Back from our Vow Renewal Trip at Leu Gardens and Disney*Updated with pic links

[lvs_eeyore]

We had the most awesome vacation EVER. Everything went like clockwork. Even though we werent renewing our vows at Disney the staff at the concierge made tons of appt's for me for hair, makeup, nails, gown steaming, our cake for a little reception we had at Ohana. They were WONDERFUL. Everything was planned out so well I wasnt even nervous the day of the renewal. The limo picked us up right on time and got us to Leu Gardens earlier than expected even though we were given dire predictions by some of the staff about the traffic at that hour of the morning on a weekday. The service was BEAUTIFUL and simple. Ahhhhh I felt like such a princess with my Prince Charming. I am SO pleased we decided to do the renewal at Leu Gardens. The gardens and the Gazebo were awesome and we have some of the most wonderful professional shots taken all around the gardens. This is something I will remember for a lifetime.

Any questions please ask away!!!

 

[LaGaviota]

Wow, that sounds awesome! Do we get to see pictures?

Congratulations by the way!

 

[lvs_eeyore]

I will see if a friend of mine can post some pictures I sent him for me.

Thank you for the congratulations. I am still on cloud nine.

 

[grover]

Congrats-sounds like you had a lovely time!

Grover in Winnipeg

 

[lvs_eeyore]

Below are the links to the pictures posted on another thread and a link for my trip report for that day.

Pictures...you need to scroll down a bit.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=408227

Trip report

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=408950

 

[pinktink83]

Hey, congrats and glad to hear you had a special time!

I am thinking of surprising my husband with renewing our vows in DL. Do you know if you can just have a little ceremony, me, hubby, and officiant, pictures, and maybe cake afterwards at a restaurant? Thats all we need! Or do you have to do the whole kitten caboodle?? And furthermore...how soon do you have to make arrangements?????? TIA!!

 

[Aurora63]

lvs-eeyore, you may not know the answer to this, but do you know if Leu Gardens has chairs to set up around the gazebo? We are planning our VR to have maybe 25 guests (their max for the gazebo.) Also, where is Leu Gardens in relation to Disney? And, is the gazeebo pretty well secluded? Not right on the road, I mean? Sorry for all the questions! we were planning our VR to be through Disney, but DH recently gave birth to a cow when he saw what it would cost. Strangest thing! So I am considering other options.

Pinktink, I would say if that's all you want, don't go through DL. Yes, they want the whole kit and caboodle, and last I heard, they don't even have an intimate package anymore! I'm sure you could organize something on your own for far less.

 

[lvs_eeyore]

The Gazebo itself is rather small. It would fit maybe 8-10 people but someone would be sitting behind the minister. Im not sure about chairs. I know there is cement outside the gazebo itself so they could set up chairs but the poles for the gazebo might get in some peoples way.

The Gazebo is set back and very secluded. It is not right out on a street. There are trees all around it and a path to get back to it. Now in our video which my FIL took you can hear traffic sounds but I never heard them the day of the vow renewal oddly enough. Never noticed it until we viewed the video. I did hear dh's father say something about the truck sound during my dh's vows the day of the renewal but I never even noticed it. You can clearly hear it on the video but you can also hear my dh say his vows.

Leu Gardens is an absolutely awesome place to have a vow renewal. I am SO happy I went with them. Are you going to do one of the packages through Rev Tim Herring? We did and I am SO pleased thats the way we went. Rev Herring was WONDERFUL!!!! I would recommend him to anyone who is interested in renewing their vows. He has a great package, uses TOP quality people, the flowers were EXACTLY the ones I wanted down to the color of the roses, the ceremony itself was truely beautiful and special. I just loved every moment of the planning and the ceremony itself. Rev Tim is GREAT to work with, great to communicate with, and puts you right at ease the day of the renewal. Wedding Vow Renewals are also Rev Tim's favorite thing to do and it shows.

 

[lvs_eeyore]

Ooops forgot a question. Leu Gardens is about 11 miles outside of Disney. If you go with one of Rev Herrings packages( Premier or Classic) though you dont have to worry about getting there because the limo is included. It was AWESOME. Our driver was wonderful and got us there earlier than expected even through rush hour traffic. The limo was spacious and beautiful and there was even a bottle of Champaign in the back just for us and bottled water for the kids.

We went with the Premier Package and it was 1100 less than Disney and EXACTLY what we wanted and needed for that day. At first I wanted to go through Disney but when I saw the price I sort of did what your dh did. There was so much stuff in the package that we really didnt need or wouldnt have used and it didnt seem worth it to me. I booked with Rev Tim after seeing the Gazebo on his site and I was doubly glad I did when I finally got to see the gardens in person.

 

[Aurora63]

I'm having a close friend officiate. But it's nice to hear that about Rev. Tim. I'm on the Disneymooner board as well, and it seems like he is not a favorite over there. People view him as a little cool, not welcoming, that kind of thing. If I were a minister, I'd probably enjoy doing vow renewals as well...you know these folks have made it for x amount of years, it a celebration of a successful marriage. That's how I think of it, anyway!

Their website (Leu Gardens) says you can have up to 25 people at what they call a "Small Wedding." They list the gazebo as one of the sites, so I assumed that they would have chairs or some way to make the guests comfy, outside of the gazebo. I hope, anyway! I was thinking about forgoing any kind of coordinator or package deals, and just doing it myself, but I'll have to check and see what's available. Being here in FL and with frieds in Orlando, this is actually conceivable. I'm going down on Aug. 7th for a friends wedding (our officiant, BTW) and I want to check it out then. I'm very excited about this idea now. I hope my DH will see the difference in cost and be excited too!

One thing (and then I'll end this very long post!) I like is that I can have a small wedding, but not ultra small, the way the Disney intimate would have been. They limit you to eight guests, or 13 if you want to pay $500 more. Now, I can invite 25, and that is perfect for me. We didn't have a wedding the first time around, so I will be inviting our close family and friends only! No friends of friends of friends. It will be a blast, and now I am excited!

BTW, I saw your pictures, they are beautiful. When you went into the house, did you see any of the rooms they can use for banquets/receptions, like the Orchid room or Rose room? Just curious.

Thanks for answering my questions!

 

[pinktink83]

Aurora, you're right about the intimate package, DL doesn't do it anymore! I think we're gonna aim for WDW instead. Although the more I hear, the more I'm considering just having the vows offsite, and "honeymooning" in DW.