LONG story that I hope to share on here eventually - when I have a bit more time). And we are hoping to do this in April 2012 - 8 years after we first said "I do"!!

Now for the questions!

1) Where do you plan on staying during your wedding/vow renewal..and why?
We stayed at Coronado Springs resort - which to be honest we hardly used as we also had a villa. Rooms are very dark and to me if i had to stay there for a hol would drive me nuts. beds are comfortable. Resort looked lovely and clean (typical disney). We only slept in the room 2 nights out of the four, as we had family and our kids back at the villa ad as my hubby was our driver it didnt make sense to keep coming back and fourth. So long as book any four nights at a disney resort then you will be covered. Just way up if you are only going to use it to sleep in then book a cheaper resort and use the money else were in the wedding rather than book the more expensive resorts.

2) Do you plan on getting a photographer, if so..who?

We used Randy and i cant tell you how wonderful he is. Personally i wouldn't rely on disney we had darren as our disney photographer and he was no where near as creative as randy and i dont think he seemed to take many pics. Randy took over a thousand pics for us (ours are on his blog website as well as facebook page.) Randy is lovely and his prices are cheap, you get a lots of pics for your money. He also stayed a lot longer than what we paid him for which is the usual for randy. Darren on the other hand seemed to disappear before his time was up which i thought was not good. Book with Randy and you wont be sorry. There is lots of brides on here who are singing his praises.

3) What time of day do you want the ceremony and why?
we had ours at 12 oclock - the reasons we picked that was *** it meant people didnt have to get up to early to get ready. Also it meant we was sitting round a long time before we had to get ready fo it all. The sun wouldn't be too hot as is the norm mid afternoon (if you wearing a big dress tke that into consideration). Also we didn't want to waste the rest of the day, time soon goes quick on your wedding day and before you realise everything is over. Also it meant we coud have our cake at the reception after the service then we put a light buffet on at our villa then we all went out for a meal early evening, so it gave people time to digest the cake as they cut massive slices and its filling (alot bigger than what normal uk wedding cakes are like). Our kids also were knackered by the end of it so it meant we didnt have to do too late night for them.

4) Is there going to be a photographer there while you are getting ready or only at the ceremony?
Randy came to me at 10.30 so i had some getting ready shots and then some around coronado springs resort before we set off in limo for the wp. Hubby had some pics at wp whist waiting for us to arrive with darren.

5) If it's just the two of us, and we happen to stay at the grand floridian - where will the limo take us?

you dont have to use the limo on the day of your wedding you can use it another time - the limo drove us from wp to the grand floridian for the reception. in that time we did crack open the bubbly and have a glass before we got there. (get passport book from carrie - (lucklyloo on here) for advise it is really helpful).

6) Am I supposed to get my hair done at the resort or exactly how does that work?
I had beaute special come to my resort for the wedding to do mine and my daughters and my mums hair. I had a trial a couple of days before the wedding then jackie recreated what i had chosen on the morning of the wedding. My advice - Make sure you do a trial as this can take a while to get just what you want. Booking beaute special was simple enough i did it all through email and i live in the uk. Jackie then came back2 days later at 4 to do my hair and make up for our MK shoot.

7) 7+ years ago we took my huge, huge Cinderella type dress on the plane to our destination wedding...They stored it in a closet at the front of the plane. I plan on having something easier to haul around this time - but are dresses still allowed on planes with all the security issues?!?
Mine was massive (typical cinderella dress) we flew with virgin. I rang virgin regarding my dress as originally they said i could take it on as hand luggage so long as it fit the dimensions of a hand cabin bag. Not matter what i did i couldnt get it into a small suitcase so i re-rang them back to ask if i could keep it in the suit bag and take it on the plane like that and get them to hang it in their wardrobe - the people at Virgin call centre wouldn't let me so my only other options was ship it there before hand to disney or take it in the big suitcase and hope it reached there. I did the latter and thank god the case didnt go missing. The cabin crew did ask me why i just didn't bring it on the pane like i wanted and they would of hung it up so mixed messages from virgin.

8) How long do you plan on wearing your dress that day? For example; if you get married in the morning - do you plan on wearing it any more that day? Any ideas on restaurants it would be okay to wear the dress at?
I wore mine from about 10 till about 4 in the afternoon by that time it was hot and i couldn't wait to get it off. it then made it easy to go to the restaurant. ( i didn't wont to wear mine to the restaurant as we had our park shoot 2 days later and i didn't wont any food spilling down it just in case. My little boy is a typical boy and would of just been my look for him to spill his food on me.

9) How does the music stuff work? Do you have to use Disney songs? What happens if you wanted a song - WITH words during part of the ceremony? Is that an option or does it have to be only instrumental?

they play your music on the piano and then we had the violin man for the ceremony - to be honest i cant really remember what they played at the reception it was the mixed disney songs i think - because you get so busy chatting and having pics that you just dont notice. i remember the songs at the wp which sounded lovely. we had spectromagic to walk out to and that was good. You can have what you want as long as they have the music for it.

