New here & "reception" questions

[lisa&rob&fivemore]

Hi all!
I'm new here and have enjoyed reading through this board the last couple of days. I am getting married (second time around-- the triumph of hope over experience!) on June 5th at Seabreeze Point. Intimate wedding with a total of 20 of us including our five children as attendants.

Wonder if any of you could help with questions about a lunch after the wedding. Our ceremony is at 10 a.m. and we'd like to host a lunch for our guests afterwards. The Disney wedding planner emailed me menus from Narcoosee's and California Grill and said that for an intimate wedding these are the only places we can book for a reception. There is a $1000 minimum before tax and gratuity but since the per-head price is anywhere from $50-$66 we would definitely go way over that, especially if people want alcohol (which I'm sure some will!). I am both trying to save money and also thinking it might be a nicer idea if everyone could just be able to order what they want off a menu rather than being stuck with the same meal for everyone at that cost. I guess I am wondring if we could just book a reservation at any restaurant we want for the 20 of us.

Has anyone done their "reception" that way?

I guess the downside would be that we wouldn't get a private room. Anyone else see a downside that I am missing? It's not like we are going to have dancing or bouquet-throwing or anything else besides a meal so I'm thinking why bother with the two places the planner told me about where we are stuck with a menu that costs a lot where people can't even order their own meals? I know we couldn't wear our wedding attire if we went into the parks (which I don't want to do anyways) but can we wear it into the restaurants at the resorts?

What do you all think? Has anyone done their intimate reception at California Grill or Narcoosee's? Is there another restaurant anyone would suggest? (Locationwise we are staying at the Boardwalk for the three nights prior to the wedding and then the two of us are staying at the Grand Floridian for our wedding night and Grandma and Grandpa will move in with the kids that night!)

Thanks in advance for your advice,
Lisa

 

[NEVERENOUGHWDW]

Hi all!
I'm new here and have enjoyed reading through this board the last couple of days. I am getting married (second time around-- the triumph of hope over experience!) on June 5th at Seabreeze Point. Intimate wedding with a total of 20 of us including our five children as attendants.

Wonder if any of you could help with questions about a lunch after the wedding. Our ceremony is at 10 a.m. and we'd like to host a lunch for our guests afterwards. The Disney wedding planner emailed me menus from Narcoosee's and California Grill and said that for an intimate wedding these are the only places we can book for a reception. There is a $1000 minimum before tax and gratuity but since the per-head price is anywhere from $50-$66 we would definitely go way over that, especially if people want alcohol (which I'm sure some will!). I am both trying to save money and also thinking it might be a nicer idea if everyone could just be able to order what they want off a menu rather than being stuck with the same meal for everyone at that cost. I guess I am wondring if we could just book a reservation at any restaurant we want for the 20 of us.

Has anyone done their "reception" that way?

I guess the downside would be that we wouldn't get a private room. Anyone else see a downside that I am missing? It's not like we are going to have dancing or bouquet-throwing or anything else besides a meal so I'm thinking why bother with the two places the planner told me about where we are stuck with a menu that costs a lot where people can't even order their own meals? I know we couldn't wear our wedding attire if we went into the parks (which I don't want to do anyways) but can we wear it into the restaurants at the resorts?

What do you all think? Has anyone done their intimate reception at California Grill or Narcoosee's? Is there another restaurant anyone would suggest? (Locationwise we are staying at the Boardwalk for the three nights prior to the wedding and then the two of us are staying at the Grand Floridian for our wedding night and Grandma and Grandpa will move in with the kids that night!)

Thanks in advance for your advice,
Lisa

CG & Narcossees aren't opened for lunch......
Lunch in the MK area would be Grand Floridian Cafe, Konas, Concourse Steak House, WCC.

 

[Sparkles9306]

We're going to be doing 1900 Park Fair for our reception, because it's a fixed price buffet! Being an intimate bride, you can pretty much have you 'reception' at any restaurant (resorts you can wear wedding attire). You should take a look at the menus posted here and see who is open for lunch get an idea for the prices.

