New here** Starting the planning process for a 2016 DFTW

[Rundisneybride]

Hi everyone!
This is my first time posting on a forem so I hope I'm doing this right. Me and my fiancé are in the beginning of planning our wishes DFTW. We already did a site visit and fell in love with some locations and now we are waiting until 12 months from the date we want to see if we could get the locations or even date we desire. I'm getting a little nervous we won't get our date. And getting a little antsy about waiting to plan anything until 12 months out (I.e. Letting our families know about traveling and hotels) any suggestions on what I should be doing in this between time or what to expect once 12 months rolls around?

 

[huskies90]

Hi! And welcome to Disboards. As for getting your desired locations, assuming you have them penciled in, nobody can get in before you. If there are multiple couples looking for the same time and location, there is a lottery for the time at the 12 month mark. One suggestion would be to have a few backup dates, times and/or locations just in case. From what I have seen from research, the only location that historically has contention for dates and times is the Wedding Pavilion but of course any location carries the possibility. Depending on your desired location, there is also a possibility of other events going on across the resort that could pre-empt you. We almost could not get Sea Breeze Point because of a conference going on that week at the Boardwalk and Beach Club - all the ballrooms were booked and they couldn't free up a back up location. But they ended up freeing up Ariels for a back up so we were able to get SBP.

For letting guests know, go ahead and start letting people know now you are planning a disney wedding and the month. Once you get your date and location you can send out your save the dates. Most people won't do much until closer to the wedding anyway. We are 4 months away and only a handful of our guests have booked. We did a save the date and a pre-rsvp through our website and even a newsletter. We used the time before 12 months to get ready - creating the save the date design and building our website etc.

 

[lurkyloo]

This is a good time to start working on the elements that you can control, like favors, welcome bags, invitations and save-the-dates, and other DIY projects. Start thinking about what kind of gowns you'd like to try on and what kind of formalwear the wedding party will be wearing. It's also a good time to gather inspiration for your colors and/or theme. At 12 months out, you'll be able to book or go into the lottery. Once your locations are secured, you can sign your contract and schedule your planning session.

 

[Rundisneybride]

Hi! And welcome to Disboards. As for getting your desired locations, assuming you have them penciled in, nobody can get in before you. If there are multiple couples looking for the same time and location, there is a lottery for the time at the 12 month mark. One suggestion would be to have a few backup dates, times and/or locations just in case. From what I have seen from research, the only location that historically has contention for dates and times is the Wedding Pavilion but of course any location carries the possibility. Depending on your desired location, there is also a possibility of other events going on across the resort that could pre-empt you. We almost could not get Sea Breeze Point because of a conference going on that week at the Boardwalk and Beach Club - all the ballrooms were booked and they couldn't free up a back up location. But they ended up freeing up Ariels for a back up so we were able to get SBP.

For letting guests know, go ahead and start letting people know now you are planning a disney wedding and the month. Once you get your date and location you can send out your save the dates. Most people won't do much until closer to the wedding anyway. We are 4 months away and only a handful of our guests have booked. We did a save the date and a pre-rsvp through our website and even a newsletter. We used the time before 12 months to get ready - creating the save the date design and building our website etc.[/QUOTE

Thank you for replying! I have emailed our sales consultant 4 locations and times we would be ok with and she told me the date I should expect to hear from her to see if we got the date and location. We started letting our families and close friends know to give them time to start planning or thinking about planning. I'm just nervous because it's not official yet lol

 

[Rundisneybride]

This is a good time to start working on the elements that you can control, like favors, welcome bags, invitations and save-the-dates, and other DIY projects. Start thinking about what kind of gowns you'd like to try on and what kind of formalwear the wedding party will be wearing. It's also a good time to gather inspiration for your colors and/or theme. At 12 months out, you'll be able to book or go into the lottery. Once your locations are secured, you can sign your contract and schedule your planning session.

Thank you for replying!!
I have already purchased my gown it was a spur of the moment appointment and I ended up falling in love! I'm working on the bridesmaids dresses now I have ordered a couple from jcrew and had my girls try them on. We are thinking about scheduling an engagement shoot with disney to have pictures ready for save the dates the moment we officially have the date. And to get to know our photography team before hand too.

 

[sambycat]

welcome!

you need to stop what you are doing and order this book in both the ebook and paperback editions. the ebook will update and can be accessed from devices and the paperback is just nice to have to dog ear and peruse. it will help you tremendously!

 

[Rundisneybride]

welcome!

you need to stop what you are doing and order this book in both the ebook and paperback editions. the ebook will update and can be accessed from devices and the paperback is just nice to have to dog ear and peruse. it will help you tremendously!

