Getting Married in Orlando

If you’re thinking about getting married in Orlando whilst you are on holiday, we can thoroughly recommend it. Go on – do it!! It was easy to sort out and we did it all pretty cheaply, and we had a wonderful day. There are lots of options available and we investigated them quite thoroughly but we opted for getting married at the local County Courthouse so we’re going to tell you about that. We know that when we were looking for information regarding getting married in Orlando we really struggled to get anything up to date, and specifically for UK residents, so we’re hoping our sharing this experience with you guys might just help you make your mind up, or relax about how easy it was to sort out. That was partly the inspiration for us starting the blog – if we’d have had access to all of the information we needed we might have worried less about whether it was all going to be OK. It was more than OK – it was an amazing day.

Choosing a Venue

First things first – our fairly fruitless research! We originally were looking for a “venue” – a sort of all in one civil ceremony, photos, flowers provided etc. There are lots of these available in and around Orlando, from hotels, to pretty parks, to little chapels to The Titanic Experience, where you get married on the grand staircase. All of these options were actually pretty reasonable so one of them might suit you really well, but no one venue really stood out for us. Of course you can go the whole hog and have your ceremony in the wedding pavilion at the Grand Floridian resort and spa with the Cinderella Castle as you’re amazing backdrop – and if this is what you fancy then go for it, it’s actually not as expensive as you might think, pretty reasonable actually compared to the £20,000 plus a big wedding in the UK can cost. However, the one thing central to all of these wedding venues is that you still have to go to a local County Court House in person and get your licence before the date you have set or booked. It was this element that slightly worried us and made us think that if you had to find, drive too, queue up and fill forms in and provide ID at a local County Courthouse, what if you go there and there was some information missing and you couldn’t get a licence? Or what if the County Courthouse was closed that day due to a public holiday etc etc. We then worried that if we didn’t get the licence on the day we had anticipated we’d have a venue booked and wouldn’t be able to get married. So our investigations continued. Those investigations led us to The Osceola County Courthouse in Kissimmee, which was the closest one to where we were staying. It looked like a pretty building and was only 30 minute drive away, and you could get your licence and get married on the same day – BINGO! We hit jackpot. So that’s where the wedding journey began. We established that you cannot make an appointment at the Court, you just have to turn up and wait in line, both for the licence and also if you want to get married straight after you have the licence. It was suggested that there were less people there on a weekday so our plan began to form. We’d turn up on the Wednesday morning, wait in line – in our wedding clothes (we’d seen photos online of a queue of brides and grooms in their outfits waiting for their licence and it looked fun and casual) get the licence, wait in line again if necessary and get married. By the time we walked out of the Courthouse, $119 (and that included three copies of our Marriage Certificate posted out to us later) and a little ceremony later we’d be husband and wife. And so we were!

Setting off and finally telling the “children”

So, having established we could make no appointment and reserve no time slot we just had to pack our wedding things in our cases, our wedding rings in our hand luggage, try not to look shifty through airport security because we were hoping we didn’t get stopped and have to explain to Rob’s (grown up) children and their partners why we had wedding rings in our luggage, and get through the flight without blabbing. We hadn’t told anyone at all we were planning to get married as we wanted to tell them when we got there, and the family back in the UK only after we’d actually got married, so keeping the secret was tricky at times.

Off we went with the most excellent Virgin Atlantic, who I am sure would have made an extra fuss of us (as they did on the way back) if they knew we were getting married, cos they’re really good like that! Mr Oh! Orlando kept jumping up during the flight and frantically checking the hand luggage for the ring box. Just in case it had gone missing in the 30 other times he had previously checked it. The kids were wondering why he was clutching the bag like the presidents nuclear briefcase! So as the secret had to be kept, ring checking aside, we just relaxed and enjoyed the flight. We finally told the “children” on the Sunday, whilst we were having a lovely afternoon at Disney Springs, that we were getting married on Wednesday morning and we hoped they’d join us.

The night before the wedding we headed off to Publix to buy some flowers. Mrs Oh! Orlando was pretty confident she could put together a pretty wedding posy with the right flowers and a button hole for the Mr. If that is not your strong point there are quite a few local florists in the area around the theme parks and tourist areas and they all offer wedding bouquets which can be delivered to your hotel or villa. In our case we sat by the pool having a nice cool drink putting together a wedding bouquet and button hole having spent a whopping $20 in Publix. The results we were pretty happy with.

Wedding Day

Wedding morning we were up with a lark, Mr Oh! Orlando said he had the slowest shave in the world as he didn’t want any cuts on the big day! Quick breakfast at the villa, dressed in our wedding clothes, grabbed our passports and some cash and the form we needed (which we downloaded and pre-printed off the website- but you can wait and fill the form in when you get there, it’s not a large form and won’t take you long), and off we went to Osceola County Courthouse. Note that if you have been married before you have to fill in the date the marriage was dissolved and it mentions also taking proof with you to the Courthouse, which we did but it was not asked for. There is a large multi-storey car park there as well as a couple of ground level car parks surrounding the square that the Courthouse is in. As you can see the Courthouse itself is a really pretty building and there are some lovely steps outside to take some photos as well as a pretty green area with trees alongside it. We took some photos there and also took some back at the villa as the garden and pool area was so lovely.

