How did you decide to have a Disney Destination Wedding? Help!

[StitchesGr8Fan]

What made you decide to have a wedding at Disney World/Disneyland/DCL?

I have a dilemma. My fiance kind of wants a wedding at WDW because neither one of us has a big family and we both love WDW, so it would make sense to have an escape wedding.

However, both of my parents are in their 70's, my dad can't fly, and my 45 year old brother is handicapped. He has Prader-Willi Syndrome, and the best way I can describe it is to say mentally he is like someone with Downs, but there is also a food component to his handicap. My mom thinks it will be too much stress on her and my father to take him down there. I haven't been able to get her to tell me what exactly is going to be stressful. We've taken him to WDW before as a family and he loves it, and they were talking about taking him again for a regular vacation.

I really don't know what I want, and I don't know how to decide. I do love Disney and would love to get married at the Wedding Pavilion. But if we do that I'm going to be stressed about my family and trying to make things easier on them. And part of me wants to invite all the family and friends we do have, and I don't think most of them can go to Florida for a wedding.

How did you make the decision? Any tips you can give me? Is it really that difficult for the guests of the bride and groom at a Disney wedding? I'm literally feeling sick over this.

 

[Evi]

For me it just made sense. First place DF and I ever went on vacation was Disney. We've gone back almost every year since to celebrate out anniversary. We both have huge families and I really wanted something intimate. If I keep it local I will end up with a 100+ headcount for a wedding and that's not what I want. So if we do a Disney wedding I can invite who I want and invite everyone else for cookout or something of that nature once we get back.

 

[epfootballcutie04]

It just made sense for us, too.

First of all, we met each other as we were working in Disney on the Disney College Program... with out disney world, there would be no "us".

next, we live in indianapolis... i moved here from minneapolis. Therefore, if we had the wedding here, none of my family could come and if we had it in minneapolis none of his family could come...

with that being said, it makes PERFECT sense for us to get married in the place that we met and whoever can come---GREAT! then we are having two very low key, back yard bbq type of receptions during the summer, one here in indy and then one back home for me in minneapolis.

good luck!

 

[Mindyjoy]

Hmm, I'm sorry you are in this dilemma. Perhaps you can do a small civil or church ceremony at home with your family, and then you and your fiance can go to WDW and have a wedding with just the two of you (or any friends you want to invite).

 

[tinkerbell 766]

I was going to suggest something similar. Maybe have a small Escape at WDW with whoever can travel, and then have a blessing and party at home afterwards!!! That way you get to wear your dress twice!!!!

 

[girli565]

We knew we wanted something small and intimate that included only family and close friends. Having a wedding at home meant we'd have to invite everyone and their mother and we would have had a guest list of at least 100+.

Having a destination wedding meant we could be selective about who to invite and have the wedding of my dreams

We ended up having a Wishes wedding with 35 guests and even though it was a bit more costly because it was at disney (we probably would have spent the same thing at home for 70-100 people) we did everything our way and have absolutely no regrets. It was intimate, fun and we got to have a great meal that included some of out favorite Disney restaurant food.

 

[bdps2011]

What made you decide to have a wedding at Disney World/Disneyland/DCL?

I have a dilemma. My fiance kind of wants a wedding at WDW because neither one of us has a big family and we both love WDW, so it would make sense to have an escape wedding.

However, both of my parents are in their 70's, my dad can't fly, and my 45 year old brother is handicapped. He has Prader-Willi Syndrome, and the best way I can describe it is to say mentally he is like someone with Downs, but there is also a food component to his handicap. My mom thinks it will be too much stress on her and my father to take him down there. I haven't been able to get her to tell me what exactly is going to be stressful. We've taken him to WDW before as a family and he loves it, and they were talking about taking him again for a regular vacation.

I really don't know what I want, and I don't know how to decide. I do love Disney and would love to get married at the Wedding Pavilion. But if we do that I'm going to be stressed about my family and trying to make things easier on them. And part of me wants to invite all the family and friends we do have, and I don't think most of them can go to Florida for a wedding.

How did you make the decision? Any tips you can give me? Is it really that difficult for the guests of the bride and groom at a Disney wedding? I'm literally feeling sick over this.

Sorry you're in this dilemma. It sounds like your mom is actually more worried about the stress it might cause YOU on your special day. Thats what moms do.. worry about YOU.

We decided to have a DCL wedding because it actually ended up being 30K CHEAPER than a country club wedding! We were looking at beach weddings in Florida and were looking at bills of over $80K after all was said and done. With Disney, we are having fewer people, true, but 1000% more memorable. And its only the people that we love and love us. Not my boss and his 5 friends, and co-workers that I have to invite out of duty and "team spirit"

We actually didnt think many people would say YES, but we're at 53 people for a Dream wedding on Castaway. One of the biggest that our planner has had for DCL. Thats 50 people who have sprung for a $2K trip to see us get all dressed up!

