Illuminations Vs. Fantasmic Dessert Party

[liberty]

Ahh wow, that sounds great!

 

[Doodles13]

Well we have to do our reception/ party on the night of our wedding as the very next day we are flying to St Lucia.
Thanks for the advice.

To book the Grand One, you just have to call Recreation & you can book it. Then call Private Dining to arrange for anything you want to eat on the yacht. You don't have to mention that you are having a wedding, even; this is completely separate from FTW, so you don't book through them. If you choose to, you can tell them that you are getting married through Fairytale Weddings earlier that day, and that you would like this fireworks cruise for you & your DH after the ceremony. They cannot legally refuse to serve you, since you are not violating Disney policy. They might try to, because certain FTW cast members have the idea that an intimate wedding is not as valuable as a custom wedding. What you have to do is just be firm with them. I was very firm with my EM's, and I got every single thing I wanted for my wedding day.

We booked our cruise through the GF private dining manager directly, not through FTW. And yes, you can definitely book it for your wedding day - you don't have to wait until the day after!

We just got back from WDW & saw a bride in wedding gear eating at the California Grill. As long as you were married that day through FTW and aren't in the parks, they allow you to wear your wedding dress. That is and always has been the FTW rule. They cannot stop you from doing something that doesn't violate the rules. You will see brides running all over the GF in wedding gear, eating at the tea room, at Citricos, at V&A's.

I think they made the rule because they just didn't want the FTW intimate coordinators to be bothered with arranging receptions for these brides. We pay less, so we have to do a bit more work. It is definitely worth it, though. You will love the Grand One fireworks cruise!

Cheers!
Heather W

 

[LilyStar]

Ok, so I have a couple questions....

1. I would assume that the cost of renting out the "site" for the dessert party costs $$ on top of whatever dessert food you choose, right?

2. If the site rental fee is additional, what are the approximate costs for each site? Fantasmic vs. EPCOT? And about how much are we looking at for a party of approx. 20?

3. Is this dessert reception booked through Fairy Tale Weddings or through a different reservation service? I thought I saw something where DFTW doesn't like to plan receptions for intimate brides (that's what I would be)

4. Can you wear wedding attire to the dessert reception even if you are an intimate bride. I thought I also read that you can't wear your gown in the parks?

Thanks in advance, just trying to do some preliminary work....we're thinking of a 2007 Disney wedding!

Thanks!

 

[ead79]

1. I would assume that the cost of renting out the "site" for the dessert party costs $$ on top of whatever dessert food you choose, right?

Back when I got married (2003), there was no site rental fee. There is just a minimum number of people you have to have in order to use each different location. Then you pay a $12.50 per person viewing charge. You also have to pay for 1 event host for every 50 guests. There was also a set up fee of $75 to set up tables and chairs. Then you have to have a certain dollar amount of food served per person as well.

2. If the site rental fee is additional, what are the approximate costs for each site? Fantasmic vs. EPCOT? And about how much are we looking at for a party of approx. 20?

See above. I'm not sure about Fantasmic locations though. For 20 people you would have the $12.50 per person viewing fee, one host at $90, plus the per person food costs for whatever menu you choose. Also, there would be a $75 set up fee for tables and chairs.

3. Is this dessert reception booked through Fairy Tale Weddings or through a different reservation service? I thought I saw something where DFTW doesn't like to plan receptions for intimate brides (that's what I would be)

Intimate brides have to choose from either Morocco or Japan for groups of less than 25 people. I don't believe that you can have chairs in these locations, but you might be able to have high boy style tables (the tall kind you stand at). I believe you can now book these directly through your event manager, but an Intimate bride can confirm that for sure.

4. Can you wear wedding attire to the dessert reception even if you are an intimate bride. I thought I also read that you can't wear your gown in the parks?

No, Intimate brides cannot wear their gowns in the parks or at dessert parties.

I hope that helps!

 

[Skylarr29]

Actually there has been a change to the intimate weddings concerning wearing your dress. You CAN wear your dress IF you provide transportation to backstage Epcot.. ie. town car, limo, or charter bus. If you do not use transportation you may NOT wear your dress into the park.

Your DFTW cordinator will plan your dessert party. I think these changes were made sometime this year.

 

[chipscinderelly]

Site (or venue fees) were implemented in late 2005 and are charged for just about every location - fantasmic, illuminations etc.

They are still charging the fee for table/chair set up.

 

[LilyStar]

Actually there has been a change to the intimate weddings concerning wearing your dress. You CAN wear your dress IF you provide transportation to backstage Epcot.. ie. town car, limo, or charter bus. If you do not use transportation you may NOT wear your dress into the park.

WHAT?? This has got to be one of the weirdest things I've heard yet! What exactly do they not want you doing? Riding disney transportation with your gown? But a regular car won't do?

