Is it worth it?

[Princess_Jo]

I've been a Disney fanatic since I was six years old and always dreamed of getting married at Disney. My fiance and I have been together four years and have already traveled to WDW together 7 times, including our last trip where he proposed! So it would only be fitting that we have our wedding at the most magical place on earth.

The problem? The expense. Coupled with the fact that everyone would need to fly in for the wedding which is an additional expense on all our guests. Although I think most family will be able to attend the wedding there will be a lot of friends who won't be able to afford it. And when I think of the wedding I could get at Disney compared to a wedding in New England (where we live) for the same amount of money I nearly fall over.

So my question to those who have had a Disney wedding or are planning one - why did you do it? What made the experience worth it to you?

I know ultimately this is our decision but it would be nice to have some guidance and hear testimonials from people who experienced it.

TIA!

 

[Swmhc]

As you said, ultimately, you will have to decide if it is worth it to you and your DF. That being said, for us...ABSOLUTELY !

Our families are spread out and neither of our parents are physically able to travel, so no matter where we had it, someone was going to be left out. Initially we figured it would just be us and my DD. In the end, we did have some very close friends and their families come too. We wouldn't change the experience for the world. But we also weren't expecting any additional people or their expenses, so that is something to consider as well. A lot of couples do the Disney wedding and then an at-home reception to get the best of both worlds. A more intimate ceremony at the location of their dreams and then party at home with all the friends and families and share the video, photos, etc...

Good luck in your decision !

 

[rnrlover]

I have an answer for you. No I've never been married. Heck, I've never had a boyfriend. I'm 14, also a New Englander like yourself. I've been dreaming of my disney wedding for some time now. I would say yes. Do it for the person inside you that has been dreaming for a dis wedding. you know you have. . Years into the future, you could be saying "Wow, I got married at disney world!" or "I COULD have been married in disney world, but instead...." This is a one-in-a-lifetime thing. Go for it and may you and your soon to be DH be veryy happy, whatever you choose.

 

[rpmdfw]

It was totally worth it for us!

And one of the big things that made it worth it was the fact that SO MANY of our friends and family decided to make the trip BECAUSE it was at WDW. They were able to make a mini-vacation out of it. We had guests in from Washington, California, Texas, Colorado, New Mexico, Louisiana, Michigan, Massachusetts, and the United Kingdom in addition to our local Floridian friends. And all of them said that it was one of the most fun weddings (if not THE most fun wedding) they've ever been to.

The other things that made it worth it to us was the level of service and customization with Disney. We were able to do just the things we wanted, and not have to deal with the other stuff. And the DFTW team is so awesome at what they do. They treated us like royalty from beginning to end, and made our day one that we could enjoy without stress.

I'd recommend doing it to anyone. We have no regrets at all!

 

[ahutton]

For us, it was worth it. We had a few factors working together for us.

First, if we had it at home, everyone except my Mom and Dad and DH and I would have had to travel. It would have been much more costly for everyone to gather here, hotels are generally more expensive, especially that time of year and there are fewer transportation options. Some of my family had travel concerns too - family in Alabama that a trip to Arizona would have been really hard or impossible for.

If we had it at home, there would be a lot of people we would "need" to invite such as friends, coworkers, and so on. The guest list would have been significantly longer, we figured around 100-150 people. Doing it "away" we invited family and a couple really close friends who were in the wedding party.

The budget, when we got down to it, was about the same for the home or Disney wedding. We were able to do things at Disney that were completely unique, and have professional assistance that I would not have had in my budget for a home wedding.

I'm not a person who obsesses over every detail, I didn't have an exact look in mind. In the pre-internetdays, we planned our wedding in 6 one-hour phone calls. I told them the things that mattered to me, what the budget was and then thoroughly enjoyed the ride. I sent some pictures of things I liked, told them what I liked about them and gave them creative control. I was not disappointed in anything!

If you are someone who wants it to look exactly a certain way and will be disappointed in anything else, just make sure you give them those specifics and they understand.

Our wedding was awesome, family still talk about that as one of the best times we've had as a family. No, not everyone we know and love was there, but we had all of the most special people with us and got to spend time with each of them. Worth it in every way!

