Our very late Wedding review!

[tinkandonaldfans]

Well as I am off sick I figured I might as well start my wedding review! I have wanted to do this for ages but never found the time but I remembered how useful this information was for me when I was planning so here it goes!

We actually got married on the 12th September 2011. We had an escape wedding at Sea Breeze Point and had a reception at St James Room and a dessert party in Morocco

I know a lot of people must say this but our wedding day felt just perfect and we couldn’t imagine having done it in any other way or any other place. Disney did the most wonderful job and I can assure you those sticking to the main components of an Escape will not be disappointed!

Disney Photography
I know there is a lot of debate about the quality from Disney but we decided to stick to them. We figured we are not going to be able to meet any photographer beforehand and no photo is guaranteed so we thought we would stick to what was included. We had Ty and he was fantastic. He quickly figured out our weird family dynamic and worked with it. I asked for pictures on the beach which we were initially told was too far but we got to do these shots and a whole lot more. I thought we would need an extension on the time as it didn’t seem long enough on paper but it turned out great (we may have gone over but he didn’t say anything)

Cake
Here is our cake

This is the elegant scrolls and we had a lemon and white chocolate mousse on the top and chocolate with a chocolate and peanut butter mousse on the bottom tier. I was told as it was an outside wedding that fondant was what it would be covered in but it actually was butter cream, which was exactly what we wanted. The cake topper was something we bought to make it a little different but the standard one they give you was cute! No picture can tell you just how big this cake was, it was huge and a lot of it went to waste. We had so much food on the day that we thought cake would have been too much for our guests so didn’t end up serving it officially. We wish we had so that it wasn’t wasted so much.

Randy Miller
He is probably the coolest reverend I have ever met. We asked for a non-religious ceremony and what he did was just perfect. Our guests said that everything he talked about was so true. It wasn’t cheesy or over the top and fitted us to a tee! Would recommend in a heartbeat!

Donald Duck
This was a last minute decision and it was probably one of the best we ever made. I know it’s a lot of money for the amount of time but it made our wedding priceless! The time didn’t feel rushed and he got involved with all our guests- even danced with my mum! He had pictures with babies and instructed a lot of the photos. It was a complete surprise for our guests and everyone loved him!

Next up details on the reception and dessert party

 

[FutureMrsF]

Wow your wedding looked stunning the pictures are beautiful.

I'm sorry to hear your unwell but I'm glad you've decided to do a trip report we are trying to do an escape with meal and desert party so this is really helpful to see what it would all look like.

Congratulations and I can't wait to see more

Andrea x

 

[LittleStinkerbelle]

Thanks for the reviews! I love your bouquet and cake (the topper is adorable!). We used Rev. Miller too and really liked him. Your photos are stunning. Congrats!

 

[sambycat]

congrats! great pictures and a beautiful day! we used rev. miller as well and really enjoyed him! can’t wait to hear more - you look lovely!

 

[disneywishes1]

Ah your wedding looks lovely, I can't wait to hear more. Sorry to hear that your sick but it is great to hear all about your big day. Feel better soon.

 

[Chilly]

Lovely photos. Love your topper.

 

[Lulu83]

Great start to your reviews and I'm looking forward to more!!

Looking at your beautiful cake reminded me of a question I keep meaning to ask an Escape bride.. did you request what kind/colour of flowers went on there? The flowers on the cake photos that our coorindator sent us in the planning package won't really match with my bouquet, so I'm eager to know if they customise it for you (we are hoping to go with the Elegant Scrolls too!)

Thanks!

 

[Pinkgirl]

Sorry to hear that you are ill, but its given you the chance to share your lovely wedding story with us . We are also having the elegant scrolls cake with fresh flowers to match my bouquet.

I am going to pinch a couple of your photos *** they are exactly what we want - on the beach across from the Yacht Club and on the swing.

 

[Pinkgirl]

Great start to your reviews and I'm looking forward to more!!

Looking at your beautiful cake reminded me of a question I keep meaning to ask an Escape bride.. did you request what kind/colour of flowers went on there? The flowers on the cake photos that our coorindator sent us in the planning package won't really match with my bouquet, so I'm eager to know if they customise it for you (we are hoping to go with the Elegant Scrolls too!)

Thanks!

We are also having Elegant Scrolls with fresh flowers - I am requesting the flowers be the same as my bouquet. Check out the wedding cake thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2163993&page=5

the last cake at the bottom of page 5 is similar to what we want.

 

[MrsDuck]

Great reviews!! Thanks!

 

[Lulu83]

We are also having Elegant Scrolls with fresh flowers - I am requesting the flowers be the same as my bouquet. Check out the wedding cake thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2163993&page=5

the last cake at the bottom of page 5 is similar to what we want.

Ohh That's a gorgeous cake, I think the fresh flowers really make it special!

 

[luvs2cruise]

Evertything looks so beautiful and you were stunning! Congrats!!! May you have a lifetime of happiness!

 

[tinkandonaldfans]

Thanks for all the lovely comments, feel free to steal photos as I know how useful they were for us!

So we left off our reception part. Now this is where the photos are little more limited as our official photos were done. We only have a few photos, our family haven't ever really shared any photos they may have taken.


