Magic Kingdom wedding package reportedly starts at $180k

Some friends of mine got married at WDW a few years ago. The wedding was on the beach at Typhoon Lagoon before it opened, and the reception was at an upstairs room on The Seas at Epcot, with windows into the main tank. They indicated that Disney will essentially do anything that you can think of, if you're willing to pay for it.

I attended a reception at the Living Seas 20 years ago and it was really nice. Tigger made an appearance for the kids but just sitting there and enjoying the view was pretty spectacular. BUT, it wasn't $100k spectacular. I'm not sure I could dream up a wedding that would be worth $100k+.

We're attending a wedding next month in world showcase before it opens. Costs for a smallish wedding at Disney start under $5k.

^^ Not to worry, they have a consultant to help you get there.

Oh, c'mon, I could totally dream up a 10k Disney wedding.
Wait... did you say "worth" 10k?
Ok, it would be totally worth it, for us and our 3 guests...

And our first fight would be over which one gets to arrive in the pumpkin carriage.

My second wedding involved a brief ceremony on the beach, and dinner and drinks on a three-hour cruise near Ft. Myers for 50 people. It was around $9k. The crazy thing is that this was considerably less than it would have cost to do essentially the same thing on land at the hotel that owned the boat. We learned that if you're not hell bent on all of the usual traditional things, you can spend a whole lot less than what might be typical. I was thrilled with what we had (and that my FIL paid for most of it), which was a bit expensive on a per-capita basis, but very memorable and more intimate because of the small setting and fewer people.

9k for fifty ain't shabby, and it sounds like an unusual and memorable setting for your day.
I'm of the opinion that ceremonies for couples where at least one is past their first marriage are much more relaxed, creative, and consequently more fun.

I've always kind of disliked weddings though, and I thought I was finally done after my friends all got married and then I declined invitations from all of their kids. But nooooo... now all of a sudden I've got all these gay weddings to go to. Sheesh.
Thanks, Obama.

Weddings are overrated in every way.

(I have a thing against the types of pageantry and ceremony that happens because "that's what you do" - I especially don't identify with wedding spectacle on any level)

I would say weddings are overrated because marriage is taken lightly. If a wedding were really a signifier of a life long commitment, the traditional pageantry and hospitality (ceremony, nice reception with dancing and a meal - I'm not talking Lord of the Rings wedding or fly everyone to Cancun wedding) seems appropriate.

As a pastor, I am always worried when the couple seems more concerned with the wedding than with the marriage.

Agreed.

As a devoted fan of Miss Manners: she often gets questions about weddings and most of the time the questions are about the materialistic aspects of the event, not about the celebration of two people getting married.

Once upon a time I got married on the Phoenix at Knoebels with several rerides for our 100 guests. Our reception was a catered meal(hamburgers, hotdogs and sausage. No gravy,) in the pavilion next to Impulse. It was great fun for all and cost a whopping $1300. Only if my marriage was half the fun we might still be together. 😆

RCMAC said:

I'm of the opinion that ceremonies for couples where at least one is past their first marriage are much more relaxed, creative, and consequently more fun.

That's because you learn a lot from the first experience, namely...

ApolloAndy said:

As a pastor, I am always worried when the couple seems more concerned with the wedding than with the marriage.

I think your observation completely misses the source of that focus. The problem is rooted in the expectations of everyone but the couple, and frankly when you're married in your 20's, most people don't know any better. Parents want and expect this and that, friends must be part of the wedding, often there's a father footing some or all of the bill... it's pretty ridiculous. Besides, focus on the relationship and the wedding are not things that are mutually exclusive.

Doing it a second time (first for my wife), I realized that all I was really interested in was celebrating the union with a small group of people, convention be damned. I was barefoot in the sand and married by the captain of the boat that would carry us around. We didn't even have a cake, we had pie (chocolate cream and key lime, because Florida). Making it a destination wedding reduced the number of people by default.

I sure hope the chocolate cream and key lime were two separate pies. Otherwise....ewww. By the way, not sure how you landed that beautiful bride...but good on ya.

Jeff said:

I think your observation completely misses the source of that focus. The problem is rooted in the expectations of everyone but the couple, and frankly when you're married in your 20's, most people don't know any better.

I'll concede that. I will also say that even if the busy-ness out wedding planning is borne of outside expectations, it still distracts from the incredibly serious commitment being made which just as easily leads to sad and heartbreaking results.

Focus on wedding and focus on marriage are not mutually exclusive, but I've seen a lot of couples substitute one for the other, thinking that the fairy tale wedding will automatically lead to a fairy tale marriage.

Edit: and maybe this supports your point in that the couple is much more susceptible to outside influence and pressure because they want to make everyone happy.

wahoo skipper said:

I attended a reception at the Living Seas 20 years ago and it was really nice. Tigger made an appearance for the kids but just sitting there and enjoying the view was pretty spectacular. BUT, it wasn't $100k spectacular. I'm not sure I could dream up a wedding that would be worth $100k+.

The $180K thing is for a buyout of the Magic Kingdom space to hold the event after hours. (I do not think any rides are included here---just the use of the hub.)

I can't imagine a $180,000 wedding. That's twice what we paid for our house.

You obviously don't live in the Bay Area...Unless you mean a dollhouse.

Nope... closest bay is Sandusky and that's an hour away.

I never expected to get wedding advice on Coasterbuzz, but it seems like some good info, so...