Help!!! Nervous about telling DF Family about our plans to have a DFTW

[PrincessTianna05]

Well I guess I should break it down I have been with my DF for 7 years and we've finally decided to jump the broom. Since I was a child I have always wanted to have a wedding at Disneyworld. Well, my DF was a little skeptical about Disney World in general because he'd never been and thought it was just another "amusement park". So I finally decided to go all out and show him why I was obsessed with all things Disney. I took him to Disney world and spent 2 weeks there, we celebrated Christmas and New Year's there. He was just in awe of the place. . One night we walked the boardwalk and I told him about the wedding packages and the cost. He agreed that it would be cost effective since my family and I were from Florida and that we could make into a vacation for his family.....We set a date and ready to go right.........WRONG

So fast forward three months later and now it's time to tell his family. Background on his family. He is the youngest and the only son of 3 girls. They are from a small town/rural area about 20 miles outside Richmond,Va.

1. His mother and father have not left the state of Virginia in over 20 years
2. One of his sisters suffers from everything from claustrophobia to Fibro Myalgia
3. The other two sisters don't like long car rides but don't mind flying
4.He has two adult nephews who hate to fly (They have never flown before)
5. DF is concerned about the cost of the trip.
6. None of them have ever been to Disney World

I did what I do best. I made them all a huge planning journal with everything from park information to menus. The wedding is 18 months from now so that gives them time to get the money together. I've even gone as far to start saving to pay for half of everyone's package. Which is not as expensive as I thought. Comes out to a little under $3500. I love them all to death and consider them my family already. Just a little weary about the whole thing that's all. Anyone out there going through anything similar? Should I let my DF tell them or should I be there with him? HELP!!!!!

TIA
Tianna

 

[TabZ]

The only thing I can suggest is having people who can make it to the wedding in WDW come, and then have a blessing/party back in VA with DF's family?

 

[YouLoveJulianne]

Hey! I am not in your exact situation, but it is similar. We (my DF & I) both live in NY. Because of the distance, some of our closest relatives are unable to make it (both our grandparents, a few aunts & uncles, etc.). Like the person before me recommended, I plan to have a small church ceremony (it would mean a lot for the grandparents to see the church event) and casual family gathering (BBQ?) at either my home, or a family home, or a park location. I am planning on sending out pre-rsvps with my save the dates, and on them it will say something like: "It is difficult for everyone involved to plan and attend a destination wedding. We understand that everyone may not be able to make it to Florida to celebrate with us. For this reason, we will be having a small church ceremony and family gathering back in NY after we return home from Florida. Please help us in the planning of these events by letting us know which event you will be able to attend." And then I'll have a check-off box for Disney, and one for NY. Doing something like this allows everyone to have the ability to be involved and celebrate with you, and it avoids alienating people.

I do understand that you'd probably want EVERYONE to come to the Disney wedding (I wish that for mine too!) but sometimes everything can't go as smoothly as you hope for.

Hope this helps!

 

[PrincessTianna05]

The only thing I can suggest is having people who can make it to the wedding in WDW come, and then have a blessing/party back in VA with DF's family?

Yeah, well I guess I had a bit of luck this morning. DF dad came over for breakfast and saw the journals. He asked about them and we told him about the announcement that DF was going to give to his family. His was a little weary at first but he said that he would not mind going, and that he would support us...1 down 6 to go

 

[PrincessTianna05]

Well, we've talked about his aunts,uncles...etc and he doesn't like the very much. But all we're inviting is the core group. 3 sisters,2 parents, 2 nephews, 2 nieces, and 2 great nephews. We decided to send a DVD to everyone else. Father seems to be on board. If DF is on board. Then everyone hopefully will follow. His father is the hardest one to convince and we convinced him..everyone else should follow....hopefully

Thanks for the input though

 

[PrincessTianna05]

Just wanted to update. They were a little apprehensive. But they all got excited after showing them all things disney world

 

[fireofmarajade]

glad to hear that things are going well for you. i was nervous about telling fiancé's family too but they are great! They were going to have to travel anyways though and this way they get to make it a big o family vaca with us so its great!

 

[Sodiumbisulfite]

We were a bit nervous about telling my fiance's family because we know that not all of them would be able to afford the trip, and while he doesn't get along with all of them (its a very large family) we didn't want it to seem as though we were purposefully having a wedding far away to keep them away, so to speak.

Surprisingly, they took it well. We told them that we were planning on having a party when we get back that everyone would be able to come to who wanted to celebrate with us. (No gifts or formalities, just a good time.)

We really only had an issue with his one cousin (who got married in a courthouse but apparently has to have a second wedding at the same time as us!!! But that's for another day! ). But I'm not going to worry about that. It is what it is.

 

[Pinkgirl]

Sounds that all your fears have been put aside sometimes its hard to introduce people to something new but your DFs family sound willing to give it a whirl. They will all love Disney - how can they not!

 

[tracey1302]

When we finally start to send everything out, I am nervous about telling Neil's parents. They have been to Disney World before, in 2000, at Christmas. There was a massive group of them that went. They enjoyed all of it apart from Epcot (it chucked it down the entire day, Test Track was closed, and a few of them were suffering from food poisoning from a bad Taco Bell). It seems that this experience of Epcot taints their entire experience and I am determined to change their view. Epcot is one of my favourite days!

I'm sure they will suspect that I will want a Princess style wedding when Neil and I do tie the knot. I don't think they'd believe I'd want something as elaborate as a Disney wedding. They probably don't even know that Disney does weddings

Luckily, Neil has a small family. There would literally just be him, his Mum, his Dad and his brother (and brother's gf if he gets one by the time we get wed ) There's also a couple (close family friends) that I'm sure they would want to invite but again, I don't think it would be a problem for them as they're both retired.

It is a big thing though, telling the family.