Where/when do brides change in to gowns ?

[MiaSRN62]

Maybe an odd question, but my daughter (bride to be) asked me this today. She is getting married at WP next year. She wondered if she leaves her hotel in her gown and rides in limo without her fiance or do they drive together to the WP and she gets changed there ??? She doesn't want him to see her (in her gown) before the ceremony.

 

[SoonToBeMrs]

The bride and groom get ready before the limo picks them up. The bride and groom are picked up separately for the ceremony (and I assume will get ready in different places), so he won't see her. At least this is the way I understand it from what my wedding consultant has said.

 

[Mochi2013]

I wondered the same thing a few weeks ago. Disney does not provide a changing room for the brides so the bride and groom are on their own to figure it out. My fiance is going to his brothers house to change while I am staying at the resort. Disney gave us separate arrival time so we do not bump into each other.

 

[mb187143]

Maybe an odd question, but my daughter (bride to be) asked me this today. She is getting married at WP next year. She wondered if she leaves her hotel in her gown and rides in limo without her fiance or do they drive together to the WP and she gets changed there ??? She doesn't want him to see her (in her gown) before the ceremony.

Are they sharing a room the night before the wedding?

Once she gets further along in the process and has her planning session she will get the banquet event order (BEO) from her planner. Her planner will help coordinate what time and where the bride and groom get picked up.

In our case, DH and I did not get ready together, but were both getting ready at the contemporary. The limo picked up DH and the groomsmen and his mom and sister at 3:30 and took them to the grand Floridian for pictures. Then the limo came back and picked us up (me, bridesmaids and my parents). They held us in the limo while the DFTW staff moved the boys from the grand to the WP. Then they brought us in for pictures. Finally, they put the boys in a holding room at the WP and put us into a separate one and our planner coordinated who moves where and when.

It was all executed flawlessly. If your daughter wants to do it differently she just needs to communicate it clearly to her and make sure it gets reflected now she wants it done on her BEO.

 

[wiserabbit]

I know you are soooo excited for your daughter's upcoming wedding - - the way our daughter and her hubby to be handled it - I had she and the bridesmaids come to our room at the Contemporary - where us girls had hair/makeup and snack time and everyone got dressed. The menfolk were in another room (groom's parents I think it was) - the limo picked up us girls first and took to the WP - and then circled back for the groom - during that time - bride and party had before ceremony pics made, as did groom and his men - at separate times coordinated by photographer - DFTW executed the timeline flawlessly and without a snag - pure magic (Have fun and treasure every moment of this process - it will blow you away)

 

[MiaSRN62]

Thanks so much everyone ! Yes---I am very excited.
We are all staying at Bay Lake Tower and yes, the couple is sharing a room, but we planned for the groom to be to come to our room to change that morning. I didn't know the limo would make two trips---that would work perfectly. Appreciate so much all the info ! Just mailed the signed contract and deposit yesterday

 

[Chilly]

Thanks so much everyone ! Yes---I am very excited.
We are all staying at Bay Lake Tower and yes, the couple is sharing a room, but we planned for the groom to be to come to our room to change that morning. I didn't know the limo would make two trips---that would work perfectly. Appreciate so much all the info ! Just mailed the signed contract and deposit yesterday

Which package has she booked?

If its the Escape package then you get the limo for 4 hours and it can do as many trips as can be fit in that time frame.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Which package has she booked?

If its the Escape package then you get the limo for 4 hours and it can do as many trips as can be fit in that time frame.

Thank you. She booked Wishes---we'll have 50-60 people. Our "estimate" shows the limo price for 3 hrs ? Is this the norm for Wishes ?

 

[Chilly]

Thank you. She booked Wishes---we'll have 50-60 people. Our "estimate" shows the limo price for 3 hrs ? Is this the norm for Wishes ?

I think that might be the minimum booking but i'm not sure.

Have you got Carrie's book? It answers most questions:

http://disneytravelbabble.com/disney-weddings/passporters-disney-weddings/

 

[mb187143]

Thank you. She booked Wishes---we'll have 50-60 people. Our "estimate" shows the limo price for 3 hrs ? Is this the norm for Wishes ?

We had a wishes wedding, 59 guests. So our event is probably similar in size to your daughters upcoming event.

