I’m so excited to be sharing another gorgeous Disney wedding with you today! Sarah and Jim had the most romantic day at The Disneyland Hotel, complete with Cinderella’s carriage and lots of gorgeous red roses. Wait until you see what Disney Floral did with the aisle of the Rose Court Garden! Plus, Sarah’s sister made her wedding gown and the bridesmaids gowns! And they are stunning. STUNNING. It looks like they had a wonderful day surrounded by their closest family and friends. Congrats to you, Sarah and Jim! Thank you for sharing the details of your big day with us, and may you live happily ever after!
Sarah and Jim’s Romantic Fairy Tale Disneyland Hotel Wedding
Disney Bride: Sarah, Glendora CA
Disney Groom: Jim, Glendora CA
Wedding date: May 7, 2018
Ceremony venue: Rose Court Garden, The Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim, CA
Reception venue: Mark Twain Room, The Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim, CA
Guest count: 28
Photography: David Torralva
Why did you choose a Disney wedding?
We always say our love is like a fairy tale so it seemed like the perfect place. We wanted something beautiful and magical so we chose the Rose Court Garden.
How did your family/friends react to your Disney wedding?
Everyone was very excited! It was really neat because some of our guests had never been to Disneyland before. Hosting our wedding at Disneyland sort of made it a whole vacation experience for a lot of our guests. We even had a lot of guests join us in the parks the next day which was special. There is nothing like walking around the parks and seeing a bunch of your family and friends. We even got to take pictures with everyone in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and ride some of our favorite rides with our entire crew.
What was your theme?
Well, we love Disney but it was too hard to narrow down our wedding theme to a single Disney movie. Instead of focusing on an overall theme we aimed to make our wedding day more of a “Romantic Fairytale” rather than giving a particular theme. Our color was red because it is both of our favorite color and there is no better color to demonstrate pure romance. We did want to directly incorporate Disney with our theme though so we got unique place cards decorated with different Disney couples. We chose Disney couples to represent each of our guests and did our best to match everyone with their favorite Disney movie. Our place cards had couples ranging from classics like Snow White and Prince Charming, Jack Skellington and Sally, Mary Poppins and Burt, to Princess Leia and Han Solo; so everyone got a different couple and they were all very unique and personalized.
What was your biggest challenge in planning your Disney wedding?
The biggest challenge was trying to keep within our guest count, especially after people found out that it was a Disney wedding! Everyone wanted to attend and it was very difficult to tell people that we were keeping it to immediately family and very close friends only.
Tell us about your ceremony. Did you include any Disney touches?
As guest arrived to our ceremony, we had a live harpist playing the most romantic Disney songs. She changed tunes during specific special moments of our ceremony which really added to the ambiance. Our aisle was covered in red rose petals and the observant could spot a hidden mickey in the swirls of petals that decorated the walkway. I arrived in Cinderella’s Carriage which was one of the most magical moments of my life. Disney’s Royal Footman even delivered our rings in Cinderella’s Glass Slipper when the time came! On top of that, we hired a live painter to capture our ceremony on canvas. Our cocktail hour included more from our live painter, fruit cups adorn with hidden mickeys, more music on the harp and another hidden Mickey made of lemons with our water station.
Describe your reception. Was it completely traditional or did you do anything unique?
We wanted to keep our reception very close to traditional in terms of events and elements. But we did want to make everyone feel special and included throughout the event. Our small guest count really helped with that during our reception. Everyone really got the chance to connect and since a lot of relatives were from out of town and it was the first time many family members met, people were able to bond in great ways.
What did you splurge on? Where did you save money?
Its hard not to splurge on your big day. Everything that we spent extra on was well worth it. The biggest ways we kept cost low is limiting our guest count and holding our wedding on a Monday instead of on a weekend.
What was your favorite moment of the day?
My very favorite moment of our wedding is riding in Cinderella’s Carriage with my husband after the ceremony. While our guests left the ceremony for cocktail hour, me and my new husband got a private ride in the carriage. It was so wonderful because it was really the first time we were together all day. Not only was it the first moment we were both able to breath but being there together after not seeing each other and experience that big event was relaxing. At that moment I was back in the arms of my soulmate, and I was so nervous before that, being in his arms in that carriage was the comfort that I needed. It was one of those out of body experiences I’ll remember like a photograph for the rest of my life.
What would you change if you had to do it all over again?
I couldn’t change a thing. It turned out perfectly and exactly how we imagined.
What advice would you give to couples that have just started planning their Disney wedding?
It’s easy to get frazzled and think you need to do so many things in order for your big day to be what you want it to be. Try not to get wrapped up in the need for everything to be perfect. Disney did a fantastic job with giving us the freedom to choose how we wanted our big day while also providing comfort that nothing could go wrong. Working with Disney was like having a Fairy-God-Mother. You have to trust that Disney will keep things in order, on time and as perfect as the picture in your mind because you matter and they simply won’t settle for anything less.
Any other details you want to share?
I am lucky to be related to a very talented dress designer, my Maid-of-Honor and sister, Heather Spears. She designed and hand-made my Wedding dress, her Maid-of-Honor dress, and all of the Bridesmaid dresses. She was the best Maid-of-Honor anyone could ask for.
Wedding Vendors and Details
(Affiliate links may be present)
Dress designer: Heather Spears
Photography: David Torralva
Videography: Mikenzie Films
Floral and Decor (except floral wall): Disney Floral
Officiant: Alan Katz of Great Officiants
DJ: Disney DJ Victor
Hair/Makeup: Jenny Araiza of IZA
Stationery: VistaPrint
Harpist: Wendy Smith
Live Painter: Virginia Billies
Flower Wall: Wonder Wall
Personalized Buttons: parkboundcustoms on Etsy
Favor Boxes: GirlsNotGr3y on Etsy
Getting Ready Room: Fairy Tale Suite, The Disneyland Hotel
