Escape Wedding - 29th September 2011 - Information and a million and one questions!!!

[chocolate_monsta]

Hi all!

So we are all booked and getting ready for the trip of a lifetime. I have the main parts booked, but have loads of little things to sort out now - and it's very tricky with the time difference (we are in Australia) and the slow email replies - so hoping some of you vetrans can give me some tips and ideas! I apologise in advance for any repeated questions already covered - I have tried to search for much of it first!

Our trip consists of:
Me - Erin - 3 previous USA trips - one to Disneyland, one to WDW and another when I was the Equestrian Director at a summer camp in PA, followed by a ranch worker in the rocky mountains in Canada.
DF - Steve - 2 previous trips to Disneyland and one to WDW
Marcus - Steve's best mate - first ever overseas trip
Clare - his wife and one of my best friends - first ever overseas trips

Our itinerary looks something like this:
Melbourne to LA - 1 night in LA
LA to Orlando - 3 nights @ Lowes Pacific Royale (Universal front of line passes are worth it and STUNNING hotel) followed by 9 nights @ POR
DISNEY DREAM CRUISE - 3 night Bahamas Cruise - this is our "honeymoon" and the only time we have seperate rooms
Orlando - NYC - 4 nights @ Milford Plaza hotel just off times square
NYC - Vegas - 3 nights @ Bills Gamblin Hall - oppisite the Bellagio

Our last trip to WDW was November 2009. I had finally finished my time working as a slave at summer camp, and freezing my butt off in Canada. Steve flew over to the USA and we met in NYC before heading to florida. GREAT trip - lots of fun - did everything including the non-disney stuff. Best part of the trip - the PROPOSAL!

Steve had designed and purchased my ring - and planned the most amazing proposal ever. He arrange for us to meet up with a disney photographer person - as there was a special promo on - that you could have a couple of pics in front of the castle, they'd send them to your room, and then if you like them you pay whatever ammount and do a full private photo shoot the next day. SO.... We head to the rose garden at the appointed time where Ty was waiting for us. He confirmed that we were there for the special photography promo and into the rose garden we went. It is a beautiful area with a clear view of the castle... So he took all the photo's and advised us that the pics would be waiting in our room that evening when we'd finished in the parks. I do remember thinking this was a bit strange, and even queried that he knew we were at the Regal Sun which was off property in down town disney - but Ty confirmed they can send stuff to the DTD hotels too so that was fine.

A couple of hours later, Steve got a call on his mobile phone, but didn't answer it in time, so Karen, his contact at DEP left a message. Unfortunately, due to an issue with a lens, most of our pics did not work out, so could we head back to the rose garden to meet with Ty again to re-do them. Feeling a bit frustrated, as well as hot and sweaty and tired, I grumbled a bit and over we went.

Ty was profusely sorry the pics did not work, and said it was only a couple so wouldn't take long to re-shoot. Into the rose garden we went again, and he started snapping away. Then he hands me a little cardboard photo holder and says "this is one of the ones that didn't work out".... I opened it very quickly, though - oh - looks ok to me, even if I do look a bit frumpy - and closed it again, wanting to get the photo shoot over as I needed a seat and some shade! Obviously having missed the point, it took three prompts from both Steve and Ty for me to have another look at the photo - and as I did - Steve started dropping to his knee just as I realised that beside the castle and above us in the photo, there were two cinderella birds holding a banner that said "Erin, will you marry me?".....

I think I said "Really"???????????? About 15 times before Steve had to ask was that a yes.... I recall thrusting both hands out and asking which finger it went on.... I was so shocked as I thought this "photo session" may have been a proposal - Steve and I have lived together for 5 years and both LOVE Disney - so it seemed like the right time and oppurtunity - so when it didn't happen I was pretty dissapointed. Probably why I was so grumbly to have to go back and do it again. Of course, it was all set up and Ty and the staff at DEP were all in on it, and Ty got lots of photo's of my reaction and everything like that.

I purchased a dress in Florida (soooo much cheaper than here in Australia) and carried it as handluggage from Florida to NYC to LA and back home to Melbourne. Poor Steve had spent a good few hours in the car outside the bridal store whilst this all happened - and has not seen the dress. We were supposed to get married on 17th Octover 2010 - but due to a few reasons - my dream wedding that I had spent 12 months planning every last minute detail - had to be cancelled 3 weeks out. It was a very upsetting and stressful time.

When things were worked out, we had talked about then getting married at WDW. I don't want, and cannot afford to do the whole thing back at home again - we couldn't book the exact same thing - and something different did not interest me. I was pretty certian however that there were a few of my freinds and family that I definately wanted to have at the wedding - so booked a beutiful beachhouse and decided the USA trip would just be the honeymoon. After realising that one of my best friends would not be able to come, another friend passed away, that I was having trouble cutting off numbers for a small wedding (the whole - but if you invite this person then have to invite that person), that I'd need to get another dress as mine was far too formal for a tiny casual beach wedding (and having tried on a few and not found anything else I liked) I have now completely scrapped that idea - and a WDW wedding it is.

Wedding details next post. Will also try and upload some photo's too.



This is the only photo I have on my laptop - I am away from home for work. I will add more in a few days when I get home to Melnourne. This is the photo Ty handed me, pretending it was an example of what didn't work out. I didn't even see the banner to start with.

When Steve got down on his knee, all the people around realised what was going on and stopped to watch - and then cheered and clapped and congratulated us afterwards. I think that was the best part of it all - and something I look forward to for the wedding!

