British Bride - Escape Wedding

[B2B-2008]

Hi Guys,

I am in the process of booking my Disney escape wedding through Virgin Holidays. Not Virgin I hear you say but they are the best option for me as I work long hours and would find it hard to make time to call the USA. I have also used Virgin regally and at the moment do trust them.

At the moment I have no wedding date but know that my family are traveling to Florida on the 24th of July 2008 for two weeks. We really want to get married at the WP but know that I can't book that until eight or nine months before. Fingers crossed my dream will come true.

The reason I am posting is because at the moment I want to research all the options available to us as much as possible. My questions to you all are which location did/are you getting married in, why and what time? What did/will you be doing after the wedding?

I'm information hungry at the moment so any ideas, suggestions are welcome. At the moment there are eight other people coming with us.

Thanks in advance for all your help.

 

[orangetiggs]

Hi and welcome.

I'm a uk bride as well and having worked for virgin I understand your reasons for booking with them. We have booked our honeymoon with them but we are having a custom wedding so have to do that direct with disney.

This board has been so helpful for me and everyone on here are so happy to help.

Just enjoy it all!!

We are hoping for the pavillion as well but I know alot of others have used the other sites on here so anyone will help answer your questions

 

[karentan]

i got married at the pavilion, booked through virgin weddings and had no end of problems with them. wish i'd have gone direct (long story).
we had our wedding at 2pm, went to chef mickeys for dinner at about 5.30, then had a wishes fireworks cruise at about 8/9 (cant really remember the time!)if youve got any questions feel free to PM me. the link to my photos is in my signature
congrats on the upcoming wedding
karen

 

[Summer-Caitlin]

Welcome to the boards!!! I to am from the UK and I have booked direct too. To be completely honest though, I think you would be better exploring your options and reconsider and book direct with Disney. Many brides have complained about having problem when booking through a tour operator. I also work long hours and I have had no trouble booking the wedding direct, I also email rather than call as at least this way I can do this when it is most convenient for me. I have only talked to my wedding coordinator once on the phone but 'spoken' to her loads of time through email. They have always been most helpful
Anyway to answer your question, I am getting married August 20th at 10.00am at Sea Breeze Point, we chose 10.00am mainly because of the weather, less heat in the am and less chance of rain. We chose Sunset Point initially but it was not allowed during the summer months (too hot) so we went for Sea Breeze Point instead. I'm now glad we did as it's under cover and is a beautiful location. You'll notice it's a really popular location. We are dining at Citricos for lunch after the wedding, then Victoria and Alberts for dinner at 6.45pm. I will be wearing my wedding dress both times.
If you have any more questions feel free to ask, we are a friendly bunch on here!

 

[B2B-2008]

Thanks for all your replies so far.

Summer-Caitlin - I have toyed with the idea of booking direct but have been told is can be more expensive. Is this the Case? If I was to book direct can you call them on Saturdays? Also what is the number to call from England. I think I still have time to pull out with virgin as the order has not been placed yet.

Has anyone used the Disney photographer supplied for the Escape weddings?

Also have have seen people mention that you can get international options, do we get these and what are they?

Sorry for so many questions.

 

[Laurafoster]

We had originally booked with Virgin and they caused us no end of issues. Fortunately we ended up with a custom wedding and had to go direct.

Ive used them loads of times for holidays but with a wedding to be honest all they are doing is relaying information between disney and you, and back and forth - piggie in the middle so to speak.

I had quite a large wedding and i never called Disney throughout my planning! My planner arranged to call me if anything needed to be discussed and they always called me in the evenings (late afternoon for them) so it was convenient. Even so we only had a few calls as most was dealt with via email which was great for me!

As for it working out more expensive, im not sure as i had a custom wedding. But the exchange rate is good at the moment so that might work in your favour!

Ive never heard of any international options though??

 

[Funniebunny]

We've booked with Virgin and are getting married at Sunset Pointe in November. I work in travel so it was easier for me to book with Virgin. My advice would be to keep in touch with the wedding planner. I've emailed many times and phoned about a few things. She has been really helpful. I think if you keep in contact things are much easier.
I booked my ADR's through Disney direct though, most can be done 180 days prior and you can book the restaurants through one number.
Good luck with your planning

 

[dee slack]

the exchange rate is good at the moment so that might work in your favour!

sorry to hijack the thread, but has any UK brides who booked direct with Disney, paid amounts off during the run up to their wedding? I noticed that the £/$ rate seems to be getting better again so thought it might be a good time to pay some now if that's possible.

