How did you pick your site?

[lurkyloo]

Gina Loves Disney

Anyone can do a dessert party, even Intimate brides. Smaller groups are restricted to smaller venues (Morocco and, I think, Japan). Depending on the desserts you pick, whether your guests have park admission and whether you want to wear your dress, the price starts around $1,000 and goes up.

Do a search of this forum and you'll turn up a ton of info!

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Anyone can do a dessert party, even Intimate brides. Smaller groups are restricted to smaller venues (Morocco and, I think, Japan). Depending on the desserts you pick, whether your guests have park admission and whether you want to wear your dress, the price starts around $1,000 and goes up.

That is correct. When I talked to the customs wedding consultant last month, he offered the U.K. site. When I talked to the intimate consultant, also last month, U.K. was not available for intimates and I was offered Morocco. That's because of the size of the sites.

I have all the information, but I decided not to do the dessert party due to cost.

 

[JandJ]

For my intimate...

WL - I heard about the Trash Can (yes a dumb reason I know) and didn't want that

Everyone has different reasons for why they want what they want though.

The trash can Yeah, I had my best friend cover it up with a tablecloth and placed a bouquet on top so it just looked like a table. I don't have any pictures with it, but honestly once my friend covered it no one knew what it was and I didn't even notice it.

I lived in Orlando while we were planning so we went to each location. I knew I wanted outdoors and I live in FL so a beachy feel was not for me (DH proposed on a beach but we are not "beach" people), so no Sunset Pointe. I am not a big fan of hearts as decoration so I didn't like how the YC gazebo was covered in hearts (no offense, it's just me). I liked SBP a lot but felt it was too out in the open, like anyone could just watch our wedding. We wanted something more private. Still, SBP was our second choice. When we saw WL Sunrise Terrace that was IT! It's gorgeous! The view, the privacy, the inside cake cutting, just everything - loved it! We only had 8 guests so that wasn't an issue and since daddy has cancer and can't get around well it was super convenient for him to stay at WL and not have to go far for the rehearsal dinner (Artist Pointe), the wedding, or the day-after brunch (Whispering Canyon Cafe).

Everyone has their own reasons for their location, it's such a personal choice, and for us WL had it all

 

[JonetteA]

My site choice was pretty easy. I knew that I wished I could have had the Cinderella castle wedding, but I know that the Rose garden at the MK was not going to be an option. I started looking online and noticed the UK Rose Garden and thought hey I can have an in park wedding! It worked out wonderful as the area was all decked out for the Flower and Garden festival which really cut down on floral costs for me. I really think that the Epcot sites are overlooked b/c of the time restrictions involved. I know it was hard to get everyone up and there for a 9am wedding start, but it really allowed us to enjoy the rest of the day and do a brunch (which was a cost savings) and then have time to rest and relax before Illuminations!

I actually drove Bill Barchik VERY crazy with finding a location for our reception. That was a much harder decision!

 

[i*heart*villains]

I really had my heart set on sunset point but originally we had 12 guests coming so that was out, I didn't like the idea of people watching from their balconies and the guests being outside of the gazebo and us being inside so the yacht club was out, I thought the WP might feel too empty with our limited guest list and I just didn't like the WL, it looks beautiful, just not me. So I settled for SBP but the more I see it, the happier I am with my decision.
Now not all of our guests can make it so we could've gone with sunset point but it's too late to change things. Anyway, I feel better with SBP just in case of rain.

 

[Belle1981]

We chose WP since we wanted the ceremony part to be more traditional (since we aren't getting married in a church this was the next best thing). We wanted our reception to be somewhere that means a lot to us. Since we both worked for Disney and it's where we fell in love we wanted somewhere that meant something to us. We chose the illuminations reception on the French Upper and Lower Island so our guests could enjoy FLA climate and the sites of Epcot. What we are hoping is that our guests will feel what we do about Disney even if its just for one evening. As I am sure past brides can attest to the Disney EXPERIENCE is unparalleled. Everytime I hear the illuminations music it takes me back to the first time DF and I saw it together and I still get teary!

