Marriage

[Raecheal]

Any Canadians ever get married in Walt Disney World?

 

[WieczoreksLoveDisney]

great mind think alike I was going to ask the same question today

 

[grover]

We did..we had our wedding at The Swan in 2004, Just Marry is who takes care of Swan Weddings.
There is also the disney weddings..but we wanted to spend more on vacation & less on the little things..so The Swan was perfect for us

 

[Raecheal]

great mind think alike I was going to ask the same question today

A disney wedding has been on my mind alot lately.. although we are not engaged.. i can feel it's going to happen soon

I just was just curious if any Canadians were married in WDW and how much they spent...

We did..we had our wedding at The Swan in 2004, Just Marry is who takes care of Swan Weddings.
There is also the disney weddings..but we wanted to spend more on vacation & less on the little things..so The Swan was perfect for us

awww..that is really sweet. I"m going to google 'Swan weddings'.. i've been on the Disboards for Weddings.. and have looked at other brides BEO.. and it looks to be very expensive!! :S

 

[Subrbnmommy]

My sister got married at the wedding pavillion and had her reception at the Polynesian.

 

[disney1008]

Hi everyone,

I was married at WDW in 2001 when the Canadian dollar was a scary 58cents on the American dollar. Needless to say we spent quite a bit of money but it was well worth it and I would definitely do it all over again.

The night before we had a rehearsal dinner (with all of my guest 43) at Typhoon Lagoon. It was amazing to have the park to ourselves. I had the wave pool open and the shark tank open for my guests. We had a backyard bbq buffet style for food (Chicken and Corn on the Cob etc.... Mickey Ice Cream Bars for dessert). I had a calypso band play at Typhoon also.

We had our ceremony at the Wedding Pavilion and then went over to the Grand Floridian for the reception outside on the terrace/patio area. It was Canadian thanksgiving weekend so we served turkey and the trimmings. All the food was set up nicely outside with the carvers for our turkey. My husband and I used a horse and carriage to be taken from the wedding pavilion to the Grand Floridian. My guests were driven by limo if they liked but it was so close some chose to take the walkway and walk along the beach line.

During the reception I had a caricature artist draw caricatures for all of my guests and that was like their wedding favour instead of mints or CD's. I also had a 3 piece band playing during the dinner and I had Disney photography do all my pictures.

After the dinner/reception we took all my guests over to Epcot for an Illuminations Dessert Party. This was the best thing ever. We held it at the Italy Isola so that area was blocked off specifically for us. We had desserts, coffees and of course more alcohol for everyone their. We were set to watch the Tapestry of Nations parade but it was cancelled due to windy weather. But then Illuminations went off and my hubby and I had photographs taken with the fireworks in the background. I like to call this photo the money shot. I had been waiting all day to have my pic taken in front of the fireworks.

All in all you really do feel like a princess. Disney does everything for you and is always ready with a back up plan. We had threatening clouds a couple of times but my wedding planner had the room inside the Grand Floridian ready and prepared in case we had to go inside due to rain.

If you have any questions fire away, I love talking about my wedding especially to Disney fans. Good luck.

 

[Raecheal]

Hi everyone,

I was married at WDW in 2001 when the Canadian dollar was a scary 58cents on the American dollar. Needless to say we spent quite a bit of money but it was well worth it and I would definitely do it all over again.

The night before we had a rehearsal dinner (with all of my guest 43) at Typhoon Lagoon. It was amazing to have the park to ourselves. I had the wave pool open and the shark tank open for my guests. We had a backyard bbq buffet style for food (Chicken and Corn on the Cob etc.... Mickey Ice Cream Bars for dessert). I had a calypso band play at Typhoon also.

We had our ceremony at the Wedding Pavilion and then went over to the Grand Floridian for the reception outside on the terrace/patio area. It was Canadian thanksgiving weekend so we served turkey and the trimmings. All the food was set up nicely outside with the carvers for our turkey. My husband and I used a horse and carriage to be taken from the wedding pavilion to the Grand Floridian. My guests were driven by limo if they liked but it was so close some chose to take the walkway and walk along the beach line.

During the reception I had a caricature artist draw caricatures for all of my guests and that was like their wedding favour instead of mints or CD's. I also had a 3 piece band playing during the dinner and I had Disney photography do all my pictures.

After the dinner/reception we took all my guests over to Epcot for an Illuminations Dessert Party. This was the best thing ever. We held it at the Italy Isola so that area was blocked off specifically for us. We had desserts, coffees and of course more alcohol for everyone their. We were set to watch the Tapestry of Nations parade but it was cancelled due to windy weather. But then Illuminations went off and my hubby and I had photographs taken with the fireworks in the background. I like to call this photo the money shot. I had been waiting all day to have my pic taken in front of the fireworks.