Next thing they'll be telling you that on a Tuesday when there is a full moon, you need to hire Prince Charming to ride you into the park if you have a dessert reception!

 

[mhcueball2]

WHAT?? This has got to be one of the weirdest things I've heard yet! What exactly do they not want you doing? Riding disney transportation with your gown? But a regular car won't do?

You have to take Disney transport since you have to go backstage. Private cars are almost always not allowed, unless you have prior approval and have official business there (like photograhers/videographers).

 

[Chrissie-riel]

The reason that they have the transportation clause connected to intimates wearing their gowns actually makes sense when it is all explained.

Disney doesn't want anyone parading through their parks in a wedding gown. Disney wants all their guests to OOH and AAH over the beautiful princesses in their blue, pink and golden gowns and not us real life wedding princesses in our white gowns. Disney as a whole worries that brides diminish some of the overall magic for the other guests.

That being said, they realize that the DFTW dept. does bring in some big bucks and throws beautiful events for their brides. So, Disney has agreed to allow weddings/receptions to take place in the parks before or after operating hours. And, they will allow DFTW brides to view nighttime entertainment at Illuminations, etc. if you spend the money for the dessert party.

But, they still don't want you to walk up to the front gate in a full wedding gown and parade all over the place. So, they instituted the transportation and host clauses. You must get all your guests to meet somewhere (usually a hotel lobby), board your private coach/bus which takes you to a backstage location close to your viewing area, your host then escorts the group from the bus to the viewing area for the party and back again after the show. The old adage "the shortest distance between two points is a straight line" applies here. They want to provide you an opportunity to extend your wedding party but insure that you aren't part of the whole Disney show.

Does my rambling make any sense? I feel like it is about as clear as pea soup!??!

 

[Skylarr29]

WHAT?? This has got to be one of the weirdest things I've heard yet! What exactly do they not want you doing? Riding disney transportation with your gown? But a regular car won't do?

Next thing they'll be telling you that on a Tuesday when there is a full moon, you need to hire Prince Charming to ride you into the park if you have a dessert reception!

The reason is you CAN NOT walk through the park in your gown..there is no way around it. IF you want to wear your dress you must be dropped off backstage by private Disney trasportation and escorted to your party location.

 

[Cinderella16]

The reason is you CAN NOT walk through the park in your gown..there is no way around it. IF you want to wear your dress you must be dropped off backstage by private Disney trasportation and escorted to your party location.

Wow I never knew all this, that would make me feel important haha

 

[ItGirl753]

Skylarr29 & ljhayes

Do you know which menu is the latest? I have one that skylarr posted about a week or so ago, and the prices are different. I was just wondering if you know.

 

[ItGirl753]

double post

 

[ljhayes]

Mine are from February or March, but I would assume whichever one is more expensive is probably the most recent one

 

[ead79]

Site (or venue fees) were implemented in late 2005 and are charged for just about every location - fantasmic, illuminations etc.

They are still charging the fee for table/chair set up.

Good to know--thanks for correcting my info! Since my wedding was back in 2003, some stuff is now quite out of date. Are the site fees very expensive for Illuminations and Fantasmic locations?

Also, that's interesting that Disney now lets Intimate brides wear their gowns if they get transportation and are dropped off backstage. I really do understand their reasoning for not allowing people to wear wedding gowns while walking through the parks. DH and I attracted a lot of attention (which was nice but a bit overwhelming LOL) on the very short walk from backstage to the Italy Isola, so I can see why Disney is concerned. Plus, they also wouldn't want people to try to get into the parks wearing a wedding dress and have a "secret" ceremony that doesn't go through DFTW.

 

[Skylarr29]

Skylarr29 & ljhayes

Do you know which menu is the latest? I have one that skylarr posted about a week or so ago, and the prices are different. I was just wondering if you know.

Whicever is more expensive.... The prices I had may have been a litle older.

 

[ButterflyBride]

Does anyone have the prices for the Italy Isola, are are they the same as all of the other locations? I was originally expecting around 80 guests but my mom just spoke to some of our relatives in California & Italy and it ends up that they will be flying in for the weekend.. Ech. I was hoping to keep everything small, I moved the wedding to Disney to avoid inviting the 300 people my mother wanted me to but it looks like that is not going to be possible..

Also, does anyone have a list of the different dessert packages?

Thanks!

 

[liberty]

Ohh i was just gonna ask the same thing!

 

[ItGirl753]

Liberty and Butterfly Bride,
I posted it on the other thread for you. The info I had found in other threads. I guess we can't know anything for sure until we are booking it, since things seem to change all the time!

Butterfly Bride, The packages/menus are on page two of this thread.

Venue prices:
upper/lower UK $200
Italy Isola $575
France (upper/lower/arm) $275
Morocco $175
I'd like to know min/max number of people at the venues. The only one I know is Italy requires 100 guests. Right?

 

[liberty]

That's brilliant!.. thanks very much!