That’s right, I’m getting married on a Disney Cruise ship! While a Disney Cruise wedding wasn’t always part of my plan, it turned out to be the perfect fit.
It feels like the ultimate “Disney adult final boss” to be planning a Disney Fairytale Wedding at sea. Let me take you through what the process has been like so far and why a Disney Cruise wedding might be more affordable than you’d expect.
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Why a Disney Cruise Wedding?
It wasn't always my dream to get married on a Disney Cruise ship. My partner and I both wanted a wedding that was easy and not overly complicated, which led us to explore more unconventional options. Funnily enough, planning a Disney Cruise wedding is straightforward, with Disney taking care of many of the important details. We actually stumbled upon the idea by watching Disney Fairytale Weddings on Disney+. We loved the idea of a destination wedding combined with that Disney flair since we both love Disney.
On a sentimental note, Disney Cruise Line has been an important part of our story, and we've shared many important relationship milestones at Disney. We decided to pick the Disney Wish as our ship for our wedding because it's just perfect for a Disney Fairytale Wedding.
We Got Engaged at Walt Disney World
The Disney Wish is also a beautiful tribute to the Disney Princess, Cinderella. Since we got engaged at Walt Disney World, home of Cinderella Castle, the Disney Wish is the perfect fit.
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We did a Capture Your Moment photoshoot in Magic Kingdom for our engagement photos, which was an amazing experience. You are assigned a PhotoPass photographer for 40 minutes, who will take you to different destinations around the park of your choice. We talked with our photographer first about what we wanted, and I showed him some inspiration photos. I was thrilled with how many photos we got and how beautiful they turned out. We end up using them on our wedding website, which matched our theme nicely.
This was also a fun way of incorporating Magic Kingdom into our wedding, even if it's just for the engagement photos.
Why We Chose a Disney Cruise Over the Castle
The biggest answer to this question is price. A Disney Cruise Line wedding is leaps and bounds more affordable than a wedding at Walt Disney World or Disneyland.
While I would love to get married in front of Cinderella Castle, the event minimum ranges from $30k to as high as $100k, depending on the day. Other locations available in the theme parks include the countries in the World Showcase in EPCOT, the Tree of Life in Animal Kingdom, or the Tower of Terror in Hollywood Studios. How much you want to spend on a wedding is truly an individual choice, but for us, we wanted to keep costs more manageable.
In comparison, a Disney Cruise Line wedding is an add-on package to your cruise sailing that costs $4k or $5k, depending on the venue you select, and includes:
- On-site ceremony coordinator
- Choice of personal fresh floral for the couple
- Officiant and solo musician (pianist)
- Cake & Champagne Celebration onboard the ship
- Dinner for the couple at Palo, the adults-only fine dining restaurant
- Steaming for the couple’s ceremony attire
- A $100.00 onboard stateroom credit for the couple
Since we also wanted something simple and easy, a Disney Cruise wedding made far more sense because so much is already included.
How Booking a Disney Cruise Wedding Works
To book a Disney Cruise wedding, you add it on as a package to your general Disney Cruise sailing. First, you pick which sailing you like and, of course, which ship!
The trickiest part can be getting the venue you want. Your choices on a Disney Cruise sailing include the Grand Hall/Atrium, a choice of two locations on Castaway Cay, decks/patios overlooking the sea, and a cocktail lounge with ocean views. Currently, one of the most popular venue choices is the Grand Hall on the Disney Wish. This makes sense because the grand hall just screams fairytale wedding!
The best way to book is to call Disney directly as soon as you can book your cruise. I was able to book my cruise sailing and add on the wedding package to my sailing all at once. The cast member can then help you search for availability, as each cruise can only perform so many weddings. We had to be flexible with our dates as our first choice of dates was sold out, so we had to pivot to dates that had openings for the Grand Hall on the Disney Wish.
Once your booking is confirmed, a representative from Disney Fairytale Weddings will reach out with a massive planning guide that also includes options for upgrades if you want more premium options for flowers, cake, etc. You have plenty of time to fill this out, and it's a helpful step-by-step guide to picking all your selections for the ceremony.
My Favorite Parts of the Planning Experience (So Far)
My favorite part of planning our Disney wedding so far has been leaning into the fun of having a wedding associated with Disney. While this isn't exactly a themed wedding, it’s given us the chance to incorporate Disney touches into our planning.
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One of these touches includes our Save-the-Date cards that we sent out. We found FastPass-themed ones on Etsy that are also magnets! I shared them on my Instagram, where you can also follow along for updates on my Disney wedding planning journey.
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This was such a fun thing to do. We plan on incorporating more details like this into our formal wedding invites and other aspects of our planning! Our next step is to start combing through the massive booklet I received from Disney Fairytale Weddings which we are both looking forward to.
If you are looking for a way to have a dream Disney wedding, you really can't go wrong with a Disney Cruise.
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