How & Why You Chose Your Ceremony/Reception Locations

[mickeyfan32]

For us, the WP was out of the question from the beginning because one of my bridesmaids had gotten married there years before, so my husband and I wanted to make it our "own" wedding. We originally thought Epcot would be a great location, but once we found out the time frames you have to have your wedding, we eliminated those choices. I loved SPB, but we had too many people for it (we had 65 people come down). We looked through the other pictures, my husband and I both loved the gazebo at YBC. We weren't able to go down and see it beforehand, but I was able to see tons of pictures on different websites and it made me feel comfortable with our choice. My mom was able to go down and take pictures, so I could get a better feel for the location. She was worried that the aisle was too long, but I actually loved it- I was able to take in everything on my walk up the aisle. The only part that I was uncomfortable with was having a back up plan for rain. However, we ended up having a gorgeous day and the weather wasn't too hot (held in May). Most of our guests ended up staying at the Beach Club, which was fabulous. Our rehearsal dinner was on Shipwreck Beach at YBC- beautiful setting! We then walked over for our Illuminations dessert party. However, there was a brief rain shower, so we were moved indoors at Norway. The only snag for the entire weekend. I figured it was better to rain the night before, rather than the day of the wedding!

As for the reception, we first thought we wanted the ADH, but doing research, I found out that I didn't really care for the timeframe and buffet only. We didn't want to have to shuttle our guests to a different location, so we did the Asbury Hall at the YBC convention center. We added some special touches to make it look less ball-room like and it turned out beautifully. Added lighted topiaries, added the lighted tulle hanging from the ceiling (definitely worth the $$), added the gobos (moon & stars behind our sweetheart table and castle lit up the dancefloor). Having Mickey and Minnie attend also added the "Disney Magic" to our wedding. An added bonus was that my husband and I planned on having an after-wedding party at Jellyrolls at the Boardwalk. It was great because almost all of our wedding guests walked over and joined us. I wouldn't have changed anything about our wedding.

I think your wedding is such a personal decision. I suggest doing your research and, if possible, make a visit to check out the locations. This website was extremely useful and helpful in planning my wedding long-distance from NJ. Everyone was amazed at how well I was able to plan such a wonderful wedding, but I have my fellow disboarders to thank along with Marion, my wedding planner, and Linda, her former assistant. Good luck with your decision!

 

[KSchwagg86]

For us, the WP was out of the question from the beginning because one of my bridesmaids had gotten married there years before, so my husband and I wanted to make it our "own" wedding. We originally thought Epcot would be a great location, but once we found out the time frames you have to have your wedding, we eliminated those choices. I loved SPB, but we had too many people for it (we had 65 people come down). We looked through the other pictures, my husband and I both loved the gazebo at YBC. We weren't able to go down and see it beforehand, but I was able to see tons of pictures on different websites and it made me feel comfortable with our choice. My mom was able to go down and take pictures, so I could get a better feel for the location. She was worried that the aisle was too long, but I actually loved it- I was able to take in everything on my walk up the aisle. The only part that I was uncomfortable with was having a back up plan for rain. However, we ended up having a gorgeous day and the weather wasn't too hot (held in May). Most of our guests ended up staying at the Beach Club, which was fabulous. Our rehearsal dinner was on Shipwreck Beach at YBC- beautiful setting! We then walked over for our Illuminations dessert party. However, there was a brief rain shower, so we were moved indoors at Norway. The only snag for the entire weekend. I figured it was better to rain the night before, rather than the day of the wedding!

As for the reception, we first thought we wanted the ADH, but doing research, I found out that I didn't really care for the timeframe and buffet only. We didn't want to have to shuttle our guests to a different location, so we did the Asbury Hall at the YBC convention center. We added some special touches to make it look less ball-room like and it turned out beautifully. Added lighted topiaries, added the lighted tulle hanging from the ceiling (definitely worth the $$), added the gobos (moon & stars behind our sweetheart table and castle lit up the dancefloor). Having Mickey and Minnie attend also added the "Disney Magic" to our wedding. An added bonus was that my husband and I planned on having an after-wedding party at Jellyrolls at the Boardwalk. It was great because almost all of our wedding guests walked over and joined us. I wouldn't have changed anything about our wedding.

I think your wedding is such a personal decision. I suggest doing your research and, if possible, make a visit to check out the locations. This website was extremely useful and helpful in planning my wedding long-distance from NJ. Everyone was amazed at how well I was able to plan such a wonderful wedding, but I have my fellow disboarders to thank along with Marion, my wedding planner, and Linda, her former assistant. Good luck with your decision!

do you have a planning journal/trip report?

 

[mickeyfan32]

No - sorry! I never got around to a trip report. Maybe this summer when I have some extra time.

 

[Lynn5700]

We chose SBP because it's gorgeous and in May the weather is always perfect. It was so beautiful on our wedding day.

It's my style too.

 

[DaPookie]

For our ceremony, we used the WP. It's such a gorgeous building that most people don't take the time to see, and no matter what the weather everyone would be comfortable. Plus, we were staying in the GF and using the Coach, so it just seemed to all flow together...

