Dessert Parties: difference for Intimate/Custom brides?

[DisneyBride2B]

Can anyone give me some feedback about an illuminations dessert party at Epcot (from either a intimate/custom point of view)? My wedding list seems to be growing, so I am not sure I will be able to stay as an intimate. Does the Dessert Party count as a an expenditure towards the minimum for the custom bride, my fiance and I did the website worksheet last night and it was not an option. Also, What time do you have to show up at Epcot and how long does it last?

Thanks Everyone!
~C~

 

[Disneybridein2k3]

DisneyBride2B -- We had an Illuminations dessert party and just loved it! Yes, the food and beverages do count toward your minimum and each venue has a minimum of their own. We had a rather smaller group of 42 people and the UK upper was perfect for our group size. Our party was from 8:30 to 10:00. Illuminations started at 9:00 that night. There wasn't anything about our wedding day that I regretted, but having the dessert party was one of the best decisions we made. Happy planning!

 

[Laurafoster]

Does anyone have a map of the dessert party locations in Epcot - ive been there like a 100 times but im terrible in trying to explain it!!

 

[lpizzuro123]

Hi, we are just in the very, very, very beginning of planning stages but as IllumiNations is both my boyfriends and my FAVORITE thing in WDW, we would love to do this. I have two questions at the moment.
Is the area in the UK the only place they do this (do they have more than one desert party per night - in different locations)?
What do you do if it rains?

Thanks,
Linda

 

[ead79]

We had our pre-reception as an Illuminations party. For custom brides, the Illuminations party costs (including food & beverage) do count toward your minimum as long as the event is on your wedding day. It was truly one of the best moments of our wedding day!

Linda, there are several locations where they have Illuminations parties: UK lower, UK upper, French Arm, Italy Isola, etc. The options available to you depend on the size of your group. There can be multiple Illuminations events each night—one per location basically. Hope that helps!

 

[lpizzuro123]

Yes, this does help. I actually love the area by Italy for the ceremony. I'm sure this takes alot of planning to have it come off so wonderful. I just love reading what everybody does. It really helps with the planning.
Linda

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

We're doing a Dessert Party for our rehearsal dinner.

IllumiNations is my favorite. But, becuase we're there between Christmas and New Year's, we weren't able to be in the park for IllumiNations. They moved us over to the GF marina for Wishes. I'm a litte worried about being on the steps there with all the light, noise, and other people... I want to be moved to left side in the trees. We're 7:30-10:00, I believe with Wishes at 9:00. Have to get my beauty rest

Depending on the time of year, IllumiNations may not be possible. We were really surprised (it just recently got switched), so just a warning... I don't have any advice to offer towards minimums (although I would expect it to be) becuase we're the night before...

Good luck!
xoxo

 

[DisneyBride2B]

Thanks everyone for some awesome feedback, this is just one thing that I REALLY want to be part of my wedding day. Does anyone know when Illuminations is not available for a dessert party (is it not during value times, or peak times of the year because of attendance issues with the park?). I don't mind the minimum or cost issue, I am even willing to forgo the reception instead just to get this as a surprise to my guests (looking at a custom wedding with an intimate number of guests).

Sorry to digress...but my fiance and I are also having some issues regarding our guest list. He wants small and intimate (as do I) but there is a slight disagreement as to what the # of guests is to be intimate (Just to clarify, i don't mean "intimate" as in the eyes of a FTW). Please help! I want 25-30, he wants less than 18, has anyone else ever encountered this issue? (this may need to be moved to a different thread).

Thanks!
Carrie

 

[twojo21]

disneybride2b - if your dessert party is the same day as your wedding, yes it counts towards your custom minimum. i only know about the epcot dessert party as thats the one were having after our reception at the uk. it lasts for one hour from 8:30 to 9:30pm per my contract. were heading over there with our guests around 8:15pm. another benefit as a custom bride is youre able to wear your wedding attire to the dessert party.

laura foster - there is 8 epcot dessert party locations outside. the uk lower, uk upper, the french arm, french island lower, french island upper, morocco terrace, italy west wing, italy courtyard, plus the indoor rainout locations like spaceship earth, norway, vip room at the america pavilion. there are some pictures & details at http://www.yourfairytale.com/locations.html &
http://www.yourfairytale.com/catering.html