General Questions

[allisonswonderland]

Hello - I just found this board and am SOOOOOO excited!
I just spoke with someone for the first time last Friday - Pam
Anyway I guess I have several questions for you. I am planning on a custom wedding at the Wedding Pavillion she said that she would submit my dates when the "year" comes around. Did any of you have to select alternate dates for your wedding?

Have any of you had your reception at Ariel's? I peeked in there in August during our stay at the Beach Club. That is where I was thinking...but what does it actually look like in there? Is it very "Under the Sea"?

My fiancee has a lot of little kids in his family and we are concerned that they will misbehave --- his mother feels very strongly that they should be there. My dad is paying and does not want a bunch of kids running around ---any advice?

Thanks so much!!!!!!

 

[Janet2k]

Hello - I just found this board and am SOOOOOO excited!
I just spoke with someone for the first time last Friday - Pam
Anyway I guess I have several questions for you. I am planning on a custom wedding at the Wedding Pavillion she said that she would submit my dates when the "year" comes around. Did any of you have to select alternate dates for your wedding?

Have any of you had your reception at Ariel's? I peeked in there in August during our stay at the Beach Club. That is where I was thinking...but what does it actually look like in there? Is it very "Under the Sea"?

My fiancee has a lot of little kids in his family and we are concerned that they will misbehave --- his mother feels very strongly that they should be there. My dad is paying and does not want a bunch of kids running around ---any advice?

Thanks so much!!!!!!

Welcome to the Dis website!

I was fortunate in that my date was available for my vow renewal last year, however, the time I wanted was not. But when I switched over to the Custom category and decided to have my dinner party after-hours inside the Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park, I was able to get a late time-slot at the Wedding Pavilion for my vow renewal. It worked out perfectly.

I have heard of other folks who either had to do a lottery for their date & time or select another date & time. That doesn't happen too frequently, though. My advice is to be flexible if you want to hold your wedding at a very popular time of year.

I have seen photos of receptions at Ariel's. The room looked lovely in the photos. Disney can really do some amazing things with decor if your budget will allow it.

You will get varying opinions regarding having children at your reception. I happen to think children should be involved in all aspects, but that is me. Other folks do not feel the same way. Thread carefully with your decision. If you do not allow children at your event, you will hurt people's feelings, no doubt about it. What some folks have done is to have a separate children's party held simultaneously with the adults' party. That has worked out well but there are costs involved. If your budget will allow it, do consider it if you don't want children at your event.

I hope you have fun planning your wedding. The time will fly by. Make sure to stop and smell the roses. It is the experience of a lifetime. If you'd care to read about what I went through as I was planning my vow renewal last year, click here. I began the process as an intimate vow renewal and ended up as a custom vow renewal. I had a ball at every step of the way. I documented the process for my children. I think they might enjoy telling the story to their own children one day.

 

[LittleBlackRaincloud]

Welcome!!! and Congrats to you!

I thought I'd point you in the direction of a videographer that seems to be very popular around here. You will hear 'us talking' about Stan, and this is his company. He's videoing my wedding 11/28, but anywho...on to your question.

I have never been to Ariels, but after seeing it in these videos, I have to agree that it is beautiful! Click on this link, and you will see two weddings listed that the reception was at Ariels-Cynthia & Brent, and Mattie & Eric. http://www.stvsweddings.com/gallery/gallwed.htm

Just to warn you though...that link can be addicting!

And oh!...if you're having an 'under the sea' themed wedding, have you seen disney's under the sea cake? It is gorgeous!!! Well, if not, here's a picture for you to drool over! Good Luck!!!

 

[janine]

Welcome!!! and Congrats to you!

I thought I'd point you in the direction of a videographer that seems to be very popular around here. You will hear 'us talking' about Stan, and this is his company. He's videoing my wedding 11/28, but anywho...on to your question.

I have never been to Ariels, but after seeing it in these videos, I have to agree that it is beautiful! Click on this link, and you will see two weddings listed that the reception was at Ariels-Cynthia & Brent, and Mattie & Eric. http://www.stvsweddings.com/gallery/gallwed.htm

Just to warn you though...that link can be addicting!

And oh!...if you're having an 'under the sea' themed wedding, have you seen disney's under the sea cake? It is gorgeous!!! Well, if not, here's a picture for you to drool over! Good Luck!!!

