Budget Trimming

[Jenn1979]

Jeff and I are trying to trim down the budget as Jeff has not found a full time job yet (he still is working at his partime school job). The only thing that I can see cutting is maybe the harpist. We are having the reception at the Grand Floridian in the Whitehall room...Does anyone know if they have a sound system so that we could play CD's or they could play recorded music?

Also, has anyone asked their EM for help in trimming their budget? I feel kind of strange asking her for suggestions, as she is trying to make money for WDW.

Any suggestions???

Here's the budget so far:

Bride cosmetology (hair only) trial run ($55)

A 10AM ceremony at the Wedding Pavilion ($2343) includes organist

7 hour Disney Photo Package ($2595)

Harp solo – 7 hours ($1280)

Vintage Rolls Royce ($660)

A Disney Floral Package that includes ($1824):
-bridal bouquet
-4 bridesmaid bouquets
-flower girl rose petals
-6 boutonnieres
-4 corsages
-4 floral arrangements to line the aisle and then as reception center pieces
-A unity candle arrangement which moves to the head table at the reception
-rose petals for a “staged exit”
-Unity candle and taper candles
-Chocolate Cinderella Castle favors for all guests
- Floral for the top of the wedding cake
- Votive candles for the cocktail hour

Limo for wedding party transportation ($219)

Motorcoach to transport guests to and from the ceremony/reception ($390)

Soda and Water Package ($805)

Champagne Toast ($276)

Wedding Cake ($670)

Dinner for 35 ($3802)

The final damage being approx: $14,942

 

[Lisa1976]

OK, i may be being harsh, but this is what i would trim, i apolgoise in advance.

Cut down on the hours of photography
Do you really need a trial run for your hair, do you have a friend who does hair dressing?? I am having a friend do a few designs for me, taking pictures and taking these to Disney with me.
Cut out some of the extra flower bits (flower girl petals, corsages, button holes, they all mount up)
Do you have to provide your guests with transport, surely they can get there themselves


thats just my view and as i said I am harsh.

Lisa

 

[heatherlowe]

you could look for photography and floral outside of disney. that's what we're doing in order to cut costs some. there are some great suggestions on both if you read through the threads. unless having champagne is important to you and you know your guests will drink it for the toast, you could cut that and have everyone use whatever drink they have when the toasts are done (which is probably what we'll do just because we don't drink champagne). this way, you're not giving anything up, you're merely substituting other options. hope this helps.

 

[Merandab4]

These are just a few suggestions:
I too would suggest looking outside Disney for photography, (if you haven't already)

Also, Can you cut out the vintage RR and use the limo with the bridal party?

Flowers can really add up. As a last resort, maybe you can have a florist at home make silk arrangements for you and you can take them to WDW. This should cut your floral budget in half and you will be able to keep your bouquet longer because it will be silk!
one last suggestion. I know that for what Disney charges for one bottle of champange, you can get two bottles of sparkling cider for the same price. My EM says that this sparkling cider is so good, that she has people request it all the time. Your guest won't even realize the difference.

I know that it's hard to cut stuff when you've had your heart set on certain things. It's easy for all of us as outsiders to tell you or suggest what you should cut, but in the end, don't sacrafice what you want just to save a few hundred dollars because you may regret it later.
Good luck and let us know what you decide!

 

[jamie0201]

hey there... I know what its like to want all of these fantastic things, but i had to be realistic and do the same. we are having a custom wedding with 100 people. i havent got my prelim budget back, but i ended up cutting a lot of items out at the planning session we had a few weeks ago (looking forward to seeing what our budget comes out to look like, or not). our em is karen heynes, and she is great! i told her straight out where we needed to be financially and she was great with all of it. when i would ask her things, she would just shake her head and smile, b/c she knew it was out of our budget. im sure your em would be glad to help you cut things out. they really understand. karen had a wedding at disney and she knew exactly where i was coming from.

in my opinion.... just my opinion.... these are some of the things i would look at cutting out (some i cut as well)...

trial run for hair

i would think about looking elsewhere for photography. i found a photographer in orlando (SO REASONABLE). she is great and very personable!!!! not to mention, she included so many things.

i would also think about going elsewhere for floral. i am currently looking at my options and i have contacted one who is 1/2 the price of disney. probably going to use her.

i would cut the harp solo if you have a dj, if not i would leave that.

we cut the transportation for guests (everyone told me they are going to have their car or a rental)

maybe consider cutting the rolls royce and joining the bridal party. i am currently in the process of looking for a "party bus", which we can all use

and the only other thing you might want to change is the champagne toast. we are doing an apple cider toast. not many people like or drink champagne, and to save money we cut it out.


remember - this is just my opinion!!! i hope i was some help! if youd like some more help or names of local photo/floral, let me know... jamie0201@aol.com

jamie

 

[ahutton]

I used Disney cosmetology and did not do a trial run. I took a few pictures of things I like, explained my hair type and she did something that was stunning.

