After their marriage proposal outside of Disneyland’s Haunted Mansion, it was only natural for Nadia and Danny to plan a Halloween Disneyland wedding! Their beautiful wedding at the Rose Court Garden had elements from Haunted Mansion and Nightmare Before Christmas, along with classic Disneyland wedding staples including Cinderella’s Coach and a royal footman. Nadia couldn’t wait to send in her wedding spotlight to share with planning couples, so the photos here were taken by guests. She has some really great advice regarding wedding planning, too, so keep reading and I hope you enjoy Nadia and Danny’s wedding spotlight!
Disney Bride: Nadia Escoto, 23, Southern California Disney Groom: Danny Escoto, 23, Southern California Wedding date: October 30, 2013
Wedding Venues: Ceremony at the Rose Court Garden, The Disneyland Hotel, and Reception at the Wisteria Room, Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel & Spa Total budget: Around $18,000 Guest count: 30
Why did you choose a Disney wedding?
We chose a Disney wedding because we love Disney and we liked that the Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings package was all inclusive.
How did your family/friends react to your Disney wedding?
They loved it! I’m sure most didn’t understand some of the Disney references, but they still had fun and enjoyed themselves.
What was your theme?
Our theme was the Haunted Mansion because that’s where Danny proposed. A majority of the colors were purple and black.
What was your biggest challenge in planning your Disney wedding?
Stress towards the end because our cake design was still being finalized and our guest list started dropping the week before the wedding.
Tell us about your ceremony. Did you include any Disney touches?
Yes! We had the Cinderella Coach and our programs had hidden Mickeys. The Royal Footman also delivered our rings. All of the ceremony music selections were Disney songs except for my processional song. Our officiant Carolyn worked with us to incorporate several Walt Disney quotes and she added her own Disney touches into the ceremony. Our vows had Disney references too. Mine had several song quotes laced throughout to express how I felt and Danny added in some ride references to his. It was perfect. Well, except when my garter fell as I was walking down the aisle! It was kind of embarrassing because before my mom gave me away she had to bend down to take it off my foot!
Describe your reception. Was it completely traditional or did you do anything unique?
We mostly stuck to the “traditional” events with some unique ideas thrown in. As the guests walked into the Wisteria Room they were greeted by the Haunted Mansion Foyer Spiel which I really wish I had been able to witness. We made our centerpieces from several Halloween items from Michael’s including a black wreath, a glitter pumpkin, glitter skulls in different colors and some purple glitter twigs. Since traditionally guests take home the centerpieces, our DJ had them play a variation of Hot Potato to choose who would take it home. It was so funny to watch them play and they looked like they were having fun. Afterwards the guests were all pulled onto the dance floor to do a big group dance, we took a group picture and a group hug, learned how to dance to Thriller and later we had a sing along to Don’t Stop Believin‘. At the end of the night our DJ played the Disneyland Closing spiel that they used to play at the end of the night when Disneyland ends its operating hours. To hear Mickey and friends say goodnight and sing the Mickey Mouse March was the perfect way to end the night.
What did you splurge on? Where did you save money?
The Disney’s Fairy Tale Wedding portion was basically where we splurged. We made sure to have the carriage, the flowers we wanted, and gazebo decor the way we wanted. We had an awesome haunted house and ghost gobo on the walls and purple and green up lighting for the reception. We saved money making our own centerpieces, buying a majority of the wedding items off Etsy, and my family pitched in to help with my dress, our cake, and our honeymoon.
What was your favorite moment of the day?
My favorite moment was saying our vows. I loved Danny’s vows and we both just couldn’t stop smiling and we held hands very tightly. Saying the vows and getting to the “marrying” portion of the ceremony was the moment we had waited for.
What would you change if you had to do it all over again?
That’s a hard question because I loved how our wedding turned out. When I think of what would we change if we did it all over again it’s not so much as one or two changes; I’d like to try new ideas … change the theme, venue, food, etc. Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings creates magical weddings so I’d be anxious to see what they could do with other ideas.
What advice would you give to couples that have just started planning their Disney wedding?
Be patient with your planners. If you think they’re taking too long to respond, it doesn’t mean you’re not important. The planners are excited and very happy to help your dream wedding come true and even if they seem busy, no matter what they will make sure your wedding is magical. Trust in the Disney planners. They’re your fairy godmothers during your planning.
Any other details you want to share?
Everyone loved our cake. Even the banquet coordinator took pictures to show the pastry chef how it looked with our cake topper. We had a vague idea how the cake would look because we were hashing out a design through emails and we were anxious to see the finished product. We had a three tiered purple cake with black and purple flowers and black branches with thorns. Along the tops of the tiers were little jack o’ lanterns and our cake topper was a Dia De Los Muertos groom carrying his bride. It was very pretty and since it was close to a green up light, it cast a creepy green glow on it.
I’m glad to see and read that Nadia had the wedding of her dreams. I really love it when couples add bits of themselves into their event and this one really shows. I think the spooky GOBO’s looked great and I think the theme was carried out wonderfully. It was the right amount of Halloween, Disney and Wedding.
Great ideas about using the in-park recordings to bring the magic of the parks to their event!
I love that they used the Disneyland closing spiel at the end of the night! Would have totally stolen that idea if we were still wedding planning!
I’m glad to see and read that Nadia had the wedding of her dreams. I really love it when couples add bits of themselves into their event and this one really shows. I think the spooky GOBO’s looked great and I think the theme was carried out wonderfully. It was the right amount of Halloween, Disney and Wedding.
Great ideas about using the in-park recordings to bring the magic of the parks to their event!