Ten Fun Ways to Add Some Disney Magic to Your Wedding

Every Disney lovin’ girl dreams of the day she’ll have a magical wedding fit for a Disney Princess. Of course the simplest way to have a Disney wedding, is to have your wedding at Disney World. But not everyone has the money to do that and not everyone meets a guy who will agree to bridesmaids dressed as princesses. So how do you add bits of Disney to a wedding without scaring away your Prince before you get to the altar?

Here are 10 ways I added a little bit of Disney Magic to our wedding that got my husband’s stamp of approval:

1. The Dress:

The easiest Disney addition for me, was my dress. As soon as I learned about Alfred Angelo’s Disney Fairy Tale Bridal line of dresses, I knew I had to, at the very least, try one on when that day came. And once I was engaged, my mom, my best friend, and I made the two-hour drive to the closest Alfred Angelo store. They have several dresses for several princesses. My favorite princess is Belle, so of course I tried on her dress first. I also tried on Cinderella, which had the most beautiful poof. I fell in love with the top of the Belle dress, but wasn’t so sure of the bottom. It had an odd top layer of tulle I wasn’t a fan of and I wished it had the same poof the Cinderella dress had. The stylist and seamstress really worked with me to show me what could and couldn’t be altered to achieve what I had in mind. And they brought me two slips to give me the poof I wanted. Once they pinned everything back, I knew I had to have it. A family friend offered to make my alterations as a wedding gift, so I lucked out on not having to pay for all of the changes. But at the end of the day, walking down the aisle in my own customized version of Belle’s dress, was an absolute dream come true.

2. The Shoes:

My best friend and I are not the most talented walkers when it comes to heels, but they are gorgeous. So I had to come up with a way to wear heels, but keep our feet comfortable. I chose shorter pink pumps for the ceremony, and bought white Converse shoes for the reception.

I decided both pairs had the potential for some Disney magic. On the bottom of the left heel I painted Cinderella Castle, and on the bottom of the right heel I painted “I found my happily ever after. 08-24-2014”. Since I used navy blue paint, they also served as my “something blue”. For the Converse shoes I pulled inspiration from Toy Story. All of Andy’s toys have his name on the bottom of their feet to show that they belong to him. I wrote my husband’s name on my shoes, and he wrote my name on his to show we belong to each other.

3. Tiaras:

The most obvious way to make a girl feel like a princess is to give her a tiara. So, not only did I wear a tiara, but all four of my flower girls did as well. I curled their hair and helped them put their tiaras on after we watched (and sang along to) Frozen while getting ready.There’s no better way to get a child comfortable and ready to toss some flowers than Frozen. Not gonna lie, it calmed quite a few of my nerves as well. I also wore the Alfred Angelo Disney Fairy Tale Bridal Veil that matched my dress.

4. The Cake:

The cake is always the most delicious part of a wedding, so why not make it magical? We went with a four tiered chocolate and vanilla cake. It was extraordinary to say the least. We had a very talented friend of the family bake our cake for us and she did an AMAZING job. We told her that we wanted it to say “And they lived happily ever after” and gave her our color palette. She made several suggestions, like the flowers she hand painted. I told her how much I loved the idea of Cinderella Castle being our cake topper and she hand made a topper that looks exactly like it. We received so many compliments on our Disney themed cake, and it tasted amazing.

5. The Flowers:

If you are still reading this list, I think it’s safe to say you have seen Beauty and the Beast and you understand how important the rose is to the story. While the rose in the movie is red, we switched red roses out for pink to stick to our color palette. Pink roses made several appearances throughout our wedding day. The bridesmaids carried them, they were one of many flowers in my bouquet, and they were part of the center pieces at the reception. It wasn’t the most obvious Disney reference, but they were a beautiful addition to the day. We got our flowers from Nature’s Nook in Cleves, Ohio. They gave us everything we asked for and more. I could not be happier with our roses.

6. Guest Book Sign:

One of the few things you get to keep when your wedding day is over, is your guest book. But some times people don’t see it, and what good is a guest book if your guests don’t sign it. I decided to make a sign that said “Be Our Guest – Please Sign Our Guest Book.” It was one of the first things people saw when they entered our reception.

I received so many compliments from my fellow Disney lovers for that sign and it was very simple to make. I just bought a decorative chalk board from Hobby Lobby and used a chalk marker to write on it.

7. Music:

During your big day there will be a lot of music. Ceremony Music, Pre-Ceremony Music, First Dance Music, and hopefully some party music. There are plenty of places to sneak in some Disney songs. I chose the Colbie Caillat version of Kiss The Girl to be my entrance song. I was way more fitting for me than the Bridal March. And even though my husband didn’t know about my Belle dress, I some how talked him into agreeing on Tale As Old As Time as our first dance song. Now every time either of us hear that song we get emotional. It’s perfect.

8. Bride and Groom Chair Signs:

A lot of brides buy or make signs to hang on the back of their chairs at the reception. Most of the signs you can buy just say “bride” and “groom”. I decided to make the signs for our chairs myself so they could be more personal to us. Zac and I both like Batman, and obviously I like princesses. So I chose to make mine say “His Princess” with a tiara under it and Zac’s say “Her Superhero” with the Bat symbol below it. Not many people saw them because we were seated upstairs on the balcony, but seeing them made both of us smile. And everyone who did get the chance to see them, loved them.

9. Photography:

All of the pictures featured on this post were taken by our amazing photographer, Brooke Townsend. She understood my love for Disney and worked with us to get the most magical shot of the night, even if my sister had to run circles around us over and over to get it right. She took a long exposure shot of my sister running around us with a sparkler to get the most beautiful, Cinderella inspired photo. She also caught a picture of Zac placing my converse shoes on my feet when I couldn’t reach them because of my dress. She couldn’t wait to tell me how much it reminded her of a “glass slipper moment”. She did an amazing job. To see more of her work visit her blog:

http://brooketownsendphotography.com/

10. Gifts:

This magical touch was completely Zac’s idea. He got me a carriage-shaped snow globe that plays the song Bippity Boppity Boo and has a place for a photo. That alone was the most precious gift. I had actually spotted it at Things Remembered when we were picking out gifts for our parents and he managed to get it without me knowing. But that wasn’t all. He got us tickets to Disney World for the second half of our honeymoon! He managed to plan the whole trip, and make the most adorable gift to surprise me with the tickets, all by himself. He found a little treasure box that has roses on it and attached a rose to the inside of the lid. Then he wrote a poem using Disney World related words and places. The poem was written as a story about the two of us. When I finally realized what it meant I started uncontrollably crying. All of my nervous completely dissolved and I didn’t stop smiling the rest of the day. Best. Wedding. Gift. Ever.