Planning Troubles

[MissMinnie12]

I’ve dreamt of a Disney wedding but now that we’re engaged and have started inquiring about it, I’m feeling really frustrated. It seems as if they are amazingly inflexible and that we have to work every aspect of our wedding around their timeframes and rules that seem to be set in stone. Am I just over reacting? If so, please tell me!!!

 

[calismic]

I've had the exact opposite reaction in working with Disney. They've been incredibly flexible and have provided me with boatloads of information. What type of wedding are you looking at, Intimate or Wishes? What details are they being inflexible with?

 

[MissMinnie12]

That makes me feel so much better!!! We're looking at a wishes wedding in 2010 (which I suspect could be part of the problem). We don't have a wedding planner yet so I've just been asking a senior wedding consultant some basic questions.

She told me we couldn't book anything until 8 months in advance and even then it could come down to a lottery. If we aren't happy with what we get it's too late to plan a wedding somewhere else.

We were told that in order to have multiple menu choices we have to request that information when we send out our invitations which I REALLY do not want to do. We cannot have our reception at the American Rotunda because we don't have 100 guests even if we pay for 100 guests. The ceremony times at Sea Breeze Point are pre-determined so we cannot do our desired 6:00 ceremony, we have to choose 5:00pm or 7:00pm.

I've also gotten LOTS of conflicting information regarding prices. Emails will say one thing but attached documents and the wishbook indicate something else.

Is it possible that all my frustrations and concerns will be eliminated when we have a wedding planner to work with?

 

[lurkyloo]

We were told that in order to have multiple menu choices we have to request that information when we send out our invitations which I REALLY do not want to do.

You can have guests pick from the menu choices when they get to the reception, but it's very expensive. Ask for Crown Service. An alternative, if you really don't want to ask in advance, is to provide a duo plate with smaller portions of two different entrees. It is spendy, but still cheaper than Crown Service.

The ceremony times at Sea Breeze Point are pre-determined so we cannot do our desired 6:00 ceremony, we have to choose 5:00pm or 7:00pm.

I've heard they can be flexible with the times - they may just not want to commit to anything until you're closer to your date.

I've also gotten LOTS of conflicting information regarding prices. Emails will say one thing but attached documents and the wishbook indicate something else.

The prices on Disney's website are out of date, as they are on many of the documents Disney sends out. 2009 pricing will be coming out in the next few weeks, which means everything will change before your wedding anyway. When in doubt, go with the higher price!

And yes, this will all be much easier when you can work with a planner

 

[Skylarr29]

That makes me feel so much better!!! We're looking at a wishes wedding in 2010 (which I suspect could be part of the problem). We don't have a wedding planner yet so I've just been asking a senior wedding consultant some basic questions.

She told me we couldn't book anything until 8 months in advance and even then it could come down to a lottery. If we aren't happy with what we get it's too late to plan a wedding somewhere else.

We were told that in order to have multiple menu choices we have to request that information when we send out our invitations which I REALLY do not want to do. We cannot have our reception at the American Rotunda because we don't have 100 guests even if we pay for 100 guests. The ceremony times at Sea Breeze Point are pre-determined so we cannot do our desired 6:00 ceremony, we have to choose 5:00pm or 7:00pm.

I've also gotten LOTS of conflicting information regarding prices. Emails will say one thing but attached documents and the wishbook indicate something else.

Is it possible that all my frustrations and concerns will be eliminated when we have a wedding planner to work with?

Hmmm, I can see why you are frustrated.

Firstly, they will not budge on the American Adventure with less than 100 guests no matter if you offer them your first born child. Trust me I have tried and so have others. It has nothing to do with money, the reason that you have to have 100 guests there is because they close the attraction and consider it a inconveinance to day visitors and a lot of people complain when it is shut for an event. It is a beautiful location but there are many beautiful locations.

It depends on the location you choose if you can book at 8 months or at 12 months. Ballrooms are booked at the 8 months out and in park locations etc. are booked at 12 months. The lottery is what it is. They have to have some way to determine who gets the location. You may not even go into a lottery, we didn't.

It is standard practise to ask your guests their entree selection on the rsvp portion of your invitation. Not so sure why you are upset about that lol. You can opt for crown service which is where everyone chooses there entree when arriving at dinner like at a restaurant but be prepared to pay big bucks as it is costly because they have to have enough food to make each dish for each guest since they won't know who will want what.

I think you will have a lot of your questions answered and get more attention when you have a planner. I don't want to sound mean but you are so far out I think they have to prioritize with weddings that are coming up. I think you can find out a ton of information by hanging around here.

I also wouldn't worry about pricing 'too' much as it will change so many times before 2010. Disney will only confirm prices 6 months out.

let me know if you have other questions and good luck

 

[hope1826]

That makes me feel so much better!!! We're looking at a wishes wedding in 2010 (which I suspect could be part of the problem). We don't have a wedding planner yet so I've just been asking a senior wedding consultant some basic questions.

She told me we couldn't book anything until 8 months in advance and even then it could come down to a lottery. If we aren't happy with what we get it's too late to plan a wedding somewhere else.

