Bride-to-be's totally confusing PJ - Beach towel design =o)

[Starr W.]

If you use California Grill, you have to use their menu..no if ands or buts. I loved the idea of California Grill, and were told we could only use their menus, and couldn't customize them. I thought I read with a Magic Kingdom ceremony you had to hold reception at the Grand Floridan or is there an exception for that?

Hopefully you'll hear if you can hold it somewhere else at Magic Kingdom

I think you are right about having your reception at GF for the MK ceremony.

 

[Bride-to-be]

Our consultant just said that "The only weddings we had in the Magic Kingdom was the early morning wedding with the reception at one of our Convention Centers."

So I don't know. Maybe that is the case - if it is I guess we would end up staying at the GF and maybe they would let us use the whitehall room or something. I really don't know much about the reception options.

We will just have to wait and see what happens with the ceremony. I don't want to get too excited about all of the options and then find that they won't move the ceremony out of SBL. So I just have to be patient and not think about it too much.

 

[pink_tink8i8]

this is from Carrie's (lurkyloo) passporter book:

Magic Kingdom ceremonies take place at the Swan Boat Landing at the foot of Cinderella Castle. The venue is part of a $25,000 ceremony-only package for the couple and up to 50 guests; the standard Wishes Collection per-person food and beverage minimum expenditure and room-night minimums apply in addition to the ceremony package. Transportation to the ceremony and reception for you and your guests is included. Guests ride down Main Street, U.S.A. in motor cars to the ceremony site, while the bride arrives in a horse-drawn landau coach. The package includes a string quartet, a Fanfare Trumpeter and Major Domo to announce the bride, ceremony floral and decor, and a photography and videography package for the ceremony. These elements are available for the reception at an additional charge.

 

[tiggersam00]

Ok, as far as grapefruit and champagne I would say no... most people think it is too tart (I loveeee grapefruit but I feel this way too...) if you want pink I know they serve a champagne punch that is pink though! It looks very pretty and yummy! The other option is a mimosa with a bit of grenidine at the bottom, it adds a sunshin-y effect to the drink and still tastes sweet

 

[Skylarr29]

Our consultant just said that "The only weddings we had in the Magic Kingdom was the early morning wedding with the reception at one of our Convention Centers."

So I don't know. Maybe that is the case - if it is I guess we would end up staying at the GF and maybe they would let us use the whitehall room or something. I really don't know much about the reception options.

We will just have to wait and see what happens with the ceremony. I don't want to get too excited about all of the options and then find that they won't move the ceremony out of SBL. So I just have to be patient and not think about it too much.

Will you fit in the Whitehall room with 60-70? I don't think you will. We used the Whitehall and we had about 30ish. It is a beautiful room though.

Contemporary has convention center rooms all though that would need more decor.

 

[Bride-to-be]

AHHH now you having me fixated on reception spaces - and we don't even know if we are doing the castle! ahhhh.

So I went back to the DFTW website and couldn't find anything about the whitehall room so I googled it and found it under disney meetings. With banquet rounds it has a max of 70. Max I think we would be 64. Anyhoo I looked at some pictures - I think its too formal. I feel like we would need something much more casual. I really want to stay away from the ballroom look - especially since its just breakfast.

Sigh. I am going to do my best to be patient.

 

[Bride-to-be]

this is from Carrie's (lurkyloo) passporter book:

Magic Kingdom ceremonies take place at the Swan Boat Landing at the foot of Cinderella Castle. The venue is part of a $25,000 ceremony-only package for the couple and up to 50 guests; the standard Wishes Collection per-person food and beverage minimum expenditure and room-night minimums apply in addition to the ceremony package. Transportation to the ceremony and reception for you and your guests is included. Guests ride down Main Street, U.S.A. in motor cars to the ceremony site, while the bride arrives in a horse-drawn landau coach. The package includes a string quartet, a Fanfare Trumpeter and Major Domo to announce the bride, ceremony floral and decor, and a photography and videography package for the ceremony. These elements are available for the reception at an additional charge.

Thanks Sabrina! Does anyone know if Carrie's book is available in hard copy? I really want to read it but I am so bad with online stuff. I did a borders and amazon search and couldn't find anything I could totally misunderstand - but I figured that the ceremony cost fufilled the required mins and that we were just required to spend the additional food and beverage - so I figured we could do a low-key breakfast with not a whole lot of decor. And the hotel mins of course too.

One problem with doing the California Grill is that we have to stick to their menus and the most expensive breakfast they offer is $35. If they won't let us change anything I don't think it would work. Even if we added an open bar (I don't think it would be that popular at breakfast) we still wouldn't reach the food & bev min.

Ok so maybe grapefruit and champage is a bad idea. I will have to ask about the punch!

