Vow Renewal for our 20th Anniversary

[Tinker Bell Fan]

Congratulations on your upcoming 20th Anniversary. Hubby and I renewed our vows for our 20th in a small ceremony in our front room with the children present. However, our 25th Anniversary is coming up and we have planned a Disney trip and cruise and will be renewing our vows.

Your plans sound wonderful! Thank you for sharing. Where is Paradise Cove?

That sounds like it's going to be great!

And for me, my parents called today and gave the thumbs-up to coming to WDW for our renewal! So I guess now once I make sure everyone else in on board, it's a go for Oct 2011!

Oh I'm so glad your parents gave the thumbs up!

Thanks! I called DFTW this afternoon to get the ball rolling. I'm so excited, way more than I was for our actual wedding, LOL!

I know exactly how you feel! The more I think about renewing our vows (at Disney) the more excited I get!

 

[pixie921]

Pixie.
Hi and welcome!!
Your plans sound lovely!!
Can I ask what reaction you got when you contacted DFTW? I have been told it is not worth speaking to them before a year out for an Escape, because you can't book before 8 months and my Escape is May 2011 so I haven't spoken to them yet. Should I ring now do you think?

Thanks for the welcome! I'm not sure what to tell you about calling. I haven't heard anything back yet (she told me it could take up to 48 hours, so hopefully they'll call by tomorrow). After talking about it, dh and I decided that a Wishes was probably going to suit our needs better, so that's what I told DFTW when I called (but I'm still going back and forth on that -- the practical side of me is having a hard time justifying the cost on the Wishes).

Oh, and she also said that they don't have any 2011 prices yet, and she didn't have any idea when they'd be available.

Oh I'm so glad your parents gave the thumbs up!

I know exactly how you feel! The more I think about renewing our vows (at Disney) the more excited I get!

I know! I feel so much "older and wiser" this time ... we'll be doing *exactly* what we want and what suits us and not worrying about fussing and feuding relatives like 20 years ago, LOL!

 

[18sprint]

We renewed our vows in 2007 at WDW for our 30th anniversary. DW planned everything without my knowledge of anything. She started planning in June for a December ceremony. The day before the events, DW gave me a birthday card with a certificate for 9 holes of golf the next morning at Disney's walking course, can't remember the name of it. Anyway, I get back about 11:00 and she announces that we are getting re-married at 2:00pm. She had my tux rented and waiting for me. The limo would be picking up me and my best man at 1:00 and drop us off at the Poly, then return to pick up DW, mom and her maid of honor. All I can say is "it was great!" The wedding planner took care of everything, very professional. Once I got to the Poly, I met Rev. Kevin, (same Reverand as seen on the TV special) and Sasha our violin player. My best man and I were taken by golfcart limo out to the "Point" with Cinderella's castle in the background, just a beautiful setting. About 15 mins later, my mom and a couple of close friends were escorted out to the Point and soon Sasha started playing. DW made the long walk up to the Point wearing an off-white wedding dress. The ceremony lasted about 15 mins. We only had about 10 people, so a small reception was set up out on the Point as well. Cloth covered tables, chairs and a nice sized table with our wedding cake and champagne. Everything lasted about 1 1/2 hours, which doesn't sound like much but there were only 10 of us. Since DW paid for the limo for 4 hours, we used it to take us back to our resort so we all could change then had him drive all of us over to Disney Studios for our dinner reception at the Brown Derby. All in all it was an awesome day. Everything went like clockwork, thanks to the wedding planner. She told us that the only difference between a real wedding and ours was the wedding license. This was a great way to experience a Disney wedding, even though we were already married.