All in all you really do feel like a princess. Disney does everything for you and is always ready with a back up plan. We had threatening clouds a couple of times but my wedding planner had the room inside the Grand Floridian ready and prepared in case we had to go inside due to rain.

If you have any questions fire away, I love talking about my wedding especially to Disney fans. Good luck.

Wow. I am so thankful you replied to my post. I have so many questions. First of all, I must say your Wedding sounded absolutely magical... i'm sure your guest had an amazing time. I love the idea of a dessert party (it's those photo's of a dessert party that sold my df )

Dbf and I are not engaged as of yet, but i am positive it will happen soon as he has agreed to get married in walt disney world most likely in Sept. 2011 as long as his immediate family is present. Obvisouly he agreed now because we will have to start saving for our magical day as soon as possible.

My question is, and if you dont feel comfortable answering or if you'd rather PM me thats fin. How much in Canadian dollars did you roughly spend in total cost for the wedding?

 

[AndyMcV]

Hi everyone,

I was married at WDW in 2001 when the Canadian dollar was a scary 58cents on the American dollar. Needless to say we spent quite a bit of money but it was well worth it and I would definitely do it all over again.

The night before we had a rehearsal dinner (with all of my guest 43) at Typhoon Lagoon. It was amazing to have the park to ourselves. I had the wave pool open and the shark tank open for my guests. We had a backyard bbq buffet style for food (Chicken and Corn on the Cob etc.... Mickey Ice Cream Bars for dessert). I had a calypso band play at Typhoon also.

We had our ceremony at the Wedding Pavilion and then went over to the Grand Floridian for the reception outside on the terrace/patio area. It was Canadian thanksgiving weekend so we served turkey and the trimmings. All the food was set up nicely outside with the carvers for our turkey. My husband and I used a horse and carriage to be taken from the wedding pavilion to the Grand Floridian. My guests were driven by limo if they liked but it was so close some chose to take the walkway and walk along the beach line.

During the reception I had a caricature artist draw caricatures for all of my guests and that was like their wedding favour instead of mints or CD's. I also had a 3 piece band playing during the dinner and I had Disney photography do all my pictures.

After the dinner/reception we took all my guests over to Epcot for an Illuminations Dessert Party. This was the best thing ever. We held it at the Italy Isola so that area was blocked off specifically for us. We had desserts, coffees and of course more alcohol for everyone their. We were set to watch the Tapestry of Nations parade but it was cancelled due to windy weather. But then Illuminations went off and my hubby and I had photographs taken with the fireworks in the background. I like to call this photo the money shot. I had been waiting all day to have my pic taken in front of the fireworks.

All in all you really do feel like a princess. Disney does everything for you and is always ready with a back up plan. We had threatening clouds a couple of times but my wedding planner had the room inside the Grand Floridian ready and prepared in case we had to go inside due to rain.

If you have any questions fire away, I love talking about my wedding especially to Disney fans. Good luck.

That sounds like a truely wonderful day. That also sounds like what we would have planned for our wedding if it had been at Disney. Just curious, since we're all anonymous here, how much did that actually cost you.

 

[Raecheal]

My sister got married at the wedding pavillion and had her reception at the Polynesian.

Did she have a hard time with family willing to travel down to Orlando?

 

[disney1008]

Okay for those that are interested, we paid approximately $30,000 Canadian when all was said and done. That was a custom wedding with 43 guests total including us. Again the exchange rate was disgusting as mentioned previously 58 cents on the dollar. So that bumped up the price of course, but I know that if I married here at home there would have been well over 150guests attending and my wedding would have cost at least $20,000 anyway. So in my opinion it was well worth the extra cash. My husbands family is very big and mine is extemely small so I was very happy to have a custom wedding but it was very intimate with my very close family and friends. We invited more than 43 guests (two years in advance actually) but the ones who decided to come knew from the beginning they were going to come. We actually sent out two or three newsletters during the course of the two years to guests which informed them of our wedding plans and to help the families organize their plans and maybe take a Disney vacation as well as attend our wedding.
At first my DH family was not on board with the Disney Destination Wedding but in the end after it was all said and done my new FIL actually said to me "I couldn't imagine you having any other type of wedding." Disney has that magic which can change people a little bit I guess.
The planning with Disney via e-mail/telephone and fax is so easy and I never had any worries about things being done correctly or not. It was really less stressful than trying to do everything yourself at home. I know I would not have hired a wedding planner if I had a local wedding so it would have been very stressful for me.
Keep us posted on the engagement front I would love to hear about your plans. I am in the stages of possibly planning a 10 year anniversary Dessert Party at the U.K. Pavilion in the next two and a half years. I would love to go back with my friends and family.