Thank you! I downloaded it! And I listen to the podcasts!

 

[deakam]

My daughter is planning her Wishes for October 12 2016. We both have the Disney Wedding Bible. She has the ebook and the hard copy. I just have the ebook. We have gotten pretty far with the planning without actually getting an AOK from Disney yet. We have researched venues and menus. We have started with budgets and she has her dress, veil and headpiece. Her girls have a pretty good idea about their dresses. Nothing on the guys side yet. We have started thinking about alter decorations and center pieces. What is your theme? I have been combing the pages here looking at BEO's. My daughter is trying not to have panic attacks about the budget. It really has been fun so far. I want to thank everyone for posting the stories of their Disney Weddings. I suggest that you just delve in and read. We have "stolen" several ideas and adjusted them to fit the vision they have for their big day.

 

[elphie101]

First of all, @deakam we were married on 10/12/14, so I can tell you it offers great Disney wedding karma!!

Everyone else has already offered great suggestions. When are you hoping to get married date-wise? You can always give some people a vague timeline of at least a month to help getting the savings going, or at the very least any friends/family you would be heartbroken not to have come.

 

[Rundisneybride]

First of all, @deakam we were married on 10/12/14, so I can tell you it offers great Disney wedding karma!!

Everyone else has already offered great suggestions. When are you hoping to get married date-wise? You can always give some people a vague timeline of at least a month to help getting the savings going, or at the very least any friends/family you would be heartbroken not to have come.

We were hoping late May next year around Memorial Day both of our families have to travel and will most likely be making vacations out of our wedding weekend so we are hoping to give them a long weekend to work with. We have told most of the people we are definitely inviting so they keep that part of the month open and so many of my friends as well are getting engaged and planning weddings for next year Im trying to give them a bit of a heads up

 

[Rundisneybride]

My daughter is planning her Wishes for October 12 2016. We both have the Disney Wedding Bible. She has the ebook and the hard copy. I just have the ebook. We have gotten pretty far with the planning without actually getting an AOK from Disney yet. We have researched venues and menus. We have started with budgets and she has her dress, veil and headpiece. Her girls have a pretty good idea about their dresses. Nothing on the guys side yet. We have started thinking about alter decorations and center pieces. What is your theme? I have been combing the pages here looking at BEO's. My daughter is trying not to have panic attacks about the budget. It really has been fun so far. I want to thank everyone for posting the stories of their Disney Weddings. I suggest that you just delve in and read. We have "stolen" several ideas and adjusted them to fit the vision they have for their big day.

That is so exciting!! We have been reading the e book and I printed out the wishes section to put in my wedding binder and I have been researching and reading blogs and pintresting of course but I guess since I don't have my date in stone and a contract signed yet I feel a little in limbo. Good idea looking up BEOs I never knew they were on here too that would take away some of the sticker shock I hope! Our theme is romantic with a hint of vintage were obsessed with the boardwalk and the dance hall so I'm hoping that will work well. What is your daughters theme

 

[deakam]

That is so exciting!! We have been reading the e book and I printed out the wishes section to put in my wedding binder and I have been researching and reading blogs and pintresting of course but I guess since I don't have my date in stone and a contract signed yet I feel a little in limbo. Good idea looking up BEOs I never knew they were on here too that would take away some of the sticker shock I hope! Our theme is romantic with a hint of vintage were obsessed with the boardwalk and the dance hall so I'm hoping that will work well. What is your daughters theme

My Daughter is having a Elegant Subtle Geek theme. She just showed me a Mickey and Minnie Tardis cake topper. Her colors are dark grey and Ivory but the girls flowers and shoes will be the colors of the Hogwarts Houses. Her tables will have the names of the families from Game of Thrones. Because she is a writer and lover of books her flowers will be made from the pages of books and then the edges will be dipped into the color ink she wants for each girl. I was just looking at another thread and the bride had a brooch bouquet that was beautiful so I googled that and wow!!!! Some of them are just breath taking. We are trying different ways to work the 4 feathers from the Chicago Blackhawks logo into the centerpieces. And if everything works out the handle for the bouquets will be the handle of a light saber. Still working on fitting in the Lord of the Rings and Percy Jackson----thinking the music will come from Lord of the Rings. The best part of all of this is that my soon to be son in law is onboard with all of it. It really is fun. They have even figured out how to get Anime in there without it being too in your face. The BEO's have been a big help. We can now see how much we can spend on the little things. We set an overall budget and we will not go over it.