Brittany & Ryan 10/22/11 Wishes Wedding-Photos are in and reviews posted!!!

[DoomBuggy0922]

I can't believe I haven't written in here yet! Sorry I don't have any info on the BEO though. Have you sent an email to remind them? That's what I would do.

Anyway, your plans sound really fun! And I agree, the whole transportation issue does sound like a PIA. I am not looking forward to dealing with that at all... it's not something you ever think about spending money on, you know?!

Hope your BEO comes soon!

 

[DisneyBrittany]

Just wanted to say I have a hair and makeup artist for the wedding! I finally decided to book it and I'm so glad that Beaute Special still had openings. I originally wanted Patricia Lejeune but she was booked a long time ago.

I will have a hair trial on Thursday afternoon (that way I can have pretty hair for my drink around the world bachelorette party) then they will be at my door at 4 am on Saturday 10/22/11 to do my hair and makeup and get me out the door by 6:15 am for my MK shoot! Ahh early morning!

At this point I'm not paying for my girls to get their hair and make up done. For one thing they don't have to be ready until a few hours after me and for another that adds up fast!

 

[DisneyBrittany]

Here are our invitations! Now I just have to put together 100 more...

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Even a little bit of a hidden mickey if you can see it

 

[DisneyBrittany]

I was typing all of this out because I thought I was going to have to cut the dessert party. The lowest I could get it was 18K and we want our max to be 15K. I cut out all the alcohol and it made a huge difference! Does anybody see more ways that we can cut down on the budget? It is hard to decide what to cut when I am looking at it. Any advice is much appreciated! Thanks!

MK shoot – 1300

Wedding Ceremony/Outside 8:30 am-10:00 am on Saturday, October 22, 2011
Epcot, 50 guests

AV and Technical Services (Audio system)- 835
1 ceremony location usage – 2,079.63
1 Custom Wedding Photo Package (3 hours)- 1700
1 Floral wedding package- 1906.27
1 Floral moving fee- 75.00

Transportation
1 Motorcoach-Charter (8 hours)- 781.20
1 luxury van- one-way- 40.00
1 luxury van- one-way- 40.00
1 luxury van- one-way- 40.00

Ceremony Event Total- 7,497.10

Pre-Reception/Reception 10:00-3:00 pm on Saturday, October 22, 2011
Grand Floridian Summer House- 50 guests

AV and Tech Services 1 I-pod set up- 379.50
8 Domaine St. Michelle Blanc de Blanc – 381.44
Bell Services- 1 room delivery?- 10.00

Catering Food and Beverage
48 custom breakfast buffet @ 32.00/ Guest-1979.37
2 chef’s choice vendor meal @ 23.00/guest- 59.28
50 WDW, Int’l & Domestic Cheese Display @ 10.00/ Guest- 644.33
65 wedding cake @ 8.50/each- 711.98
1 white chocolate castle @ 100/each- 106.50

Estimated Event Total- 4,272.40

Dessert Party 8:00-9:30 pm on Saturday, October 22, 2011
Epcot- 50 guests

50 Illuminations Viewing Fee @ 12.95/guest- 689.59
1 Venue Pkg Eau de France- 266.25
49 Dessert Party, PEO Main Street @ 25/guest- 1578.60
1 outdoor set-up fee @ 85.00/each- 90.53
1 luxury van-one-way-40.00
1 luxury van-one-way-40.00

Estimated Event Total- 2,704.97


Estimated Program Total 14,474.47

Program Total Plus MK Shoot 15,774.47







Floral BEO

Bride’s bouquet- round, french bouquet of roses in shades of pinks- 225.00
Bride’s maid’s bouquets- smaller version of bride’s (4)- 440
Light pink rose petals for flower girl basket- 12.50
Grrom-White rose, ivy, hot pink satin ribbon wrap stem-12.50
Groomsmen/fathers/ushers- pink rose, ivy, light pink satin ribbon wrap stem (12)- 150
50 white folding chairs for ceremony- 275
13 triple cylinder vase sets filled with clear stones and water- 195
Top each cylinder with a single rose bloom in pink- 195
Fresh floral accents for cake- 75
Hand-tied bouquet for bouquet toss- 35.00
Move reception cylinder vases and add 1 LED light to each cylinder (39)- 117

Total Floral- 1,906.27

 

[princesswendy720]

I was going to suggest cutting the champagne, but if you have no other alcohol you might want to leave it.