 

[pixie921]

We renewed our vows in 2007 at WDW for our 30th anniversary. DW planned everything without my knowledge of anything. She started planning in June for a December ceremony. The day before the events, DW gave me a birthday card with a certificate for 9 holes of golf the next morning at Disney's walking course, can't remember the name of it. Anyway, I get back about 11:00 and she announces that we are getting re-married at 2:00pm. She had my tux rented and waiting for me. The limo would be picking up me and my best man at 1:00 and drop us off at the Poly, then return to pick up DW, mom and her maid of honor. All I can say is "it was great!" The wedding planner took care of everything, very professional. Once I got to the Poly, I met Rev. Kevin, (same Reverand as seen on the TV special) and Sasha our violin player. My best man and I were taken by golfcart limo out to the "Point" with Cinderella's castle in the background, just a beautiful setting. About 15 mins later, my mom and a couple of close friends were escorted out to the Point and soon Sasha started playing. DW made the long walk up to the Point wearing an off-white wedding dress. The ceremony lasted about 15 mins. We only had about 10 people, so a small reception was set up out on the Point as well. Cloth covered tables, chairs and a nice sized table with our wedding cake and champagne. Everything lasted about 1 1/2 hours, which doesn't sound like much but there were only 10 of us. Since DW paid for the limo for 4 hours, we used it to take us back to our resort so we all could change then had him drive all of us over to Disney Studios for our dinner reception at the Brown Derby. All in all it was an awesome day. Everything went like clockwork, thanks to the wedding planner. She told us that the only difference between a real wedding and ours was the wedding license. This was a great way to experience a Disney wedding, even though we were already married.

That sounds wonderful! What a nice surprise your wife planned!

 

[Tinker Bell Fan]

18sprint - your VR sounds so romantic!

I called DFTW yesterday and spoke with Michelle G. She is so nice to talk to too! I can't book anything until August, but this will give us some time to figure out who may be coming along to our vow renewal.

Spoke to DH about the costs and where to have the ceremony and looks like we'll be going with the Premier Escape package. I didn't know that with the Premier pkg you also get 2 annual Disney passes!

We're also thinking of wearing Hawaiian print outfits (a red Hawaiian shirt & white slacks for DH, and a red w/white flowers Hawaiian dress for me). The colors for our VW will be red & white - just like at our wedding.

 

[camnhan]

We are just starting to think and plan for Nov, 2011 (our 15th).
I am thinking a cruise with VR at Castaway on the beach.
Will just be the 2 of us (I think)..
I am planning on wearing a dress...I found one that I love the pic of but have not actually went looking yet (in a few pounds I will go)
I have been reading about the cruise pkg and at this point am just thinking we will go with the pkg as if (except for pic...am going to hire that out I think but not sure how that works when you are on a cruise!!)

I have 3 more questions for you all:
1. Is there a "standard" ceremony for VR (I guess I am wondering what gets said)
2. what are you all doing about rings???
3. what about veil? long/short/nothing at all???

 

[pixie921]

We are just starting to think and plan for Nov, 2011 (our 15th).
I am thinking a cruise with VR at Castaway on the beach.
Will just be the 2 of us (I think)..
I am planning on wearing a dress...I found one that I love the pic of but have not actually went looking yet (in a few pounds I will go)
I have been reading about the cruise pkg and at this point am just thinking we will go with the pkg as if (except for pic...am going to hire that out I think but not sure how that works when you are on a cruise!!)

I have 3 more questions for you all:
1. Is there a "standard" ceremony for VR (I guess I am wondering what gets said)
2. what are you all doing about rings???
3. what about veil? long/short/nothing at all???

Congratulations on your upcoming anniversary!

I wasn't planning on looking for a dress either, but I stopped in to David's Bridal last weekend and just happened to find a dress that I fell in love with! It's ivory, very simple and has a burnout pattern of hibiscus-like flowers in it. I bought it in a size smaller than the size that fit me perfectly, because they said it could be altered down two additional sizes beyond that. And I know there's no way that I'm going to drop more than three sizes (no matter how much I may want to, LOL!).

I also was able to get a wrap that matches the dress perfectly, though I had to literally call every store in two states to find it. It was on clearance and everyone but the store in Columbus, OH was sold out. I was so happy that they were able to ship it to me!

