Glad I Did
1. Had a Disney Wedding
Since I started thinking about marriage I knew I wanted a Disney wedding, but I wasn’t so sure it was actually going to happen once I got engaged. Having a Disney wedding was definitely more expensive than an at home wedding would have been in my case, and it was definitely something that DH & I, as well as my parents, had to really save up for. However, in the end, I am so happy with the decision. Having been married at Disney, I just can’t imagine spending the day of my wedding anywhere else. It was truly magical. During the ceremony I remember looking out the window and whispering to DH, “look at the castle!” It was such a beautiful and amazing place to get married! All our guests loved being there not only for our wedding but also for the opportunity to spend so much time with family & friends. I wanted it to be a much needed and deserved vacation for our families as well as our wedding trip, and it really was!
2. Used Randy Chapman for photography
I can’t say enough about how happy I am that we decided to use Randy for our wedding photography. When I began looking, I looked into three photographers known for shooting Disney weddings. Randy was by far the most reasonable, and after looking at his work, we decided he was the way to go. I LOVED both our engagement shoot & wedding pictures, and Randy was so great to work with. Making us feel very comfortable, making great suggestions, etc. I can’t believe what a great value he is as well. He charges very fair prices but yet does incredible work. I would HIGLY recommend him to future brides.
4. Had our rehearsal dinner in Epcot
This was something I was looking forward to almost as much as the wedding, and it turned out it was almost as amazing as the wedding. Having our rehearsal at UK Lonchside as a Dessert Party with a fajita station & open bar was incredible. Everyone loved it and it still talking about how great it was. First off, UK Lonchside it a great location. By far the best spot I have ever seen Illuminations from. You are right on the water & feel as if the show is being directed right at you. All mu guests, as well as us, loved the food, the location, and the fact that we were in Epcot and had our own private area. It was really great for some of my guests who were not going into Epcot or any of the parks to be able to see all the countries lit up along the lagoon. It was also great that at the end of the party we were able to linger in the park & get some great photos by the phone booths/Epcot ball. On top of all this, the staff at our DP was AMAZING. Seriously so incredibly nice and helpful. They really did everything they could to make sure we had a great time. This was the kind of Disney service I was hoping for throughout the trip, and found lacking elsewhere. From free pins for everyone to excellent presentation & helpfulness, the staff was nothing short of excellent. All in all, an amazing experience that I think should somehow be included in every Disney wedding!
5. Had an evening wedding & used my locations
I was set on the Wedding Pavilion instantly. In my mind it’s the perfect location because it’s unique in that it is not a typical church or chapel, but yet it still has that traditional wedding feel to it. I also think it is simply stunning and the views of Cinderella Castle can’t be beat unless you’re having your wedding in MK. I debated on reception venues, and after the wedding, I can’t imagine having my reception anywhere but ADH. I worried about lighting, timing, set up, how big it is. None of these were problems AT ALL. For anyone having a smaller wedding and thinking about not using ADH because of its size, we had less than 50 people and I did not feel it was too big at all. The cocktail hour was upstairs, and downstairs there was room to roam and spread out, but it wasn’t too big that I felt like people weren’t all together. The fact that ADH is on the Boardwalk was another big plus. I loved walking down the Boardwalk in our wedding attire, getting photos & hearing congrats. I loved that my guests were able to see a really neat part of Disney. I could go on and on, but I just loved ADH. I have never seen a reception venue like it anywhere else, and to me that was a big plus. I really liked how unique it was. One last note, we wanted a party atmosphere, and ADH is perfect for lots of dancing & having a great time! I also am glad we chose an evening wedding. It gave us the whole wedding day to relax/get ready (play golf in the boys case), and I think this helped us stay calm and not feel rushed at all on the wedding day. I hate feeling rushed and since I am notorious for being late, I usually do. My wedding day was one of the most relaxing days in a long time! I also wanted a traditional dinner reception with dancing into the evening, so for us, and evening wedding was perfect!
