Any ideas for lowkey/inexpensive vow renewal?

[traceyr13]

Hi all - After speaking with my closest friends and family, it looks like several of them are on board to do a fun group trip to Disney for our 13th wedding anniversary (Dec, 2010).

Dh and I would like renew our vows, but we are hoping to stay closer to a 3k budget for the "ceremony" and treat everyone to a dinner. It really doesn't have to be a "formal" type of thing. I know the smallest Disney vow renewal packages are around 4k, but that is just for the ceremony and is a smaller number than we are hoping to include (preliminary count looks like around 16-18 adults and 16-18 children).

Does anyone have any ideas? I thought of maybe renting part of Margaritaville at Universal Studios for a fun dinner, or maybe treat people to the Grand Gathering Illuminations Dinner/Dessert thing (again, we just want a fun place that we can "reserve" and gather and eat for the celebration) but those wouldn't let us do the ceremony ... I don't think the problem is finding a place for us to celebrate, rather the actual "renewal" part.

Is this just a lost cause for our budget and should we just treat people to an anniversary dinner and not the actual vow renewal???

 

[Swmhc]

Have you looked into the Swan or Dolphin. There is a thread on here for those and they are less than DFTW with still a lot of the benefits.

 

[Cosi Bella]

unfortunately, the cheapest vow renewal that disney offers is 4k, like you already know. And, by 2010, I think the price will probably go up a bit. You could look into the Swan and Dolphin, as they are on Disney property, but not Disney operated, and offer wedding packages much cheaper than DFTW... then you could do a nice dinner for your guests somewhere on site. HTH!

 

[traceyr13]

Thanks guys! It looks like the Swan offers just the ceremony for 1500? Although I'm not sure if they only offer that as an option in addition to booking a reception there. I'll add it to the list to look into!

 

[hiwaygal]

I agree that the Swan/Dolphin sounds like something to really look into, but don't discount other "non-Disney" hotels in the Downtown Disney area, I know I've heard of a few of them having some options too!

Also check out Leu Gardens and/or Cypress Gardens, Celebration Golf Club, Wyndham Orlando Resort, Hard Rock Hotel or Cafe, and Buena Vista Palace.

 

[traceyr13]

Thanks Denise!! Jotting those down...

 

[lurkyloo]

MouseWeddings.com has info about weddings at Hotel Royal Plaza:

http://www.mouseweddings.com/royalplazawedding2008.html

 

[traceyr13]

Thanks for the mouseweddings link lurkyloo!

It's hard to *really* know since it's so far away...but I figure I need to get an idea of what I'm working with!

 

[bestla]

Well--everyone has listed most of the places I've looked into!

I booked a ceremony at Leu Gardens through OrlandoWeddings--their services, florals, and the site came to under $1000. It would be even cheaper if you just booked the site and officiant on your own! Most public gardens, parks, beaches, etc, you can rent directly through them. A lot of resorts work with wedding planning companies. If you're staying on Disney property, (aside from the S/D), Celebration Golf Club would be the closest.

I'm planning from MN, so it has been super helpful to go through a wedding coordinator. But even if you don't end up working with a coordinator, I would suggest contacting them to get ideas for various locations/rates, etc.

Feel free to PM me if you want details on any of those services--I received a lot of information during my initial search!

Good luck and congrats on 13 years!!

 

[traceyr13]

Well--everyone has listed most of the places I've looked into!

I booked a ceremony at Leu Gardens through OrlandoWeddings--their services, florals, and the site came to under $1000. It would be even cheaper if you just booked the site and officiant on your own! Most public gardens, parks, beaches, etc, you can rent directly through them. A lot of resorts work with wedding planning companies. If you're staying on Disney property, (aside from the S/D), Celebration Golf Club would be the closest.

I'm planning from MN, so it has been super helpful to go through a wedding coordinator. But even if you don't end up working with a coordinator, I would suggest contacting them to get ideas for various locations/rates, etc.

Feel free to PM me if you want details on any of those services--I received a lot of information during my initial search!

Good luck and congrats on 13 years!!

Thank you!!! I'm actually feeling more excited seeing what some of the places are "able" to do budget-wise...I think there are more options than I initially thought based on the websites, since I think small, less formal vow renewal isn't exactly what they are thinking of when they advertise/list prices. This is really giving me hope!

