Escape wedding with Attic 'reception'

[kitkath]

I'm thinking about having an Escape wedding at Sea Breeze Point, and obviously love the idea of a meal at the Attic. I'm curious about cost for that. I don't want a traditional reception (no dancing or alcohol, etc.) I'm mostly just looking for a place for us all to eat a meal and hang out together. I've seen the $1000 food minimum for that location, but I've also read of a per person cost for having a 'reception' added onto an Escape wedding.

Can someone clear up my confusion? Anyone who has done this, can you give me a cost range for what you spent to eat there after your ceremony?

Thank you so much!!

 

[kl3w]

As I understand it, when adding on to an Escape event, the only minimum you have to worry about is the location minimum. The per person minimum comes into play when you do Wishes events. So for the Attic, you need to spend $1000 on food before 5:30 pm and $2500 after 5:30 pm regardless of the number of guests you invite. I'd also suggest you look into some of the restaurants at Disney Springs - I'm doing Escape in a month and we're going to eat at Morimoto Asia afterward. If you don't have it yet, get the Passporter's Disney Wedding and Honeymoon book - it has tons of options listed for post-Escape meals, plus lots of other useful info.

 

[lurkyloo]

As @kl3w said, there is no per-person food and beverage minimum associated with adding a 2-hour catered meal to the Escape Collection. Just the venue's food and beverage minimum. You may be interested in these interviews with Escape brides who added a reception at the Attic: http://disneyweddingpodcast.com/?s=escape+attic

And here are all my interviews with couples who added dessert parties to their Escape events, some in place of a reception/meal: http://disneyweddingpodcast.com/?s=escape+dessert+party

 

[kitkath]

Thank you so much @kl3w and @lurkyloo! I do have that book, which has been a fantastic help. So is it pretty easy to stick close to the $1000 point for the Attic? Or will it depend on what food you get? I think I read that one only does buffet style, yes?

If I were to get married at the S/D (I may have more than 18 guests :/) I can still do a catered event at the Attic right? Though at that point I may look at the S/D restaurants.

@kl3w, where are you having your ceremony? how are you getting everyone to Disney Springs?

 

[lurkyloo]

It is easy to stick to any food and beverage minimum if you let your planner know that's what you're trying to do. You can have the chef come up with a menu based on a price point and a theme or just pick and choose items from any menu, even those at Disney restaurants or your own family recipes. The Attic only accommodates buffets.

If you get married at the Swan & Dolphin, you will need to plan your Attic reception through Disney Catered Events. They will tell you that you can't wear a wedding gown, have a wedding cake, or have a DJ and dancing because they don't want you trying to circumvent DFTW to have a wedding-style event. Here's an interview with a bride who did an Attic reception through DCE after an off-property wedding: http://disneyweddingpodcast.com/2016/01/13/maitland-art-center-spotlight-lisa-will/

 

[kl3w]

Our ceremony is in Epcot, so we have the mini-bus and limo included in the package. We have extra people coming to the lunch who aren't coming to the ceremony, so after the ceremony the bus will go back to Saratoga Springs where the ceremony and non-ceremony goers will be meeting up for an in-suite "pre-reception," then the bus will take everyone to Disney Springs. We might have 1-2 who take the boat over instead if the bus can't fit everyone, but the boat from Saratoga drops off right at Morimoto. Or, since I have no idea what Disney Springs looks like and if the bus can get close, everyone will take the boat from Saratoga Springs. Then after lunch, people can take the bus back or take the boat or go wherever else they want.


That's another advantage of a non-Disney reception - the ability to invite more people! It seems they're pretty strict about having the same number of people at the ceremony as at any other events planned through DFTW. I had a lot of family who wanted to celebrate with us (and really just wanted a reason for a Disney trip ) than the 18 allowed at the ceremony, and these people were totally fine not coming to the ceremony because they understood. So, these people are coming to the dessert party the night before (which I planned through DCE, not DFTW) and the lunch after the ceremony, which I couldn't have done had I planned through DFTW. If we hadn't had to do a Friday ceremony because of DF's job, I might've done mini-Wishes, but this all worked out really well. But I've really enjoyed having the limit.

As far as S&D weddings, my mom met with one of their planners while in Orlando earlier this spring and loved them. She said they were really nice and really eager to help and answer questions, and she said that Crescent Terrace is beautiful. She also thought that Il Mulino there at S&D would've been an awesome space for a reception. If we hadn't gotten Epcot on the day we wanted, I'd have done S&D instead, no question.

 

[kitkath]

Thank you both SO much for your help!! I just talked to a Disney wedding planner today and @kl3w , she told me that we COULD invite more people to the other events (catered meal or desert party) she questioned my reasoning, saying 'would people want to fly down to Florida and not go to the ceremony?' but said it could be done.

At this point I'm debating doing everything thorough DFTW, doing a S/D wedding/reception and desert party later that night (w/o my dress and stuff) or doing the desert party possibly the night before, and doing the ceremony/reception somewhere else.

Thanks so much for telling me what your'e doing-it's so helpful to see what other people have thought through and figured out!!

 

[Allysonm1234]

Does anyone that has done an escape recently have the estimated cost for just the ceremony? No food or beverage reception added? Just trying to get an idea

 

[kl3w]

The cost is exactly what it says on the website if you don't add anything else. So for Sea Breeze Point, it would be $5000 exactly and that includes bouquet and boutonniere for bride and groom, musician for ceremony and celebration, cake and champagne, 2 hours photography from DFAP, 4 hours limo for the couple. If you want to add bridal party floral, or extra decorations, or extra photography, or any other upgrades, you would pay for those on top of the $5000.

 

[Allysonm1234]

Ok! We're you married there? I was worried about the chairs because it had said that you can upgrade the chairs and champagne toast for more than 6 guests. Is that necessary?

 

[kl3w]

I was actually married at the Canada Terrace in Epcot but also with the Escape package. The package comes with chairs set up that are white, so you can upgrade to brown chairs or chiavari chairs or chair covers - there's lots of options. The package also comes with 2 bottles of champagne or cider for the celebration (I think that's the right number) and you can add more bottles for more people to drink. We had 19 people total and didn't add any extra bottles and everyone still had a glass for the toast.

 

[Allysonm1234]

Oh ok! Thank you! & I heard they did away with the annual passes for escape?!

 

[kl3w]

That's correct - no DFTW couples get the annual passes now.

 

[Allysonm1234]

Do they add anything in place of that? The website says discounted tickets but it doesn't elaborate!

 

[kl3w]

They do offer discounted tickets through a special wedding tickets website, and that's for you and your guests. It's $20 off a park hopper ticket basically. Wishes couples get bride/groom magic bands. Escape couples usually get some small gifts from DFTW like a shoe bag, bouquet charm, things like that.