Our reception was in the Living Seas, and I loved it as soon as I saw it! You can't beat having the "free" entertainment of fishies swimming by, or the occasional diver. The only part of it I didn't like was that we didn't get a chance to see the room set up before everyone else was able to be let in. Honestly though, I didn't even think about it on the day of! It's another one of those secret places your guests will probably never get a chance to see in their life, which was a huge draw for us to choose it. We wanted something extra special for the people who were travelling to give them the most Disney magic possible!

 

[scottish/canadian]

We met while working at EPCOT so having a wedding there would've been fantastic, however, not a morning person so no chance. I hate the Wedding Pavilion so there was no chance we were using it. I wanted a beach outside in the sun (hot or not)...so we used the Wedding Pavilion Beach (between WP and GF). You don't get the Castle in the background, but you do get Space Mountain. It was a gorgeous white sand beach and not covered in seaweed. We did go inside to take some pics in the WP because it was warm...OK hot. Our guests waiting in Franck's until we were on our way over and then they went outside. It was actually abnormally warm for May (apparently like August). Our rain back up was the WP, so it was the same price...which was a downside but very worth it. It was a beautiful sunny day and we were super happy with our choice.

We also didn't want to use a ballroom as we could find that anywhere. We went with ADH. We had little to no decoration. Just some centerpieces on the main tables and a few little things here and there. There is already lighting, DJ and dance floor. We had about 75 people and by the time the buffet was laid out, the space was great. We had the prereception upstairs then went downstairs for the rest of the night.

I would use either location again in a heartbeat.

 

[KSchwagg86]

bump

 

[twiu]

WP / ADH

Well, we needed indoor locations because we got married in August. Duh. It's hot! But anyway, Wedding Pavilion because its always been something I've wanted. I worked at Disney for over 7 years (still do part time) so every time I was on the monorail I would say "I'm getting married there". We almost switched to an outdoor location to save money but my best friend reminded me that I always talked about WP and would regret it if I didn't. She was right and we went back to the original plan and I'm so glad we did!

ADH is amazing!!! I never pictured it because for some reason I was set with having a ballroom (I wanted a sit down plated dinner). That decision went away when a friend told me about her wedding at ADH a few years back. I didn't even look at it (I'd been there before years ago) and just looked at photos online and decided right then and there. We also had over 150 guests so we needed a place with space!

But my Main reasons were:

1. Indoors!
2. I wanted a band - and what better than to have a band on a stage!!! It would not have been as cool having a band in a ballroom IMO
3. I like having the place to ourselves. With ballrooms, you can go outside to the bathroom or to smoke and you run into guests wearing shorts & tshirts having been in the parks all day. No thank you. I felt exclusive at ADH.
4. It's already decorated! No need to pay for extras The place is gorgeous as is.
5. I wanted something different, memorable, and a party atmosphere - since our main priorities were the band and open bar.

 

[JandJ]

We were able to visit every location and that helped. We knew we wanted to be outdoors and wanted it as private as possible. Originally we wanted SBP but when we visited I didn't like how "out in the open" it was. Anyone walking by - or sailing by - could see our wedding and we both really wanted something more private (we did a small Escape). Then we went to Sunrise Terrace at WL and knew that was it. The view is gorgeous! It was perfect for us! One of the things I actually love about it to this day is that hardly anyone gets married there. It's like our special private place. DH and I go to Disney often and we always go up and visit our wedding site

 

[tiggersam00]

Our reasoning is actually very similar to Tracy's (twiu).

I always knew I wanted WP because of the castle view and the gorgeous interior. The night we got engaged at the MK our monorail actually stopped for 20 minutes right over the WP too so it was a sign DF is very laid back so he let me pick this one as long as...

We had a tailgate party as a rehersal luncheon (our rehersal will be the day of the superbowl) so a 2pm-4pm lunch on Shipwreck beach at the YC (also where we are staying) is his pick. We are doing a good old fashioned backyard BBQ feel to the party since it is right before the game. Then we are going to head over the ESPN to watch the game that night with any of our guests who are sports nuts

Our reception will be at ADH on the Monday night after the game. We are doing the 5pm ceremony (in case anyone has too much fun at the game...) and a 6pm reception. When we were in the early planning stages we asked our WC what sort of place she would recommend if I wanted somewhere already decorated, and could hold 150 people. She said ballrooms needed stuff, so we nixed those. And she finally settled us on AAR or ADH. The time restrictions on an Epcot wedding, plus the ability to not have an outside photographer left us with ADH. So I did something pretty risky... I signed the LOA and sent it back without ever seeing ADH, or the whole Boardwalk area! I figured DFTW wouldn't stick us somewhere ugly or horrible!

So we planned a trip to check things out and fell in love with ADH! Like MegKate said earlier, Linda's pictures helped the decision tremendously, and when we finally saw ADH Linda and her DH Sheldon met us there for a drink! Hearing them describe the reception with so much enthusiasm and love totally sealed the deal for us! We called our parents the next day and told them to relax, everything would work out great... now they all want to see it before the wedding so I am working on an extra trip lol!

 

[Bride-to-be]

I am so confused!

