I AM SO EXCITED TO FINALLY BLOG THIS WALT DISNEY WORLD SWAN WEDDING!!

What’s wild is that I’m sitting here in May 2021 blogging a wedding from October 2019 and this was the last time I traveled.  I travel a fair amount and had a bunch of trips and a destination wedding planned for 2020 but little did we know that in a few short months our worlds would flip upside down.

I met Kristen in 2001 or so on a Joey McIntyre message board like I have many of my other friends that have been featured on here including Kim, Kristen (a different one!) and Gianina!   Unlike the others though I had never met Kristen in person before.  We were going to try on my last trip to Walt Disney World but I believe she ended up being out of town.   So while I was ecstatic to be chosen as their photographer I was mostly excited to finally meet Kristen in person.

Kristen reached out after her and Michael got engaged and originally they really wanted to get married at Walt Disney World proper but Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings is pretty expensive and their preset packages (which you can’t adjust easily) didn’t really fit their needs for their guest list.  I suggested the Swan & Dolphin hotel for their wedding and it was a hit!  So if you are looking for an alternative to get married at Walt Disney World without doing one through Disney I highly recommend doing one at the Swan & Dolphin.  They have a lot of options and their packages may be a better fit for you vs. Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings.

Kristen and Michael said I Do at the Swan Courtyard on a steamy Saturday morning and had a lovely luncheon reception afterwards.  Once the formalities were over with we headed over to the boardwalk along Crescent Lake and did photos in front of the BoardWalk Inn Resort before grabbing an Uber and finishing up photos at Disney’s Contemporary Resort in mid-afternoon.  We all took a break and they changed clothes and we met back up in the evening after the rain had passed and did some final casual portraits around Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.  At the end of the evening they ate their wedding dinner at Be Our Guest and I FINALLY got to see proper fireworks at Disney World!  It really was a magical day!

I cannot thank you both enough for trusting me to have me document your day!!  It was such a joy!

Ceremony & Reception:  Swan Courtyard at  Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin

The night before the wedding we were originally going to meet up to meet each other in person (yay!) and to scope out areas for photos the next day.  Parking for the Swan and Dolphin was a nightmare, they had issues getting in and by the time everyone was settled they just wanted to eat and finish up some wedding projects so we agreed to just see each other the day of the wedding.  Which I totally get, weddings are SO hectic!

The next morning I ended up heading over to the Swan and Dolphin with my husband, Chris, and we scouted out the area before meeting up with everyone for the getting ready portion of the day.  I had only been to Disney once before and wanted to see how everything was laid out since I was completely unfamiliar with this part of the complex.  The BoardWalk area is SO pretty and had such beautiful views of the hotel.

I started with the Dolphin which is such a pretty hotel!

Chris managed to pop out and capture this image of the exterior of the Swan while I was with Kristen and the girls documenting them getting ready.

Kristen is one of the most laid back brides I’ve ever had.  She was super chill and there wasn’t a lot of fuss during their getting ready part of the day.  She just changed from pjs to her dress like it was any other day and her friends were popping in and out helping her daughter get ready and make sure everyone was okay.  It was SO relaxing and fun!

Here there was a bit of a pause during the wedding day.  I’m not sure what the malfunction exactly was but the parking at the Swan and Dolphin was a whole nightmare.  Kristen and Michael had a mess the night before and the day of their wedding it was still a disaster.  This lead into a huge snafu – Michael’s grandparents getting lost.  The parking lot was full so the staff was directing people to park down the street (!) at Fantasia and walk back over.  However, the grandparents do not have cell phones and did not have GPS.  They were lost for over an hour which delayed the ceremony since they had came from quite a distance to be there.  Eventually they did find their way to the ceremony and things were able to start!!

Their ceremony and luncheon reception was held in the Swan Courtyard.  It is a brick courtyard and has a beautiful swan fountain in the center.

Kristen finally was able to walk in to the music from Beauty & the Beast that had been looping for a while and it was time for the ceremony to finally begin!  Oh, notice that condenation on the windows?  Chris and I thought that our northerner bodies were just being babies about how incredibly humid it was.  Turns out we weren’t complete babies, it was unseasonably humid for Florida this time of year and even the Florida natives were sweating up a storm.

I adore Michael’s grin when he finally sees Kristen!

WHEW!  FINALLY!

While their ceremony was short, it was a sweet and lovely one and I admit to have got a bit misty eyed.

