Disney Weddings on Food Network

[louisaho]

Originally posted by DisneyDmbNut
I will try to tape it for you...I will contact you once I have the tape..you do have VCR in Canada not PAL?

wowowow how nice
thank you so much
you can email or pm me at
hellokitty@videotron.ca
my vcr is NTSC
thank you once again

 

[Davids-Coco]

I have to agree with the whole money thing...

75K, holy sh!t! That is way too much money... but I have to say that I loved the bridal tea party. And, disney is so expensive anyway.

Anyone catch the wedding cake competition on after? They showed and built some amazing wedding cakes.

 

[battricia]

If you don't mind my asking, How much do you pay for a 'reasonable' wedding a la disney? I told my mom to watch the show, not that I'm getting married, but I always said I'd love a disney wedding. My mom watched the show and at the end she called and said '$70,000 YOU'RE DREAMIN!' :lol: I honestly didn't think it would cost THAT much! Though they did have a ton of fancy things, I wouldn't chose the guests get their own choice of food option. But at the same time I'm vegitarian so I'd have to have some sort of a 'customized' meal. I'm really just curious about the pricing of things. The show mentioned you could get a buffet style dinner, is that ALSO in the 70k range? I certainly understand if you don't want to reveal how much you paid for your wedding, I'm just curious!

tricia.

 

[louisaho]

if i have 70000, i will go for magic kingdom wedding
my budget for my disney wedding in dec is 25000, this is my maximum, and i will be having plated meal, instead of buffet.
i know that if you don't mind to have lunch instead of dinner, it will cheaper too

 

[cs2sgrl]

I think that my fiance would laugh in my face if I ever asked for a 70k wedding. We both work and he is in the military, we would be paying that off until our great grand children got married.

I am affraid that some of the things we would want will end up costing a lot. I really liked the sushi idea. I loved the take out containers. Especially since my Future father in law is Japanese.

Toni

 

[bubbaloo311]

Hi Everyone!

I am Ann of the "Ann and Michael" they showed on last night's special. We are the couple who planned the orange wedding. I am intrigued to see your responses to the show - and Mike and I have our own feelings about it.

I can honestly say we were disappointed in the show. We had such high hopes for it - and didn't feel it did FTW or our wedding justice. Also, they filmed with us 3 different times during the week leading up to the wedding, and we were shocked at the stupid quotes the pulled from us and our guests (though my Mom did look and sound beautiful).

So I guess I have my distaste for reality TV. We might do it again - I mean Disney was really nice to us, our wedding was just about perfect and they did upgrade a few things - but just the same, we wish we said no.

My DH was upset last night - and I am still a bit shocked by the show.

I do want to tell all of you though that our wedding was amazing - and while our budget was more than $22K (as Korri McFann pointed out as the average) it was no where near $70K.

We made so many of the decorations ourselves. We used outside floral (Raining Roses - who did an absolutely amazing job), photo and video.

We had an Illuminations party - which they didn't show - which was really special and still affordable, unlike the Tea Party.

And in grand total we spent about 60% of what the other couple spent and had our dream wedding. And we spent the same money for the wedding of our dreams in Disney that we would have had to spend for a mediocre wedding in NYC for at least double the amount of people. We had 85 people at our wedding - and in NY it would have had to be close to 200.

And our cocktail hour was all special requests - which they did not show. I specially asked for the chinese boxes with noodles (I work in event planning and had done that before) and all the rest was asian (I love all Asian food - Chinese, Japanese, Thai - you name it). The nicest thing Disney threw in for the special - which we had to cut out due to budget - was the Sushi Station. If you heart is set on it - it is very expensive - over $20 a person with the chef to do the handrolls.

I am rambling now - but just remember that Disney can accomodate everyone and all dreams and most budgets. So don't let the special discourage you. In fact, if anything, make sure you explore all your options (from crazy $ Crown Service, to duo plates, to preselected entrees to buffets) and do a food tasting (our tasting was originally very disappointing but our wedding food was fabulous).

