A Few Intimate Wedding Questions

[LeesyUD]

Hi I haven't been on the wedding board here recently bc me and my fiance were first going to do a Disney wedding but decided to do a wedding at home bc most people wouldn't be able to make it. So we put a deposit down on a place we loved but came to realize recently we were in over our heads bc some things have changed financially. So we are cancelling our space there and are now going to do an Intimate wedding with maybe 15 people in Disney. So I have a few questions if anyone could help....

1. We want to get married at Sea Breeze Point and have a dinner at California Grill or Narcosse's and then Illuminations Dessert Party. I have not been to Narcosse's but from what I have read they do group reservations...does anyone know how far out you can do that and if Narcosse's is in fact a good place? I have been to CG but not sure how they book larger parties. We do not want to rent a separate room bc it would cost and extra thousand at least. Do I need to wait the six months out and call the Disney Dining line and take a chance on it? Also we are thinking of doing a welcome dinner at Ohana's the night before, does anyone know the group policy on that? or have any suggestions for a place for a welcome party/dinner for up to 20 people total?

2. Also with the intimate weddings do the wedding guests get hotel discount? I don't think they do but figured I'd ask if anyone knows.

3. I saw on mouse weddings that if you decide to use an outside photographer instead of a Disney one you can get the honeymoon portrait session instead...does anyone know if this is still true?

If anyone can help answer some of these questions I would be very grateful

 

[JaxTeach]

1. We want to get married at Sea Breeze Point and have a dinner at California Grill or Narcosse's and then Illuminations Dessert Party. I have not been to Narcosse's but from what I have read they do group reservations...does anyone know how far out you can do that and if Narcosse's is in fact a good place? I have been to CG but not sure how they book larger parties. We do not want to rent a separate room bc it would cost and extra thousand at least. Do I need to wait the six months out and call the Disney Dining line and take a chance on it? Also we are thinking of doing a welcome dinner at Ohana's the night before, does anyone know the group policy on that? or have any suggestions for a place for a welcome party/dinner for up to 20 people total?

You can book a group dinner at both CG and Narcoosee's. We are having a private room at CG so I'm not much use there. I believe both would require a 6 month out call to Disney Dining Group Reservations.

We are having our Welcome Dinner at 'Ohana the night before our wedding. We are having about 27 guests. We called Disney Dining Group Reservations at 60 days out to make the reservation. They are able to accomodate large groups, however you must take the 1st seating-- which is 5pm. Some people rec'd the last seating I think, so that might be an option.

2. Also with the intimate weddings do the wedding guests get hotel discount? I don't think they do but figured I'd ask if anyone knows.

There is no wedding hotel discount for Intimate brides. There may be a AAA or general public discount, but nothing related to the wedding.

3. I saw on mouse weddings that if you decide to use an outside photographer instead of a Disney one you can get the honeymoon portrait session instead...does anyone know if this is still true?

Yes it is true... Disney has decreased the number of photos you get for the honeymoon session though. It used to be 20 4x6 photos and now it's down to... 5 or so? It went down drastically most likely to discourage people from doing this.


I hope some of those answers help you out. We are so happy to be having an Intimate wedding!

 

[LeesyUD]

You can book a group dinner at both CG and Narcoosee's. We are having a private room at CG so I'm not much use there. I believe both would require a 6 month out call to Disney Dining Group Reservations.

We are having our Welcome Dinner at 'Ohana the night before our wedding. We are having about 27 guests. We called Disney Dining Group Reservations at 60 days out to make the reservation. They are able to accomodate large groups, however you must take the 1st seating-- which is 5pm. Some people rec'd the last seating I think, so that might be an option.


There is no wedding hotel discount for Intimate brides. There may be a AAA or general public discount, but nothing related to the wedding.


Yes it is true... Disney has decreased the number of photos you get for the honeymoon session though. It used to be 20 4x6 photos and now it's down to... 5 or so? It went down drastically most likely to discourage people from doing this.


I hope some of those answers help you out. We are so happy to be having an Intimate wedding!

Thank you so much for your info....before seeing your post and talking about it with my fiancewee realized we'd rather get the sonoma room for a little bit more money so we can pace ourselves and have a 2:30 wedding and not feel rushed to get in and out of the restaurant. And thank you for the Ohana info I did not know you could book a special group reservation so thank you so much! And at the bottom signature I see that you are doing the same set up we are: Sea Breeze Point/CG Sonoma/Illuminations Dessert Party- UK terrace

 

[JaxTeach]

Thank you so much for your info....after talking about it I think we are going to get the sonoma room for a little bit more so we can pace ourselves and have a 2:30 wedding and not feel rushed to get in and out of the restaurant. And thank you for the Ohana info I did not know you could book a special group reservation so thank you so much!

Good luck with the Sonoma Room! That's where we are having our dinner and I can't wait. We've been up to see it twice now and it's lovely. If you have any other Sonoma Room questions or Escape wedding questions, I'm more than happy to help!

