Financing your wedding

[Gina Loves Disney]

I know some poeple won't be comfortable discussing this and that's okay with me, but it'd be helpful to see where everyone is coming from on this issue. How are you paying for your wedding? Or, how did you pay for your wedding? How much was it?

Here's some background on my situation. DF and I will be paying for our own wedding. His parents are not in the financial situation to contribute and my parents have done more than enough for me by financing my education (provate high school, college and now law school) so I understand totally that they should not have to pay for my wedding... so here we are, needing to pay on our own.

We are looking into the Escape/Intimate package because we are from Connecticut and do no thave that many people who will be able to travel to FL for our wedding, to anyone who has had an intimate wedding how much was it, total? How did you pay for it.

DF works and has a great job but we (well he) owns our home and has a mortage and other costs, meanwhile I am just a student with ZERO income... so I am trying to decide how to pay for all this... I need good estimates!!

 

[Tiggerific04]

DF and I are also paying for our wedding ourselves. Part of the reason we decided on a Disney wedding is because it's actually costing us less than it would to have one here in Jersey.

Anyway, I think the cost depends so much on what you want. We're having our ceremony at the Wedding Pavilion, we're doing the MK photo shoot, we hired an outside photographer, we're paying for our guests' rooms (2 nights at Pop, 15 guests total), and we're taking everyone out for 2 dinners. We're also paying for our flower girl's dress and our ring bearer's outfit, plus hair and makeup for our moms. My MOH is a quadriplegic, so we're paying for her transportation to/from the airport, and we've hired a nurse for her while she's there.

All of that (plus the usual wedding stuff), plus 2 weeks at Disney... we budgeted $14,000, but so far we're coming out way under our budget. We opened a joint account in July and we're each contributing a set amount each month that is just for wedding and moving-out stuff.

Hope that helps a little. If you want more details, feel free to PM me

 

[Gina Loves Disney]

Thanks so much, that helps A LOT! It seems many of the elements you're incorporating are exactly what I am looking for in my WDW wedding, and your budget is about where I want to be as well. What a relief.

Funny you mentioned it would be cheaper for you to get married in Disney than at home in NJ, it's the same for me as well in CT. This general area NY/NJ/CT is INSANE for weddings... some of the places around here want $175 per person with a 175 person min., and that's just for FOOD!

Thanks so much for the response, it really is super helpful, and I might be PMing you soon too! Thanks

 

[beckyb29]

Congrats on planning your wedding!! Disney or no Disney, it will be a fairy-tale day!

We payed for our wedding ourselves, other than a few things.
We had the intimate at the Wedding Pavillion, which included the cake/champagne reception, and we had 8 guests total, plus me and Joe. We hired Randy Chapman for Photography (intimate package about $500, worth every penny!), and Stan from STVS for video (intimate package around $650 or so, well worth it also!). Our total budget included my dress, veil, accessories, etc, Joe's tux rental, the wedding itself, transportation to Fl, park tickets, 5 nights in a Magic Kingdom view room at the Poly (we could have saved about $2000 here, but it was worth it to us), 8 nights at Pop Century, rings, souvenears, marriage license, food for the entire trip, and probably a few other things. We probably spent about $10,000, give or take a few dollars.
Our families payed for their own trips, and also gave us a rehersal dinner and a really nice dinner the night of the wedding.

Bascially we saved. And saved. And saved some more. We had a long engagement (about 2 and a half years) which gave us some extra time. It took some determination, but it was worth every penny. A wedding and a honeymoon for that price is a bargain in most areas...even in boring NC, most weddings cost unbelievable amounts.

Good luck with your planning, and if you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask!

 

[Gina Loves Disney]

Thanks so much! You girls are helping so much, I expected the 10k - 15k range but I didn't expect I would get it ALL! yay!!

 

[alauniira]

Cost is a big factor for me too. That is one of the main reasons I decided not to book through Disney. We are having our wedding at Hyatt Grand Cypress, here is a link to their packages:

http://www.hyatt.com/hyatt/images/hotels/vista/2007 Intimate Weddings.pdf

We are doing the simply intimate without the honeymoon suite (they are taking off $250)

We looked into a few other places too: Leu gardens, Cypress Pointe Estate, and Lake Buena Vista Palace, but I fell in love with the Hyatt. Here is a pic of my ceremony site:

I went to justmarry.com and they sent me a lot of info and I can add on or take away from their packages. I booked Randy Chapman separately because his packages are so reasonable and everyone loves him.