Reception
During the planning stages we were planning to go to a restaurant for our reception but when Disney changed the rules we had to pick somewhere else for our reception. As we didn’t want our guests going from one area to another we decided to keep it to the Boardwalk area. With only 14 of us we found our options a little limited but eventually decided on St James Room. It was quite fitting since my husband is called James and was a great size.
We were only supposed to be allocated one side of the room and the patio but it turns they gave us the whole room! Bargain
I don’t have a lot of pictures of the room but here is one to give you an idea.

For our floral on the table we moved the altar arrangements to sit either side of my bouquet. We did the chocolate place cards and got everyone and wrapped rice krispy treat from Goofy’s

Food
As we had a small number of guests we decided to go a little less formal with a buffet. We had a mexcian theme with a fajita station amongst a ton of other food! There was so much food but everyone loved it and it tasted great. I wish I had more room for it on the day as I am sure a ton of it went to waste but that’s buffets for you! I guess we could have taken one or two items off but it was nice to give them lots of choices. Our choices were as follows

It cost $78pp and included:

Shrimp, Tomatillo, Toasted cumin, and fire roasted corn chowder
Quesadillas
Queso fundido
Build your own creation:
chicken Fajita and beef taco meats
Flour shells, Tortilla chips, Nacho Cheese,
Lettuce,Cheddar cheese,sour cream, salsa,
guacamole,olives and jalapenos
Yucatan Fired rice with grilled vegetables
Mexican chilli
Chilaquiles- From the food and wine festival
Jalapeno Corn bread with cilantro butter
Tortilla Chips with salsa sour cream and guacamole

I have a video that someone did of the food and will try and upload it if I can figure out how!

We decided on a drinks package. I wanted to know it was all paid for and that we were not going to be hit with an unexpected bill afterwards and perhaps question whether they priced it all accurately. I know it was probably a waste but it gave our guests the freedom to pick what they wanted without the guilt knowing we were paying for it. The cost was $38 pp and we had one soft drinks package for my little brother at $18.50.

We also chose a signature arrival drink and picked the yak attack which is served at the Yak and Yeti. It was delicious and a nice touch for our guests.

We decorated the patio with a few small tables and had the chair covers and sashes and had a little fish bowl with a pink gerbera daisies floating in them. I can’t find a picture yet but I will try to find one!

Dessert Party

There is lots of discussion as to whether or not you need transport to get you to Morocco as its close enough to walk to but for us we were told we would need the transport and had a one charter van to take half the guests and used our limo allocation for the other half.

As we arrived from backstage I guess we just appeared to the other people in the park, which took them by surprise. We got a massive round of applause and it made us feel incredibly special! Would repeat that in a heartbeat!

I thought Morocco was a great location and had great views. The flower beds were decorated ready for the food and wine festival with hundreds of red and orange chillies which made it look great!
We were supposed to have black linen but ended up with a floral white linen and had a pink napkin laid across the top of the table and had vases with green gel and mickey confetti with glow cubes inside the gel.I think if it had been black it would have looked great but to be honest I didn't even notice until i looked at the photos!

Our menu cost $32pp and included:
Ice Cream Station (chocolate and strawberry) with a selection of toppings and sauces.
Chocolate covered strawberries
Chocolate and peanut butter marshmallow squares- these were not what I expected. I was thinking more of a rice crispy treat but they were more like brownies
Assorted mini cheesecakes
Chocolate fudge brownies
Oreo bon bons- These were the unanimous favourite!
Assorted cupcakes

Now I have read a lot of posts about people taking food from the dessert party so we made these four our guests

However, we were quickly told that we couldn't take the food! They eventually said that as many of our guests had started to use them that they would let us this time but to make sure they refrigerated them as soon as possible. I was surprised as from previous brides it seemed encouraged so please be aware or make sure your guests do it more subtly!!

The fireworks were great and they gave me and my husband some 3d glasses to wear which turned the fire into mickey heads which was cool!

After it was done we were escorted to the backstage area and went back to the beach club hotel. Our family who were staying off site got to use the limo to go home which was a nice touch rather than getting into a taxi!

Overall it was a great day and we still look back at it and are just so pleased! We recently got our wedding album back and it was a fantastic quality and looks amazing. I love it and trust me no one touches it without washing their hands first!

If any one has any questions about prices and stuff feel free to ask as I will happily dig it out for you and if I figure out how to post a video I will!

 

[DisneyEverAfter]

Wow! Everything just looks so delicious! That's weird that the people said they didn't want you to take the food.. I've read many a TR where they somewhat encourage taking extra food...! I guess they don't want to get sued for food poisoning for neglect on properly storing the desserts after the DP when trying to eating them later? lol it's the only reason I can think of for them not wanting to let you take the food! But it looks like everything was wonderful Yuuuum

 

[Swan4Me]

Beautiful!
I LOVE your cake topper-very unique!!

 

[lurkyloo]

Great report! I love the nice big photos!

I'm not sure what Epcot was going for, but those are definitely not the peanut butter marshmallow squares they used to make (I also notice they labelled them "chocolate and butterscotch marshmallow squares" ). The old kind were more like candy, with the marshmallows and pb chips in a fudge-like base. Yours do look like brownies.... I'll definitely be supplying them the recipe next time I ask for these!