On entering the Courthouse you have to go through security – it’s a working Courthouse so there are trials going on and hearings and it’s where residents have to go to renew driving licences etc. We had to walk through the metal detectors and put everything in our hands in a tray to go through an X-ray machine. They were so very lovely to us, taking very good care of my bouquet and wishing us good luck etc, and we had to take our shoes off to go through the x-ray machine too, they asked us so sweetly “would the bride sit down please on the chair and take off her pretty little shoes for us”. In less than five minutes they had directed us to the right floor and we went up in an elevator. We arrived in the licensing department and we were the only people in there. A lovely man in the window called us up and took our form off us and our passports etc. He asked us a couple of questions about how many copies of the marriage certificate we would like posting to us and took our payment. He asked us if we wished to get married there and then. We said we did and he directed us to the end of the corridor to the marriage room. He appeared a few moments later in a nice robe and the Ceremony began. We asked if we could take photos during the ceremony and he said we could do whatever we wanted, photos, video, even live stream it if you want. So very casual and relaxed but also it was a very nice respectful and lovely ceremony. We both enjoyed every minute of it, and in literally a few minutes we were married. We took some photos in the marriage room and away we went, as man and wife! It was fabulous. On the way out lots of people congratulated us and wished us well and it was really lovely taking photos on the steps of the Courthouse. We even encountered a Lawyer who was clearly having a bad day and said “at last, someone coming here for a good reason – congratulations”. It made us smile even more.

Back at our beautiful accommodation we had a glass or two of bubbly and a nice cold beer and took some photos around the pool area. It was a lovely morning and we felt thoroughly relaxed and delighted it had all gone so well. We also rang our parents and nearest and dearest, sent a million messages to extended family and friends and finally announced it on social media the next day. Everyone was super shocked and surprised but delighted for us.

We had planned to go out for a nice lunch, and then head to Disney’s Epcot – a brainwave of ours that we could go to all the countries around the world showcase lagoon – as if we’d honeymooned in all of those countries. Now unfortunately you can’t go into the Disney Parks as an adult in fancy dress or wedding dresses – except for after hours parties such as Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party where adults can dress up. If you actually book your wedding with and at Walt Disney World they do obviously let you take some photos in some designated places, but you basically cannot just turn up as a guest dressed in your wedding clothes. We had sorted some wedding park outfits for the afternoon’s festivities.

Longhorn Steakhouse was our choice of restaurant for lunch – delicious as usual and excellent choice and service also as usual. We had a wonderful hour or two there relaxing and eating and chatting – then off we went to Epcot. Wedding ears on and away we go!

We left the family to do their own thing and all headed off in different directions, and we honeymooned around the world! We had a lovely afternoon, lots of other brides and grooms in ears were all shouting congratulations at each other, and we had hugs and high fives and lots of lovely messages and comments from the very wonderful and friendly Disney staff. We took so many photos and also had a lovely little extra surprise in the USA part of the showcase – we won’t spoil the surprise but a very nice gentleman directed us in to a phone in a wooden box and …… well as we said, we won’t spoil the surprise, but suffice to say if you wander round in wedding ears they really do make you feel so very special, even more special than we normally feel in the parks, which is already pretty special!

Finale of the day – we meet back up with the children and watch the fireworks Illuminations of Earth over the showcase lagoon – what a fabulous end to a fabulous wedding day. The fireworks felt like they were just for us and we couldn’t have had a better day. All for a very reasonable couple of hundred dollars.

We continued with the rest of our holiday just as we had planned, and had an amazing time as we usually do. The flight home with Virgin was great as we had expected – even the check in staff at the airport are so lovely and friendly and we always have a lovely laugh and chat with them.

Back home – and wondering if we would feel a little low after such an amazing holiday and wedding – we had the joy of having had the house decorated by parents and friends. There were balloons and a cake and a banners and lots of cards. Then more and more cards came, and presents, and vouchers and cash, and Mr and Mrs mugs, photo frames, and even a pink flamingo bouquet of flowers – and lots of very touching gifts and cards and messages. We are so lucky to have such amazing friends and family.

A couple of gifts that really stood out were a lovely Mickey Mouse button picture that our friend Kate made. It has “love, laughter and happy ever after” on it as well as our wedding date, and takes pride of place in our kitchen – we look at it every day with joy. How lucky are we to have such a gifted friend. More of our fabulous friends, the gorgeous Howells family, commissioned for us an amazing wine bottle and glass holder, along with two key rings, which were made by their talented friend Jo. The wine holder has “Here’s to Disney’s happiest ever ending” burned into the wood (how very lovely – thank you Stacey!) and our names are on the glasses. What a thoughtful gift, also taking pride of place in our kitchen, and we are very much hoping talented Jo of Matthias and Locke will be working with us soon to provide some publicity merchandise for Oh! Orlando. Do check her website if you’d like some interesting ideas for presents and keepsakes – beautiful original ideas and we can highly recommend her work – http://www.mathiasandlocke.com if you’d like to take a look, and look out for some photos of our fabulous new merchandise in the future.

So – as our first anniversary approaches, we can honestly say that our Orlando/Epcot wedding was perfect for us in every way – it may well be perfect for you too. Feel free to ask any questions you might have if you’re thinking of doing the same. We also now have our Mickey and Minnie wedding ears framed (by our talented friend Kate) and they hang on the staircase at home, so that every time we walk past we remember how fabulous our day was and how kind everyone was to us, and how lucky we are to have found each other – particularly having our mutual love of Orlando!

And they all lived happily ever after…. The end.