To answer your questions:

1. I don't know that there's a standard VR ceremony ... I guess you'd have to check with whatever officiant you choose to see what he/she does in that situation. I know dh and I are planning to write something to say to each other; obviously not "vows" per se, but something reflecting the past 20 years and our dreams for the future.

And we're going to do a slight variation on the sand ceremony ... I want to buy the set that someone here linked to that has a heart-shaped bottle and 3 small vases. We'll say something along the lines of our two bottles represent the joining of our lives, and then have our son add sand from the third representing the family we became.

2. Dh and I actually just had our rings re-set. I basically wanted to wipe away all of the things from our original wedding (except dh!) and we had yellow gold rings and I really wanted white gold. So we had my original diamond reset and bought new wedding rings for both of us. We're thrilled with them!

3. I'm personally not wearing a veil because I'm trying to avoid a "wedding" feel. But that's just me. I know there are a lot of VR girls that go for the whole deal, whether they had it previously or not. It's totally a matter of personal choice -- whatever makes you happy, IMO!!

 

[padisneyfour]

We are just starting to think and plan for Nov, 2011 (our 15th).
I am thinking a cruise with VR at Castaway on the beach.
Will just be the 2 of us (I think)..
I am planning on wearing a dress...I found one that I love the pic of but have not actually went looking yet (in a few pounds I will go)
I have been reading about the cruise pkg and at this point am just thinking we will go with the pkg as if (except for pic...am going to hire that out I think but not sure how that works when you are on a cruise!!)

I have 3 more questions for you all:
1. Is there a "standard" ceremony for VR (I guess I am wondering what gets said)
2. what are you all doing about rings???
3. what about veil? long/short/nothing at all???

hi I will try to answer your questions at least in reference to what we have planned.....
The officiant we chose had a ceremony we are using with a few tweaks .... we are having our daughters as bridesmaids , we ( dh and I) are walking into together. we are using a verse from our wedding ceremony as well as a reading along with a blessing of the hands and then a family sand ceremony.....we are going to give each other anniversary bands. I am wearing a gown but no veil or tiara, maybe a few hair jewels
but I think that is pretty much a personal choice..... good luck

 

[Tinker Bell Fan]

We are just starting to think and plan for Nov, 2011 (our 15th).
I am thinking a cruise with VR at Castaway on the beach.
Will just be the 2 of us (I think)..
I am planning on wearing a dress...I found one that I love the pic of but have not actually went looking yet (in a few pounds I will go)
I have been reading about the cruise pkg and at this point am just thinking we will go with the pkg as if (except for pic...am going to hire that out I think but not sure how that works when you are on a cruise!!)

I have 3 more questions for you all:
1. Is there a "standard" ceremony for VR (I guess I am wondering what gets said)
2. what are you all doing about rings???
3. what about veil? long/short/nothing at all???

Congratulations on your upcoming VR! I would love to do the cruise thing, but DH would not be happy with that, and since our VR is his idea (that I am running wild with) - I'll let him make a few decisions.

As for your questions...
1. I'm curious about that too. Although DH thinks the standard vows we made at our wedding in 1991 should be sufficient (since we both sort of messed them up back then too). We were both ill the day of our wedding!

2. As for rings, we're getting new rings. Back in 1990 when we got engaged, we bought what we could afford. Well, his ring had to be cut off his finger (something fell on his hand and smashed the ring) and my rings (band & engagement) are too small. So we're opting to "upgrade" and get new rings.

3. I won't wear a veil - done that already (we had the big church wedding). This time I'm thinking - hair up with some flowers maybe or sparkly bobbie pins or something like that.

I'm still debating about having an MK shoot or something like that.

 

[Blytheny]

Can I jump in here, too??

