Real Weddings: Emma & Bobby's Christmas Disney Wedding

Christmas is said to be the most magical time of year, for Emma and Bobby, there was one magical Christmas in particular, that they certainly will never forget. The pair were in Disneyland, somewhere they had both been to many times before, a place that they love to visit with family and friends. Bobby had arranged for a private viewing area at the foot of the iconic Disney castle. It was there, against the backdrop of the starry night sky and the spectacular Disney firework display, that Bobby uttered the words, "Emma, I have something to ask you." Before Emma had a moment to take a breath, Bobby had transformed into a real fairytale prince, removing his coat to reveal his Prince Charming costume. Emma had always joked that, “Someday my Prince will come” and there he was, on bended knee, Disney cast members on either side of him with a sparkling ring on a velvet cushion and a large bouquet of red roses. Emma nodded and through tears said, “Yes”, to the rapturous applause and cheers of the crowd around!

Emma and Bobby’s fairytale proposal would play a big part in the details of their wedding, let’s find out more about how this Disney loving couple created their Disney Christmas wedding.

Sharing the details of a Christmas Disney wedding with your guests

Emma and Bobby put a lot of care and attention to the details when planning their Christmas wedding with a Disney theme. Having a place to share all these details with their guests was important to them, especially as they wanted a way to personally thank everyone for all the help they gave when it came to hand baking the favours, creating the confetti, making the flower bouquets and centrepieces to creating the wedding cake and wedding stationery. Emma and Bobby felt that giving Wedition to their guests, a beautifully personalised keepsake - perfectly complimenting their wedding colour scheme of silver and emerald green and their wedding theme of Christmas and Disney, was the ideal solution. They used it as a way to explain the intricacies of the wedding day details, introduce the wedding party to their guests, share their proposal story, the importance of their venue choices and have fun hen and stag photos, a game of wedding speech bingo and share their story in numbers!

The magic of a Disney proposal at a Christmas wedding

It made perfect sense to include elements of Bobby's romantic Disneyland proposal to Emma at their Christmas wedding.  The Prince Charming jacket Bobby wore the night he proposed was used as a prop in the couple's photo booth and the first dance song was chosen because it was played as part of the firework show at Disneyland Paris the evening the couple got engaged.

Fun fact: Bobby chose Emma’s engagement ring as the setting reminded him of a princess crown.

A Disney Christmas wedding - the venues

St John’s church in Hurst Green, where Emma and Bobby married, has a strong family connection, Emma’s grandparents are buried there, her parents were married there and her christening took place there. The reverend of the church, Mary Seller also knew the family well, for Emma and Bobby, this beautiful little church was the perfect place to say their vows.

The reception venue, Ashdown Park, is within the Ashdown forest which is also ‘home’ to Winnie-the-Pooh as it is said to have been the inspiration for the Hundred Acre Wood in A.A.Milne’s stories. As Disney have made many a Winnie-the-Pooh production, this venue was the ideal place to compliment their Disney Christmas wedding theme.

Fun fact: the confetti at the church was individually hand cut by Emma’s mother.

The joy of Christmas at a Disney wedding

Emma and Bobby chose 1st December for their wedding date as they both love the magic and sparkle of the Christmas season, the cosy feel of open fires and candle light, mulled wine, time with family and friends, and the joy that comes with this time of year.

Emma and Bobby are both accomplished actors and singers, for the past 10 years at Christmas time they have performed with the London Concert Chorus - a delight for the choir to sing carols at this Disney Christmas wedding.

Fun fact: the favours were of course homemade gingerbread Mickey biscuits! These were lovingly created by Emma’s mother. 

Disney details at a fairytale Christmas wedding

If you are planning your own Disney inspired wedding, take a look at some of the ways that Emma and Bobby incorporated Disney throughout their day:

• Invitations
• Welcome sign
• Order of the day sign
• Table plan
• Guest book
• UP themed table
• Grape soda badge worn by Bobby (another UP reference)
• Centre pieces
• The music being played throughout the day
• There were 9 hidden Mickey’s at this Disney Christmas wedding for the guests to find - like those found in Disneyland!
• Emma’s ‘something blue’ was a blue Mickey Mouse under her shoes

Fun fact: the sketches on the order of service and invitations were drawn by Emma, a wonderful way to make them even more personal.

A wedding band and pocket watch fit for a Disney prince at a Christmas wedding

Bobby wanted a pocket watch and found a limited edition Disney one. Chosen specifically because inside Mickey is holding a spanner... Bobby is a plumber!

Bobby’s wedding band is rose gold. In the store Bobby was told he was “too white” for traditional yellow gold and so the hunt was on for something different but in a similar style to his dad’s. He settled for rose gold because the name reminded him of his dear nan Rose. Coincidentally, it also reminded him of a plumbing fitting olive which is the same colour and style. Bobby is proud of his trade and his family’s long line of trade backgrounds including his dear grandad Ginger and his uncle’s and aunt’s today.

Fun fact: Bobby’s groomsmen all wore cufflinks that represent each one's favourite Marvel characters.

The fairytale story behind the Disney wedding Christmas cake and a Disney surprise!

On the wedding cake there were two small statues of Lady and the Tramp. These belonged to Emma’s father and she would play with them when she visited her Grandparents in Dorset. Also these characters are not dissimilar from the bride and groom themselves!

Fun fact: Bobby performed a number of surprises including a performance of 'Step in Time' from Mary Poppins with all the guys from his stag do!

Wedition at a Disney Christmas wedding

Emma and Bobby’s Wedition perfectly complimented their emerald green and silver Christmas wedding theme with subtle touches to Disney throughout. Their articles included:

• Favourite photos
• The proposal story 
• The princess squad (introduction to the bridal party)
• Here come the boys (introduction to the groomsmen)
• The story behind the venues
• Wedding day details
• Wedding speech bingo
• Our story in numbers
• Hen and stag revealed
• A thank you page
• Order of the day

Fun fact: one of the 9 hidden Micky Mouse’s was hiding inside their Wedition!

A Christmas Disney Wedition review

"When Bobby and I were planning our wedding we wanted to make sure that our guests would feel as swept away by our day as we were. This meant including a lot of personal touches and hand crafted items. Wedition was the icing on the cake for us. All our guests loved the behind the scenes info it provided and it helped add meaning to all the decisions we had put our heart and soul into. Wedition tied all the details together and added to the magic. Liz was wonderful to work with, from my first phone consultation right through to staying in touch after the big day. The quality of the product showed the care that Liz and Wedition put in to these wonderful keepsakes. Our guests were blown away - and so were we! People are still taking about them now and relatives who were unable to travel to share our day were so touched to receive a copy and feel included. It is easy to get bogged down and overwhelmed by details when wedding planning, but Liz made the whole process so simple. We would really recommend making Wedition part of your big day. Liz, thank you for adding to the magic of our day!" - Emma and Bobby

Christmas Disney wedding: style file

• Photography: Red on Blond Photography
• Church venue: St John's Church, Hurst Green
• Reception venue: Ashdown Park