Is a Disney Wedding for a Bride on a Budget?

[Ariel864]

Ok so I've been going round and round so far. My fiance and I met and fell in love working as Disney Professional Interns, so ideally we want to have our wedding in Disney. We're young, we don't have a ton of money, so we are trying to budget in whatever ways we can. I originally thought of an escape, but realized the swan and dolphin weddings are actually less expensive (and still in a beautiful Disney location). So Disney brides? Do you think a Disney wedding is actually feasible for a person on a strict budget? Ideally I'd like to do the wedding and reception and all its little details for 5000 or less.

Brides who have already had their Disney wedding did you have any fees that you didn't think about originally that somewhat snuck up on you later? What were the most challenging aspects of having a destination wedding (for those of you residing far from the mouse)? What were the benefits of choosing a Disney destination wedding?

It seems like most brides have had wonderful experiences. I'd love to hear whatever input you have to offer!

Thanks!

 

[Bethany66]

Based on our experience I would say "yes" you could pull off a wedding ceremony and a "reception" so long as you really stick to your budget. How many guests would be attending will be the big factor. Plus you may have to modify your idea of a "reception"-be it a sit down plated "in Park" event vs a sit down at say Fultons, Wolfgang Pucks or other resturant. Even "in Park" resturants can be an option depending upon your guest list and dining requests.
For us a Disney Wedding was far more economical for us and our guests versus having a wedding in Southern California. We scheduled our wedding during the Food & Wine Festival so that guests could enjoy their vacations-with a wedding on the side.
We had an excellent, hassle free wedding and the photography was amazing!
Additonal costs were things like the Marriage License, rental car for moving guests around prior to the Wedding Day.

 

[Deb loves Disney]

Hi and congratulations!!!

My DH and I met at Disney also and we just had an Escape wedding in December. We definitely wanted some kind of small reception after because we didn't just want the wedding and then leave. It seemed like it would just not be enough of a celebration, I mean it was our day to celebrate with friends and family. We decided to add on a small reception (2 hrs) after the wedding and DFTW added on a new premium minimum which brought the total to $7500 that we had to meet. We went ahead with it and also added on a dessert party for the end of the night. We added extra floral and decorations as well as upgrading our cake. We also hired an outside Photographer and Videographer and Hair/Make-up professionals. When it was all totaled up it ended up being just under $10,000 (this does not include the outside vendors) which was way more than what we originally wanted to spend but decided that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and decided to just go ahead with it.

Most of our guests lived in Florida but we had several come in from out of state and it all went very smoothly. All of our guests except for a handful stayed on property. We used our limo, which is included in the Escape package, to transport our guests on the wedding day.

In the end and now that I can look back on the experience, I wouldn't have done it any differently. You can do it for less than what we spent especially if you go a Swan/Dolphin wedding or even a DCL wedding. It will be so worth it in the end and all of your guests will tell you how wonderful the wedding was and how it was the best they have ever been to.

I hope this helps some. Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[tinkerbell 766]

I am doing a VR at the Swan in May and I estimate that I will have spent around half od what I would have had I gone through DFTW. I have my celebration right there at WDW, photos at Swan, Boardwalk, BLT and GF and my reception dinner at Citricos (wandering down to Narcosse's landing to see fireworks after dinner). I feel no magic is missing at all!!! I have been able to chose a lot of my own vendors, thus giving me more flexability on styles and price!!
Check out Carries podcast on S/D weddings (link below). You may find it helpful!! It is the second report down

http://www.insidedisneyweddings.com/

Feel free to check out my PJ (link in my signature) and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!!
Happy planning!!

 

[jlocmac]

I think it's very possible. Especially if you're having it at the Swan. We're having an Escape wedding. We're not really spending that much on extras. We changed our date to this year so we could get the 20% discount. We have 18 guests. We are adding MK/Epcot pics and a little extra floral (aisle and cake table petals). With all of that, dress, tux, hair/makeup, officiant, marriage license.. (I think that's it) we hope to spend less than $8000. WE HOPE!! haha I think it's manageable if you set a budget and stick to it. Don't let all of the extra stuff pull you into spending more money.

 

[KristiLyn]

I am doing a VR at the Swan in May and I estimate that I will have spent around half od what I would have had I gone through DFTW. I have my celebration right there at WDW, photos at Swan, Boardwalk, BLT and GF and my reception dinner at Citricos (wandering down to Narcosse's landing to see fireworks after dinner). I feel no magic is missing at all!!! I have been able to chose a lot of my own vendors, thus giving me more flexability on styles and price!!
Check out Carries podcast on S/D weddings (link below). You may find it helpful!! It is the second report down

http://www.insidedisneyweddings.com/

Feel free to check out my PJ (link in my signature) and if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!!
Happy planning!!

