Hey Howdy Hey Rachel! Welcome back to planDisney!
How awesome that you'll be saying "I Do" at the
Most Magical Place On Earth! My husband and I had a fabulous
Disney Fairy Tale Wedding in 2021 that our guests still talk about! During my initial wedding planning I found that every Disney wedding or vow renewal is a completely customizable experience! The cost of your wedding will be determined by three factors: ceremony location, day of the week, and time of day.
If you decide to have a reception or other catered celebration, you will also be required to spend a certain amount per person on food, beverages and cake, but this amount applies to the Event Minimum Expenditure. The Event Minimum Expenditure is the minimum amount you must spend with Disney in order to have a wedding or vow renewal. Everything you pay Disney for at your ceremony and your reception or celebration counts toward the Event Minimum: floral and décor, music, entertainment, transportation, photography, videography, etc. The Ceremony Venue Fee and the amount you spend on food and beverages to meet your per-person minimum expenditures count toward the Event Minimum.
I found the biggest cost to be the ceremony venue, as it determines your Event Minimum. My husband and I got married at the Wedding Pavilion, so I'll use that location as an example. Currently, the Ceremony Venue Fee for the Wedding Pavilion is $8,000. This venue currently triggers an Event Minimum of $18,000 to $25,000 depending on the time of day and day of the week. For example, Monday through Thursday events are more affordable than weekend events. So if you want the Wedding Pavilion on a Friday at noon, subtract the $8,000 Ceremony Venue Fee from the current $20,000 Event Minimum and you’ll see that you need to spend $12,000 with Disney on everything else for your event.
When you add a reception or a celebration, your Event Minimum is still based on the ceremony venue. There are many other ceremony venues with different price points. Your Wedding Consultant will happily go over your budget and keep you within your spending limits. Currently, Disney offers a reception alternative they call a “celebration”: a catered event of 2 hours or less with a current $125/person (ages 3+) food and beverage minimum. This could be a post-ceremony gathering with brunch and cake or a dessert party later that evening. This was another option my husband and I considered to stay within our budget as there was no overall minimum expenditure.
My biggest money savings tips would be to hold your event on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Have brunch or lunch instead of dinner as the cost per person will be less. Pick a venue that doesn’t need as much (or any) decoration. I found the Wedding Pavilion to be stunning on its own and we cut down (or cut out) floral like altarpieces, pew decorations, and centerpieces.
Rachel, there is so much information that goes into planning a Disney Fairy Tale Wedding and I hope this helped. Please feel free to
reach out to me directly with any other questions you may have. I would be thrilled to give wedding planning tips and help with any research! Be sure to also keep an eye on the
Ever After Blog for the latest Disney Wedding updates.
Wishing you and your fiancé lots of love, to infinity and beyond.
Kay