Escape or Wishes. Not a clue what to do!

[Holstar]

Heya guys!

My SO and I have been loosely planning our DFTW wedding for a while now. We're still a long way away from even being able to talk to Disney (we're looking at March '18), but we've just set up our wedding savings account and what with needing to fly 18-30 people from England, we're wanting a rough idea of what we're looking at price wise so we can give them around 2 years to save. Which... brings me onto the packages and my complete and utter confusion!

Okay. So... the dilemma.

Our ideal guest list is 25. That's 25 people we know would be able to afford to come and would very very likely accept if we were to invite them, which puts us in Wishes territory. However, our MUST have guest list is 20 (including us).

I guess my question is... which would be better? We can afford a Wishes wedding, but I know that it can be considerably more expensive, for what is essentially six extra people. We wouldn't be totally unhappy with 18 guests, all the people we love dearly would be included in that, which would make Escape a possibility. At the same time, I'm not sure if the level of customisation I'd likely want, will be possible with Escape.

Things we know we want...

* The wedding would be mid week
* Ceremony location: Sea Breeze point
* Reception: Either The Attic or Whitehall Room at the GF. I would like a plated sit down meal, rather than just champagne and cake - but I'm not 100% sure if this can be added on to an Escape package?
* Fireworks desert Sago Cay Pointe/Marina Patio (can't remember which had the smaller guest minimums!), or Epcot, likely UK. Or, if by some weird chance we end up way under the 20 guest count, the Grand I yacht.
* Lots of flowers. I really really like flowers, so I'd like the ability to be able to add enhancements.
* No DJ - most likely a the Classical String Trio though.
* Lots of yummy cake. Can you make special requests? I saw Carrie's amaaaazing cake, and I have an idea of what I would like, but I'm unsure of the level of personalisation you get withe Escape as compared to Wishes.

Oh my gosh this is an essay. I'm so sorry and thank you if you got this far!

I'll just mention - I've been trying to order Carrie's book all weekend! It crashes, regardless of whether I try and pay via PayPal or by card. So, I've emailed passporter requesting a PayPal invoice. I know it'll be amazing when I can finally download it and it'll answer all three million of my questions

But in the mean time, you ladies are pretty amazing and pretty much the only reason I'm even considering this as an option!

What would you do?

Hollie xx

 

[VikkiLilyBee]

I was in a very similar position to yourself this time last year. UK bride, wanting a Disney wedding, with a guest count between 20 and 30. Plated dinner, dessert party... yup, all sounding very familiar!! Lol

We've ended up going for wishes. Our thinking is that this is a once in a lifetime event. I never plan on getting married again, and if the budget will just about stretch to the wishes option, then why not go for it? Yes, the escape looks a LOT cheaper, but once you add on your customisations (which won't be anywhere near as much as you actually want - it's a package deal after all), and a catered event for the reception, I don't see much difference. The dessert party will add the same amount to either the wishes or the escape package, so that shouldn't be a consideration. Of course, it might vary for you depending on exactly how much you want to customise your flowers and cake, but that was the decision we made!

Bear in mind, for destination weddings, you are not expected to pay for your guests flights or hotels. It's nice if you can, but it's never expected.

Carrie's book will be the most amazing thing you have ever bought. It will not only help you price things up a bit better, if you buy the PDF it will update through the years leading up to your planned date in 2018!

I hope this helps, even if just a little bit!

 

[Amanda132]

It sounds like you are wanting to add a lot of things that are not automatically included with the Escape package, and that will likely bring you up pretty close to Wishes pricing. And I'm not exactly sure how customizable the Escape packages are, since I'm having a Wishes wedding. Mainly, I just wanted to add that if you have an evening wedding and use the Whitehall room, you can actually see Wishes from the Whitehall patio. The view is a bit obstructed, but it would save you money on having an additional event. And then, with the money you're saving, you can upgrade to the fully customizable Wishes package.

Just an idea!