The rose garden is beautiful - you cannot normally go in there at all. What was also really funny was that where Ty had been waiting for us, there was a photopass person too - and other people kept coming up to Ty asking him to take photo's - and he had to explain (because I was there) that he was there doing a special photography promotion thing. Then people were asking him about it, clever boy thinks quickly on his feet and said did you book it online and when they said no, he was like oh sorry - this is only for people that booked this deal some months ago... lol!

Also - on the way back to the rose garden (with grumpy hot and tired erin) I wanted steve to take a pic on the bridge - and tried to get the camera out of his pocket - not knowing that he'd had the ring box stashed in there all day... I had wondered why he was so relectant to take a photo.... 10 minutes later... well... then I knew why!

 

[chocolate_monsta]

So... Part 2 - The Wedding - Wednesday 28th September 2011

What I have planned/booked so far:

6:15am - MK Photo Shoot
10:00am - Ceremony @ Sea Breeze Point
8:00pm - Wishes fireworks cruise


So as you can see, I have quite a lot of time inbetween to fill and still need to choose and plan:

- Celebrant
- Hair/Make Up
- Dress/Suit steaming
- Choose flower, cake and music selections
- Work out what to do for lunch/dinner/dessert and inbetween times
- Work out what we will do for photography - stick with DEP or get an additional outside photography
- Decide if we will get another hotel room for the wedding night or not

And probably a million other things that I have not yet thought of..... My next post will be the million rambling thoughts/questions I am hoping you can all help me with.

As I am in Australia - I have to stay up until about 2am to speak to people at WDW - and the email response can be pretty slow sometimes. Some of these things I am waiting on replies about (have made contact with the lady from DEP who helped Steve arrange our proposal) and I have been told my coordinator should be in touch by the end of next week - as they are very busy right now. Being just a touch impatien - I'm hoping some of you vetrans may have answers and ideas for some of my queries in the meantime!!!

 

[chocolate_monsta]

Ok - so let the million questions/rambling though process begin!!!

I feel photography is the most important element - so lets start with that.

I understand that the Escape package includes basic photography for 2 hours. I also see you can upgrade to include a second photographer to take more "photojournalistic" pictures, upgrade the albulms and add things like the MK shoot which we have done.

I find DEP photography very hit and miss. I think a lot of photography I like, is in clever staging and good post editing and enhancing. I have mixed thoughts from when we did our proposal and engagement shoots. We had Ty at MK - the shots were very natural and unedited. We did some engagement shoots around the park - most of which I don't really like. I will admit it was about 3pm in the afternoon so the park was busy and we could not use the carosel etc - however I wish I had not of been so carried away by the moment that I could have given some direction as to what I want - and what types of photo's of me I like. As such, the MK photo's I do have are so-so. The epcot engagement session we did the next morning is an improvement - with some lovely shots and a couple with very very minor enhancement or editing. There are quite a few I love (and again - some I don't and wish I had of voiced what I would like... I decided to trust the photographer - (whose name I do not remember) however find her "perfect location" of standing on a fake car not my style..... None the less, I do quite like many of the ones done in the epcot shoot.

I have been doing searches for other brides escape wedding packages - and sent an email to my DEP contact to query - but it seems to me many of the pics are very raw and unedited - more like a snap shot than professional photography. Unfortunately many of the posts and threads with peoples Escape photography examples have expired - so can't see the pics anyway.

The photos stamped "Disney Fine Art Photography" are more along the lines of the kind of work I like - and want!

Of course, the other option to doing all the upgrades (if they are even possible with Disney) is to use an outside photographer. Again - i find the quality varying. I am waiting on a reply from Randy, as I notice he too varies in the style - some are quite basic photos, but then on his website you see the highly edited and enhanced photos - so waiting to hear back about prices etc for that kind of thing... I have seen some amazing photos (and am starting to save pics I like as reference for when we do work it out) but find it hard to keep up with who has done what, and prices...

So that's the rambling part done - lets start with the questions!!!

1. Can you please send me any links to threads/posts/examples of other peoples escape wedding photography done by Disney (DEP).

2. Can you please send me any links to threads/posts/examples of outside photohraphers used for escape weddings. Inclusion of information such as who the photographer was, what package you got, what the package included, how much it cost and what the DEP photographer did and how it worked would be great!

3. Has anyone ever done, or heard of upgrading extra time for escape wedding photography.

4. Has anyone ever done, or heard of upgrading the quality of the finished product - so adding additional editing, enhancement, requesting specific shots etc etc with DEP?

5. Does anyone have the DEP albulms? Which ones - regular of digital montage? If so, do you like it? Did you get to choose which photo's went into it???

(We got our engagement pics on DVD and in a small albulm - but the photographer chose the pics in the albulm not us - and not necc the ones we would want in there) The other option is to not worry about the albulms and editing, and just make sure we get good quality high res images on DVD and do the post editing and albulms back at home.

6. Is there anywhere we could get a couple of cheeky Disney character snaps during the day, without having to enter one of the parks, so we can remain in our wedding attire.

