mickeymoose3 said:
Hi all! My bride and I are planning a 20th anniversary vow renewal for Oct. 7, 2006.
My husband and I celebrated 20 years of marriage with an evening ceremony in the WP and a private dinner party inside the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park. This was all last October. It was incredible and what I had been waiting a lifetime for. I have no regrets (except that I wish it would have happened 20 years sooner).
Our reception began with an outdoor handprint ceremony just like they do in Hollywood (it was too cute for words). That was followed by our dinner party inside the Great Movie Ride. After dessert, we moved outdoors for our dance party underneath the stars, the full moon, and the lunar eclipse. Our DJ "PJ" was incredible and even got my Dad out on the dance floor (we danced beneath the Sorcerer's Hat icon). After our dance party, my guests were surprised by a custom fireworks display that was set to music. To say it took everyone's breaths away would be the understatement of the century. It was truly the most incredible way to cap 20 years of a wild and crazy marriage that only the Heavens Above knew would last.
I have two trip reports on the Dis about the
planning of my vow renewal and about the
actual vow renewal. Since my work life is so hectic, I don't have much of a personal life and thus have been unable to complete my trip reports so far. One day, I hope to do so. I began writing those trip reports as a way to document what happened for my son's and daughter's sakes. I think they will enjoy telling the story to their own children one day (well, at least that's my wish).
What concerns did I have about being outdoors? Plenty. My fireworks display was expensive and it was set to go off come rain or come shine. I had to sign a contract at 30-days prior and there was no turning back once that contract was signed. I held my breath until 2 AM on the evening of the event when my fireworks display began. Praise the Lord that we had absolutely perfect weather that night (no clouds, plenty of stars, a full moon, and a lunar eclipse).
As to my outdoor dance party, our backup location was inside the Great Movie Ride's "black box" room, so I didn't have any concerns about that. I knew the light-up tables that I had ordered would look wonderful inside that dark room (they barely showed up outdoors since it wasn't dark enough and Disney had warned me of that).
I did have concerns about being outdoors for our meal and thus nixed the idea of the Tower of Terror dinner. I also worried about it when I was considering moving my dinner party to the Magic Kingdom. But I am so glad that I stuck with the Great Movie Ride and the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park. I have no regrets about that evening whatsoever. And now my husband has to top that event with an even more magical one for our 25 wedding anniversary. I pity the poor man. I think our 20th will be impossible to top.
Your 20th anniversary sounds
magical. I love everything that you have planned so far. Definitely talk to your EM about backup locations and such. That will put your mind at ease. But do consider how you will feel if those backup locations have to be used. I know that I had to consider that. I tried to visualize how I would feel at every step of the way if my party plans had to be changed at the last minute to utilize the backup locations. I could live with that and it did give me some peace (not complete peace, but enough peace to move forward with my plans).
I hope I have helped. If you have any questions, just let me know. Again, congratulations!
), a reception at the Italy Isola at 6PM, and a DJ with dancing in the Italy pavillion after Epcot closes. We have been told we can have a string quartet during the dining portion of our reception and the DJ and dance floor can be set up after Illuminations. My concern is having an outdoor reception. Besides weather, what else can be a problem with the outside reception? Has anyone heard of someone doing the event as we are planning it? Any experiences would be greatly appreciated!
