Did any of you have an early reception?

[Lynn5700]

I saw on the wishbook that it is cheaper to have a reception before 2. Is this because you don;t get as much food or because it's an earlier time and not popular?

Did anybody do this and what was your menu like?

 

[crista]

With our ceremony beginning at 9:00 A.m. Beacause it was in Epcots Italy pavillion. We decided our reception to follow was going to be a brunch. We were at Ariel's in the Beach Club. They had two menus to choose from. We kinda combined the two. Good Luck

 

[jasonandlisa]

I'm planning an early reception. (Ceremony at 9am, reception from 9:30 to 1:30.) I haven't gotten my BEO yet, but I think my menu will be a be cheaper than that of a 'normal' reception. We're having:
For the pre-reception: fruit skewers, assorted pastries, deviled eggs
Buffet reception: Carving station (turkey, ham, beef), Eggs/omelets station, waffle station, bacon, sausage, and potatoes.

We love breakfast food, so this is really the perfect menu for us. It wasn't just a budgetary decision.

Our menu is a modification of "Tinkerbell's Brunch Buffet", one of the standard menus. It's listed as $45++ per guest. So we're thinking/hoping that with the cake and beverages (premium, based on consumption), we'll be right around the $75/person minimum required for the Living Seas at that time.

We should be getting our BEO any day now. (It's been 6 weeks since our planning session, and I got my floral proposal 2 weeks ago.) I can post the actual prices once I get them. Hope this helps until then.

Lisa

 

[RangerPooh]

We had an early reception for our DL wedding. The $75pp price was much more apealing than the $100pp. I believe that our reception started around 2:30pm and it was a full blown meal. We had 4 plates that guests chosen in advance (beef, chicken, fish, and veggie with their side items), there was also the starter salad which was good sized and was accompanied by a bread selection. At some point there was a sorbet served to cleanse the pallet. Then there was the first dessert that came with the meal, a fresh fruit tart, and finally the wedding cake. Plus we had a full bar for our guests. As the meal was not skimpy by any means we did not find it necessary to inlcude cocktail hour appetizers.

I think that the reduced cost for an afternon/morning reception is to entice people to have earlier events as evening events can be in demand. We did not think that there was anything wrong with having an earlier reception and found that it was probably better as not all of our guests are night owls. In the end our pp charge was around $100pp, so we didn't save a whole lot of money, but the intention was there.

 

[Lynn5700]

We had an early reception for our DL wedding. The $75pp price was much more apealing than the $100pp. I believe that our reception started around 2:30pm and it was a full blown meal. We had 4 plates that guests chosen in advance (beef, chicken, fish, and veggie with their side items), there was also the starter salad which was good sized and was accompanied by a bread selection. At some point there was a sorbet served to cleanse the pallet. Then there was the first dessert that came with the meal, a fresh fruit tart, and finally the wedding cake. Plus we had a full bar for our guests. As the meal was not skimpy by any means we did not find it necessary to inlcude cocktail hour appetizers.

I think that the reduced cost for an afternon/morning reception is to entice people to have earlier events as evening events can be in demand. We did not think that there was anything wrong with having an earlier reception and found that it was probably better as not all of our guests are night owls. In the end our pp charge was around $100pp, so we didn't save a whole lot of money, but the intention was there.

Wow thank you for your help and everybody else's too!!

Your menu sounded so good!! I think that we are leaning toward having the wedding at 1 and having the reception at 2 just to help save some money.
We are having our reception at the Boradwalk so I figure if we have the reception at 2 and it's 5 hrs long then it would be over at 7 and we can go party it up on the boardwalk

 

[crista]

I have to agree the food for pre reception is not necessary. Even though we did not have any we did think about it. We ended up having so much food. Nobody was complaining. We had a buffet brunch. We also got married on a Wednesday which helped with cost.

 

[princessdisneybelle]

I have to agree the food for pre reception is not necessary. Even though we did not have any we did think about it. We ended up having so much food. Nobody was complaining. We had a buffet brunch. We also got married on a Wednesday which helped with cost.

Really you didn't have food at your prereception? What did people do? I was thinking about not having any either. But wasn't sure.

 

[RangerPooh]

We didn't have any food at our pre-reception but did offer drinks. We had 4 or 5 hours of a packaged bar and so we used part of it during the cocktail hour. No one said anything about not having food as they all knew what was ahead. We did consider offering light snacks during the cocktail hour but decided that it was not needed and the money could be spent elsewhere/saved.

As our ceremony and reception sites were not at the same location (hotel) our guests needed to move from one location to the next so this too up a small portion of the time, the rest was spent by people drinking and mingling. From what I heard the hour passed by really fast, I mean we were only there for a very small portion of it.

 

[Lynn5700]

I have to agree the food for pre reception is not necessary. Even though we did not have any we did think about it. We ended up having so much food. Nobody was complaining. We had a buffet brunch. We also got married on a Wednesday which helped with cost.

We are having our wedding on a wednesday too!

 

[Kim10110]

I had a 9 am wedding and the reception was at 10 am or 1030 i think. we had brunch items (buffet style), eggs, and normal breakfast items, ham, chicken marsala, salad ect. we also did not have pre-reception food we went right into the reception.