 

[balatonbabe]

I'm a more recent DFTW Canadian. We hit the exchange rate at the perfect time last January, so we were actually under budget . There were about 70 of us that travelled from Canada and Europe. Disney really knows their stuff, and we were really pleased with everything.

We had a Wishes wedding. The Wedding Pavillion is gorgeous, and we had Cindy's coach for transportation! Our reception was at the Grand Floridian with Mickey & Minnie as suprise guests. It was truly magical. Our guests are still talking about it...

If you have any specific questions, send me a pm.

 

[Raecheal]

Okay for those that are interested, we paid approximately $30,000 Canadian when all was said and done. That was a custom wedding with 43 guests total including us. Again the exchange rate was disgusting as mentioned previously 58 cents on the dollar. So that bumped up the price of course, but I know that if I married here at home there would have been well over 150guests attending and my wedding would have cost at least $20,000 anyway. So in my opinion it was well worth the extra cash. My husbands family is very big and mine is extemely small so I was very happy to have a custom wedding but it was very intimate with my very close family and friends. We invited more than 43 guests (two years in advance actually) but the ones who decided to come knew from the beginning they were going to come. We actually sent out two or three newsletters during the course of the two years to guests which informed them of our wedding plans and to help the families organize their plans and maybe take a Disney vacation as well as attend our wedding.
At first my DH family was not on board with the Disney Destination Wedding but in the end after it was all said and done my new FIL actually said to me "I couldn't imagine you having any other type of wedding." Disney has that magic which can change people a little bit I guess.
The planning with Disney via e-mail/telephone and fax is so easy and I never had any worries about things being done correctly or not. It was really less stressful than trying to do everything yourself at home. I know I would not have hired a wedding planner if I had a local wedding so it would have been very stressful for me.
Keep us posted on the engagement front I would love to hear about your plans. I am in the stages of possibly planning a 10 year anniversary Dessert Party at the U.K. Pavilion in the next two and a half years. I would love to go back with my friends and family.

I"ve budgeted about 30,000.00 i'm hoping this is enough

I'm a more recent DFTW Canadian. We hit the exchange rate at the perfect time last January, so we were actually under budget . There were about 70 of us that travelled from Canada and Europe. Disney really knows their stuff, and we were really pleased with everything.

We had a Wishes wedding. The Wedding Pavillion is gorgeous, and we had Cindy's coach for transportation! Our reception was at the Grand Floridian with Mickey & Minnie as suprise guests. It was truly magical. Our guests are still talking about it...

If you have any specific questions, send me a pm.

I will PM you.

 

[Cdn Gal]

I'm actually surprised at how little that is! I would have thought for something like that it would have been alot, lot more! When I think of some of the weddings I have been to up in Toronto- this cost is 'nothing' in comparison! Mind you, when we got married we did it on the cheap, but that's OK I would like to renew our vows at Disney some day and...I would like to renew our vows in Vegas andhave Elvis marry us. It's one of those things to giggle about when we are old and on our rocking chairs!

 

[tgropp]

My son is getting married in Jamaica and we are having a reception at the Royal Ontario Golf Course in Mississauga 2 weeks after we get home. A Disney wedding does sound quite reasonable with a $30,000.00 bill for 40 + people.

 

[disney1008]

Balatonbabe may be able to tell you a more current price but 8 years ago that's what it was. Glad to hear you all don't think I'm crazy. Most people here did at first. But in the end it all worked out. I say if your thinking about it do it. It is one of the best things we did. I don't regret any of it.

 

[disney0210]

disney1008, when you said you were planning a dessert party in the UK, what exactly did you mean? is this something you have to book with disney or you just do it on your own? i am very much interested!

thanks in advance.

 

[disney1008]

Disney0210 - You do have to book it through Disney as they have to book that area off for only your party. Not sure how much it will cost as you can't book it to far out. When I booked my wedding they would not reserve the actually date until I believe 8-10months out. Also some locations like the Italy Isola requires a minimum number of guests. You could always contact Disney to get specifics, I think I will start to do that this summer so I can let my friends and family know well in advance once more. Good luck.

 

[grace&philipsmom]

To those married at Disney it sounds like a dream, you are so lucky. If I could do it all over again, that's what we would have done.

I guess I'll have to settle for a renewal of vows for our 25th anniversary......which is still 21 years away .