If you were invited to a WDW destination wedding....

[poohbear227]

We are planning a WDW wedding, but we are trying to find a date that would be convenient for our guests to go. 1/3 of the guests will be traveling from Florida (just a few hours from WDW). These guests are my parents' friends. My MOH and Ring Bearer will be traveling from Arizona, but I know she will accomodate any date I set. MY BF's Best Man will be traveling from Alabama, but he is a teacher in a private school. Again, I think he would take a day or two off to be there. The rest of our guests will be from Massachusetts.

We really do NOT want to be there in the summer & deal with that hot muggy weather. We would prefer anytime from November till January.

The other thing is, the resort where we are having our ceremony does not do weekend ceremonies, so we are going to opt for a Monday morning ceremony, followed by lunch. Fireworks Dessert Party at Epcot the night before the wedding. Do you think that is not enough to host guests traveling so far away to attend?

We are hoping our guests will take advantage of a long weekend at Disney to further make the trip worthwhile.

If you were invited to a destination wedding at WDW, what time of year would you prefer, be most affordable, & convenient to go?

Thanks!

***ETA: ONLY 2-3 CHILDREN WILL BE ATTENDING. TWO WILL BE STILL TODDLERS BY THEN. ONE WILL BE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, BUT HIS PARENTS ARE FLEXIBLE WITH MISSING A DAY OF SCHOOL. NO OTHER CHILDREN. Sorry for caps!! I just realized with some of your replies, that this was an important factor in your opinions!

 

[Linzybrooke]

I went to one last year in mid-October, and it was fantastic. They got married on Saturday evening so we flew out there Thursday evening and back home Monday evening. Only had to take off 2 days of work that way. Your guests could do similar and fly home Tuesday evening and in on Friday evening.

Anyway, the only planned events for all guests were the wedding, reception and fireworks dessert party at Epcot. The bride did have a bridal luncheon at California Grill's Napa Room the day before the wedding, and most of the female guests attended, but I don't think it was everyone. We didn't feel that we missed anything, in fact, it gave my friend and I the time to experience WDW simply as guests in addition to the wedding stuff. We were there during both Food & Wine and the Halloween Party, so there was plenty to do!

 

[PollyannaMom]

It's sweet of you to think of what would be easy on your guests! I'm not sure how many have kids, but since I'm from MA as well, I'd be happy to share the school dates off for your time-frame. Our local school has -

Oct. 9th and 12th (a teacher work day and Columbus Day, so a built-in 4-day weekend)

Nov. 11th (Veterans' Day, a Wed. - so by taking off Mon. and Tuesday, they'd have a 5-day trip)

and of course time off at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but then you'd risk running into other family travel.

 

[EthansMom]

I've been to WDW both in early Dec. and early Jan. Both were nice times of year to visit.

 

[Handbag Lady]

I would make arrangements no matter what date you'd set, if I were given enough time.

Then again, I'm a Disney Bride...

I HATE the humidity so I picked late October!

 

[minkydog]

I wouldn't have the wedding over Thanksgiving or Christmas because most people have plans with family. But I love love LOVE Disney in early December. All the decorations are out, there's Christmas music in the air, the weather is nice, and the crowds are low.

 

[golfgal]

I wouldn't have the wedding over Thanksgiving or Christmas because most people have plans with family. But I love love LOVE Disney in early December. All the decorations are out, there's Christmas music in the air, the weather is nice, and the crowds are low.

Oh, good thinking. Hotel prices are pretty good then too. I was going to suggest the 3rd week in January or so but I like this better.

Keep in mind, OP, you will NEVER find a date that will work for most people so just pick one that you like and if they can make it, great, if not, oh well that is life-just don't get mad if they can't come.

 

[RadioNate]

It's sweet of you to think of what would be easy on your guests! I'm not sure how many have kids, but since I'm from MA as well, I'd be happy to share the school dates off for your time-frame. Our local school has -

Oct. 9th and 12th (a teacher work day and Columbus Day, so a built-in 4-day weekend)

Nov. 11th (Veterans' Day, a Wed. - so by taking off Mon. and Tuesday, they'd have a 5-day trip)

and of course time off at Thanksgiving and Christmas, but then you'd risk running into other family travel.

You'll never please everyone but if you have school aged children attending (or teachers) I'd look into one of these weekends. We had our wedding the Friday night of Columbus Day weekend since many of our guests were teachers. The ones that had to travel flew in Thursday night and left Monday afternoon. Therefor they only had to take 1 day off.

With a Monday morning ceremony if people HAD to they could leave monday evening. If they flew in Friday night, they could come w/out having to use vacation days.

 

[LoraJ]

We had a Monday wedding (in Vegas) and most of our guests flew in Saturday and left Tuesday. Since yours is in the morning they could probably even leave on a late flight and only have to miss one day of work.

 

[Janell]

I choose Nov because I was there in 2003, the week of thanksgiving and it was beautiful weather, not to hot not to cold and the parks were not crowded. It was nice.

We got married at WDW on a Monday in May 2008. All our guest had to travel, most made a vacation out of it. A few came down on Sat and left on Tue.(wedding was on a Monday).

 

[Disney Doll]

I would do late October/early November.

The weather is still nice.

The kids have been in school long enough where if they have to be taken out for a day or to, it probably isn't so much of a problem. Parents usually don't like to pull kids out of school right when it starts. Plus, if you can work it around Veterans Day, they might already have a day off.

