Large Wishes Wedding?

[DisneyLover1234]

Is anyone having a larger wishes wedding with over 120+ guests? We were orginially planning on having a wedding of 120 guests but right now our rsvps are in at 160 and there are still more to come. Does anyone have any BEO's that they would like to show? We are having an evening wedding at the WP, cocktail hour in Italy and the reception at AAR. We couldnt get a ballroom at the GF because of a convention, but I think it works out better because we will need less decor and the food min is lower as well.
- Do you think its possible to keep to the food min of 100pp?
- Any ideas on how to keep the budget low?

 

[DaDivatude]

First, let me say congrats. Weddings rock! (Especially yours cuz you're having my dream wedding! *ie: WP, Italy, AAR*)

It's definitely possible to do under $100 pp. I'm usually a better help at budget cutting...but I have no details right now. What do you have so far?

 

[DisneyLover1234]

First, let me say congrats. Weddings rock! (Especially yours cuz you're having my dream wedding! *ie: WP, Italy, AAR*)

It's definitely possible to do under $100 pp. I'm usually a better help at budget cutting...but I have no details right now. What do you have so far?

Thanks! I am also having my dream wedding hehe. Sorry for no details, we honestly haven't done all that much yet to count towards our budget.

Paid for already and not counting towards our budget:
1. Hair deposit $100
2. Bridesmaid gifts (not sure how much total)
3. Honeymoon (Sandals, St Lucia) $300 deposit
4. Disney Deposit $1500
5. Dress (my mom paid for it)
6. Photography deposit (Roots)
7. Video Deposit (tincanweddings.com)

We are having our planning session in November, where will decide about food and other things.
-Things I must have:
--cinderella's carriage
--individual ice sculpture (It doesnt have to be cinderella's slipper, we will just pick the cheapest one they have)
Things we are very unsure of and want to keep it as low as possible:
-Our guests are staying at the Gf, POR, and All star sports so we will only need 3 buses hopefully
-Transportation for the bridal party of 20 is still undecided. I originally wanted an escalade, but since Disney doesn’t offer it, I am unsure if we will even be allowed to use an outside vendor because we are going into Epcot.
-Food costs are our biggest issues; I know that for Italy there is a $25 food min, but my planner said that our bar can count towards that. Then for the Aar there is a $100 min for dinner. We have no idea what kind of hors derves to serve, or what food to serve at dinner. We are not too picky people, but I want something nice, but also as inexpensive as it can get hehe, it can get so pricy with 170+ guests.
-Bar: We originally wanted open bar for the entire time because both of our families are social drinkers and we also have many many college friends who are coming and can drink A LOT. We were thinking of maybe having BOC bar during dinner since most people will be eating and not want to get up to go and get drinks and also during the cocktail hour since most people can only drink 2-3 drinks during one hour.
Décor: I have made my own aisle runner and want to have petals down the side of that and I love the look of tall glass cylinders with floating candles down the side of the aisle, especially since the wedding isn’t until 7:30 pm. Also I have made my own unity candle and was just going to have a small arrangement on the front of the podium that can be used again at the reception.
- I love the look of dendrobium orchids for our centerpieces or roses with crystals hanging, but I feel that we can use fewer flowers for the orchid centerpieces and achieve a more dramatic look than with the roses. I have also purchased a ton of votive candles to place around the head table, cake table, guestbook table, place card table, and guest tables.
- I also have 8 bridesmaids, myself, groom, 8 groomsmen, 2 ring bearers, 4 grandmothers, 3 grandfathers, 3 mothers, 3 dads that will all need flowers.

I am not sure if I left anything out, but as soon as we go to the planning session, I will post a trip report, but I would like some ideas of how to keep costs down before we go. Thanks!

 

[DaDivatude]

It looks like you've gotten everything together. Only two things I can offer:

1) I have heard that you can use outside vendors for transportation if you meet your minimum. Though, I will say, I've also heard it's frowned upon because not all vendors know their way around the backstage areas of Disney, so be careful.

2) To help maximize your chances of meeting the food minimums, try to keep cocktail hour to a minimum. Since the bar counts toward the $25, try to serve maybe one or two hor'derves or have an antipasto station. (Remember you are feeding these people again at the reception!) I would also really consider a package bar since you have social drinkers. It seems like a lot at first, but BOC can add up really quickly if you're not watching. Also talk to your planner about providing liquor yourself (that has been done before) or coming up with a signature drink/drinks. That way you can have an "open bar" without paying for alchohol that may or may not be drunk.

HTH

 

[disprincessatheart]

Is anyone having a larger wishes wedding with over 120+ guests? We were orginially planning on having a wedding of 120 guests but right now our rsvps are in at 160 and there are still more to come. Does anyone have any BEO's that they would like to show? We are having an evening wedding at the WP, cocktail hour in Italy and the reception at AAR. We couldnt get a ballroom at the GF because of a convention, but I think it works out better because we will need less decor and the food min is lower as well.
- Do you think its possible to keep to the food min of 100pp?
- Any ideas on how to keep the budget low?

DEFINTIELY!!

We were originally doing a Wishes wedding in French Island and had our very full menu right at $100ppn including cake and bar. The most important thing is to get the EPCOT events menu and cut and paste the things you really want to get the perfect menu. We did a lot of tweaking and got to a great menu that was very reasonably priced for Disney!! You'll certainly want to do a tasting session so you can try everything out and make sure you'll enjoy the food they'd serve. I think our breakdown was about $20ppn in appetizers, $25ppn for drinks, $9 ppn cake and the rest was dinner. Hope that helps!!

 

[DisneyLover1234]

DEFINTIELY!!

We were originally doing a Wishes wedding in French Island and had our very full menu right at $100ppn including cake and bar. The most important thing is to get the EPCOT events menu and cut and paste the things you really want to get the perfect menu. We did a lot of tweaking and got to a great menu that was very reasonably priced for Disney!! You'll certainly want to do a tasting session so you can try everything out and make sure you'll enjoy the food they'd serve. I think our breakdown was about $20ppn in appetizers, $25ppn for drinks, $9 ppn cake and the rest was dinner. Hope that helps!!

Wow, thats great to know! What kind of bar did you have? That is exactly where we want to have it, would you mind sharing your menu?

 

[disprincessatheart]

Wow, thats great to know! What kind of bar did you have? That is exactly where we want to have it, would you mind sharing your menu?

I wouldn't mind if I still had it... We originally planned a wishes wedding for April 07, then postponed a year and did an Escape this spring instead. I didn't keep the Wishes stuff as I was getting all my paperwork confused. Here's what I remember...

For the bar we were doing a bill on consumption bar with limited beer and wine choices so that people couldn't go too crazy on us. We had a good mix of heavy drinkers and non-drinkers, so we figured that would benefit us most. Also we thought during dinner and Illuminations, no one would be hitting the bar too hard, so a flat priced open bar just seemed overkill on the cost.

For the meal, we were doing a buffet as that was the only option for French Island. We kept the appetizers to 3 or 4 hot items and then a fruit and veggie display and a cheese display. For dinner we were going to do the parmesan crusted chicken, some fish I don't remember, garlic mashed potatoes, caesar salad with fried cheese ravioli croutons(these were to die for at our tasting!), penne in a vodka creme sauce (from the old DFTW TV special with the bride and groom from NJ), roast beef and a hot vegetable. This also came with dinner rolls. We were also doing one or two desserts in addtion to the cake - cheesecake and choc covered strawberries I think.

The way to keep the cost down was not to have an action station and do the buffet instead of a sit down. This also minimizes you having to collect entree choices from your guests!