Hooray I'm getting married!!!

[perla75]

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to introduce myself.

I'm a Grateful Deadhead/Disney fan from the sticks of Western Massachusetts (hows that for a combo?!).


Chose my username after my favorite mouse (no offense to & of course!), I am a WDW fanatic and......

I just got engaged!! to my best friend & the love of my life. After not as much begging as I had anticipated, my fiance has agreed to a WDW wedding IF we can afford it. I am SO excited!! ...but I'm also nervous that I've gotten my hopes up & we won't be able to afford it. Of course I'll be just as happy to marry him anywhere, but a WDW wedding sure would be amazing

The thing is, we are NOT wealthy people-not even close. But we are simple people & I wondered if there is such thing as a cheap but classy WDW wedding. Is it possible? We have a very small circle of family & friends & really just want to have a small ceremony somewhere nice that has a view of Epcot & then just go out to lunch somewhere in the parks or something.

Can this be done? or are all WDW weddings very elaborate and expensive?

As mentioned, we don't need much. We can do without the ice sculptures, the Cinderella carriage, the dinner at Victoria & Alberts (yes, I just caught part of that special on the Food Network!!)

My mom will pay for my dress, so I can thankfully cross that off the list. She may even pay for a few other things, but we really want to try and do this ourselves.

I have no clue even where to get started, but I do need to form some sort of budget to show my fiance to even see if it's possible.

I am quite familiar with WDW-used to go every year with my family from 1979 till 1992. My fiance & I just went on a trip in January/February & I've been lurking around the other parts of the Disboards for a little while. I know about the value seasons, the different resorts, restaurants, but I don't know anything really about the weddings.

Any help would be greatly appreciated & thanks!! I'm so excited to have "crossed over to the other side!!" & maybe be considered a Disbride!

Thanks everyone & I look forward to hearing from you!

PS-Sorry if I overdid it with the smilies & stuff-they are just so cute & I wanted to try them out!

 

[jnale]

congratulations!

 

[inkedupmomma]

congrats x2. how many people would you be inviting to your wedding?/ what is your budget? i can help a wee bit based on those answers!

 

[jacqu3lin3]

Congratulations!!

 

[perla75]

congrats x2. how many people would you be inviting to your wedding?/ what is your budget? i can help a wee bit based on those answers!

Thank you!
Well, we won't have too many guests (not sure if there is a minimum requirement from Disney?) it looks like we'll have between 14-16 guests (14 + 2 infants-do they "count" as guests? Hope that didn't sound mean!)

Not sure of our budget-$6000 maybe? We'll be saving up over the next 1-2 years.

Are we way out of our league here, thinking this can be done?

My fiance thinks we might have to think about somewhere off site with a view of Epcot because Disney probably only does big weddings

 

[tink774]

Congratulations!

It sounds like you will want to look at the Escape wedding options! They cater to smaller weddings of 18 guests or fewer, I believe, and start at about $4000 (prices have recently been adjusted, but that information is on these boards, too). Check out http://www.disneyweddings.go.com/site/gate/index.jsp for more info on Escape weddings!

Congrats again, and welcome!

 

[perla75]

Congratulations!

It sounds like you will want to look at the Escape wedding options! They cater to smaller weddings of 18 guests or fewer, I believe, and start at about $4000 (prices have recently been adjusted, but that information is on these boards, too). Check out disneyweddings.go.com/site/gate/index.jsp for more info on Escape weddings!

Congrats again, and welcome!

Thanks a million!!!!! This sounds like it will suit us perfectly!
My DF is at work, so I'm peeking through that site by myself

I didn't realize there were so many locations to have the ceremony! I always thought you could only get married at the wedding pavilion at the Grand Floridian & that venue just isn't really our style. I love the idea of getting married on the Polynesian beach!! This is my favorite resort and you can see the castle in the background! I know my DF is going to love the Wilderness Lodge setting the best. He's always wanted to stay there, wait till I tell him you can get married there!

Do any of the settings have a view of the World Showcase or any part of Epcot? That would be so neat!

It looks like $4000 covers way more than I expected! I wasn't expecting that it would include a violinist & a limo! Though I'm not sure what we would need the limo for. We never need anything but the bus and monorail when we visit WDW.

So, what else is there to think about cost-wise? Just the hotel and restaurant for lunch?

 

[princsslily]

Congratulations!!!!!

I live in MASS as well the southeast part near the cape.