-You have 3 luxury vans listed under ceremony/reception...could that be replaced with a one way minibus for cheaper?
-Is there any way to negotiate your BM bouquets to be cheaper? They are over $100 each
-I, personally, am not crazy about bouts. So I'd say cut them for everyone but the groomsmen. Too expensive.
-What are the standard chairs for the ceremony space? Would it be cheaper to cover them than rent other chairs?
-Just a suggestion but...cut the castle cake topper.
-The 8 hour charter seems long...would you be open to getting people to the ceremony, to the reception, then letting them find their way back? You'll be on the monorail and so close to the MK and the Ticket and Transportation Center. That way you could just charter for the minimum 5 hours.

 

[MissManners]

I agree with Wendy, I would cut the bouts and the cake topper. Or if you don't want to cut the cake topper, get rid of the floral accents on the cake. If you get rid of one or the other, it will save you $75-$100. I also asked for a smaller bridal bouquet, because I didn't want anything huge. They can make you one similar to your bridesmaids but just a little bit bigger and it will probably save you at least $50. I was quoted at $150 for my "smaller" bouquet.

 

[irishwishes]

Just to add on top of the other posters...

Even though you're having your ceremony in Epcot you're allowed to bring your own personal floral. We had our ceremony in Germany and I got all my flowers online. If you don't want to go the online route, you may be able to use an outside vendor and just have them delivered to your room the day of. That could probably cut a whole bunch out of your floral budget. I think I paid about $350 for ALL the personal floral including bouts and parents flowers.

I also thought I REALLY wanted the white chairs for my ceremony, but once I saw the price they were cut. I honestly don't even notice them in our pics and don't regret not paying extra for the white ones at all.

You could also cut the transportation to Epcot for the DP and just take Disney transport.

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

I don't know how wedded you are to live floral, but have you asked about using silk flowers?

Alternatively, you could switch the bridesmaids boquets to rose wants and use a bridesmaid boquet as your bridal one (much easier to carry anyhow).

Another suggestion would be to DIY your centerpieces and have a trusted friend or family member set them up (though I don't know how artistic you are or how you're planning to travel. HTH

 

[DisneyBrittany]

Thank you ladies this has helped a lot! I have decided that we are making our own personal floral. My MOH is pretty crafty and we will have all the pieces bought minus flowers before we get down there. It will be work and a little stressful but it will save us $900.

I didn’t even realize that we had the motor coach for longer than the 5 hour minimum. Cutting out those last three hours will save around $300! I checked and the summer house is not far from the monorail either so people should be ok getting back to their resorts I hope.

At the moment I have gotten it down to around $14,570 which is a lot better! I know that my planner will have a heart attack when I tell her I want to cut all these things. This is what frustrates me though, instead of having a planner who works with me to try to get the most for my money, instead she gives me the most expensive option and then I feel like I have to push reallllly hard to do something a different way.

Thank you all for your help and if there are any more suggestions, keep them coming! Or if you know another way to do something, let me know!

P.S.- We can't do our own centerpieces because our event is outdoors.

 

[CherylLynn]

I was typing all of this out because I thought I was going to have to cut the dessert party. The lowest I could get it was 18K and we want our max to be 15K. I cut out all the alcohol and it made a huge difference! Does anybody see more ways that we can cut down on the budget? It is hard to decide what to cut when I am looking at it. Any advice is much appreciated! Thanks!

MK shoot – 1300

Wedding Ceremony/Outside 8:30 am-10:00 am on Saturday, October 22, 2011
Epcot, 50 guests

AV and Technical Services (Audio system)- 835
1 ceremony location usage – 2,079.63
1 Custom Wedding Photo Package (3 hours)- 1700
1 Floral wedding package- 1906.27
1 Floral moving fee- 75.00

Transportation
1 Motorcoach-Charter (8 hours)- 781.20
1 luxury van- one-way- 40.00
1 luxury van- one-way- 40.00
1 luxury van- one-way- 40.00

Ceremony Event Total- 7,497.10

Pre-Reception/Reception 10:00-3:00 pm on Saturday, October 22, 2011
Grand Floridian Summer House- 50 guests

