I’m so excited to have another great Disney wedding to share with you today! This one is our first spotlight from the Shades of Green resort at Walt Disney World, which is a gorgeous venue especially for military families. I hope you enjoy!
Photography by Shades of Green on-site photographer Photomagic
Disney Bride: Lillian Watson, 27, Ft. Campbell, KY
Disney Groom: Dennis Watson, 30, Ft. Campbell, KY
Wedding date: April 15, 2012
Wedding venue: Shades of Green Resort
Total budget: $2000
Guest count: 6
Why did you choose a Disney wedding? We chose a Shades of Green vow renewal because the time had come to do something that we wanted to do, where we wanted to do it. Disney is somewhere we love and Shades of Green offered the best value for our money at a Disney resort.
How did your family/friends react to your Disney wedding? The groom’s family was very open to it and his mom was a huge part of the planning. The bride’s family avoided the topic and the ceremony. Our friends were very excited. They asked for details constantly and encouraged us to keep going despite negativity from family.
What was your theme? Our theme was simply LOVE. We met 15 years ago and fell in love right away. We could not imagine a better theme.
What was your biggest challenge in planning your Disney wedding? My Shades of Green planner was very hands off. It was hard to make plans for the vow renewal when she would not return calls or emails.
Tell us about your ceremony. Did you include any Disney touches? Our ceremony was so magical!!!! We worked with our Reverend to personalize it. We did not choose traditional vows and our ring vows made mention of loving each other no matter the distance. That was big for us as we are military couple, because in nine years of marriage have been together maybe four years total. We made sure the ceremony was exactly what we wanted and it took us two months to get it just right.
Our Disney touches were simple. Our Save the Dates had Mickey and Minnie on them. All our ceremony music was Disney (A Dream Is A Wish processional, Beauty and the Beast for the Sand Ceremony, When You Wish Upon A Star recessional, and Kiss the Girl first dance). We purchased Mickey and Minnie toasting glasses for our champagne toast.
Describe your reception. Was it completely traditional or did you do anything unique? We just had a simple cake and champagne reception. We did our first dance but beyond that it wasn’t anything spectacular to most people. It was just what we wanted, though!
What did you splurge on? Where did you save money? I splurged on the dress, as I wore my prom dress to our original wedding, and on the harpist. I had to have live, beautiful music and it was perfect.
We saved a lot of money by having our vow renewal at Shades of Green. The total cost they charged was only $850 for location, Rev. Knox, two hours of photography, 160 photos on disk, cake, champagne, and flowers.
What was your favorite moment of the day? Actually walking down to say “I Do” all over again to my best friend.
What would you change if you had to do it all over again? I would have hemmed my dress higher! I kept stepping on it and felt like a fool. But, Rev. Knox reminded me that even Cinderella had shoe problems.
What advice would you give to couples that have just started planning their Disney wedding? Enjoy the time planning and don’t stress. I stressed so much when my planner wouldn’t get back to me. It drove us a little nuts. Don’t forget to assess all options. Even though I was not an official Disney Fairy Tale Bride I felt like I still got my fairy tale at Shades of Green.
Any other details you want to share? Our photographer drove us over to Disney’s Polynesian Resort to get pictures on the beach and at Sunset Pointe to get some very special photos because we did not have photography when we got married. Photography for our vow renewal was extremely important to me, and she really did go above and beyond.
Budget Breakdown
Venue: $850
Food/Drink: Included in venue fee
Floral: Included in venue fee
Other Decor: $120 for lanterns, toasting flutes, and other miscellaneous items
Officiant: Included in venue fee
Ceremony Music: $300
Reception Music: n/a
Favors: $5 for Vinylmation soaps
Photography: Included in venue fee
Bride’s attire: $550
Hair/Makeup: $180
Groom’s attire: Military uniform so we already had it
Vendor List
Wedding coordinator: Shades of Green
Photography: Shades of Green’s onsite photographer Photomagic
Officiant: Rev. Kevin Knox
Hair/Makeup: Spa at Shades of Green
Harpist: Catherine Way
You can also HEAR all about Lillian and Dennis’ wedding on the Disney Wedding Podcast!