Chris snuck upstairs during the very short ceremony and made it in time to capture the exit!

Those smiles!!

Why do I love this photo so much?  I don’t know but I do.

We quickly did some formal photos under the arch as the staff at the Swan moved the chairs to the tables around the courtyard.

After the formal photos were done the party was ready to begin!  After the ceremony in the Swan Courtyard they had a small luncheon reception.

After everyone munched on the various brunch items that were set out they cut the cake which was simple and beautiful.  I loved their Beauty and the Beast cake topper!

Kristen’s parents were SO DARN CUTE I couldn’t resist taking photos of them!

Also, how precious is Michael’s niece?!  She was so cute and totally entranced by the fountain when they turned it back on.  I was convinced she was going to get bold and go in but she managed to avoid the siren call!

Kristen’s daughter Jordan had a few of her friends there and those girls had fun!

After the reception wrapped up we headed out for a few more photos!

We started off at the sister hotel to the Walt Disney Swan, the Walt Disney Dolphin.  I loved the tunnel and how it looked in photos (and it was a slight bit less hot in the shade).

We then had to do one in front of the grand entrance to the Dolphin!  How beautiful is this hotel?!  One of the perks of staying or visiting the Swan & Dolphin is that it’s not super Disney-fied.  Some people love the huge Disney icons but for a wedding it’s nice to have a bit more sophisticated look!

From the Swan & Dolphin we headed over to the BoardWalk area on Crescent Lake.  This section was one I had TOTALLY bypassed on our last trip so it was fun to explore with a wedding couple.  It was early in the day so it wasn’t too busy and it was so dang humid anyone on the boardwalk was at Beaches & Cream (and I was jealous).

The Atlantic Dance Hall was so cute I couldn’t resist playing with some portraits here.  I was going to make this a triptych but it’s so cute I had to let each photo stand on their own.

This cute place has been closed since COVID and I’m really hoping that it reopens soon!

Finally we just meandered on down the BoardWalk stopping at various spots along the way to the back entrance to Epcot.

I love a little bit of corniness and these two rolled with it beautifully!

While it was hot and humid it was still a beautiful day!!

I was really charmed by the BoardWalk area and I’m so glad we were able to go play there for photos!

Right before the entrance to Epcot there was this cute gazebo that had beautiful light so we stopped for some more photos.  Later I would look this location up and discover it is called Seabreeze Point and it’s one of the options for a wedding location with Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings!  You definitely can tell it was designed with weddings in mind.  Such a pretty spot!

Until this moment my husband didn’t know you could rent boats at Disney and he was obsessed with this idea for the rest of the trip.

See how pretty this spot is??

We headed out to the front of the BoardWalk Inn Resort and picked up an Uber to go over to Disney’s Contemporary Resort where we had heard about some metal Mickey ears that seemed like a fun thing to take wedding photos with.  After a bit of searching we finally discovered it!

How fun are these??  There was a few other things we were looking for and never found it but I’m glad we found these.

Finally as we were waiting for our ubers back to our hotels I grabbed their rings and did some photos and I am SO obsessed with how stunning Michael’s ring is!! The opal is so cool!  Kristen’s is beautiful too!

After this we took a bit of a break, each going back to our hotels to freshen up, eat and then agreed to meet back up at Magic Kingdom for some more casual photos (you cannot wear your wedding gear in the park unless it’s to the Halloween party!).  We went back to our hotel (Animal Kingdom Lodge, WE LOVED IT), grabbed some food at the food court there and vegged out and watched some animals from our balcony before heading to the park.

After finding them in the park we went over to the Dumbo ride (I have yet to ride this!) and we did some photos of the newlyweds riding it.  These are some of my favorite photos!

How cute are they??

The sun was setting so we did some quick portraits around the castle before it was completely gone.

You have to do the traditional castle shot!

How cute are these two?!?

I loved how they still embraced being a bride and groom with their Mickey Bride and Groom t-shirts!

I was introduced to what may now be my most favorite ride now, the PeopleMover!   We didn’t board it with the intent to do a photo here but I had to take a few and I loved this one of them with the castle behind them.  This ride was closed for a long time but just opened back up finally!

Finally after a few rides we parted ways as the newlyweds headed to their dinner at Be Our Guest and we headed to “the hub” to watch the fireworks.  It was the most FUN wedding day and such a great way to end the night.