I'm thinking about talking to my DH about a VR for our 20th... which isn't until October 2014. But trust me when I say he might need a little time to get used to the idea -- as romantic as he can be, I'm not sure he'll "get" it at first. We both LOVE Disney and wish we'd honeymooned there (did Sandals in Jamaica, which seemed to be the "in" location 16 years ago... ) so I think Disney would be the perfect place for a VR ceremony, if we chose to do one.

Plus, when I saw the cost involved on Disney's site, I realized we'd need a bit of time to save up for it... esp. since I'm not even sure what we'd go for!

That being said -- here are my questions:

1)For those of you who already have this "in process" - were your costs any different (i.e. lower... ) than the listed price for what they offer? I guess I was expecting that a VR ceremony wouldn't be as elaborate or involved as a regular wedding ceremony, so I was hoping the prices would be a bit better, too.

2)Seeing as we're 4 years out, a lot of things will change at Disney as far as what they do, offer and how things are priced out... plus, like some of you are experiencing, pricing and booking opportunities aren't even available yet for 2011, so I'm not even close to knowing what will be available, offered, etc., for 2014!! But still, how far out did some of you start thinking/planning/hoping for this?? If I know my anticipated budget, it won't seem so bad when I actually book things and have to plunk down the $$...

Congrats to all of you who are having ceremonies soon -- the dresses I've seen on here are lovely, and the plans all sound terrific! I'm thinking we'd be more along the lines of a simple, knee-length dress with a splash of color... suit for him with a color splash to match mine... caribbean flowers and a small party afterwards for whoever chooses to join us. Although I do love the idea of the coach ride, too.... Guess I have plenty of time to think about it, right??

Keep the ideas and thoughts coming... you all are very inspiring!

 

[EvilQueenT]

I want to applaud those of you doing your vr your own way and especially those wearing wedding gowns. We women are terrible for letting what strangers might think dictate our actions... if you've been blessed enough (and have worked hard enough) to have a marriage you can celebrate you should be able to wear whatever you want! Stand up and wear it proudly and post those fabulous pictures!!!!

 

[MeredithRX]

I'm in the middle of setting our vow renewal ceremony up and I'm still trying to figure out what in the world I'm doing! It'll be our 10th Anniversary in December.

We were planning on being down at WDW with our three children on our anniversary anyway, and decided quite on a whim to do the VR. It's something I've wanted to do since about 5 minutes after our wedding and I can't think of a more magical place than Disney.

I called earlier in the week and reserved the Escape package for us to have our VR ceremony at the Canada Pavillion in Epcot (our favorite park) on the morning of our Anniversary. I'm thrilled at the idea of having the World Showcase all to ourselves for that hour since they only do them at 9am before the WS opens.

I will admit, I'm not exactly sure where we're going from here. It will just be us and our three small children. No guests. So, in some ways I feel a little silly doing this! I still am trying to decide what to do about an officiant. I feel a little strange just picking one off of Disney's 'suggested' list but I suppose I'll have no choice! I also need to figure out hair and makeup and that sort of thing. I won't have a lot of time to be spending with salons during the days before our VR and it'll be REALLY early in the morning the day of. *sigh*

I'm going to go all out with the Holiday theme and wear a long red formal dress with a short train and a white fur shrug/shawl and really play up the Holiday decorations. I adore Christmas-which is why we got married then in the first place! DH will be in a tux and all three boys will have tuxes as well. We'll be cute if nothing else!

Then, the cake cutting and sparkling cider just for us, photos (I want a LOT), and then the limo can take us back to our room to change for a day at the parks.

Hopefully the wedding planner will be able to fill in some gaps for me. We've got the date reserved, now we're just waiting on our Letter of Agreement to come next week to lock it into place!

 

[padisneyfour]

I'm in the middle of setting our vow renewal ceremony up and I'm still trying to figure out what in the world I'm doing! It'll be our 10th Anniversary in December.

We were planning on being down at WDW with our three children on our anniversary anyway, and decided quite on a whim to do the VR. It's something I've wanted to do since about 5 minutes after our wedding and I can't think of a more magical place than Disney.

