What little girl hasn’t looked at Cinderella’s Castle at Disney World, and thought how extraordinarily wonderfully awesome it would be to be married at Disney….
The dream usually involves our bride being dressed by fairies in pink and blue, then magically transported on Cinderella’s coach drawn by six miniature snow white horses to the base of the castle, where Prince Charming waits in breathless anticipation of the first sight of the love of his life…… it is a very good dream.
A Possible dream!
Ok, a VERY expensive dream too!
Disney has a variety of incredibly picturesque locations for weddings, besides the castle. The wedding Pavilion on Bay Lake, the point at the Polynesian Resort, the Yacht club, The Grand Floridian and Wilderness lodge all have glorious views – the perfect setting for your happily ever after.
But hold on to your pocketbooks!
A simple escape for 4 is a minimum of $4,500 (plus lodging), and larger weddings have minimums of $10 to $20 thousand or more, depending on season and venue.
These rates do NOT include the photographer… I felt I should add that…
There are alternatives to the full monte, of course.
Consider the delightful, intimate affair I took part in last September which was accomplished for under $2,000…. And that included the dress!
The bride and groom rented a 2 bedroom villa at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort for one night, and held the wedding in the common room. After the simple but elegant ceremony, the wedding party went for drinks in Disney’s Port Orleans resort, where our bride and groom took a half hour carriage ride along the canal - not for the huge fee that they get for Cinderella’s coach, but for $45 – the normal tourist rate.
As the photographer and, (I have to admit), father of the groom, I had an exceptional variety of beautiful places and people to photograph; and great memories to capture for our couple.
Was their Disney experience a bad one? Of course not! It was exquisite in every way – it was just not held at any of the iconic “Disney” locations.
In retrospect, the location didn’t matter at all. Doug and Sara were so “in” to each other that they didn’t seem to notice their surroundings. The wedding was, as all weddings should be, an affirmation of their love for each other, NOT a show to impress guests.
Instead of a bachelor party, we all spent the evening before at the Magic Kingdom, at Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party (in costume, of course), and the day after, the couple celebrated their first full day as husband and wife alone, at…. Universal Studios.
Even a Disney wedding doesn’t have to be
For more information of your own Fairy Tale Wedding, go to www.disneyweddings.go.com, or call them at Disney’s office of Fairy Tale Weddings, at 321-939-7100, or 407-827-6799
For more information on doing a wedding without spending a fortune, you’re on your own.
“WHAT? I’m on my own???”
Yes, you’re on your own. All of the bridal magazines and specialty brochures you read are designed to sell you something and usually an expensive something. Even MY advice and ideas are, at least in part, designed to sell you on my profession’s services.
So while you are on your own, think of families, friends, pretty locations that don’t involve Maitre D’s or liquor licenses and remember how much you are in love with your intended mate. THAT is the only really important thing.
But Disney is nice too.
For a few photos from that delightful, intimate Disney Wedding, click here.
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