 

[lisa&rob&fivemore]

That's weird that the Disney wedding person would tell me I could only use California Grill and Narcoosee's when they aren't open for lunch! I definitely told her that I was looking for a lunch right after the wedding. I have left her a message to call me back but I'm learning that they don't exactly seem to return calls very quickly, though.

Sorry for asking a stupid question, but you said there are menu's posted here. How do I go about finding those?

Thanks!
Lisa

 

[Sparkles9306]

You can look under the Restaurants forum, there's a sticky thread there. Or you can just go to the main site wdwinfo.com and see them there

 

[HeidiLK]

Hi Lisa--I'm also interested in "reception" options for Intimates (for 2008). Did your planner say if Narcoosee's has a private room? Would you have a private room at Cali. Grill as well? I don't have a planner yet, so I'm just gathering info...

Thanks!

Heidi

 

[luna99]

I'm getting married at sea breeze point at 10 am too.. but we've decided to give everyone the afternoon off to do what they want to with it, then we'll meet up again for dinner that evening as our reception.

I'm still deciding where to go, but we're just going to make dinner reservations for 25 and see what happens. Unfortunately, we won't all be able to sit at the same table .. and yes, we'll be in the room with all the other diners, but that's ok by me. I really don't have the money to rent out an entire room just for us ....

I think it will still be special and beautiful because of the setting itself..

good luck!

 

[hiwaygal]

That's weird that the Disney wedding person would tell me I could only use California Grill and Narcoosee's when they aren't open for lunch! I definitely told her that I was looking for a lunch right after the wedding. I have left her a message to call me back but I'm learning that they don't exactly seem to return calls very quickly, though.

Sorry for asking a stupid question, but you said there are menu's posted here. How do I go about finding those?

Thanks!
Lisa

Lisa...definitely try talking to your coordinator again.

The ONLY reason I can think of them telling you that your only choices are CG or Narcoosees is POSSIBLY the size of your party...maybe there are only a few places that can accommodate that size for lunch But to be honest, even that sounds like it's not right.

Here's a link to all the menus for all the restaurants on property CLICK HERE. Just remember to stick to the resort restaurants if you want to wear your wedding dress.

I would definitely ask about lunch for larger groups over on the restaurants board...some of the folks over there are 'experts' and might be able to offer some other alternatives.

Good luck!!!

 

[Tiggerific04]

My travel agent is booking all of my meals for me, and she said that there is a group dining number to call to book large parties (I originally had 20 guests as well). They can't guarantee that you'll all sit at the same table, but they will try to accommodate you so that you're all sitting in the same section at neighboring tables. I was also told that they try to book these parties at either the first seating or the last for that meal time.

 

[lurkyloo]

That's weird that the Disney wedding person would tell me I could only use California Grill and Narcoosee's when they aren't open for lunch! Lisa

That's because she's assuming you want a private, reception-like lunch, which can only be held when those restaurants aren't open to regular customers.

As the other posters have said, you can book reservations at any resort restaurant. Some of them have private rooms you can book, like Citrico's Chef's Table, and some of them will put your party off in a private corner of the dining room (I believe Yachtsman Steakhouse does this). Check out For Keeps' trip report for info on Citrico's:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1324242



OK, I'm editing this because I realized you're talking about lunch, and I think my two suggestions are more for dinner - but I'm not sure, so check 'em out!

 

[CharlotteQL]

I rec'd the same info regarding private reception for Intimate. I also got the option of Jiko's.

Has anyone had any experience with any of these options?

 

[aprincess72]

We are doing dinner at Raglan Road at Downtown Disney after our ceremony. I checked with many of the resort restaurants and no one could guarantee they could seat 20 of us together.
We enjoy Raglan Road and go on just about every visit so it's a good fit for us. I'm also an intimate on a budget and Raglan Road is not very expensive. They are giving us a reserved area called the Snug. They also are adding extra touches like white table cloths and candles for no charge!