Jess & Dave's Swan & Dolphin 2013 Wedding! Update 29/07/12!

[BecBennett]

Noticed your PJ link in your siggy, so I thought I'd pop in and have a look around

I'm so jealous that you get to do a site visit and everything like that! I would have loved to have had that chance!

BTW wedding dresses in the US are so much cheaper then here, so if you find The Dress, then I suggest you buy it!

I printed my STDs out as photos too, it was so handy to be able to print them for around 10c.

I think there was other stuff that I wanted to comment on, but they've completely skipped my mind!

You're going to have so much fun!

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Hi Jessie sweetie. Glad to hear all your plans are going so well and that you have booked to do a site visit. How exciting!!!

 

[Jilian]

Congrats on booking a trip and booking Randy!

 

[jessiegirl84]

Hi ladies, I'm sorry I haven't been around much.
I have been struggling with our decision to go with Swan & Dolphin so I have been tossing around ideas. But now we have just realised that we won't get our deposits back from Just Marry ($1200) and STVS if we cancel them too ($200).
But at the moment our budget is getting close to $20k is that ridiculous, surely I could get a DFTW cheaper than that? Plus I would get the Magic Kingdom photo shoot!
Can I post my budget here for our S&D wedding and see what you girls think? I have recently added some extra floral, as I am worried, if it rains then we will move inside and it will looks very dodgy with not much floral. Given its September and in the afternoon, its definitely a possibility hay?

Ok so here goes!
All of my prices will include gratuity & tax

Ceremony
Just Marry fee - $3000
including - celebrant, 1 floral arch, arch, aisle petals, aisle runner.
Bus Hire for our guests - $414
Harpist - $350
Hair & Makeup - $195
Flowers - $827 will probably go through just marry - just an guess for this price.
2x bouquets, 7x bouts, 6 flower balls, 2 side floral sprays
Cake & Favours - $264
Its Tasty Too
Minnie & Mickey - $1560

Reception
Il Mulino
Cocktail pre-reception - $1280
$1000 min spend
Dinner - $60pp (based on 30people) $2295
Beverages - $2550
Extra coordinator services from Just Marry - $500


Photography & Videography
Randy Chapman - $525
STVS - $672
In park shoot @ EPCOT - $1052

Welcome firework party at EPCOT - roughly $2000

so if my calculations are correct about $17, 400.
Plus another $3k for wedding dress, stationary and all that other fun stuff its works out close to $20k!
So I guess now I am really questioning, could I get more value for money if I went with DFTW.
Or maybe I should consider swapping to a ceremony in the morning, to reduce the reception costs, won't have to pay for as much booze & food i am guessing? If that was the case, anyone have any recommendations for a lunch reception?
Ohh i don't want to turn into a wedding bridezilla haha! Plus we have our trip coming up in September to do meet and greet with our vendors I want to have this sorted very soon!
Any help you girls could offer would be very much appreciated.

Thank you all so very much for your help

 

[MrsDuck]

I think you could get your floral budget a bit lower. There are all sorts of tips and tricks on how to minimize floral costs. Maybe once you talk to your planner/florist that number will come down?

I think you get more bang for your buck with S/D. I'd recommend looking at some DFTW girls' BEO's and seeing how they compare price wise to what you're looking for!

If you decide to stay with S/D, I'd go for a morning ceremony. Why?
1. It will be cooler temperature wise!
2. Less chance of rain in the morning
3. Cheaper for lunch

Michelle and Russell had a lunch time reception at BlueZoo and it was GORGEOUS! Here is a blog spotlight on their wedding: http://www.disneyweddingblog.com/2011/07/wedding-spotlight-michelle-russell.html

And here is their budget breakdown and their video: http://www.disneyweddingblog.com/2011/07/video-and-budget-spotlight-michelle.html

Maybe those links can help?

I also have to recommend my reception venue: Garden Grove. We are paying $30/pp for a dinner buffet and since our wedding is on a Saturday, Goofy and Pluto come to the restaurant (saves me $$ on characters). The only thing to remember is that you cannot reserve it for a private reception. BUT, we are being accommodated on the "top tier" of the restaurant and we should wind up taking up the whole space almost making it kinda private-ish.

I know I'm biased since I'm an S/D girl but I think it would still be cheaper to stay with S/D based on what I've seen from DFTW girls. Whatever you choose to do, you can't go wrong! Your wedding will be wonderful!

 

[Jilian]

It seems like most things through DFTW cost more, mainly the floral. I agree with Faith that you should check out some DFTW BEOs.

