Outdoor wedding in December??? Help!

Ash8716

Disney Maniac
Joined
Jul 4, 2011
Messages
410
Ok I am suppose to get married at the wedding pavilion on December 2nd but after having our planning session I am unsure that I want to risk the construction. We could not get any guarantees that construction would stop during ceremonies and with all the issues brides are having right now I don't think I want to risk it. So our planner told us we could do the Marina or Sago Cay for our ceremony at the Grand Floridian. Has anyone had an outside wedding in December here? I can't decide if this is going to be a big risk too. The ceremony is at noon so its not first thing in the morning. Any thoughts would be great, I'm at such a loss right now :confused3
 
The weather can be iffy in Dacember, I know a Bride on her got married at SBP at the end of December during a cold snap (I think the highs were in the fifties). I'd ask your planner if heaters could be brought in if necessary and I'd make sure you are happy with whatever the backup is (usually a ballroom for outdoor ceremonies).
 
We got married at 5pm at Sea Breeze Point on 30th November last year and it was 80+ degrees!

If it saves you the worry and the stress then I say go for it, if you are concerned about the weather then as the PP said you could have heaters as a back up. :thumbsup2
 
Thanks guys, the heaters are a good idea. I love the location it still offers the views of the castle but without worrying about what could be going on with construction at the point in time. Have either of you used the heaters for an event? Do they actually give off decent amount of heat?

I'm glad you got such a great day for your wedding btw!!
 

Ashley is you check our Lurkyloos wedding anniversary Trip Report (the one at the UK) I think you will see pictures of patio heaters. Living in the North East of the UK I can confirm that these things really give off some heat.
 
Thanks guys, the heaters are a good idea. I love the location it still offers the views of the castle but without worrying about what could be going on with construction at the point in time. Have either of you used the heaters for an event? Do they actually give off decent amount of heat?

I'm glad you got such a great day for your wedding btw!!

I've not had personal experience at Disney but as Pinkgirl said living the in UK I come across these daily at pubs and restaurants with outdoor seating and in general they give off a nice heat.

I'd have a chat to your planning about your worries and see what they say. Don't worry though I'm sure your day will be wonderful. :wizard:
 
Early December is usually pretty mild, you'd probably be fine. We are getting married on the 10th at the WP, but our cocktail hour is on the Whitehall Patio..... we plan on just getting space heaters if it's too chilly out.
 
I"m getting married the week before Christmas at an outdoor ceremony. I was told that the weather can be variable (cold to warm but rarely raining) & I let them know I wanted to keep it outside, no matter how cold it gets. It's only a 25 minute ceremony and I just do not want to move indoors. Most of my guests are from New England so 50 degrees is nothing to us for 25 minutes ;)

My cocktail hour is also outside and if it reaches below 50 degrees, they will move that to a very pretty indoor location right near my reception room :)
 
I wouldn't be too worried. I live 2 hours SW of Orlando and December isn't usually that bad in the afternoon. It usually starts out a bit chilly and then warms up closer to noon time. The heaters are a nice backup if a cold front moves in.
 
I've not had personal experience at Disney but as Pinkgirl said living the in UK I come across these daily at pubs and restaurants with outdoor seating and in general they give off a nice heat.

I'd have a chat to your planning about your worries and see what they say. Don't worry though I'm sure your day will be wonderful. :wizard:

OK thats great to know. I'm talking with my planner on Wednesday so we will see her opinion. I'm sure in the end things will be great. Just tough trying to make this decision with 3 months to go
 
Early December is usually pretty mild, you'd probably be fine. We are getting married on the 10th at the WP, but our cocktail hour is on the Whitehall Patio..... we plan on just getting space heaters if it's too chilly out.

Great! Glad to get all these opinions of people who actually know the Florida weather
 
I"m getting married the week before Christmas at an outdoor ceremony. I was told that the weather can be variable (cold to warm but rarely raining) & I let them know I wanted to keep it outside, no matter how cold it gets. It's only a 25 minute ceremony and I just do not want to move indoors. Most of my guests are from New England so 50 degrees is nothing to us for 25 minutes ;)

My cocktail hour is also outside and if it reaches below 50 degrees, they will move that to a very pretty indoor location right near my reception room :)

Haha we are from CT so I totally know what you mean, I know my guests won't complain for the 20 minutes either. I just don't want Disney to make the decision to move it indoor because its cold to them lol

I love that you are having a cocktail hour outside. I love the idea of the whole wedding being outside but my parents didn't want to take that big of a risk with reception! Hopefully you have a great day for your wedding! I've been down there for New Years and its always been nice. At night it gets cold but oh well. I just get nervous with risking it for the wedding. Since we have already switched from pavilion I don't want to see the second location changed!
 
I wouldn't be too worried. I live 2 hours SW of Orlando and December isn't usually that bad in the afternoon. It usually starts out a bit chilly and then warms up closer to noon time. The heaters are a nice backup if a cold front moves in.