 

[Whoopdedoo]

Hiya
I too am getting married next year June 08 I'm hoping to have an escape wedding and get married at wp then sit down meal in a restaurant and then dessert party at illuminations. I am booking direct with disney as the tour operator I want to go with stil hasn't got prices for next year.
I called disney a couple of weeks ago (really exciting!!!) The girl I spoke to was really friendly and helpful and arranged a call back for me within 48hrs from a wedding co-ordinator her name was Brie. I had a list of questions ready and in total was on the phone to her for over an hour.
It's really disappointing to have to wait til 8months in advance I'm really worried about not getting everything I want when I call in October she said they would do their best.
I have found it cheaper to go with disney direct and you know what you are getting it feels like if you book with tour operator you don't get a straight answer.
About the exchange rate. It's worth while to open an account with your bank that you can put dollars in to. I just found out today, so you buy your dollars now while the exchange rate is good then hold them in the bank account til you need to use them. This means that you are not loosing any money on exchanging them. We worked out if we paid for our wedding now then it's £5000 if the exchange drops to $1.4 then it's more like £8000. Big difference! You pay the final balance 30days before your wedding but I don't know if they will take down payment before hand.
I have all the answers to my questions I asked if you want me to email them to you I can, just email me your address: Hannahfox84@aol.com

Hope this helps.... Congratulations!
Hannah

 

[Laurafoster]

We paid most of ours off well before the 30 day mark!! We had a nationwide Credit card so we ended up getting most of ours at almost $2 to the pound which worked out great! We got a credit card payment form with our BEO, you uts fax it over as and when you want to pay something!

 

[dee slack]

We paid most of ours off well before the 30 day mark!! We had a nationwide Credit card so we ended up getting most of ours at almost $2 to the pound which worked out great! We got a credit card payment form with our BEO, you uts fax it over as and when you want to pay something!

we've also got the Nationwide c/card so wanted to pay off the bulk now while it's high again, how far in advance can you do that? We've still got just under 6 months so not sure if it's still too early, even tho' I've already requested the carriage and the MK photo's. If I send back my requests form, will they send me a BEO sooner?

 

[Laurafoster]

I would imagine so!! Although, you know the rough amount so i wouldnt see why you couldnt just send over a payment form for that amount and then see what the difference is!!

We had completely paid ours off about 4 months out i think.

 

[macca77]

Hi we also would like to get married at the wedding pavillion and want to do so in april 2009.
Im thinking off going through a travel agent like virgin or 1st choice as there is going to be about 25 of us going and it seems like it will be easier to sort it all out, and cheaper for all our friends and familly to stay on i drive or somewhere.
If we book through a travel agent, can you still get cinderellas carrige? Also does anyone know where this takes you as its quite alot of money and if it only takes you to the chappel it may not be worth the cost.
We would then go somewhere like the olive garden for dinner then hopefully back to a function room on idrive has anyone any ideas that rent a function room to have a party on?

Also does anyone know the maximimum amount of people we can have to our wedding at the pavillion if we book through a travel agent and do they need disney tickets to be able to join us for the wedding?

If booking through a travel agent does anyone know the amount of days we need to spend on disney property ive heard 5 but i know if you book through disney its 25?

Thank you.

 

[karentan]

if you plan on having 25 people, you cant have an escape(intimate) wedding. the max guest count for those is 20 including the bride and groom. if you are having that amount, you will have to go for a custom, bookable only through disney, you'll then be required to have your reception onsite, if you do want to go offsite after, you'll have to keep the guest count under 20 if you wanted to have the intimate. you can get your travel agent to book the carriage, but as far as i'm aware its mainly for show and will only take you between the grand floridian and the wedding pavilion. your guests wont need disney passes to attend the actual wedding itself. if you book an intimate, you need to stay onsite for a minimum of 5 days. if you choose to go for a custom, you will be given a minimum number of rooms that you have to book (either for yourself or your guests), depending on the number of guests attending the wedding
hope that helps, if you have any other questions, feel free to PM me.
karen

 

[disneygirl24]

I just wanted to say how nice it was to hear from all the british brides on one board, its a really good support network

 

[Laurafoster]

Karens right an escape wedding or intimate as it used to be known is a maximum of 18 guests plus the bride and groom.

If you want more people it ahs to be booked through Disney! You have to have your reception onsite and the minimum spend there is $10,000.

The Cinderella coach only takes you to the Wedding Pavillion! It is a lot of money for such a short time which is why we did not go for it in the end!

One thing i will say is it is not any easier going through a travel agent rather than Disney! I booked with Disney and let me guests sort their own trip out!

With a custom wedding you have to guarantee a minimum of 25 room nights in a Disney Hotel! We met this quite easily as me and DH were staying for 14 nights and so were my parents so that was 28 night before i added anyone else on.

 

[orangetiggs]

we are doing the same we ahve booked 14 nights and so have 3 other couples so we are easily meeting our 25 night min stay

 

[macca77]

Yeah we can easily meet our 25 nite minnimum stay, my concern at the moment is 30 people have said they are coming so im booking a wishes wedding, But what if 12 drop out, will i still be left with the 100$ per head tabb for the 12 other people or can i just ring and change how many people will be there?
Also if more decide to come can i add this onto my wedding bill or once i have told them the amount it has to stick to that amount?

I wanted to book for everyone so i knew i had at least the 20 people booked and ready for the wishes wedding, and so we would all be together some nites, instead of scattered about.

 

[orangetiggs]

you get billed 30 days out so you can change the numbers i think thats what i have asked and it was no problem. I too and in the same boat we are planning for 30 and a custom but not everyone has booked so we might get down to 20 so i'm sure it could maybe be changed to a intimate wedding but i'm not sure

 

[macca77]

ok thanks orangetiggs, so much to sort so little time.
Gl with everything im sure we will both be posting lots of the same questions soon, thanks for all your help.