I hope this helps you!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

My DH2B and I are paying for everything as well. I estimate about $15,000 for everything including our Disney honeymoon, rings, attire, welcome bags, etc. BUT I have a feeling it will be more like $18-19k. We're not planning on getting married until 10/08 but I have started to save $100 per week, my tax returns for the next two years, and $1,000 I inherited when my grandmother passed away last summer. I also save all money I get from birthdays and Christmas'. It's a lot of work to save that much money but it will be worth it and every time I think about doing it at home for cheaper (like at a picnic shelter) my heart sinks so it's worth it for me to save the money and wait longer to get married. My DH2B is a HUGE procrastinator so I'm trying to get him to start saving now as well as he'll put it off and put it off and next thing you know it'll be 2008!

A big reason I want to get married in Disney is that if we had a wedding in VA/NC all 150+ family members would come and expect us to have a nice wedding ($$$) where as if we get married in WDW, invite those same 150+ people, only about 50 of them will actually come and I still get to get married in a beautiful place, have the people I'm closest to there, not have anyone left out as far as inviting them, and not break my little piggy bank.

I'm not planning on having any floral besides my bouqet (as the reception locations and Wedding Pavilion are pretty enough on their own I feel) and my wedding dress will not cost more than $150 (as I have found very pretty ones for that much).

I will not put any of our wedding/honeymoon on credit as I have had enough of paying credit card companies. I would rather just wait longer to get married than give them money every month.

Good luck and I hope everything works out for you!!

 

[Gina Loves Disney]

Ohhhh the dress is another thing.... I don't want to overspend because I won't be in it too long, but I have a feeling I might go overboard!

 

[IrishCinderella]

I was not a budget bride, seeing as how I had to contend with Groomzilla ("Budget? What? I must have it all!!!").

But I wish you lots of pixie dust that you can work it all out for yourselves!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I was not a budget bride, seeing as how I had to contend with Groomzilla ("Budget? What? I must have it all!!!").

I have one of those too!! He's more into having the "wedding of our dreams" than I am.

 

[Gina Loves Disney]

So as far as photos are concerned, besides the MK port. session I know I want, should I not go with Disney's packages and instead contact this Randy Chapman? His packages are reasonably priced, and his pictures good?

 

[IrishCinderella]

I have one of those too!! He's more into having the "wedding of our dreams" than I am.

Oh dear. May the force be with you.

You'll need it.

 

[Summer-Caitlin]

My DF and I are also paying for the Wedding ourselves. I too am a Law student so I know exactly where you're coming from. I have the Intimate package, Randy Chapman, for outside photgraphy, STVS for outside videography, BeauteSpeciale for outside make up and hair and the MK Bridal Shoot. We are only having my mom come to the Wedding, she is staying for a week and we are staying for 3. We are paying for our Wedding meals, lunch at The Grand Floridian and Dinner at Victoria and Alberts (Chefs Menu) We have also paid about $400 towards my mom's trip.
We have budgeted $15,500 and unfortunately I have just went over it with the purchase of my dress ($1200), however it is possible to stick to the budget.
I work part time so all my wage goes towards the Wedding. We haven't scrimped much on our vacation because we decided it was our honeymoon and it's been years since we've been away. We are spending a week at CBR a week at AKL, 3 nights on the DCL and 4 nights at The Crowne Plaza Universal. We are on the DDP so that has saved us a lot of money as we got it for free It really all depends where you want to stay? We've never been to Disneyworld before I was always a Disneyland girl, but I always knew I wanted a Disney Wedding. I spent days researching locations, accommodations, restaurants....I'm an obsessive planner, might be the Law student coming out in me
As for your question about photography, Randy is thought very highly of and I'm sure his marketing guru, Maggimus will be on here shortly to tell you just how great he is! His packages are very reasonable and you get full copyright to your photos on disc.
You can PM me if you have any questions, and I'll do my best to help you out These boards and these girls and guys are a godsend and I would have been lost without them.

