Tips for a Disney Bride

By Dreamin Diva

Planning a wedding can be tough. Especially when your venue is in another state. My husband and I met when we were Cast Members in the WDW College Program. When he proposed a few years later at the Magic Kingdom, it made total sense that we would get married at Disney World. We started looking into the options and we fell in love with the idea. My wedding planner from Disney’s Fairy-tale Weddings at Walt Disney World was nothing short of amazing. She was always so upbeat and friendly. She really wanted to make our day special and worked very hard to pull it off. Here are few tips from my experience as a Disney bride.

The Wedding Pavilion at Walt Disney World

1. Use the website to get an idea of what you want and contact them as soon as possible to start booking. They can help you figure out what will fit in your venue. Even in the beginning, there was always someone available to answer my questions. They were so kind and patient. I never once felt pressured or rushed to make a decision. www.disneyweddings.com

2. Choose a day and book the venue as soon as possible. Some venues are more popular than others and book up fast! The Wedding Pavilion can host many weddings in one day, but there are so many other options! We went with the Wedding Pavilion and a room at the Grand Floridian Convention Center that opened up onto a patio because both locations had views of the castle.

The patio where we had the pre-reception

An awesome photo location outside of the Wedding Pavilion

3. Set a clear budget. It is really easy to go over board and quickly. There are so many options. Look all of them, make a list of the ones you would want and go from there. We wanted characters and an after party. To do this, I cut out decorations at the ceremony. The Wedding Pavilion is so beautiful, I felt it didn’t need any extra flowers or ribbons for the 30 minutes we would be there. I don’t regret that decision at all. Consider the time of year, day of the week and time of day. There are lots of price variations for all of them. We went with a ceremony that started earlier on a Sunday in January. We were lucky that it just happened to be the date we wanted because it was much cheaper than other times. You can even save on the little things. Our place cards were also our favors. They printed the names and table on chocolate.

: Chocolate place cards

4. Take advantage of the planning session at the Wedding Pavilion. They had sent me lots of forms that laid out all of my options. I had a good idea of what I wanted when I went there. Within a few hours, we had tasted cake options, chosen a cake, picked place settings, centerpieces, decided on the meal, picked a sorbet and mini ice sculpture, selected the bouquets and all of the flower needs. They even set me up with a way to have my flowers preserved and they were picked up the next day (they did an amazing job and I am so glad I had it done). The planners really listened and worked to make my vision a reality.

: The table settings selected at the planning session

5. Do a rehearsal breakfast instead of dinner. We opted to do the rehearsal in the morning at the Contemporary so that we could just head right up to Chef Mickey’s for breakfast. We had an unforgettable time hanging out with the characters at breakfast and then we had the whole rest of the day to play in the parks.

: Rehearsal Breakfast at Chef Mickey’s

6. Have characters at the wedding. It is truly an experience that you and your guests will never ever forget! Worth every darn penny. To most of the guests, the arrival of Mickey and Minnie was a HUGE surprise. The extended personal interaction was unforgettable. They helped us cut the cake and then stood by in shock at our cake in the face war. My husband and I danced with Minnie and Mickey first then our guests had the unforgettable opportunity to boogie down with the Big Cheese and his gal! After dancing, there were lots of pictures with the bridal party and us. I’m serious… worth every darn penny.

: Mickey and Minnie look on while we cut the cake

7. Consider some of the other “extras”. We went with the after-party at Fantasmic. After the wedding, all of our guests boarded a bus headed for Hollywood Studios. We were brought through the backstage area straight to the patio. We had gas heaters, blankets, hot chocolate and treats. As we sat in our chairs all cozied up with each other, we watched other park guests search for spots on the cold metal benches. Our friends and family felt like millionaires with the best seats in the house. It was the perfect way to end the weekend of festivities and get to enjoy our favorite show on property (Fantasmic) with all of our guests. Since you get your own patio to yourself, we all felt like millionaires as everyone else packed into the stadium seating.

: Our view from the private viewing patio at Fantasmic

: Our guests enjoying hot chocolate and treats wrapped in blankets near the warmers before Fantasmic

8. The Disney photographers were incredible! I would highly recommend using them. It is kind of a hassle to have an outside photographer….. or any other vendor. They DJ they recommended was also fantastic. Disney really has this wedding thing down to an art.

: Creative shot by the Disney Photographers

10. Enjoy every minute of the day and don’t forget to eat! In the end all that matters is that you are marrying your best friend. We had an amazing day and I wouldn’t have changed a thing. The next morning, we had the top of our wedding cake for breakfast (there was no way that thing was going to survive a trip back to Utah). We had an awesome view of the fireworks from our room at the Grand Floridian on our wedding night. It was the perfect way to start our marriage.