Real Disney Weddings – Cynthia and Israel

At first I think some people thought it was a joke. Then the majority of people were very supportive and interested. We had some nay-sayers and sadly they were people close to us but we brushed it off because this is was WE wanted and on the day everyone had a great time.

What was your theme? 

What was your biggest challenge in planning your Disney wedding? 

Our budget. There was sooooo much we wanted to do and add on but was not realistic for us so we sat down and thought about the things we could live with out, things to we could do on a future vow renewal, and things that we thought our guests would enjoy.

One of the main reasons we wanted to have our “big” wedding is because we had gotten married six years prior in Las Vegas and although we were surrounded by our closest family and friends we still knew that our church wedding was not going to be far behind. Due to our religion our ceremony had to be held at our church and then we commuted to Anaheim for the reception. We did sneak in some Disney magic not only in our attire but our ring pillow.

Describe your reception. Was it completely traditional or did you do anything unique?

Our reception was completely traditional. Other than Mickey and Minnie visiting it was pretty standard. Toward the end though all of our guests stood around the dance floor and serenaded us with a couple traditional Mexican songs. 

What did you splurge on? Where did you save money?

Our Splurge: Mickey and Minnie.  We had a couple options on what to do with the money and I was torn but with the help of some fellow Disney Brides I was able to realize where I wanted to spend it and it was well worth it. I cant imagine it any other way.

I would have made sure my bridal party stayed over. There was so much commotion because everyone was everywhere trying to get to our ceremony location on time and this caused unnecessary stress on me. When planning your timeline give your self extra time. Better to wait relaxed than be stressed and rushed. And after having the bridal party with me I would have done bridal party shots early and done the family shots too. There is so little time between the ceremony and reception for pictures with ALL your guests and trust me they all want pictures with you.

What advice would you give to couples that have just started planning their Disney wedding? 

Don’t waste your time hunting down RSVPs.  Give a friendly reminder, yes, but if you have to call people to get their RSVP in during crunch time it’s VERY likely they still won’t show. We had approximately 13 no shows and the majority were ones we were hunting down in the days before the wedding.  In retrospect I would not have played phone tag for a response and moved on to the next people on our list. 

If you are in the planning stages I would highly recommend joining a Disney bride group/forum and subscribing to blogs related to Disney weddings. They are great for inspiration and you meet the best people there who have or are currently going through planning and can help.

[Forums to check out: DisBoards; DisneyBrides]