If you are looking to cut costs you could get rid of the pre-dinner drinks in the courtyard at Il Mulino. Your guests can just have drinks in the private room and that gets rid of the $1,000 minimum for the courtyard. Everything you spend in the room counts towards the room minimum. How are you calculating the price for drinks? It sounds really, really high to me. They suggested that we did not do open bar and instead bill on consumption because wine was not included in the open bar price and most people had wine with dinner. We had 42 people and they drank a LOT. We just barely went over the $3,000 minimum. I think our final total was just over $4,000 with taxes and gratuities. We did the $55 menu.

I had looked into to possibly doing a lunch to save money and to be honest I couldn't really see a huge savings difference. So we just stuck with dinner.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[MrsDuck]

If you are looking to cut costs you could get rid of the pre-dinner drinks in the courtyard at Il Mulino. Your guests can just have drinks in the private room and that gets rid of the $1,000 minimum for the courtyard. Everything you spend in the room counts towards the room minimum. How are you calculating the price for drinks? It sounds really, really high to me. They suggested that we did not do open bar and instead bill on consumption because wine was not included in the open bar price and most people had wine with dinner. We had 42 people and they drank a LOT. We just barely went over the $3,000 minimum. I think our final total was just over $4,000 with taxes and gratuities. We did the $55 menu.

THIS is a great point. Skip the pre-dinner drinks and do the BOC.

 

[Freckledginger]

Yay!! I found your PJ!

That's super exciting about your planning session trip and engagement photos! The POP will be such a neat place for photos

Have you decided yet to stick with the S/D or go with DFTW? If it makes you feel better, I initially budgeted around $12 K as I was doing a DCL wedding, but since adding the DP at WDW, it has swelled quite a bit to around $18K I'm sure if I was more conservative with options (menu choices, decorations, etc.) I could reduce costs, but there are just so many neat/pretty things available So it's also easy to spend heaps on a wedding with DFTW, especially if floral is involved.

Best of luck with your decision, and look forward to reading more of your plans!!

 

[tric8783]

Hi ladies, I'm sorry I haven't been around much.
I have been struggling with our decision to go with Swan & Dolphin so I have been tossing around ideas. But now we have just realised that we won't get our deposits back from Just Marry ($1200) and STVS if we cancel them too ($200).
But at the moment our budget is getting close to $20k is that ridiculous, surely I could get a DFTW cheaper than that? Plus I would get the Magic Kingdom photo shoot!
Can I post my budget here for our S&D wedding and see what you girls think? I have recently added some extra floral, as I am worried, if it rains then we will move inside and it will looks very dodgy with not much floral. Given its September and in the afternoon, its definitely a possibility hay?

Ok so here goes!
All of my prices will include gratuity & tax

Ceremony
Just Marry fee - $3000
including - celebrant, 1 floral arch, arch, aisle petals, aisle runner.
Bus Hire for our guests - $414
Harpist - $350
Hair & Makeup - $195
Flowers - $827 will probably go through just marry - just an guess for this price.
2x bouquets, 7x bouts, 6 flower balls, 2 side floral sprays
Cake & Favours - $264
Its Tasty Too
Minnie & Mickey - $1560

Reception
Il Mulino
Cocktail pre-reception - $1280
$1000 min spend
Dinner - $60pp (based on 30people) $2295
Beverages - $2550
Extra coordinator services from Just Marry - $500


Photography & Videography
Randy Chapman - $525
STVS - $672
In park shoot @ EPCOT - $1052

Welcome firework party at EPCOT - roughly $2000

so if my calculations are correct about $17, 400.
Plus another $3k for wedding dress, stationary and all that other fun stuff its works out close to $20k!
So I guess now I am really questioning, could I get more value for money if I went with DFTW.
Or maybe I should consider swapping to a ceremony in the morning, to reduce the reception costs, won't have to pay for as much booze & food i am guessing? If that was the case, anyone have any recommendations for a lunch reception?
Ohh i don't want to turn into a wedding bridezilla haha! Plus we have our trip coming up in September to do meet and greet with our vendors I want to have this sorted very soon!
Any help you girls could offer would be very much appreciated.

