How A Wedding Is Like Disney World

Once upon a time, I used to work at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. It was literally the most amazing experience of my entire life and not a day goes by that I don’t think about my time there with fond memories. I lived in a compound of college students, I had 5 roommates, and I worked long hours every day under the shadow of The Castle.

It was incredible.

When people find out that I lived & worked at Disney World, I always get asked the same question: do you have any advice for people planning a vacation there? And my answer is, yes! I have a lot of advice!

But, I have one main piece of advice that I love to share and after experiencing my sister’s wedding just this past Saturday, I realized that that piece of advice applies as much toward Disney World vacations as it does wedding days. Ready for it?

You can’t do it all.

Here’s the deal: when you go to Disney World, especially if you’ve never been there before, you are going to be overwhelmed. From the moment you pull through those iconic gates that welcome you to the Disney property, you will be in awe of the place. The parking lots alone are insane, never mind the process of getting to the front gate of the park you’re going to and walking in. There are people everywhere and you will be overcome, in the most wonderful way, with the sights, smells, and atmosphere that is Walt Disney World.

No matter how many books you’ve read or how long you’ve studied the maps & laid out a game plan, I promise, you will not be able to do everything there is to do in the parks. There is simply too much. I lived there for 8 months and was in the parks almost every single day. I tried really hard, but I still cannot claim that I did every single thing: walk thru every shop, watch every show, experience every restaurant, ride every ride, and meet every character. It is impossible.

You have to be okay with not doing everything.

And if you are a type-A, OCD kind of person like I am, I like to check all the boxes. I don’t like to leave a place with experiences un-done. I like to come and conquer. And if I don’t meet that goal, I know that I will feel like I missed out on something and failed at the day. So, knowing that about myself, I have to mentally prepare, telling myself that it’s okay not to do everything.

It’s tough, but it’s literally impossible to do everything at Disney World, especially if you are only there for a few days! (they should rent out rooms for weeks at a time, because 3-5 days is simply never going to be enough!)

A wedding day is the same way.

Even if you haven’t attended many weddings, I’m sure you’ve seen plenty on tv and in the movies. I can guarantee that you have well-intentioned friends and family whispering ideas into your head. I also know for a fact, that you’ve been searching Pinterest for years and have a board dedicated to “your future wedding” ideas.

I hate to break it to you, but you cannot do everything.
And if you’re like me, that’s really hard to accept.

There are so many potential pieces and moments you can build into a wedding day: family traditions, cultural traditions, and non traditions. There are notes & gifts you can exchange between bridal party members, family members, and of course your soon-to-be-spouse. There’s a first look moment with your Dad. The option of an invisible first look or a regular first look with your soon-to-be husband. There is communion, sand ceremonies, salt ceremonies, personalized vows, special music, and special readings. There is a receiving line, but also wanting to walk around and visit every single table at the reception. There is eating dinner and eating cookies and eating cake. There are special dances, there are line dances, there are dedicated dances. There is spending time breaking it down on the dance floor. There are group pictures with your college besties, your high school besties, your cousins, your favorite great aunt & uncle. The list literally goes on and on and on of things you can potentially do on your wedding day. There’s only one problem:

You can’t do it all.

And quite honestly: that sucks.
Wedding days fly by so fast and they are literally gone before you know it. You plan and you plan for weeks, months, and years, and in a matter of several blinks, it is all over.

So, bottom line: here is my advice – and it applies to both Disney World vacations and wedding days:

Understand that you cannot do it all.
Sit down and make a game plan of the moments and pieces that are non-negotiable must-happen items.
Then let everything else fall by the wayside.
And be 100% okay with that.

Which is the perfect segway into another piece of advice: how do you actually accomplish all of those non-negotiables? I’ll be writing about that next!