We were told that in order to have multiple menu choices we have to request that information when we send out our invitations which I REALLY do not want to do. We cannot have our reception at the American Rotunda because we don't have 100 guests even if we pay for 100 guests. The ceremony times at Sea Breeze Point are pre-determined so we cannot do our desired 6:00 ceremony, we have to choose 5:00pm or 7:00pm.

I've also gotten LOTS of conflicting information regarding prices. Emails will say one thing but attached documents and the wishbook indicate something else.

Is it possible that all my frustrations and concerns will be eliminated when we have a wedding planner to work with?

I was able to plan my Disney wedding (Sea Breeze Point, The Attic and an Epcot Dessert Party for 42 guests) in a little over 5 months with tremendous ease. My family and future family is what is creating all of the .

Once you are within the time frame you need to be in to book your venues, and you are assigned a wedding planner, EVERYTHING becomes clearer and less frustrating.

So here are some things I have learned...
1. The wishbook is very close to useless. If you have questions about pricing that can't be answered by Disney at this point, you should ask on this forum. Everyone is very helpful, open and friendly! There are also a few other websites you can go on that give a more accurate idea of pricing. www.mouseweddings.com is one and there is another one that I can't remember the name of right now, but I'm sure others can help you find it.

2. In some situations (not many), people have been able to make adjustments to the time frames Disney has setup. It depends on what else is going on around your wedding. My wedding is set for 5 pm, I begged for 4:30 and was told it would be impossible, because there is a wedding right before mine at Sea Breeze Point, and if they did move mine up, they wouldn't have time to cleanup after the other wedding and setup for mine. I then asked if my Dessert Party could end at 10 pm instead of 9:30 pm and the answer was "definitely". So they can be flexible, but you have to be flexible too.

There is a bride getting married next week (Cseca, I think) who was able to change her ceremony time by 30 minutes. And I think she extended her Dessert Party by an hour. So it is possible.

But, keep in mind, if you choose to have your wedding during Disney's peak season and other times that it is packed, they may not have room to be flexible. Many of the wedding venues are booked for conventions also.

3. There are guest limits and maximums for almost every reception location. But there are so many beautiful locations to chose from. Even if you weren't having a Disney wedding you may have to deal with this at regular wedding venues.

What date do you want to get in 2010? How many guests will you have?

Nikki

 

[Swmhc]

Just chiming in here a bit. What the others have said is very accurate, I just wanted to try to explain a little bit. They have standard wedding times so they know when they can schedule everyone else. I am guessing that as you get closer, if no one else has requested the 5:00 and 7:30 slots, then they could do a 6:00 pm. If they said yes to a 6:00 pm now, then they would potentially lose out on someone else having their ceremony there that day. It's not that they are trying to be difficult, but trying to accomodate as many couples as possible and if they can, so they have time slots set up. Hope that helps !

I agree with the other brides, come here, check out previous wedding TR's for ideas and you can "plan" what you want and get an approximate pricing, just keep in mind that prices are sure to go up twice by 2010, and that everything is subject to change. The wishbook gives you very basic info, but here you can see how everyone tweaks things to suit their own styles.

I wish I would have found this site earlier in our planning stage. I still was able to utilize A LOT of info learned here from prior brides, so hang around and let us help you out !

 

[Cosi Bella]

I totally agree with what everyone was saying about sticking around here and reading planning journals and trip reports for information. You get SO much information that you couldn't get right away from Disney just by reading what other brides have done. Since 2010 is still a good ways away (and if your planning later on in 2010 you have even MORE time), I think you have some time to get a lot more information before you rule out Disney. Post questions, use the search function (I've found that it only works for me when I do an advanced search), and go on mouseweddings.com to get information. I got a lot of help and a lot of great info from reading this message board and I think you'll find a lot of the answers you are looking for right here. Hope that helps a bit!

 

[MissMinnie12]

Thank you all for the help; I feel much better. While I know it's a long way off the last thing we want is to start a marriage in debt so we're trying our best to budget!!! This has been a great source of information thus far. I've without question gotten more answers here than from Disney so thank you all for being so helpful!

 

[MissMinnie12]

What date do you want to get in 2010? How many guests will you have?

Nikki[/QUOTE]


We're not 100% sure on a date but would like to do a Wednesday or Thursday night in late October. We chose to wait for my fiance's brother to get home from Iraq; it wouldn't be the same without him.

We're planning to have around 40 guests but are going to use vacation club points to treat everyone so that makes it a little more stressful trying to get a date secured.

 

[DecemberBride]

I think it's wonderful you're waiting for your future brother in law... It's wonderful that it wouldn't be the same without him and I bet he'd be super bummed if he missed out... even if he is serving our country. Be sure to say thanks from me and my kids!!!!

 

[MissMinnie12]

Thank you, I'll certainly pass that message along! They lost their father very suddenly right after he left for the Army so we couldn't imagine getting married until he's back. I know it's a long way off but planning offers some much needed positive excitement in our lives.