Thank you all so very much for your help

Hi Jess! I just wanted to chime in I used DTW for a Saturday evening plated dinner for 70 people and just hit 20k. I think in the end we got things refunded and were actually under 20k. I think it depends what you are going for honestly. Depending where in Disney youd otherwise want to get married, the fee at the WP is $3k I believe, but everywhere else is less. I didn't have bridal portraits in a park, actually my photographers were separate completely so I don't include them in my costs, I didn't have mickey&minnie, or any DP type event in the park. I don't see any DJ or music besides the harp which I assume is for your ceremony? With Dftw you can keep randy and Stvs as long as your wedding isn't in a park. Considering youd lose your deposit now etc I'd definitely look into everything as much as you can. I think if you switched to a morning ceremony and brunch reception, it would likely be less and less alcohol but that goes with what you want out of your wedding! Good luck deciding and have fun on your trip in September!

 

[jessiegirl84]

I think you could get your floral budget a bit lower. There are all sorts of tips and tricks on how to minimize floral costs. Maybe once you talk to your planner/florist that number will come down?

I think you get more bang for your buck with S/D. I'd recommend looking at some DFTW girls' BEO's and seeing how they compare price wise to what you're looking for!

If you decide to stay with S/D, I'd go for a morning ceremony. Why?
1. It will be cooler temperature wise!
2. Less chance of rain in the morning
3. Cheaper for lunch

Michelle and Russell had a lunch time reception at BlueZoo and it was GORGEOUS! Here is a blog spotlight on their wedding: http://www.disneyweddingblog.com/2011/07/wedding-spotlight-michelle-russell.html

And here is their budget breakdown and their video: http://www.disneyweddingblog.com/2011/07/video-and-budget-spotlight-michelle.html

Maybe those links can help?

I also have to recommend my reception venue: Garden Grove. We are paying $30/pp for a dinner buffet and since our wedding is on a Saturday, Goofy and Pluto come to the restaurant (saves me $$ on characters). The only thing to remember is that you cannot reserve it for a private reception. BUT, we are being accommodated on the "top tier" of the restaurant and we should wind up taking up the whole space almost making it kinda private-ish.

I know I'm biased since I'm an S/D girl but I think it would still be cheaper to stay with S/D based on what I've seen from DFTW girls. Whatever you choose to do, you can't go wrong! Your wedding will be wonderful!

Thankyou so much for your response, I really do apologise for not coming back sooner!

When we come over in September, I will be bringing over a lot of pictures of flowers that we want, so hopefully our planner will be able to give us rough prices of our flowers.

After I posted my dilemma with you all, I ended up going to check out plenty of girls BEO and just realised that I had invested so much already in S&D Wedding and I started reading mixed reviews of the whole DFTW process and I just thought we should just stick to what we had originally planned. So I am very excited to be there in September and I am sure I will feel so much better about our choices once we can see it person.
Plus I am going to think about possibly changing to a morning ceremony, as I really think its going to be so hot in the afternoon! But again, looking forward to getting over there in September to review everything and see how really hot it is going to be!!

It seems like most things through DFTW cost more, mainly the floral. I agree with Faith that you should check out some DFTW BEOs.

If you are looking to cut costs you could get rid of the pre-dinner drinks in the courtyard at Il Mulino. Your guests can just have drinks in the private room and that gets rid of the $1,000 minimum for the courtyard. Everything you spend in the room counts towards the room minimum. How are you calculating the price for drinks? It sounds really, really high to me. They suggested that we did not do open bar and instead bill on consumption because wine was not included in the open bar price and most people had wine with dinner. We had 42 people and they drank a LOT. We just barely went over the $3,000 minimum. I think our final total was just over $4,000 with taxes and gratuities. We did the $55 menu.

I had looked into to possibly doing a lunch to save money and to be honest I couldn't really see a huge savings difference. So we just stuck with dinner.

Good luck with your decision!

Thanks for your thoughts! thats so great that you only just went over the minimum, i went back and reviewed all the drinks and how i worked it out, and I think I may have added on gratuity on everything ? plus just working on so many beers per person plus so many bottles of wine for everyone. Can I ask you one question also how long did the dinner go for? Was it a couple of hours?

THIS is a great point. Skip the pre-dinner drinks and do the BOC.

Yep we are thinking about doing this now.. Have to talk to Erika from Il Mulino in September about this option

Yay!! I found your PJ!

That's super exciting about your planning session trip and engagement photos! The POP will be such a neat place for photos

Have you decided yet to stick with the S/D or go with DFTW? If it makes you feel better, I initially budgeted around $12 K as I was doing a DCL wedding, but since adding the DP at WDW, it has swelled quite a bit to around $18K I'm sure if I was more conservative with options (menu choices, decorations, etc.) I could reduce costs, but there are just so many neat/pretty things available So it's also easy to spend heaps on a wedding with DFTW, especially if floral is involved.

