- Disney's Wedding Pavilion #1 Spot for Couples - Walt Disney Parks and Resorts
Walt Disney World (WDW) is one of the wedding industry’s top-ranked destination wedding sites, hosting over 30,000 weddings, commitment ceremonies, and vow renewals since 1991. Each year over 1600 couples, traveling from around the world, visit WDW to exchange vows and to honeymoon at the resort.
For many couples, the availability of Disney’s scenic sites for their marriage, commitment ceremony, or vow renewal is a major reason for choosing WDW. Wedding venues includes pavilions and gazebos, outdoor garden and beach locations, elegant courtyards and resort backdrops, and even sites and attractions inside the theme parks themselves.
Disney’s Wedding Pavilion
Since its opening in 1995, Disney’s Wedding Pavilion has become the signature venue for a WDW wedding and the most frequently used wedding venue. Designed to complement the nearby Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, the pavilion resembles a Victorian summerhouse. The pavilion’s solarium, which is built on an island on the Seven Seas Lagoon, provides a view of Cinderella Castle, the lagoon’s sandy beaches and the island’s lush landscaping.
Disney’s Wedding Pavilion serves as a non-denominational venue for ceremonies, and is capable of handling different party sizes. The pavilion will host an intimate ceremony for just the couple, small parties of close family and friends, and large gatherings of up to 300 guests. The pavilion features a chapel with an indoor altar, planning rooms, private dressing rooms inside the vestibule, and a romantic walkway that includes a hedge arch. Also on site is Franck’s, a planning studio that helps couples plan and customize their ceremonies.
Disney’s Gardens and Beach Locations for Outdoor Weddings
Generally, WDW resorts architecture and well-designed grounds – beaches and marinas, lawns and gardens, terraces, ballrooms, and signature restaurants – can provide beautiful backdrops for a wedding, other ceremony, or reception.
Couples who prefer outdoor settings for their ceremonies can choose from a range of WDW’s resort locations. Disney’s Polynesian Resort, with its palm trees and white sand, provides a tropical feel. Just down a stretch of sandy beach, the Grand Floridian offers a turn-of-the-century Victorian background for a beach wedding. At the Yacht & Beach Club, tiki torches and Epcot architecture create a contemporary urban-yet-romantic vibe.
The gazebos at Epcot resorts provide additional scenic outdoor options for intimate and mid-size destination weddings. The gazebo at the Yacht Club, with its New England atmosphere, overlooks the resort’s rose garden and offers a view of the lighthouse. The Sea Breeze Point gazebo at the BoardWalk Resort, which evokes Coney Island and Atlantic City, offers a view of Crescent Lake. Larger outdoor garden ceremonies, which accommodate up to 180 guests, can be held at the BoardWalk’s Croquet Lawn.
Disney’s Theme Park Weddings
For couples who desire a once-in-a-lifetime, ultimate Disney dream wedding, it is possible to get exchange vows inside the theme parks. A Magic Kingdom wedding or ceremony, which accommodates the couple and up to 50 guests, includes a horse-drawn coach, fanfare trumpeter and a major domo ring bearer, live music, and a morning ceremony at Swan Boat Landing.
Couples who prefer a more international flavor to their weddings can select from these World Showcase pavilions in Epcot: Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Morocco, and the United Kingdom. The venue’s details, which vary by pavilion, may include terraces and temples, gardens and gates, streets and streams, all of which reflect the atmosphere and architecture of the particular country.
For those couples who want to star in their wedding productions, movie-star style, Disney’s Hollywood Studios provides a glamorous setting. The couple can motor down Hollywood Boulevard in a vintage automobile before arriving for a red-carpet moment at the Chinese Theater, which might becomes the locale for a “Great Movie Ride” reception followed by “Sorcery in the Sky” fireworks.
Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings and Honeymoons
Walt Disney World Weddings & Honeymoons offers three basic collections for their destination weddings and other events: the Escape, for intimate ceremonies for up to the couple and 18 guests; Wishes; for mid-size weddings and receptions; and Couture, which offers couples the chance to design their fantasy Disney wedding. All collections offer customizable options.
Prices begin at $5000 for an Escape Wedding Collection package. Wishes Wedding Collection ceremonies start at $12,000 for 20 or more guests. An average wedding at Disney costs approximately $20,000 for 50 people, though Couture Wedding Collection packages can reach six figures.
For more information, visit Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings & Honeymoons or call (321) 939-4623.
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- Romantic Activities at Walt Disney World
- Romantic Deluxe Resorts at Walt Disney World
- Disney World Offers Small Destination Wedding Packages
Debra Peterson - A freelance writer and scholar, Debra Peterson specializes in Disney Studies, with particular interests in Walt Disney World and ...