 

[mermaidbride1108]

Does anyone mind posting their breakfast, buffet, lunch menus? And cost if you don't mind? You can PM me if you don't want to post. And of course, prices can change, I understand...

I am planning on having and Epcot Ceremony and would be having a brunch recpetion too, but I have absolutely no ideas on food...

Thanks!

 

[JJClemson]

I'm having a brunch buffet at Ariel's Here is our menu.

Pre-reception:
Selection of fruit juices
Fresh sliced fruit display
International & Domestic cheese display

Reception:
Jumbo cold shrimp display w/ lemon wedges and coctail sauce
Build your own garden salad
Omelets and eggs cooked to order
French toast Challah bread w/ warm maple syrup
Fresh fruit crepes (strawberry and cherry) w/ whipped cream
Hash brown potatoes tossed w/ sundried tomatoes and asiago cheese
Pasta station: Choice of Penne w/ A La Vodka or Alfredo sauce served w/ parmesan cheese and black pepper
Carving station: Tenderloin of beef w/ pommery mustard
Boneless breast of chicken w/ white wine sauce
Steamed vegetables (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower)
Warm rolls and butter
Coffee, tea, etc.

The cost of that menu is $77 per person. It is not broken down per item. We did not like any brunch menus from Yacht Club catering so DF and I just told our EM our favorite brunch foods and she was able to put this together. We are also having wedding cake and a billed on consumption premium bar which is not included in the above price.

Good luck

 

[Lynn5700]

Does anybody know how much open bar is per head?

 

[DisneyFairy19]

I'm having a brunch buffet at Ariel's Here is our menu.

Pre-reception:
Selection of fruit juices
Fresh sliced fruit display
International & Domestic cheese display

Reception:
Jumbo cold shrimp display w/ lemon wedges and coctail sauce
Build your own garden salad
Omelets and eggs cooked to order
French toast Challah bread w/ warm maple syrup
Fresh fruit crepes (strawberry and cherry) w/ whipped cream
Hash brown potatoes tossed w/ sundried tomatoes and asiago cheese
Pasta station: Choice of Penne w/ A La Vodka or Alfredo sauce served w/ parmesan cheese and black pepper
Carving station: Tenderloin of beef w/ pommery mustard
Boneless breast of chicken w/ white wine sauce
Steamed vegetables (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower)
Warm rolls and butter
Coffee, tea, etc.

The cost of that menu is $77 per person. It is not broken down per item. We did not like any brunch menus from Yacht Club catering so DF and I just told our EM our favorite brunch foods and she was able to put this together. We are also having wedding cake and a billed on consumption premium bar which is not included in the above price.

Good luck

NOW I am HUNGRY!!!!

 

[mermaidbride1108]

I'm having a brunch buffet at Ariel's Here is our menu.

Pre-reception:
Selection of fruit juices
Fresh sliced fruit display
International & Domestic cheese display

Reception:
Jumbo cold shrimp display w/ lemon wedges and coctail sauce
Build your own garden salad
Omelets and eggs cooked to order
French toast Challah bread w/ warm maple syrup
Fresh fruit crepes (strawberry and cherry) w/ whipped cream
Hash brown potatoes tossed w/ sundried tomatoes and asiago cheese
Pasta station: Choice of Penne w/ A La Vodka or Alfredo sauce served w/ parmesan cheese and black pepper
Carving station: Tenderloin of beef w/ pommery mustard
Boneless breast of chicken w/ white wine sauce
Steamed vegetables (broccoli, carrots, cauliflower)
Warm rolls and butter
Coffee, tea, etc.

The cost of that menu is $77 per person. It is not broken down per item. We did not like any brunch menus from Yacht Club catering so DF and I just told our EM our favorite brunch foods and she was able to put this together. We are also having wedding cake and a billed on consumption premium bar which is not included in the above price.

Good luck

Thanks so much for posting this!

 

[Lynn5700]

That menu does sound delicious.I love Brunch,our reception is going to be at 1 so its too late to have breakfast food ,but I do like the idea of having a buffet.

 

[Chantelle]

We're having out wedding at 10 in the morning and then doing a lunch reception at California Grill. It will be a 3 course plated lunch and our guests have a choice of chicken, beef or salmon for the main course. Our cost per person for the meal is around $50, plus we are adding on a bar package.

There were also buffet choices, but we liked the idea of full service.

We decided to go with the early ceremony time so hopefully it won't be too hot yet and because we will be up early to do the magic kingdom photo shoot. It also allows us and our guests the afternoon to spend in one of the parks!

 

[Lynn5700]

I talked to Heidi last week and we changed the ceremony time to 12 and the reception will start at 1.

 

[JJClemson]

Thanks so much for posting this!

No problem

 

[allisonswonderland]

We did a brunch at Ariels -

I loved it!!! We did the Mystic Brunch that has been discontinued now-
it was
Fruit yougurt, cinnamon rolls, blueberry muffins, croissants,
burbon glazed ham, caesar salad w/choice or shrimp or chicken
omlet action station
smoked bacon, breakfast sausage
hashbrowns
I am forgetting something
cake
38 per person

for the pre reception
we had a fruit display
cheese and cracker display