Best of luck with your decision, and look forward to reading more of your plans!!

Thankyou for coming over! So its been awhile since I have been here
We have decided to stay with Swan & Dolphin wedding, and I am hopeing that our site visit in September will be great and everything will just start to fit into place. We are so excited about September I wish it would just get here already hehe!

Hi Jess! I just wanted to chime in I used DTW for a Saturday evening plated dinner for 70 people and just hit 20k. I think in the end we got things refunded and were actually under 20k. I think it depends what you are going for honestly. Depending where in Disney youd otherwise want to get married, the fee at the WP is $3k I believe, but everywhere else is less. I didn't have bridal portraits in a park, actually my photographers were separate completely so I don't include them in my costs, I didn't have mickey&minnie, or any DP type event in the park. I don't see any DJ or music besides the harp which I assume is for your ceremony? With Dftw you can keep randy and Stvs as long as your wedding isn't in a park. Considering youd lose your deposit now etc I'd definitely look into everything as much as you can. I think if you switched to a morning ceremony and brunch reception, it would likely be less and less alcohol but that goes with what you want out of your wedding! Good luck deciding and have fun on your trip in September!

Thankyou for your thoughts!
We have decided to stay with Swan & Dolphin, and I do hope that once we are there in September everything will just feel right.
That is something to keep in mind though, that even though DFTW you can keep costs low and that i could possibly transfer my deposits for Randy & Stan over to a DFTW.

 

[jessiegirl84]

Gosh, I have been bad at keeping this up to date I am sorry!

Nothing really new to report on. Only 40 days until we leave for our little trip in September!

I did buy a wedding dress though! It was a very cheap one online a few friends have bought there dresses online and have been impressed with the quality and some have bought some and its a been horrible. So I thought for $117 I may as well give it a go? Worth the risk, I am sure that I have spent money on stuff for $100 that I have never worn, and if its really bad, I can use it for a halloween or costume party even? Anyways, here is the link if your interested. And I still have more than enough months to find a new one at a store here!

CLICK HERE!

So that should be arriving in a few weeks and I will be sure to report back how it is.

We also received all our PRE-rsvp's back and we have about 25 saying YES and another 15 or so are maybes so we are overwhelmed by the love from our family and friends, I never thought we would get that many people wanting to come along, so its been great. Obviously its still early days, but the indication is great We also sent out another newsletter, which I don't have a copy of, but the response we have got from everyone is great, they are loving all the information!!

So nothing much else happening, really trying to get our plan sorted for our September trip this is what we have so far.

Day 1 - Arrival at 6PM
Day 2 - 'Ohana for Breakfast, spending the day at MK and dinner at Whispering Canyon
Day 3 - Kona Cafe for Breakfast, spending the day at AK and lunch at Tusker House
Day 4 - Breakfast at Chef Mickeys, Meeting Rev. Kevin Knox at 11AM, (oh yeah we booked Kevin Knox as our celebrant, I have read such great reviews about him so we are so excited with him!) Meeting Jennifer from Just Marry at 3.30PM at the Crescent Terrace, then Meeting Erika from Il Mulino at 5pm, then we are having dinner tasting at Il Mulino, then heading over to DHS for Fantasmic
Day 5 - Picking up hire car and heading to DTD to pick up some Disney things maybe for our welcome bags, then MK for Mickey's Halloween Party!
Day 6 - Leaving the World Early, tracking down an Ihop for Breakfast, then doing some outlet shopping, then meeting with It's Tasty Too for Cake Tasting, then dinner at Kouzzina by Cat Cora then a walk around the Boardwalk
Day 7 - Its FH's birthday, so we are spending the day at EPCOT with lunch at Restaurant Marrekesh then dinner at Rose and Crown Pub
Day 8 - Chill out the hotel in the morning, then Beaute Speciale is coming at 12pm for a Hair & Makeup trial then Randy Chapman is coming at 3pm to do some Engagement Photos with us around Pop Century. then dinner at Via Napoli.
Day 9 - Spending the day DHS and lunch at Sci-Fi Dine in Theatre.
Day 10 - Its open at the moment, nothing booked.
Day 11 - we leave, but we have a 14hour stopover in LAX before flying back to AUS so we hiring a car and spending the day at California Adventure Park to visit Cars Land we are so excited to check it out! Recently one of our mornings shows was there for a week and it just looks amazing!!

So thats all that I have for you. I hope to be back when I get my dress and also maybe a pic of my next newsletter.
Hope that you are well and enjoying watching the Olympics! Go Aussies!!

Thanks
Jess