We had the limo for a 3 hour block. Thats the standard charter they'll use for the estimate based on a plan like the one i'm about to describe. Like I said before, the limo picked up the boys, dropped them at the grand, circled back for us, dropped us at the grand Floridian for pictures. After that it took the bridesmaids to the WP (my dad and I took the Rolls Royce). Both waited through the ceremony and then the limo took our bridal party to the grand Floridan for the reception after pictures, while DH and I took the Rolls Royce. The 3 hour charter was $298 for the limo. Well worth it.

For our guests we did luxury vans arranged trough Disney to take our guests from the hotels in our block to the WP and then back to their hotels from the reception at the grand Floridian. The vans were arranged trough Disney and cost $40 each way which was MUCH cheaper than chartering a motor coach.

 

[lpizzuro123]

Thanks so much everyone ! Yes---I am very excited.
We are all staying at Bay Lake Tower and yes, the couple is sharing a room, but we planned for the groom to be to come to our room to change that morning. I didn't know the limo would make two trips---that would work perfectly. Appreciate so much all the info ! Just mailed the signed contract and deposit yesterday

Sounds like it will be a great wedding.

My DH and I also stayed together at The Boardwalk the days before our wedding. We took the Autotrain down and my dress was in the garmet bag from the Bridal Salon. We kept it in the room with us (in the bag). The day before the wedding I got the dress steamed. The people that did the steaming told me to ask for additional white sheets from housekeeping. When they steamed the dress, they hung it up from the curtin rod. When they were finished steaming it - they covered it with two white sheets - so my DH would not see it.

We had a morning wedding (9am in Epcot in Italy). That morning my DH got ready in the room while I was just getting started on my hair and makeup. We had Misty Miotto as our photographer. Once my DH was ready, he and Misty's husband were picked up by our limo (the limo had already been to POFQ and picked up his groomsmen) and brought them to Epcot for pictures. The limo then came back and waited for me and my girls to finish getting ready and then bought us to Epcot for our pictures. They put my DH in Germany so he would not see us walking around Italy getting our pictures done. Disney was great at keeping us separated.

All these things us crazy brides do.

Hope you have a wonderful time and ask any additional questions if you want.

Linda

 

[MiaSRN62]

Yes Chilly--Thanks ! I got the book for both my daughter and myself ! Have not read through it entirely yet but it's been really helpful !

mb187143---I'm not gonna lie. A bit confused about the transportation. Right now we're showing a $807.78 charge for transportation. Broken down:
Motor coach (5 hrs @ $101.85 per hr) + Limo (3 hrs @99.51 per hr).
PS: see you are from Philly ! I live in Lansdale--a far north suburb but my husband works in Philly

I just assumed with 50-60 guests we'd need that motor coach---and they told us they return the guests after reception to their hotels ? But if the bride and groom only have the limo for 3 hrs I'm assuming they need to ride the motor coach as well to get back to Bay Lake Tower from Ariel's ? I'm trying to figure this all out.

lpizzuro123....thanks, yes, we are hoping this will be an awesome celebration for everyone. The idea about the sheets is great ! My daughter has a noon ceremony at WP and lunch reception at Ariel's. She is booking Regina Hyman for photography. Thanks very much Linda for reassuring me that Disney will do their best to keep the happy couple apart until the ceremony. I'm sure you'll see more of me here now that the down payment and contract were just finalized. Well...it's in the mail system right now...I'm tracking it on line via Priority Mail !

 

[lpizzuro123]

Everyone is so helpful here. These board were a lifesaver when we had our Disney wedding - so I am always glad to help now.

We had the motorcoach and limo. The motorcoach picked up our guests at their resorts (POFQ and The Boardwalk), and brought them to our ceremony site (Epcot - Italy). When the ceremony was over it brought them to ADH on The Boardwalk. It then waited around until after our reception and brought everyone back to their resort (POFQ). Everyone staying at The Boardwalk was just able to walk back to their room.

We only had the limo in the morning, as our reception was on The Boardwalk and we were staying there - we were able to just walk back to our room. If we had been staying somewhere else - we would have boarded the motorcoach like everyone else.

It did kill me that the motorcoach waited around during our reception, which was over at 3:00, but it would have made a trip back to POFQ at 2:00 also if anyone had wanted to leave early. We felt it was important to give everyone transportation as they had traveled down to Disney from NY and NJ for our wedding.