 

[Skylarr29]

How about just using the Whitehall Patio? I don't know if you want a buffet or not but they could set the buffet up in the whitehall room and you can have the reception on the patio, there is a lot more space out there for tables etc. We had 4 tables and a head table, personally I don't see how we could have gotten 3 more rounds in there. 7 tables would easily fit on the patio and then it would be more casual. Also, if it happened to be freezing you could just move inside and at least you would know you have a decent back up location. January weather is so iffy. You can look at some pics in my trip report if you want, link is in my signature.

You could add a Cinderella slipper dessert to the menu at the California grill and by adding some punches/bar you would probably be fine with your minimum if the California Grill is what you really like. Also, cake is not included in the food and bev minimum at CG just so you know, because the cake would be made at the GF.

 

[Bride-to-be]

Thanks Melissa - I would have never ever guessed that about the cake. Good to know. I have to read through your trip report again. Its been a little while.

So I just read Heidi's trip report and now I am wondering. All of this mess of venues is all about the dress.

If I just forgot about the dress and left it to slowly die in my closet then I wouldn't have the need for a formal reception. We could just stick with the cruise maybe talk them into a lunch on the beach and I could just make it super casual like heidi's escape.

Is all of this stress worth it just to wear the dress of my dreams?

 

[pigget74]

Thanks Melissa - I would have never ever guessed that about the cake. Good to know. I have to read through your trip report again. Its been a little while.

So I just read Heidi's trip report and now I am wondering. All of this mess of venues is all about the dress.

If I just forgot about the dress and left it to slowly die in my closet then I wouldn't have the need for a formal reception. We could just stick with the cruise maybe talk them into a lunch on the beach and I could just make it super casual like heidi's escape.

Is all of this stress worth it just to wear the dress of my dreams?

This would be my vote----what about a reception in your hometown after the cruise and you could wear the dress then. I had friends who went away to get married and then did a big reception/party after they got back. It was a huge hit. It could be a Disney Celebration theme and you would look great!

Good luck.

 

[irisbud]

I guess I don't understand why you can't wear the dress you want on the beach

I think that that dress would look gorgeous on Castaway as well, not out of place at all! It is a wedding for goodness sake! It's not like there's a rule that just because you are having a cruise wedding it has to be casual. As with ANY venue you choose, you should wear what YOU feel comfortable in. Betsy had a beautiful dress for her onboard wedding and Lisa also wore a traditional wedding gown.

Just genuinely curious, why do you think you shouldn't wear that dress on Castaway

 

[Starr W.]

Thanks Sabrina! Does anyone know if Carrie's book is available in hard copy? I really want to read it but I am so bad with online stuff. I did a borders and amazon search and couldn't find anything I could totally misunderstand - but I figured that the ceremony cost fufilled the required mins and that we were just required to spend the additional food and beverage - so I figured we could do a low-key breakfast with not a whole lot of decor. And the hotel mins of course too.

One problem with doing the California Grill is that we have to stick to their menus and the most expensive breakfast they offer is $35. If they won't let us change anything I don't think it would work. Even if we added an open bar (I don't think it would be that popular at breakfast) we still wouldn't reach the food & bev min.

Ok so maybe grapefruit and champage is a bad idea. I will have to ask about the punch!

Is that $35 one their brunch/breakfast buffet? I was at WDW for a industry conference we had that the one morning at CG. Wow, it was really good!
Mouseweddings shows a menu for a brunch close to what we had, but she's showing a price in the $40-50 range.

 

[tiggerrifficheidi]

Aw, sweetie, I just caught up on your dilemma after you posted on my TR. I have to tell you I'm a bad person to make a judgment call about casual vs. princessy, because I was blessed enough to have both. I LOVED my casual wedding and I LOVED the more extravagant one.

I think some of the other girls are hitting on something here:

1. Unless you just really hate it, I don't see any problem with wearing that dress on the beach. It's not over-the-top at all. It's classic and elegant...and that goes anywhere. I can see it looking GORGEOUS with some tropical orchid and calla lillies!

2. Typical "norms" for dress styles have flown out the window in recent years. If you want to wear sleeveless in the winter...go ahead. If you want to wear casual in a cathedral...go ahead. If you want to be Belle on the beach...go ahead!

3. As far as the reception, I worried about our reception at Narcoossee's not being classy enough, but I think we tend to obsess about details during the planning and it will be beautiful however it turns out. You're the bride, so everyone expects you to be fancy no matter where you are. Think of all the people who have receptions in barns nowadays! They still dress it up quite a bit.

4. Do consider having a reception where you can wear the fancy dress later! That's a great idea if you don't want to wear it on the cruise. I think we should start a social revolution and start wearing fancy dresses more often anyway!