 

[LIGrumpyGirl]

To answer your question-- if you have an outdoor wedding and it rains...

You will be moved to an alternate location (they tell you it is the Convention Center)...

Places such as SBP handle okay during minor rain showers because of the covering. Something to consider when you choose Sunset Pointe. There is absolutely no worries when choosing the indoor locations.

As most people on here now by now, it rained on my wedding day...supposed to be at SBP. Rev. Day did not want to walk out to SBP with the lightening (apparently he had been hit by lightening before!!!) soooo it was moved to The Attic. It was beautiful...I am happy it rained!!!!

 

[hiwaygal]

I really don't want to "rain" on anyone's parade (pun intended ) but a ceremony at SBP can be moved due to rain.

LIGrumpyGirl's ceremony was planned for SBP...she was moved to the Attic at the Boardwalk. (oops...just saw her post)

My own ceremony at SBP was nearly moved due to rain. Our ceremony was scheduled for 11:30am. It was overcast and VERY humid (the humidity part isn't so unusal for September)...and about 9:30am my EM/WP called to tell me that they were looking at other possible locations because it looked like it was going to rain. I begged her to give it a few more minutes...and everything turned out okay. It did finally rain about an hour after my ceremony.

I think some of the things that go into consideration are number of guests (and how much set up is required). Safety is, I'm sure, a high priority. There is a bit of a walk (uncovered) to get to SBP so that might figure into things a bit.

I'm not sure what all goes into that decision to move, but I just didn't want any of you thinking that SBP is a "safe" bet because it's covered. While WE may not care about a little rain (it's supposed to be good luck if it rains on your wedding day! ) DFTW may have other ideas.

 

[dmslush]

I chose Sunset Pointe because I think it is beautiful. There will only be three of us there, so we don't have to worry about too many people.

And I am just going to pray that it doesn't rain!

 

[SRUAlmn]

For us, the choice was very easy!! My mom and I had snuck into the WP when we were staying at the Poly in 1997. I remember looking at her and saying 'I'm going to get married here!' Of course, that was me as a little teenager, dreaming my dreams.

As I got older I really wanted to have a beachy outdoor wedding, but I just kept thinking of that WP. Once I saw the options for the outdoor locations if it rains, I immediately chose the WP. The outside locations are great, but there is WAY too much of a chance for rain at noon in the middle of the summer!! We really didn't care for the inside options for those locations, and I knew it would be a cause of major stress leading up to the big day (wondering what the weather would do.)


Therefore, the WP it is!!

 

[Maggimus]

To answer your question-- if you have an outdoor wedding and it rains...

You will be moved to an alternate location (they tell you it is the Convention Center)...

Places such as SBP handle okay during minor rain showers because of the covering. Something to consider when you choose Sunset Pointe. There is absolutely no worries when choosing the indoor locations.

Everyone is right, and nope-- no rain on anyones parade there Hiwaygirl.... SBP locations can most certainly be moved. However, I did state in my post that it will handle mild rain-- which it will. Under heavy rain, and lightening circumstances (like ligrumpygirl stated) it can be moved.

I hope I didnt mislead anyone. I only meant to insenuate that your chances of a little bit of rain were BETTER for SBP then at SP. Sorry

 

[beckyb29]

What a difficult decision, but in the end it looks as though it has worked out for everyone!

We couldn't decide between Sunset Pointe and the WP. We both love the outdoors, and the thought of an outdoor "beach" feel wedding was going to be perfect for us. However, Sunset Pointe lost out when I kept having thoughts of a Florida thunderstorm barging in. I was scared off by the pictures I saw of the suite that is the "official" back-up spot for that location. So that was out.

