A Disney Cruise Line (DCL) wedding is an absolutely dreamy way to celebrate your love and start your life together. Check out the photos on the Disney Weddings Instagram page and our own Instagram if you need more inspiration! We had our ceremony on Castaway Cay while sailing on the Disney Dream and it was perfect for us!
Here’s how to know if a Disney Cruise wedding is right for you:
1.You like Disney.
This one seems obvious, but if you don’t like Disney then a Disney Cruise wedding is probably not for you. You don’t have to LOVE Disney, since you can still appreciate the quality and service without being Mickey’s biggest fan. However, you should know that their will be lots of Disney touches throughout your wedding if you choose to have it with DCL, so know to expect this!
2. You’ve been on a cruise before.
This one is debatable if this is a once-in-a-lifetime trip for you, but in most cases I would say you should have been on a cruise before, at the very least to know that you are not susceptible to seasickness!
3. You will be okay with the fact that many of your family and friends will not come.
This one is a biggie! If you have a destination wedding, the odds are that someone important to you will not be able to come. Whether it’s financial, scheduling, medical or some other reason, it’s likely that not everyone who you wish would be there will be able to come.
My advice on this is to ask yourself who absolutely needs to be at your wedding and check with them before you book a cruise wedding. If the answer is just you and your fiance – then go ahead and book it. Any additional guests who can come will just be a bonus. If the answer is your parents, check with them first and make sure that they will be able to come before you book your wedding. This will help you to avoid any major disappointments once you announce your plans.
4. You are willing to be flexible.
Planning a wedding from far away is not the easiest. You will have a shoreside contact who is different from your onboard contact, so you will not get to meet your onboard coordinator until the day you board. There may be things that will not go exactly according to plan. Some details could need to be changed due to weather or other circumstances. There may be things where you will not really know what is going on, but will just need to trust that Disney and your coordinator will take care of you! If you need to have every detail planned and known in advance, and going exactly according to schedule, then this may not be for you. If you want to have the details taken care of so you can relax and enjoy your perfect day, then this is more your speed!
5. Your wedding is not too large.
From our experience, it seems like the wedding package is best suited for groups of around 30 people or less. We had 50 people for our wedding, and they did seem a bit unprepared to accommodate a group of our size. Everything did work out perfectly, so if you have a group like ours then I’d still say go for it! However, if you have 100+ guests than you may want to talk in more detail with DCL about the logistics before making your decision. Our wedding coordinator told us that many DCL wedding couples sail just the two of them, or with a group of 10 or less. It’s definitely a perfect way to have an intimate wedding!
6. You want to spend more than just 1 day celebrating your wedding.
This was one of the best parts about our wedding cruise. Rather than spending just one day with your guests, you get to spend a full cruise together. Whether that’s a 3-night cruise like ours or longer, the time spent together will make it a truly memorable cruise! We did a 3-night cruise because we wanted to make our wedding more accessible (financially and scheduling-wise) for our guests. However, we almost wish we had done a longer sailing. It still really went by fast and we had such a blast hanging out onboard with our friends and family. Everyone says your wedding day flies by, so why not stretch into a week-long event!?
7. You want to have the most amazing wedding ever, have it be absolutely perfect and create wonderful memories!
This is just from my experience (and of course everyone would say this about their own wedding!) but we truly believe we had the best wedding ever! We would highly recommend it as the perfect way to celebrate your wedding. Traveling with friends and family, sharing our love for Disney Cruise Line and enjoying a special getaway together with 50 of our family and friends was so wonderful that it’s almost impossible to put into words. I can’t express my gratitude to Disney Cruise Line for such a perfect day!
Let us know if you are thinking of a Disney Cruise Line wedding. We would love to talk to you about it! Feel free to reach out if we can answer any questions you might have or help in any way! And don’t forget to check out our blog post about how to start planning your DCL wedding!
Would you have a Disney Cruise Line wedding?
