I took a bit of a break during the holidays from doing Disney Wedding Wednesday posts, but boy have I missed them! And this week, I get to bring you a wedding like none other featured yet!
Photo taken by Elise Limper
I met Nicole Ed on a Facebook group for Disney Brides. Nicole posted her park shoot pictures, and they were so stunning I had to ask her to be one of our featured brides on this blog! I also love the fact that they got married on Castaway Key via the Disney Cruise! What a fun wedding with such an adorable couple!
HOW DID YOU TWO MEET?
Michael and I met at law school our first year. He sat in front of me in a few classes. At my birthday party, he finally got the courage to strike up a real conversation. One of our first conversations was about all of our trips to Disney World. We hung out for the remainder of the school year and went out on our first date right after our last final of the first year.
HOW/WHEN/WHERE DID HE PROPOSE?
Michael and I went down to Walt Disney World in October 2014 to visit my little sister who was a cast member in the Disney College Program. I had a feeling that he was going to propose, since I found the ring box in his backpack that he brought to the park. He proposed on October 12, 2014. That day, we met up with my cousins and sister to hang out at Epcot’s Food and Wine. He proposed later that evening when it was just the two of us, and we ended the night watching IllumiNations with my sister and cousins.
WHAT WAS THE WEDDING DATE?
Our wedding date was August 16, 2015. When you are a cruise bride, you are not able to pick the actual day of the wedding, just the sailing. Without planning it this way, it happened to be my grandparent’s wedding anniversary. We were so excited!
Photo taken by Miki at Shutter's Photography
WHAT MADE YOU GO WITH A DISNEY WEDDING?
I always knew that I wanted to be a Disney Bride since I was a little girl. I remember riding past the Wedding Pavilion on the monorail and staring at it in awe. My favorite part of eating breakfast at the Grand Floridian hotel was being able to see the beautiful brides in the lobby. They were magical and truly real-life princesses. However, I never thought that I could financially afford having a wedding there with the cost of my schooling. I also did not want to sacrifice who I could invite, because of guest count limitations and budgets. Disney is a major part of who I am and I wanted to find a way to make it work. I am so glad that they offer Disney Cruise weddings, because I was still able to have a Disney wedding that was in my budget with all of the special people in my life.
Photo taken by Miki at Shutter's Photography
WHICH VENUE DID YOU CHOOSE ON AND WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE THAT ONE?
Michael and I were married on Castaway Cay. We sailed the Disney Dream for our wedding cruise with our guests. Michael is super nontraditional and wanted to elope. He was the one that suggested doing a cruise wedding. His family always went on cruises growing up. I have never been on a cruise in my life! I did not know that Disney offered cruise weddings. However, doing some research, I found out that I was able to have a cruise wedding. The cruise wedding would allow me to have a Disney wedding in a really cool location without sacrificing my budget or guest list. Disney Cruise weddings are great alternatives for brides that want a Disney wedding. As a cruise couple, you have the option to get married on the ship or on Castaway Cay. When I saw pictures of Castaway Cay, I was sold! It is such a beautiful space, but still very Disney. The Disney Dream was in the background of many of our photos! The venue itself gave us the nautical/Little Mermaid vibe that I wanted. It was absolutely breathtaking.
Photo taken by Miki at Shutter's Photography
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF THE WEDDING? The whole cruise! The wedding itself was amazing and beautiful, but I am so thankful that I had the time to cruise with all of our family and friends. I have never gone on vacation with anyone except for family and Michael. It was awesome to have my girlfriends that I grew up with and Mike’s friends on a vacation. One morning on the cruise, my bridesmaids and myself even met all of the Disney princesses in our wedding clothes. It was so much fun! It was a three night, all day and night long party with the most important people in our lives. We are so lucky that 25 other individuals were able to join us in the coolest experience of our lives. It was one huge party, Disney style!
Photo taken by Elise Limper
TELL US ABOUT SOME OF THE SPECIAL DETAILS OF YOUR WEDDING AND HOW YOU CAME UP WITH THEM?
My favorite detail was our cake topper. It said “To Infinity and Beyond” and was absolutely beautiful. Michael and I say this to each other all the time, and it was very important that it was incorporated into our wedding. We also incorporated into our Disney themed vows! To incorporate the nautical/Little Mermaid theme of our wedding we had a knot-tying ceremony performed by my dad. It was perfect and really signified our relationship and the strength of it. Our music was also amazing. We had a live pianist and also did some recordings of Disney songs. Our recessional was to “Kiss the Girl” and our first dance was to “I see the light.” I can’t watch Tangled without crying now. At the end of our reception, we played “Fantasmic!” as our exit music. It was perfect since it is Michael’s favorite Disney show. Michael also had cuff links that had the exact coordinate points of Castaway Cay where we got married. It was a wedding present from me to him and they were so cute!
Photo taken by Miki at Shutter's Photography
Photo taken by Miki at Shutter's Photography
Photo taken by Stephanie Caldwell of Disney Fine Arts Photography
DID YOU HAND MAKE ANYTHING?
