A Mickey Mouse Affair: Getting Married at Walt Disney World
If you've always dreamed of a fairy-tale wedding, Disney is happy to oblige for a price (though often a large one). Recognizing WDW's popularity as a honeymoon destination—each year, more honeymooners head here than to any other spot in America. Disney, in 1995, cut out the middleman and officially went into the wedding business. And, oh, what big business it is!
When you plan a Disney Wedding, every aspect of the party will have to meet minimum attendance requirements. Park guests also come first, so you probably find that if you can book a ceremony in front of Cinderella Castle at all, it will have to be in the wee hours, when the park isn't open. Bookings for locations open one year ahead, but you'd be wise to get the ball rolling at least 18 months ahead.
You'll have to cough up at least $3,500 just to have the ceremony here (not including the minimum expenditure of $15,000 required for a custom wedding—or the minimum 4-night stay that's also required). It costs at least $30,000 to have your ceremony after hours in front of Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom—and that's just to use the venue, because minimum food, beverage, and hotel expenditures are required and are at an additional cost. Disney lists its available wedding locations and estimates of their rental fees (before ceremony costs) at www.disneyweddings.com/florida/pricing/.
The introduction of the Disney Couture wedding collection (by David Tutera), a unique honeymoon registry, and a line of princess-inspired designer wedding gowns bring additional elements of elegance that only Disney could create to the wedding mix. If you can imagine it, Disney can likely do it—as long as your wallet can back up your imagination.
For details, call tel. 321/939-4610 or go to www.disneyweddings.com. The email address is ContactUs@DisneyWeddings.com.
All the major resort hotels in Orlando will be happy to take your marriage-planning business—they live for group bookings. Also look at area golf resorts and country clubs for the same reason.
Note: This information was accurate when it was published, but can change without notice. Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip.