So that's it. If anyone has any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Have a magical day!

 

[Rustyflwr3]

Does anyone know how much a standard mad hatters bridal tea party is? It looks awesome, and I was just wondering how much money it actually costs!

Thanks!

 

[angey77]

Originally posted by bubbaloo311
The nicest thing Disney threw in for the special - which we had to cut out due to budget - was the Sushi Station. If you heart is set on it - it is very expensive - over $20 a person with the chef to do the handrolls

Ann,
I really liked your wedding. how you had a nice subtle theme and stuck to it. I did make a joking comment of how cheap I felt that my wedding was taking place where you had your pre-reception party...lol.
The sushi station has really caught my eye. Do you know if there is mininum of people to book it?

 

[louisaho]

ANN
don't be upset about the show. as long as you are happy for your wedding, that's the most important memory you will have.
and i always believe that reality show is nothing but a show, it is a show to entertain audience.
i am sure that you have a wonderful wedding.

 

[tinkerbela]

i found the show to be very interesting last night. it was really exciting to see how the food was prepared and especially how the cakes are prepared. i learned a lot from that show. i couldn't believe the one couple that had the $70,000 wedding. well, you gotta figure all the stuff they had that totaled up to that amount: 4 characters, grand floridian reception, crown plate dinner, ceremony at pavilion, cinderella coach, a cake, then mini cakes for the guest, so on and so forth. i don't know if i would go gaga like they did with $70,000. i don't know what i would do. i'd probably have a castle wedding. tee-hee.

on a side note, DisneyDmbNut are you a DMB fan? i saw the picture in your signature. i love DMB. they're one of my favorite bands. i think i would spend $70,000 to have them at my wedding.

 

[Kismetdreams]

For those of you asking about the Mad Hatter Tea Party...

The "Whimsy" cake is $980 and cannot be made smaller or larger. It feeds 85 people. It cannot have fruit fillings. (This is per Disney's cake pricing sheet)

The characters are approx $1100 for two (They had Mad Hatter and Alice)

Typically, the decorations are several thousand dollars for the giant flowers and centerpieces, as they make them new for each event.

The average tea party with all the stops is around $10K (which is almost how much I paid Disney for our whole wedding!), but if you budgeted and skipped the characters, I imagine you could prolly have one with the whimsy cake for around $2-3K, depending upon the food served and number of people attending.

Also, for those of you who are cncerned about the $70K wedding...Thier food costs must have been outrageous to allowthe "gold plate service", or whatever they caled it. We had the choice of 3 entrees, but we asked in our response cards to indicate the choice and were charged a very reasonable amount per meal ($50, $55, $59, dependsing on veggie, chicken and beef) and it worked perfectly!

HTH

 

[Fantasia Sam]

Ann - Of course I didn't see the show but have seen many highlights of your wedding and as a foodie I know how stunning it was.

For those brides that are worried about $$$ you really can do a custom wedding for a lot less I promise.

Some of us here have gone through the process and I know that we're more than happy to help future brides budget for their dream wedding....... so don't be put off.

 

[D&R love Disney]

I wish they told the costs of the intimate weddings. I think it would have let people really see how affordable and beautiful a disney wedding can still be.

 

[vettechick99]

Just wanted to mention that just because we poor folks think $70,000 for a wedding is ridiculous, it may not be to them. For all we know, the parents might make that per month! My sister makes that kind of money and probably wouldn't think twice about dropping $100K on a wedding. Or vacation. Or on clothing each year.

I WISH I could afford a Disney wedding (or regular wedding) like that. But we shouldn't slam them for their right to do so.

By the way, all of our weddings will be amazing because our friends and family will be there to join in the occasion! Regardless of budget! Just remember we are making memories and there is NO price on that!

off my soapbox...

 

[DisneyDmbNut]

Originally posted by tinkerbela
i love DMB. they're one of my favorite bands. i think i would spend $70,000 to have them at my wedding.

