Our February DFTW 2.25.13 // WP&Ariels // *Double Digits!

[peachydreamyxx]

Hey everyone! I am sadly back from my 10 lovely days in WDW. We had our planning session, which was a blast, and hopefully tomorrow I can start a mini trip report. I took a few pictures of all of the food, the cake tasting and our linen colors. Our planner was really sweet, and really went over my planning packet I sent in beforehand because she knew everything I had requested, and the feel I was going for. That definitely made me feel like she was trying to make my day what Im envisioning. Our chef was amazing, he was so friendly and knowledgable. Our food tasted delicious and I feel confident that our guests will have zero complaints the day of the wedding! Im scared to get back our BEO, and am hoping it doesnt have the 4-6 weeks like they said. We didnt meet with the florist since we have outside floral, however we she is going to provide some candy for our candy buffet, and id also like to request the glow vases for the dessert party. I also made all of our reservations for 11 days we will be down there since our 180 days was yesterday. Ill post our schedule sometime this week. I really feel like I got a lot accomplished! Right now though I need to unpack and organize from our trip and somehow throw together my sons 3rd birthday party which is this sunday! I dont know how Im going to pull this off, but I will have to find a way! So, I might not get to updating till next week.. but either way Ill post our BEO, planning session pictures and dining plans shortly! Have to get into planning mode now! Less than 6 months to go!!!

 

[CinderALLIE]

Look forward to reading about your trip

 

[peachydreamyxx]

Ive finally got everything settled down, and my sons birthday is over so I have time to actually write a trip report.

Our Planning Session was Tuesday, August 21, 2012. We had a 9am appt with our planner Pamela Mattack, and a 2:30pm Menu Tasting inside of the Yacht Club Convention Center. We arrived on time for our first part, and had to navigate through the construction of the Grand Floridian to the Wedding Pavillion. I should have taken a picture, but forgot. DF is NOT happy at all with the construction and is freaking out over it. Hopefully by February it wont be as ugly as it is now.

Pamela was extrememly organized and knew exactly what I wanted as my overall feel. She really went over the planning packet I had sent in because when Id mention something, she would refer back to something I wrote about it without looking through my papers. DF and I feel really confident with her! Im really organized so our session was about 2 hours. We mainly went over transportation and getting everyone to/from the reception. We are still waiting for our BEO, and im a bit scared We didnt meet with Floral as we already have an outside florist. Apparently now no outside floral is allowed inside of the Wedding Pavillion so I lucked out with that!


Here is a picture of our cake tasting. We requested a bunch of extra fillings, mainly the boston creme, the peanut butter cups, and a few others. It was extrememly hard to decide.

We are doing a three tier cake. Originally I was going to fly the top layer home, but DF is dead set against eating year old cake. We decided to just offer all three layers to our guests since we were in love with so many of the options. We are doing;
Tier One- Carrot and Cream Cheese (my dads favorite, and since hes paying, I threw him a bone )
Tier Two- Red Velvet and Cream Cheese (my favorite!)
Tier Three- Chocolate and Peanut Butter Cup (DFs favorite)

Besides the cake tasting I also picked out table linens and the chairs. Nothing else, since I plan on making all the paper goods for the ceremony and reception.

This is us outside of Francks. It was so humid, thus why the picture is a bit foggy!

On to the good part..
Since we are having our reception at Ariels, we have to have a buffet.

Passed appetizers

Stuffed Potato Skin, Teryaki Skewers and Lobster Beignets.
All three were amazing!

Le Celliers Cheddar Cheese Soup... even better than Le Cellier! It was amazing!!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken, Assorted Veggies and Mahi Mahi in Lemoncello.
I didnt try the fish, but the chicken was delicious! It was amazing! DF and his sister didnt care for the fish, so they are changing the sauce.

My favorite! Le Cellier inspired Filet Mignon with Cream Cheese mashed potatoes!


All of our food was delicious. We want to have all of the above, plus a pasta station and a salad station.. but we are waiting for our BEO to see if we can afford it. Heres hoping so! Our chef was Tony, and he was the nicest guy.. so knowledgable! DF and I really liked him. He told us he would be our Chef the day of. We feel VERY confident.

Overall, I loved our planning session. It was so much fun, and Disney really makes you feel important. I love the private menu tasting, I loved the private waiter.. It was great! Definitely something I will always remember!

 

[peachydreamyxx]

Well, we got our first BEO. As expected, lots of changes need to be made! Firstly, our dessert party is losing the Espresso station and the Soda/Water Package. Second, we are moving our rehearsal dinner location so that we do not have to pay the venus fee, or the mandatory motorcoach since its an in-park event. That whole event might actually be replaced with dinner at the swan/dolphin if they ever get back to me with pricing! Third, our cake is being changed because I cant justify a $1600 cake! We are also going to replace the motorcoach with one-way vans because that will save us about $700. These changes are being made right away while we figure out what else we can switch around. Mainly because we still have $6500 worth of outside vendors on top of Disney.. and none of this is including our flights, hotel, and dining plan.

We are using outside floral, so the Disney Floral Package is only our table linens and rental chairs!

 

[princesswendy720]

Well, we got our first BEO. As expected, lots of changes need to be made! Firstly, our dessert party is losing the Espresso station and the Soda/Water Package. Second, we are moving our rehearsal dinner location so that we do not have to pay the venus fee, or the mandatory motorcoach since its an in-park event. That whole event might actually be replaced with dinner at the swan/dolphin if they ever get back to me with pricing! Third, our cake is being changed because I cant justify a $1600 cake! We are also going to replace the motorcoach with one-way vans because that will save us about $700. These changes are being made right away while we figure out what else we can switch around. Mainly because we still have $6500 worth of outside vendors on top of Disney.. and none of this is including our flights, hotel, and dining plan.

We are using outside floral, so the Disney Floral Package is only our table linens and rental chairs!

I'd ask about the bartender fee under your reception. It is supposed to be waived when you exceed a certain $$ amount.

 

[peachydreamyxx]

I'd ask about the bartender fee under your reception. It is supposed to be waived when you exceed a certain $$ amount.

I did! I sent that back with my BEO since our bar tab is over $2000. Thank you for looking out! =)

 

[NoOrdinaryPrincess]

Excellent update!

 

[ginny114]

can you tell me about the one way vans??? prices? how they work? i think the motor coach is expenxive and i would like other options. we are hovering arund 60 guests. thanks! hope all is well.

 

[peachydreamyxx]

Ive been terrible at updating, but its been a busy two months!

We modified our BEO and are down to $25,000 from our original $35,000 thru Disney. We are happy with our amount, as we still have another $6500 in outside vendors.. than the costs of our wedding attire, favors, welcome bags, etc. Oh and of course the price of hotels/airfare We werent expecting as many guests to fly down from NY as there are, but we feel honored that so many want to share in our day/weekend with us!

Last month was my bridal shower. My girls through my a "Mad Hatter" themed brunch. It was beautiful! Everything was perfect, all the small details are what made it. Df and I are also so thankful for all the gifts we received. We truly are lucky!

Our wedding invitations went out on Wednesday. As of today we've recieved three response cards back. Hoping people dont wait till our deadline of January 1st! I absolutely love our invites, I have to post a picture of them. They came out beautifully.

In the most exciting news of all, today marks 99 days till the wedding! Double Digits!!

 

[CinderALLIE]

Great you got your price down and that people want to share in your day.

Congrats on reaching double digits.