Inexpensive dinner reception ideas for a Non-DFTW at WDW??

[minniebride]

One place a lot of people don't think of is where we had our wedding lunch reception - Whispering Canyon Cafe at the Wilderness Lodge. I know barbeque isn't necessarily what a lot of brides think of for their wedding day, but...

We looked at a lot of places. One of the problems we had was that other than renting out a room, many of the places just weren't open for lunch, so we were more restricted. But even so, what we found was that WCC had one of the lower prices per person we could find, while still having great quality food. In fact, we ended up getting the dinner menu instead of the lunch menu, as there were a few items on it that we wanted.

They worked with us, and they made it all VERY nice. We were in an area separated off from the rest of the dining, so it was basically like having a private dining room. We had plenty of food. And amazingly enough - neither my husband or I got any of the barbeque on ourselves! We even had planned bringing aprons to make sure we'd be ok, but that got messed up, so we had to just be careful.

If you want dancing or anything, it won't work. But everyone really loved it. We had a great time. The food was great, and they really did a good job with everything there, making it a good experience for our wedding.

Thanks! We are definitely not interested in the dancing aspect of a reception. We will do our first dance during the after ceremony cake reception thing & that's just fine for us. How much $$ per person was WCC? and was there an additional price for renting the room, other additional fee?

 

[osxgirl]

I don't remember anymore how much it was. If I had to guess, I would say around $27 or $28 per person, I think. Maybe, at most, $30. Remember, too, this was October 2007, so prices may have gone up some since then.

There was no additional fee for the room. And as I said, it isn't exactly a room. It's just that part of the restaurant is easily separated off, and they can put up sort of partitions, which is what they did. But it ends up being like a private room. We had about 22 people or so at the lunch, and we probably could have fit up to around 30, I would guess, though no more than that.

The other thing about the area - it is sort of open on the side away from the restaurant, out into the lobby of the resort. But we didn't find that to be a problem at all. It isn't actually in the main lobby area - more in a side area that is more secluded. And it is raised up, with a railing around it. So, we had people walking by now and again, but nothing noisy, and we didn't even really notice them. And given how beautiful the WL is, it actually made for quite a nice setting for the lunch.

Back to the pricing - they priced it per person, and we got their all-you-can-eat skillet, which has 4 different kinds of meat, beans, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, corn on the cob, & cornbread, plus all the drinks (sodas, coffee, & tea) were included. We could have added on a dessert too, but we chose not to. Instead, we had the lunch right after our wedding, had only drinks and dancing at the "cake and champagne" reception (plus the ceremonial cake cutting), and then had the cake taken to the WL, and had our wedding cake for dessert at the lunch.

The best thing to do, though, is start calling some of the restaurants and talking to them to see what they can do for you. We looked at quite a few online just to get a general price range and idea of kinds of food, then narrowed it down to 3 or 4. We called those 3 or 4, and found that WCC fit our needs the best.

 

[figmentfan814]

osxgirl~ It sounds like you had a nice area at WCC. We have eaten there at lunch before and it is usually pretty quiet. Plus, with the lobby of the Lodge in the backdrop it must have made for a great reception. There is usually great service at that restaurant too.

Another spot you might want to consider is FRESH at the Dolphin. I didn't think about it even though its where I had my rehearsal luncheon. They are only open until 2 or 3 pm, but they had a nice room at the front of the restaurant overlooking the water that we were able to have at no cost.

 

[minniebride]

osxgirl~ It sounds like you had a nice area at WCC. We have eaten there at lunch before and it is usually pretty quiet. Plus, with the lobby of the Lodge in the backdrop it must have made for a great reception. There is usually great service at that restaurant too.

Another spot you might want to consider is FRESH at the Dolphin. I didn't think about it even though its where I had my rehearsal luncheon. They are only open until 2 or 3 pm, but they had a nice room at the front of the restaurant overlooking the water that we were able to have at no cost.

Fresh was actually our original choice for a luncheon!!! I really like that place, fro the pictures I've seen....but then we peeked in there one night during our last trip & my DF thought it looked like McDonalds He's usually not snooty like that & I think we need to see it in the daylight because we saw it closed. I still thought it looked really nice. I emailed Leo Tavers a few months ago to ask him about the menu & such & I think he said that we could use an outside courtyard right outside of the restaurant.

What was your experience there? Can you tell me your menu, estimated pricing, additional fees, if your guests sat inside or outside?

Thanks!

 

[figmentfan814]

Fresh was actually our original choice for a luncheon!!! I really like that place, fro the pictures I've seen....but then we peeked in there one night during our last trip & my DF thought it looked like McDonalds He's usually not snooty like that & I think we need to see it in the daylight because we saw it closed. I still thought it looked really nice. I emailed Leo Tavers a few months ago to ask him about the menu & such & I think he said that we could use an outside courtyard right outside of the restaurant.

What was your experience there? Can you tell me your menu, estimated pricing, additional fees, if your guests sat inside or outside?

Thanks!

Here's a link to the page in my TR where I talked about our rehearsal dinner:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1752447&page=12

We really had a great experience there; I also worked with Leo some during our planning. At the time, they still had the buffet at lunch which is the option we went with (now they only have the buffet at breakfast) in 2008 at a cost of $17.95 per person plus tax and gratuity (total $22.71) which also included nonalcoholic drinks and the room was free!

They gave us the back room all to ourselves which was very private. I was also able to order a groom's cake from the bakery there. I was definitely happy with everything at FRESH and our guests still talk about some of the food almost 2 years later.