All Brides - I need some help - Mom questions

[LovesTimone]

Last week my DD sorta slipped and said she and her Boyfriend where looking at rings!! I was cool I did not pounce, I waited, so today I asked her was she serious and she said yes. That they had been talking about getting married for a while, now mind you she told him that he would have to come and ask me for permission to marry her, so we haven't gotten to the official engagement section yet. But I can see it in the future. Here is some back info, she is my only child, we are very close, she is a disney kid, and has always said she wants to get married at disney. Now that she is grown up she realizes the cost. I would really love to make her dream come true if at all possible, she is my princess. I love her so much.
Here are some questions and I would appreciate any info.or suggestions
How far out did you have to book a site?
Where can I get the best info? possible to talk to a real person?
Anyone doing a split site? wedding here and reception there?
If we were to do Disney we have would down size the guest list (again this would be her decision) ball park number $$$ if possible can you get married for under 10,000?

 

[princesswendy720]

You can tentatively book space at 16 months. If you are not booking a conference center facility (an in-park location or "special venue" like Atlantic Dance Hall), you can confirm availability at that time. All other venues are confirmed at 12 months.

The best info is available on the Disney Fairy Tale Wedding site and Passporter's Guide to Disney Weddings and Honeymoons (unofficial but more informative than the official site I believe). It's available here: http://www.passporter.com/weddings.asp You won't get much information from calling up Disney - they just take your information and have a sales consultant call you back. I would say to wait and do this until your daughter has a date and some locations in mind. You can also schedule a site visit with you consultant as early as 24 months before your desired date.

People have had ceremonies offsite (in churches for example), but you still have to meet the entire Wishes wedding minimums with the reception only part. Minimums range from $10,000 to $20,000 (exclusive of tax and service fees - so the actual amount you pay will be higher than your minimum) for Wishes weddings. The only way to have a wedding for under $10,000 would be an escape wedding, which is a ceremony only package that can have a short reception added on at an additional cost. Since you may be looking at reception only, I'm not sure that would fit your needs.

 

[epfootballcutie04]

Last week my DD sorta slipped and said she and her Boyfriend where looking at rings!! I was cool I did not pounce, I waited, so today I asked her was she serious and she said yes. That they had been talking about getting married for a while, now mind you she told him that he would have to come and ask me for permission to marry her, so we haven't gotten to the official engagement section yet. But I can see it in the future. Here is some back info, she is my only child, we are very close, she is a disney kid, and has always said she wants to get married at disney. Now that she is grown up she realizes the cost. I would really love to make her dream come true if at all possible, she is my princess. I love her so much.
Here are some questions and I would appreciate any info.or suggestions
How far out did you have to book a site?
Where can I get the best info? possible to talk to a real person?
Anyone doing a split site? wedding here and reception there?
If we were to do Disney we have would down size the guest list (again this would be her decision) ball park number $$$ if possible can you get married for under 10,000?

10,000 is our budget and we are doing a disney fairy tale wedding. We are getting married in the wedding pavillion and a reception at the grand floridian. Instead of a big fancy rehersal dinner we are doing a dessert party with illuminations viewing at epcot. After a ball park figure we are going a couple thousand over. Now keep in mind, the ceremony can seat up to 250 and we are figuring only 50 for reception. Your numbers could be cut way down if you don't have that many people.

Before we decided anything my mom called Diane with Disney Wedding Planning and she was SOOOOOOOO helpful!!! She answered so many of our questions and never pressured us to book anything. With Disney, there is always a way as long as you are able to pick and choose what you really need vs what you want. Would I love cinderella's coach to pick us up? you bet! can we afford 2,000 for that... not so much, so we had to say no. It's ok though. My prince charming and I met while working in Disney World, so just to be married there is dream enough for me!!

Good luck planning!!!

 

[Jilian]

I'd say that if you want to be under $10,000 after taxes and gratuities you either have to do a very small Disney fairy tale wedding (I think the limit is 21 people for the Escape package?) or do a Swan/Dolphin wedding (not a Disney fairy tale wedding but it would be at the swan or dolphin resort). See the sticky at the top for more info. We're doing a s/d vow renewal with approx 50 people with a reception & cocktail hour (open bar for 2 hours too) at Il Mulino and it will be uner $10,000, probably closer to $8,000 with everything.

 

[stl_figment]

A cruise wedding could be under $10,000. Just another consideration.

 

[kjg5]

^ While the cruise wedding is cheaper, the service is awful!! We're currently booked for a wedding at Castaway Cay, but I've had it the the wc. It takes WEEKS to hear back- with multiple emails, phone calls, etc. You can only have 20 people (50 on CC) but they start charging you extra over 20. You can't customize anything, you have no say in anything, and you won't get any sort of contract until 30 days before. It's been a terrible experience- we're looking at switching to an Escape. The cruise WC treats us like a burden and has major attitude anytime you have a problem. Check out the cruise wedding thread- several of us are looking into other options now. Stick with a WDW wedding and save yourself the hassle.

 

[sambycat]

So both those crazy kids are interested in a Disney wedding themselves, right? Anything is possible, I'm an older bride and of course we paid for everything ourselves so no parents had to have that little nagging concern about how much will this be, but still, I found lots of the fun was in the planning stages. What about just giving them the passporter guide as an engagement or pre-engagement goody? PLENTY of time to hash out details over the coming however long....

Good luck!

 

[weedee]

A wedding under $10,000 is definitely possible with the Escape package. We were well under that number and that included our reception dinner at Citricos and outside photographer.

 

[mrsdavies2be]

Is she looking for at Disney??

I'm getting married VIA DCL ... We're going on the Disney Dream and getting married on Castaway Cay, Disney's Island in the Bahamas.

Granted we did have to minimize our guest list, but we're having a huge party a few months later where we'll invite everyone else.

Doing the cruise (and on castaway cay) we're looking to pay 3700 for the ceremony/cake and champagne reception. 1000 for the photographer. And each guest is paying 372 for their rooms (we have 24 people including my fiance and I). So we're paying 4700 for the ceremon, reception, and photograpehr which isn't that bad at all.

If you get married on the ship, it's a base price of 2500 (castaway cay is 3500). And that is for the couple and 8 guests. On the island every guest over 8 is 20 dollars a person ( I'm not sure about the ceremony on the ship).

I hope this helps!!

 

[disprincessatheart]

We got married 3 years ago, but we did an escape wedding with 17 guests, upgraded cake, 4 course dinner for everyone at narcoosees including drinks and a grand 1 wishes cruise for about $7500.

We had originally booked a wishes wedding for 40 guest - ceremony at the wp, reception in EPCOT from 6 to 9 pm and that was going to be around $12,000 after all the fees. I'm sure prices have gone up since then, but it gives you an idea. We learned from others that less was more with a Disney wedding. Most of their venues don't need any decoration, so pick a location you love and skip the extra expense of decorating!