Guest Blog Contributor: Frances Sherlock (Disney World bride)

They say hindsight is 20/20, and looking back, my now-husband and I had a fantastic wedding. However, there are some things I wish I had known before starting the process. Being Type A, I was in the Facebook group, listened to the podcast, and combed through Instagram, but there were still things unique to our wedding and the process we went through that I would like to note.

We got married in October 2023 and started the planning process in August/September 2022. Here are some things I wish I had known before starting the process of planning our Disney wedding.

THE PLANNING PROCESS

I will group some things under the “planning process umbrella.” While I have not planned a wedding outside of Disney, these are some unique things to the Disney planning process I think anyone planning a Disney wedding should be aware of.

Before 12 Months Out

Before 12 months out, you can reach out to Disney, and you will have a meeting with one of the wedding sales representatives. They will ask roughly what dates, size of wedding, venue interests, etc.

During this time, you can also attend an open house at the Wedding Chapel at Disney’s Grand Floridian to see that specific venue, see sample floral arrangements and sample cakes, and ask any questions to the staff.

12 Months Out

Behind the scenes, roughly 365 days from the day you want to get married, your salesperson meets with the other salespeople for the “bidding process.” (This is what our salesperson called it. We did not have to put money down to secure anything at this point but it is some sort of process to ensure your venue and date.) Luckily, we had a location that was not as popular for our ceremony and reception, so we got our first choice, and we were even able to move our wedding date up two weeks from our initial request. I feel like more popular venues like the wedding chapel go through that “bidding process.”

After you have signed your contract for your date and venue and paid your deposit, someone from the rooms side of the wedding department will contact you to discuss your room block.

4 to 6 Months Out

During this time, your planner and florist will reach out, and this is when most of the planning happens. There will be a lot of emails back and forth, and I recommend learning to read a BEO, as you will be reviewing one every week or so.

You can request cake samples from the Grand Floridian bakery to take home and try. The first request is complimentary; anything after that comes with an additional cost.

You will receive an invitation for a food tasting at Disney World during this time. You are usually given three days to choose from, roughly four to six months before your wedding. These dates fill up fast, so you will need to sign up as soon as you receive your email. You do not get to choose what you are tasting; instead, Disney provides a sampling of things that can be on your wedding menu.

30 Days Out

The room block closes, and your numbers are passed along to the hotels. Here, you can see what perks you may get from Disney regarding your room block. A headcount estimate is given to your planner, with a final headcount due five days out.

Final payments are due to Disney.

5 Days Out

The finalized guest count is given to your planner at Disney for the food and drink count. We had a few people who got COVID-19 and dropped out at the last second, and we got a small refund for their food and drink (I’m not sure if that is the case for everyone or is still the case now).

Virtual Planning

Post-COVID, everything is virtual. You meet with your planners and florists virtually and do not meet your day-of wedding coordinators until the day of. It would be great if we lived out of state, so we would not have to fly to Orlando for every little thing, but being local, I was not a fan of Zoom calls for everything.

Hands Off Approach

I cannot compare this with other planners or locations, but Disney takes a very hands-off approach to planning. You need to lead conversations, come in with inspiration and a mood board, etc. They will not hold your hands.

We would not have known about the Major Domo had we not attended the food tasting and asked about it. We would not have known about the confetti canon had I not seen it at a wedding on Instagram. We learned about many food options because I spoke to a co-worker who had a Disney wedding and told me pretty much any food on Disney property is fair game. You need to research before your planning sessions as they are mainly review sessions, not brainstorming/ideation sessions.

No Touring Venues

Again, I have never planned a wedding anywhere other than Disney, but I found it weird that you could not tour any of the venues (except the wedding chapel at an open house). Luckily, both of our venues were open to the public (not a conference room or dedicated wedding venue), so we were able to see them before the wedding day. To this day, I have never seen our rain location (a very plain-looking ballroom at the Boardwalk Resort).

RAIN CONTINGENCY PLAN

I am not sure if this was my fault for bringing it up so late in the process or if this is normal for planning a wedding at Disney, but our rain location was not really discussed in the planning process until August, when we were finalizing our floral arrangements. And that is when I saw the photos of the venue (a ballroom in Boardwalk with the ugliest carpet). When this was brought to my attention, I asked what we could do to make that venue look nicer, as my floral plan was based on the idea that I was getting married in a gazebo, which needed very few flowers.

Disney said I could not reserve floral arrangements in contingency if it rained to make the ballroom look nicer. If I wanted flowers at my ceremony, it would have to be rain or shine. I was not a big fan of this response, but luckily, it did not rain on our wedding day. Our ceremony photos would not have been as nice if they were in the gloomy, poorly-lit ballroom.

SEPERATE BILLS

My now-husband and I assumed that since everything was happening at Disney, we would receive one bill for the entire wedding (venue, food, entertainment, our rooms at the Disney resort, etc.). This was not the case. We chose to go through Disney for our room block, so we got one bill from Disney Weddings for 90% of the wedding costs and paid for the rooms at Yacht Club when we checked in for our wedding. Keep this in mind because it kept messing with our budget, as the room costs were a separate fee we paid the day before our wedding.

RULES ABOUT OUTSIDE VENDORS

Going in, I knew about the rules for outside vendors. Disney Weddings has an image to uphold, so Disney keeps flowers and food in-house. Photographers can be third-party vendors as long as they are approved by Disney (except during photography sessions in the parks, which must be Disney Fine Arts photographers). Your DJ, officiant, etc., can also be third-party.

Our reception was at Atlantic Dance Hall, considered a “specialty” venue, which means our vendor rules were even more strict. We were thinking of a photo booth or live painter during our reception (I even had a free photo booth lined up in exchange for social media coverage). Since we were a specialty venue, we were told we had to use Disney vendors for those services, which came with a Disney price.

We would not have changed our minds about our reception venue had we known this initially, as Atlantic Dance Hall holds a special place in our relationship, but it still would have been nice to know!

READY TO PLAN YOUR DREAM WEDDING?

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MY TIPS

Join the Facebook group (but take everything they say with a grain of salt). The Facebook group is suitable for advice, but is run by a closed group with a limited vendor list. I went outside the group’s preferred vendors and loved it. My hair, makeup, and photography turned out amazing!
Get a videographer! I chose our DJ from the Disney approved list without meeting or researching them and loved them. They did a whole dance battle at our reception that I wish we had on video!
Do your research! I would have never known about the Major Domo, many of the food options, or the confetti canon had I not done my own research. Do your research, and be prepared when you meet with your planner!
Enjoy the process - one year goes by so fast! Make sure to enjoy this process with your loved ones!

Overall, every wedding venue and vendor has pros and cons. Disney holds a special place in our relationship, and to me especially. I do not think I could have gotten married anywhere else!

I hope you have your dream wedding, wherever it may be!