A few questions about your weddings

[Bounce_Tigger]

The questions are phrased in the past tense, but if your wedding hasn't happened yet, please still answer!
How many people attended?
Where did you have it (ceremony, reception, etc)
How far in advance did you start planning?
What did you have Disney do/plan versus what did you do yourself (ie, disney took care of the actual ceremony and reception, I took care of the photographer and makeup; disney did it all etc)

And some personal questions, if you don't mind
How much did everything cost? Minus the dress/anything that isn't Disney related
How many trips did you have to take before you wedding solely for planning purposes?
Did your guests pay for their own travel expenses?

Thanks! You all have such amazing stories!

 

[dmslush]

Mine hasn't happened yet, but I'll answer what I can.



How many people attended? We are pretty much eloping, so it will only be DF, myself and our 16 year old dd.

Where did you have it (ceremony, reception, etc) Sunset Point, we are then going over to 1900 Park Fair to eat.

How far in advance did you start planning? I started about a year out.

What did you have Disney do/plan versus what did you do yourself (ie, disney took care of the actual ceremony and reception, I took care of the photographer and makeup; disney did it all etc) I am getting my own photographer and videographer. Disney is doing everything else... whatever is left LOL


How much did everything cost? With the Magic Kingdom bridal shoot, probably around $5000

How many trips did you have to take before you wedding solely for planning purposes? Not taking any for the planning. As an escape bride, all of the planning will be done over the phone.

Did your guests pay for their own travel expenses? THis question doesn't apply to me. But, I think for most of the brides that the guests do take care of their own expenses. I think people like to plan their family vacations around disney wedddings.

 

[KellyJo18]

How many people attended?
75 Adults and 4 Children

Where did you have it (ceremony, reception, etc)
Ceremony - Wedding Pavilion
Reception - Epcot's Living Seas
Dessert Party - United Kingdom Upper and Lower Terrace

How far in advance did you start planning?
We started talking to Disney in October of 2006 but didn't sign the contract until after our site inspection tour which took place the week of Thanksgiving 2006. I would say our planning with Disney took about 7-8 months.

What did you have Disney do/plan versus what did you do yourself (ie, disney
took care of the actual ceremony and reception, I took care of the photographer and makeup; disney did it all etc)
Disney: Ceremony, reception, food, floral, cake, dessert party, dessert party photographer, DJ, limo, bus transportation
Not disney: hair, makeup, photographer, programs, staged exit bubbles, favors, menus, place cards, guest book

How much did everything cost? Minus the dress/anything that isn't Disney related
Total bill from Disney was around $25,000. I have a break down of all those costs posted in another thread http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=18414934&postcount=53. You might find the entire thread useful though: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1400194.

How many trips did you have to take before you wedding solely for planning purposes?
Site Inspection Tour: November 2006
Planning Session: March 2007

Did your guests pay for their own travel expenses?
Yes, most of them did. We did pay for our grandparents and we gave people Disney money for holidays leading up to the wedding.

 

[Bounce_Tigger]

Thanks so much for that thread with the costs! Things are so much less expensive that I had imagined!

 

[JaxTeach]

Our wedding in December, but I'll answer what I can...

How many people attended?
Ceremony: 16 adults, 2 children. We will have more at our reception most likely.

Where did you have it (ceremony, reception, etc)
Ceremony: SBP, Reception: CG Sonoma Room, Dessert Party: Morocco, Rehearsal/Welcome Dinner: 'Ohana, Bridal Breakfast: Akershus

How far in advance did you start planning?
May 2007-- so 7 months

What did you have Disney do/plan versus what did you do yourself (ie, disney took care of the actual ceremony and reception, I took care of the photographer and makeup; disney did it all etc)
Disney is taking care of the ceremony, reception food, DP... I have booked our floral, rehearsal dinner, photographer, videographer, officiant, hair & makeup, and accomodations.

How much did everything cost? Minus the dress/anything that isn't Disney related
Disney related: Intimate package: $3000, Reception: $2000, Dessert Party: $1000, Welcome Dinner: $500, Bridal Breakfast: $200, MK Photography: $1000, Accomodations: 4 nights @ Boardwalk Inn $800... About $8500 total owed to Disney.

How many trips did you have to take before you wedding solely for planning purposes?
None for us really, but we are an intimate. We went 1 time to scout the different ceremony locations.

Did your guests pay for their own travel expenses?
Yes and accomodations.

 

[OceanGdss]

Mine hasn't happened yet but I'll try to answer as well...