I called earlier in the week and reserved the Escape package for us to have our VR ceremony at the Canada Pavillion in Epcot (our favorite park) on the morning of our Anniversary. I'm thrilled at the idea of having the World Showcase all to ourselves for that hour since they only do them at 9am before the WS opens.

I will admit, I'm not exactly sure where we're going from here. It will just be us and our three small children. No guests. So, in some ways I feel a little silly doing this! I still am trying to decide what to do about an officiant. I feel a little strange just picking one off of Disney's 'suggested' list but I suppose I'll have no choice! I also need to figure out hair and makeup and that sort of thing. I won't have a lot of time to be spending with salons during the days before our VR and it'll be REALLY early in the morning the day of. *sigh*

I'm going to go all out with the Holiday theme and wear a long red formal dress with a short train and a white fur shrug/shawl and really play up the Holiday decorations. I adore Christmas-which is why we got married then in the first place! DH will be in a tux and all three boys will have tuxes as well. We'll be cute if nothing else!

Then, the cake cutting and sparkling cider just for us, photos (I want a LOT), and then the limo can take us back to our room to change for a day at the parks.

Hopefully the wedding planner will be able to fill in some gaps for me. We've got the date reserved, now we're just waiting on our Letter of Agreement to come next week to lock it into place!

congrats. your plans sound great. If we hadn't wanted the wp and gotten it we would have went to an epcot ceremony location too. canada is one of our favorites too! we plan on using it as one of the location for our epcot photo shoot- the waterfall. good luck with all your plans!

 

[pixie921]

I want to applaud those of you doing your vr your own way and especially those wearing wedding gowns. We women are terrible for letting what strangers might think dictate our actions... if you've been blessed enough (and have worked hard enough) to have a marriage you can celebrate you should be able to wear whatever you want! Stand up and wear it proudly and post those fabulous pictures!!!!

 

[MorenaSangre]

Hooray! It was wonderful reading this thread - you guys are giving me inspiration again. I'd almost given up on a VR for next September...and now I'm dreaming again. Like so many others, our wedding was inadequate. Our marriage has been as beautiful as the wedding was sad, but I would love to have the wedding of our dreams on our 10th anniversary. A few questions just in case anyone has answers...

How much more costly is the Epcot VR? I dream of renewing our vows in front of the Beauty & the Beast window in France, but am terrified of price.

Does Disney have hair/makeup arrangements available for the bride?

Is the private dessert party option still out there - I looked at that years ago when I was dreaming...

And since a VR is still under the wedding "umbrella," can you still do the oh-my-gosh-so-cool wedding photography session in the parks before opening?

My thanks to all of you for helping me dream about this again!

 

[Brit_Jude]

Hooray! It was wonderful reading this thread - you guys are giving me inspiration again. I'd almost given up on a VR for next September...and now I'm dreaming again. Like so many others, our wedding was inadequate. Our marriage has been as beautiful as the wedding was sad, but I would love to have the wedding of our dreams on our 10th anniversary. A few questions just in case anyone has answers...

How much more costly is the Epcot VR? I dream of renewing our vows in front of the Beauty & the Beast window in France, but am terrified of price.

Does Disney have hair/makeup arrangements available for the bride?

Is the private dessert party option still out there - I looked at that years ago when I was dreaming...

And since a VR is still under the wedding "umbrella," can you still do the oh-my-gosh-so-cool wedding photography session in the parks before opening?

My thanks to all of you for helping me dream about this again!

MorenaSangre can I suggest that you get a copy of the Passporters Disney Weddings and Honeymoons e-Book. It should answer a lot of your questions. VR as treated the same a weddings by Disney so you can have anything that Disney would provide for a wedding. Here is the link for the guide: http://www.passporter.com/weddings.asp

 

[3girlsfun]

DH and I are looking at renewing our vows and we are discussing our options. There are so many, and in so many different price ranges!

It will be just our immediate family: Me, DH, and 3 DD's, no one else! We did the "big wedding" before, and want something for just us.