You could catch the end of the Food & Wine Festival.

 

[ilovejack02]

My favorite time at Disney is late Oct/ early Nov.

Weather is great and crowds are low. Not all parents are willing to take kiddos out then , but we are.

It is also Food and Wine fest time which is so much fun!

 

[Amy&Dan]

I said October. We have travelled that time to WDW many times and its lovely. And with Free Dining being this year, who knows maybe they'll do it next year too! Its generally good weather all over the country, with some small chance of hurricane problems but not too much. Food and Wine is going on, the Halloween Party and its just a great time to travel.

I think Januay is too iffy with snow storms for those coming from Mass. in particular (and lets face it, an airport a thousand miles away can mess up the whole system). Early December is lovely, but that's getting close to Christmas and people may feel like its hard to afford.

 

[java]

Am I not remembering correctly but didn't you ask this a couple months ago?? Pre the disney decision I believe though! CONGRATULATIONS!
I don't care when it was I would go to a Disney Wedding. I love the idea of the fireworks party.

I do like the idea of being there when the holiday decorations are up. Where are you getting married?? We saw several brides getting married as we walked to Epcot from the Boardwalk. It was so pretty! and romantic!

 

[KT27]

We got married at Sea Breeze Point at 10 am on a Monday morning, followed by a brunch (less expensive) at Ariel's, then we had some downtime before the Illumination in Lower UK that evening. The day was perfect. We were inside before it got too warm. I had 35 guests (33 out of state) and most came and made a long weekend of it.

Good Luck! I can't wait to plan my vow renewal at Castaway Cay!

 

[poohbear227]

Thank you for your responses!

I didn't remember posting this before, but I've been so scatterbrained lately it wouldn't faze me if I did and forgot!! DF & I have been going back & forth about this for a while! My mom keeps telling me no one will go because it's too much of a production to travel there , but this is our dream to get married there so I want to try to make this work. Plus, I mentioned to you where our guests are from-I figure people will have to travel regardless of where it is, so why not Disney & they can make a trip out of it as well??

We really wanted to do this while the Christmas decorations are still up (I love the holiday season at Disney), but I think you guys are right about mid December not being good because it's too close to Christmas & early January not being good because of the weather risk.

Lots of you voted for October-do you think early, middle, or late in the month? Is there a difference in hotel pricing within the month? Is there a difference in weather or crowds?

What about park decorations? Are the Christmas decorations up at the end of October?

My DF is thinking about early November-??

 

[Darcy03231]

I voted "other". I would do it sometime late February through March. The reason for this is that many people will get tax refunds around that time which will help with their expenses. I would have a hard time going anytime in November/December as I'm already spending quite a bit of extra money for Christmas. Right after Christmas can be hard for some people too because they're still recuperating (financially) from the holidays. If that time is out for you I would do it in October. As a previous poster pointed out, the weather that time of year is great. Actually, its one of my favorite times to go.

 

[BelleWDW]

We got married at Sea Breeze Point

Good Luck! I can't wait to plan my vow renewal at Castaway Cay!

I'm curious about relatively newlyweds having a "vow renewel"? Isn't this what couples married 20-25 years do? Why would you be planning this already?

 

[java]

There are school holidays to think about- meaning there might be more crowds that week

In November you have Jersey week! The schools here in NJ get off for at least 3 days and many people I know head to Disney that week- It's the week of Nov. 2nd this year.

So you might want to take that week off your list of choices.
The Park decorations in October are going to be Halloween. The holiday decorations don't go up until Early November I believe?

 

[Mickey's Minion]

We are planning a WDW wedding, but we are trying to find a date that would be convenient for our guests to go. 1/3 of the guests will be traveling from Florida (just a few hours from WDW). These guests are my parents' friends. My MOH and Ring Bearer will be traveling from Arizona, but I know she will accomodate any date I set. MY BF's Best Man will be traveling from Alabama, but he is a teacher in a private school. Again, I think he would take a day or two off to be there. The rest of our guests will be from Massachusetts.

We really do NOT want to be there in the summer & deal with that hot muggy weather. We would prefer anytime from November till January.

The other thing is, the resort where we are having our ceremony does not do weekend ceremonies, so we are going to opt for a Monday morning ceremony, followed by lunch. Fireworks Dessert Party at Epcot the night before the wedding. Do you think that is not enough to host guests traveling so far away to attend?

We are hoping our guests will take advantage of a long weekend at Disney to further make the trip worthwhile.

If you were invited to a destination wedding at WDW, what time of year would you prefer, be most affordable, & convenient to go?

Thanks!

***ETA: ONLY 2-3 CHILDREN WILL BE ATTENDING. TWO WILL BE STILL TODDLERS BY THEN. ONE WILL BE IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, BUT HIS PARENTS ARE FLEXIBLE WITH MISSING A DAY OF SCHOOL. NO OTHER CHILDREN. Sorry for caps!! I just realized with some of your replies, that this was an important factor in your opinions!

I voted "other". The reasoning for my vote is that you stated that your best man was a teacher. Since he is a very important part of the ceremony, I would be discussing this with him. Find out his ability to get a substitute, what holidays/teacher work days his school has and work around those.

As everybody said, you won't be able to please everybody, so focus on those people that are important elements of your wedding.