Before 12 Months

[whodini]

My fiance' and I are very eager to start planning our DW. We're currently thinking of Fall 2007. When I called Disney 2 months ago they said that they wouldn't talk to us until 16 months out and to call back in June. Now, when my fiance' called last week they said its 12 months. This is for a custom wedding.

Was there a change recently, or was I misinformed when I called 2 months ago? For anyone looking to have a large wedding, how did you handle your guests with only 12 months to make plans? It seems like everytime I see a family member or friend they want to know how the planning is going. It also seems difficult to plan financially given the 12 month time constraint and with everything having to be paid 30 days out.

Thanks for any insight.

~ Chad

 

[Mary626]

My fiance' and I are very eager to start planning our DW. We're currently thinking of Fall 2007. When I called Disney 2 months ago they said that they wouldn't talk to us until 16 months out and to call back in June. Now, when my fiance' called last week they said its 12 months. This is for a custom wedding.

Was there a change recently, or was I misinformed when I called 2 months ago? For anyone looking to have a large wedding, how did you handle your guests with only 12 months to make plans? It seems like everytime I see a family member or friend they want to know how the planning is going. It also seems difficult to plan financially given the 12 month time constraint and with everything having to be paid 30 days out.

Thanks for any insight.

~ Chad

I think it's been "12 months" for a long time. I had contacted them once back in 2003 and they had said 12 months, if I remember correctly. 12 months is a good amount of time for guests to make plans. We found most of our guests waited until about 2 months prior to book their vacation anyway, despite them having a year! You can start planning it in your head even without disney's help by using the wishbook on their website or asking questions on this forum. It will all workout great in the end!

 

[karenperez]

When I first called I told them that I wasn't sure of the date, that I just got engaged and we wanted to ask some questions to see if a DisWedding is for us. I told them that the info they gave me would help me decide on a date. lol

 

[eeyorechic]

I had the same problem a couple weeks ago. We're planning on a Sept. 2007 wedding and the first time I called the girl that answered just said they wouldn't talk to us until 12 months out. I called again the next day, got a different girl, and told them i was interested in having a custom wedding and wanted to do a site vist and she took all my info. 3 days later Heidi called me to set up a site visit and answer any questions I had so far. I would just call back and just tell 'em you want to have a custom wedding there.

Good luck
Samantha

 

[pixie08]

I would suggest calling again. They will talk to you , it took me 2 calls and i reassured them I was serious about a custom wedding 9they get alot of inquiry calls and need to weed them out) They will send some info but really nothing much will happen until the 12 month mark. We are having a June 2007 wedding and we went for a site visit a few months ago but really that was it. They showed us around talk to us about how it worked and assigned us a Sales manager, who was very halpful and sweet(as helpful as Disney will let her be). Once we talked to her we were much more assured and we have stayed in contact with her ever since via email and phone. About a month ago (I guess around the 14 mo mark) they pencilled us in to our perferred date. Nothing is confimed until 12 mos and even then since we are in a ballroom we do not sign our contract until the 8 mo. mark. If you are in park you can sign at the 12 mo.

As how we are handling our guests.... We were engaged in Aug of 05 and my mom threw us an engaement party in Dec. We printed out letter scrolls that sort of let people know we were having a wdw wedding. Right now I am composing my first newsletter explaining to people about the Wedding planning process with Disney and letting them know the range of dates we are thinking of (unfortunately we are in a lottery). I am enclosing information about the parks and the resorts we are choosing for our room block. Once we get our date we will send out save the date magnets followed by the save the date info Disney will send out(which I believe they send out after the contract is signed). I also created a website to keep people informed and up to date. If you have any further questions let me know. I hope this will help you and not confuse you. I know this is a difficult time because you want to do so much but Disney makes it a little hard, but once you get near that 12th month things will start rolling and come together and Disney will pull together a magical event!

 

[stitch626_in_time]

I would definately call back! I called only once and got an appointment to come and visit the venues. But I didn't tell them the date we had in mind for the wedding. They were more than happy to show us around and give usadditional information!

As for handling the guests, we have pretty much let our parents handle all of the questions from family. As for the budget, we used the wish book prices (some are not exactly accurate, but close enough to get a good idea) and made our own little spreadsheets for the items we want to have/do to get a ball park price for the whole thing. I hope this helps!

Good Luck!

 

[pixie08]

As for the budget, we used the wish book prices (some are not exactly accurate, but close enough to get a good idea) and made our own little spreadsheets for the items we want to have/do to get a ball park price for the whole thing. I hope this helps!

Good Luck!

That is a great idea stitch626...we did the same thing. We used a combination of the price list Disney gave us and the wishbook and made a budget sheet!

 

[heathrow42]

It also seems difficult to plan financially given the 12 month time constraint and with everything having to be paid 30 days out.
~ Chad

You can come up with a pretty good ballpark estimate on your own. The prices are out for the different ceremony sites, if you have an estimate of the number of guests, you can estimate the food/beverage/dessert costs. And if you know the day of the week, you will know what your minimum with Disney will be (don't forget to add the tax and gratuity on top of the minimum) Then come up with estimates for everything Disney won't cover (air, hotel, clothes, invitations, officiant, rings, etc) Consider setting up a special savings account (look for a high yield one like ING or emigrant 4% +) to put away all the money till you need to write that big check 30days out.

Goodluck!
--Heather

 

[whodini]

Thanks for everyone's help. I got through on Tuesday and spoke with a sales manager on Friday. She said now was the perfect time to call for a Fall '07 wedding and that we should arrange a visit for sometime this summer.

Thanks again for all the input.

~ Chad