7. I am wanting to book a horse carriage ride at our resort (POR) - and have a few shots taken. I used to drive a horse carriage in the city here (but two percherons) so would love a pic with the horse, and in the carriage. Given we are paying for it (even if we pay double to allow extra time/two slots or something) would there be any reason why they would not allow us to take pics. Anyone can book the carriage ride, and it's a set price. I am guessing I would have to have an outside photographer for this though - Disney might not want to put thier name on it if the carriage/horse etc is not up to "wedding standard" - but I just cannot fathom $1700 just to have a horse carriage as transport... Plus it will fill in some time during the day!

8. Does anyone have any super cool ideas I have not yet thought of for really cute, quirky or super disney photos?

So far I have in and around MK castle, carosel, tea cups, main street USA. Would have liked a pic in the "test" dumbo car/seat - but assume it's gone now.....??? Boardwalk photo booth, signs along the boardwalk, balloons on the boardwalk

If we get an outside photography, or can extend the hours of the DEP photography - the GF shots - and possibly the wedding pavillion gate and picture point - so long as there is no wedding there at the time....

9. DEP photohraphers - who did you have and how did you find them? Was there anyone that gave a lot of direction to make sure you got the best shots possible?

I found Ty never really gave us much direction - would just say do this, or stand there, and then snapped away. Because of this, there are some photo's that could have been amazing, had we been told to turn a bit this way, move your hair, put your shoulders back etc etc.... I found the female we had the next day gave some more direction - which resulted in better photos... I am a VERY VERY novice photohraphy enthusiast - and will sit and take the same photo 20 times to get it "just right" - and if I am paying an arm and a leg for my wedding photography, I want the same in return.

10. Did you request specific shots, and if so, how did they turn out for you? How and when did you do this - on the day? Or were you able to comminicate this to your planner, or someone from photography prior to the day?

 

[chocolate_monsta]

Ok - lets skip now to some more general (and hopefully much shorter) questions!

1. The total guests for an Escape wedding is 20 people. If we make some friends during our trip, decide last minute to invite some of the people in the USA I know, or if people from here want to attened the ceremony do I have to alert Disney first? How far in advance do we need to let them know? Can I confirm it does not change the cost of anything - unless you want extra bubbly. I guess they'd need to know so they have enough plates etc for the cake.

2. With the cake/champaigne ceremony - is there a time limit for this when they start shooing you away?

3. You get the limo for four hours - but only 2 hours of photography. Did anyone have any extra time left with the limo, and if so, did you use it for anything else?

4. What if people want to just come and watch - but from a slight distance.. Or even not from a distance, and we let the coordinator know we don't mind if people want to come up close to watch/listen?

5. What about for the Wishes cruise - does it matter if the numbers change so long as it is not over the limit allowed (!0)? Again, is there a time frame they need to know? Unlikely we'll add any extras here - but you never know.

6. Can I wear my dress on the wishes cruise? I've seen people say yes, and that they did or have seen other brides that did. Then I have seen some that say no. I am thinking of not asking and just showing up in it???

7. Would I be able to take a photographer on the cruise. Wether a DEP or an outsider. Is it worth it? Can you get good photo's on the cruise?

8. When did you get your planning kit (I have an older one, but waiting on the current one) and reccomendations list - and what was the process from there? How did you find out about what upgrades and changes are availble?

9. Who did you use or who do you reccomend for the celebrant? Cost? Any noteworthy information (such as attire, did they make lots of jokes, very friendly etc)

10. Who did you use or who do you reccomend for hair/make up? Cost? Has anyone had them come super super early before a MK photo shoot - was this a problem?

11. Who did you use/reccomend for dress/suit steaming? Cost? When did you have this done?

12. Did anyone have thier dress cleaned/preserved and then shipped home? Am considering doing this so I don't have to drag my dress around everywhere afterwards. Dependant on the shipping cost back home to Australia, it will possibly end up the same cost as to do it at home anyway. I don't like the display boxes on the Carolyn Allen or whatever website that she links too - does anyone know of any other companies that do this - that have nicer, less generic display boxes?

13. Music. Can you choose whatever songs you like? If it was not something the violinist could do - can you have it on ipod or something instead? Will there be something they can provide to play this or would you need to bring your own? Will it cost extra?

14. Which court is closest to get your marriage liecence? How long should you allow to get this done? Has anyone international ever had any issues with the process? How do they send the marriage certificate back to you? Has anyone international had to pay extra to get it sent to you and did it arrive safely?

15. In an american wedding, do you have a section of the ceremony where the bride and groom must sign the certificate? In Australian weddings this is one of the legal requirements, so you normally have to choose music for this too.

16. Are there any escape couples with not many guests that had a first dance. If so, when, where and how did you do this without feeling like a complete wally?

17. For all of our trip, due to budget restraints, we are staying in shared rooms except on the cruise. Do you think we should hire another room for the night before and the night of the wedding? If so - where would you reccomend. Is it the boardwalk hotel that has the horses in the foyer area?? (yes - horse mad!) I just thought it would be fun to have somewhere for the girls to get ready (just me and clare) together, and then somewhere private to stay that night for the bride and groom. It's not essential though. Honestly I'm more worried about the getting ready and not enough room to do so properly in a shared POR room than anything else.

18. So the final questions re: food come in the next post - but aside from sorting out lunch/dinner/dessert - what else do we do in the middle of the day? Any suggestions for fun, unique, indulgent disney things to do? That don't cost thousands of dollars? Any ideas or suggestions as to who we should fill the gaps would be most welcome!!!