Anyway, just a few things I know after a year of looking into this myself. I am actually having a vow renewal in August!!! Can't wait!!!

The polynesian beach thing can only be done from the fall to early spring.

Yes, infants do count as guests!!! No that is not mean I had the same question

They will not allow you to use disney transportation in wedding attire. So, if you want a lunch in the park they will have to arrainge it and your transportation there.

Good Luck with your planning I hope this helps.

Also you might be surprised how many people want to go once you start talking about it, so if you can't afford anything more don't invite too many people. We are up to 33 people going.

 

[princsslily]

I also forgot you have to guearantee disney so many nights of in the park stay but you and your guests get a discount on rooms and tickets.

 

[tink774]

So, what else is there to think about cost-wise? Just the hotel and restaurant for lunch?

Totally up to you!! A lot of brides put together "welcome packs" of assorted things for their guests, especially if many of them don't know much about Disney already. These can include maps, wedding itineraries, lists of bride and groom's favorite things to do in the parks to suggest activities, and other assorted gifts. Vanessa (figmentfan814) definitely gave her guests some amazing welcome gifts! These are kind of a bonus that many brides distribute to thank guests that have travelled a long way to celebrate their weddings, and can be relatively inexpensive depending on what you put in them. For example, park maps at WDW are free. So you can get several and give them to your guests at no cost to you.

Are you going to look into outside photographers or videographers? You might poke around some of the Planning Journals posted on here for any ideas on elements of your wedding such as photography, videography, floral, etc. which you may look to outside vendors for. A lot of brides choose to go with outside vendors for these services to get more for their $$$. There might also be transportation costs for your guests depending on where you hold your ceremony. If you hold it at the Wilderness Lodge, your guests can park at the resort themselves, I believe, if you don't want to pay to charter a bus. You can also create DIY invitations using crafts suppliers like Cards and Pockets or crafts stores in your area. There are tons of threads with lots of different ideas for these and other aspects of DFTWs.

Best of luck!!

 

[perla75]

Congratulations!!!!!

I live in MASS as well the southeast part near the cape.

Anyway, just a few things I know after a year of looking into this myself. I am actually having a vow renewal in August!!! Can't wait!!!

The polynesian beach thing can only be done from the fall to early spring.

Yes, infants do count as guests!!! No that is not mean I had the same question

They will not allow you to use disney transportation in wedding attire. So, if you want a lunch in the park they will have to arrainge it and your transportation there.

Good Luck with your planning I hope this helps.

Also you might be surprised how many people want to go once you start talking about it, so if you can't afford anything more don't invite too many people. We are up to 33 people going.

Hi!

Congratulations to you as well & I wish you lots of happiness with your planning! My mom's family is from the Cape & I used to spend my summers there when I was a kid! What town are you in? (if you don't mind my asking)

Thanks so much for your help! Right now, from just looking at the info on the website, this seems too easy to be true, so I'm waiting for the bomb to drop of all the extra charges I am forgetting about!

About the Poly beach setting-just to clarify, do you mean from Fall through early spring? We are banking on a winter wedding. Since winter (not counting Christmas time) is value season, that seems to make the most sense for us financially.

Our guest list will thankfully not exceed 16 (unless someone in our little circle has a new baby by then!). We are wanting to keep this very small and private. I've always dreamed of a beautiful wedding, but the idea of being "on display" in front of a large amount of guests kinda freaks me out!
So, we've already narrowed it down to our immediate families and best friends.
It looks like on the website, you can have up to 18 guests in an Escape Wedding-so as long as we keep it 18 or less, we won't be charged any extra fees, right?

I didn't think about wearing the wedding dress on the monorails and buses! I guess that's for the best-can you imagine sitting down on some kid's sticky and melty leftover rice krispy treat that he accidentally left on the monorail seat before you??? Oh my!

Do all of our guests need to stay on site for a certain amount of nights? That might be a problem My DF & I would love to stay at least a week & we plan to stay on site, but our guests will likely only stay 2 nights or so....& I'm not sure if all of them will want to stay on site....Especially my DF's mom-she doesn't have alot of money to spend (though worse comes to worse, we would save up extra for her )

 

[accountingbabe08]

I'm so happy for you and your fiance for getting engaged.

