dd & her bf hinting....

[Deesknee]

Actually, it's more than hinting. They have told us around her senior year of college or shortly after her graduation they will become engaged. With a marriage to follow within 1 1/2 yrs after engagement.

I am so ignorant to costs. I know they (we) would love a WDW wedding, but unsure if that is possible, as he has a rather large extended family.

So, I would like to start planning and hopefully make this dream come true.

My questions:

1) in general when planning a nonWDW wedding when they say for instance $100 per guest, is that only for the food, then you pay extra for the venue, entertainment, flowers, wait staff, etc?

2) at a WDW wedding if the min is $12000 for instance to get married in Italy, how does that work? is it for just the food we pick out, the venue, or is it x$ for the venue plus x$ per plate, plus x$ for flowers until you reach the $12000 (which I'm learning is very quickly).

3) If the wedding or reception is in one of the parks do the guest have to buy admission to the park, and if so is that included in the $ minimum?

Any other tips would be great. Like I say I am ignorant to all this. I got married many years ago, things were very different then.

Also, DD wedding using their time scale wouldn't be for about 5 years...give or take. So, I don't think the people at fairy tale weddings would really want us to call yet,as they wouldn't have $ figures for those dates.

Thanks to all who may be able to help.

 

[pinkcow]

Congrats to your DD and her BF!

I would start with the passporter e-book, this really helps explain things.

1. Generally speaking there is a food and beverage minimum for each guest. This varies depending on location and time of day it occurs. For Wishes you could probably count on at least $100 per person. Floral, venue, etc. would be additional.

2. The $12,000 minimum includes food, beverage, transportation, venue fees, photography (if using Disney photographers), and floral. What it does not include is cosmetology, officiant, dress steaming, or any outside vendors.

3. Guests do not have to pay admission if the reception is inside the parks, such as the Living Seas at Epcot. But, guests will have to be bussed in through a back entrance. You would pay for the transportation and a host. For a dessert party, a viewing fee of $12.50 is charged for each guest who does not have park admission for that day.

Being that the wedding is likely 5 years out, there will undoubtedly be some policy changes and price increases. But hopefully everything will give you a general idea.

HTH

 

[Deesknee]

Thank you Pinkcow and Congratulations on your upcoming wedding!
Judging by your countdown, you're getting married in November... GREAT marriages happen in November.

 

[PrincessShea]

So your DD is a freshman in college? With her high school boyfriend? and you are planning their wedding?

In the year it took to plan my wedding, it seems like absolutely everything, least of which was pricing, changed. If I started planning 5 years ago before my wedding, it would have been a total waste of time.

 

[Sarah <3 Disney]

Just because it is five years away doesn't mean she can't get excited about it! And plus, things may change, they may decide to get hitched sooner. That being said, definitely download the Passporter book. You can download any updates (price changes, etc.) for free after it has been purchased. Just have to make sure Carrie keeps updating 5 years from now!

 

[Deesknee]

So your DD is a freshman in college? With her high school boyfriend? and you are planning their wedding?

.

hmm should I take this bait....why not?

I am not planning my dd wedding. She and her BF have mentioned it. I am wisely becoming informed in the hopes I can give my dd a fairytale wedding without getting into debt. As far as to her high school boyfriend... I married mine and have been happily married for over 25 years.

As far as, a waste of time, I have never minded "wasting" my time for my children.

 

[girli565]

hmm should I take this bait....why not?

I am not planning my dd wedding. She and her BF have mentioned it. I am wisely becoming informed in the hopes I can give my dd a fairytale wedding without getting into debt. As far as to her high school boyfriend... I married mine and have been happily married for over 25 years.

As far as, a waste of time, I have never minded "wasting" my time for my children.

I don't think she wanted to be rude, I think she just wanted to be realistic. Getting information on pricing and things like that for a Disney wedding might be a little premature when this is 5 years out. I've only been planning since June and already prices are set to change in Oct, so all my initial planning was for nothing.

Every year the minimums on a Wishes wedding change, and in 5 years the minimum could be as high as $20k if we follow the trend in prices. It's $10k for a 2009 wedding and $12k for a 2010 wedding so imagine how much it could change by 2014. I think that's what PrincessShea meant when she said it may be a waste of time.

 

[lpizzuro123]

I am sure prices and minimums will change (increase) so it is never to early to start savings.

Linda

 

[CheshireKittyKat]

If you want to look up prices and info on wedding stuff for fun, then by all means you should. But you really should realize that prices and packages could be totally different 5 years from now. It's probably best to at least wait for an engagement- what is the saying- life is what happens when you are busy making other plans.

 

[iixheartxyouxox]

i'm prob around the same age as your DD and i've been planning my disney wedding for 2 years now! it's never too early to look into things. Of course prices will change but there are always ways to save money and get what you want. i have a huge extended family but since i want a disney wedding i know that theres no way i can invite them all so im cutting it off at a certain point.

she could always have an escape wedding in disney and then have a big reception back home, that can be a lot cheaper than having everyone go to disney.

