Why hello again Amanda, I'm glad to give you a warm wedding welcome back to planDisney!
It looks like you might be in need of some more first-hand experience and information about
your dream to get married in front of Cinderella Castle with an after-hours ceremony at Magic Kingdom Park. As you may remember I recently got married at Walt Disney World Resort with a
Disney Fairy Tale Wedding and after spending years of planning (and even considering a Magic Kingdom Park wedding myself), I'm happy to provide my nuptial knowledge to a future DisBride along with some of the most recently updated research I've gathered that I can share:
- You can find some excellent basic information for Magic Kingdom Park Evening events directly on their website, which includes the current Ceremony Venue Fee that is just the price alone to have your space reserved for about an hour as you tie the knot. Currently, I was able to confirm with a Cast Member that this does include a string trio, a water station Chiavari chairs, a sound system with microphones and audio technician. A backup location is included in the event that they make the decision to move your wedding indoors; for our wedding they informed us that it may happen with a 40 percent chance of rain and inclement weather up to 5 hours before the ceremony, and that the indoor space would be one of the empty ballrooms at Disney's Contemporary Convention Center. (In the end, we decided that this was quite risky for us!)
- It is important to remember that since the after-hours wedding experience is scheduled two to three hours after closing time (to ensure that it is clear and completely free of day guests), this absolutely limited the dates available to us when we inquired as it could not interfere with late-night events nor extended hours.
- At the current time the Minimum Event Expenditure for anyone having an After Hours event is set at $100,000 which is subject to change without notice by the time you sign your Letter of Agreement. While it's definitely a number befitting a regal wedding experience, your Food & Beverage Services, Floral & Décor, Photography & Videography, Entertainment as well as required Transportation are all things provided through Disney to count toward this minimum at this location.
- My biggest tip is to check out the experiences from real couples on the Disney Wedding Podcast and Ever After Blog to see how they've met their minimums like having special Character appearances following the ceremony, riding Cinderella's Glass Coach down Main Street, U.S.A. or even your own brief burst of Fireworks as you officially tie the knot!
Always keep in mind that pricing and wedding offerings can and do change over time - when you are assigned a Wedding Planning Team in the months leading up to the big day, be sure to ask them as many questions as you need; my Planner Carol, her assistant Megan and our Disney Wedding Coordinators were all experts and made our day simply perfect! In the meantime, please feel absolutely free to
reach out to me directly for any more wedding planning tips and tricks and advice from a Disney Prince who's been through this incredible journey this year.
Here's to your dream of getting married on Main Street!
Prince