That would be a tax write off - they will play at events for donations to their charity "BAMA WORKS" and then 70k would be well spent!

I am glad Ann cleared up some of the misconceptions...I know that producers can edit a story to put whatever spin they want on it..and I am sorry if I offended anyone..I just know what my DH's parents spent on his wedding only to have the bride run off 3 years later..NOT THAT THAT WOULD HAPPEN...but it is just one day of your life and I look at things too simply maybe..My boss is VERY weathy and spent about 50k on a huge wedding and he is still paying for it!

I still vote for a barefoot wedding on the beach!

 

[bubbaloo311]

I posted this on the community board - but I am reposting this here.

I think I've waited long enough to add my opinion of the Food Network special. As one of the couples that were featured on the show, I think I can offer the most informed perspective.

I first want to thank my fellow Disney brides, especially Kristen, Dossie and Elisabeth - for offering more educated input from other Brides who have planned beautiful Fairy Tale Weddings that did not cost $70K. And even if the other couple did spend an enormous amount (considering the amount of people she had) that was their perogative and her parents, if they indeed paid for it.

My husband and I are from NYC, the capital of big weddings. My cousin got married a few months before me - a big blown out wedding for 280 - beautiful but not magical - and actually said to me (who makes a lot less money) "I can't imagine how someone can plan a wedding for less than $80K." I wanted to slap her - as there was no way we could afford that. But she loved her wedding - and it was beautiful - so who am I to judge.

To have a wedding in a normal nice place in NYC (mainly the outer boroughs or NJ) is around $150 per person and better. I am not even speaking of places in Manhattan. Had we gotten married at home - we'd have had around 200 people. We knew we could never afford to have the level of wedding we wanted at home - since we'd spend around $30K on food alone.

When Michael proposed to me over dinner in Cinderella's castle, and later in the week when we saw the Wedding Pavilion, our dreams were answered. We decided we would much rather have a magical wedding for half the amount of people, the closest people to us - then a big NYC wedding - most of the people being friends of our parents. And since we were paying for the wedding entirely by ourselves, it was our decision.

So we went ahead with the Disney Wedding, and it was truly the best decision we ever made. I plan events as part of my job, and I knew exactly what I wanted. And Disney helped me stretch my $$$ as best as I could. For what we had, Disney was more expensive than home - but we had 85 people versus 200 - so we could better afford the wedding of our dreams.

We chose to have a lavish themed cocktail hour (for Disney) since at home the huge cocktail hours are the highlight of the event. Carving stations, raw fish bars, martini bars and more are found at many weddings. It's expected - and I admit I like it. I knew we couldn't afford all that at Disney - so I came up with a solution. I wanted Disney to theme it - since I love Asian food - and I figured by sticking to one theme, less would look like more. And it worked.

And we chose less expensive menu options - like soup for the appetizer - but I had them make Canadian Cheddar Cheese soup since it is my husband's absolute favorite thing in Disney World.

In the other couples defense, every single wedding I've ever been to (and I've been to about 50) - other than my own - has given me the choice of entree the day of. It is the norm here. The other couple was not being extravagant - at least not to them. They were doing what they were accustomed to.

We opted for the duo plate to save money.

Only about 6 weeks before the wedding, we were approached to be on the show. They loved our theming (which was Cinderella by the way - with an orange color scheme) and how we'd incorporated it into the menu. The show was devised as a result of the positive feedback the Food Network had received on the Disney Unwrapped special that featured a bit about wedding cakes.

Mike and I considered it - and accepted for the following reasons. We figured it would be an insurance policy that everything would be perfect. (We'd had a less than ideal menu tasting - and figured if it was going to be filmed - they'd take extra care). We also said the cameras could not be present at our ceremony - since we wanted to maintain the sanctity of that. The footage that was shown was taken by our videographer - STVS weddings.

