Would like to plan Vow Renewal- Any advice?

[Caitsmama]

I would like to surprise my dh with a vow renewal ceremony at WDW in Nov. of 2008, it will be our 10 yr. anniv. then, and we went to WDW for our honeymoon, so it just seems right! LOL
I would love more info on renting the Gazebo on the Boardwalk to have the ceremony in. I would also like to have Mickey & Minnie there.. how expensive is it to "rent" them??
This will be a small ceremony, and i don't want any dinner or meal there, we would probably be making reservations at a rest. in WDW somewhere for dinner.. it's more for the actual ceremony and to be able to have mickey and minnie there.. my 5yr old dd would love that!!
Any advice?? TIA

 

[RadioFanatic]

I have no answers but am interested to see what people say. We too are celebrating our 10 year anniversary in 11/2008 and had our honeymoon at WDW so we have been discussing having a vow renewal then too. Maybe we'll see each other!

 

[hfehr1s]

have you visited ww.disneyweddings.com?? There you can find all the information for disney weddings or vow renewals, whether you want a custom or intimate, locations, adding characters, prices etc. That way you can see your options and decide what kind of event you want. HTH

 

[Janet2k]

I would like to surprise my dh with a vow renewal ceremony at WDW... I would love more info on renting the Gazebo on the Boardwalk to have the ceremony in. I would also like to have Mickey & Minnie there.. how expensive is it to "rent" them?? ...it's more for the actual ceremony and to be able to have mickey and minnie there...

Congratulations, Caitsmama! I celebrated 20 years of marriage with a FTW custom vow renewal. It was pure magic. Disney does a lovely thing with everything, in my humble opinion.

Just thought I'd mention that no characters are allowed at the wedding or vow renewal ceremony. However, they are allowed at the cake-cutting ceremony afterwards (or dinner reception if you choose to have one).

Depending upon how many characters you want, the price will vary. The current pricing appears to be as follows:

One Disney Character (30 minutes) - $710.00
Two Disney Characters (30 minutes) - $1,070.00
Three Disney Characters (30 minutes) - $1,460.00

In order to get that pricing, you need to have all the characters appear at basically the same time. If there is too much of a lapse between their appearances, Disney will normally charge you for "one each" times the "number of characters." For example, $710 x 3 = $2,130 as opposed to $1,460. This will all be explained to you by your Sales Manager or Event Manager.

Don't forget to check out the official FTW website in order to glean a little more information about what is possible.

 

[Janet2k]

We too are celebrating our 10 year anniversary in 11/2008 and had our honeymoon at WDW so we have been discussing having a vow renewal then too.

Congratulations to you, too, RadioFanatic!

 

[Janet2k]

Since there are two of you who are interested in learning about what is possible with the Fairy Tale Weddings folks in regards to a vow renewal, I thought I should share my story with you. Click here to read about the planning of my vow renewal.

Basically, my husband and I had a simple evening ceremony that was followed by a wild & crazy dinner party. Our ceremony was held inside the Wedding Pavilion and our dinner party was held inside the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park. It was truly the most magical night of our lives and we'll cherish the memories of it always.

As I began down the vow renewal path, I started out as an "Intimate" but grew into a "Custom." Just because you folks are on the "Intimate" path right now doesn't necessarily mean that is where you'll end up. You just never know what the future holds. You have been warned.

Have fun planning!

 

[J&L Love Disney]

Congratulations!

We are having our 10th anniversary VR and celebrating 25 years of friendship on June 9th at WDW (six months late because of Hurricane Katrina, but happy we can still do it).

Like Janet I started out as an Intimate VR, but decided on a custom because I wanted what I wanted and didn't want to work within the confines of the Intimate VR guidelines. I don't have many people attending, but everything is exactly the way we want it to be.

We knew we were going to have only about 20 guests so we needed something "intimate" and that wouldn't overwhelm our party. We decided on having our ceremony on the Whitehall Room Patio in the Grand Floridian Convention Center. It was a wonderful idea from my coordinator, Michelle. She told me there are only 1 or 2 ceremonies that take place there each year so it was unique location. You get the castle in the background and the monorail goes over nearby. This really helped sell us on the site. There is natural greenery and the patio is lovely.

We will have our reception in the Whitehall Room, which doesn't look at all like a convention center room at all. It is convenient because the ceremony and reception are right there and we have our pre-reception under the patio.

It's a great room to decorate. My floral event manager Laura just ran with our garden theme idea. She put a gazebo inside the Whitehall Room! I can't wait to see it. Our cake (actually minicakes) will be highlighted under the gazebo. We are having the ceremony in front of a fountain full of flowers, greenery and petals outside on the patio. We can't wait to see it!

Just a thought if you have a small group.

