It has been a hot minute y’all! Honestly it’s because we’ve mostly been in the waiting game…
Disney has a very strange and extravagant timeline for weddings. You can start planning with them at 16 months out, which is what we decided to do. However, you cannot get your actual wedding date until 1 year out. But within the next few weeks we will FINALLY have our wedding date!
It is no secret that Disney weddings are in high demand, and now more than ever things are complicated due to weddings getting pushed back due to the Coronavirus. But due to venues and other factors being limited on Disney property, it is best to start talking to a wedding planner early so you can get on the list for what you want. Even if you begin to plan 16 months out like us, you aren’t promised everything you want.
With Disney, they will take your top five choices for a wedding. This can include times of day, dates, reception venues, ceremony venues, etc. For us, we decided our venues were non-negotiable so we gave six – yes, six – different wedding dates. So if you’re ever in the market to plan a Disney wedding, being flexible with the date is probably the best chance you’ll have at getting what you want when it comes to locations and even transportation (since I decided I wanted Cinderella’s Carriage, that was another factor our planner had to note, since the horses only do one wedding per day).
Eventually I’m going to write a huge post about how much a Disney wedding really costs (as of right now anyway, since prices change). But that is going to take a lot of time and energy that I don’t have at the moment lol. So let’s get back into what this is really about – what we’ve been up to during our waiting period.
Last time, I shared that we made our registry. Since then I’ve been adding things here and there when I think of them. I also previously mentioned that we made our wedding website. In addition, I have also set a date for my bridal shower and we’ve started brainstorming for wedding invitations.
I decided to have my bridal shower this September. Yes, I know that is very early since my wedding isn’t until May. However, nothing with this wedding has really been conventional lol. I decided this was best, with the blessing from my bridesmaids and mom, for a few reasons. 1) I do not want to go anywhere near the holiday season. People have way too many other obligations and things get too complicated. 2) I do not want to have it in the winter. Not only is that not the vibe I’m going for (lol), but Pittsburgh weather is too unpredictable from October through April. The last thing I want is to have to cancel due to a snow storm. 3) The beginning of 2021 is going to be crazy. My birthday is in January, Princess Half Weekend is in February, and my nephew’s and mom’s birthdays are in March, and the last thing I want to do is have a shower the month before my destination wedding (I’ll have many other things to be worried about). Additionally, some friends will be traveling to the Pittsburgh area for the shower, so spacing out the wedding and shower for travel/financial purposes is best! So with all these factors considered, September was the best choice for us.
As for invitations, this has been our most stressful detail yet! While we could make our lives easy and order them online and move on, that is not how things work in my brain haha. We are DIYing our invitations, but thankfully we only have about 35 to make. After making hundreds for my sister’s wedding back in 2016, I feel confident in Grant and I’s abilities. We haven’t ordered or put anything together yet, but we want to have a clear image in our minds for when we get our official date so they can go out ASAP and people can start planning their travel. Our goal is to have them out by June at the latest. In another wedding or even destination wedding situation I wouldn’t send them out until much later, but Disney is an intense trip to plan, and many people we are inviting have never been, so we want to give them as much time as possible to plan.
If you want to see our inspiration for our invitations, as well as other aspects of our wedding, head to my Pinterest! I have a wedding board, a bridal shower board, and even a dress inspiration board. So be sure to follow me on there and check those out.
Within the next few weeks we’ll be communicating with our wedding planner about what date we get. Our preferred date is May 4th, but we also have five other dates available ranging from late April through mid-May as backup. I’m super nervous and excited to figure out what we get! Be sure to catch up on my other wedding diaries here in the meantime.
Cheers!
xoxo
Jayme
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