 

[chocolate_monsta]

LAST post.......... for now!!! (insert evil laugh) - hopefully all of you lovely people will start waking up soon and feel inclined to reply and inbox me and answer all of my questions... he he

Now this one is all things food. Which is suitable as I'm pretty hungry - I am working night shift tonight (I am a 000 emergency services call taker - like 911) so had a sleep in and not yet had breakfast. It's really now past lunchtime (2:11pm on Wednesday 20th April) so I'll find something to eat after this, do some tidying up, and see if I can set up a photobucket or similar account so I can put some pictures of everything on here too for you.

Lets start with cake. That's a pretty important element!

1. Did you upgrade or make changes to your cake? If so, what did you change/upgrade and how much did it cost?

2. Did you like your cake? Any flavours or combinations to reccomend?

3. Did any escape couples get to taste test the cakes beforehand? We have quite a few days in Orlando, and at the parks before the wedding. It would actually be great to be able to finalise cake and possibly even flower arrangements in person. Or to meet up with the photographer to show them what pics we want etc.

Sorry - i digress - back to the all important food!

4. Did you upgrade your cake topper? To what? How much did it cose?

5. I saw someone had a castle topper with blue on the castle - where can you get this? I also see the micky/minnie topper where they are in yellow clothes. Is this supplied by Disney? If so - cost?

6. Lunch/Dinner/Dessert - WHAT SHOULD I DO HERE???????? Reccomendations and Ideas needed!!

Lunch - I am thinking a light lunch after the ceremony etc and photo's are all done. Either somewhere nice (reccomendations???) or a high tea kind of thing somewhere, with some finger food to tide us over. We will have already had cake - so shouldn't need a big lunch.

Dinner - Private dining vs booking at a resteraunt?? I like the idea of private dining for a few reasons. Choose your own menu (we dont eat seafood or strange and fancy stuff), romantic and super special enviroment and more "wedding" than a normal resteraunt. Also won't feel so silly if you are still in your dress etc.

7. Reccomendations for places for private dining for 4? Have seen posts both on the balcony on level 3, and inside on level 5 at the GF. Would these spaces have enough space for 4? Does anyone else have anywhere they can reccomend. As far as I can tell, you can do private dining almost anywhere. Ours just needs to be quant - does not need firework views as we'll head off on the wishes cruise afterwards for that - so will be an earlier dinner. I saw one post where a CM told someone that there was a private dining in a monorail carriage - and apprently didn't cost extra (hard to believe at disney!).. That's interesting... Is there any other locations that would work?

8. Can I confirm that for private dining, you can pretty much choose whatever you want to have on the menu???

9. Cinderella's slipper dessert. I understand you have to order these from GF or CRT. With enough notice, for private dining, do you think you can order a combination of the two? I like the GF verson - however also want the berries that they serve with the CRT version. Surely the GF would be able to add the berries to thier version.. At a cost of course.

10. If not doing private dining - then does anyone have any resteraunt reccomendations??? I love the look of victoria and alberts - but all of the menu has lots of seafood and strange things like duck liver.... We are really meat and veggie kind of people - and HUGE dessert people... But very basic tastes - don't do much out of the ordinary. Will they do more nomal stuff if you did want to eat there?

 

[chocolate_monsta]

Ok... I lied... I do have one (or two) more question and that is all I will ask.... For now......

MICKEY EARS - can you still get the wedding ears with the tiara and viel? I have a pic of me wearing them - will have to find it. I saw a few posts that they seemed to be hard to get - when we were they they had LOADS. I don't particularly like the one with the cap and ears - and want the tiara one.

I did manage to buy two "just married" badges on ebay quite cheaply - even though they used to be free. Do they have these back yet or are the seriously never going to stock them again? Is there anything special they still do for wedding couples that no one else gets?

All of our park days are actually before the wedding - is it ok to wear these before the wedding - as opposed to our "just engaged" ones? Not that I am seeking attention or anything...... lol....... but would be a shame to miss out because the wedding is actually our last day in the parks.....

Ok - that's all for now.... Hurry up and wake up so I can get your replies!!!

Erin

 

[lt90]

Ok - lets skip now to some more general (and hopefully much shorter) questions!

1. The total guests for an Escape wedding is 20 people. If we make some friends during our trip, decide last minute to invite some of the people in the USA I know, or if people from here want to attened the ceremony do I have to alert Disney first? How far in advance do we need to let them know? Can I confirm it does not change the cost of anything - unless you want extra bubbly. I guess they'd need to know so they have enough plates etc for the cake.

2. With the cake/champaigne ceremony - is there a time limit for this when they start shooing you away?

3. You get the limo for four hours - but only 2 hours of photography. Did anyone have any extra time left with the limo, and if so, did you use it for anything else?

4. What if people want to just come and watch - but from a slight distance.. Or even not from a distance, and we let the coordinator know we don't mind if people want to come up close to watch/listen?

5. What about for the Wishes cruise - does it matter if the numbers change so long as it is not over the limit allowed (!0)? Again, is there a time frame they need to know? Unlikely we'll add any extras here - but you never know.

6. Can I wear my dress on the wishes cruise? I've seen people say yes, and that they did or have seen other brides that did. Then I have seen some that say no. I am thinking of not asking and just showing up in it???

7. Would I be able to take a photographer on the cruise. Wether a DEP or an outsider. Is it worth it? Can you get good photo's on the cruise?

8. When did you get your planning kit (I have an older one, but waiting on the current one) and reccomendations list - and what was the process from there? How did you find out about what upgrades and changes are availble?

