Escape or Wishes? 35 invitees...

[Legally_Brunette]

So, my fiancé and I have tentatively started looking at a Disney wedding for September 25, 2017. I've drawn up a guest list of around 35 people. We probably have a 50/50 shot at hitting the limit for an Escape wedding. Would you recommend waiting until January (earliest we could book Escape, right?) and hoping we don't have to switch to the Wishes package 2-3 months later if we get too many RSVPS? Would it be better to assume we'll have more than 18 and just book the Wishes package from the start this September instead? I've heard it's really hard to downgrade from Wishes to Escape, so I'm hesitant to do that. On the other hand, I don't want to book the Escape then have to re-plan everything six months before the big day just because we end up over the limit by 2-3 people. Lord knows if we'd get our preferred locations starting a Wishes wedding with just six months to go, even in the off-season! Really tough call here...

Yes, I do know about the smaller Wishes package with lower minimums, but we really want to get married on that Monday for a variety of reasons, and that package is only offered Tues-Thurs.

On the plus side, my fiancé did agree we could take my dress out there on our honeymoon and do the Magic Kingdom photoshoot even if we end up having the actual wedding in our hometown! Now, I just have to figure out if that's even allowed. I'm seeing a lot of conflicting information over whether you have to be a Disney bride to qualify for that photoshoot.

 

[lurkyloo]

First, anybody can do a Magic Kingdom bridal portrait session. The only difference is that non-DFTW couples have to wait til 4 months out to book, whereas DFTW couples can book as soon as they sign their contracts.

Second, DFTW will make it verrrrry easy for you to upgrade from Escape to Wishes. In fact, really the only reason not to start as Escape at 8 months and move up to Wishes if necessary is if the locations you want are really popular and you are worried about not getting them. But don't worry about six months not being enough to plan Wishes. We planned ours in less than five months and got everything we wanted. And legend has it that Disney's Fairy Tale weddings can plan a Wishes event in one month, if necessary.

Which locations are you interested in? Also, where do the majority of your guests live, and are any of them frequent visitors to WDW?

 

[justme0729]

I was also thinking about this because we might invite 25-35. I'm trying to think of something we could do where the wedding is escape and has 18 people but where extra people could attend the "reception" which were hoping to be the dinner party in Epcot, the grand one yacht to watch wishes maybe with some pontoons, or a regular dinner reservation but I'm not sure if I can make a group dining reservation anywhere for 30

 

[kl3w]

I'm doing an Escape in October but having more than 18 people at my IllumiNations DP the night before and at my lunch "reception" at Morimoto in Disney Springs. If you have the Passporters book by @lurkyloo , there are pages in the Escape section that list restaurants that will do either large group reservations or have private rooms that you can reserve instead. We started choosing by looking there, then heard her podcast with a bride who did Morimoto and looked there as well.