"Why a Disney Wedding?" You Say.

Conversation:

Me:  I'm engaged!

Friend: Oh, let me see the ring!

Me:  I'm soooo excited!

Friend:  Oh, the ring is lovely, do you have a date?

Me:  January 8, 2009.

Friend:  In the winter?  In New Jersey?

Me:  Yes, in the winter, but in Florida.  At Disney World.

Friend:  (puzzled look on face)  Why Disney World????

Yes, I get asked this a lot.  Sometimes I ask myself the same question, since I was always the "lets elope to Fiji" kind of girl.  Fortunately for me, I have a wonderful fiance who wants a big and traditional wedding.  At least I'll never regret not having one... although I still don't regret not attending my High School Prom, even though everyone insisted I would.  Really though, this doesn't compare to HS Prom and I'm overly excited about it.

So, back to the point, why Disney?  I grew up in Oregon, Frank grew up in New York.  Rather than have hurt feelings over the other getting our big day in THEIR hometown, we both knew it would be a destination wedding.  Frank's mother is ill, and cannot fly, so it had to be somewhere his father could drive her.  This narrowed it down to the East Coast.  I would've loved to have a beach wedding, or a wedding in coastal Georgia with a southern flair  (oh do I love Magnolias and Spanish Moss!), but ultimately we knew the hassle my family and friends would be faced with having to travel to the wedding.   We knew we wanted it to be at a place that would be fun for them as well.  Disney was just an obvious choice.  We've been there hundreds of times (well, close, but not quite), and its a special place for us in a sense.  Besides, they do so many weddings there that its like the Target of weddings... they have everything!  How could we go wrong?  I will say that though there are a few things that bug me about their procedures (more to come on that soon), I feel very safe in their hands.  So much can go wrong in any wedding, but destination weddings just magnify that.  

Now, I just have to figure out how "Disney" I want our wedding to be.  When I say they have everything, I mean it.  From Cinderella's Carriage, to sorbet served in an ice glass slipper for palette cleansing.  Private fireworks - check.  Trumpeter - check.  Everything.  Problem is, I want to take advantage of some of these things, but still really want it to be classy and elegant.  I love Disney and all, but I don't really want it to be the center of our wedding.  I do think I'll do Cinderella's Carriage because hey, when will I ever get a chance to ride in that again!?!?  I don't think I'll have "Be Our Guest" playing at dinner, or the ice glass slipper.  It's a fine line between being a princess, and being tacky.  I don't want to cross that.