5. Another option-there is a bride who is on here some of the time who changed her ceremony location and didn't think the dress she had went very well with the new location. So, she had one dress for the ceremony and reception and another (the more princessy one) for the DP and the MK Photo shoot. Her pics look great! Think about wearing the Belle dress for a MK shoot and maybe have a farewell breakfast for your guests afterward where you still wear it! You'll have the pictures forever and you will LOVE that.

Please let me know if I can help you in any way.

 

[Bride-to-be]

Thanks everyone!!!!

I can't wear the dress on the beach. If we do the beach ceremony I want to make it super informal. DF wants to wear board shorts which I think is great and I am totally down for wearing a bathing suit and cover up - I just want to be able to wear the dress at some point. sniff sniff. We went to a more traditional wedding last fall and we were told to wear flip flops and that it was super casual. We didn't wear jeans - but most people did. The bride and groom wore really formal stuff and it just seemed weird. It really didn't feel right.

So then I thought about the MK photoshoot and thought was a great compromise. But then when I weighed out the costs of bring the photographer on the cruise and everything else its only like a few K more to just have a castle ceremony. Then part of me thinks a few K is a ton of money. Then another part of me says - its our wedding we only get to do it once (unlike Heidi).

So that gets me back to thinking about just forgetting about the dress anyway. We had never planned to do a MK photoshoot and so I don't really care either way about that. If we did do the castle ceremony I think I would try to skip the MK photoshoot and see if they will substitue something else into the package.

OK so DF and I just had a long talk. He wants to put everyone in hotels for another night after we get back and rent out victoria and alberts for dinner - assuming we did the cruise beach wedding. He thinks its a better value than the castle for the same price. Ok gotta run to lunch. More later.

 

[29apr00]

Victoria and Alberts is for guests ages 10 and up. Don't you have a lot of younger children? You're stuck with the same problem you have with Palo, children are not allowed.

 

[Starr W.]

Victoria and Alberts is for guests ages 10 and up. Don't you have a lot of younger children? You're stuck with the same problem you have with Palo, children are not allowed.

The OP is back to square one, even though rules may be slightly different for the private room at V&A, I don't think they have a supply of chicken nuggests for kids in the kitchen.

So the option is to drop the kiddies off at the GF's Kids Club(which we know isn't an option for some of the parents) or find another place.

Napa room at CG?

 

[Bride-to-be]

Victoria and Alberts is for guests ages 10 and up. Don't you have a lot of younger children? You're stuck with the same problem you have with Palo, children are not allowed.

NO NO NO NO NO. This goes back to my main point again. If you rent the place out they DO allow children - they also do a special kids menu for them. They are sooooo nice about it too. (Thats why Palo is making me so angry)!

The only negative side is this - I was planing to rent it for only half the night. and apparently come september the rules change and if you are renting for half hte night you have to be there at 9!!! It used to be 5 something and 8:30. 8:30 would have been fine but 9 is too late I fear. So we would be stuck renting for the whole evening so we could start whenever and by the time you include alcohol (no open bar packages) we would be at the same price as a castle wedding. So I think I would rather have the castle even if it is slightly under construction. But sigh well see.

Another option is to stick with the Napa room for a standing reception (max is 70 for that instead of 50 for seated) the first night. Cruise wedding. Then get a hotel for everyone for the last night and do a LSS reception. DF is scared to ask about it because he thinks with our luck it will be taken or under construction or closed on Thursdays.. haha.

I am trying to not think to hard about all of this (its all I can think about!!!) and just wait to hear about the castle ceremony options - if there are any this week.

TTFN

 

[ariel2007]

You must be getting so confused with all the options, they seem to be infinite . Anyhoo, I think you should try and sit down with your DF and try and work out what you both really really want to do, and then look at the options you have around that, else you may just keep going in circles. It seemed like you initially loved the idea of the more casual beach ceremony at CC with a more formal reception. How about sticking with the beach ceremony, then having a reception in one of the places they offered like Beach Blanket and keeping it informal. Then when you get back from the cruise, do an extra night at Disney like your DF suggested and do a more formal reception then. If your not contracted in to room minimums etc with Disney you could always stay somewhere off site for the first night to save a bit of money. Just a thought

 

[29apr00]

So what's the lastest, did you hear about having the ceremony on the front castle steps? What about renting out all of V&A??

 

[irisbud]

...I think you should try and sit down with your DF and try and work out what you both really really want to do, and then look at the options you have around that, else you may just keep going in circles...

Agreed.

I think it is next to impossible to plan a wedding when you have no idea what it is that you really want. It's time to do as the PP said and sit down with your DF and figure out what you and DF want. It is YOUR special day.

Once you know what you really want you can work on getting it. You may have to make comprimises or be flexible on some of it, but I am sure you can come up with something that will work for you.

I hope you can find a solution that makes you happy