We had an Illuminations Dessert Party later that evening in UK Lower and everyone did use Disney transportation for that part of our day.

Linda

 

[lpizzuro123]

Also, our reception locations were between ADH and Ariels. We ended up going with ADH - but loved Ariels also.

Linda

 

[MiaSRN62]

We felt it was important to give everyone transportation as they had traveled down to Disney from NY and NJ for our wedding.

We had an Illuminations Dessert Party later that evening in UK Lower and everyone did use Disney transportation for that part of our day.


Also, our reception locations were between ADH and Ariels. We ended up going with ADH - but loved Ariels also.

Linda

We feel the same as you---really wanted to provide this service to our guests. Not everyone is as saavy at getting around the World as we are and it also gave guest the luxury of not having to rent a car if they didn't want to.
We might do a Dessert Party the night before--functioning as rehearsal dinner. Since the wedding is not until noon the next day we figured this would be ok. The ADH looked so nice in photos we've seen. Wish we would have included it on our tour---but daughter fell in love with Ariel's and that was it. We had toured a couple ballrooms first--and she did like the GF Whitehall room and patio---but Ariel's really made the decision easy for her.

 

[mb187143]

Yes Chilly--Thanks ! I got the book for both my daughter and myself ! Have not read through it entirely yet but it's been really helpful !

mb187143---I'm not gonna lie. A bit confused about the transportation. Right now we're showing a $807.78 charge for transportation. Broken down:
Motor coach (5 hrs @ $101.85 per hr) + Limo (3 hrs @99.51 per hr).
PS: see you are from Philly ! I live in Lansdale--a far north suburb but my husband works in Philly

I just assumed with 50-60 guests we'd need that motor coach---and they told us they return the guests after reception to their hotels ? But if the bride and groom only have the limo for 3 hrs I'm assuming they need to ride the motor coach as well to get back to Bay Lake Tower from Ariel's ? I'm trying to figure this all out.

lpizzuro123....thanks, yes, we are hoping this will be an awesome celebration for everyone. The idea about the sheets is great ! My daughter has a noon ceremony at WP and lunch reception at Ariel's. She is booking Regina Hyman for photography. Thanks very much Linda for reassuring me that Disney will do their best to keep the happy couple apart until the ceremony. I'm sure you'll see more of me here now that the down payment and contract were just finalized. Well...it's in the mail system right now...I'm tracking it on line via Priority Mail !

Hi! I'm actually in Montgomery county, but I just leave it as Philly I used to live in harleysville so I know exactly where lansdale is!

So what you have now is an estimate. They run off a fairly generic PDF so that you have an idea of pricing for some common elements.

What they don't tell you upfront is that there are additional options.

Transportation is only one example. They will try to force you to use the motor coaches. You don't have to - they have other options. Our guests were spread out among port Orleans French quarter, pop century, and Saratoga springs. When we got our first proposal they put in the limo for us and the motor coach for our guests. The problem is that it cost over $1000 and guests at the first resort would have been on the bus for almost an hour by the time they got to the wedding pavilion. Disney offers other options aside from the motor coach. We arranged for vans to go to each resort and pick up the guests and take them to the wedding pavilion. Then after the ceremony they walked to the grand Floridian. Those same vans picked up our guests at the grand Floridian and took them back to their resorts. The total cost for the vans was $240 (each van is $40 each way - we did one way trips instead of an 8 hour charter).

At the same time, we had a limo, which handled getting the boys to the grand Floridian, then came back for us, and then it was for the bridal party to use. Disney also has specialty transportation (Cinderella's carriage, rolls Royce, vintage cars, landau coach), which we also booked to do something special. We didn't have to do that though we could have just been in the limo.

I know it sounds confusing but I promise it's not. Once your daughter goes/has her planning session you'll see a much more defined plan. Check out the BEO thread to get an idea of what others did for timing and transportation.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Hi! I'm actually in Montgomery county, but I just leave it as Philly I used to live in harleysville so I know exactly where lansdale is!

So what you have now is an estimate. They run off a fairly generic PDF so that you have an idea of pricing for some common elements.

What they don't tell you upfront is that there are additional options.