 

[Holstar]

I was in a very similar position to yourself this time last year. UK bride, wanting a Disney wedding, with a guest count between 20 and 30. Plated dinner, dessert party... yup, all sounding very familiar!! Lol

We've ended up going for wishes. Our thinking is that this is a once in a lifetime event. I never plan on getting married again, and if the budget will just about stretch to the wishes option, then why not go for it? Yes, the escape looks a LOT cheaper, but once you add on your customisations (which won't be anywhere near as much as you actually want - it's a package deal after all), and a catered event for the reception, I don't see much difference. The dessert party will add the same amount to either the wishes or the escape package, so that shouldn't be a consideration. Of course, it might vary for you depending on exactly how much you want to customise your flowers and cake, but that was the decision we made!

Bear in mind, for destination weddings, you are not expected to pay for your guests flights or hotels. It's nice if you can, but it's never expected.

Carrie's book will be the most amazing thing you have ever bought. It will not only help you price things up a bit better, if you buy the PDF it will update through the years leading up to your planned date in 2018!

I hope this helps, even if just a little bit!

It definitely helps! Despite being so far away, I feel so incredibly confused. From what I've seen of these boards though, that seems totally normal

Out of interest, how did your family/friends take it? The news that the wedding would be in WDW I mean! I know our families will support us and want to travel to be there, but I'm not really sure what their reaction will be! How far in advance did you let them know? We're hoping to have the rough details ironed out by the new year, and let people know shortly after. It's quite nerve-racking!

xx

 

[Holstar]

It sounds like you are wanting to add a lot of things that are not automatically included with the Escape package, and that will likely bring you up pretty close to Wishes pricing. And I'm not exactly sure how customizable the Escape packages are, since I'm having a Wishes wedding. Mainly, I just wanted to add that if you have an evening wedding and use the Whitehall room, you can actually see Wishes from the Whitehall patio. The view is a bit obstructed, but it would save you money on having an additional event. And then, with the money you're saving, you can upgrade to the fully customizable Wishes package.

Just an idea!

I hadn't thought of that! I'd read that you could have a Wishes view from the whitehall room, but I didn't think it would be that great. My SO loves the attic, but my worry would be that the wedding would feel really disjointed... SBP to Attic to dessert party. Does anyone have any pictures of Wishes from Whitehall?

Thank you for the idea!xx

 

[Amanda132]

I hadn't thought of that! I'd read that you could have a Wishes view from the whitehall room, but I didn't think it would be that great. My SO loves the attic, but my worry would be that the wedding would feel really disjointed... SBP to Attic to dessert party. Does anyone have any pictures of Wishes from Whitehall?

Thank you for the idea!xx

This thread from a while back has a few photos of the fireworks.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/whitehall-room-patio-fireworks.2526576/

I don't think that the wedding would feel disjointed going from SBP to the Attic though, since you would be able to walk from one to the other.

The Whitehall room and the Attic are both really pretty locations!

 

[Holstar]

This thread from a while back has a few photos of the fireworks.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/whitehall-room-patio-fireworks.2526576/

I don't think that the wedding would feel disjointed going from SBP to the Attic though, since you would be able to walk from one to the other.

The Whitehall room and the Attic are both really pretty locations!

Thank you so much! This helps immensely

I think so too... I love that both have some form of outdoor space. If we were be getting married in the UK, it'd likely be in a country home and would be very outdoorsy, so I love both for that reason.

Thank you

xx

 

[AOrlando]

I wonder if it is possible to downgrade to Escape if not all your guests say they can come.

 

[Disney_Alli]

To confuse you further: they really let you customize quite a lot of the Escape package - or at least they did for me! I have a custom cake design (conveniently close to Elegant Scrolls but still different) with custom favors (two different ones) they offer decor packages at all the ceremony location and I'm sure you can customize those too. For a plated meal you're paying the same food and beverage minimums you would for a Wishes wedding but don't have the enhancement minimums to meet so you can add as much or as little as you'd like - you can only do two hours and no DJ or dancing but you get your first dance at the cake cutting with the Escape package(which is more than enough dancing for me) - at least those were the rules last time I looked. You can still add characters or vintage cars or carriages if you want. Or just go for savory options at a fireworks party and call it dinner and dessert!

