My BEO is huge-monguous!!

[jnale]

Ok...wow! thats huge!!
But here's my thoughts..

If I were a guest these are the things I wouldn't care about..

Which liqours are available...Just do a BOC beer & wine bar, and cut it to 3 hours, not the entire time.

The sorbet..cute, nice...but forgettable...ditch it.

$7000 in flowers...the locations alone are beautiful.

The transportation...seriously, if someone complains about the transportation you provide then they don't understand Disney..there is FREE transport!

The food at the pre-reception....just do a few passed ones, much cheaper, and like a PP said..you're feeding all these people an hour later anyways.
(On a side note, we cut out our pre-reception COMPLETELY, and save several thousand dollars that way!)

When I was reading through your BEO there was a recurring theme I noticed....booze booze and more booze....cut down on the bar packages and use outside photography and you will cut that WAY down!!!

People will NOT care if you don't have an open bar/top shelf. We are doing a BOC soda, beer & wine bar for 3 hours only, and buying a few gallons of sangria to serve. Thats it.
We've been to 3 weddings this year alone, and even though we're limiting our liqour & drinks, we'll still have more than all of the weddings we've been to.

Awesome - thanks for the tips! We must look like we have issues with all that booze!! Yeah we need to modify the bar tremendously! The sangria sounds like a great idea!

My suggestion to save money would be to consider switching to a billed on consumption bar. For it to be worth $6,400.00 approx. each of your guests will need to drink about 6 drinks each (Including children because I just divided by 140).... is every single guest at your wedding going to drink 6 drinks? I know there is no way my grandparents, parents etc. are going to drink 6 drinks... heck they probably won't even drink 1.

Really crunch the numbers before you pay that much. Every person I have heard about that has done BOC bar has come out way under. Worst case scenario is that you actually pay for what is drank and best case you save a lot of money.

Good point - I don't have too many guests that will drink 6 or more drinks. When you look at it from that angle it seems ridiculous. Thanks! When you do BOC, do you pay an estimate up front or do you pay after the wedding when they know how many drinks were purchased?

This is exactly why i joined these boards!! when planning (well thinking of planning lol) i came out with ridiculously large numbers. i've come to realize that I dont HAVE to invite everyone. I dont HAVE to serve all you can drink drinks lol. and it's disney worl.. it's going to be magical whether i buy 50 floral arrangments or if i buy 1!

Amen!!

exactly!!! That's my theory!! When we sat down with Laura from floral yesterday I was literally asking for the cheapest and simplest floral options...and it was no problem for her! My guests will NOT look at my floral and say "oh..she used baby's breath instead of roses...oh dear..how cheap"

I had Laura too - I should have done the same thing!

 

[jacqu3lin3]

OMG!!! I'm going to print this out so can remind myself to not loose control when I go to my planning session. I'm afraid (and so is my DF) that I will loose it at the PS.

Though, other than the price....everything does sound beautiful!

 

[jnale]

I thought mine was crazy at 46k it will go up if more then 100 come.. we invited 186.

I hope I can get mine way down! We invited 206 - we were crazy!

YES! It makes a HUGE difference. We went with Randy for photo and saved about $1,000 on the package we picked!! Plus, Disney charges you an extra $1,000 if you want the negatives, with Randy it's included in the package. So that totals $2,000 right there.

We are using STVS for video and we are saving another $2,000 there!

*Plus, when you use Disney you can't pick who you get, you are assigned to the video/photographer*

Thanks for the info....this wasn't something I thought about in the beginning but I'm starting to change my mind after seeing Disney's pricing. Does Disney charge you a fee for using an outside photogapher/videographer?

 

[jnale]

OMG!!! I'm going to print this out so can remind myself to not loose control when I go to my planning session. I'm afraid (and so is my DF) that I will loose it at the PS.

Though, other than the price....everything does sound beautiful!

Sorry to scare you (or anyone else). At least this gives everyone a good idea of costs - especially if you have a big guest list like I do. Yeah I apparently lost it!

thanks!

 

[Keira1387]

No, they used to charge an escort fee, but they do not do that anymore.

 

[jnale]

No, they used to charge an escort fee, but they do not do that anymore.

Thanks - good!

 

[OceanGdss]

OMG!!! I'm going to print this out so can remind myself to not loose control when I go to my planning session. I'm afraid (and so is my DF) that I will loose it at the PS.

Though, other than the price....everything does sound beautiful!

The BEST thing you can do is go in there with clear cut ideas of what you want. And be willing to really hash out the prices. You have to be honest with your planner about your budget and expectations. State those facts very first thing and just tell them if something is out of the budget. And dont be afraid to ask how much something costs! I must have asked Marion 10 times how much something was... I kept saying "Oh..that sounds great, but how much will it cost?" and don't be afraid to say NO!! Whatever you do, don't walk into your PS with no idea of your budget or what you want. It is too easy to spend too much if you have nothing decided yet. Every suggestion they give you will receive a "yes" if you are unsure of what you want. Just be honest with them...it will make yours and their job much easier!