If you are doing everything at the WP and GF do you really need transportation? It is a fairly short stroll to the Whitehall Room. If you have a ceremony planned for during MK hours they can take available transportation to MK, then ride the monorail to GF and it is a short walk past the spa.

I would talk to the Floral people about scaling down (if you can't eliminate any of the items) the flowers. For lining the aisle we had tulle bows with some greens and a single rose, they were very inexpensive and lovely. We had candles arranged on the tables with very simple, inexpensive flowers around them.

For my photos, I did 3 hours of coverage. He arrived about 15 minutes before, did a few of my MOH and I in the dressing room, a couple of DH and BM. In that time frame he got our ceremony, staged exit (all together about 45 minutes), after portraits & coctail hour(another 45 minutes), dinner, cake and first dance (right about the last 15 minutes of our time block). Those were the moments I was concerned about, and we were not rushed. It might have run over by 15-20 minutes, but he was great working with allowing guests to take their pictures too which took longer. He actually is not with Disney - he is on his own (Damon Tucci).

They did (when we did our ceremony) have an option for the reception that was a CD player and sound system, not sure if that is still a choice.

I asked my EM for help in where to cut that wasn't obvious to my guests and she was a ton of help.

 

[marn913]

Here are my suggestions:

1. Look for an outside photographer - with Disney you are paying just for the photographer's time with a small credit towards prints. Most of the outside photographers like Randy Chapman will charge you the same amount, but it will include all of your prints and wedding alblum/ parent alblums too!

2. Cut out the trial run for your hair. Disney cosmo is excellent. Unless you want something extremely specific, I wouldn't bother with a trial run.

3. Change your soda package to "bill on consumption". This way you can approximate the number of drinks your reception guests will consume (we were charged $5/drink and budgeted 4 drinks per person into our budget). They will tally up what is served and you only pay for what is used. Our total bar tab for 35 guests with premium open bar for 5 hours was only $750 - and you are only serving soda/water! Disney will refund your money if you over pay and will take any excess out of your deposit!

4. The floral budget is reasonable. You may want to cut the floral arrangements for the aisles/tables and go with floating candle/flower petal centerpieces instead - ours ran about $18/table. The floral looks nice at the pavillion, but the site is so beautiful to start with that the flowers can end up going to waste -- we didn't end up with many pictures that showed the aisle, so I'm was glad that we didn't have extra decorations.

5. Find an alternate to the chocolate wedding favors from Disney -- you can bring your own and it will be a LOT cheaper! Remember that your guests will be having food and cake - the catering is excellent and the portions were large!

My best advice is not to get too caught up in the little details, it will drive you insane. Most of your guests will be amazed at the quality and beauty of your Disney wedding to start with, and you and your husband will be caught up in each other. Only keep the special expenses that you really want and would notice if they were not there to remain within your budget. Remember that the day is for you (not your guests), and it will be beautiful even if you reduce the number of flowers or hand out cheaper favors!

-Marne
06-16-03

 

[Jenn]

My sister used outside vendors for flowers and photography/video. Her (the bride's) flowers were provided by Disney, but for everyone else (2 bridesmaids, 2 flower girls, 2 groomsmen, 2 moms, 2 dads, 1 grandma) she ordered silk flowers over the internet had them shipped down to the wedding. They were beautiful and the total bill for all that was less than $200.

For photography she used Randy Chapman and for video, STVS. Search on the boards and you will find tons of info on both of them.

For transportation, we all shared the one limo (we had 16 people total). They took 1 trip from the hotel (Boardwalk) to the WP with the groom and guys, then came back for the bride and the ladies. AFter the ceremony, the limo took about 1/2 the group over to the GF while the bride and groom finished pictures. Then the limo came back for the rest of us. This was an intimate wedding, so the limo was still available after the cake reception, and they again took 2 trips back to Boardwalk with 1/2 the group in each.

We didn't do trial runs on the hair. All came out beautifully.

 

[LUVTGR]

Here's what I would do:
Outside vendor for photography/video
Sparkling cider instead of chamagne
Skip the trial hair
get rid of the harpist
get rid of the rolls and ride in the limo w/ bridal party
if possible cut out guest transport

Good luck

 

[Tinkerbelle14]

If you really want a Disney photographer, cut down the hours. Do you really need 7 hours of photography? Just think of how many pictures that is. I am probably going to go with the 2 hours when I do mine and I think that is more than enough.

 

[MICKEY69]

for our wedding we had 30 people and decided not to get the $600.00 cake to feed 25 people when it fed 50, We had the cinderella slipper for dessert(a really big hit) and dirt pots for the lids. We had just the top of the cake for $35.00 to cut.

I has my flower girls walk down with wands that I purschased off of ebay so that cut on the flowers.

Photographer - You can get randy Chapman for less money and all your photos will be included. I changed my videoagrapher 6 weeks prror to the wedding to STVS and boy was I happy with the end result.

