Helen from Elegant Weddings & more wedding ?s

[PixieFairies]

Hi there past & future brides/grooms,
I'm still waiting on prices from Carrie at Destination Occassion which I see have been highly recommended on here, however i have had a quick response with a wonderful quote from Helen at Elegant Weddinds for Paradise Cove ( Ceremony Only )

I have a couple of questions to those who have or are using her service if you wouldn't mind helping me that would be great.

1. She mentioned that we can have a Catholic Ceremony outside of mass ( this would mean we are legally married in Ireland ) however our marriage is invalid in the eyes of the church. Is there anyway around this?

2. Helen advised that services like Bridal Bouquet, Groom Boutonniere, Photographer, Hair & MakeUp etc will be included. Is there anyone who are happy with who she uses for these?

3. If marrying at Paradise Cove where does the bride dress? I presume at whatever resort I'm staying & then require transport?

4. There was no mention of a limo to drive us from hotel to Paradise Cove, would this be a big cost & any recommended limos to use?

5. We are having a ceremony only wedding, any ideas on what to do afterwards, considering we will have our kids who will be 4, 2 & 10 months at the time.

I'm sure I'll have many more questions, however would love to hear from those who have used her to book there wedding & any tips would be great.

Thanks so much
Melissa

[Chilly80]

The only way to have a true catholic wedding is in a catholic church i'm afraid.

[Morganza]

Helen is fab and does respond very quickly - nearly always same day despite having weddings on every day!

You can have a Catholic ceremony and not have Mass but I think it does have to be in a Catholic church. I'm a Presbyterian who married an RC and didn't have mass but did have the catholic ceremony but in a chapel. (To avoid any doubt, my first wedding! I've just had my second - and final wedding at Paradise Cove)

The florist and the photographer are absolutely fantastic. My bouquet was exactly what I wanted and she managed to source thistle boutonnieres for the men at no extra charge. Photographer Matt Jylha was brilliant and a lovely bloke. Wish he would have stayed and joined in the party, everyone loved him.

I organised hair and make up myself - wasn't part of my original quote.

I hired the bridal house at an extra charge. Well worth it - the deal was for four hours but I actually got the use of it from 11.30 until the ceremony at 5.10. Great to escape from the mad in-laws for a wee while!

We stayed at Windsor Hills so only 10 minutes away. Four of us got a lift there for the bridal house and the rest arrived by car. We left our car there overnight and picked it up next day. We just got taxis back. Didn't seem worth having a limo. (but that's our personal view, I know for some people it's part of their day)

There are lots of restaurants on Lake Buena Vista Drive which is a minute from Paradise Cove. I'm sure someone can recommend one. We had our meal at the venue. (excellent!)

any further questions fire away!

[tnkrbell]

HI Melissa
Jyst about the marrying abroad and Ireland even if you don't have a catholic ceremony once you have all your paper work you can still register over here. If you were worried about your marriage not being recognised in Ireland you could always pop into the registry office.
Im using Carrie for my wedding next year and shes fantastic. Did you contact her through her website or facebook page? After your wedding you could have a nice dinner in disney or else watch the fireworks on one of the cruises

[PixieFairies]

I emailed Carrie at her email address & used the contact form on her website, haven't heard anything back, however have been receiving plenty of emails from Helen at elegant weddings regarding paradise cove.

I need to contact my local priest today & find out if the marriage will be recognised by the church in Ireland ( legally it will be ) but I just want to make religiously aswell, if it isn't then we may need to convalidate the marriage ( it doesn't mean anything to himself but does to me )

It's so exciting trying to plan it & hopefully we can start booking, just wished flights would hurry up & come out in December.

[Scottishmam]

Hi we've booked our wedding with Helen and we were quoted $140 dollars for a one way limousine trip to paradise cove. We hadn't booked our accommodation at this point so I assume that's from most places in the area.

[Hels80]

Helen is fab. She organised all of our wedding and was just brilliant. I now class her as a friend and will always meet up with her for breakfast when in Orlando.

[PixieFairies]

Just waiting to get deposit into account so we can pay her.
We have a date provisionally booked.

It will be a reverend who will be performing a catholic ceremony.
Even though the marriage licences will be recognised legally in Ireland, according to my priest here he said the marriage will recognised as invalid in the eyes of the church

[tnkrbell]

If you wanted you could always as you local pArish priest to give you a blessing when you're back in Ireland.
I think it's terrible that even though you will be having a catholic ceremony it won't be recognised over here in the eyes of the church. Churches way to get more money out of people. Bad enough you have to do pre marriage courses and then pay for the use of the church.

[PixieFairies]

I think it's because it's not in the church & we won't be having the wine & hoist ( communion ) my parish priest told me that I'd have to get permission from the bishop & there would be lots of forms & paperwork to be filled out & sent over.
I asked Helen from Elegant Weddings & she said I don't need anything as it will be a civil wedding with a catholic ceremony outside the mass, done by a reverend who is authorised by the Catholic Church. She also said that a marriage license from Florida is legally recognised worldwide.

Are you getting a blessing?