Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings highlights. Video / Disney Weddings
Walt Disney has been peddling the promise of "happily ever after" since 1937. It might not surprise you they operate one of the largest destination weddings businesses in the world.
From Snow White to Cinderella - there's been a lot read into the old fashioned "one day my prince will come" narrative of the Disney Princess films. Suffice to say generations have been brought up with the image of a Disney fairy tale wedding.
It's only natural the wedding obsession spilled over into the theme parks.
There are over 100 wedding venues across the company's parks, cruise lines and attractions. Walt Disney World, Orlando might be the epicentre of the fairy tale wedding business, holding roughly half of these venues.
For almost thirty years the parks have been holding marriage ceremonies for Disney fanatics and friends.
Some couples are drawn in by the whole gestalt of flowing princess gowns and Disney castles, others just think it would be a neat place to throw a party. At least nobody has to worry about entertaining guests when you have two dozen roller coasters on site.
What they don't tell you is the starting price is $12000 - and that's for events outside the parks.
"The event minimum for a ceremony inside a Disney park starts at US$10,000 ($16,000)," Korri McFann, marketing director for Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings and Honeymoons told USA Today.
There are packages, honeymoon options and additional Disney-themed extras which mean that couples can spend far more than that. There's no upper limit on cost.
Allure and Disney created a range of Princess-themed wedding gowns in 2020. Photo / Allure; Disney
In 2020 the entertainment franchise teamed up with Tennessee-based bridal designers Allure to create a range of wedding dresses inspired by princesses. There are now over 40 designs - ranging from Ariel the little mermaid to Pocahontas - cost between $1,900 to $4,200, meaning they're considerably higher than the average cost of a US wedding dress. They are promoted through the parks' Fairy Tale Weddings packages.
There are over 100 wedding venues and spaces managed by Disney's wedding and honeymoon business. Photo / Erin With, Unsplash
Disney's long engagement with gay marriage
Of course the 1930s formula of prince charming and damsels in distress can seem extremely dated today. Disney's fairy tale wedding has had to accommodate more people's ideals of happily ever after.
Disney first allowed same sex marriage ceremonies in 2007, three years after they were made legal in California. Disney previously had allowed gay couples to hold commitment ceremonies or weddings in the park, but only in private ceremonies.
By the time the federal marriage equality act came into effect 2015, they were a regular occurrence at the parks.
However some couples have complained that Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings have failed to reflect gay marriage equality across their marketing.
At the time, Blogger Mindy of This Fairy Tale Life wrote that couples weren't sure if they were actually welcome.
"They simply wanted to see Disney couples that "looked like us" before booking. While looking on Disney's official weddings blog, the Ever After Blog, they had to go back 14 pages before they found a same-sex wedding spotlight," she wrote.
Walt Disney has held its official position on same-sex marriage quiet for years. A long-term dispute with the Southern Baptist church has seen the company avoid stating openly its position on marriage equality, if it was supportive.
In March this year, CEO Bob Chapek apologised for keeping "silent" on challenges to the marriage equality act in Florida, home of their largest park.
"Speaking to you, reading your messages, and meeting with you have helped me better understand how painful our silence was," he wrote in an open letter on the company's historically tight-lipped stance on same-sex relationships.
