Break between Reception and Dessert Party?

[johnscafide]

Hey ya'll! Our reception at the GF Ballroom in October will be from 5pm - 9pm. We just noticed that the Wishes Fireworks start at 9pm in October, not 10 during other months. We have our feelings set for having a dessert party after the reception, but with the timing, we didn't want to cut short the reception (ie. 5-8pm) or take out the Pre-Reception and move up the reception. My DF mentioned the possibility of breaking up the reception for the dessert party, then everyone coming back for the end.

Has anyone else done this or know if it's a good idea?

Thanks!

 

[Chilly]

I have heard of people doing it yes.

 

[kirasaurus]

My only issue with this, it's so much food within a few hours!! That's just me though, I probably have the world's smallest stomach

But, yes, I've seen people's PJs that divide up the reception to slip in time for a desert party

 

[DisneyDJChuck]

It is possible to do it, yes, however if you have a DJ, keep in mind it will be counted as a "continuous" reception. In other words: your reception is originally 5pm-9pm, but you leave for the dessert party from 8pm-10pm, and then come back to the ballroom to continue from 10pm to 11pm. You will more than likely be billed 6 hours for the DJ, not 4.

 

[Chilly]

My only issue with this, it's so much food within a few hours!! That's just me though, I probably have the world's smallest stomach

But, yes, I've seen people's PJs that divide up the reception to slip in time for a desert party

Yeah its a ton of food, we pretty much went straight from the reception to the DP and hardly anything got eaten.

 

[johnscafide]

We thought if that would be too much food, however our plan is to not serve any dessert or cake (including coffee or tea) at the reception. Our cake would be served at the dessert party. Because our guest list is pretty small and reasonable, we can have everyone go from the GF Convention center to the GF Marina and sit down for dessert and watch the Wishes fireworks with cake.

I think it'll be very cool, unique and a nice experience!

 

[johnscafide]

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[lpizzuro123]

Sounds like a great idea to me. Definately check with your planner on this. Sounds like fun.

Linda

 

[YvetteG]

we had a 10am ceremony. reception from 11-2pm. and then an Illuminations DP at night. People loved it. Some people went back to the pool in the afternoon. Others spent the afternoon at the parks. Several people told me they really liked how things were split up, to give you a little time in between. Especially at Disney, don't worry about a break in the action. People will have lots of stuff to do.

 

[pezaddict231]

You can definitely do this, also the DP is only an hour total, so it would prob be 8:30 - 9:30. What time is your ceremony? It seems like you are looking at 3 - 4 pm ceremony, 4 - 5pm pre-reception, 5 - 9 pm reception. In which case the DP would be 8:30 - 9:30 and that would be the end. You don't get the time back that you aren't in the room. If you wanted more time, you could extend the reception by an hour, but as you mentioned you have a small group, I would just save the money you would spend to extend it on a bar tab at Mizner's.

We actually a similar timeline, our ceremony was at 5, pre-reception 6-7 and then the reception was 7-12. We extended it by an hour. The fireworks basically just became part of the reception. Mickey & Minnie came, took pics / danced and then led everyone out to the GF Marina (they stayed inside but walked everyone to the exit). We were there for about an hour, could have been less, it was really hot that night. Then we went back for an hour and a half or so for more dancing.

 

[johnscafide]

It is possible to do it, yes, however if you have a DJ, keep in mind it will be counted as a "continuous" reception. In other words: your reception is originally 5pm-9pm, but you leave for the dessert party from 8pm-10pm, and then come back to the ballroom to continue from 10pm to 11pm. You will more than likely be billed 6 hours for the DJ, not 4.

@DJChuck: I just listened to the Inside Disney Weddings Podcast with you on it, and I can't wait to request you for our wedding!!

You can definitely do this, also the DP is only an hour total, so it would prob be 8:30 - 9:30. What time is your ceremony?

@Pezaddict231: I read and heard from many sources that you can extend the DP another half hour. In this case, Our schedule would look something like this:

2:30 - 3:00pm :: Ceremony @ Wedding Pavillion
3:30 - 4:30pm :: Pre-Reception @ The Summerhouse
5:00 - 8:00pm :: Reception @ Grand Floridian Ballroom
8:30 - 10:00pm :: Dessert Party at The Grand Floridian Marina

The idea is to have the cake cut at the ballroom, but served during the DP and not the reception for the full experience and well... to have fun with the cake! (ie. mix cake with fudge toppings or ice cream!!!)

Also, we understand we would be paying for 4 hours of a DJ, but only using 3 hours of that for the reception.. which is why we are going back and forth with having the pre-reception at the ballroom instead of the summerhouse.