9. Who did you use or who do you reccomend for the celebrant? Cost? Any noteworthy information (such as attire, did they make lots of jokes, very friendly etc)

10. Who did you use or who do you reccomend for hair/make up? Cost? Has anyone had them come super super early before a MK photo shoot - was this a problem?

11. Who did you use/reccomend for dress/suit steaming? Cost? When did you have this done?

12. Did anyone have thier dress cleaned/preserved and then shipped home? Am considering doing this so I don't have to drag my dress around everywhere afterwards. Dependant on the shipping cost back home to Australia, it will possibly end up the same cost as to do it at home anyway. I don't like the display boxes on the Carolyn Allen or whatever website that she links too - does anyone know of any other companies that do this - that have nicer, less generic display boxes?

13. Music. Can you choose whatever songs you like? If it was not something the violinist could do - can you have it on ipod or something instead? Will there be something they can provide to play this or would you need to bring your own? Will it cost extra?

14. Which court is closest to get your marriage liecence? How long should you allow to get this done? Has anyone international ever had any issues with the process? How do they send the marriage certificate back to you? Has anyone international had to pay extra to get it sent to you and did it arrive safely?

15. In an american wedding, do you have a section of the ceremony where the bride and groom must sign the certificate? In Australian weddings this is one of the legal requirements, so you normally have to choose music for this too.

16. Are there any escape couples with not many guests that had a first dance. If so, when, where and how did you do this without feeling like a complete wally?

17. For all of our trip, due to budget restraints, we are staying in shared rooms except on the cruise. Do you think we should hire another room for the night before and the night of the wedding? If so - where would you reccomend. Is it the boardwalk hotel that has the horses in the foyer area?? (yes - horse mad!) I just thought it would be fun to have somewhere for the girls to get ready (just me and clare) together, and then somewhere private to stay that night for the bride and groom. It's not essential though. Honestly I'm more worried about the getting ready and not enough room to do so properly in a shared POR room than anything else.

18. So the final questions re: food come in the next post - but aside from sorting out lunch/dinner/dessert - what else do we do in the middle of the day? Any suggestions for fun, unique, indulgent disney things to do? That don't cost thousands of dollars? Any ideas or suggestions as to who we should fill the gaps would be most welcome!!!

Hey! Lovely story of the proposal by the way!What a lovely surprise it must have been! I will try to answer as many of your questions as possible and hopefully someone will come along and correct me if I'm wrong!I'm also in the throws of trying to plan a wedding for 2012 and I know how frustrating it is to have all these questions and not get answers!!
Unfortunatley I cant really help with the photography questions because I havent given that any thought yet LOL!But I do know that we will be booking Randy he is such a nice guy to email, very flexible, knows disney like the back of his hands and is one of the better priced photographers!
So to your questions Ill number the answers to match the questions!
1.)Having more guests (so long as it doesnt exceed 20) does not change the price of the package unless you add extras like drink, chairs etc. However I do think disney need to know in advance although I couldnt say how far - I know that its 3 days for final numbers of food e.g. for wishes receptions so I would think it would be a minimum of three days!
2.)From the start of the ceremony until you are kincked out (nicely of course!) it is 1 hour so this will include the cake, champs and any dancing, speeches or photos that you want to do at SBP.
3.) The Limo hours have to be used consecutively but you could use this to transport guests, take you anywhere you want photos e.g. GF, can take you for your reception or if you dont want to use it for the wedding you are permitted to use the 4 hours for any other part of your trip e.g. getting marrige lisence etc.
4.)At SBP people usually do stop and watch from the boardwalk however they are not permitted to enter SBP during a wedding but often will shout Congrats during cake etc.
5.)You book the wishes cruise a 180 day out (although i warn you they are very hard to get!!) it is my understanding that you just pay for the cruise and as long as you dont exceed the max. there is no time limit to add extra guests although this might be different if you plan on adding cake, wine etc.
6.)Yes you can wear your dress on the cruise!
7.)I dont know this one!But I dont think you can have DEP but you may be able to ask an outside photographer?!
8.)Again cant really answer this one as Im not at that process yet!
9.)This depends on your religious views i guess!If you want a completley no religious officiant then I have heard good reviews of Ron Rosenwig ( i think thats the spelling!) but if you want something a bit more religious Ive heard good reviews about Rev. Jack Day who i believe also offers non religious ceremonies!Disney does have a list of reccomended officiants though but remember that anyone you pick that is not on that list counts towards the guest count!!
10.)Hair and make-up - Two spring to mind - Patrica LeJeune and Beaute Speciale are the only ones Ive really heard about!Never seen any complaints about either of these!Many brides have have the early MK shoot so I guess early makeup is not a problem (but maybe theres an additional charge?!I dont know!) but defianetley doable!
11.)I havent really researched this yet but many brides have this so maybe you could search through someones TR?!
12.)No idea!!
13.)The violinist will have a set song sheet that your planner will let you know about but I think most play all disney ones at least!Ive heard that you can provide sheet music for something particular but I think you have to pay extra for the violinist to learn it!! Yes you can have disney set up IPOD but it is super expensive considering youll only be there an hour!!You can bring your own ipod and speakers but they have to be battery operated and someone in your party will have to operate them, disney will not get involved!!Also if you do use your own speakers and they fail on the day disney will not help you out so you may be without music and I dont know if the violinist will still be there if you chose to provide your own speakers!!
14.)I believe the closest is the one in kissimee!I have never heard of international brides having any trouble so long as youve got all necessary documents!I believe it is quite a quick process as well!I dont know about how you get the marriage lisence but I would guess they would just send it in the post!?!
15.)I dont know!!this confuses me as well because the signing of the registry is part of the ceremony in england as well!!I would love for someone to answer this for me too!!!
16.)I guess its down to personal choice!Your planner will ask you this so they can plan it into your time allowance!I think brides just do it during the cake bit and just wherever theres space!
17.)Personally I would get an extra room!!the night before and morning of your wedding youll want to relax and know where all your bits are so its not a mad rush in the morning!!Also it might be easier for hair and make-up too!Plus itll be nice to have your first night alone with your new husband
Yes it is the boardwalk with the horses!
18.)Well I guess it depends on if you want to stay in your dress all day!!If you dont you could go into the parks, go jetskiing or parasailing at Contemporary to say a few!But if you do they maybe you could shop at DTD and surprise all the customers, go for walks on beaches at Poly!Who knows Im sure youll think of something exciting!Im adding a lunch reception (and Dessert party ) to my Escape package (sticking to the $7500 minimum), maybe you could add something like this if your budget allows!