Hi
I smiled when I read that Just to warn you though...that link can be addicting!

I sit for some time watching those video's and Damian keeps saying 'oh no she's watching them again!!'
Daft thing is some of them are so moving I almost cry!

Have fun watching, they really are beautiful and gives a wonderful insight to a real Disney wedding.

 

[FutureAshleyDukes]

Hi
I smiled when I read that Just to warn you though...that link can be addicting!

I sit for some time watching those video's and Damian keeps saying 'oh no she's watching them again!!'
Daft thing is some of them are so moving I almost cry!

Have fun watching, they really are beautiful and gives a wonderful insight to a real Disney wedding.

It is the EXACT same way at my house!

 

[allisonswonderland]

Oh wow thanks for the video ideas --- I LOVE that cake. I guess speaking of cakes are they included in the price of the dinner pkg or are they extra, I called to ask some general questions a while ago, but some of the info she gave me was not correct after speaking to Pam. I am hoping to get Nov 10, 2006 as the date. The thing with children is that my fiancee has 20 kids under the age of 4 right now and they are not well behaved and honestly their parents are very......well they just let them run wild. And about 5 of these will be new babies. I am not as concerned about the reception as I am the ceremony, but at the reception they will run around. His nephew and grandma are known to play "duck duck goose" at restaurants and they will run around the table. I do not want you to think I am awful - I love kids and am a summer swim caoch who works with kids 4-18. I am just concerned sonce there is no good way to say you must make your kids behave..... Thanks

 

[pixie08]

Welcome...and beware (because as Janine mentioned these boards become addiciting! )

Anyway Ariel's is a gorgeous place. Some brides here have used that spot. It does have a slight under the sea theme but it is elegant not overdone. My fiancee and I were there in August checking out sights and Ariel's was one of the one's we saw. A wedding was just ending and we were lucky to get in and snap some pics....

the dance floor

some tables they were cleaning up

Good luck and congratulations!

 

[BelleMcNally]

Welcome and congratulations!

My fiance and i also have a lot of children in our families, and we've decided to have the ones who are related closely to us (nieces, nephews, 1st cousins, children of best friends) there, but the more distant ones (children of our parents' cousins) will not be invited.

It's not because we don't want them there, but we have a limited budget and had to limit the guest count and draw the line somewhere, you know?

I trust the parents of the children who are coming to take care of their kids so that they don't get rowdy enough to be a problem--that said, I don't really mind them running around the recption and acting like kids. I'm not sure there's a nice way to say "make your kids behave" but I *do* think that, as the bride, if someone has to say it, you shouldn't have to. Maybe your mother or one of your bridesmaids can tackle that, but you shouldn't have to worry about it on your big day.

 

[Janet2k]

...speaking of cakes are they included in the price of the dinner pkg or are they extra...

Allisonswonderland, for a “custom” wedding, there is a separate cost involved for the wedding cake. Depending upon which cake you select, the cost can vary widely. Most wedding cakes are in the several hundred dollar range.

I chose to have individual mini-cakes served to the guests at my custom vow renewal. On my final bill, the mini-wedding cakes’ cost breakdown was as follows:

Mini-Wedding Cakes charge was $625 ($25 per cake x 25 guests = $625)
Sales Tax charge for Mini-Cakes was $40.63
Gratuity charge was $173.75
Sales Tax charge for Gratuity was $11.29

When all was said and done, the cost for 25 miniature wedding cakes came to $850.67. That works out to $34.03 a cake.

I wrote about the cake selection process in my Planning Session trip report (click here and look for the posts # 243 and # 251 on that webpage). I gave links in those posts to photos of various wedding cakes, including the mini-cakes (click here to see the mini-underwater cake).

I don’t envy your decision regarding what to do about the children. BelleMcNally gave excellent advice – designate someone to politely let the parents know when their kids are acting out of line. Most people at formal family affairs such as weddings keep a close eye on their children, so I expect the same to hold true for yours.

By the way, most ceremonies only last somewhere between 15 – 30 minutes (my ceremony was 20 minutes long). If you are having your ceremony videotaped, your groom will have a wireless microphone pinned to his lapel, as will your officiant. Those microphones primarily pick up the sound of the three of your voices. I hope that gives you a little comfort.

Have fun planning.

