Just called DFTW - bit disappointed

[SerpentQueenClaire]

Thanks for your response. Think you will turn in to a very useful source for me so if you don't mind, I may be picking your brain from time to time!! It's nice to speak to people who have already experienced the things I'll be dealing with.

I live in Maidstone - how about you?

How did you find planning the wedding from over here and dealing with all the logistics over the phone and net?

 

[Dizneydawn]

Claire,
I too have been debating for quite some time (a year ) where to get married and do I want a Disney wedding or not and if so how big.

I was just browsing this morning and found your thread and looked into someones suggestion of Celebration.

Browsed their site - talked with a coordiantor and I am in loooove with this place!

I have been to Disney last March to look at all options includingt he escape pkg and wishes wedding. Hated the fact that so much was left out and would need to be paid for the Escape pkg OOP for dinner etc. Also felt that the runaround I was getting for me just put a bad taste in my mouth about a wedding or Disney and I did not want that. Wanted Disney feel without the second class citizen experience if you did not want to fork over so much for a Wishes ceremony...and your first child...which was in small print at the bottom.

We went in June to look at Disney's Vero Beach resort to look at weddings and loved their price point but so much was needing to be coordinated by me like pastor, flowers, music, photography etc. that I was feeling like I would be overwhelmed from a distance.

The celebration pkg does have everything included - plus you will have a total 3 people assigned to your wedding team including start to finish, isle runner and outside wrought iron traellace if you want etc. The food is varied and very fancy, 2 hours of open bar for up to 8 guests, 2 nights of hotel, cake, flowers for bride and grrom, hour of photography etc...etc... all starting at $3995 if you keep it 10 or less. $120 pp extra for each additional person.

For us this seems awesome - so many places for meals or bar have minimums and we will have 10-15 probably so perfect for us.

I am interedted in Fultons also and ddi not know that was a possibility - anyone have more info?

Anyway - THANK YOU for giving me a new place to deeply consider that has Disney feel and glamour but not Disney price or snobbery!

 

[missy0107]

I am interedted in Fultons also and ddi not know that was a possibility - anyone have more info?

Fulton's charges a nominal fee to set-up an outside deck for your ceremony. Then you rent the inside room for your reception by negotiating a rate for your meal per person depending on a the menu and other options you select. You may or may not need to meet a food and beverage minimum in order to use the room. The minimum was waived for me. I also ended up with the use of their larger room for my ceremony due to the torrential rain that greeted us for our wedding.

They do not provide any coordination services so you would either need to hire a coordinator yourself or do the work yourself. They do provide plenty of staff to help you the day of your wedding.

I can send you the menus they send me in the spring if you PM me your email address!

 

[Scrap_Vamp]

Thanks for your response. Think you will turn in to a very useful source for me so if you don't mind, I may be picking your brain from time to time!! It's nice to speak to people who have already experienced the things I'll be dealing with.

I live in Maidstone - how about you?

How did you find planning the wedding from over here and dealing with all the logistics over the phone and net?

I'm in Gillingham, so not far at all! I don't mind at all if you have questions - I found it so helpful having people on here to answer questions, so am happy to return the favour.

In all honesty, we found it really simple planning the wedding from over here. My wedding co-ordinator was Tanis and we had Rosie for floral, and they were both incredible. My mum also had a really good working relationship with them both, and arranged surprises which we didn't find out about. She actually reckons we had an easier time planning our wedding than my brothers had planning weddings in the UK (my younger brother used the Maidstone Hilton and had a bit of a 'mare to be honest!).

I can honestly say that I wasn't stressed at all during the process, although we mostly stuck with the basic Escape package. The only things we changed were to have the Model A Ford (a surprise from me to DH) and some extra floral (boutonnieres and a long-stemmed calla lily for my bridesmaid). Then mum arranged for Mickey and Minnie to drop by separately.

 

[SerpentQueenClaire]

Hmmmm....Celebration sounds very interesting! That would be a possibility for sure. Could always follow it up with a DP or the Wishes Cruise to add a bit of Disney magic!! Does anyone have more info about Celebration-I've looked at the website but would love to hear from someone who's been there or has spoken to a planner there.

I will have to take a drive over there in march and have a little look at the location etc.

 

[Maleficent Goon]

I feel like I'm missing something. Does a DFTW differ from just a regular ol' wedding at WDW? The reason I ask is that my sister is considering getting married there in the fall. My entire family visited this past weekend and got a tour of the wedding pavilion, as well as reception halls at the Grand Floridian, Yacht & Beach, and Boardwalk. They drove us around, showed us pictures of cakes, showed a slideshow, etc. They were very nice and very accommodating. If we had to drive ourselves around, my parents may have been put off. But we had a very nice time and Disney bent over backwards to please us.

 

[thatdisneygirl]

It might depend on who you talk to and how many weddings are going on the day you want to visit. It's possible that all the wedding coordinators were tied up on the day that you were hoping to look at locations and nobody was available to take you around.

It might be worth sending an email with some flexible dates and an explanation that you'd want to see the locations before deciding on a Disney wedding. Throwing in the fact that you know they've done this for other brides probably couldn't hurt!

 

[SerpentQueenClaire]

I didn't even get to offer some dates-she shot me down before I got to that!! I am free for 2 weeks and can go there any date or time so you'd think they would be able to accommodate my request. Would just be nice to have a bit of a tour, view the locations we're interested in and discuss options.

Is there an email address I can use to send a request as perhaps I'll have more luck going down this route?

 

[girli565]

I feel like I'm missing something. Does a DFTW differ from just a regular ol' wedding at WDW? The reason I ask is that my sister is considering getting married there in the fall. My entire family visited this past weekend and got a tour of the wedding pavilion, as well as reception halls at the Grand Floridian, Yacht & Beach, and Boardwalk. They drove us around, showed us pictures of cakes, showed a slideshow, etc. They were very nice and very accommodating. If we had to drive ourselves around, my parents may have been put off. But we had a very nice time and Disney bent over backwards to please us.

No, there's no difference.

I was treated the same way, we got driven around, shown the sites and even had a small meeting afterwards to discuss anything.

OP, maybe because you're interested in an Escape package is why you can't do a site visit? I was initially looking into a Wishes wedding so that's why we got a site visit. We downgraded bc we moved it up 6 months and were worried that we wouldn't be able to save enough in time.

 

[tinkerbell 766]

No, there's no difference.

I was treated the same way, we got driven around, shown the sites and even had a small meeting afterwards to discuss anything.

OP, maybe because you're interested in an Escape package is why you can't do a site visit? I was initially looking into a Wishes wedding so that's why we got a site visit. We downgraded bc we moved it up 6 months and were worried that we wouldn't be able to save enough in time.

I agree. If it's Escape you are interested in, then there is far less hand-holding done by Disney.
On my November trip, I had a day on my own and looked at my possible venues myself. It is very easy to check out all the ceremony locations - even the WP which luckily for me was empty and I had a good look around. I couldn't check out any ballrooms, but as I don't think I am interested in these, it didn't mattter. I really enjoyed myself having a nosey around and I used the Disney buses so I didn't drive anywhere.