****************************

Okay..these next questions are for anyone who will be going to Disney for a very SMALL/INTIMATE wedding/vow renewal. Please tell me we aren't the only couple going 'alone'???

1) Do you feel that the wedding pavilion will be too big since it will only be the two of you?

The wedding pavillion is lovely and its personal choice at the end of the day. if you want it then just book it. There are loads of great locations that disney have to offer, if it was me and there was just the two of us then i may have book a outside location - like canada in epcot than the wedding pavillion. I would probably look at what the memories collection has to offer than an escape collection.

2) What do you plan on doing after the ceremony? Do you plan on going out to eat together - just the two of you? If so, where will you go?

we had a buffet at our villa then went out for an early dinner meal. I think the evening meals offer more choice than the dinner time and we had fuss eaters in our party so it made it better for us to do the dinner menu than a lunch selection. Also some restaurants dont open till evening. Again if it was just the two of you why dont you book the chefs table at the V&A. I've heard some fantastic stories about it from people who have done it and its one of those experiences that you dont do every day.

3) Will it be strange for us to be cutting the cake, having a 'first dance', etc without a group of on lookers?

May seem a bit strange - but then you'll still get some nice photos. The thing i would be worried more about is all that cake your going to have to eat. lol. Took us ages to get through our cake and there was 17 of us on the day and we still had loads left. We were eating it for a week.

If you have any other questions theres loads of us brides on here to offer lots of friendly advice. Hope this helps and have lovely time planning your wedding.

 

[Tinker Bell Fan]

Hello everyone!

My dh and I are planning a vow renewal and we have soooooo many questions! Please feel free to share your tips and opinions because we are pretty much spinning around in confusion at this point!!

Now for the questions!

1) Where do you plan on staying during your wedding/vow renewal..and why?
We stayed at the Boardwalk
2) Do you plan on getting a photographer, if so..who?
We used Disney Photographers; the one that came with the Escape package, but upgraded to get the DVD of the photos.
3) What time of day do you want the ceremony and why?
Ours was on April 13, 2011 at Noon. We were married on April 13, 1991 at 11:15 AM, so noon was the closest to the time of our original wedding.
4) Is there going to be a photographer there while you are getting ready or only at the ceremony? We had a photographer only at the ceremony

5) If it's just the two of us, and we happen to stay at the grand floridian - where will the limo take us? Don't know for sure but I would guess yes since it is part of the package and you want to use the limo for that.

6) Am I supposed to get my hair done at the resort or exactly how does that work? I made arrangements with Beaute Speciale. They came to our room the day of our vow renewal. they did my hair & makeup. Jacky was fabulous!!

7) 7+ years ago we took my huge, huge Cinderella type dress on the plane to our destination wedding...They stored it in a closet at the front of the plane. I plan on having something easier to haul around this time - but are dresses still allowed on planes with all the security issues?!? We drove so I'm not sure if that would be an issue on the plane. DH & I opted for simplicity. So we purchased matching Hawaiian prints (a shirt for him and a long dress for me.)

8) How long do you plan on wearing your dress that day? For example; if you get married in the morning - do you plan on wearing it any more that day? Any ideas on restaurants it would be okay to wear the dress at? Since my dress wasn't really a "wedding" dress I probably could have gone into the parks with it, however, we didn't. I had planned on wearing it to the restaurant (it was DH & I and two other couples that attended our VR) but I changed to be comfy between the ceremony & dinner and we ran late so I never got dressed up again that day. Most restaurants won't mind the gown as long as it's not a restaurant in any of the parks.

9) How does the music stuff work? Do you have to use Disney songs? What happens if you wanted a song - WITH words during part of the ceremony? Is that an option or does it have to be only instrumental? We recorded a few songs that we wanted played on a CD. We had our ceremony at the Wedding Pavilion and we told our planner which song was to be played when. We also used the organist & violinist at the Wedding Pavilion too. The sound at the Wedding Pavilion is great!

****************************

Okay..these next questions are for anyone who will be going to Disney for a very SMALL/INTIMATE wedding/vow renewal. Please tell me we aren't the only couple going 'alone'???

1) Do you feel that the wedding pavilion will be too big since it will only be the two of you? There was DH & I and two other couples at our VR. I thought it would be too big - but to be honest I didn't even think about it once I was walking down the aisle! If your heart is set on the Wedding Pavilion - go for it!