 

[dmslush]

We are also on a tight budget. The budget is one reason why we decided to go to wdw for the wedding. Like someone else mentioned, if we had it here, everyone we know would expect to be invited and expect a lavish catering. So, just DF, our dd, and I are going to wdw for an intimate wedding at Sunset Pointe. We have booked Randy Chapman, Stvs videos, and are planning a magic kingdom photo shoot. We are saving ever penny that we can get out hands on at the moment.

We have also decided to stay at the All Star Movies Suites. I like that because it will give me a room to get dressed in without him seeing me.

When we get home, my mom is throwing us a small reception. She and I are making a Mad Hatter's cake (I used to decorate wedding cakes in one of my former careers LOL). And we are going to have our pictures and things set up, and just serve finger foods that we can do ourselves.

 

[myprincessgirlisa]

When we got married I worked full time & got a part time job @ TDS. Back in those days I was able to get discounts, but now I think since Childrens Place owns them you dont get the same benefits.
Anyway, I took all the $$ I made from TDS & put it away for the wedding.
Neither of our families paid any $$ towards our DFTW.
Only my mom & her hubby was able to come

Back in 97 Intimate DFTW included more & cost less, so it hard to compare to todays prices, but we did it.

We didnt take out a loan for the wedding, because we bought a house 6mths after we were married & that was exciting.

My recommendation is to set guesstimate the cost & figure how much you would need to save a week to reach your goal & if you get extra$$ to put it aside as well for a JIC situation!!

Good luck

 

[Maggimus]

So as far as photos are concerned, besides the MK port. session I know I want, should I not go with Disney's packages and instead contact this Randy Chapman? His packages are reasonably priced, and his pictures good?

Yes his photos are FANTASTIC!!
I posted some of the photos he took of me and my DH in this thread..
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1350055
If you want to see more check out my TR or the link to my professional photos (in my signature)... seriously-- his work cannot be beat. He is very professional and Im seriously his biggest fan. I could not have imagined choosing anyone else for photography!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

We're paying everything ourselves. I thought destination weddings are supposed to save money, but that's not the case. We're Canadians doing an intimate wedding so we're paying an extra 20-21% due to the dropping exchange rate. We also pay higher income tax, so we have to work longer to earn after-tax spending dollars.

When we started, we were hoping to do the ceremony for $8000 USD, but that's not a reasonable expectation anymore. It's looking like it'll cost $14000 for the wedding package (includes airfare, but excludes accommodations and tickets since those are more Disneymoon than wedding), plus another $6000 USD for a reception for around 100 people when we return home. The reception isn't as serious because we're hoping to offset some costs with some gifts of cash/gift cards.

Most of my original budget items will be exceeded. Just yesterday, I was in shock to find out how much it costs for bridal salon services in Orlando. While it's possible to do things cheap, I think this is how much it'll cost us to do it "right". I also forgot to budget for expenses such as name changing fees, postage (not just for invitations, but also thank you cards and bridal shower) and gifts for wedding party.

My wise friend said it best. You have to decide whether to splurge because it's your one big day or whether to show restraint because it's just one day. At the end of the day, you're married either way!

 

[Gina Loves Disney]

That post reminds me.... where did you ladies get your hair and makeup done!?

 

[orangetiggs]

We are paying for most of the wedding as well apart from my dress and cinderellas carriage which my parents are paying for. We are budgeting around £10000 for everything including a honeymoon and spending money, thats about $20000. We get such a good exchange rate at the moment, I work in the travel industry and at the moment I can get around$1.94 to every £1 which is so good

 

[balatonbabe]

We're from Canada also, and will be doing the custom wedding. Our original budget was about $15,000US, but with the exchange rate & 26.5% Disney charges for gratuity & taxes, as well as non-negotiable elements we want for our wedding, that guestimate was totally underestimated. My parents will be contributing a small amount (better than nothing), but we are mostly on our own to pay. Before setting our date with Disney, DF & I sat down and hammered out details, costs & comparisons of a DFTW vs. at home. Even though this will cost us more, our hearts are leading us to WDW. We can't wait!