AV and Tech Services 1 I-pod set up- 379.50
8 Domaine St. Michelle Blanc de Blanc – 381.44
Bell Services- 1 room delivery?- 10.00

Catering Food and Beverage
48 custom breakfast buffet @ 32.00/ Guest-1979.37
2 chef’s choice vendor meal @ 23.00/guest- 59.28
50 WDW, Int’l & Domestic Cheese Display @ 10.00/ Guest- 644.33
65 wedding cake @ 8.50/each- 711.98
1 white chocolate castle @ 100/each- 106.50

Estimated Event Total- 4,272.40

Dessert Party 8:00-9:30 pm on Saturday, October 22, 2011
Epcot- 50 guests

50 Illuminations Viewing Fee @ 12.95/guest- 689.59
1 Venue Pkg Eau de France- 266.25
49 Dessert Party, PEO Main Street @ 25/guest- 1578.60
1 outdoor set-up fee @ 85.00/each- 90.53
1 luxury van-one-way-40.00
1 luxury van-one-way-40.00

Estimated Event Total- 2,704.97


Estimated Program Total 14,474.47

Program Total Plus MK Shoot 15,774.47







Floral BEO

Bride’s bouquet- round, french bouquet of roses in shades of pinks- 225.00
Bride’s maid’s bouquets- smaller version of bride’s (4)- 440
Light pink rose petals for flower girl basket- 12.50
Grrom-White rose, ivy, hot pink satin ribbon wrap stem-12.50
Groomsmen/fathers/ushers- pink rose, ivy, light pink satin ribbon wrap stem (12)- 150
50 white folding chairs for ceremony- 275
13 triple cylinder vase sets filled with clear stones and water- 195
Top each cylinder with a single rose bloom in pink- 195
Fresh floral accents for cake- 75
Hand-tied bouquet for bouquet toss- 35.00
Move reception cylinder vases and add 1 LED light to each cylinder (39)- 117

Total Floral- 1,906.27

First, CONGRATS!!!!
Second, we are doing the same thing- cutting things to get everything as cost effective as possible. Good job on the budget costs you've already made! Here are a few more we've come up with.
1)Is there something you can cut off the meal to save a couple dollars per person? For instance, we're having a dinner, and they all come with dessert. Well, we've taken that off our menu since we'll have cake, and it's saving us on each meal. Could you cut something? Maybe an extra side, or one of the meats?
2)After a lot of hemming & hawing, we decided to cut the Cheese Display from our Pre-Reception. We'll be serving a huge meal just a few minutes later, so is it really worth $650 to feed them twice?
As some of the other girls have mentioned, could you cut one of the cake accents? Either the castle or the floral? Or could you buy something on your own to add it? A silk flower, or different castle not made from chocolate?
3)You are a thin girl, as I, and the bouquet size they make is pretty big. And from the opinion of many, too overpowering for such a small waist. Could you make the bouquet a tad smaller? A previous bride did this and saved a significant amount (her bouquet was still large & gorgeous). They can also make the BM bouquets smaller. Instead of using 18 roses, they can use 12. Or whatever the number is (I think you get the idea).
4)Instead of paying for a seperate toss bouquet, you can use one of the BMs.
5)Instead of using flowers in the cylinders, what about a floating candle? They're only $3.75 each, and (for free) they will tint the water for you to add a little pizzazz.
I've got plenty more ideas, but I've made this post long enough LOL. Let me know if there's any more I can do to help!

Again, CONGRATS! I can't wait to read more!!!

 

[DisneyBrittany]

I had this huge laundry list of items I was planning on discussing with my planner and I was trying to be nice and wait until our final phone conference on September 7th to send the list to her but I just couldn’t wait! I definitely have wedding on the brain and can’t concentrate on anything at work. I finally just typed it all up and sent it off to her. At least now I feel like a *little* pressure is off of me because I have moved all of those thoughts on to the next step and now she can think about them.

How much correspondence did you have with your planner leading up to the wedding? I’m trying to be as un-annoying as possible!

 

[DisneyBrittany]

Two months from today I will be in Disney World getting married!!!!


I can't believe that this time has flown by!

 

[CherylLynn]

So how is it all going?

 

[DoomBuggy0922]

Yay! Just 2 months!!! And how is everything going? How is the budget coming? (I love seeing peoples' budgets... I'm so nosy!)