6. Bought my dress off the rack
My dress was a mere $150 (I think it came to about $180 with tax). I debated between this dress and another that was over $1,000. I am so happy I made the decision to get the dress off the rack. It was in perfect condition and all I had to get done to it was have it hemmed & bustled. It really freed up some much needed money to spend on other things. I also bought it after only trying on a handful of dresses, and I don’t regret the decision at all. To future brides who may be reading this, look for deals, because they certainly are out there, and if you love the first dress you try on, don’t not get it just because it’s the first dress you try on!
7. Went to Hawaii for our honeymoon
Hawaii was VERY expensive, especially on top of helping to pay for a Disney wedding, but I am so glad we did this. We were both very stressed out from planning a wedding, and also I had just graduated from 5 tough years of school, I felt we really needed & deserved a great honeymoon. Hawaii was unbelievable. It gave us the change to start out our new life together in one of the most beautiful places in the world, and away from it all. I loved that we were halfway around the world from everyone at home. Spending time with all our family in Disney was so amazing, but I felt like we needed our own time together, alone, afterwards, and honeymooning in Hawaii was perfect for us! I would recommend to future brides/grooms out there, even if you don’t go all the way to Hawaii, give yourselves a few days somewhere to be alone together. There are lots of great beach options near Disney!
Glad I didn’t:
1. Do an MK photo shoot
We were signed up to do this, and it was something I went back and forth on many, many times. DH & my mom both thought the cost was outrageous, and in the end I decided to cut it in order to use the $$ on other parts of the wedding. Looking back, I do think the cost is outrageous, and I am glad we decided to skip it. We have over 3,000 amazing wedding photos from Randy, some with the castle in the background, and that was all I really wanted, was one great shot to hang in my living room with us in our wedding attire & the castle. I was surprised at how good, although small, the castle looked in our photos from the wedding pavilion. On top of the cost, getting up that early the day after, or even two days after the wedding, would not have been fun. We were so exhausted from our first few days in Disney, that I could see waking up that early turning into a fight with DH, which would not have been good two days after the wedding. We also considered doing only Epcot, and I am indifferent to whether I am glad or not that we didn’t do this. It was much cheaper, and Epcot is our favorite park, so if the cost wasn’t an issue, I probably would have enjoyed this, however, I don’t regret not doing it because we do have so many great photos, I don’t even know what to do with them all. I know for many brides the MK photo shoot is a must, if not a deciding factor on having a Disney wedding, but I have no regrets on not having one and again, to me personally, as with Cindy’s Coach, the cost is just too much.
2. Spend too much time in the parks
Usually when we go to Disney it’s a marathon to see how long we can go and how many rides we can get on. Having gone several times in the past few years to plan for the wedding, we were able to see a lot on previous trips, so we decided to spend a lot of time relaxing on our wedding trip. What a great decision. It was so nice being in Disney and RELAXING! It’s almost like an oxymoron, but we really enjoyed it. Especially since we were staying at Deluxe resorts (GF & WL), I wanted to spend some time at the pools and around the resorts, otherwise why stay there? Definitely a good decision, especially the day after the wedding where we ordered room service for breakfast, lounged around the pool all day, and had a relaxing dinner at night.
3. Have photography before the ceremony
We decided for two reasons not to have Randy start until the ceremony. 1. To cut down on cost (and it deff. did) and 2. Because we knew it would be so hot in FL in June, and we didn’t want to be sweaty messes by the time the ceremony began. I’m very happy with this decision. As mentioned above, we have more photos than I know what to do with. I have plenty of pic’s of us all getting ready taken by bridesmaids, etc. that are perfectly fine. Randy got some shots of the guys at the WP before the ceremony began, the girls getting out of the limo, and pic’s of the girls in the brides vestibule, even though he wasn’t even scheduled to start until the beginning of the ceremony. We also avoided the scorching sun and were able to stay in air conditioning right up until the ceremony began.
