Intimate Weddings

[dznystar]

DF and I were planning a Custom wedding for June 14, 2007. However, we have finally come to the realization that the finances aren't quite there. ( We used some of the money we had saved for a down payment for a house!) So, now we're thinking of having an Intimate wedding. I had everything planned out for times with the custom, but I had heard Intimate weddings were only held in the morning and afternoons. Is this correct? Can you have an evening Intimate? We want to do that and then have the Illuminations Dessert Party.

 

[TinkBride]

The latest time I was offered for an intimate ceremony was 5:00 p.m.

 

[dznystar]

How long does the Intimate reception last? We're trying to plan the Illuminations cruise after. And how long is the Dessert Reception?

 

[sarah_n_brian2006]

The intimate is about 1 hour if your not having a dinner. The dessert parties I believe are around 2 hours

 

[Tinkerbellz]

How long does the Intimate reception last? We're trying to plan the Illuminations cruise after. And how long is the Dessert Reception?

I'm guessing that you mean the cake cutting ceremony after the intimate wedding. I asked that very same question on another thread and was told it could be anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour, depending on the length of your ceremony.

I am having my intimate VR at the Wedding Pavilion and I figure I'm trying to have 45 minutes for the cake cutting ceremony. I want to have Mickey at that event and to have him for 30 minutes, I want to make sure there is sufficient time.

I teetered between custom and intimate when I first began planning this celebration of "Happily Ever After" (That's what I'm calling it1 ). I have finally decided that intimate is the way to go. I get to do more with my guests on my small budget and do not have to worry about meeting my money quota.

 

[SRUAlmn]

Here are my thoughts because we were in the SAME situation about 4 months ago. We went through and factored in the food cost for 30-40 people, the cost for the WP, and the cost for the dessert party and it was almost $10,000 (about $8000) so we figured we might as well do a custom and get all the perks of that since we'd be paying that much anyway. We are having a financial stretch too, but we would have been in the same situation even if we had an intimate. I know for intimates you don't have a 'food reception' and we just felt it wasn't fair for people to come from PA and MD and just give them cake, so in the long run I think we made the right choice even though it's putting a slight strain on us financially.

PS If you are having a dessert party on the same day as your wedding it counts toward your per person food minimum and your overall minimum for your wedding. This is helping us cut some costs!!!

 

[friendofgusgus]

We are also having an Intimate wedding and went through the exact same struggle as all the other brides - Intimate, Custom, Initmate, Custom...

How we resolved all this was to have our Intimate on Monday morning as the last event of our weekend. Everyone is flying down through the weekend and spending all the time before the wedding with us - including what would be our rehearsal dinner (since there's no rehearsal, we're calling it a "Celebration Dinner") the night before as our big meal with everyone.

Then on Monday everyone is free to leave or stay as they wish as soon as the cake cutting and champagne is done. This gives people a chance to be back to school or work on Tuesday and only miss one day's work. We will begin our honeymoon as soon as the cake cutting is over and have some private time.

This gave us a chance to book lots of special times with everyone without having to squeeze it all into one day to meet a minimum. Since we have enough people to qualify as a magical gathering, we still have some special options for character breakfasts and Illuminations events. The only thing this won't do is allow you to wear your gown for your Illuminations event but after a lot of soul-searching, I decided that a few photos wasn't enough to force myself to spend an extra $6K one one day.

Hope this is helpful - I figured I'd add it as another option to consider!

Jennifer
Intimate Wedding 12/11/06

 

[luvsmickey]

Actually, I wanted the 5pm time so that I could have dinner or something with our guests. You can have a dinner at a Resort and still be in your gown and then go to the Illuminiations in it! Just a suggestion, but I wanted to wear my gown! I don't see only getting to wear it for an hour or two being that great, especially since we only get to wear it this one time. But, that's just me, you might feel more comfortable in your regular clothes. But whatever you decide, I'm sure your day will be wonderful! I mean, it's Disney!

 

[MEME]

We had an intimate wedding last October and used every bit of our allocated 2 hours. Our wedding was at 3:00 pm and we took our last photo close to 5:00 p.m. We had ressies at O'Hanas (where you can wear your gown -- I did!) for 5:20 pm and had a few moments to spare upon our arrival.

The actual vows and ceremony did only last about 20 - 25 minutes but we had parental vows included in our ceremony. Regardless, this is the average for any wedding. Our cake/champagne reception, toast and dance was probably an additional 20 minutes; as we had several family members toast us.

Once our posed pictures began it probably took over an hour because I wanted pictures with everyone (about 17 folks total) in family groups and on the beach outside of the WP; our photographer took good care of us.