Transportation is only one example. They will try to force you to use the motor coaches. You don't have to - they have other options. Our guests were spread out among port Orleans French quarter, pop century, and Saratoga springs. When we got our first proposal they put in the limo for us and the motor coach for our guests. The problem is that it cost over $1000 and guests at the first resort would have been on the bus for almost an hour by the time they got to the wedding pavilion. Disney offers other options aside from the motor coach. We arranged for vans to go to each resort and pick up the guests and take them to the wedding pavilion. Then after the ceremony they walked to the grand Floridian. Those same vans picked up our guests at the grand Floridian and took them back to their resorts. The total cost for the vans was $240 (each van is $40 each way - we did one way trips instead of an 8 hour charter).

Montgomery County here too !!!

Yes..I am confused for sure. I noticed you said the van took them back to their hotels after the ceremony---not to the reception ? And how did your guests get back to their hotels after the reception ? Mind spinning
The "luxury" vans only hold 8 and the "standard" vans 11 ? I will have 50-60 guests ??? And we will be spread out as well which scares me (Bay Lake Tower, Wilderness Lodge, POFQ and POP)!!!! I just really like the idea that guests are covered from beginning to end of reception ? But yes---so far, the transportation is $800+ of our budget.

 

[mb187143]

Montgomery County here too !!!

Yes..I am confused for sure. I noticed you said the van took them back to their hotels after the ceremony---not to the reception ? And how did your guests get back to their hotels after the reception ? Mind spinning
The "luxury" vans only hold 8 and the "standard" vans 11 ? I will have 50-60 guests ??? And we will be spread out as well which scares me (Bay Lake Tower, Wilderness Lodge, POFQ and POP)!!!! I just really like the idea that guests are covered from beginning to end of reception ? But yes---so far, the transportation is $800+ of our budget.

Ok the luxury vans picked up our guests at POFQ, POP and Saratoga Springs. Each van went to and from one resort in our block. They have vans that hold 8 or 11, we used the ones that hold 11. Our wedding was at the wedding pavilion at 5. The vans picked up our guests at 4:15 at each resort and dropped them off at the wedding pavilion.

We had a separate group of guests who stayed offsite for whom we arranged transportation through Mears directly, but it was handled the same way as the Disney resorts.

When our wedding was over (around 5:30), our guests walked to the reception since it was at the grand Floridian (it was a 10 minute walk). They got there in time for our pre-reception at the Whitehall room. Our reception was in one of the ballrooms so the party moved over there, and then at the end of the night, the vans came back and picked up our guests at the Grand Floridian and took them back to their resorts.


If your daughter is doing her ceremony at the WP and then a reception at Ariel's, you'll need to arrange transportation between those locations because its two entirely separate areas. But you could still avoid the motor coach charter and set up 3 separate trips with the vans ( trip 1= resort to WP, trip 2 = WP to Ariel's, trip 3= Ariel's back to resort). Does that make more sense?

 

[Chilly]

As well as the book Carrie has a podcast:

http://disneytravelbabble.com/podcast/

Episode 10 is wedding day transport.

 

[MiaSRN62]

If your daughter is doing her ceremony at the WP and then a reception at Ariel's, you'll need to arrange transportation between those locations because its two entirely separate areas. But you could still avoid the motor coach charter and set up 3 separate trips with the vans ( trip 1= resort to WP, trip 2 = WP to Ariel's, trip 3= Ariel's back to resort). Does that make more sense?

Maybe I'm dense---studying for a big final exam and brain is shot right now. But I'm seeing the van that holds 11 is about $71/hr for a min of 3 hrs. If I have people scattered all over in hotels, does the van keep going back and forth until it picks up all 50 guests and drops them off at WP--Ariels---hotels at end of reception ? And if it is $71/hr with a 3 hr min that is about $213 per leg/segment ?? And I would need 3 separate legs/segments which would equal $639 ? About same cost as motor coach estimate right now ? Unless I'm missing something ? I apologize if I'm not grasping this very well.....
and on page 106 of the Passporter book, it says if you have more than TWO hotel stops (which we will), it automatically requires the motor coach ? But the thing that concerns me with that, is the motor coach is on the estimate paper for only 5 hrs ?? Pretty sure we'll need it for longer than that considering the amt of time needed prior to ceremony to pick up and also time after reception to drop off ? Ceremony begins at noon and reception ends at 5 pm ?