Photos: Disney's Wedding Pavilion
On one of our walks around Seven Seas Lagoon on our recent Florida trip, we decided to walk on the pathway between the Grand Floridian and Polynesian Resorts. It was a nice evening out, and we figured it wouldn’t take that much longer to walk than it would to ride the Monorail. And besides, the walk would take us past Disney’s Wedding Pavilion, which we never had been to before.
As the popularity of weddings at Walt Disney World grew, Disney wisely built its own wedding pavilion for those looking to have a Disney wedding somewhere besides one of the hotels. The wedding pavilion itself is on an island in Seven Seas Lagoon, and it is accessible by a bridge from the mainland. Over on the mainland at the other end of the bridge is Franck’s, the office/planning area named after the character of the wedding planner in the Steve Martin version of “Father of the Bride.”
We didn’t actually go in the main wedding chapel, because there was a wedding rehearsal going on when we were there. While we did peek in the door, I didn’t even bother trying to get a photo inside the chapel so that I wouldn’t interrupt anyone’s preparation for that big special moment. Although it might have made things more memorable. “Remember at our wedding rehearsal when they had to throw that amateur photographer out of the wedding chapel?”
Below are several photos from our brief visit to Disney’s Wedding Pavilion. Click each one for a larger view.
Franck’s is the wedding planning area at Disney’s Wedding Pavilion. Most people have probably forgotten about the movie and the character for which this building is named now. But probably a few of us still wish we could see Martin Short planning weddings there.
Crossing the bridge from Franck’s leads to the wedding chapel. I thought it was a neat touch to have the chapel on its own island in Seven Seas Lagoon.
Another view of the wedding chapel from the bridge. At the top of the arches are wedding rings, although you can’t tell it from here because this is the back side of this particular arch.
A view of the wedding chapel from across the canal separating it from Franck’s. From inside the chapel, that large window on the left looks directly at Cinderella Castle, providing a perfect backdrop for a Disney wedding.
Looking back at Franck’s from the bridge at the wedding chapel as the sun was starting to put on a show in the sky.
Another look back at Franck’s across Seven Seas Lagoon from the wedding chapel as the Monorail passes by. The sky really was spectacular that night. I bet the people inside were wishing that they could have a sky like that for their actual wedding.
This post was actually posted on our 21st wedding anniversary. However, we didn’t get married at Disney’s Wedding Pavilion, because it wasn’t built until 1995, two years after our wedding. Besides, we preferred a traditional church wedding back home where most of our friends and family were. Although sometimes, a Florida wedding does sound like it would have been nice. This photo was taken on the small boat dock at the wedding chapel, so I suppose the bride can arrive by boat, or the bride and groom can leave by boat, if they choose. Also, you can see some of the Grand Floridian rooftops in this photo, too.
One last mushy, lovey-dovey photo of us at Disney’s Wedding Pavilion for our anniversary. Thanks for sharing our anniversary with us. Jaylin took this one with my camera if you are wondering. He did pretty well, I think!
About the photo:
All RAW exposures, processed in Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop. Read more about the photo software and gear I use at the camera gear page.
Camera: Olympus OM-D E-M10
Lens: Olympus 14-42mm IIR