Everyone seems to have such great choices. There are too many to pick from!

 

[MainStMandy]

We can't book yet, but we decided on France and The Attic.
It really was coming down to photography...there was just something about France that felt right, so we decided to just do it. Df wants a very private ceremony so even though we loved SBP, that was out. And in order to fit in everything we want without going over our budget, we picked the Attic for a brunch. If I had a bigger budget, WHP would have been our choice. We are so excited about the ceremony and everything else that it doesn't matter.

 

[Lindsay22]

We went back and forth on our reception locations A LOT (like questioning them 2 months before the wedding)

We ended up picking:
Ceremony: WP
Why: My sister was married at SBP, so to me, all gazebos were out (and that included Yacht Club) I wanted to make sure that our wedding was very different from hers. We aren't morning people so I couldn't do an Epcot ceremony, so that was out. Also, I was VERY concerned about the rain. So WP it was. It helped that my Dad saw it and described it as "tremendous". I am not a huge fan of the atrocious carpet. Not at all. To fix this issue my sister made us an aisle runner.

Cocktail hour and Reception:
This is something we changed. And changed. And changed. Originally we were going to have our cocktail hour at Lower French Island and have everyone walk up the steps and have the reception at Upper French Island. Then I got concerned that it was going to rain and we were going to be forced to have our reception in a hideous rain location.

So then we moved our reception to AAR (which also included moving our ceremony time back from 5pm to 7:30pm). Our original plan was to keep cocktail hour in France and then have everyone walk over to AAR. (We were engaged in Epcot France and we wanted to include that as part of our day). Joe, our fab sales guy, explained that logistically this can be a little sticky because it's kinda far to walk and there would be guests leaving the park so we would have to have busses. I didn't like that. Finally, we decided to have our cocktail hour at Italy Isola (upstairs in AAR is the rain location).

We went with what was important to us: Dedicated rain locations that we liked (WP/upstairs in AAR) events within a park (Epcot) and fireworks. Including Illuminations in our wedding day was very important to DF, so we worked to include that. We were disapointed to not have an event in France, but it was something we were willing to give up. (We'll have Randy run us over there and take some pictures)

 

[kcampbell]

As for the reception, we first thought we wanted the ADH, but doing research, I found out that I didn't really care for the timeframe and buffet only. . An added bonus was that my husband and I planned on having an after-wedding party at Jellyrolls at the Boardwalk. It was great because almost all of our wedding guests walked over and joined us. I wouldn't have changed anything about our wedding.

I guess I didn't look into ADH that much since I wouldn't have used it either if it's buffet only. (We always knew we wanted special entrees~ Filet & Lobster, Chilean Sea Bass w/ Shrimp and Scallops, and French- cut Chicken) Even better to know now. (Not that I would've wanted it after how beautiful our room looked)


We totally did the Jellyrolls thing too except ours was an "after rehearsal dinner" after party. SO MUCH FUN!! I think any couple who gets married around the BW needs to hit Jellyrolls-- not only are the dueling pianos great, but it's just a wonderful time with all your family and friends!

Sounds like you and everyone here has found what suits them and that is what weddings (esp. WDW weddings) are all about!

 

[kcampbell]

I am so confused!

Everyone seems to have such great choices. There are too many to pick from!

Yes, Disney offers a lot of choices, but ultimately you and your DF have a style that defines you--embrace it. You need to find out what that is and what you will be happy with. Don't worry about what other people think or want because it's YOUR DAY and YOUR WEDDING! Just be true to your heart and everything will fall into place.

 

[PrincessShea]

We are doing Sea Breeze Point for the ceremony. We don't want to wake up early, so Epcot is out. In addition, we don't want any breaks in the day between ceremony, reception, and dessert party, so an Epcot ceremony made no sense.

When I settled 100% on an escape wedding, I felt like SBP was the best choice. I absolutely love the Boardwalk and it helps that all the other elements are in the area.

For the reception, I am doing Bluezoo at the Dolphin. I know there is a stigma against non-Disney restaurants, but I wanted a private room, and I wanted seafood, so it worked. It was also affordable compared to other options where I'd have a rent a room out which made no sense for so few people.

 

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

Our ceremony's going to be at the Yacht Club Gazebo. My favorite thing about my choice is the fact that the Yacht Club is like a second home to me. It's where my family and I have stayed most. We saw a wedding there when I was like 8 and from there I wanted to get married in Disney World. I also like the fact that it's near where our reception's going to be (Ariel's)=no transportation needed! I'm happy with my choice so far. We're not getting married until April 19th of next year. My least favorite thing is the fact that if it rains, the ceremony's going to be moved inside of the Yacht Club. I think that's the case for any ceremony that could be affected by rain though. I'm just hoping for no rain, and if it does, at least it'll still be in the Yacht Club!

 

[mickeyfan32]

You will love the gazebo- it's a beautiful location and it's semi-private, since it's somewhat hidden off the beaten path. We have been back 2 times already and tear up thinking about our ceremony. You don't even necessarily need to add extra floral for the ceremony because it's just naturally beautiful. Congratulations! It's a gorgeous location!

 

[KSchwagg86]

bump