Welcome to those of you joining me from Walt Disney World: Not Just for Kids and those of you just hopping aboard. I am the 2nd stop on our Magical Blogorail
Whether or not we’ll admit it, most females did it when we were younger. The sheets pilfered from our mother’s shelves, carefully safety pinned into elaborately wrapped dresses…the half-slips draped over our heads for veils…the imaginary handsome princes who would carry us away. I certainly celebrated more than a few of those fantasy weddings, somewhere in between climbing trees and sword-fighting with imaginary foes (with a branch standing surrogate for a trusty blade). Politically correct or not, most girls dream of their wedding, that special day when dreams come true and true love conquers all.
Things didn’t quite work out the way my childhood dreams went. Now, all the most important pieces came together…most of them in true Disney fashion. Prince Charming found me. He was an amazing tenor who sang me love songs and brought me treasures. He recited poetry and danced with me in the summer twilight. He fought dragons for me (okay, okay, they were 14 foot reticulated pythons that his dad kept as “pets,” but they mostly counted), and he promised an amazing happily ever after.
But, like any good fairy tale, there were dark elements standing in the way of the perfect wedding. People around us didn’t believe in True Love. They thought things wouldn’t work out. My parents said my Prince was too young and would make nothing of himself. His parents thought he was acting irresponsibly. And we were young and poor…
So we were married, and we’ve lived happily ever after, which is the most important part of the fairy tale. But the wedding day? Well, it wasn’t anything like those childhood dreams. Someone else chose my wedding dress because they liked it, and since I couldn’t afford to buy one, I had to cope. I had to make everything, decorate everything, and set up everything myself because I had no one to help me plan my wedding. At the reception, when I was there an hour before the guests, trying to finish decorating in my wedding gown, the employees thought I was a bridesmaid because my dress wasn’t grand enough to be the bride and I was on my knees in the crinoline trying to arrange silk flowers.
Of all the things I look back on in my fairy tale, my wedding is the one thing that hurts – the one thing I wish that I could change. And when I dream of making it right, I dream of my ultimate Disney Splurge Experience – a vow renewal at Walt Disney World.
Disney weddings are utterly amazing, dreams come true at a remarkable price because behind them runs a great and powerful machine. So many people choose to have their happily ever after start at Walt Disney World that weddings are constantly being held around the resort. Because of this volume, the Disney Weddings section is able to offer amazing options at reasonable prices. And, of course, this is Disney, so if you have the money…you can have anything you want.
My Ultimate Disney Splurge Experience would start with choosing the wedding dress I’ve always wanted, something that echoed the Disney films of my youth, maybe like this. I would have a hair dresser and makeup artist come to my resort room and make me look like a princess, and then I would head off to the vow renewal – not driving myself and the groom like I had to on my wedding day – but riding in a limousine.
Since this is an ultimate splurge, I would have my ceremony at Epcot, perhaps under the arches of Morocco or in the gardens at Japan, an exotic setting that echoed my favorite childhood movies and whispered of the adventure of living and loving the man of my dreams (like we said in the Up cake we got at Disney for our 10th anniversary).
Then, I would have a reception, one that echoes us. I would rent the queue for Star Tours and throw a party like Endor has never seen, with light saber fights and laughter.
And then, early the next morning, we would get up and do it again. I would have my hair and makeup done again, and we would put on our vow renewal clothes…and we would head off to the parks for a photo session. The only time Disney allows photo sessions in formal dress in the parks is as a part of a wedding or vow renewal. The photo sessions aren’t cheap, but since this is a splurge…
Those photo sessions provide pictures in and around Cinderella castle and the Magic Kingdom…and in one other park, selected by the couple. Since they occur before park opening, there is the opportunity to invade normally cordoned off areas – have your picture on the balcony of the Hollywood Hotel or kissing in a doom buggy. We would spend our morning setting those new memories on digital film, and then we’d return to our hotel room to fall happily asleep, content in our fairy tale.
The ultimate Disney Splurge for me? No question – a vow renewal, a chance to have the fairy tale wedding I always dreamed of and wipe away that nagging regret. Disney is a place of magic, a place where dreams come true, and for me, that dream will always hang out there…only a splurge away.
Thank you for joining me today. Your next stop on the Magical Blogorail Loop is Disney Living
Here is the map of our Magical Blogorail should you happen to have to make astop along the way and want to reboard:
1st Stop ~ Walt Disney World: Not Just for Kids
2nd Stop ~ Your Highway in the Sky (You are Here)
3rd Stop ~ Disney Living
4th Stop ~ No Boarding
Final Stop ~ A Disney Mom’s Thoughts
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