I second this!! I really wanted a Disney wedding, but couldn't really add the things I wanted to the ceremony/reception and be able to afford it. So I found the alternative, the Swan wedding

 

[Jilian]

If you don't plan on having a lot of guests then I think you can do it for around $5000 @ the Swan/Dolphin. We're doing a VR there with 40ish people and we're in the $7000 range (including a dinner and cocktail hour @ Il Mulino after).

 

[Mindyjoy]

At Disneyland they have the Escape package, which is $5000 exactly inclusive of tax and tip. You can have up to 26 people (including you and groom). You get a ceremony and reception site, three course lunch, cake, and champagne. I think you also get a simple bouquet and bout. They only offer this Monday-Thursday for lunch receptions.

 

[lt90]

I think its definately affordable!I havent had my wedding yet but having a look at others PJ's people have managed to stick to the minimum Escape package by not adding any extras so I'm sure it can be done on a budget so long as you are prepared to compromise on extras!

 

[lt90]

P.S - Anyone know how to get my ticker working?!?x

 

[stl_figment]

We are doing a DCL wedding at Castaway Cay with 17 people coming (plus the 2 of us).

$1077 (Cruise)
$3500 (Wedding)
$180 (Extra Guest Costs)
$1400 (MK and Epcot Portraits)
$435 (Wedding Ceremony Photos)

Total $6592

 

[2010_Bride]

We had an Escape wedding with 15 guests, (immediate family only). We used the WP and had a small amount of floral which we moved to the Key West Room as our dinner floral.

We stayed away from all the extras -MK photo shoots, characters, dessert parties, extra photography (Disney photography did a great job) etc..
It can sometimes be hard to keep to a smaller budget when reading these boards and hearing all of the wonderful extras everyone is talking about. All the Disney venues are beautiful, and you don't need to go crazy trying to over decorate them.

We were just over $8000, but then I broke down and added the horse drawn coach (not Cinderella's carriage) and came in around $9000 total with all of the extras including hair/make-up, rental car etc..
This was WAY cheaper than anything we could do back home - plus, back home we would have been looking at at least 200+ guests

 

[leonix8238]

You could definitely do this if you know exactly what you HAVE to have and what you can do without. It's so very easy to get carried away and feel that you need something, especially when you read about all the elaborate weddings on the boards. As wonderful as they are, the simpler weddings can be just as beautiful and memorable too.

Extra costs may include hair and make up costs, officiant, marriage licence, gift for planner, outside photographer/videographer, transportation (if reception is not near enough to walk to) etc.

Does the $5,000 include your dress, wedding bands, invitation, suit hire/purchase too?

An alternative to the Swan could be the Memories collection which is on offer until April 2010. Though you can only have 4 guests at these events.

http://disneyweddings.disney.go.com/weddings/florida/escapememoriespackage/faq/detail

Good luck with your thrifty planning!

 

[PrincessTinker11]

You could definitely do this if you know exactly what you HAVE to have and what you can do without. It's so very easy to get carried away and feel that you need something, especially when you read about all the elaborate weddings on the boards. As wonderful as they are, the simpler weddings can be just as beautiful and memorable too.

Extra costs may include hair and make up costs, officiant, marriage licence, gift for planner, outside photographer/videographer, transportation (if reception is not near enough to walk to) etc.

Does the $5,000 include your dress, wedding bands, invitation, suit hire/purchase too?

An alternative to the Swan could be the Memories collection which is on offer until April 2010. Though you can only have 4 guests at these events.

http://disneyweddings.disney.go.com/weddings/florida/escapememoriespackage/faq/detail

Good luck with your thrifty planning!

Is this custom to get the wedding planner a gift, I have not really heard from mine and don't think I will ever see her as I am having a DCL wedding? Just wondering...

 

[PrincessShea]

It's impossible to say without more details. Most importantly, how many people do you want to have? If you want to have like 30 guests...no $5000 is not a realistic number. If you want to have 15 people and and afternoon wedding at Swan/Dolphin....sure.

It really depends on how much you count towards your overall budget. When you say you want to spend $5000, does that mean EVERYTHING? Lots of people post their budgets, but don't include the most expensive things; like the dress, airfare, rings, photography, etc. If you are talking about absolutely everything, including tax; I think $5000 is just not enough for a destination wedding. If you are just talking the ceremony, basic photography, and a light lunch for less than 20 people; sure.

 

[jlocmac]

We just made adjustments to our budget. We're doing everything including wedding attire, hair/make-up for under 6000. This doesn't include the resort stay though.