 

[perla75]

Totally up to you!! A lot of brides put together "welcome packs" of assorted things for their guests, especially if many of them don't know much about Disney already. These can include maps, wedding itineraries, lists of bride and groom's favorite things to do in the parks to suggest activities, and other assorted gifts. Vanessa (figmentfan814) definitely gave her guests some amazing welcome gifts! These are kind of a bonus that many brides distribute to thank guests that have travelled a long way to celebrate their weddings, and can be relatively inexpensive depending on what you put in them. For example, park maps at WDW are free. So you can get several and give them to your guests at no cost to you.

Are you going to look into outside photographers or videographers? You might poke around some of the Planning Journals posted on here for any ideas on elements of your wedding such as photography, videography, floral, etc. which you may look to outside vendors for. A lot of brides choose to go with outside vendors for these services to get more for their $$$. There might also be transportation costs for your guests depending on where you hold your ceremony. If you hold it at the Wilderness Lodge, your guests can park at the resort themselves, I believe, if you don't want to pay to charter a bus. You can also create DIY invitations using crafts suppliers like Cards and Pockets or crafts stores in your area. There are tons of threads with lots of different ideas for these and other aspects of DFTWs.

Best of luck!!

Ooh, you guys are so helpful-I really appreciate it!

Hmm...welcome packs...well, most (if not all) of our guests have been to WDW at least once before, but they are not fanatics like us! As for the itineraries, ok I'm gonna sound weird here, but I really just want the itinerary to be: ceremony, lunch, have fun! Maybe a dinner the night before and getting together for Illuminations the night of the ceremony. BUT, now that you mentioned it, we should give our guests some sort of gift, since they are going to be flying all the way out there and spending all that money to be with us. It would be wrong not to. BUT, my mom is really good at that stuff. I'll bet she can help us put together something inexpensive and nice. Park maps are a great idea! My BFF got really cheap disposable cameras for her wedding guests (non-WDW), so that might be fun too!

My mom also said she would pay for the invitations! (Though how much could 10 invitations really cost?)
Forgive me for sounding silly (new here!), but what does "DIY" stand for?

We definately could not afford to rent a charter bus. We were thinking our guests would just arrive by car or WDW bus.

Floral/photography, video, etc: I thought these were included in the Escape package? I figured the ceremony sites were already decorated and they said on the website that they provide the bouquet and stuff. We will definately want a photographer and videographer-are those extra money?

Thanks a bunch!

 

[perla75]

I'm so happy for you and your fiance for getting engaged.

Thank you!!! I've been bouncing around the room for days now!!

 

[DecemberBride]

I also forgot you have to guearantee disney so many nights of in the park stay but you and your guests get a discount on rooms and tickets.

Perla, I wanted to add that yes it's true about guaranteeing rooms for you and Fiancee, and that is four nights Your guests do get discounted tickets, but ONLY if they add the park hopper option. And lastly, Escape brides only do not get discounts on rooms for guests. That is reserved for Wishes brides only. Just thought I'd make sure you knew the details...

 

[perla75]

Perla, I wanted to add that yes it's true about guaranteeing rooms for you and Fiancee, and that is four nights Your guests do get discounted tickets, but ONLY if they add the park hopper option. And lastly, Escape brides only do not get discounts on rooms for guests. That is reserved for Wishes brides only. Just thought I'd make sure you knew the details...

Hi Decemberbride!

I'm a bit confused now. Can you clarify so I know I got this right?

Rooms:
-So, me and my DF need to stay on site for a minimum of 4 nights, This will be fine-we'll plan to stay for about a week on-site.
-**Do our guests need to stay the minimum of 4 nights for an Escape package? or can they stay for less days &/or even stay off site?


Tickets:
-I read that annual passes are included in the Escape package for DF & myself. Is this accurate info?
-Are those Park Hopper Discount tickets available for guests of Escape weddings?

Thanks so much!!

 

[perla75]

Hi again,

Well, I've been researching all day while DF is at work, trying to see if I can calculate some sort of figure to present to my DF. PLEASE feel free to critique or correct any info I've written!

What I learned: For a simple girl, there sure are alot of tempting options!!!

