On Tuesday afternoon, Nate and I were enjoying a lazy day at his grandparents’ when our phones started blowing up with texts and messages from brides writing us things like “Sooooooooooooo excited guys!” and “Congrats!!!” We were so confused at first that Nate asked if a bride mistakenly posted somewhere that I was pregnant!

If you live under a rock (or more likely- aren’t a Disney bride), you may have missed the grand announcement on Facebook. Once upon a time, Nate and I (and other non-Disney photographers) were allowed to photograph weddings inside of the Walt Disney World Theme Parks, but sometime around four years ago, that policy changed and we were all banished to the Disney resorts. On Tuesday, that evil curse ban was lifted, and now we’re once again allowed to photograph park weddings. Huzzah! Everything was sunshine and unicorns until…

… Looooooong story short, some people took the new rule to mean that in-park engagement and family sessions were now allowed. After checking with our friends at Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings and hearing it isn’t so, we thought we’d share our two cents:

Our stance on in-park engagement and family sessions will remain the same as it’s been the past four years: Root Photography won’t photograph any sessions inside the parks until we hear specifically from Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings that the ban has been lifted. We photograph too many Disney weddings to risk that relationship and any bad Disney karma (which I’m pretty sure comes in the form of poisonous pixie dust or even worse- bad vendor meals!)

Buuuut, there’s one more thing I wanted to confess here today: I’m 99.9% sure Nate and I won’t photograph in-park sessions whether they’re allowed someday or not, and I kinda feel like we should talk about that.

Here’s the thing: I’ve been a Disney nerd since I was born. I mean… I literally took my first steps in Disneyland!

Disneyland and Walt Disney World are my happy places. One of the things I love most about photographing Disney weddings is that even though I miss being a cast member sometimes, I still get to work closely with the company. Working with the familiar faces at Disney’s Fairy Tale Weddings is as close as we come to having a “normal” 9-5 job with coworkers!

That being said, I can’t walk into Disney’s Grand Floridian without thinking of the awesome couples we’ve gotten to photograph there. It’s become a work venue for me because we’ve spent so many hours there, cameras in hand. I can’t walk through the lobby without peeking next to the grand staircase and looking for a DFTW wedding planner, or look at “my fountain” by the pool without noticing the sunlight and which angle I’d be shooting from if we were working. The buildings on the ground are no longer grand vacation rooms, but “getting ready rooms” for our brides. I’m not at all saying it’s a bad thing, just… Different.

I hope you can understand why we won’t be booking sessions inside the Magic Kingdom. The other parks someday, maybe– But not the Magic Kingdom (and rarely at Disneyland for the same reason.) See- When I walk down Main Street, I don’t want a camera in hand. I don’t want to look around the park for the best light, or hunt for hidden corridors to pose couples. I want to sit at a bench on Main Street and think of all the times I’ve sat there with my Mom during the years “people watching.” I wanna ride Thunder Mountain and remember how I’d “accidentally” bump into Nate on every turn when we first started dating. I want to walk through Fantasyland and remember meeting my best friend Casi for the first time, and how AMAZINGLY efficient Nick and I were at Dumbo “short walk” and “long walk.” I want to walk by Philharmagic’s Fastpass Return clock and remind Nate for the 100th time that’s where A WOMAN SPIT ON ME.

If I’m gonna do a “shoot” in the parks, it’ll be of our nephew Hall getting his first haircut on Main Street. Or my brother’s first time taking his kids to Disney World. Or follow the tradition set by my Mom nearly 20 years ago and always be the last guests out of the park on our last night of every Disney vacation. :)

BUT- If you’re getting married in Epcot, we’re allllllll over that! :)