I hope that kind of answers some of your questions!!!Please excuse my dreadful spelling Ive just got up and my baby is screaming her head off (teething ) so Im typing and cuddling at the same time!!
My best advice would be to buy Carries (lurkyloo's) book Passporters guide to Disney wedding - it is a LIFESAVER and will help explain things a bit better!!Ill answer your next set of questions in a bit!!

P.S - Your soooooo brave living in Austrailia!! My fiancee wants to visit but we never can because Im soooooooooooooooooo scared of spiders!!The spiders we have in england are tiny compared to the ones you have there but it still doesnt stop me screaming the house down when I see on !!

 

[lt90]

LAST post.......... for now!!! (insert evil laugh) - hopefully all of you lovely people will start waking up soon and feel inclined to reply and inbox me and answer all of my questions... he he

Now this one is all things food. Which is suitable as I'm pretty hungry - I am working night shift tonight (I am a 000 emergency services call taker - like 911) so had a sleep in and not yet had breakfast. It's really now past lunchtime (2:11pm on Wednesday 20th April) so I'll find something to eat after this, do some tidying up, and see if I can set up a photobucket or similar account so I can put some pictures of everything on here too for you.

Lets start with cake. That's a pretty important element!

1. Did you upgrade or make changes to your cake? If so, what did you change/upgrade and how much did it cost?

2. Did you like your cake? Any flavours or combinations to reccomend?

3. Did any escape couples get to taste test the cakes beforehand? We have quite a few days in Orlando, and at the parks before the wedding. It would actually be great to be able to finalise cake and possibly even flower arrangements in person. Or to meet up with the photographer to show them what pics we want etc.

Sorry - i digress - back to the all important food!

4. Did you upgrade your cake topper? To what? How much did it cose?

5. I saw someone had a castle topper with blue on the castle - where can you get this? I also see the micky/minnie topper where they are in yellow clothes. Is this supplied by Disney? If so - cost?

6. Lunch/Dinner/Dessert - WHAT SHOULD I DO HERE???????? Reccomendations and Ideas needed!!

Lunch - I am thinking a light lunch after the ceremony etc and photo's are all done. Either somewhere nice (reccomendations???) or a high tea kind of thing somewhere, with some finger food to tide us over. We will have already had cake - so shouldn't need a big lunch.

Dinner - Private dining vs booking at a resteraunt?? I like the idea of private dining for a few reasons. Choose your own menu (we dont eat seafood or strange and fancy stuff), romantic and super special enviroment and more "wedding" than a normal resteraunt. Also won't feel so silly if you are still in your dress etc.

7. Reccomendations for places for private dining for 4? Have seen posts both on the balcony on level 3, and inside on level 5 at the GF. Would these spaces have enough space for 4? Does anyone else have anywhere they can reccomend. As far as I can tell, you can do private dining almost anywhere. Ours just needs to be quant - does not need firework views as we'll head off on the wishes cruise afterwards for that - so will be an earlier dinner. I saw one post where a CM told someone that there was a private dining in a monorail carriage - and apprently didn't cost extra (hard to believe at disney!).. That's interesting... Is there any other locations that would work?

8. Can I confirm that for private dining, you can pretty much choose whatever you want to have on the menu???

9. Cinderella's slipper dessert. I understand you have to order these from GF or CRT. With enough notice, for private dining, do you think you can order a combination of the two? I like the GF verson - however also want the berries that they serve with the CRT version. Surely the GF would be able to add the berries to thier version.. At a cost of course.

10. If not doing private dining - then does anyone have any resteraunt reccomendations??? I love the look of victoria and alberts - but all of the menu has lots of seafood and strange things like duck liver.... We are really meat and veggie kind of people - and HUGE dessert people... But very basic tastes - don't do much out of the ordinary. Will they do more nomal stuff if you did want to eat there?

