S/D wedding and reception help, few questions!

[ShanaMouse]

Hi everyone!

First off, i LOVE reading all of the posts about Disney weddings. I too have been in wedding planning mode for several months now, but the guest list keeps expanding and being that my fiance and I are paying for everything, we are on a limited budget. We were originally going to go with a DFTW, but soon realized that everything we wanted just would not be possible, due to restrictions and money wise.

After I realized that you can also have a wedding at S/D, i thought that this is best option for us, as it is still on Disney property. Here is a questions:
Is there a guest count limit for the S/D weddings, like there is for DFTW Escape?

Here is my plan: S/D ceremony, plated dinner at Il Mulino, and then heading to Jellyrolls or even Atlantic Dancehall for dancing.

Are you allowed to go to Atlantic Dancehall in wedding attire when it is not a private event? I have heard other disbrides talk about Jellyrolls after their dinner reception; I have never been there and was wondering if anyone had any reviews.

We are planning on inviting about 60 people and I am pretty positive at least 45 to 50 will actually show.

Also, when having a S/D wedding, has anyone had the characters at their reception and cares to share some pics? Are you allowed, as an S/D bride, to have in-park photoshoots?

I am sorry about all of the questions. I just feel like I may have finally found something that is possible to do and still stay within or around budget and get everything I want.

Thanks so much in advance.

 

[lurkyloo]

Welcome!

Is there a guest count limit for the S/D weddings, like there is for DFTW Escape?

No. You are only limited by the number of people allowed at the site you choose, but they have venues that hold, like, 200 people.

Are you allowed to go to Atlantic Dancehall in wedding attire when it is not a private event?

You can go anywhere on Disney property in wedding attire except inside the theme parks.

Also, when having a S/D wedding, has anyone had the characters at their reception and cares to share some pics? Are you allowed, as an S/D bride, to have in-park photoshoots?

You can have Disney characters at Swan & Dolphin weddings. Anyone can do an in-park bridal portrait at the three other parks, but the Magic Kingdom is reserved for those who've had Disney's Fairy Tale Weddings.

 

[minniebride]

We had a lovely S/D wedding and it was just perfect-55 guests, full cocktail hour and lunch reception, I felt like a princess the entire day We had our pick of florists and hired many of the same vendors that DFTW uses. We also had Mickey and Minnie at our reception as a surprise for our guests. They were hired through WDW event planning. We also had an Illuminations Dessert Party at Epcot/France and it was one of the highlights of our wedding!! We could have done in-park photo shoots, but we opted not to. We had most of our photos along the Boardwalk and on the Swan grounds, which was our choice, and it was gorgeous! We got married at Christmas time so lots of great photo ops. We had very personalized attention from our planner and caterer throughout the entire planning process, which made it so easy and stress-free.

 

[MrsDuck]

Carrie already answered your questions but come join us on the S/D thread if you have more!!

 

[Jilian]

Welcome ShanaMouse! I just had a lovely VR though S/D with my reception at Il Mulino. I don't think you'll be dissapointed.

 

[ShanaMouse]

We had a lovely S/D wedding and it was just perfect-55 guests, full cocktail hour and lunch reception, I felt like a princess the entire day We had our pick of florists and hired many of the same vendors that DFTW uses. We also had Mickey and Minnie at our reception as a surprise for our guests. They were hired through WDW event planning. We also had an Illuminations Dessert Party at Epcot/France and it was one of the highlights of our wedding!! We could have done in-park photo shoots, but we opted not to. We had most of our photos along the Boardwalk and on the Swan grounds, which was our choice, and it was gorgeous! We got married at Christmas time so lots of great photo ops. We had very personalized attention from our planner and caterer throughout the entire planning process, which made it so easy and stress-free.

Thank you so much for all of this information. I am planning on a dessert party as well, as it will be a very nice ending to that evening. May I ask which photographer you used?

 

[ShanaMouse]

Welcome ShanaMouse! I just had a lovely VR though S/D with my reception at Il Mulino. I don't think you'll be dissapointed.

Thank you, Jilian! I am very excited at getting this process started!

 

[minniebride]

Thank you so much for all of this information. I am planning on a dessert party as well, as it will be a very nice ending to that evening. May I ask which photographer you used?

We hired Randy Chapman for our wedding and he was fantastic!!

 

[Lilu86]

Im looking into having my wedding ceremony as well at the Swan and Dolphin. What exactly is a dessert party and how much does that usually cost? Im not looking at having a reception but have everyone going to dinner together. Anyone else do this or have any ideas? Also did anyone have their hotel rooms reserved, did the hotel offer a decent rate? Im looking into September 2013 with no more than 30 guests. Im psyched that the hotel is much more economical and lenient on the guest count than WDW!

 

[minniebride]

Im looking into having my wedding ceremony as well at the Swan and Dolphin. What exactly is a dessert party and how much does that usually cost? Im not looking at having a reception but have everyone going to dinner together. Anyone else do this or have any ideas? Also did anyone have their hotel rooms reserved, did the hotel offer a decent rate? Im looking into September 2013 with no more than 30 guests. Im psyched that the hotel is much more economical and lenient on the guest count than WDW!

The private dessert parties are events where you can rent out a specific venue and host an evening dessert party for you guests. This was the highlight of our wedding!! There are several different options:

1. Epcot Illuminations Dessert Party-rent a private location in the World Showcase and Disney will cater desserts (or I think you can also do appetizers) & your guests can watch Illuminations Fireworks from the private location. We rented out the French Lower Terrace and it was a wonderful location-very private and great view of the fireworks!

2. Wishes Fireworks Dessert Party-rent a private location at the Grand Floridian. Similar deal as above but you watch Wishes Fireworks. Costs extra to have the music piped in.

