getting married at Disney

crayolahead

New Member
Hi!! My fiance and I are planning on getting married at WDW at the end of May 2005...we have a friend who lives in Florida who is a minister and has agreed to perform the ceremony! We can't really afford to have the whole custom "Disney Wedding" stuff. Our group will probably consist of about 10-14 adults and 6-8 kids. We aren't going to have a wedding party. My questions are this: Can anyone recomend a great spot for a tiny ceremony? Will resort CM's be willing to accomodate this sort of very private affair or is that frowned upon if Disney isn't arranging everything? Thanks so much for any comments or ideas anyone might have!!! --"All you need is love, luck, and a little bit of pixie dust!"
 

southerngirl

New Member
While I don't know for certain, I'm pretty sure that if you want to get married on WDW property, you have to go through their coordinators. Also, I would guess that they have a minimum expenditure requirement, but I know that they offer a variety of services. So maybe they'll have something that fits into your budget (e.g., small ceremony at one of the resorts and cake cutting ceremony, etc.).

If even the minimum fees are out of your budget, I have some suggestions for having your wedding in the WDW area. (I am a wedding planner when I'm not an attorney!) First, you could have a small ceremony at a local church during the week. Many churches just charge a small fee if you are a non-member (maybe $500 plus a cash "gift" for the minister). If you have a minister in mind, he might be able to help you find a church and arrange for you to pay a reduced fee. If you wanted a small reception, you could contact one of the local supermarkets and have them make you a simple cake, which you could serve with sparkling grape juice, champagne or even just punch. (FYI, many grocery stores now offer bridal bouquets, too.) The church might let you have the reception in one of their reception, Sunday School or recreation facilities for another small fee (although there would be no alcohol allowed, I suspect).

Or, if you don't think you can find a church (or don't want to get married in one), you might contact a WDW area civic club (Lions' Club, Rotary, Women's Club, etc.). If they have a facility, they might let you rent it out for a small fee, and you could have your reception and ceremony there. The same thing goes for a community center, art museum, or small restaurant that has a private room (or is only open for dinner and would let you get married during the day).

Really, there are endless possibilities, and you will be surprised with what you can do on a small budget (and how great you can make it look).
 
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KevinPage

Well-Known Member
Yes you would have to go through Disney if you wanted to have your wedding on property and there are minimum expenditures depending on the size of the wedding.

Alot of the resorts have nice outdoor locations, especially the Boardwalk, but that has alot of "foot traffic" going by. The Wilderness Lodge and Polynesian are popular spots for intimate ceremonies as well.

Good luck :wave:
 
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SnowWhite5669

New Member
When I took the Disney Keys to Excellence they had a whole section on how people would enter the parks with their gowns and tuxes under their clothes and all of the sudden a minister would pop out of nowhere and they would have an impromptu wedding ceremony in front of the castle and then be escorted out of the park by security! That's why they started the whole wedding planning thing but I am sure there must be something they can do to fit it into your budget. Maybe a special dinner at one of the resorts... I once saw the rehearsal dinner at Cape May Cafe at the Beach Club. Get married off property and then have a special dinner at one of the restaurants. Anyway... Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!
 
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FaerieLuna

Member
You CAN get married on WDW property without going through WDW Fairytale Weddings by getting married at the WDW Swan (which is not owned by Disney, but by Westin hotels.) I highly recommend it! The weddings there are done through a company called Just Marry. It is much much much cheaper than a Disney Fairytale Wedding and there are no minimum expenditures. You don't need to have a reception there if you don't want one either. There are 2 location options at the Swan and they are both nice for small groups. You can even get a Disney character appearance if you want one. Getting married there is an ideal way to still have the magic of a Disney wedding and not spending a fortune to do so. Feel free to PM me and I'll give you the e-mail addresses to get information. I'm getting married there in May of 2005.
 
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VillianFan

New Member
My brother and sister in law got married in 2001 at Sunset Pointe at the Poly. They had only 2 people in the wedding party and about 14 guests. They had a beautiful ceremony including Disney music, cake cutting, photography and luncheon. They got to pick the restaurant for the luncheon, I believe it was the Concourse Steakhouse at the CR. Overall, it was both intimate and wonderful.

On their next trip in Jan., they plan to take their new baby to the same spot to have family pictures taken.

If you can afford it, I would totally recommend it and I was only a guest.
 
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LadyDarling

New Member
You have to go through them. My hubby and I tried this in 2001. At that time, the MINIMUM expenditure (which did NOT include guests, etc) was about $7000.00. Good luck!

What we did instead was have our Honeymoon in Disneyworld. It was the best $1000.00 we ever spent and we got a WEEK of special treatment.

~Jay
 
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Tim G

Well-Known Member
crayolahead said:
Hi!! My fiance and I are planning on getting married at WDW at the end of May 2005...we have a friend who lives in Florida who is a minister and has agreed to perform the ceremony! We can't really afford to have the whole custom "Disney Wedding" stuff. Our group will probably consist of about 10-14 adults and 6-8 kids. We aren't going to have a wedding party. My questions are this: Can anyone recomend a great spot for a tiny ceremony? Will resort CM's be willing to accomodate this sort of very private affair or is that frowned upon if Disney isn't arranging everything? Thanks so much for any comments or ideas anyone might have!!! --"All you need is love, luck, and a little bit of pixie dust!"
You can't get married IN the parks, without a Disney Wedding coordinator... BUT..................

There's another way... You CAN get married in the Grand Floridian, without a wedding coordinator..

But in THAT case you will HAVE TO reserve a dinner for you and your guests in one of the GF's restaurants..
If you do that, they allow you to use one of the public balconies of the GF for a small wedding ceremony... (so absolutely NO big ceremony)

Look it up in the yellow pages (Orlando) for... Get married with Joy...
Her name is Joy, (something) spoke to her once... on a party...

She IS fully licenced, has a very small fee for the ceremony.. I think it's somewhere around 80 bucks.. She'll make the Diner Reservbations for you..
Can arrange the flowers, photographs.. etc. etc.. But NOTHING is madatory...

Got a business card of her laying around somewhere at home...
As I'm not there at the moment I'll try to a hold to someone who will fax me the card, so I can publish it here on this forum

In the meanwhile... Good luck!
 
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