Do what makes YOU feel happy! Do it in a way that your parents can attend without causing themselves or you more stress. I dont know if you looked at cruise weddings, but there they have people who can just take care of any special food requirements and as its really a checklist wedding, which also is a vacation for a few days too, will make for a great time.!

BD

 

[Nichole33]

We have a lot of the same reasons as everyone else. It is turning out to be much less expensive (since it is a smaller destination wedding -- we are having around 60 people) and the guest list is much more controlled than if we had it where we live or where our parents live.

For me a big plus was paying and dealing with only a couple vendors. Disney really takes care of everything for you and you get to be a guest at your own wedding!

 

[MaggieG]

similar to the above, it made sense since we met at Disneyland (in college) and now live closer to WDW- we wanted a smaller wedding so by default, this made more sense since only so many people would travel- plus most of our family has kids, so it made sense to make it a big extended family vacation for the people we really want to come.

Plus, we are honeymooning in the Caribbean- so it was easy to fly out of too

 

[sambycat]

please don't have us convince you to have a DFTW! we are the people drinking the kool-aid!

you have to do what you two are comfortable with. frankly, it does seem like travel and chaperoning duties probably would take a lot out of some of your family, although, if they were planning a trip or had done it recently, maybe you are over thinking? still, it isn't "nothing" so to speak to truck it down to WDW for a wedding, it's not quite the same as just going on a vacation, even if really people only have one thing to show up to that happens at a cetain time (the wedding!). you could get married at home, have a WDW honeymoon. have a small or big WDW wedding and invite people, lay out options and let the chips fall. if you want a home wedding and the DF wants the destination wedding, talk it out!

i will say this - i used STVS video and had my ceremony livestreamed and it worked very well. the streaming was only $75 ADD ON to the video package we did and was very well recieved and went very smoothly.

since i do not live in the town (s) where my family lives and didn't live in the same state my now hubby livd in until ~6 months before the wedding, any wedding i either planned or at least half (if not more) of guests would be traveling, why not make it somewhere people could combine wedding and vacation with?

if i lived in the stown everyone was in, i think we might have eloped to WDW and had a party after OR had the at home wedding followed by WDW honeymoon. only you two know whats best!

 

[decomouse]

My elder daughter is getting married a week from today at WDW.

She chose a Disney wedding for a lot of the reasons already listed. They wanted a small ceremony and it will be more intimate as only the 25 nearest and dearest family and friends will be there. Disney takes care of EVERYTHING. (I've been going through chemo and she didn't want me to be stressed.) But there is another reason my child chose WDW for her wedding. She absolutely adores Disney and watched the wedding pavillion being built when she was a little girl. We were having tea at the GF one afternoon then and she looked up at me and said, "Mommy, I'm going to get married there someday." I think getting married at WDW has been in her subconscious since that long-ago afternoon.

I just can't tell you how well everything has been handled so far. And I can't imagine how this is difficult for wedding guests. My Mom is 81 and needs a wheelchair. She is attending and the Disney people have been most helpful. Including scheduling a morning after brunch at a time when they don't normally do groups for brunch so that all the guests will be able to attend and working out various dietary requirements for several guests at the different meals.

There will be a reception for 150 back here at home when they get back from the honeymoon. It truly is for her the best of both worlds. However, only you can decide if it is the best thing for you. The wedding day should be about the bride and groom and what makes them happy.

 

[MeganAJ]

For us, we originally wanted a small ceremony at our new house in the country. Then we looked at the list of guests between family, friends and co-workers and we were easily up over 150. We crunched the numbers and were at the top of our budget with no $ left over for a nice honeymoon.

Also, with the amount of work to organize the wedding at our house (booking catering, tent, tables, chairs, dj or band, decorations, et cetera) it felt overwhelming. Of course, both my fiance and I work full time jobs and I have my own business as well AND we just bought a 1900 farmhouse that needs a ton of work, so I just couldn't see us planning a wedding on top of everything and not having it be a stressful experience.

So we decided, simple destination wedding. At first we weren't thinking Disney, assuming it would be out of our budget, but on a whim I checked out the site and realized we could afford it AND have a great vacation, so we were sold.

15 family members are coming down to join us and everyone is pretty excited about the trip, especially my nieces and nephew.

I think if you're considering destination, Disney is the best choice. They have the organization down to a "T", but aren't so rigid that they can't accomodate special requests and needs. We are still a little less than four months out, but it's been a very non-stressful experience so far, everyone i've worked with has been beyond helpful.