Having a little trouble understanding pricing

[xjay]

Hey everyone. My bf and I have talked about getting married and even decided that if we do end up getting engaged, then we would have our wedding at Disneyland. So I was looking at DFTW's website and I'm having trouble understanding the pricing since I can't really call and talk to a representative since we aren't even engaged yet.

So my understanding is that I have to spend a minimum of $18,000 for a Saturday wedding with a room block, and $21,000 without one. And that pricing can include food, floral, etc from Disney. So what I don't understand is what does everything include. For example, what does the pricing for food per person include? Does it include just the food during the reception or does it drinks as well? Is the price of the cake included in the food price per person or is it an extra expense?

And do we have to get our floral from Disney? My aunt is a florist and if she did the floral arrangements for us, it would save us on our budget since it looks like it's going to be about 200 people that we would be inviting (BF and I have really big families).

Thanks for your help

 

[LadyD]

The pricing for Disneyland is currently structured with the overall minimums you mentioned, which can be met through a combination of food and beverage, floral, decor, and any add ons like characters, transportation, DJ, etc.

Within that minimum, you also have to meet a food and beverage minimum per person, and that food and beverage covers anything served at the cocktail hour, meal, drinks, cake, or dessert. For example, for my Disneyland wedding this past December, I had to meet a food and beverage minimum of $125/person for a dinner reception. We had 80 guests, so that was $10,000 toward our overall minimum of $15,000 (we had a Sunday wedding). The difference was made up through floral and decor and several other add ons like draping and characters. We went well over our minimum. I think the food and beverage minimum per person has gone up since then.

You do not have to go through Disney floral, unless you have an in park event I believe (then I think the only thing you can have done not by Disney is personal floral). I do believe if you opt to use an outside vendor for any decor floral that you have to pay Disney a fee and/or deposit (not 100% on that one). There are a few other scenarios you have to use Disney, like if you want anything hanged up (like the draping in the sleeping beauty pavilion).

 

[xjay]

Thanks for the clarification LadyD! I already know that we're already going to go over our minimum with 200 guests. Yes, the food and beverage pricing did go up to $150/person. So basically the $150/person is a minimum for food/beverages where you choose what you want and I could possibly go over that minimum if I choose a lot of different stuff food-wise right? It's not a set price is what I'm saying. If that makes any sense

 

[Disney_Alli]

Yes it doesn't "include" anything. You could decide to serve burgers, hot dogs and fries and have a huge elaborate cake and meet the minimum or you could have steak and lobster tails and salad and whatever else you want. Disneyland can send you sample menus that will give you their per person cost. You can use these menus or ask for anything you want.

 

[LadyD]

Not a set price at all, just a minimum You can go way over it depending on what you want served (and also how complicated of a cake you would like). I know we went over our minimum and spent closer to $140/person for food and beverage for the entire event.

After we contacted DFTW to start getting the wedding set up, they sent us a PDF of various menus they offer from appetizers to entrees to desserts for both plated and buffet meals with the price points. I know they have allowed for customization of menus historically too, so if you don't see exactly what you want, they'll work with you. For our wedding, we asked for mini cheese Monte Cristo sandwiches to be passed during our cocktail hour. Unfortunately, they did not have the capacity to produce something like that, so the chef thought about it and came back with the idea of making fried potato fritters with gruyere cheese sauce that were out of this world amazing. It was a completely custom item for our wedding and not on any menu, so the sky is the limit really.

It's exciting to see another potential Disneyland bride!

 

[xjay]

Thanks for the clarification guys! That makes way more sense. I kept thinking that the price was a set price with a set menu for just the reception.

LadyD- thanks! I haven't seen a lot about Disneyland weddings, mostly just WDW and I can't really get info from DFTW yet. BF and I have a lot of family in California since we both used to live there, so it just made more sense to have a wedding over there than having all of our family fly to Texas. If everything goes as planned, I'm aiming for a wedding in Oct 2018. Still a long way to go but it's never to early to start planning for your dream .