Example: They are going to ask you if you're going to provide your own cake cutting set, guest book, pen, etc....if you don't know these things they will probably offer you the DFTW version..which will cost 3 times as much! So know what you want. When I walked into Franck's yesterday I knew ahead of time, before seeing all the cute stuff in the cabinets...that I was going to buy my FG basket and ONE item that I might like, thats IT! And so I bought the Mickey FG basket and the matching bridal purse..that was all I added to my plan. I walked out of there with exactly what I had walked in with in my head. (well..except the DP, but that was an even trade for our other RD plans..so no biggie)

PS~~~ You're getting married on my birthday!!!

 

[DisneyFairy19]

Ours are VERY CLOSE.... I almost had a heart attack too...

 

[lurkyloo]

When you do BOC, do you pay an estimate up front or do you pay after the wedding when they know how many drinks were purchased?

You pay based on an estimate upfront and then after the wedding they bill you for what went over or refund you for what went under. For some reason the number 3 sticks in my mind... I think you pay based on three drinks per person upfront, then afterward get billed/refunded... maybe someone will come along and clear this up!

 

[twiu]

Hmmm.. wow! I did a couple things to cut my BEO a bit. As for liquor (I understand liquor... I wanted an open bar)... I did a 4 hour open bar package (the cheaper one, which is still brand name liquor - just not the best ones. Like for vodka you get absolut instead of grey goose. who cares!) What I did was I'm shutting down the bar for 1/2 hour during dinner (just warn your guests) and 1/2 hour before the event ends (because by then everyone will be liquored up anyway).

Also, I cut my cake down. I got a 50 person cake and got a sheet cake. 50 is the minimum but you can have bigger. You can have like a 75 person cake (75x$10.00 = $750) then a sheet cake for 100 peeps for less than $200. Not sure how important the big cake is for you, but that's another option. Just a thought.

 

[Skylarr29]

You pay based on an estimate upfront and then after the wedding they bill you for what went over or refund you for what went under. For some reason the number 3 sticks in my mind... I think you pay based on three drinks per person upfront, then afterward get billed/refunded... maybe someone will come along and clear this up!

Yep, that's right.

You can still have your Jack etc. and pay per drink. We are doing signature cocktails as well.

 

[SummerIrmoma2_3]

Ooooo I was waiting to see this. It really is not as extravagant as I was expecting. I think the big money eaters are the number of guest and the liquor. That is a lot of money for liquor.

I think you have already gotten some great advice. I will be interested to see what stays and what goes. GL

 

[Ember]

Hmmm, I know it's "cocktail hour" but could you maybe serve one signature drink instead of the whole open bar thing during the pre-reception? After all, they'll get that in an hours time! I would also skip the pop and bottled water during this time, have them put out chilled water in jugs with lemon it it. Also look at food for this hour, you're offering quite the selection. All I served was fruit, not wanting people to fill up. They really only need to munch, not actually eat yet.

I think the charging on consumption is a good idea, too. I know your package would be a waste on my husband and myself, as we don't drink.

I don't know if this helps, but I also really wanted the carriage. Then I found out you get it for about 30 minutes or so. That works out to $90/minute!! Out it went. (Of course, if this is part of your dream, then it's absolutely worth it!)

I would also ask about the cake. I had SO MUCH cake left over. Can you make it smaller maybe?

Hmm, that's all I can think of right now... If you cut and cut and it still isn't where you want it, then talk to your planner. Mine knew right out of the gate that I had no intention of spending over the 10K minimum. Tell Disney your ideal budget and get them to work with you to make it happen.

Tell us how it goes, please! I'd love to know what you decide!

 

[Chedstro]

I never cease to wonder at the wisdom and help that people get from the Disney Brides - just lurking on this thread - but you all rock

 

[jnale]

Yep, that's right.

You can still have your Jack etc. and pay per drink. We are doing signature cocktails as well.

Sounds good.

Ooooo I was waiting to see this. It really is not as extravagant as I was expecting. I think the big money eaters are the number of guest and the liquor. That is a lot of money for liquor.

I think you have already gotten some great advice. I will be interested to see what stays and what goes. GL

Yeah I guess I didn't really pick too many extravagant choices.

Hmmm, I know it's "cocktail hour" but could you maybe serve one signature drink instead of the whole open bar thing during the pre-reception? After all, they'll get that in an hours time! I would also skip the pop and bottled water during this time, have them put out chilled water in jugs with lemon it it. Also look at food for this hour, you're offering quite the selection. All I served was fruit, not wanting people to fill up. They really only need to munch, not actually eat yet.

