I Got Married at Disney World. Here Are the 4 Struggles Nobody Prepared Me For.

My dreams came true in 2022 when I married my best friend in the Most Magical Place on Earth.

There were so many special things about that day (and the whole week) that I could go on and on about. Disney did an amazing job of making our day incredibly special. The details were immaculate and every one of the Cast Members that we worked with was spectacular. However, as many amazing things that there are to say about our wedding, there were a few things I struggled with that I was not prepared for. If you’re hoping to have a Disney Fairytale Wedding, I want to make sure you’re not taken by surprise by these four aspects.

Ceremony Time Limitations

There are lots of wedding venues to choose from at Disney World. You can get married at several of the hotels or inside one of the four parks, including various locations in the parks. It’s great that there are so many options to choose from, and it’s likely not a surprise that they vary in cost. For example, it makes sense that getting married in front of Cinderella Castle costs more than it does on the beach in front of Disney’s Beach Club Resort.

However, what did come as a surprise to us were the times available for our ceremony at each of the different venues. This also ended up becoming a struggle because we ended up having to get married at 7 AM since I was stubborn and wanted the exact venue. If you get married in a park, you may have far fewer options of times available to you than if you get married at a hotel. It’s likely that you’ll have to get married before the park opens or after it closes, which means very odd times of the day for a wedding ceremony.

Of course, if you’re getting married in your dream location, the time may not matter to you! But it is something to consider if, like us, you end up having to wake up at 2 AM to start getting ready.

Upcharges

When you get married at Disney World, there is a minimum amount you must spend based on the venue you select. Naturally, you are charged for decor, food, and flowers. There are a few things that come with your venue, but you can always choose to upgrade for a fee. The fact that there are upcharges for upgrades was not the surprise to us. The surprise and struggle was the amount the upcharges were!

For example, I really wanted seating that I had seen on the show Disney’s Fairytale Weddings. The chairs were beautiful and whimsical. I loved them so much.

Unfortunately, the price per chair was FAR outside of our budget, which broke my heart. We still ended up upgrading the seating to something that was far less extravagant. Instead of roughly an extra $200+ per chair, we only paid an extra $20 per chair.

So when you consider any upcharges that may happen, be prepared for the worst, and be ready to make hard decisions to stay within your budget. It’s doable, but you may have to make some changes.

Different Days of the Week Have Different Prices

Another aspect of pricing that we were surprised to find out was that different days of the week have different prices! Perhaps, this is the same at most wedding venues (I didn’t search anywhere else, so I’m not sure),  but it caught us off guard.

You can get married at Disney World any day of the week. However, it is most expensive to get married on the weekends and far cheaper to get married in the middle of the week. That’s why we got married on a Wednesday! The struggle here was explaining to our guests why the heck we were getting married on a Wednesday when that is not a typical wedding day.

If you get married in Disney World, you’ll probably have a lot of guests make a vacation of it, so the day of the week probably isn’t a huge deal. But it may happen that some people are coming down just for the wedding, and getting married in the middle of the week may make it challenging for some of your guests to make it. Now, it’s your wedding, and you have to do what makes sense for you; if that’s saving some money by getting married on a Wednesday instead of a Saturday, so be it!

The Weather

I have been to Disney World many times, and I am well aware of the weather in Florida. It can go from bright and sunny to raining cats and dogs within minutes. And this can be a huge struggle, especially if you get married in the middle of the summer like we did.

Even at 7 AM, it is HOT in Florida. You will be sweating in your dress and suit if you get married outside. But the biggest struggle we found to be caused by the weather was the fireworks dessert party that we had paid for. The night of our wedding the fireworks were canceled due to rain. Luckily, Disney had a backup weather venue for us (and they did tell us in advance that this could happen), so we were still able to have our dessert party, but it was still very sad to miss out on the fireworks and pictures we could have gotten with them.

Disney did refund us the fireworks viewing fee for each guest, but I would have rather seen the fireworks. But that’s the weather in Florida, you never know what might come your way, so be prepared!

We had a magical wedding, and I loved every moment of it! If you’re planning on having a Disney Fairytale Wedding, I hope you have a great experience and be prepared for these few things so they surprise you too.

For more Disney tips, keep following AllEars!

I Got Married in Disney World, and I Have 4 Gripes

Are you thinking about getting married at Disney World? Let me know in the comments!

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