Is 8 months too short notice to try to plan a Disney Wedding?

[sparro]

So we just decided to get married in December! I'm such a spreadsheet and planning person that I'm not too worried about the (relatively) quick turnaround except around availability. I know the timeline usually suggests 12-16 months out to settle on dates and venues, what are the odds of there being availability in the first two weekends of December? Specifically in Epcot (Italy or maybe UK)?

Obviously only Disney can answer this for sure but I was hoping someone could give me some insight into the chances we have of pulling off a Disney wedding. I've reached out to Disney but it's been slow going here with my questions not fully answered yet and I'm wondering if I need to start looking at venues elsewhere just in case. I hate to waste those venues' time if Disney will come through though so I'm kind of torn on whether to start that process with them but I also don't want to end up venueless while hoping for Disney.

Am I too late??

P.S. I feel like I have pretty much memorized the Disney Fairytale Wedding website and Carrie Hayward's Fairytale Weddings Guide so I think I have a good idea of what I want once the ball gets rolling but I feel like I'm late to the party, haha.

 

[Toolulu22]

You don’t say what type of wedding you are planning. You likely can still plan a Disney wedding, and reaching out to DTTW is the first step in that process. Once you hear back from them, you have yo discuss the number of guests, type of wedding, venues etc. If you are flexible, I know from experience that they will do their best to accommodate you. Not sure how or if things have changed due to the pandemic though. There may be a lot of new people there now.

 

[weddingtreeoflife]

Hey!

We're planning a December wedding as well and the only thing I have confirmed is the venue and the date so we'll make it happen!

I'd suggest going the intro call with 2/3 preferred venues for the ceremony and 2/3 preferred venues for the reception (& consider whether you'd like breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a dessert party & what each venue allows.) This will save back and forth later with your wedding consultant & will speed up the process of getting the letter of agreement.

We're doing Tree of Life and I have quite a lot of info on venues in Animal Kingdom so let me know if I can help with anything there

 

[shoegal9]

I booked my wedding with Disney in September 2021. Signed my letter of agreement mid-October. And our wedding was last month on March 8th.

Celebration (Dessert/Welcome Party): Grand Floridian Marina Terrace
Ceremony: Polynesian, Luau Pointe
Reception: Paddlefish (not booked through Disney b/c not Disney owned)

We had a great experience! Happy to answer any questions!

 

[kmaclou]

That's plenty of time - we did ours in six months. We knew which location and that we wanted morning but we were flexible with dates. I never felt rushed or that we didn't have enough time to think things through and make the appropriate decisions that were right for us.