I am not the most crafty person, but I did make a few items that I am super proud of. To cut back costs, I made all of the bouquets and boutonnieres for our wedding party with silk flowers. We had a large wedding party with seven bridesmaids and five groomsmen and it was going to be really expensive to have fresh flowers. The bouquets had a bling feel to them and the boutonnieres were super nautical. I loved how all the flowers complimented each other even though they were not the same. I also made my own garter and reconstructed my headband. I, along with my sister and Michael, made our invitations and guest information cards for the cruise.
Photo taken by Miki at Shutter's Photography
WHEN WAS YOUR PARK SHOOT? TELL US ABOUT THAT EXPERIENCE.
My number one priority with getting married through Disney was a park shoot. I have seen the pictures of past brides and have fallen in love! Our park shoot was two days before we left for our cruise. At first, I was nervous about the first-look experience and getting my dress dirty before the cruise. However, my amazing photographer, Stephanie Caldwell, put my mind at ease. That morning, Stephanie and her assistant Dan, picked us up at 5:00 a.m. Michael was already downstairs and blindfolded when the photographers came. We were able to do our first look in a courtyard at Saratoga Springs. Our first stop was Magic Kingdom. It was so cool to see the park without guests. It is a truly 24/7 working park and you forget that sometimes as guests. We were able to get some amazing pictures by the castle that I will forever cherish. After that, we did our route, which included pictures by Be Our Guest and The Little Mermaid. The Little Mermaid is my favorite movie, so Stephanie took the time to give me my “mermaid” shots. I truly felt like Ariel! After Magic Kingdom, we went to Epcot to photograph. We chose the Morocco and Italian pavilion for our pictures. We decided on the Morocco pavilion, because it is so unique and is so peaceful. The Italian pavilion is extremely special for us since I studied abroad in Rome the summer after we started to date. Plus, our favorite restaurant in Epcot is Via Napoli. The park shoot was the coolest photography experience that I have ever had. Michael and I are hoping to finish the parks and do an anniversary shoot at Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom in 2016.
Photo taken by Stephanie Caldwell of Disney Fine Arts Photography
Photo taken by Stephanie Caldwell of Disney Fine Arts Photography
DOES YOUR HUSBAND LOVE DISNEY AS MUCH AS YOU DO?
Michael loves Disney, but definitely does not have the same level of obsession that I have. He only went to Disney World a few times when he was growing up. He has grown to love it more since we started dating and now loves to vacation at Disney World. I think he loves how excited I get about it. Michael is a huge foodie, and LOVES Disney food. His favorite restaurant is California Grill and if we lived closer he would be at Food and Wine every weekend. His goal is to one day do the Chef’s Table at Victoria and Albert’s. Maybe for our one year anniversary! Michael loves old school Disney movies, like Robin Hood and the Jungle Book.
Photo taken by Stephanie Caldwell of Disney Fine Arts Photography
WHAT ARE WAYS YOU INCORPORATE DISNEY INTO YOUR EVERY DAY LIFE?
Our apartment is decked out with Disney stuff. It is definitely the overarching theme in our decorations. We have a small, but growing collection of ears. I also collect anything Duffy related, Disney kitchen stuff, and cute Disney wedding stuff that is all throughout our house. At any given time, at least one of us is probably wearing something Disney related. Unfortunately as attorneys we do not always get to wear our favorite Mickey t-shirts, but I have found ways to incorporate it in my every day professional wear. A fellow Disney bride gave me these beautiful Mickey earrings that I can wear in court and I also typically have a Disney purse with me at all time. Michael is currently playing through the Kingdom Heart video game series, and is loving it! We try to go to Disney World as much as possible. Unfortunately, we live in Minnesota so it is not always the easiest but we try to make it work. It was a lot easier when we were in school to be able to take off. If our job schedule will allow it we hope to escape the cold in February and go down there for our next trip!
Photo taken by Elise Limper
WHAT ADVICE WOULD YOU GIVE FUTURE DISNEY BRIDES?
If being a Disney bride is super important to you, there are a ton of great options that can fit within your budget. Do you research and look at all of the options that they offer. Disney’s team is full of professional. They were great to plan with, especially when I was in my final year of law school and preparing to take the bar exam. With Disney it is actually easy to sit back and relax. I was so surprised that I was not a super stressed out bride. Also, enjoy this experience. It is such a wonderful period of your life and Disney will always find ways to make it magical!
Photo taken by Stephanie Caldwell of Disney Fine Arts Photography
Check out more of her amazing park shoot photos taken by the amazing Stephanie Caldwell from Disney Fine Arts Photography! You can learn more about Stephanie by visiting http://www.caldwell-photo.com and http://disneyfineartphotography.com
Check out more of their gorgeous pictures taken by Miki at Shutter's photography aboard the Disney Dream! To learn more about them visit http://www.mycruisephotos.com/DCL/
If you need help booking your own magical Disney Vacation, please visit
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- Itinerary planning, including helping you plan your visit around the lowest crowds for your dates
- Special Events and experiences
- Customizing which resort is best for you and your family
- and so much more! It is like having your own personal fairy godmother in real life!
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