New here! Budget question!!

[amyliz23]

Hi everyone!
My name is Amy and I am here to see about having my dream Disney wedding!
It would be in late 2012, but I had some questions.
I would like to have an Escape wedding, as my budget is smaller. My vision is to have a small ceremony, dinner with my guests, and a dessert party with fireworks. Ideally, I would also like to have the MK photo session and hair/make up added on. I'm not really sure how much this all would cost me. I would like to keep it at around 7k. 10k max!! I don't have to have dinner anywhere that would require a private room; I am perfectly comfortable sharing my day with the general public.
Tell me this can work!!!
xoxoxo to you all!

 

[sambycat]

welcome and congrats!

look all around on here - lots of people share budgets and costs in addition to their ideas! a couple things that come to my mind about your post - the wishes v. escape thing, in my mind, is more of a size of the wedding than a budget thing per se? depending on what day/time of the week, the things you describe could fit into either category depending also on your head count.

hair and make up are not something DFTW "adds on" for you in the wedding costs, but it can definitely be done! the MK pictures cost $1100 for the shoot and a small album.

i HIGHLY recommend continued reading here (heh!) and buying the passporter guide to weddings and honeymoons - can be bought hardcover or online (for instant download gratification and customizable budget sheets!). also, carrie (the author and "lurkyloo" on these boards) does a weekly weddings podcast now - it's on iTunes! search "Inside Disney Weddings Radio".

i'm sure folks can post more specific info, but you have LOADS of options!

 

[neener3]

Welcome! You can check out my PJ for my budget from DFTW if you want.

If you're wanting to add on a private function like a dinner and/or dessert party, your required minimum is $7500.00.

We did an Escape at Sea Breeze Point, then a Dessert Party at the UK. We also did a Magic Kingdom shoot. We came in at $7585.00. We're being refunded a bit, so we literally just made the $7500.00. Our wedding was perfect (truly!) in our eyes, but might be pretty bare bones to others. We let the scenery speak for itself and didn't add any floral other than 2 bridesmaids' bouquets. We ate dinner at Chef Mickey's, and since we booked during free dining, people used their credits. Some brides and grooms might not like that idea, but it worked for us.

You can definitely do ceremony, private dinner, and dessert party for
$10 000, in my opinion. But if you mean $10 000 including your trip, you'd be over. I think all said we ended up spending $13 000, but I've been scared to actually add it all up! That includes my dress, our rings, flights, stay, his suit, shoes, etc....etc, etc.

You need to factor in hair and makeup separately...mine was $60.00 for hair, $60.00 for makeup, a $50.00 travel fee, and I covered the tip for myself and my two girls. Worth every penny.

Anyway, like I said, take a look at my BEO. I think it kind of outlines just what you can get for that $7500.00. And I'd pay for the dessert party over a dinner again any day; our guests were mesmerized.

Oh, yes, and I second buying Carrie's Passporter! It was super helpful when I started.

 

[amyliz23]

Thanks, ladies!!!!! It all sounds very promising!
I'm trying to get a feel for how many guests we would have by asking around now; surely it will be easier to plan once I have a number!
I'm going to look into Wishes, too, just in case his parents decide to chip in. That would be nice!

Thanks, again. I look forward to cruising the boards a heck of a lot more.

 

[GIJasmine]

In my opinion, the most helpful thread on here is the budget thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2182201&highlight=budget

You can find out how much people have spent on each element of their wedding. Hope this helps!