I'll PM you.

 

[Tink n Poohbear]

I also booked Leu Gardens. Our VR is in 3 weeks - I'm getting so excited!
We're going to have an early morning ceremony followed by breakfast at Ohana. I figured that way we'll still have pics in a Disney restaraunt so I'd still feel like it we renewed our vows in Disney.

If I can figure out how to post pics, I'll post them when we get back, so you can see more options.

 

[alissa2008]

I agree with the Leu Gardens folks, if I would have come across that before DFTW, we may have went with that!

 

[DansBride2009]

i wouldn't do margerativille(sp?) they tend to be super crowded and noisy (not only am i a disney fanatic, i also adore jimmy buffett and have been to key west to see his original one and the one at universal lol) ... if it's your thing go for it but i wouldn't suggest it if you want to hold conversations.

it looks like from the dessert party at illuminations, people can mill about and eat some cookies and nice desserts and watch the fireworks. it won't be crowded because they will have a section roped off just for you guys (i've been to one of these things before, they rock!), and it will be such a special memory(not to mention the people surrounding you will look at you jealously because they wish they had thought of it! )

do whatever makes you happy; i've had experiences at both places and just wanted to give my input. i'm hoping i'm not too late in typing this reply lol! i have a bad habit of posting before i read the entire thing, i just get so excited (i'm SUCH a dork lol) ...

 

[traceyr13]

Thanks SO much everyone. Everyone is so helpful on this board! Leu Gardens looks really pretty, but our party will be bigger than their Intimate Weddings, and given that I just want to have the ceremony there, and would pay for transportation for my guests, it looks like it will be more cost effective to seriously look into the Swan option. Rachel sent me some great info about the Swan, and I'm thinking I could have exactly what I wanted (not too fancy, on the beach, including everyone) for around 2k.

Has anyone heard anything about the Portobello restaurant for a post-ceremony party? It looks reasonably priced, we love Italian, and you can rent a private area.

 

[alauniira]

I did the Hyatt Grand Cypress for $1600 ($2200 if you include photography). We did lunch there at Cascades afterwards. It was the best meal of the trip and $12-25 a person for lunch. My package included location, officient, flowers, and cake. You can see my pics here:

http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=46&user_id=19783&event=185059
password: visgaitis

the website for the Hyatt is :
http://grandcypress.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/events/weddings/index.jsp

It was perfect and the place was awesome!!

 

[lurkyloo]

Has anyone heard anything about the Portobello restaurant for a post-ceremony party? It looks reasonably priced, we love Italian, and you can rent a private area.

Purplegirl247 had her wedding lunch there - it sounded great!

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?p=18649041

 

[WithDisneySpirit]

I did the Hyatt Grand Cypress for $1600 ($2200 if you include photography). We did lunch there at Cascades afterwards. It was the best meal of the trip and $12-25 a person for lunch. My package included location, officient, flowers, and cake. You can see my pics here:

http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=46&user_id=19783&event=185059
password: visgaitis

the website for the Hyatt is :
http://grandcypress.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/events/weddings/index.jsp

It was perfect and the place was awesome!!

Very beautiful and did you get Misty Miotto for the package price you listed?? Awesome

 

[alauniira]

Thanks. We booked Misty 18 months out and her prices have risen since then. She is so worth it though!!!

 

[alissa2008]

Thanks. We booked Misty 18 months out and her prices have risen since then. She is so worth it though!!!

We just booked with Misty. She has 2 very reasonable smaller packages (<$1,000)

 

[traceyr13]

I did the Hyatt Grand Cypress for $1600 ($2200 if you include photography). We did lunch there at Cascades afterwards. It was the best meal of the trip and $12-25 a person for lunch. My package included location, officient, flowers, and cake. You can see my pics here:

http://www.photostockplus.com/home.php?tmpl=46&user_id=19783&event=185059
password: visgaitis

the website for the Hyatt is :
http://grandcypress.hyatt.com/hyatt/hotels/events/weddings/index.jsp

It was perfect and the place was awesome!!

Your pictures are beautiful. Congrats!