Planning Session Questions

[FawnB]

My fiance and I have our planning session approaching on February 20th. Our planner is Michelle and we've been communicating with her assistant, Lacie. We have filled out the paperwork for both our planning session and tasting session.

I just have a few questions on how to best address several issues: transportation and BOC bar for the cocktail hour and reception.


In the planning kit sent to us by Lacie, the transportation options to choose from are very limited--motorcoaches, limos, carriages, etc. We are having a wishes wedding, but not a particularly large one (30-40 people) at Sea Breeze Point. We (along with most of our guests) will be staying at POR. We are local, as is my family, so many of our guests are familiar with WDW.

My two bridesmaids, my daughter and I were planning to use our own vehicle to drive to the Boardwalk. I would like to talk about the possibility of luxury vans and personal transport at the planning session, but don't want to appear to simply be "cheap". We just like having flexibility.

The same with dessert party transportation. We are having our DP at UK Lochside and, as there will be several hours between our reception and the DP (morning ceremony), we know some guests are going to want to "do their own thing". We don't want to have to force them back to their resorts only to be picked up by a charter bus. I've heard rumors that DFTW really tries to sell the idea that you MUST use a bus to get your guests to an in-park DP.


After doing a lot of research here (and listening to Carrie's podcasts), we've definitely settled on BOC for our bar. It's a brunch reception and, while our friends and family certainly like to drink, even they have their limits.


What are the best ways to approach these issues? I can sometimes get a bit flustered when I feel pressured, so I want to be prepared.

Thanks!

 

[Chilly]

Don't worry, you aren't held to anything discussed at the planning session so you can always back out of something via e-mail later. Some people get everything they could possibly want then when they get their BEO they work out what they can keep in their budget.

 

[FawnB]

Thank you so much! That's fantastic information to know.

If it's the first time we're sitting down with these people, I want it to be a really positive interaction, y'know?

 

[Kippy52]

My wife and I were married at WP this past November. I know a lot of things changed for 2014 though. The best thing you can do is be as prepared as possible. We had photos for the flowers, color swatches for the bridesmaid dresses. We had our vision for center pieces, what type of bar, food etc. the more prepared you are the easier it is. Also, we used a limo for the groom and groomsmen to get to WP and my wife and bridesmaids were already at GF so we didn't have to have extra transportation for them. We also used the Motor coach for our guests (40) to get to the reception at LSS and then the DP at UK Lochside. Disney is all about timing, so they will tell you that you need the motor coach based on your guest count. They don't let anyone drive themselves. If you're staying on property as you are, those guests must use the motor coach. Guests driving in the day of can drive to the ceremony location but must use the motor coach at that point. Now this rule could have changed for 2014.

Also I would try and have ceremony music picked bc they will ask you. Meaning what song will the groom and his guys walk into, bridesmaids song, obviously the brides entrance song, what song will play when you and your hubby to be walk back down the aisle to.

If you want extras, like Cinderalla Coach, Major Domo(fun idea), Charaters at the reception, etc.

To give you an idea, we had 40 people counting us and our guests kids. We had Cinderella Coach, Major Domo and Mickey & Minnie. We were able to do these extras bc we had such a small guest count, otherwise we wouldn't have been able too. We took a limo from WP to our reception, but then rode the motor coach with everyone else after that to save some money. The songs we used during the ceremony were:

Groom & Groomsman entrance - Medallion Calls (Pirates of Caribbean)
Bridesmaids & RB/FG - So this is love and a Disney medley
Bride Entrance - Chiming of the bells and the traditional Brides entrance song (here comes the bride)
We walked back down to a medley of Disney songs.

We also did a Memorial Candle and Sand Ceremony. We used I see the Light from Tangled for that.

If you have other questions just ask and I'll try and answer from our experience.

Good luck and Congrats!!

 

[lurkyloo]

The only time you are required to hire transportation is to get guests into a reception or ceremony taking place inside the park, and it doesn't have to be a motor coach, and it doesn't have to be chartered (i.e., a minimum number of hours). One-way vans are a nice, cheap way to move small numbers of guests.

Also, you shouldn't worry about appearing to be cheap at your planning session. I mean, a person could scrimp on the transport so they can blow the budget on flowers. Or they could scrimp all over the place. There's no judgement. As long as you aren't going on and on about how Disney charges too much for everything, you'll be fine.

You might like the What to Expect at the Planning Session episode of my podcast.