Should I get married at Disney? HELP!!!!!

[SleepingBeautyBride]

I am torn between doing a Disney Wedding or a Castle wedding (having it at an actually castle in the US). My theme is storybook wedding so I want the location to be perfect.

Problem is my budget isn’t exactly large. I've looked into pricing and Disney seems very vague and I can't get any really good idea of how much it is going to cost me.

I cannot STAND hotel weddings so that strikes a lot of the places DFTW offer.

Can anyone please give me some insight? As much as I would love to get married at Disney, I just don't know if it’s the right fit finically for what I want.

Some details to help:
We want to invite around 35 guests and hoping for about 25 to attend.
We would prefer to keep it local to DL but are looking into WDW.
Dates are VERY flexible. We were thinking something like a weekday in Feburary. But if another dates proves to save money we will go for that.
If a smaller wedding is what it takes to get my dream wedding I can trim the guest list.
All in all this day is about me and him not who is coming so I want to make it as perfect as can be without killing our bank.

As for budget, I preferably am trying to keep it under 12k, but I'll have to see if that is doable.

Those that are/have gotten married there any tips or info you can share??

Thanks in advance!!

 

[DoomBuggy0922]

How many people do you want to have? What time? Can we have more details?

For prices, it might help to do a search for the "Post Your BEO thread." It doesn't get more numbers based than that!

 

[RealLittleMermaid]

Also, the only castle I can think of in the US is the Biltmore and that isn't going to be cheap either. You will also have a lot more fees there since you will need catering, set up, staff, etc. The Escape wedding package is pretty reasonable if you are having a smaller wedding and the Wishes really isn't too bad either as far as weddings go. I am a wedding planner so I know it all adds up!

 

[transfergirl]

There's Lyndhurst Castle in Tarrytown, NY.

 

[librarygeek]

I'm having an off-site wedding, but from being on these boards I've seen that you can really have a Disney wedding for almost every budget, so it doesn't have to be a huge, expensive thing. But it will depend on how many people you want to invite, what you're looking to do, all of the little details.

I'm having a similarly themed wedding, a fairy tale theme using a lot of storybook elements. I looked around at a lot of places and the above poster is right, from what I've seen - actual castles are usually extremely expensive to have a wedding in (though there are lots of others besides the Biltmore that are less than that place, considering what they just charge for admission and a tour I can't imagine what they would charge for a wedding!!). So I think another location that you're thinking of would be just as much, if not more, than Disney.

 

[rosworms]

What's the budget?

Right now, my estimated cost is $7400... and that's my wedding AND honeymoon together. Obviously my wedding is small... I went with the Memories Collection.


Memories Collection is $1991.
Escape starts around $5000.
Wishes starts around $12000.

Lurkyloo had 30-something guests, a very unique and beautiful wedding, and she only went $70 over her minimum expenditure for a Wishes wedding. It is possible to be frugal and get your dream wedding at the same time.

 

[Jilian]

It really depends on what your budget is and how many people you want to invite.

 

[Tinker Bell Fan]

We had an Escape vow renewal at Disney's Wedding Pavilion and it was less than $8000 (which included an upgrade to the photo package, decorations for the Wedding Pavilion, our wedding attire & jewelry, and dinner for 6 of us).

I'm so glad we did our vow renewal at Disney - it was definitely magical.

Depending on when you want to have your wedding, how many people you want to invite, and what your budget is - you probably could have a Disney wedding.

 

[SleepingBeautyBride]

How many people do you want to have? What time? Can we have more details?

For prices, it might help to do a search for the "Post Your BEO thread." It doesn't get more numbers based than that!

For people we want to invite about 50 people so hoping for 35.
We are very flexible with time as we want to maximize our budeget. But I think a weekday wedding in either October or Feburary would be prefered.

Thanks for the thread tip. I am new to these boards so they are pretty confusing to me!!

Also, the only castle I can think of in the US is the Biltmore and that isn't going to be cheap either. You will also have a lot more fees there since you will need catering, set up, staff, etc. The Escape wedding package is pretty reasonable if you are having a smaller wedding and the Wishes really isn't too bad either as far as weddings go. I am a wedding planner so I know it all adds up!

There are actually quite a few that were buit in the 1920s and 30s before the rediculous taxes. I am from california and can name about 3 in the immediate area that host weddings.

Biltmore's quote started at 3500, which was reasonably priced compared to a Disney Wedding.

What's the budget?

Right now, my estimated cost is $7400... and that's my wedding AND honeymoon together. Obviously my wedding is small... I went with the Memories Collection.


Memories Collection is $1991.
Escape starts around $5000.
Wishes starts around $12000.

Lurkyloo had 30-something guests, a very unique and beautiful wedding, and she only went $70 over her minimum expenditure for a Wishes wedding. It is possible to be frugal and get your dream wedding at the same time.

But arent most these locations at the hotels? I would love to do a smaller wedding at Disney but I am just afraid that anything besides the hotels is out of my budget!

We had an Escape vow renewal at Disney's Wedding Pavilion and it was less than $8000 (which included an upgrade to the photo package, decorations for the Wedding Pavilion, our wedding attire & jewelry, and dinner for 6 of us).

