Escape or Memories?

[3girlsfun]

We are trying to decide which of these packages is right for us. I've tried to do the comparisons myself, but, without knowing the costs for add ins and such, it is almost impossible. If I contact DFTW, will they help me compare?

The thing that I'm most stressed about is if we chose Escape, we can go ahead and book for our dates, if we do memories, we would be waiting.

 

[FlamingoAllie]

I think the first question would be, how many people would be attending? I think that is the biggest deciding factor right off the bat.

 

[DixieBelle]

There are a few big differences between the packages.

The biggest is guest count. Memories can have 6 people total. bride, groom, up to 4 others. Escape events can have 20 people total- bride, groom, up to 18 others. There used to be an option to pay extra to have a few more people added, but that was eliminated. guest counts are strict.

The next biggest limiting factor is the ceremony locations and times. Memory events are only Saturday or Sunday at 9 am, 11am, 1pm, or 3pm. There are only three location options, none of which allow chairs to be set up. Escape events are booked seven days a week at 10am,12pm,2:30pm and 5pm. Locations include the wedding pavilion, yacht club gazebo, and sea breeze point among others.

Both include a musican (violinist), limousin(3 hrs for memory, 4 hrs for escape) and a brides bouquet.

Escape events add a cake, a boutonniere, and a champagne toast.

Dollar for dollar comparisions of the packages are hard. It really just seems to come down to what the event is worth to you. If you have 6 people or less, you could do the ceremony, and arrange everything else yourself. A very nice dinner for all 6 of you at Victoria and Alberts or California Grill would still be cheaper than upgrading to Escape. If you have seven people, you are stuck with Escape.
HTH

 

[3girlsfun]

I definitely should have given more detail. This will be a VR. It will be me, DH, and our 3 girls, so, we are fine with the count either way.

If we do a memories collection, where would we do our cake? I think I read somewhere that they won't let you do a wedding cake at dinner... Or, am I wrong here?

We'd also like to do some sort of something..desert party maybe? During Illuminations, as DH proposed to me during illuminations. (this will be our 10 year anniversary.)

help?

 

[lurkyloo]

You can work with a Disney resort bakery to have a cake delivered to your room or to a meal (complete info HERE) or you can work with a local vendor to have a cake delivered to you.

Detailed information on planning an IllumiNations dessert party through Disney's Catered Events (since Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings won't plan one for Memories couples) can be found HERE.

 

[3girlsfun]

Ok, the desert party seems simple enough.... So, memories and the desert party seem the way to go as far as cost wise.

Can I add the castle photos hoot to this package as well?

 

[pixie921]

Ok, the desert party seems simple enough.... So, memories and the desert party seem the way to go as far as cost wise.

Can I add the castle photos hoot to this package as well?

Yes, you can absolutely add the MK shoot to a Memories package. We just did a Memories VR this past Monday and added a few things to sort of "beef up" the package. We stayed at the Grand Floridian and ordered a cake from the bakery, which was delivered to our room right after we checked in. We also purchased the cake knife and server set from DFTW as well as some of their castle and coach confetti, and our son and his gf set up our cake with the accessories on a table in our room for us. Our photographer (Randy Chapman) came back to our room after we did the VR and photos and took shots of the cake-cutting.

We also bought toasting flutes from Arribas Bros in the MK the night before the VR and used them for toasting when we did our cake-cutting. The next morning, we did the Epcot photo shoot. We'd looked into the MK shoot, but there was nothing available the entire time we were at WDW, but honestly, we really enjoyed our Epcot shoot and I think the photos are going to be great!

So there's a lot you can do to make a Memories package a little "more" than it is without having to upgrade to an Escape package if you want to.

 

[3girlsfun]

Amy, can you tell me more about your VR?


Which ceremony location did you use?

 

[sambycat]

This book will help you tremendously! http://www.passporter.com/weddings.asp

 

[Sunflower29]

3girls, i just had my Memories wedding last Sunday. I booked the date only 3 months out and had a complete pick of times and places! The venues for the Memories collection are different from Escape/Wishes, and this collection is not as popular so you generally have a good selection to choose from. I had the time of my life with the Memories collection and would do everything the exact same if I could do it all over again

 

[pixie921]

Amy, can you tell me more about your VR?


Which ceremony location did you use?

We used Luau Beach. But we asked to be as close to the Wedding Pavilion as possible, because that's what I wanted in the background for the ceremony. They put us really near to it! Our onsite coordinator, Danny, was really sweet. He specifically went down and chose the spot and made sure our little circle of red petals was set up perfectly. He met us at the limo when we got to the Polynesian and took us inside to meet our officiant, Rev. Jack Day. We all rode out to the ceremony spot in a golf cart and our violinist was waiting there for us. It was really lovely and we were so happy with it! We had a 9 a.m. ceremony and the light was really nice. The only small negative I can think of about the site is being near the water, it was pretty windy.

After the ceremony we took more photos, then Danny drove us back to the lobby and we took the limo back to the Grand Floridian for more photos and to do our cake-cutting and toast. Then our photographer left and we went down for a breakfast of Mickey waffles!

Randy put up a few previews for us, and these 2 show where our ceremony was:

I hope this helps a bit -- I'm happy to answer any more questions you think of!

 

[MrsRomance]

We used Luau Beach. But we asked to be as close to the Wedding Pavilion as possible, because that's what I wanted in the background for the ceremony. They put us really near to it! Our onsite coordinator, Danny, was really sweet. He specifically went down and chose the spot and made sure our little circle of red petals was set up perfectly. He met us at the limo when we got to the Polynesian and took us inside to meet our officiant, Rev. Jack Day. We all rode out to the ceremony spot in a golf cart and our violinist was waiting there for us. It was really lovely and we were so happy with it! We had a 9 a.m. ceremony and the light was really nice. The only small negative I can think of about the site is being near the water, it was pretty windy.

After the ceremony we took more photos, then Danny drove us back to the lobby and we took the limo back to the Grand Floridian for more photos and to do our cake-cutting and toast. Then our photographer left and we went down for a breakfast of Mickey waffles!

Randy put up a few previews for us, and these 2 show where our ceremony was:

I hope this helps a bit -- I'm happy to answer any more questions you think of!

You got your VR Amy!! How exciting! Are you going to do a TR??

 

[pixie921]

You got your VR Amy!! How exciting! Are you going to do a TR??

LOL, yes! It finally happened, can you believe it! And I am definitely going to do a TR with vendor reviews, but I think I am going to wait 'til we get our photos from Randy.