I think the charging on consumption is a good idea, too. I know your package would be a waste on my husband and myself, as we don't drink.

I don't know if this helps, but I also really wanted the carriage. Then I found out you get it for about 30 minutes or so. That works out to $90/minute!! Out it went. (Of course, if this is part of your dream, then it's absolutely worth it!)

I would also ask about the cake. I had SO MUCH cake left over. Can you make it smaller maybe?

Hmm, that's all I can think of right now... If you cut and cut and it still isn't where you want it, then talk to your planner. Mine knew right out of the gate that I had no intention of spending over the 10K minimum. Tell Disney your ideal budget and get them to work with you to make it happen.

Tell us how it goes, please! I'd love to know what you decide!

$90 a minute - wow! thanks for the tip on the cake.

I never cease to wonder at the wisdom and help that people get from the Disney Brides - just lurking on this thread - but you all rock

Yes everyone does!

 

[jacqu3lin3]

The BEST thing you can do is go in there with clear cut ideas of what you want. And be willing to really hash out the prices. You have to be honest with your planner about your budget and expectations. State those facts very first thing and just tell them if something is out of the budget. And dont be afraid to ask how much something costs! I must have asked Marion 10 times how much something was... I kept saying "Oh..that sounds great, but how much will it cost?" and don't be afraid to say NO!! Whatever you do, don't walk into your PS with no idea of your budget or what you want. It is too easy to spend too much if you have nothing decided yet. Every suggestion they give you will receive a "yes" if you are unsure of what you want. Just be honest with them...it will make yours and their job much easier!

Example: They are going to ask you if you're going to provide your own cake cutting set, guest book, pen, etc....if you don't know these things they will probably offer you the DFTW version..which will cost 3 times as much! So know what you want. When I walked into Franck's yesterday I knew ahead of time, before seeing all the cute stuff in the cabinets...that I was going to buy my FG basket and ONE item that I might like, thats IT! And so I bought the Mickey FG basket and the matching bridal purse..that was all I added to my plan. I walked out of there with exactly what I had walked in with in my head. (well..except the DP, but that was an even trade for our other RD plans..so no biggie)

PS~~~ You're getting married on my birthday!!!

I am definitely looking at other alternatives to save some money!!! I'm glad that people post their BEOs on here. It definitely helps out A LOT when trying to figure out how much to spend and what to spend it on!!

 

[jnale]

The BEST thing you can do is go in there with clear cut ideas of what you want. And be willing to really hash out the prices. You have to be honest with your planner about your budget and expectations. State those facts very first thing and just tell them if something is out of the budget. And dont be afraid to ask how much something costs! I must have asked Marion 10 times how much something was... I kept saying "Oh..that sounds great, but how much will it cost?" and don't be afraid to say NO!! Whatever you do, don't walk into your PS with no idea of your budget or what you want. It is too easy to spend too much if you have nothing decided yet. Every suggestion they give you will receive a "yes" if you are unsure of what you want. Just be honest with them...it will make yours and their job much easier!

Example: They are going to ask you if you're going to provide your own cake cutting set, guest book, pen, etc....if you don't know these things they will probably offer you the DFTW version..which will cost 3 times as much! So know what you want. When I walked into Franck's yesterday I knew ahead of time, before seeing all the cute stuff in the cabinets...that I was going to buy my FG basket and ONE item that I might like, thats IT! And so I bought the Mickey FG basket and the matching bridal purse..that was all I added to my plan. I walked out of there with exactly what I had walked in with in my head. (well..except the DP, but that was an even trade for our other RD plans..so no biggie)

PS~~~ You're getting married on my birthday!!!

Thanks for all your advice! Oh neat you're birthday is Oct. 18th?

Ours are VERY CLOSE.... I almost had a heart attack too...

Yeah it's a shocker!

You pay based on an estimate upfront and then after the wedding they bill you for what went over or refund you for what went under. For some reason the number 3 sticks in my mind... I think you pay based on three drinks per person upfront, then afterward get billed/refunded... maybe someone will come along and clear this up!

Ok - thanks!

Hmmm.. wow! I did a couple things to cut my BEO a bit. As for liquor (I understand liquor... I wanted an open bar)... I did a 4 hour open bar package (the cheaper one, which is still brand name liquor - just not the best ones. Like for vodka you get absolut instead of grey goose. who cares!) What I did was I'm shutting down the bar for 1/2 hour during dinner (just warn your guests) and 1/2 hour before the event ends (because by then everyone will be liquored up anyway).

Also, I cut my cake down. I got a 50 person cake and got a sheet cake. 50 is the minimum but you can have bigger. You can have like a 75 person cake (75x$10.00 = $750) then a sheet cake for 100 peeps for less than $200. Not sure how important the big cake is for you, but that's another option. Just a thought.

Thanks for the advice - I didn't even know you could do that with the cake!