Our Walt Disney World Wedding

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As you can tell by this blog, I love all things Disney. So the natural choice for my husband and I, when planning our wedding, was to be married at the Walt Disney World Resort.

My paternal grandmother treated the entire family with a trip to the Magic Kingdom in 1979 after my father passed away suddenly. I was only six years old and it became my “happy place” from then on. My husband proposed to me by the Cinderella wishing well in October of 2001. (He had initially planned to propose during a trip we had planned the previous month, but then September 11th happened.)

I was never one to have a huge wedding, but feeling pressured I started looking for venues where we live in New Jersey. After months of looking and not being satisfied with the choices here, I started researching Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons out of curiosity. I’d written it off as being too expensive, but I joined a Yahoo Group for Disney brides (no longer active), and with the ladies’ help, soon found out that it was something that not only I could make fit into my budget, but that it was the type of wedding that I’d always envisioned.

We started our planning with a trip in December of 2002. Unfortunately, my assigned wedding planner (no longer there!) was not as responsive as I would have liked her to be. My vendors were helpful, as they were aware of the situation, and spent extra care to keep in close contact with me during the planning months. So everything did go off without a hitch, except for the fact that our dessert party at Epcot was rained out.

April 25, 2003 was really a surreal day for me. I’d spent over a year admiring other Disney brides’ wedding photos, so once it happened to me, I really felt that I was in a dream. Before I walked down the aisle of the Pavilion ceremony site, I literally pinched myself because I thought that it really couldn’t be happening.

We had about 52 guests fly out from NJ, DE, KY, MD, VA, and I also have family in FL who attended. Our officiant, Rev. Jack Day, made me feel really special, as did the page at the Grand Floridian who let all the little girls in the lobby take a picture with the “princess”—me! Our cake was not only a work of art, but tasted AMAZING! My hair, makeup, and flowers were stunning. My guests also enjoyed Mickey and Minnie making an appearance at the reception. My niece was two at the time and her reactions to seeing them walk in was priceless!

Would I do it again? YES! And what I want brides to take away is that if it’s your dream, it is doable. Even if not everyone is 100% on board, if it’s your dream to be married at WDW or DL, you can make it happen since there are so many options. To be honest with you my husband and I were engaged for two years, so we were able to save every penny that we could for our wedding. At the time, the minimums for a Disney wedding were a bit lower than they are now. So compared to what I would have paid here at home in the Delaware Valley, our wedding was a great deal. So much so, that we had a bit of money to spare and were able to splurge on reception decor, a character appearance, and a fireworks dessert party. It was a blast!

My vendor list is as follows:

Officiant: Rev. Jack Day
Photographer: Karla Fountain
Floral, Hair and Makeup: Disney
Ceremony: Wedding Pavilion
Reception: Ariel’s at the Yacht & Beach Clubs
Dessert and Fireworks Party: Coral Reef at Epcot
Videography: Golden Memories
Music: DJ Richie