 

[bridegirl]

We attended a wedding recently and the couple had arranged for a "children's party" in another room at the hotel. The couple told people in advance that kids would be attending the "kids party" and all the kids loved it!

They had lots of babysitters, and it was set up like a regular kids party, arts and crafts, games and prizes, cake and party favors at the end.

It was so great for us (as parents) because our kids were literally around the corner in the hotel, so we could go check in and say hi and go back easily to enjoy the wedding.

Late at night, most of the kids fell asleep watching a video, and the parents collected them as they finished up at the party.

I would think that Disney could do an awesome kids party!

Susy

 

[Janet2k]

Bridegirl, I had already mentioned that. I think Allisonswonderland is worried about the ceremony. That's a tough decision that she's going to have to make. I don't envy her at all.

Now, back to the easier subject -- a children's party...

I have read of children's parties that have been held simultaneously while the "adults-only" parties have been going on. One of those parties was held, believe it or not, inside the Magic Kingdom Theme Park while the wedding reception was being held in the location behind the castle and next to the carousel. If I remember what the bride wrote about her children's party, the Disney-supplied sitters came stocked with all sorts of goodies to keep the children occupied. I can’t remember the exact location of the children’s party but I ~think~ it was held in a ground-level room of the castle. The bride said the children’s party worked out beautifully.

Another children's party that I remember reading about was held in a Grand Floridian ballroom that was adjacent to the one where the "adults-only" party was being held. The parents of the children moved freely between both party locations all night long, but the children stayed put in their ballroom because they were having way too much fun in there. The bride said it worked out beautifully.

For those who want a more formal dinner party, a separate children's party is a wonderful alternative. There are, of course, costs involved with doing this, but if the budget will allow it, it is definitely something that should be considered.

 

[Janet2k]

Bridegirl, were the children allowed at the wedding ceremony that you spoke of? If they weren't, please share how it was handled. I know that would help Allisonswonderland with her decision (knowing what options exist always is very helpful).

 

[allisonswonderland]

Thanks so much to all of you for the advice and information---- anything else you think I should know just keep it coming. Up until this point the wedding situation has been extremely stressful for me, and I have spent alot of time worrying because each decision I make I feel like people keep getting mad. The other day I said I wish I had a fairy godmother and now I feel like I do, thanks to your advice and guidance. We love the kids in the family bit their parents just let them do whatever and do not pay much attention to them.....Thanks!

 

[twojo21]

hi allison & welcome to the dis, best of luck with your plans! im a custom bride at the yc gazebo, marthas vineyard for the prereception/cocktail, ariels for the reception & uk lower for our dessert party this march, disney is great to work with & will try to accomodate you & your dream wedding. we got our date no problem. ariels is so pretty, if you want to pm me your email ill send the pictures from our site visit of ariels. its spacious & seaside themed with its large aquarium & blue, green colors, great glass chandeliers, etc.

as for kids, we couldnt not have them there, its disney world & weddings are about family to us. what we are doing to keep things under control is during the ceremony we are having a kids party games, pizza & a movie with a sitter from kids nite out in one of the resort rooms but theyll be joining us for the reception & dessert party, we have a seperate table just for them with toys, etc to keep them entertained.

as for disney weddings there are minimums for custom weddings $10,000 M-TH, $15,000 F-SAT. to $20,000 SUN. depending on the day of the week. almost all your expenses the day of like ceremony venue fee, photography/videography, transportation, floral, reception cost meal/dinner & cake, music/entertainment, etc. count towards your minimum. our cake is $720 the shells & coral which is posted by another bride below.

 

[allisonswonderland]

Hi Twojo-
I am in Illinois, too anway I tried to PM you but it said that I have to have a minimum # of posts. Those are some good ideas, and yes I am more concerned about the ceremony than the reception and I love all of the advice. I would love to see you pictures!

 

[FutureAshleyDukes]

I wanted to say congratulations on your upcoming wedding, and welcome to The Dis!

I also wanted to to give a small suggestion, if you do decide to ask that your wedding be adults only definitely have someone there to help support your decision and possibly deal with family members and friends that have issues with your decision. All of our siblings are still REALLY young, so for us that wouldn't be an option, but my cousin had an adult only wedding and anyone who had an issue with it had to speak to her wedding planner (her mom), NOT her. She said it really helped her deal with the stress.

Once again welcome Can't wait to hear about all your plans.