I'm so glad we did our vow renewal at Disney - it was definitely magical.

Depending on when you want to have your wedding, how many people you want to invite, and what your budget is - you probably could have a Disney wedding.

Ok, thank for the info! I jsut hate how Disney is so vague with things.

WDW seems to be alot cheaper. DL would be better as I live 20 min away, but they are even worse with information.

 

[SleepingBeautyBride]

How many people do you want to have? What time? Can we have more details?

For prices, it might help to do a search for the "Post Your BEO thread." It doesn't get more numbers based than that!

Do you have a link to this. I am so confused on how to navigate!!!

 

[transfergirl]

It really depends on what your budget is and how many people you want to invite.

And how much priority you place on what decor and food.

I would rather spend $2850 for my guests to get sloshed than on a half-hour's use of Cinderella's coach. That's just me.

 

[SleepingBeautyBride]

And how much priority you place on what decor and food.

I would rather spend $2850 for my guests to get sloshed than on a half-hour's use of Cinderella's coach. That's just me.

Thats a good question! hahahaha

I up for debate about the brunch reception after a morning wedding or an evening one. But if it's a night ceremony and reception, I think I am along the same lines as you!!!

 

[tinkerbell 766]

It depends how you see a hotel!! A lot of Disney locations are attached to a hotel (WP, SBP, Gazebo, Sunset point etc), but are not actually hotel or conference room type locations. As a pp said surely the castles you speak of are also hotels or conference centres - certainly the majority of castles here in the UK (and we have a lot) have had to diversify into these areas in order to survive.
If you want nothing to do with hotels at all, you would have to go for a theme park location wedding, I guess.

 

[SleepingBeautyBride]

It depends how you see a hotel!! A lot of Disney locations are attached to a hotel (WP, SBP, Gazebo, Sunset point etc), but are not actually hotel or conference room type locations. As a pp said surely the castles you speak of are also hotels or conference centres - certainly the majority of castles here in the UK (and we have a lot) have had to diversify into these areas in order to survive.
If you want nothing to do with hotels at all, you would have to go for a theme park location wedding, I guess.

Yes a lot of the castles do have inns, but the wedding locations are off to the side just with the castle in the background. It doesn't have the feel of a hotel with a cheesy gazebo (sorry I’m not trying to offend anyone that’s just my preference. I do think they are beautiful in some weddings!) or inside a conference room. It’s just the feel of it all I guess. So maybe I should look at the locations a little more closely.

I want to do a theme park location, just everything seems so vague and it’s hard to find BEOs for those (besides EPCOT, I have found a few of those).

Man if I didnt have DISboards I would so be in the dark! Unless you have a contract with Disney, everything is so uninformative!!!

 

[LittleMissMagic]

I am assuming the $3500 fee for Biltmore is probably site rental only. Does it include chairs? Decor? How long do you get the site? Is that ceremony only, or reception, as well?

Keep in mind all of the "extras" you'd need/want... officiant, photographer, videographer?, wedding planner, floral, decor, chairs, aisle runner, transportation for guests, transportation for you, etc.

I suggest that you price out what you'd want for each location. If you look through the planning journals, many brides have listed "BEOs" which can be helpful in getting a price for things. As for park wedding rental prices, I highly suggest that you get Carrie Hayward's Disney Weddings and Honeymoons Passporter book. She has site rental fees for in-park and resort locations. She (Lurkyloo on DIS) might be able to help you with some of the pricing if you have a specific location in mind.... if not at Swan Boat Landing in MK, then the UK, France, or Italy pavilions might provide you with that royal feel.

 

[SleepingBeautyBride]

I am assuming the $3500 fee for Biltmore is probably site rental only. Does it include chairs? Decor? How long do you get the site? Is that ceremony only, or reception, as well?

Keep in mind all of the "extras" you'd need/want... officiant, photographer, videographer?, wedding planner, floral, decor, chairs, aisle runner, transportation for guests, transportation for you, etc.

I suggest that you price out what you'd want for each location. If you look through the planning journals, many brides have listed "BEOs" which can be helpful in getting a price for things. As for park wedding rental prices, I highly suggest that you get Carrie Hayward's Disney Weddings and Honeymoons Passporter book. She has site rental fees for in-park and resort locations. She (Lurkyloo on DIS) might be able to help you with some of the pricing if you have a specific location in mind.... if not at Swan Boat Landing in MK, then the UK, France, or Italy pavilions might provide you with that royal feel.

Biltmore only included a few things, your right. That is why I am so interested in Disney because hitting minimums do include alot!

Thanks for the tip about the book, I will have to get it and see for myself.

And thanks for the location ideas! All those sound great and I would have never thought of some.


It seems everyone here would choose Disney over anything and that it is worth every penny and frustration. By how passionate all the brides are on here it seems like something I am leaning towards.

 

[SleepingBeautyBride]

Woohoo! Just got my Passporters Guide! Here we go. So much for work

But if anyone has liks to BEO threads or any other tips to help me decide or pricing help I woudl very much appreciate it!

I'll be lurking the next few days so watch out!