Disney - for the sake of showing more of what they could do in terms of food - surprised us with a few upgrades (Sushi Bar - which we had cut due to budget reasons, Lumiere - again cut due to budget) and asked us if they could do others (Upgraded to Ice Sculpture sorbet server - cut due to budget, Upgraded our cake to the Big Castle cake - which was to large for our group - but we had originally chosen a cake very similar to the other couple. Since Mike loved the huge castle, we agreed - and the mini cakes - which Disney really wanted to show).

So yes there was lots of cake - but we hadn't planned on it. And it was all sent home with our guests in cake boxes provided by us.

All in all, Michael and I were disappointed in the special. From our perspective, the show fell far short of our expectations, not just for how we were portrayed, but how FTW came off in general.

It's not that we think we looked bad per say - or that our wedding didn't come across beautiful on screen. It's just that after speaking with reps at FTW and with the film crew - and knowing how much they shot - we are a bit upset that the boiled us down to the words "Orange you glad you were invited ..."

(Our wedding was Cinderella themed with an orange color scheme. But the other couple was the token Cinderella bride).

We interviewed with the film crew for 1 1/2 hours. We explained why Disney was important to us, how Michael proposed, and how we worked with Disney to create a beautiful and memorable day that had elements of the NYC style wedding we were accustomed to with all the magic and style that only Disney could do.

So when we know what we said, and all the quoted was "Mikey likes chocolate chips" - let's just say it was definately a let down.

I also think that the show was not successful of attracting more couples - or even of showing all of Disney's options - in that I think many couples will be scared away by the prices they quoted.

My entire family was floored that they did not show the Illuminations dessert party which was held the night before our wedding - which was a true highlight of the weekend - something only Disney could do - and much more affordable than the Mad Hatter Tea Party. I admit that the tea party is cool - but way out of the price range of normal people (for the amount of people they had I would say it cost a minimum of $15 - 20K). Though if $ wasn't a concern, I think it's awesome. The hats were a bit much - but whatever.

A dessert party has as much impact and is quite reasonable considering how special it is.

I also agree that they were incredibly remiss in not showing a more traditional intimate wedding - and explaining that that is available for only a few thousand $. And intimate weddings are just as beautiful and meaningful.

Michael and I discussed it and we both said we'd do it again if given the chance. Disney really did a phenomenal job on our wedding - and while most of the upgrades we got due to the show were indeed surprises the day of - they did help push our wedding over the top. The amazement I felt when I saw our cake, the shock and overwhelming surprise and happiness I felt when Lumiere walked into the room, and my guests raves over the Sushi Bar were all wonderful parts of our day. I just wish they had shown more of those meaningful moments.

I will say that I understand why Jerri Manthey stormed off the Survivor set. It's all for entertainment - but editing can make anyone fit a set mold. Michael and I will now forever be the chubby happy orange couple.

But despite that - Michael and I truly had the beautiful wedding we dreamed of. And with out without a TV show - or 15 minutes of fame - the best thing we got on our wedding day - was each other - to have and to hold till death do us part. And there is nothing more magical than that.

 

[angey77]

Bravo and well-written Ann!
Just wondering, have you shared your comments with the Food Network?

 

[Kismetdreams]

You go girl! Love ya, Ann!

 

[wickey's friend]

I just wanted to let the Disney brides who were on the show and post here that I just loved the whole show. (Even though I know you all weren't happy with the editing.)

bubbaloo311 -- your wedding was beautiful! I thought you guys were the sweetest couple! I thought the color and theme for a Nov. wedding was great!

And, to the poster who was surprised at V&As -- yes, I cried.

I thought the rehearsal and dinner at AKL was wonderful. The food looked very good!

And, even though to me $70,000 is a lot, I thought the other wedding was beautiful. I really, really liked the tea party cake.

I just wanted to let you guys know -- I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I plan on taping it when it plays again this week.

And, I made my DS4 promised to get married at WDW.

 

[scarlett873]

as i've said before ann, i thought your wedding was stunning! loved the theming...the colors...the food (ok...not the sushi, but i'm not a sushi person )...and i loved your post, both here and on the CB!

best wishes to you and your hubby!!! you two are adorable!!