One year ago today, on February 23, 2016, my husband Kelly and I renewed our marriage vows. We celebrated our over 20 years together and our 15 years of marriage in the most magical way we knew how: with a vow renewal ceremony at Walt Disney World!
Although our life is no fairy tale, our commitment to each other could be a classic Disney love story. It’s “certain as the sun, rising in the east.” And sometimes, right in the middle of ordinary life, God gives you your very own fairy tale!
We already had the trip planned… We would be visiting Walt Disney World from February 19-23, 2016 for the Princess Half Marathon Weekend. So one day back in October 2015 we were just driving down the road to a football game (of course!) and the idea came to me! Let’s renew our vows at Disney!
I immediately made the call to Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings and Honeymoons before Kelly had time to change his mind! From the moment of first contact with my Disney wedding consultant I knew that this would be an easy process. Disney Weddings offer three different wedding collections from which to choose. We didn’t need anything too extravagant so the Memories Collection was perfect for us. (I mean, I didn’t REALLY need it in front of the castle at night… Would have been awesome though!)
The Memories Collection included:
- The ceremony venue
- An on-site ceremony coordinator
- A fresh flower bouquet for the bride
- A violinist for the ceremony
- A three hour limousine charter to and from the ceremony
- The services of a professional Disney photographer for up to one hour
We were able to add our own personal touches to the package such as adding a boutonniere for Kelly, having red rose petals sprinkled on the sand, and customizing the violinist’s selections. If we could dream it, they could do it!
The ceremony would take place on Luau Beach at Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort at 9:00 AM. The limousine picked us up at the Kidani Village lobby at 8:00 AM. We went straight to the Polynesian where our wedding coordinator greeted us at the door. We met with our officiant and had a few minutes to get ready for the ceremony. (And by “get ready” I mean grab the tissues.)
The officiant took Kelly out to the beach area while the photographer and wedding coordinator stayed back with me. At promptly 9:00 AM the violinist started playing “A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes” as Kelly made his way out onto the beach. Then (and here is where you can cue my tears) the violinist played “When You Wish Upon a Star” as I joined Kelly on the beach.
Just picture it. On the beach with my love, with the Magic Kingdom right there, Cinderella Castle in the background, monorails looping by in the distance and random strangers stopping to watch the ceremony. Yep, there were tears, lots of happy tears! The violinist concluded with the score from “Beauty and the Beast.” It was beautiful.
Following the ceremony we spent the remainder of our hour with the photographer. He took a wide variety of pictures all over the Polynesian property. Sweet pictures, funny pictures, you name it! We have a hard cover book with 20 pictures that we selected from the day. Our package also included 20 5 X 7 prints which were mailed to us from Disney’s Fine Arts Photography.
The limousine then took us back to Kidani Village. Everything about the morning went perfectly! Our wedding coordinator made sure that everything was in place and that all our needs were met. It was a beautiful morning, and I’m so thankful to have had this experience with my husband in our favorite place.
About a week after the ceremony we received an unexpected package in the mail! Thank you, Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings for the thoughtful gift! It was a sweet surprise!
Another magical Disney vacation came to a close. All of our Disney trips are special, but I have a feeling that THIS one will be hard to beat! Maybe one (or all three!) of our children will want a Disney wedding!!! A mom can dream, right?!?
A Disney Life for Me 