Bring your own votives for the reception, the flowers - well all I had was the flowers around the unity candle which afterwards I thought that was perfect because you will have no where to keep them nor will your guets. You will only be in pavillion a short time so try to cut on the floral.

good luck keep us posted

 

[ellieb]

I did not read everyone elses reply's so I'm sorry if I state the same as someone else but from expierence I would trim the following:

TRIM-Bride cosmetology (hair only) trial run ($55)

Definately not needed. These hairstylist are professionals and if you know how you want your hair all you need to do is tell them and they will do a great job. Im sure of it

A 10AM ceremony at the Wedding Pavilion ($2343) includes organist
Although this is my favorite place for the ceremony it can be costly. If you set up your ceremony on the beach of the Grand Floridain it would be more than half the price. You also would need less decor.

DEFINATELY TRIM- 7 hour Disney Photo Package ($2595)
Randy Chapman can do a beautiful package for soooo much less than this and I feel the quality is better. (Just my opinion.)

DEFINATLEY TRIM-Harp solo – 7 hours ($1280)
This is nice but totally not needed. I can think of soooo many other nice touches that you can do with $1280.

Vintage Rolls Royce ($660)
I really like this but I had to trim this from my budget. If you can keep this then I would say do so however you can always get a limo for 1/2 the price. You are only using it for literally minutes.

A Disney Floral Package that includes ($1824):
-bridal bouquet
-4 bridesmaid bouquets
-flower girl rose petals
-6 boutonnieres
-4 corsages
-4 floral arrangements to line the aisle and then as reception center pieces
-A unity candle arrangement which moves to the head table at the reception
-rose petals for a “staged exit”
-Unity candle and taper candles
-Chocolate Cinderella Castle favors for all guests
- Floral for the top of the wedding cake
- Votive candles for the cocktail hour
As for this package I must say that I was truly impressed with Disney's flowers. They do such a beautiful job with this however they are a little overpriced. I would try to call local vendors to see what they have to offer. There are some really good ones that are so much less.

A KEEPER-Limo for wedding party transportation ($219)

CAN POSSIBLY TRIM-Motorcoach to transport guests to and from the ceremony/reception ($390)
If all of your guest are staying at the grand floridian they could easily walk to the ceremony and over to the reception. However if they are scattered then this you must keep.

A KEEPER-Soda and Water Package ($805) however I would chose to pay for this by consumption and make it an open bar as well. This part of my wedding was the cheapest. I had an open bar for 27 people which drank a total of 97 drinks as well as 3 bottles of Iron Horse fairytale Cuvee and 1 Bottle of sparkling cider for the children and the total only came to 442.75. I ended up having to pay and extra $100 bartender fee because it did not reach 500.00. So have this on consumption only.

KEEP-Champagne Toast ($276)

This is tricky-Wedding Cake ($670)
If you are having a dessert then I would say just have the top of the cake cut and cut out an entire cake. If you are not having a dessert then I say keep this and have it in it's place. This I did keep for my wedding however cut dessert from our menu due to the fact that we were also having a dessert party in the eve. I felt that it would be a waste of food as well as money to have all these sweets even though they are really nicely presented.

KEEP-Dinner for 35 ($3802)
However what are you having???? As I mentioned I had 27 guest 21 were adults and 6 were children. My meal consist of the following
Bibb lettuce with Herbs, Edible Flowers, Miro Greens and a warm Goat Cheese Scone, Passed Rosewater Vinaigrette

Maine Lobster Tails, and Seared Twin Beef Filet with Lemon Beurre Blanc, Potato Basket Filled with Roasted Garlic Potato Mousse and Baby Vegtables not to mention rolls candy that I had them scatter over the tables. This was just enough food. I also opted to not have a pre-reception due to my ceremony being at noon and us not having a professional photographer. However we still managed to have special photo's taken right after the ceremony at the pavillion. (THANK YOU STAN) So my guest just headed straight to the reception and awaited our arrival which was just a few minutes wait.

If you would like to see my detailed report that I recieved after the wedding with what they charged for what I had just email me and I would be more than happy to show you.

All in all everything that I had from Disney ONLY which was
Pavillion location
2 limos
Major domo
Dessert party at the lower UK in epcot
Cake with white chocolate topper
Food for 27 guest
open bar for 27 guest
Carature artist
Hair and Make-up
Florist wedding package
Disney DJ
Mickey and Minnie mouse visting reception
Paying for guest to get into epcot to view illuminations
cost 11,792.00.

With my outside vendors included which were
STVS VIDEO
ORLANDO BALLOONS BY DESIGN
ALL MY CENTERPIECES AND TABLE DECOR
FAVORS
EM AND SM GIFTS
PLACE CARD SEATING FRAMES
LITOGRAPH FOR SIGNING ECT
WEDDING DRESS
The grand total for my wedding came to around 16,800.00. My dress took up about $1600 of that total(OUCH
I just pray my daughter will want to use it for her wedding and hope my husband does not read this post LOL)

Dont be afraid to change things with your EM. They want your day to be magical and of course for you to be able to pay for it , so they will accomidate whatever you need.

Good Luck to you and let us know how things go.