Disney wedding could be yours if the price is right
‘A ceremony inside a Disney park starts at $10,000’
Stephanie Burman can’t remember life without Disney World.
“I’ve been going to Disney since I was in my mom’s womb,” she said. “So the thought of having a Fairy Tale wedding was just a dream . ... The fact that it came true was just unbelievable.”
Antonio Santiago of Wenonah, New Jersey, shared the same sentiment about his Disney wedding 20 years ago.
“It was everything that you dream about,” he said. But dreaming isn’t enough for a Disney wedding.
Here’s what it takes, and what it’s like for some of the thousands of couples who get married at Disney properties each year:
Where are weddings held at Disney World?
There are more than 100 venues at Disney properties across the globe, including more than 50 at Disney World ranging from in front of Cinderella Castle to the beach at Disney’s Yacht & Beach Club Resort.
Eric Nicotri and his husband Jamesofee Chimico of New York got married at Disney’s Wedding Pavilion earlier this year and had their reception at the American Adventure in EPCOT’s World Showcase.
“It was beautiful, with the columns, the lighting, everything,” Nicotri said. He had been envisioning a simple wedding in the Hudson Valley, but joked that his husband “kind of didn’t even give me an option . ... He is a Disney fanatic.”
They kicked off their wedding weekend with a welcome dinner at Animal Kingdom and arranged for their whole group to ride Avatar Flight of Passage together.
“We go to Disney a lot,” Nicotri said, but many of their friends and family don’t. “I think one of my friends hadn’t been to Disney in like 15 years, so (my husband) was like, ‘I want to be able to share this experience with them, just like boom right away.”
Santiago and his wife Chanoa also got married at the Wedding Pavilion, but they had their reception in a ballroom at the adjacent Grand Floridian.
Burman and her husband David got married in EPCOT’s United Kingdom pavilion last fall and had their reception in the France pavilion.
“You don’t have to go to Europe to get Europe,” said Korri McFann, director of marketing for Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons. She’s seen all sorts of weddings through the years, including her own at Disney’s Boardwalk Resort.
“Tower of Terror (courtyard) is always a fun one because I think it always takes people by surprise,” she said. “We can also do a mixed-in attraction ride after ... taking the plunge
literally, I guess, right?”
Depending on the location, capacity can range from just the wedding party to hundreds of guests.
How much does a Disney wedding cost?
Weddings at Disney World start at $7,500, outside of the parks.
“The event minimum for a ceremony inside a Disney park starts at $10,000,” McFann said. “This includes a couple’s ceremony venue, chairs, water station, a musician, and of course, a dedicated wedding planning team as well as a selection of other wedding elements that are important to the couple like floral and decor, transportation and more.”
There is no separate event minimum for receptions. Reception costs can go toward that starting price, but some reception venues may require additional venue fees and/or food and beverage minimums.
Prices vary widely based upon location, day of the week, party size and what each couple wants to include in their big day.
There is no maximum.
“If you can dream it, we can do it,” McFann said.
What is the average cost of a Disney wedding?
According to The Knot, the average cost of a U.S. wedding was $28,000 last year.
“We’re right in that wheelhouse,” McFann said.
“Certainly, people go above and certainly people spend right at that entrylevel minimum as well,” she added.
How can I get married at Disney for cheap?
The cheapest way to get married at Disney World is to keep the wedding small and outside the theme parks.
“That $7,500 range is more of some of our beautiful outdoor, intimate ceremony locations,” McFann said.
Weddings on Disney Cruise Line have a lower minimum, $5,000.
What is included in a Disney wedding?
“We handle everything that’s bridal,” McFann said, describing the “one-stop-shopping experience” of arranging venue, decor, flowers, photography, entertainment, food, private transportation between hotels and wedding venues, and custom elements for each couple.
Santiago and his wife flew down to Disney World to plan the bulk of their wedding.
“We planned our whole wedding in three or four hours,” Santiago said. They spent the rest of the day in Magic Kingdom. “It was the most amazing thing.” Other couples plan from remote. “The planning was super easy,” Burman said. “They sent you a planning packet and you would just go through and kind of mark all the things you really wanted and what you envisioned for your day . ... The planner really just takes everything that you want and just runs with it.”
“They come they come with very creative ideas, and it’s our job here to help them be their storytellers and bring imagination to it to really play out whatever that is drummed up in their mind,” McFann said.
Nicotri’s husband, for example, wanted to include EPCOT’s Harmonious fireworks in their wedding.
“That was his biggest thing,” Nicotri said. “So our planner recommended that we do a later wedding if possible, the last wedding actually. We were the last wedding for the Wedding Pavilion ... We did the wedding ceremony (from) 7 to 7:30 p.m. and then everyone got onto the bus to make it to cocktail hour” at EPCOT. They watched the fireworks with their wedding guests in a cordoned-off area before being ushered to their reception as the park started closing to the public.
While any couple anywhere can have a Disney-inspired wedding, experiences like that, Cinderella carriage rides and musical performances by the Dapper Dans are unique to Disney weddings. Santiago’s wife surprised him with an appearance by Sorcerer Mickey, his favorite character, at their reception. Disney characters don’t take part in ceremonies.
What time are weddings at Disney?
While some park venues are available during regular park hours, couples who want Cinderella Castle or the Tree of Life as backdrops should plan for unconventional timing.
“Pandora is more of a sunrise setting location for us,” McFann said. “You’ve got to be one of those couples that is willing to get the whole friends and family up early, but talk about an immersive, epic location.”
Nighttime weddings near Cinderella Castle are held after the park closes to guests.
“We like to call it a Cinderella start. They normally start at around midnight, so you’ve got to be flexible,” McFann said.“A lot of times for that, we might actually do their dinner first, then do cocktail hour and then do the ceremony. So there’s ways for us to play around with ways of flowing of a wedding day, and I think a lot of people are doing that now. There is no cookie cutter. They want to make it their own.”