Wish I Did
1. Got my hair done
I decided to do my own hair because I didn’t know when I would be able to have someone come to the room with so many girls getting ready at once in my room, and also because I was afraid I wouldn’t like it and there would be nothing I could do about it at that point. So I practiced mine a lot and did it myself. It turned out good, and it’s not that I didn’t like it or anything, but looking back I ended up spending about 2 hours in my room by myself getting ready (which was actually very nice and very relaxing), but I could have had someone come at this time to do it. Not something I REALLY regret or anything, but if I were to do it again, I would have gotten it done.
2. Arrived one day earlier to Disney
I know most people do arrive more than two days before the wedding anyway, but if I were to do it again, I would have gotten down on Friday rather than Saturday. We did it this way because we were able to take two full weeks off work for Disney & Hawaii, and we really didn’t want to take more than that, but arriving on Friday would have been really nice. Saturday (and Sunday actually) were crazy and hectic and we were so tired by Sunday night. Everyone wanted to stay up late and go swimming at our pool, and go here, and go there. It was a lot of fun, but just very tiring. I would recommend arriving at least three days before the wedding, and trying to spend at least one of those days (the day before especially) just relaxing.
3. Booked the room I really wanted at GF
I talked about my disappointment with my first room at the GF in my TR, as well as the aggravation of having to change rooms three times, so I won’t go into too much detail here, but if I were to do it again, I would have definitely booked the room I really wanted at GF, regardless of price, to avoid the frustration and disappointment. On a positive note, I did love the GF, and our complimentary wedding night room was absolutely perfect.
4. Booked a limo through an outside vendor
We had a very large wedding party (7 bridesmaids, 5 groomsmen, 2 flower girls, and a ring bearer). I really wanted to book a stretch hummer black limo from an outside vendor. Amy (my planner) talked me out of it as DFTW does not like using outside vendors for transportation because they have had issues in the past on them being on time, etc. I really wanted our wedding party to be able to travel together in the limo, and I deff. wanted everyone in the wedding party to be able to ride in the limo, especially since we weren’t having a head table, I wanted them to feel special not the same as all the other guests. We eventually agreed to go with the small limo through Disney, under the agreement that the limo would just make multiple trips so that although everyone couldn’t ride together, everyone in the wedding party would still get to ride in the limo to the ceremony & reception. Well this turned out to be the only issue of the wedding day, but it was a pretty annoying issue. Everything went fine transporting the bridal party to the ceremony, but when it came time to transport us to the reception, I was basically told that my bridal party had to go on the bus with everyone else, and only me & DH could take the limo. I was not happy. In my BEO it specifically said multiple trips, but now they were telling me there wasn’t time for the limo to take part of the bridal party to ADH and come back for us. So five minutes after I got married, I am arguing with them to do what was agreed upon. I had already bought champagne, etc. for my whole wedding party to enjoy in the limo on the way to the reception. If they didn’t want to do this, then they shouldn’t have discouraged me from getting a limo from an outside vendor in the first place. Finally my sister & best maid of honor ever, convinced them to do what we wanted, and it ended up working perfectly fine. The limo took most of the bridal party to ADH, while DH & I got some pictures with Randy and the rest of our bridal party (my sister, her DH, my brother in law, sister in law, and their kids) hung out and took some pictures as well. The limo came back, took us, and we arrived on time not issues. Looking back I should have just gone with the limo I wanted in the first place and avoided having to deal with this minutes after my ceremony was over.
Wish I didn’t:
1. Stress about every little detail
Planning a wedding can be very stressful, and I let myself get too stressed out too many times about stupid little things. In the end it was a perfect day, and the most important thing was that I married DH, not that the décor looked just right. Everything flowed very smoothly the day of the wedding, and I hardly had to worry about anything (except the minor issue discussed above, which was resolved & forgotten about in 10 minutes). For future brides and grooms, remember that the wedding is about the marriage between the two of you, and simply take a break from the planning if it gets to be too stressful!