 

[WDWBride04/19/2010]

I too have been a Disney fanatic since I was little (but like 3yrs. old, lol). When I was 8 and we were staying at the YC looking over the gazebo, I saw enough weddings for me to want mine there. When DF proposed he didn't realize that meant we were getting married there (hahaha), and hadn't even been to Disney. Luckily, my parents took us last Dec. and he loved it. Luckily, my parents are paying for it, so we only have to worry about rings and getting a place to live I believe [which honestly is enough considering he's a teaching assistant(=paid by the hr.), and I'm still in school]. Plus, I never wanted a big wedding, so we're not having 200 guests, I think our count is at 50. also live in New England (Mass.). I knew I could always get married at Fenway or at my beach down the Cape, but the gazebo was what I really always wanted. O yea, I think the process has also been less stressful than planning a wedding in Massachusetts would have been. I watched a male family member go through the Massachusetts process from beginning to the 2weeks before mark, and his fiance was def. more stressed out during most of it than I even was during the room block. Since I hit the 7months-to-go mark I haven't had much to do! I look for wedding socks, invitations, and favors when I can, but other than that, I have the time to concentrate on school...and I think it will be like this 'til we get closer to our Planning Session over X-mas. HTH!

I have an answer for you. No I've never been married. Heck, I've never had a boyfriend. I'm 14, also a New Englander like yourself. I've been dreaming of my disney wedding for some time now. I would say yes. Do it for the person inside you that has been dreaming for a dis wedding. you know you have. . Years into the future, you could be saying "Wow, I got married at disney world!" or "I COULD have been married in disney world, but instead...." This is a one-in-a-lifetime thing. Go for it and may you and your soon to be DH be veryy happy, whatever you choose.

Hahaha. You sound like me at 14.

 

[pinkcow]

We're not married yet, but really glad that we choose to go the Disney route. Like others have posted, we too are from MA. I priced out a very casual wedding on the Cape (beach with clambake) and even that cost was astronomical for the end result. Our wedding was going to be a destination wedding no matter what, we live in MN and our families have spread all between MA and FL. We choose DCL, as the cost was contained and we could still have that casual beach wedding, only this time with the Disney touch! You could also do an at home party when you get back.

There are lots of ways to save on the Disney wedding, if that is the most concerning. You could do Escape or have a ceremony on property but not "owned" by Disney. These options include Swan & Dolphin, Shades of Green, Buena Vista Palace, one bride is even doing a ceremony at Fulton's. Read Lurkyloo's PJ & TR, as she did a Wishes wedding for barely over minimum.

Best Wishes and Good Luck!

 

[Wish on a Star]

My wedding is not until next week, but I can say up until now, I feel like the wedding has totally been worth it. I am having an Escape wedding, so it's very small and not as expensive as a Wishes ceremony.

For me the best part of the entire process has been that everything is taken care of for you. I have said from the beginning that I wanted to be a "guest at my own wedding" No one can believe how relaxed and calm I am even though I am leaving on Saturday morning. I have complete confidence that everything will be there and taken care of not to mention BEAUTIFUL!!!

 

[abubu919]

I definitely think it is worth it! I have been looking into a Disney Wedding as well. I am not engaged yet but hopefully sometime soon in the near future My BF and I have visited Disney a couple times together, his first trip was with me last October and he loved it. We have looked at the YC Gazebo and SBP. It has always been my dream to get married at Disney ever since I went to a wedding there when i was little. I have also priced things out and it would be just above the minimum, but I don't want an extravagant wedding.
Just look into it more and everything will work out as planned

 

[kmg148]

I think if you looked into more of the boards and even the DFTW website, you would be able to tell in your heart if it's what you wanted. Whether that's the Cinderella coach or Donald Duck at your wedding, they are things you can't have anywhere else. You can truly be a princess for the day.

If it makes you feel better, look into things at home and cost it out. Is it near the same price?

Look into Wishes vs. Escape weddings. Wishes weddings have significantly higher minimums, while Escapes has $4,500 minimums. For around $10,000 you could have all the extras you want. With an Escape, you could just keep it to family members, and maybe cut down on the cost if you decide you want to help some people pay for their trip (friends?).