Ok, here goes:
We would definately choose the Escape Package. It looks like for $4000, we would get:
-one of the ceremony sites (but not the Grand Floridian one)
-someone to marry us
-a bouquet for me and a corsage for my DF
-4 hour limo service
-cake
-champagne
-violinist
-photographer for the ceremony
-videographer for the ceremony
-annual pass for me & DF

What we would need to pay extra for:
-flowers for my bridesmaids (2)
-corsages for my DF's groomsmen (2)
-a nice place to eat lunch that will accomodate 18 people without having to go through private dining!
-airfare
-on site hotel for a week
-someone to do my hair and make up

*My mom said she would cover my dress, dinner for everyone the night before, lunch for everyone following the ceremony, invitations, and some sort of welcome gift for guests

What I wish I could have, but doubt we can afford (sorry, I couldn't resist!! ):
-a photo shoot at Cinderella's Castle!
-an Illuminations Cruise for everyone! (wouldn't that just make the perfect thank you gift for guests???)
-a harpist!

Can someone please confirm what I came up with?? & could DF & I do this for under $6000 NOT counting airfare and hotel?

Thanks again everyone!!

 

[DecemberBride]

Hi Decemberbride!

I'm a bit confused now. Can you clarify so I know I got this right?

Rooms:
-So, me and my DF need to stay on site for a minimum of 4 nights, This will be fine-we'll plan to stay for about a week on-site.
-**Do our guests need to stay the minimum of 4 nights for an Escape package? or can they stay for less days &/or even stay off site?


Tickets:
-I read that annual passes are included in the Escape package for DF & myself. Is this accurate info?
-Are those Park Hopper Discount tickets available for guests of Escape weddings?

Thanks so much!!

Yes, only you and your DF are required to stay onsite for four nights. Sounds like you got that covered! Your guests can stay wherever their heart desires!

Annual passes do come with Escape packages and that is for you and DF only.
The parkhopper discount is for your guests!

I hope I clarified... anything else just ask!

 

[DecemberBride]

Addressing your other post about what is included...

Someone to marry you is not included... you have to pay extra for an officiant. Disney supplies a list of great ones... I'm using Rev. Tim herring, but many others swear by Rev. Jack Day and Rev. Knox... there is a whole list to choose from! It's about $200, which is what I'm paying.

Also, a videographer is not included, just the photographer for 2 hours.

It's absolutely possible to do it for under 6000, but hard if you do private dining, which it sounds like you're not, so hopefully you can. Also, you have to pay extra for champagne because the package only comes with enough for 6 people and you want all 20 to be included.

Also, you can have an Escape wedding at the pavillion on all days except Fri, sat, and sunday. It's just $500 extra!

anything else, let me know!

 

[perla75]

Yes, only you and your DF are required to stay onsite for four nights. Sounds like you got that covered! Your guests can stay wherever their heart desires!

Annual passes do come with Escape packages and that is for you and DF only.
The parkhopper discount is for your guests!

I hope I clarified... anything else just ask!

Thanks Decemberbride-this is really so helpful, thank you!
I was about to switch gears to a Swan/Dolphin package, but just got one person advise against it. I'm waiting to see if there are any more people who have done it or looked into it, so we are still considering either option.

SO! It's great to hear that guests can stay wherever. I'm sure most will end up staying on-site, but I don't want to force them since they are already spending so much money to fly out & stuff.

Do you know how much the PH discount is for guests and is there a minimum # of park days?

Addressing your other post about what is included...

Someone to marry you is not included... you have to pay extra for an officiant. Disney supplies a list of great ones... I'm using Rev. Tim herring, but many others swear by Rev. Jack Day and Rev. Knox... there is a whole list to choose from! It's about $200, which is what I'm paying.

Also, a videographer is not included, just the photographer for 2 hours.

It's absolutely possible to do it for under 6000, but hard if you do private dining, which it sounds like you're not, so hopefully you can. Also, you have to pay extra for champagne because the package only comes with enough for 6 people and you want all 20 to be included.

Also, you can have an Escape wedding at the pavillion on all days except Fri, sat, and sunday. It's just $500 extra!

anything else, let me know!

Yeah, I just realized that Disney doesn't supply the officiant, they just supply a list. $200 doesn't sound that bad though. & do you know how much the champagne would cost for a party of 16 (we'll have 16 adults plus 2 sober infants!)? None of us are big drinkers-just one glass each for a toast would be fine.

Last question, is it possible to do a lunch for 18 people on Disney property without going through private dining?

We wouldn't be interested in the wedding pavilion site. My DF is not a big fan of the Grand Floridian (even if we could afford it!). Right now, the Wilderness Lodge & Polynesian beach seem to be top choices.

No videographer? That's a bummer! Do you know around how much a videographer is for JUST the ceremony?