 

[Holstar]

To confuse you further: they really let you customize quite a lot of the Escape package - or at least they did for me! I have a custom cake design (conveniently close to Elegant Scrolls but still different) with custom favors (two different ones) they offer decor packages at all the ceremony location and I'm sure you can customize those too. For a plated meal you're paying the same food and beverage minimums you would for a Wishes wedding but don't have the enhancement minimums to meet so you can add as much or as little as you'd like - you can only do two hours and no DJ or dancing but you get your first dance at the cake cutting with the Escape package(which is more than enough dancing for me) - at least those were the rules last time I looked. You can still add characters or vintage cars or carriages if you want. Or just go for savory options at a fireworks party and call it dinner and dessert!

Hmmmm... that is interesting! I'd read that they're becoming stricter with customising Escape packages, which is what had me concerned. My SO and I were chatting over breakfast this morning, and neither of us really mind sticking to the 18 guest count. Money saved (if any, once we've customised bits and added floral and dinner), would go into the disneymoon fund.

Without being able to speak to Disney to get a more concrete idea of what the price would look like, it's hard to work out which is best. I keep going over in my head whether Escape + tons of enhancements (if even possible) + sit down dinner for 18, would likely only be marginally less expensive than Wishes + enhancement minimums + normal plated reception for 26. Plus, I suppose a huge benefit of Wishes is that you can book earlier - which would give us extra peace of mind what with people travelling and needing to book flights at around the 11 month out mark.

We have six months to figure it out, so no rush, but I'd hate to tell 25/26 people they're all invited, and then have to cut potentially 8 people if we decide to go for Escape, and as I know it'll cost our guests so much to fly, we need to make some sort of decision ASAP!

xx

 

[Holstar]

Success! Just managed to buy the book

I think the issue is that it won't allow me to pay using PayPal, and once that option has been tried, it rejects all other payment attempts using other methods. Oh well!

Eeeeek... it's downloading now! Thank you ladies, you're all fab!

xx

 

[Disney_Alli]

Hollie if you want you can check out my PJ for what I've done. I didn't add virtually any decor though. But if you go to the DFTW page and customize an Escape package you can see the 3 decor packages they have for each location. I was offered anything I wanted for ceremony decor (I declined the paper lantern for $1800)

 

[Sarah28]

Hi Holly, we were in the same boat as you guys too - from the UK, not sure how many people would come and whether we could do Escape or Wishes - we found it very confusing too!

We have also gone for Wishes in the end as people are so excited to be coming to a Disney Wedding (we are now at 26 guests), and also like others have said, by the time you add on all the extras in the Escape package of a sit down meal and upgrading things, the price starts to resemble something more of a Wishes package.

From what I've heard also (not sure how true it is) its easier to upgrade to Wishes from Escape, so you could start there if you wanted to, rather than work backwards?

We have also gone for Whitehall Room so good choice there! Cant wait to hear more of your plans

 

[mgentry210]

We had an Escape wedding in Sept 2013. We had exactly 18 guests taking us to the max. We got married in the wedding pavilion and had our cake and dessert reception in the Whitehall room. I had specifically requested because of the outdoor space. It wound up being a moot point because it was pouring - like tropical storm pouring the whole day. After the cake we all went up to the lounge and listened to the band and had a few more drinks. We had an evening dinner next door at Citricos. They were fantastic and easily accommodated a big table. The boxed up our leftover cake and brought it up as well. After dinner we went down and watched a very rainy Wishes, but it was still great. I also had no problem customizing. I ordered extra flowers that they transported from the pavillion to the reception and then even up to Citricos (which they did not have to do!). We had 2 flavors of cake as well. They were all great and very easy to work with. I booked the dining directly with Ctiricos and drove the poor manager crazy with questions. I preordered all the appetizers, salads and meals in advance so it felt like a reception. No decisions for anyone to make. Good luck!

 

[Chilly]

You can add a 2 hour reception to an Escape package but it is a meal only so no dancing etc therefore no trio. You are also limited to what locations you can have and I think Whitehall might be Wishes only.

If you downgrade from Wishes to Escape you would forfeit your deposit.

You can no longer customize the Escape Cakes although you can have any flavor.