I'll post my pictures when I get back. Good Luck!!! Lisa

 

[Caitsmama]

Thank you guys for sharing your stories! Janet, wow!!! I read your story, and I can't believe everything you went thru.. what an inspiration! Thank you so much for sharing!!

As for me, I really have to keep it small due to finances.. My in-laws go to Disney every Nov. for thanksgiving week, and we have been lucky enough to get to tag along for 2 yrs in a row, and again this year.. making it 3 yrs! How can you say no to free room (conceirge no less!) at the Beach Club (2yrs) and then this yr at the W.Lodge!??
LOL
Anyway, I would love to have a small ceremony (it would definately be under the 10 person limit) , I am tossed b/w the Poly. resort - Sunset Pointe, and the Boardwalk's Sea Breeze Point. ( If we have it at the Poly, i would love to stay at that hotel, and if we do it at the Boardwalk, i would want to stay at the BC again..)
But, Finances are a big concern for me.. I need to do this as inexpensively as i can. We had the "big wedding" before, so this is just a intimate gathering to me.. But, i want it to be meaningfull to both me and my dh. (and now my dd) .
I know we won't be going with any kind of reception.. just the cake cutting if it is part of the ceremony. I would like to do a family dinner after the ceremony, either at the luau (if held at the Poly.) or at the Cape May Cafe (if at the BC). I am hoping my in-laws who wanted one of their kids to be married at WDW will help us with the hotel bill.. (since none of their kids did get married there!) - Don't ask why---- I regret not getting married there, but when we got married, i was young (20) and we were Catholic (we aren't anymore), And my family pushed for the formal Catholic Church ceremony, and i felt back then , that i had to agree with them.. Now, as i am older, i know i didn't.
So, this is like second start.. Except we are on our own for this ceremony bill..lol.. And we are pretty much a moderate 1 income family.. With not much "play money"..
So, i need to stretch the dollar and still have my fairy tale personal renewal of love for my dh.

 

[Janet2k]

We decided on having our ceremony on the Whitehall Room Patio in the Grand Floridian Convention Center.

J&L Love Disney, that sounds absolutely lovely, ~sigh.~ I can't wait to see your photos. (And Laura is an angel -- I bet everything will be gorgeous.)

 

[Janet2k]

I would love to have a small ceremony (it would definately be under the 10 person limit) , I am tossed b/w the Poly. resort - Sunset Pointe, and the Boardwalk's Sea Breeze Point... I would like to do a family dinner after the ceremony, either at the luau (if held at the Poly.) or at the Cape May Cafe (if at the BC)...

But, i want it to be meaningfull to both me and my dh. (and now my dd)...

Caitsmama, I would love to have a vow renewal ceremony at either of the two locations that you mentioned. They're both wonderful and unique.

Sunset Pointe would probably be my preference (I love Seven Seas Lagoon). However, I'd have to keep my guest list down (that might be hard for me to do). I have seen many lovely photos of ceremonies that have been held there. It's a gorgeous venue.

The same goes for Sea breeze Point. It's a gorgeous venue. And, luckily, the headcount can be higher. I have seen many lovely photos of Sea Breeze Point ceremonies. It's a wonderful venue for a ceremony.

Also, holding ceremonies at either of those locations should help you keep your costs down. And since you’re not looking to have a reception, that should keep your costs down further. You would simply have your vow renewal ceremony followed by your cake-cutting ceremony. You would pay extra to have Mickey & Minnie in attendance (definitely worth the cost, in my humble opinion).

As to a meal after your ceremony, I have attended group dinners at the Luau, the Hoop-Dee-Doo, and a few of the character meals (1900 Park Fare, Chef Mickey’s, etc.). If I had a Sunset Pointe ceremony, I would opt for the Luau for dinner. It would be the perfect ending for an island vow renewal. But if I went with Sea Breeze Point, I would opt for dinner at Cape May. It would be the perfect ending for a seaside vow renewal.

As to things being “meaningful” for you, I know exactly what you mean. I think that had a lot to do with why my vow renewal ceremony was so bare-bones. I knew I wanted it held inside the Wedding Pavilion because Rick & I had watched it being built. It was the perfect venue for us as it held real significance for us (the memories of so very many wonderful Walt Disney World vacations, especially the ones that were spent at the Grand Floridian Resort). Since our dinner reception was going to be elaborate, I thought it best to keep our vow renewal ceremony simple. I didn’t want any fuss since we’re just a couple of simple folks. And that is exactly how things turned out. We had one floral arrangement on the altar with a few candles scattered about, and we had our children and niece & nephew standing there with us. Our ceremony was short but sweet, but not so short that my husband didn’t make a mistake and have everyone in stitches: click here. For us, things turned out beautifully.

It sounds like you have a very good idea as to what type of ceremony you want. If you do, then plan it exactly that way. Follow your heart. It won’t lead you astray.