This Chester County Couple Planned the Most Magical Disney World Wedding

Photos by Brittany Miller / Bella Allure Imagery

Following a December engagement, the Coatesville sweethearts embarked on their happily ever after in Florida.

Katie Cooney was 8 when she took her first trip to Walt Disney World with her parents and sister. As they checked into the Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, Katie saw a beautiful bride walk out of the resort and into Cinderella’s carriage. “Ever since that day, I wanted to be married there and live out my happily ever after with my true love,” Katie says.

Her Prince Charming came along years later. Katie didn’t meet Aron Motta until their senior year at Downingtown’s Bishop Shanahan High School. “I remember when we first started dating, I said to him, ‘If we get married, it needs to be in Disney World,’” Katie says.

Following a Christmas Day engagement in 2021 at their Coatesville home, the pair reached out to Disney’s Fairytale Weddings & Honeymoons to begin the planning process. “We had a fairy-tale-themed wedding,” Katie says. “This included Cinderella’s carriage, of course.”

The ceremony took place on June 24 of last year at Disney’s Wedding Pavilion, then it was on to EPCOT’s Italy Isola pavilion for cocktail hour, which provided the perfect vantage point for the nightly fireworks show. “Guests in EPCOT were cheering for us as we were walking through the park, and it was one of the coolest experiences of our lives,” Katie says.

Held at EPCOT’s American Adventure Rotunda, the reception lasted until 3 a.m. “Seeing the empty park with all of our guests was something we’ll never forget,” says Katie. “Certainly a wish come true!”