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The Disneyland Report > Disney News > Walt Disney World site of 2,000 weddings per year Disney NewsWalt Disney World site of 2,000 weddings per yearCentral Florida popular place to get hitchedSource: Orlando Sentinel One of the most important events of Marion Bonanno's life took place inside a storefront between an Orlando-area Publix grocery store and a Bank of America. Bonanno is 23, believes in true love and calls the nationwide average wedding cost of $20,000 "ridiculous." Wearing a white dress she bought on lunch break a few days earlier, the young bride arrived Saturday at a strip shopping center that houses the Central Florida Wedding Chapel. Barb Madruga is 45, also believes in true love and as an owner of the 2-year-old chapel once helped orchestrate 25 weddings on a single Valentine's Day. With a flourish of prerecorded trumpets, Madruga threw open the chapel's double doors and sent Bonanno down the aisle as part of the business's first wedding of Valentine's Day weekend. "We expect six more, at least," Madruga said. "You never know." The shopping malls and byways of Orlando's tourism corridor are home to a cluster of chapels that offer fairy-tale weddings at church mouse prices. Nationwide, weddings cost an average of $20,000 to $25,000, experts said. Inside these one-stop shops, true love can be solemnized for $200 in 20 minutes or less. Walk-ins are welcome, and all religions are accepted. Relative paupers can spend an hour or two as a princess bride. Bonanno chose Madruga's "Be Mine" Valentine package, which included a candlelight ceremony and at least 24 digital photos. The price: $255.25, tax included. At Victorian Wedding Chapel a few miles away in Kissimmee, couples can receive a personalized ceremony, two dozen 4-by-6-inch photos, flowers and a reception with champagne, a wedding cake and deli platter starting at $700. Billed by some as one of the nation's top three wedding destinations, Orlando has more than its share of nuptials. Last year the number of marriage licenses issued in Orange and Osceola counties was 15,373, according to public records. About 2,000 weddings take place each year at Walt Disney World alone, where joining in holy matrimony before 11 or more guests starts at $10,000 for Friday through Sunday dates. Unions without Disney magic can be just as expensive. Photographers cost an average of $1,500 to $2,000, florists are $750, and a dress typically runs $800. Pressure from advertising, peers and family may push couples to spend even more, said Alan Fields, who with his wife, Denise, wrote Bridal Bargains: Secrets to Throwing a Fantastic Wedding on a Realistic Budget. "We call it the bridal-industrial complex," Fields said. Return to Disney News.
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