So, that leads to my question...is it worth it?

I think the ceremony, and location will be beautiful! I know budget and money is all relevant to your own personal situation, but, I guess I am looking for those of you who have done a vow renewal, or a wedding like this, and walked away feeling no regret about the expense, or that you didn't feel like you could have done something different for a lot less money, and been just as happy. I think after all is said and done it would end up costing us between $8,000-10,000 with the Escape package, a Disney vacation, clothes, hair, nails, etc.

Please share your thoughts!

 

[pixie921]

DH and I are looking at renewing our vows and we are discussing our options. There are so many, and in so many different price ranges!

It will be just our immediate family: Me, DH, and 3 DD's, no one else! We did the "big wedding" before, and want something for just us.

So, that leads to my question...is it worth it?

I think the ceremony, and location will be beautiful! I know budget and money is all relevant to your own personal situation, but, I guess I am looking for those of you who have done a vow renewal, or a wedding like this, and walked away feeling no regret about the expense, or that you didn't feel like you could have done something different for a lot less money, and been just as happy. I think after all is said and done it would end up costing us between $8,000-10,000 with the Escape package, a Disney vacation, clothes, hair, nails, etc.

Please share your thoughts!

I saw your other thread about this, and I thought the responses you got were interesting. I read the trip report by the couple who renewed on DCL and felt so badly for them -- it seemed like very little went right. But I would hope that a vow renewal at WDW would go better -- there would be more resources, more choices, and more people to handle things than on a cruise ship (at least that's my line of thinking).

For the other poster whose VR got rained out and had to move their small group to the Pavilion in beach clothes and leis ... while I understand that it would be horribly disappointing, it's not really Disney's fault that they ended up in a formal atmosphere dressed for something casual and only a handful of people in a big old chapel. (Unless of course Disney told them their rain back-up would be equally "beachy" and intimate!) They also mentioned they didn't like to look at their photos ... I don't know if they meant that they were just plain bad (and I'm just assuming here they had an Escape with Disney photography) or if the photos just remind them of a day that didn't go as they had planned.

Here's my take on it (and how my dh and I are approaching our VR next year): don't spend more than you are comfortable with, no matter what. Decide on what's most important to you -- splurge a little on those things, maybe. Choose a site that you love with a good rain back-up, just in case the worst happens. Research your officiant and personalize your vows/ceremony as much as possible. If you're concerned about photos, hire an outside photographer whose work you've seen and love. And don't expect things to go off flawlessly -- if they don't you'll be prepared; if they do, you'll be pleasantly surprised!

 

[tinkerbell 766]

DH and I are looking at renewing our vows and we are discussing our options. There are so many, and in so many different price ranges!

It will be just our immediate family: Me, DH, and 3 DD's, no one else! We did the "big wedding" before, and want something for just us.

So, that leads to my question...is it worth it?

I think the ceremony, and location will be beautiful! I know budget and money is all relevant to your own personal situation, but, I guess I am looking for those of you who have done a vow renewal, or a wedding like this, and walked away feeling no regret about the expense, or that you didn't feel like you could have done something different for a lot less money, and been just as happy. I think after all is said and done it would end up costing us between $8,000-10,000 with the Escape package, a Disney vacation, clothes, hair, nails, etc.

Please share your thoughts!

I have posted on your other thread about my VR next May

 

[supersuperwendy]

How early did you guys call Disney Weddings? I think an Escape wedding can't be booked until 8 months before. Did you wait until then to call?

Our 15th anniversary is Oct. 26, 2012! It's long time away, but I would love to start planning it now!

When we got married the first time we were only 20 & 21 years old. We had only been dating for 5 months and it was a whirlwind. My mom planned most of it which was nice, but I'm ready to do it my way. We are more in love everyday and he agrees that it would be wonderful in WDW! I do plan on wearing a wedding dress and going all out for this event!

Is it too early to start planning?!