 

[LeesyUD]

What time are you doing your wedding?....the 2:30 seemed to be the best time to have time to do everything. And actually I don't know if it is different this year but they say it is now 18 guests max for the escape weddings...do you know if that includes kids?

 

[JaxTeach]

Our wedding is also at 2:30pm. The maximum number you can have at your wedding ceremony is 18 guests. That number does include children.

 

[sajilunni]

Hi Leesy! We've got the same itinerary as well! I'll paste a post from another thread which is good to get most of the important Escape information you'll need.

Here are some things that I've learned if anyone else is just starting to plan:

1. The 2008 price for an Escape wedding is $4000. This includes all the old amenities (location, bouquet, boutanierre, one cake that feeds 20 with your choice of filling, Mickey cake topper, 1 bottle of champagne, a violinist, 4 consecutive hours of an 8 person limo, 20 4x6 photos) plus 2 annual passes. The maximum allowed is 18 guests plus the bride and groom (children are counted as guests). The Wedding Pavilion location is $1000 extra.

2. Locations can be held by Disney at exactly 12 months in advance. You call and they pencil in the date and send you a contract. You mail back the signed contract with a $750 deposit and they confirm the date. The times available are M-Th: 10AM, 12PM, 2:30PM and 5PM.

3. Sunset Pointe (Poly Resort) is only available Oct-March. It is a beach with a 10 person capacity. Sunrise Terrace (Wilderness Resort) is on the 4th floor and overlooks the mountain stream, but it has a 10 person capacity. The Wedding Gazebo (Yacht Club) is in a rose garden and holds a large capacity. Sea Breeze Point (Boardwalk Resort) overlooks Crescent lake and holds a large capacity.

4. Wedding attire is not allowed in the parks at all, but they are allowed at the resorts (hotels). If you book an Illuminations dessert party, you can be specially escorteed by a CM in your wedding attire to Epcot Park. Otherwise all dinner/reception venues are at the resorts.

5. Fireworks cruises: all private boats available have capacities of 12 or less. Grand1 yacht holds 12. Pontoon boats hold 10. Breathless holds 4 at most. Grand Gatherings offers a Magical Fireworks Voyage for large parties with visits from Peter Pan and Hook (I'm not sure if it leaves from the park, whether wedding attire would be permitted on board).

6. Post-wedding dinners for large parties (over 8 I believe) have to be when the restaurant first opens for dinner, usually around 5-5:30PM. I've heard that a few restaurants will give large parties the last seating too, around 9:30PM. So if you book a 5PM wedding, you are unlikely to get a standard dinner time, unless you book a private room.

7. Private dinner rooms available are: Citrico's Chefs Domain (capacity 12, $650 minimum), California Grill Sonoma Room (capacity 40, $2000 minimum) and Napa Room (capacity 60, $3000 minimum), Jiko's Wine Room (capacity 20, $2500 minimum), Victoria and Alberts (capacity 21, $1750 for first 10 guests), DTD Fulton's (capacity 40 , $2000 minimum).

8. Officiants are not included in the package. Officiants run about $150-$250. You can bring your own officiant, but then they will be included in the guest tally.

9. You can choose not to use the Disney photographer and hire your own outside photographer. You will then be given a photo shoot and 2 5x7's as credit.

9. Here are pictures of the reception venues:
http://www.tazfoto.com/webhtml/wdw_locations.htm

10. Here are ALL the phone numbers at Disney:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread....+contact+snail


I've received a copy of CG's catering menu for this year. The prices run $90-$120 per person. There are also various appetizer spreads you can get as well. We only have 12 adults and 5 kids, so we're going to try to fill up to the $2000 minimum with nice bottles of wine. I haven't received the 2008 menu yet, so I don't know if their prices are going to go up a lot. We're hoping to stick around the Sonoma Room to see the Wishes fireworks from the catwalk.

Good luck!
Jil

Good luck planning!

 

[JaxTeach]

For the ladies doing the CG private rooms... We chose the Siskiyou menu ($90pp). We have asked to take off the flatbreads (we can't have them actually since we are starting before 5:30pm) and the dessert (we will have wedding cake). We are paying about $20 less per person for the meal itself, which will allow us to have an appetizer and specialty dessert. They won't really make substitutions, but if you want to take things off your menu, ask your planner... it could lower your price to make room for more wine, appetizers, bar package, etc.

 

[LeesyUD]

Thank you for all the responses....actually I think we decided we are going to do a custom wedding bc we added up the prices of the things we want and it would make the minimum and we can make the minimum # of room nights no problem so we can have a few extra people and customize it a bit more.

 

[kwalls]

What time are you doing your wedding?....the 2:30 seemed to be the best time to have time to do everything. And actually I don't know if it is different this year but they say it is now 18 guests max for the escape weddings...do you know if that includes kids?

hello! i am new to this site but you were asking same questions i wanted to. i am getting married 2/8 at 2:30 at BoardWalk,had booked CG room but ended up reserving yacht 1 for private dinner cruise..was interested in dessert party, my coord never mentioned..