Hi, and welcome! When you say "small wedding" do you mean over 20 people or under? Because that's important from a Disney Fairy Tale Weddings standpoint. Over 20 are considered Wishes weddings (formerly Custom weddings) and under 20 are considered Escape weddings (formerly Intimate weddings). I'll post what I answered about Escape weddings before to let you know where to start:
Here are some things that I've learned if anyone else is just starting to plan:
1. The 2008 price for an Escape wedding is $4000. This includes all the old amenities (location, bouquet, boutanierre, one cake that feeds 20 with your choice of filling, Mickey cake topper, 1 bottle of champagne, a violinist, 4 consecutive hours of an 8 person limo, 20 4x6 photos) plus 2 annual passes. The maximum allowed is 18 guests plus the bride and groom (children are counted as guests). The Wedding Pavilion location is $1000 extra.
2. Locations can be held by Disney at exactly 12 months in advance. You call and they pencil in the date and send you a contract. You mail back the signed contract with a $750 deposit and they confirm the date. The times available are M-Th: 10AM, 12PM, 2:30PM and 5PM.
3. Sunset Pointe (Poly Resort) is only available Oct-March. It is a beach with a 10 person capacity. Sunrise Terrace (Wilderness Resort) is on the 4th floor and overlooks the mountain stream, but it has a 10 person capacity. The Wedding Gazebo (Yacht Club) is in a rose garden and holds a large capacity. Sea Breeze Point (Boardwalk Resort) overlooks Crescent lake and holds a large capacity.
4. Wedding attire is not allowed in the parks at all, but they are allowed at the resorts (hotels). If you book an Illuminations dessert party, you can be specially escorteed by a CM in your wedding attire to Epcot Park. Otherwise all dinner/reception venues are at the resorts.
5. Fireworks cruises: all private boats available have capacities of 12 or less. Grand1 yacht holds 12. Pontoon boats hold 10. Breathless holds 4 at most. Grand Gatherings offers a Magical Fireworks Voyage for large parties with visits from Peter Pan and Hook (I'm not sure if it leaves from the park, whether wedding attire would be permitted on board).
6. Post-wedding dinners for large parties (over 8 I believe) have to be when the restaurant first opens for dinner, usually around 5-5:30PM. I've heard that a few restaurants will give large parties the last seating too, around 9:30PM. So if you book a 5PM wedding, you are unlikely to get a standard dinner time, unless you book a private room.
7. Private dinner rooms available are: Citrico's Chefs Domain (capacity 12, $650 minimum), California Grill Sonoma Room (capacity 40, $2000 minimum) and Napa Room (capacity 60, $3000 minimum), Jiko's Wine Room (capacity 20, $2500 minimum), Victoria and Alberts (capacity 21, $1750 for first 10 guests), DTD Fulton's (capacity 40 , $2000 minimum).
8. Officiants are not included in the package. Officiants run about $150-$250. You can bring your own officiant, but then they will be included in the guest tally.
9. You can choose not to use the Disney photographer and hire your own outside photographer. You will then be given a photo shoot and 2 5x7's as credit.
9. Here are pictures of the reception venues:
http://www.tazfoto.com/webhtml/wdw_locations.htm
10. Here are ALL the phone numbers at Disney:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread....+contact+snail
Good luck with your planning!
Jil
