Today I am doing something a bit different. This post won’t necessarily be about my wedding specifically, but it may be helpful for those of you who are interested in planning a Disney wedding of your own! I get so many questions on how to start planning a Disney wedding, so hopefully this post will answer some of those questions.
These tips are based off of my personal experiences. That being said, these details could be subject to change at any time. Regardless, this should still be helpful! These tips are not necessarily in a specific order – so do what is best for your timeline and situation.
Purchase the Fairytale Weddings Guide
This is one of the first things we did after getting engaged. I recommend doing this before contacting Disney if you are more than 16 months out from your date. If you are planning on getting married 16 months or less from now, you can probably do these simultaneously. This guide is unofficial, but it is updated any time details change and a new copy will be emailed to you on every revision for free (as long as you purchase the downloadable guide). This guide is a great resource and puts a lot of details into perspective including pricing and overall inspiration. The lady who created the guide also has some good free resources on her site that I suggest checking out. Reading this before your first meeting will give you a better idea of what to expect as well as get your wheels turning for location ideas and other details.
Contact Disney
So many people have asked me when and how to contact Disney. We contacted Disney in December 2019 – 17 months out from our desired date. We knew we wouldn’t get in contact with a planner straight away, but this allowed them to take our information and connect us with someone right at the start of the year without us asking. It just gave us more peace of mind. You just need to go to the Disney Weddings website and give the number on the top left hand corner a call. They’ll take some basic information from you – it is super easy! While there is no obligation, I do recommend getting the guide mentioned above first to get a better perspective of everything. The last thing anyone wants to do is waste their time (whether it be you or the planner). There are plenty of ways to learn about pricing and details without contacting Disney. You can also request a free brochure from them, but it has little detail and little to no pricing info, which is why I recommend the other guide.
Set Your Expectations
This seems silly but I truly can not stress this enough. If you want a Disney wedding because you’ve seen the TV show and you want something like that… I hate to burst your bubble, but most of that is not real. The TV show depicts options that do not even exist and other options are just not realistic unless you have a budget of $250,000+. For many aspects of a Disney wedding, you will be paying more than for your average wedding. Bridal bouquets start at $250; in certain venues you have to pay for each chair (I’m talking $100+ for one chair), and not to mention most in-park weddings take place at outrageous hours (5am or midnight). I don’t mean to sound like a Debbie Downer – but it is important to know what you’re getting yourself into.
Be Willing To Be Flexible
I’ve said this more times than I can count, and it also goes with my last point. If you aren’t willing to be flexible on anything, a Disney wedding is probably not for you. I still do not know how Grant and myself were able to get literally everything we wanted when it came to our event details. But that being said, there is still a lot of planning to do and there are other factors we sacrificed just to have a Disney wedding. I would recommend you get the guide, read it with your significant other, and have a discussion before and after your first meeting. There are a lot of big choices to be made and it is crucial that you are on the same page and know what is important to both of you individually and as a couple.
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I hope this post helped some of y’all and possibly opened your minds to the process. Any wedding is stressful to plan, and a Disney wedding is no different. But it will all be worth it in the end! As always, do not hesitate to reach out to me whether it be on Instagram or via email. I’d love to answer your questions!
Cheers!
xoxo
Jayme
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