How many people attended?
planning 50 seated plus 14 in the wedding party including us

Where did you have it (ceremony, reception, etc)
Sea Breeze Pointe, Boardwalk Ballroom

How far in advance did you start planning?
18 months out...right after he proposed

What did you have Disney do/plan versus what did you do yourself
So far I have taken care of the ceremony music, photography (randy chapman! yay), videography, im making my own floral and centerpieces, favors, etc. They are doing the location, dj for reception, catering, cake, and misc things like hiring the characters (we want mickey!) and large scale decorating for the reception (ill be doing all the small scale decorating)

How much did everything cost? Minus the dress/anything that isn't Disney related
No total price yet, but for Disney only, we are at about 12k. Total including Disney, everything I'm doing, the dress, and room reservations we MAY have to pay for if we don't book the required nights, comes to about 20k max.

How many trips did you have to take before you wedding solely for planning purposes?
We live near WDW, so its hard to say. Everytime we are there we are talking about our wedding and changing things lol. Probably will have 2-3 dedicated planning trips there.

Did your guests pay for their own travel expenses?
We are expecting them to cover most expenses including: room, travel expenses (plane tickets, gas, etc), meals excluding the wedding day, park tickets, etc.

 

[Malibelle]

The questions are phrased in the past tense, but if your wedding hasn't happened yet, please still answer!
How many people attended?100 guests

Where did you have it (ceremony, reception, etc)

Wedding Pavillion/Atlantic Dance Hall/ Dessert party Italy Isola

How far in advance did you start planning?
1 year

What did you have Disney do/plan versus what did you do yourself (ie, disney took care of the actual ceremony and reception, I took care of the photographer and makeup; disney did it all etc)

Disney took care of the reception food, some decor,logistics/ MK Photoshoot

I took care of the photographer/flowers/favors/invitations/programs/extra events planned during the week with guests/Rehearsal dinner/save the dates and newsletters/welcome bags/hair & makeup,

And some personal questions, if you don't mind
How much did everything cost? Minus the dress/anything that isn't Disney related

30k

How many trips did you have to take before you wedding solely for planning purposes?

1
Did your guests pay for their own travel expenses?

yes

 

[Mary626]

How many people attended?
48

Where did you have it (ceremony, reception, etc)
Welcome party was a Fantasmic Dessert party in MGM
Ceremony was in the isola in the Italy Pavilion inside of EPCOT
Reception was at "Ariel's" in the Beach Club

How far in advance did you plan?
a year

What did you have Disney do/plan versus what did you do yourself (ie, disney took care of the actual ceremony and reception, I took care of the photographer and makeup; disney did it all etc)
Disney did floral, music, food, entertainment,
I did: hired outside photography (randy chapman) & videography (stan severance STVS), I did favors, guestbook, cake cutter, toasting flutes, etc.

And some personal questions, if you don't mind
How much did everything cost? Minus the dress/anything that isn't Disney related
disney stuff (everything wedding, reception, dessert party): about 13-14,000.. outside stuff (photography/videography), 4-5,000... total was less than 20,000

How many trips did you have to take before you wedding solely for planning purposes?
None

Did your guests pay for their own travel expenses?
yep!

 

[hulagirl87]

how many people attended?
just me and my DH

where did you have it?
Yacht Club Gazebo and then we went to dinner at 1900 Park Fare

How far in advance did you start planning?
about 4 1/2 months

What did Disney do vs. what did I do?
I booked Randy for photography and Anna from Makeover Majic for my hair. Disney took care of the rest!

How much did everything cost?
At this point I honestly have no idea! We stayed at the GF for 11 nights, did the 3 night Disney cruise, had an intimate ceremony. It was all worth it and we would do it all again. It was definitely over $10,000, I know that! we didn't take any trips down ahead of time, darn it, it was DH first time to Disney and I wanted our wedding/honeymoon to be his first taste of the World!

 

[cappygirl]

Our wedding is still over 3 months away but I'll answer what I can!
How Many People Attended: About 275 received save the dates from Disney. We'll see how many actually attend.

Where did you have it: our ceremony will be at the wedding pavilion and our reception will be in the ballroom at the grand floridian.

How far in advance did you start planning: My DF and I went down to Disney right after we got engaged - April 2007 to meet with our coordinator. So that would make it about 6 months from start to finish.

What Disney did vs what I did: Hopefully I'll have an answer for that one next week after our planning session!

How much did it cost: We havent had our planning session (havent picked flowers, cake, music etc) so we have no way of knowing that yet but our estimate was in the 30-40 thousand range (but we are jewish and having a kosher wedding so that about doubles the cost of food)

How many trips to plan: our trip after getting engaged was just so we could be sure this is what my DF wanted (it's what I wanted since I was little but he hadnt been to disney since he was 14 - after the first hour back he was hooked though!) and then one trip for our planning session and that's it.

Do guests pay for their own travel expenses: Yes!! our guests will be paying their own travel expenses.