& i also will not be getting married for about 5 years or so but i have every little detail of the wedding already planned in my head so you and your DD can make like an idea book of things you want and use the prices for this year to get an idea of how it will be in 5 years. thats what i do!

 

[PrincessShea]

hmm should I take this bait....why not?

I am not planning my dd wedding. She and her BF have mentioned it. I am wisely becoming informed in the hopes I can give my dd a fairytale wedding without getting into debt. As far as to her high school boyfriend... I married mine and have been happily married for over 25 years.

As far as, a waste of time, I have never minded "wasting" my time for my children.

I think you are misreading and getting defensive for no reason. My DH and I met in high school also, so that really wasn't my point.

As I said, and others have repeated, so much changes in terms of pricing and availability within just a year, let alone five. Learning about venues and minimums is pointless, because they are 100% going to change within the next five years.

Reading TR's and getting the general "big picture" of a Disney wedding is fine. But I still say, yes, focusing on the details right now is a waste of time.

 

[Deesknee]

I think you are misreading and getting defensive for no reason. My DH and I met in high school also, so that really wasn't my point.

As I said, and others have repeated, so much changes in terms of pricing and availability within just a year, let alone five. Learning about venues and minimums is pointless, because they are 100% going to change within the next five years.

Reading TR's and getting the general "big picture" of a Disney wedding is fine. But I still say, yes, focusing on the details right now is a waste of time.

Sorry if I mis interrupted your post. Perhaps I should clarify.

The last time I planned a wedding I picked a caterer. They gave me a few vendors for flowers, bands, limo services, photographer, etc. I chose the vendors I wanted from the list, decided how many people would be invited and wrote a check....for $5000. That was a long time ago & I am well aware things have changed. I also realize things may very well change between now and when my daughter gets married. Possibly even the groom. I just wanted to be a little more up to date with these things since my daughter is talking about weddings. And I need to find a more realistic $ "range" since I assume you can barely get the wedding gown for $5000 these days.

 

[girli565]

Sorry if I mis interrupted your post. Perhaps I should clarify.

The last time I planned a wedding I picked a caterer. They gave me a few vendors for flowers, bands, limo services, photographer, etc. I chose the vendors I wanted from the list, decided how many people would be invited and wrote a check....for $5000. That was a long time ago & I am well aware things have changed. I also realize things may very well change between now and when my daughter gets married. Possibly even the groom. I just wanted to be a little more up to date with these things since my daughter is talking about weddings. And I need to find a more realistic $ "range" since I assume you can barely get the wedding gown for $5000 these days.

You can definitley get a wedding gown for under $5k!! Mine was on sale at Alfred Angelo's for $425 originally $700. Just gotta look around for bargains!

 

[wiserabbit]

I'm a mother of the bride also - daughter got married on 1/4/2008 at the Wedding Pavillion and we started planing about a year out - as far as prices - what we did was a set a maximum budget - then within that budget we worked with Disney to get everything they wanted - and it was wonderful and perfect (our budget was 20,000). If you pick the budget first - then work with Disney wedding planners - you will be well taken care of ....we could not have asked for anything more perfect - (and DD's dress was approximately 3000.00 - but we did NOT include the dress as a part of our original budget)...

From one mom to another - I know how special and important this day will be for you and your daughter - if a Disney wedding is what she and her hubby to be decide they want - then your planning and having the basic info will be priceless

 

[pezaddict231]

Just wanted to say your DD is very lucky that you are already beginning to think about this so that you can give her a dream wedding day!

It definitely couldn't hurt to have the basic info and try to figure out what type of wedding she would want. Huge and elaborate or maybe something small and simple. From there you can figure out a budget. Once you figure out your budget, start saving. The minimums and specifics will probably all change, but if you start saving now you should be in a great position by the time she does get engaged.

I really wouldn't focus too much on the specifics yet just the big picture. In terms of dresses, you definitely do not need to spend $5k for a beautiful dress. My dress is $750 and gorgeous, and most of my friends had dresses in the $700-$1500 range. It's like with anything, you need to set a budget and stick to it. My budget was $1,800 for a dress, I didn't even look at dresses that were more than that. The staff at the Bridal stores are very good at pulling dresses in your price range and there were plenty of dresses in my price range for me to try on, and lots of really beautiful ones.

You should definitely get the passporter book, it has tons of info. Browse these boards and maybe even check out some PJ's and Wedding TR's.

 

[pipermae]

I don't think looking into the details now is a waste of time at all. If everything goes according to my plans, I'll be engaged within a year and married 2 or so years after that and I've already started looking. I've been pulling rough estimates to give myself a starting point of money to save up. I'm fully aware that costs will change -- but planning and getting an idea early on won't hurt as long as you keep up with the price changes and changes in the rules (such as no outside photographers in the parks, etc.).

As an aspiring wedding and event planner and future bride, I see no reason why you shouldn't look into things early, just keep up with changes in prices and rules.