2) What do you plan on doing after the ceremony? Do you plan on going out to eat together - just the two of you? If so, where will you go? We all went back to our hotel room and chilled out a bit. Our VR was at noon and after the cake celebration we were back in the room around 2:00 - 2:30 or so. I made dinner reservations for all of us at Whispering Canyon Cafe at Wilderness Lodge for 5:30. Our guests left our hotel and we all met at the restaurant. DH & I went on the boardwalk and walked around for a bit and took photos. Oh and we were starving so we had burgers & fries from the little kiosk on the boardwalk.

3) Will it be strange for us to be cutting the cake, having a 'first dance', etc without a group of on lookers? I don't think so. The day is about the two of you and that all that matters.

****
Thanks in advance for your tips and advice!!!! We look so forward to hearing back from everyone!

I did my best to answer your questions above. I'm a bit biased but I think April at Disney is wonderful. We had the best weather the day of our VR! I have a few pictures in my Trip Report - listed in my signature.

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

We renewed our vows last October and it was just the two of us. Here's my input:

1) Where do you plan on staying during your wedding/vow renewal..and why?
We stayed at BWI because it was during F&WF so we wanted to be close to Epcot.

2) Do you plan on getting a photographer, if so..who?
We used the DPS photography that was included in our package. Regina was our photog and we were thrilled with her and the pics!

3) What time of day do you want the ceremony and why?
We picked 1 p.m. because I didn't want to get up too early yet I thought that time also gave us a better chance of avoiding late afternoon showers that sometimes happen that time of year (our ceremony was outside).

4) Is there going to be a photographer there while you are getting ready or only at the ceremony?
Our package just included 1 hour during and after the ceremony. If you get an outside photog though you can always book enough hours to have getting ready shots.

5) If it's just the two of us, and we happen to stay at the grand floridian - where will the limo take us?
I think you can use it for something else during your stay (like take you to dinner).

6) Am I supposed to get my hair done at the resort or exactly how does that work?
I arranged for Beaute Special to come to our room to do my hair and make-up. I was very happy with their service! I've heard great things about Patricia Le Jeune but at one point folks were saying that she won't come out to do just one person - not sure if that's still the case.

7) 7+ years ago we took my huge, huge Cinderella type dress on the plane to our destination wedding...They stored it in a closet at the front of the plane. I plan on having something easier to haul around this time - but are dresses still allowed on planes with all the security issues?!?
I brought my dress in a garment back and put it in the overhead (there was no closet on our aircraft). This worked out fine because I had a cocktail length dress. Definitely check with your airline about it.

8) How long do you plan on wearing your dress that day? For example; if you get married in the morning - do you plan on wearing it any more that day? Any ideas on restaurants it would be okay to wear the dress at?
I wore my to the Garden View Lounge for tea then we went back and changed because we went to MNSSHP that night. I think it's okay to wear anywhere outside the parks as far as I know.

9) How does the music stuff work? Do you have to use Disney songs? What happens if you wanted a song - WITH words during part of the ceremony? Is that an option or does it have to be only instrumental?
The violinist we had played Disney and non-Disney songs. They gave us suggested selections but I picked something off the list no problem.

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Okay..these next questions are for anyone who will be going to Disney for a very SMALL/INTIMATE wedding/vow renewal. Please tell me we aren't the only couple going 'alone'???

1) Do you feel that the wedding pavilion will be too big since it will only be the two of you?
I didn't use the WP but I think it's a beautiful venue and wouldn't hesitate if that's where you have your heart set.

2) What do you plan on doing after the ceremony? Do you plan on going out to eat together - just the two of you? If so, where will you go?
We had afternoon tea at the GF and ordered a miniature wedding cake to be served.

3) Will it be strange for us to be cutting the cake, having a 'first dance', etc without a group of on lookers?
Our package didn't include this so can't answer here.

Good luck!

 

[Desnik]

We renewed our vows at WDW in Nov. 2009. You can read all about it and see pictures by clicking the link in my signature. Now to answer your questions:

1. We stood at the GF because that was where everything was taking place(ceremony at the WP, reveption at the Whitehall room) and for me it was just easier to be there. Plus, DH loves the GF.

2. Yes we had a photographer. We used Misty Miotto and she was fabulous and I highly recommen her!!!

3. We had our ceremony at 5pm. The reason why was because I wanted to be able to get daytime photos and nighttime phots. When we were leaving the WP the sun was setting and we got some amazing shots! Also we wanted our guests to watch the MK fireworks from the Whitehall Patio during our reception.

4. I did not have the photographer take any getting ready pictures.

5. Sorry, can't help with this question.

6. I had Patricia LeJuene come to my room to do my hair and make up and she was the best and I would also highly recommend her!

7. My BFF was driving from NY to WDW so she took my dress for me along with DD's dress and DH & DS's tux's. We flew Jetblue and they had no place to store the dress.

# 8 & 9 I can't help with, sorry!

And I can't help with the rest because we had around 50 guests at our VR.

Enjoy all the planning and I hope you have a wonderful VR. It was the best thing we ever did!