Great to know! Makes me feel better about the decision hearing this stuff. I was hoping by noon it would be a warmer part of the day anyway :)
 
Haha we are from CT so I totally know what you mean, I know my guests won't complain for the 20 minutes either. I just don't want Disney to make the decision to move it indoor because its cold to them lol

I love that you are having a cocktail hour outside. I love the idea of the whole wedding being outside but my parents didn't want to take that big of a risk with reception! Hopefully you have a great day for your wedding! I've been down there for New Years and its always been nice. At night it gets cold but oh well. I just get nervous with risking it for the wedding. Since we have already switched from pavilion I don't want to see the second location changed!

What part of CT are you from? We live in MA, only around 25 minutes from Enfield!

We are getting married at the Swan and our planner and catering coordinator said they would never "force" us inside for the ceremony unless it was storming, raining, or snowing LOL! :laughing: Not sure if DFTW has a strict policy on it or not? You may want to let your planner know that you want to do eveything possible to stay outdoors for the ceremony. We are having our cocktail hour in the Swan Fountain courtyard & I'm really excited! :
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That will be from noon to 1pm, so I'm hoping it stays warm enough to stay outside....otherwise, I'm fine if that gets moved indoors.
 
OK thats great to know. I'm talking with my planner on Wednesday so we will see her opinion. I'm sure in the end things will be great. Just tough trying to make this decision with 3 months to go

I'm sure it will all work out perfectly. :goodvibes
 
What part of CT are you from? We live in MA, only around 25 minutes from Enfield!

We are getting married at the Swan and our planner and catering coordinator said they would never "force" us inside for the ceremony unless it was storming, raining, or snowing LOL! :laughing: Not sure if DFTW has a strict policy on it or not? You may want to let your planner know that you want to do eveything possible to stay outdoors for the ceremony. We are having our cocktail hour in the Swan Fountain courtyard & I'm really excited! :
4729136450_55c2a15eaf_z.jpg


That will be from noon to 1pm, so I'm hoping it stays warm enough to stay outside....otherwise, I'm fine if that gets moved indoors.


We are from Somers which is about 15 minutes from Enfield. We are on the Mass border! So not to far from each other.

You guys are lucky. From what I understand we don't have a say in if they change from outdoor to indoor. I think they make the decision 4 or 5 hours before but I'm not positive on that and if the temperature reaches 50 then it is inside. Seems like there is much for flexibility with the Swan/Dolphin. Your location looks very pretty. I'm jealous you are having cocktail outside! Since its in the afternoon you will at least hit the warmest part of the day so as long as there is no unusual weather I'm sure you will be ok too. We are having cocktail/reception at Atlantic Dance Hall. I'm really excited for that though, looks like a lot of fun there.
 
We are from Somers which is about 15 minutes from Enfield. We are on the Mass border! So not to far from each other.

You guys are lucky. From what I understand we don't have a say in if they change from outdoor to indoor. I think they make the decision 4 or 5 hours before but I'm not positive on that and if the temperature reaches 50 then it is inside. Seems like there is much for flexibility with the Swan/Dolphin. Your location looks very pretty. I'm jealous you are having cocktail outside! Since its in the afternoon you will at least hit the warmest part of the day so as long as there is no unusual weather I'm sure you will be ok too. We are having cocktail/reception at Atlantic Dance Hall. I'm really excited for that though, looks like a lot of fun there.

Aah, I know where Somers is. My DF used to work at the Mass Mutual in Enfield so we have spent some time in that area :)

Yes, a perk of a S/D wedding is definitely their flexibility!

I love Atlantic Dance Hall-you picked a great choice! If we had gone through DFTW, we were looking at a Boardwalk area wedding so I was looking at ADH as a possible reception venue at the time-it was between that & the Attic. Seems silly for Disney to not allow the ceremony outside in colder weather if the bride & groom are OK with it & OK with having heaters, as long as it's only a 20-25 minute ceremony. At first the S/D gave us the same recommendation about the 50 degrees, but I told them we had our heart set on being outside just for the short ceremony & that we were OK with it being a little chilly & they assured us that as long as it's safe outside for guests (meaning no storms, rain, etc), we could do it, since the ceremony is not long. I do hope we have our cocktail hour as planned outside (the location is so pretty!!), but if that ends up moving indoors, we will be OK.
 
Early December is usually pretty mild, you'd probably be fine. We are getting married on the 10th at the WP, but our cocktail hour is on the Whitehall Patio..... we plan on just getting space heaters if it's too chilly out.



Most of the time early December IS lovely. Now, if you get a "Norther" come through...people will be wearing their winter coats. These storms bring COLD weather and a nasty wind for about 24 - 36 hours.

If you are fine witha backup location.....it should be fine.
 
I was married on December 9 2010 and we were lucky as the weather warmed up for our day but my coordinator did give us the option of using a back up if we thought it was too cold (we are from Northern England to us the weather was amazing compared to the snow we were getting at home!!:lmao:).

Our dessert party was moved inside on the evening as the temp did go down on the evenings of that week, and we were taken out for the illunminations fireworks.

But the couple of days before it was very cold with a cold breeze - there was frost on the ground and the plants were covered up. Polynesianbride got married on those days and her reception was moved from the summer house to the Whitehall due to the cold.

The good thing is there hardly any rain in December!!
 













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