The more I looked at the WP, and read stories and saw videos, it won over without a question. It had the church feel to it, we could see the water and the castle, and everyone there would be comfortable, regardless of the weather. It was perfect for us, even though it holds so many people and we only had 10! lol

Every location at Disney is magical, in my opinion...there is pixie dust everywhere!

 

[ForKeeps]

Oh...we went back and forth a few times.

Sunset Pointe was definately a top choice but originally we were hoping to get married May 2007 and that was outside the timeframe they allowed the ceremonies. When we moved up to January it bacame an option again. I talked it over with my WC who warned me about the severe weather they have there (i.e., that it's either really hot or really cold) and said if it rained we'd have a room that looked like a 1970s Tiki Room (her words, not mine)

I also had that moment (that I'm sure a lot of girls have), when I was 16 on a family trip to WDW the monorail stopped near the WP and the announcement about having your wedding came on and I actually remember saying:
"Could you imagine having your wedding at Disney World!!!!"

So it was the WP for me.

Funny how things turn out. Just had to find that prince charming, who turned out...loved disney.

 

[holidaybride]

I think picking the location is one of the hardest parts of wedding planning! I chose the WP because I did not want to worry about the weather. Also I had an evening wedding in December and you never know what the weather will be like! I also loved the WP and the hidden cameras for the videographer. I am really lucky that I went with the WP because even though it was the middle of December and it usually does not rain that much in December here...it rained the entire day! It let up in time for the wedding and pictures, but if we had an outdoor venue we would have been moved inside! The only thing that I would say is if your heart is set on an outdoor wedding and you don't mind the alternative place where you would go because of weather..than go with that! Either way it will be beuatiful because it is Disney!!

 

[DisneyDeeFL]

We wanted WP because of the amount of guests we expect (about 100), the fact that it's indoors, and because it feels most like a church.

As for reception location, we actually had our site visit this weekend and toured the Atlantic Dance Hall and one of the Boardwalk ballrooms. Both places had wedding receptions that were about to begin, so we got to see what they look like all decorated! ADH is huge and very unique, you get the entire place to yourselves for the reception, and it doesn't need much decoration. It was our top choice just based on pics we've seen, but now that we've seen it in person, we are SOLD!

The Boardwalk ballroom was nice too, but it requires more $$ for decoration, and we decided that we could have a ballroom reception just about anywhere...it didn't have as much of a "wow" factor for us (although the reception about to start in there had HUGE floral centerpieces that were gorgeous!)

SO, WP and Atlantic Dance Hall it is!!

 

[luna99]

WL - I heard about the Trash Can (yes a dumb reason I know) and didn't want that.

what's this about a trashcan?

 

[luna99]

Rev. Day did not want to walk out to SBP with the lightening (apparently he had been hit by lightening before!!!) soooo it was moved to The Attic. It was beautiful...I am happy it rained!!!!

where's the attic and do you have pics? I'm getting married at SBP and would love to see this!

 

[Gina Loves Disney]

Well I am still choosing which is why I asked so thanks for all the responses.

I showed DF pics of both Sunset Pointe and Seabreeze Point and he liked Seabreeze point better. I always loved Sunset Pointe though soooooooooo IDK what to do, but seeing some you yours pics at SBP I am loving it more and more each day!

 

[Gina Loves Disney]

Anyone have pics of the SP backup!?

 

[superdiz]

For the ceremony I always knew that if we got married in Disney it would be in the Wedding Pavilion, it is just the most beautiful building to me. For the reception - originally I wanted AA but my Sales Manager actually, recommended the China Pavilion because it's not often done. After looking at the area and figuring out what we wanted our flow to be, it couldn't have worked better! I loved all of the deep, rich colors and the unique feel to the venue. Our guests were so surprised to be in the park! I think it's great to do something in a park if you can swing it, especially if you are doing it from out of state. It just made no sense - to me - to host our wedding in a ballroom since there are plenty of ballrooms in Boston that we could have used that would have been easier on our guests to travel to, so I always knew if we went Disney, it would be an in-park reception.