I'm just browsing, no where near the planning stages yet, but the idea I had was to have a "send off" party. That way, you could honeymoon in Disney right after your wedding. It would be a cute way of having a reception...just before the actual wedding. You could always have a reception at home as well!

Good luck! I hope we've all convinced you it's the way to go!

 

[receptionist]

I am a mother of the bride and I must say that my daughter's disney wedding was so worth it. She was married in May of 2008 at the Wedding Pavilion and reception at the Grand Floridian Hotel. Her planner was awesome!!!! the whole day was flawless nothing went wrong and everything was so smooth. Best of all, they didn't have any of the stress that usually goes along with planning a wedding because Disney and their planners and vendors took care of everything. The flowers, photography, video, food, etc. was all done by disney and I can't say enough wonderful things about them. I say if you can afford it go for it. Also, they do work with your budget, you can add or subtract anything you want in order for it to work for you. I am sure if you do decide to go with a Disney wedding you will not be disappointed. The reason they chose disney but not just because of it being Disney but because they had both gone to college in Orlando and they had both worked at one of the Disney venues. My daughter has been so into Disney since she was two years old so it was a natural for her to get married there. She wanted a place where when people entered it they would be so wowed by the venue etc. So, when they saw the wedding pavilion after seeing other places in and around the Orlando area they fell in love with the idea of having on disney property.

 

[pezaddict231]

Our wedding is in August, but we chose Disney for a number of reasons. It has been my dream to have a Disney wedding since I was 12 when I found out there even was such a thing! DF and I love Disney, it's our favorite place and we got engaged there this past June. I also like that we will really be able to spend time with all our guests and share our love of Disney with those that are most important to us.

For us, a Disney wedding is actually more cost effective. I could have spent a ton of money here to have a wedding like everyone else, or I could spend half that and have an amazing wedding with tons of pixie dust! Yes it will cost our guests more money to attend but I have traveled to go to friends' weddings and at least Disney is a destination that most people want to go to. If there are some that can't make it due to the expense or any reason really, that's perfectly okay with us. The people that really want to be there will be and you just have to be understanding of those that can't make it.

It's ultimately a choice you have to make, but I'm so happy with our decision and I'm so excited to be able to spend time with all our guests in our favorite place!

 

[KStarfish82]

I was married in July....it was absolutely, completely worth it!

Everything about it was fantastic. You felt like you were "someone" when they were catering to your needs. The decor, food, EVERYTHING was amazing.....and it rained on my wedding day so we could not even use the YCG!!

As for $$$, we did it for less than $20K for a wedding of 40. You really can cut costs....and we did have a lower amount of people because of finances. But I would not change a thing about that day!

 

[thatdisneygirl]

I think it's different for everyone, but for us it was ABSOLUTELY worth it!

The fact that we're Disney fanatics aside, it was amazing to have our families and friends come together and spend a week just relaxing and having fun on Disney property. My grandparents flew across the country for the first time (they're 84 and 84) and they absolutely loved going to all the parks and riding all the rides and eating all the food.

The great thing about having a destination wedding is that our friends and family really came together quickly and bonded over being in these big crowded parks and being able to go, "hey, I know you! Aren't you in the wedding?" By the time we got married, everyone had hung out together and exchanged numbers and we'd all become like one great big family. Which was exactly what we wanted to celebrate!

 

[alwaysdisney]

Since we got engaged in front of the castle, we always knew we would get married at Disney. We are planning an escape wedding and the only changes will be to add a flower boutique for maid of honor and a Best Man's boutonniere and alter arrangement. That's it. Including the wedding attire (brides dress, maid of honor (step daughter), Groom's suit & Best Man's suit), hair & makeup, steaming the wedding attire, honeymoon (7 day canival cruise), Invitations, Marriage license, officiant, airfare for 2, hotel room for 4 nights, rental car for 2 days, tickets for our guest to attend 'Mickey's Merry Christmas Party' the next night, dinner at 1900 Fare Park) Estimated total is $13,500.00.