Article written by: Trish

What could be a more wonderful way to start your married life together than with a Fairytale Wedding at Walt Disney World? With a choice of packages and locations to suit everyone, and a wedding co-ordinator to help you plan your ceremony, it really is a lot simpler than you might think!

Firstly, you need to choose between a Custom and Intimate Wedding Package. Disney’s Custom Weddings are for couples who want to be able to choose from many different options for their wedding, and who have a large guest list. However, there is a minimum amount that you must spend with a Custom Wedding, $7500 if your wedding is to take place Monday – Thursday or $10,000 if you choose Friday – Sunday. There are also requirements regarding how many guests will be staying at Disney resorts, and minimum spend per person at the reception.

Most Custom Weddings take place at Disney’s Wedding Pavilion, but you can arrange for your ceremony to take place in one of the parks. Bear in mind, though, that these weddings will be very pricey, and can only take place outside of normal park opening hours, but if your dream is to get married on the steps of Cinderella’s Castle at midnight, then this is the wedding package for you……

The more reasonable option for those of us from the UK that want to tie the knot at Disney is to go for an Intimate Wedding Package. You can have up to 8 guests at your wedding or for a charge of approx $500 you can have an extra 5 people to attend. Although the official line is that your guests must also be staying on site, when I got married there in 2000 some of my guests were staying in a villa off site, and it wasn’t a problem. The bride and groom must be staying on site in one of Disney’s moderate or deluxe resorts.

The Deluxe Intimate Wedding package allows you to choose from four locations for your wedding ceremony to take place, Sea Breeze Point at Disney's Boardwalk Resort, The Wedding Gazebo at Disney's Yacht Club Resort, Sunrise Terrace at Disney's Wilderness Lodge and Sunset Pointe at Disney's Polynesian Resort. All these locations have something special to offer, and all are beautiful settings for your ceremony and photographs.

Also included in this package is a choice of bouquet for the bride and buttonhole for the groom, a two tiered wedding cake with a Mickey and Minnie cake topper for you to keep, a bottle of “Fairy Tale” Cuvee for your toast, a musician for your ceremony, limousine hire for four hours, two hours of photography coverage, a wedding certificate signed by Mickey and Minnie, and a special wedding keepsake of limited edition his and hers watches. You also have the services of an on site wedding co-ordinator, and an officiant to conduct your ceremony.

The Premium Intimate Wedding package includes all of the things mentioned above, but your ceremony will take place in the Wedding Pavilion, followed by a champagne and cake cutting reception at the Grand Floridian Resort.

But that’s not all! Even with the Intimate Wedding packages you can make your day even more special. You can choose to arrive in style in Cinderella’s Glass Coach, or arrange for Mickey and friends to attend your reception. Of course, this will add a bit more onto the cost of your wedding, to hire Cinderella’s coach will cost you about $2500 for two hours, but think of the pictures!

Don’t forget – you will also need to get your Florida marriage license before your ceremony can take place. You can go to any court house in Florida, the two closest to Disney are Orange County and Osceola County. You may find it easier to make an appointment before you go, to save waiting around. Florida marriage licenses have a “no wait” feature – you can get your license in the morning and get married in the afternoon if you like! You can also apply for your license by post, which will be slightly more expensive, but will save you a trip whilst on your holiday. The license is valid for 60 days, so don’t apply too early! The cost is approximately $89 if applying in person, or approximately $180 if applying by post.

Some of the larger UK tour operators can help you arrange your Disney Wedding, for instance we booked with Going Places who have a specific wedding department. If you don’t think that a Disney wedding is for you, but you would still like to get married in Florida, there are many other locations for you to consider, your travel agent can usually provide you with brochures to help you make your choice.

For more information on Disney Weddings or to request brochures, you can call the Disney Fairytale Wedding department on 407 828 3400.

Official Walt Disney World Resort Wedings

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