1.) We will be upgrading our cake flavours because we prefer the wishes selection!I saw someones TR where they upgraded flavours and I think it was like $250 extra but I dont know for a fact!
2.)Cant help yet but all brides rave about the cakes!!
3.)No Escape brides do not have tasting or in person planning sessions!I dont think you can finalise plans in person but if you hire an outside photographer you might be able to visit their studio to talk through any requests etc.
4.)The only upgrade for cake toppers that disney provide is a chocolate cinderellas castle which I believe is $100!
5.)Dont know about the yellow mickey minnie topper but disney do provide a mickey&minnie topper!
6.)Around the boardwalk is yatchman steakhouse which is often used by escape brides!Its pretty much what you fancy and what you can get ADR's for but as long as it isnt in a park you can eat wherever!If you want a high tea then GF cafe would be best option for you!Most escpae brides dont have a problem eating with other diners (most actually like the attention!) I dont really now how private dining works outside the GF but in the GF it is just in the areas outside the rooms but it can be very expensive esp for 4!the monorail thing and other things like that have been stopped but I beleive it was very very very expensive anyway!I dont think you can do private dining anywhere (espically not for four people) i think it centres around GF but again that would probably be a good question on the forum in its own right!
9.)No idea although many brides have had them but unfortunately most were not impressed with them for the price!
10.)I think most restaurants will not take requests if its a set menu but many retsaurants have lots of options on the regualr menu but most restaurants wont do you a perosnalised menu!I know Citricos has a private dining room called Chefs Domain which can seat 12 people and has a minimum of $650 dollars but if you could meet that i doont see why they would have any problem with just four people!To be honest any signature restaurants are beautiful and most will try to accomodate you the best they can!

again sorry for the poor spelling

 

[Lulu83]

Hi! Unfortunately I can't really help with your questions as I'm only in the early planning stages myself (looking forward to seeing the responses though, might be helpful for me too!) but just wanted to say hi to another Aussie Escape bride!

P.S - Your soooooo brave living in Austrailia!! My fiancee wants to visit but we never can because Im soooooooooooooooooo scared of spiders!!The spiders we have in england are tiny compared to the ones you have there but it still doesnt stop me screaming the house down when I see on !!

I know we have a bad reputation for lots of animals that can kill you but aside from the odd snake I've seen from a distance I have never encountered any in real life (at home, at the beach or in the outback) We do get huntsman spiders which are probably about the size of a human hand but they are completely harmless and not dangerous in any way, I'm very insect-phobic but these guys are so gentle I've even had some hanging around in the garden that I've nicknamed hehe. I always remind myself that they are more scared of us then we are of them, we must look like giants!

I live on the west coast and we don't get funnel web spiders (the nasty dangerous ones) over here, so if you decide to come for a visit you could always restrict your trip to WA!

 

[Firefly09]

HI!

Just a suggestion, but have you thought of starting a planning journal? This way others can follow along with your planning and offer advice, answers to your questions or even just moral support!

To be honest, I read your posts and with so many questions all lumped together, I don't even know where to start answering.

But just to clarify, the wedding photos are done by Disney Fine Art Photography. You had Ty for the proposal and he is also one of the Disney wedding photographers. And you are right in that the DFAP wedding photos can be hit or miss, which is why they're now taking requests for photograpers and trying to match up the request with the actual photographer as much as they can. Everyone has different styles and if you get a photographer whose style is clearly not what you want, then you'll likely not be happy with the pictures.

If you look a bit on the wedding boards, you'll see that a lot of your questions already have answers! There are definitely threads reviewing the different officiants, the hair and makeup specialist, gown steamers, etc. There's a ton of information, I know it's a lot to try to comb through but I definitely learned and benefited a lot just by reading what other people have already done.

If you haven't already, I would buy the Passporter Guide Disney Weddings and Honeymoon written by one of the Disboard members. It helps to answer basic questions and even answers questions that you may not have thought of yet!

 

[lt90]

Hi! Unfortunately I can't really help with your questions as I'm only in the early planning stages myself (looking forward to seeing the responses though, might be helpful for me too!) but just wanted to say hi to another Aussie Escape bride!



I know we have a bad reputation for lots of animals that can kill you but aside from the odd snake I've seen from a distance I have never encountered any in real life (at home, at the beach or in the outback) We do get huntsman spiders which are probably about the size of a human hand but they are completely harmless and not dangerous in any way, I'm very insect-phobic but these guys are so gentle I've even had some hanging around in the garden that I've nicknamed hehe. I always remind myself that they are more scared of us then we are of them, we must look like giants!

I live on the west coast and we don't get funnel web spiders (the nasty dangerous ones) over here, so if you decide to come for a visit you could always restrict your trip to WA!

Well thats kind of ressuring I think all ive ever heard is spiders in cars, in beds and stuff when my sister went last year (Im sure my sister tells me this stuff to wind me up!!) Austrailia looks like such a beautiful country but to me its like my worse nightmare you litterally have all animals i hate on one island - spiders, snakes, jellyfish, scoprions, sharks argh I could never escape!!!!!!!! I love the fact that you have named the big spiders but to me its the look of the spiders that creeps me out not how likely they are to kill me!!!!Although its really weird because I am actually fascinated by all the animals I hate but if i ever actually saw one I faint (which the security Guy at the Zoo finds hilarious ) but i guess its stupid really I shouldnt be fainting I should be running!!!!
My fiancee has now suggested a cruise that just stops in Austrailia so maybe we could go...maybe LOL!

