Is a Disney Wedding worth it?

[Celebgrrl]

Hey all,

I'm new, and have just recently been investigating the Disney weddings.

Originally, I had planned to go to Disney World with my family for my 30th birthday (because if you have to turn 30, you may as well do it in the happiest place on earth!)

However, I had planned that vacation about two years before I met the love of my life! We are very sure that we will marry each other, and I've even moved from my hometown to be with him in Florida. He doesn't care for Disney, but he suffers it for my sake, and even goes with me to the theme parks now, because he knows I love it.

So, here's my question:
Should I scrape the 30th birthday plans, and save for a wedding/reception in the next two years? I was looking forward to celebrating, wearing the birthday pin, etc...but.....if it meant a wedding instead......

We both have Catholic backgrounds (non-practicing though), so that means I must get married in a church (I want to go home for that). But a reception for our friends here? Would that be a good idea? He loves Star Wars, so I was thinking about the Ewok village in Disney MGM for a reception. Or even the American Adventure parlor (he used to do Civil War reenacting.) Perhaps even England? We are considering having the groomsmen wear kilts, since DF is Scots-Irish, and wears kilts normally (Utilikilts rock!)

I just don't know--I think I got suckered into considering a wedding because I visited Franck's. (A VERY dangerous place to go if you are a bride--they make EVERYTHING seem so easy and wonderful) And I just can't handle all that planning!!!

Is the money worth it? Opinions, please!!!

Thanks all!!

 

[Rustyflwr3]

OK, so let me try and get this straight...You want to have the wedding somewhere else since you both are catholic, but you want to have the reception at Disney?

Both my fiance and I are catholic. We go to church every week, but are not as "hard core" as some people in the faith, and we are having a wedding at disney. Is getting married at a church your personal preference? I guess I don't have a really good view on this, since I haven't gotten married at Disney yet, but I would say that it would be worth it to save for the wedding! Could you possibly go just for your birthday... Maybe get a one day park hopper ticket? That way you could save for the wedding and enjoy your 30th birthday at Disney!!

Another queston is, have you talked to your future fiance about this? If you say that he isn't a huge disney fan, would he like this idea?

Good Luck with everything...

Jess

 

[Celebgrrl]

I have to get married in a church, otherwise I have a feeling that my grandmother might nver forgive me! Also, the Orlando diocese won't recognize weddings at Walt Disney World.

So, I was considering doing either a large wedding up north and a small reception down south, or vice versa. Of course, I could always have a vow renewal, but I didn't think there was much sense in doing it twice.

DF is not a huge Disney fan, but he does like a few things, such as pirates, The Jungle Book, sharks, Star Wars and the Haunted Mansion.

We talked about the idea--he seemed lukewarm until the Star Wars thing was mentioned. He also seemed cautious, but interested in the UK pavillion.

 

[hmgolden]

Its not just the Orlando Arch Diocese that won't recognize a wedding on disney property. According to canon law (which DH and I became very familiar with when planning our wedding) you must be married in a church inorder for the marriage to be recognized by the church. In the end, as we are not practicing Catholics we decided that the disney wedding was what we wanted, and everyone else would have to deal with it But just FYI, some options we explored were:

1. have the ceremony at the Orlando church - I forget the name of it....Mary, Mother of the Universe, or something like that, and then have the reception at Disney.

2. Have the marriage convalidated when we got home from our honeymoon (basically you do the church marriage ceremony when you get home to receive the sacrament). You have to get approval from your priest before hand, otherwise it gets dicey (from what I understand)

3. have the church ceremony before we left, for sentiment, and then have the Disney wedding for show.

Like I said, DH and I ultimately decided that the Disney wedding was what would work best for us, and I wouldn't have changed a thing about our day. It was well worth all the hassle we got from family beforehand. Good luck with your decision. I know how hard this one can be!

 

[Merandab4]

I say go to Disney for your 30th birthday! Afterall, that is a trip that you had planned with your family way before hand. Besides, you said that you "Think" that you and your guy will be getting married, you didn't say that you were engaged. I would hate for you to throw away a trip you had been planning on for such a long time, (and yes celebrating a 30th birthday at Disney would be the best!) for something that could change in the future.

In addition to your 30th Birthday trip fund, I would start a wedding fund so you have a good start when you two do finally become engaged. You can always opt to do an intimate wedding at Disney and then a larger reception at home or somewhere else.

I personally feel that A Disney wedding was a great decission for us. Though financially it didn't make sense. For what we paid to have 15 or so people celebrate with us at Disney, we could have had an at home wedding for about 150 guest. But it's all in personal preference. I knew that I wanted something "magical" and things that could only happen at Disney and that sort of thing I wouldn't been able to get back home. So I guess it's all in what you want out of it!

Good luck with your decission.

 

[ahutton]

For us, it was worth it. DH and I are practicing catholics. We were up front with our pastor at our home church. We did everything for our marriage preparation there in the year leading up to our wedding date. We flew to Florida, had a wonderful family event for a wedding, enjoyed a honeymoon cruise and then went home. The following weekend DH put on a suit, I put on a very simple white dress and with my parents as our BM & MOH had a church ceremony and went out for brunch after.

You might talk to your Mom, or Grandma if possible, about this. See how they will feel about doing a Disney wedding and then a chuch ceremony at home with them. Then you will need to talk to the pastor (head priest) at the church where you want to have the ceremony and see what their requirements are. Most are comfortable with allowing you to do the preparations at home, but require documentation that you have met their minimum standards for preparation. Often it is taking the test to identify areas of communication gaps, at least one natural family planning class, and either doing a premarital retreat or classes. For what it is worth, we did the classes and were very glad we did, the deacon and his wife who did our classes were wonderful. They looked at our areas of communication gaps and then geared the classes towards those, and worked with us on how to discuss issues which has served us well. Eight of the happiest years you could image, just celebrated yesterday!

Once you know those answers it may help you make your decision. A Star Wars themed reception sounds like great fun, and the Civil War theme is also a great idea.

 

[Codie]

I had similar concerns about a disney wedding and it being recognized by the catholic church, as my future husband is catholic. I contacted a Catholic priest in Orlando and he said that there was no problem doing the marriage at Disney as long as a priest blessed the marriage and performed the Eucharist. He confirmed this with his head bishop and said that they would be happy to help us. That had been a major concern of ours.

 

[Meliechick]

My husband and I are Catholic and opted for the Disney Wedding. No regrets. My husband was also luke warm about the idea but agreed to a Disney Wedding anyway. He loved it. Everything was beautiful! He now says he couldn't imagine getting married any other place. Just an idea if you don't get married there maybe you could have a bachelorette party/ girls night out there before the wedding.