3. Fantasmic Dessert Party-rent a location to watch Fantasmic at DHS and serve desserts.

The prices vary dramatically, depending on the location you choose, guest count, menu, etc... There are very affordable options for smaller sized parties at Epcot. For us, we had 50 guests & I *think the total was around $2000??? I might be wrong about that...there was a $250 venue fee, $85 set up fee, $24 per guest for food, $12.95 viewing fee only for guests who do not have park tickets.

Here is the 2011 menu. It may have changed since then (prices, menu), but you can customize any menu you want. We had 50 guests and did a variation of the Marceline Dessert Buffet, but we changed and added a few things:
http://www.disneycateredmenus.com/menus/EC/Theme_Park_Desserts_All_v090110.pdf

The desserts were SO yummy and they decorated our area so beautifully.

We booked ours through Disney Catered Events, because I was a Swan bride.

Not sure if the phone number has changed, but I think the contact number was:
(321-939-7278)

We did not do a hotel room block. The majority of our guests stayed at the Swan/Dolphin, a few stayed off site, and maybe 15 stayed on site at a WDW resort. We got married the week before Christmas, so there were a TON of deals going on that were way better than the room block discounts-free dining, low rates at the Swan/Dolphin, etc...

 

[Icecoldpenguin]

Time for me to chime in:

I am also doing a dessert party only mine is a wishes dessert party. My total is $1900 for using the Marina at the GF. I will have 32 guests, my menu is $35pp, we are paying $495 to have the wishes music piped in. There is not site or set up fee and we are not doing any extra decor.

We set this up through disney's catered events.

This is a great way to end the night and really work in some disney. Our menu is the following:
*Bananas Foster served with ice cream and flambed at the marina
*mickey mouse head rice krispie treats
*chocolate covered strawberries
*mini cheesecake bites
*mini fruit tarts
*brownies

I think that is it....

Teresa

 

[Icecoldpenguin]

Oh also we did a room block through Disneys Group Events but I would not suggest this with such low guest numbers. Your guests may be able to find better deals. We are barely meeting our minimum for our room block. This is the one thing so far I wish I had not messed with.

The swan did offer a discounted rate but I found a better rate on Expedia than what they were offering.

I am also using Randy Chapman as my photographer for getting ready/first look/wedding day & Dessert Party pictures. We are also doing a bridal shoot with him a few days later at 4 resorts

Teresa

 

[minniebride]

Time for me to chime in:

I am also doing a dessert party only mine is a wishes dessert party. My total is $1900 for using the Marina at the GF. I will have 32 guests, my menu is $35pp, we are paying $495 to have the wishes music piped in. There is not site or set up fee and we are not doing any extra decor.

We set this up through disney's catered events.

This is a great way to end the night and really work in some disney. Our menu is the following:
*Bananas Foster served with ice cream and flambed at the marina
*mickey mouse head rice krispie treats
*chocolate covered strawberries
*mini cheesecake bites
*mini fruit tarts
*brownies

I think that is it....

Teresa

We didn't opt for any extra decorations either, but I'll tell ya, they ended up decorating it pretty nicely anyways-no extra charge! Votives on each table, adorable Christmas decorations on the food and beverage tables-it was really nice! We brought in our own glow necklaces as party favors and put them on the guest tables.

 

[ShanaMouse]

Im looking into having my wedding ceremony as well at the Swan and Dolphin. What exactly is a dessert party and how much does that usually cost?

I just contacted Disney Catered Events on Monday, as I was also looking to host a dessert party for my Birthday this coming October. The only space that was available was at Hollywood Studios for the Fantasmic show and she quoted me a $250 plus tax venue rental plus a minimum expenditure of $750 plus tax and gratuity for food and beverage.
I was only thinking of having about 15 people and when i asked how easy or difficult it would be for 15 people to reach a min. of $750 she said "well that means you guys will be eating a lot of desserts".
Needless to say, this was way out of my budget. I have read a lot of other brides being able to to dessert parties at Epcot, which had lower expenditures, to my knowledge

Also, thank you MinnieBride for posting the dessert party menu you received!!!

 

[minniebride]

I just contacted Disney Catered Events on Monday, as I was also looking to host a dessert party for my Birthday this coming October. The only space that was available was at Hollywood Studios for the Fantasmic show and she quoted me a $250 plus tax venue rental plus a minimum expenditure of $750 plus tax and gratuity for food and beverage.
I was only thinking of having about 15 people and when i asked how easy or difficult it would be for 15 people to reach a min. of $750 she said "well that means you guys will be eating a lot of desserts".
Needless to say, this was way out of my budget. I have read a lot of other brides being able to to dessert parties at Epcot, which had lower expenditures, to my knowledge

Also, thank you MinnieBride for posting the dessert party menu you received!!!

There are definitely sites at Epcot that are more fitting for 15 people-smaller venue locations with lower F&B minimums. That stinks that everything was all booked except Fantasmic! Have you considered a Wishes cruise? It may end up being cheaper than the Fantasmic party.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/recreation/fireworks.htm

 

[ShanaMouse]

There are definitely sites at Epcot that are more fitting for 15 people-smaller venue locations with lower F&B minimums. That stinks that everything was all booked except Fantasmic! Have you considered a Wishes cruise? It may end up being cheaper than the Fantasmic party.
http://www.wdwinfo.com/recreation/fireworks.htm

The planner I spoke with did inform me of the Wishes cruise and that I could decorate it as well, but it really wasn't what I was hoping for. She said it was somewhere in the upper $200 range for 10 people. It is cheaper than the Fantasmic viewing, but I just was not as excited for it. I wasn't sure how far in advance you can book the dessert parties. I guess next time I need to call about 6 months in advance or so.