 

[chocolate_monsta]

Well thats kind of ressuring I think all ive ever heard is spiders in cars, in beds and stuff when my sister went last year (Im sure my sister tells me this stuff to wind me up!!) Austrailia looks like such a beautiful country but to me its like my worse nightmare you litterally have all animals i hate on one island - spiders, snakes, jellyfish, scoprions, sharks argh I could never escape!!!!!!!! I love the fact that you have named the big spiders but to me its the look of the spiders that creeps me out not how likely they are to kill me!!!!Although its really weird because I am actually fascinated by all the animals I hate but if i ever actually saw one I faint (which the security Guy at the Zoo finds hilarious ) but i guess its stupid really I shouldnt be fainting I should be running!!!!
My fiancee has now suggested a cruise that just stops in Austrailia so maybe we could go...maybe LOL!

Well - I have to say - I saw more scary spiders (not to mention bears and cyoties) when I worked at a summer camp in PA......

We do have the worlds most deadly snakes and spiders - but then they are just like any other dangerous animals - generally more scared of you than you are of them..... Not sure what you have in the UK that I could compare too... I don't think you'd find the incidents of fatal snake/spider bite - or shark attack (they are not everywhere) overly common....

It is a really beautiful country. I have travelled all over Asia, and lived/worked in USA and Canada.... Canada is by far my favourite place I have ever been - probably because it's so much like home. The people are similar - the food is similar....

I'd imagine you brits would be right at home at WDW though - I reckon 2 out of 3 people there all had a UK accent!!!!!

And hi fellow Aussie bride!!!! Tried to post on the oz section earlier - but everything froze!

Thanks for the answers to questions.....

Also - to the person that said lots of the answers are in other places... You are right - I have found a lot - but then not found a lot too.. Just like my HUGE list of questions is tricky to get through - I find many peoples trip reports etc are the same... It's a shame the search feature takes you to the whole thread - not the exact post you want the info from..... It would be good if on the first page there was something like:

Wedding Details - Escape wedding - sea breeze point
Where: Sea Breeze Point
When: 10 am 29th Sept 2011
Total Cost: 10k
Photography: (dis/outside - cost)
Video
Reception

etc etc.....
Oh well - will keep on searching and hope that WDW get back to me one day! (And then I'll tell all of you the answers!

 

[Travel Mum]

I'm not any help with Disney weddings but have enjoyed reading your story and will enjoy following your planning. Your wedding date caught my eye because 29 September is the day we arrive at WDW on our first ever trip there. We are also staying at POR.

Over on the Aussie (Aussie/Kiwi) board, we have recently been following BecBennett's wedding story as she just recently got married at WDW. See if you can PM her with any questions or find her wedding thread.

 

[Lulu83]

Well thats kind of ressuring I think all ive ever heard is spiders in cars, in beds and stuff when my sister went last year (Im sure my sister tells me this stuff to wind me up!!) Austrailia looks like such a beautiful country but to me its like my worse nightmare you litterally have all animals i hate on one island - spiders, snakes, jellyfish, scoprions, sharks argh I could never escape!!!!!!!! I love the fact that you have named the big spiders but to me its the look of the spiders that creeps me out not how likely they are to kill me!!!!Although its really weird because I am actually fascinated by all the animals I hate but if i ever actually saw one I faint (which the security Guy at the Zoo finds hilarious ) but i guess its stupid really I shouldnt be fainting I should be running!!!!
My fiancee has now suggested a cruise that just stops in Austrailia so maybe we could go...maybe LOL!

It's a shame Disney Cruise Line don't do a cruise that stops here

I have an irrational fear of cockroaches (and embarassingly squirrels - they are so aggressive!) so I definitely can relate to your arachnophobia. But we do have an awful lot of cute animals over here too that you can't see anywhere else (well maybe in a zoo..) Kangaroos, koalas, whales etc... and awesome beaches! I feel a bit like a travel agent trying to encourage you to come for a visit!

I'm not any help with Disney weddings but have enjoyed reading your story and will enjoy following your planning. Your wedding date caught my eye because 29 September is the day we arrive at WDW on our first ever trip there. We are also staying at POR.

Over on the Aussie (Aussie/Kiwi) board, we have recently been following BecBennett's wedding story as she just recently got married at WDW. See if you can PM her with any questions or find her wedding thread.

Nice to see a fellow Kiwi on here, Kia Ora! (I like in Aus but was born in NZ, I've crossed to the dark side haha)

If you haven't already, I would buy the Passporter Guide Disney Weddings and Honeymoon written by one of the Disboard members. It helps to answer basic questions and even answers questions that you may not have thought of yet!

I second this recommendation! I bought the ebook and it was such a great investment! It answered most of my questions before I had to ask (or search for them) on here.

Also - to the person that said lots of the answers are in other places... You are right - I have found a lot - but then not found a lot too.. Just like my HUGE list of questions is tricky to get through - I find many peoples trip reports etc are the same... It's a shame the search feature takes you to the whole thread - not the exact post you want the info from..... It would be good if on the first page there was something like:

Wedding Details - Escape wedding - sea breeze point
Where: Sea Breeze Point
When: 10 am 29th Sept 2011
Total Cost: 10k
Photography: (dis/outside - cost)
Video
Reception

etc etc.....
Oh well - will keep on searching and hope that WDW get back to me one day! (And then I'll tell all of you the answers!

I found I had more luck when I looked through completed trip reports, rather than planning journals in progress. Lots of the completed TRs have an "index" on the front page, so you can just link straight to the post you're interested in - saving a lot of time. Good luck!

 

[MeganAJ]

Just wanted to say congrats! I saw the date of your wedding and we are getting married the same day (ours is at 5:00pm)! Fingers crossed for good weather!