 

[DisneyBrittany]

It’s so funny the things that start to worry you as you get closer to the event. In the beginning I couldn’t care less about sashes on the chairs for the reception or a seating chart. I wanted open seating because I wanted it to be very casual. Now I’m re-thinking that though because I know I would be stressed out as a guest if I had to worry about fighting for a seat!

Right now we have it set up for six tables of eight with a head table for 10. I don’t like that though because some of the bridal party have significant others that I know they will want to sit with. I’m thinking about changing the set-up and instead having a mix of tall boy tables and regular round tables. That way there can be a few smaller groups sitting at the tall boys and leave some open seats at the rounds. The only thing is that I don’t know if the tall boys have chairs that come with them? This is why I should have chosen the attic, it is set up perfectly for random mingling!

I’m also thinking about adding chair sashes. I don’t want to get there and realize that there isn’t any of my personality in the décor. I just hate paying 8.50 a piece for a chair sash! That’s $500 if every chair had a sash!

 

[MrsDuck]

Just jumping in with your PJ!! Your gown is gorgeous and all your plans sound lovely!

 

[DisneyBrittany]

We made our final payment today. It took lots of editing and we didn't receive our updated BEO until TODAY but it was finally good enough to pay.

I still have a few questions about things but hopefully we will have some time to go over everything again before the wedding.

Since the final payment is made, that means the wedding is one month from today!

 

[virtuous girl]

I love ur dress I just read ur entire PJ 1mth!!!

 

[DisneyBrittany]

When our room block closed last week we had gotten 90 rooms out of our contracted 27! We did pretty well in that respect.

I emailed my floral planner over a week ago about adding chair covers and sashes and possibly changing the table linens but I haven't heard anything. She usually is so quick to respond so I wonder if my email got lost in her inbox or if she is still super busy.

I ordered business cards today that have our photo sharing site on it. I will set these out at the reception and hope that people email or upload pictures to it!

I am creating an "I Spy" game that gives them a challenge to take a picture of everything on the list.

I still need to take my heels to get shorted 1/2 inch
Buy good quality paper to print I Spy game and possibly programs. Also print maps to monorail from Summer House etc..
Find out from my planner when/if/where we are having a rehearsal (Is my planner supposed to contact me with that information?)
Buy a rehearsal dinner and drink around the world dress?
Make our mailbox from "UP" for the guest book postcards
Make our baseball cap mickey ears
Receive our marriage license in the mail (why has it not arrived yet?)
Get an airbrush spray tan (Never had one before! I need a trial first)
Buy gift bags for bridesmaid's gifts
Create playlist on Ipod (Both ceremony and reception)
Buy a digital camera


So much to do, so little time!

 

[DisneyBrittany]

15 days from today!

Our marriage license is lost. It never made it to us from the Brevard county courthouse. We applied way over a month ago and they mailed it and cashed my check on 9-12. Today is 10-7 and it is still missing. I have contacted them and they told me I had to go through the whole process again. I had to fill out the form, have it notarized again, make copies of our driver’s licenses and mail it back in. I did not send another check though because I refuse to pay for something again when I don’t even know if they really sent it in the first place. I am really surprised they don’t use any sort of tracking on their packages so they can find out where it is. It is kind of an important document!

So, we will see if they send me another one and we will see if it gets here in time. I’m not freaking out yet because I know that if worse comes to worse we can go to the court house when we get to Florida. Although I’m just now realizing that we applied in Brevard county which I know is an hour away from Orlando from when I lived there….. that means a two hour drive there and back to get our license! Maybe I will just suck it up and pay another $93.50 to the Osceola court house when we get there. Ah! Why can’t things just be easy?


In other news… our dessert party time changed and was pushed back an hour. I’m not bothered by this at all and in fact I think it will be better. It will give people more time to eat and then digest their dinner so they will be ready to eat dessert. Our dessert party is now from 9-10:30. It will also extend our wedding day just a tiny bit! I’m just glad I hadn’t printed out a times guide or anything yet.

Most other little to-dos are done. I ordered an “I Spy” game I made for the reception along with a map from the Summer House to the Monorail and business cards asking guests to upload their pictures to our site. All of those should arrive from Vista Print sometime next week. I have started packing, and am figuring out who I still owe balances to and that kind of thing. Life is good!