Real Wedding: Colleen and Erich
Marathon I Do
Marathon runners exchange vows during Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend
colors- white, black
Bride-Colleen Winters
Groom-Erich Schwab
Wedding Date– 01/09/2011
Location-Disney’s Main Street
Ceremony-Express I DO
Style-Unique, Themed, Offbeat, Outdoor
Fashion
The bride wore a cute white tennis style inspired running dress and a short layered veil. She accessorized with cute mickey mouse shaped earrings. The groom wore a suit jacket and bow tie with his running shorts. He nixed the baseball cap during the wedding.
The Wedding
Getting married while doing something you both love and have in common can make for a wonderful memory and enhance the overall experience. Some call it quirky, but I think unique ideas like this one are fun and exciting. What better way to commemorate your wedding day and enjoy something you love together.”And’ is definitely better. This Minnesota couple shows they are in it for the long journey!
My day started at 3 am in the morning to drive to Disney and arrive in the gates before 5 am to meet the family and support team of my marathon couple Colleen and Erich. After the opening ceremony and shot fired to ring out the start of the race we had to make our way over to the tram station to catch a ride to Disney World so we would be on main street by 7:30-7:45 am. It was a cold January morning, not the balmy slightly windy kind, …Nope….it’s the 32 degree, OMG am I still in Florida kind that we rarely get. Now for a marathon, I assume that it was perfect because some of the runners were still sweating a little. The bride and groom exchanged vows on Disney’s Main Street with Cinderella’s castle as the backdrop.
Erich and Colleen opted for an express wedding…yes, pun intended. They had already been running for about an hour and a half when they made it to their designated wedding spot. And they made it on time. A 26 mile jaunt on their wedding day! Amazing!
The bride and groom’s family members helped the bride put on her wedding veil while the groom put on his suit jacket before they took their wedding vows.
A family member snapped pictures of the quick ceremony for me while I officiated their ceremony. This was one of those rare exception, under the radar kind of ceremony, that was allowed by Disney. I could not wear anything that was obvious, (I didn’t even bring my officiant book just a folded piece of paper with their ceremony on it I could hide in my pocket) to let on that we were doing the ceremony but people around us noticed, cheered, snapped pictures and clapped as the couple was sealing their union with a kiss and some kind of sport drink. Family members pinned ‘Just Married’ signs on their backs and after a few quick kisses and hugs they were off again. This time headed into their future which belonged just to them. A strongly bonded couple vowing to go the distance for love!
It was an experience like no other, there were people running in costumes, and I saw runners of all different skill levels. As I took the tram from Epcot to Disney I could see solo runners who had broken out from the rest of the runners in a solitary journey to the finish line and deer peeping at them from the woods as the sun started to rise. It really is a magical place.
The bride and groom arrive and quickly change into wedding attire
So much for under the radar, check out the two guys on the left…
The ring exchange
The Kiss
The bride and groom’s support team made up of family and close friends, braved the cold and early hours with a smile.
Coming up with unique destination weddings can be fun and exciting. I love officiating destination ceremonies. I meet some really unique individuals. They are in love, not stressed out about their day and make it a great experience to get married while on vacation or holiday in Florida.
By Sheri Thomson
Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest | IG | GOOGLE for wedding inspiration and subscribe to my YouTube channel
