Should I do a dessert party ?

Calleigh

Mouseketeer
Joined
Nov 7, 2007
Messages
104
Hello everybody,

I was lurking again and again on this forum when a question came to my mind : why not a dessert party ?
I made a research and found so many threads...
If I understand everything :
- I am an escape bride (with maximum 4 guests) so the 2 only options I have are Morocco and Japan, is that true ?
- what about UK pub side ?
- the fees are : the fees to rent the location (how much for Japan and Morocco) + the fees for the food.

Is that correct ?
Do you think that a dessert party for maximum 6 persons worth it ?

Thank you :goodvibes
 
I beleive there are also set up and viewing fees as well.

Here is one thing I am thinking of which may be of interest to you. I am having a hard time paying that much for desserts (since I am not really into dessert anyway) and I am assuming all my guests will see the fireworks on their own, since they are all staying in WDW hotels and getting park tickets. I was emailing my planner about this, and was asking to have a reception with fireworks instead. She recommended doing a reception at Sago Cay, than we can see the electrical parade and wishes!!

Not sure if you are interested, but thought I would throw that out there!! Oh, the min for that is $1000 though, so not sure if you could reach that with 4 people!
 
We had 8 people (including us) at our DP, which was in Morocco. I am SO glad we did this. I have no regrets over it at all.

Here is our BEO for that event (if it helps you decide!). I sepearted the taxes or service charges for each item so you can see the base cost and what has additional fees and how much they are. We had no decor etc.:

Venue Fee: Morocco: $200.00
Tax or service charge: $13.00
Outdoor setup fee (for tables, chairs, and included table cloths): $75.00
Tax or service charge: $4.88
3 Illuminations viewing fees @ $12.50 each: $37.50
Tax or Service charge: $2.44
8 Petite Classics menues @ $28.00 each: $224.00
Tax or service charge: $64.66

Total (including taxes and service charges): $621.48


If you also had no floral etc., had no viewing fees (you said your guests would have tickets), and used the same menu (some are less expensive, I think as low as $22.00; some are pricier) you would be looking at approximately $512.38:

Venue Fee: Morocco: $200.00
Tax or service charge: $13.00
Outdoor setup fee (for tables, chairs, and included table cloths): $75.00
Tax or service charge: $4.88
6 Petite Classics menues @ $28.00 each: $168.00
Tax or service charge: $51.50

Total (including taxes and service charges): $512.38

HTH! :goodvibes
 
I beleive there are also set up and viewing fees as well.

Here is one thing I am thinking of which may be of interest to you. I am having a hard time paying that much for desserts (since I am not really into dessert anyway) and I am assuming all my guests will see the fireworks on their own, since they are all staying in WDW hotels and getting park tickets. I was emailing my planner about this, and was asking to have a reception with fireworks instead. She recommended doing a reception at Sago Cay, than we can see the electrical parade and wishes!!

Not sure if you are interested, but thought I would throw that out there!! Oh, the min for that is $1000 though, so not sure if you could reach that with 4 people!

I am very interested in this option. I would have between 10 and 16 guests and hope to be doing an Escape VR at SBP. I feel I could hit $1000 minimum (is this room hire and F and B or is room hire extra). Has anybody done a small Escape reception at Sago Cay? How big is the room and would a small amount of people look silly in it. What are the menu options? Any pictures of the room? Any advice would be great thanks.
 

Ask your planner if you can have something other than dessert served at the party. I was given dessert menus, drink menus, and regular food menus...you can have an illuminations party but serve hot food.
 
Ask your planner if you can have something other than dessert served at the party. I was given dessert menus, drink menus, and regular food menus...you can have an illuminations party but serve hot food.
This is a really nice idea I just love these boards for all they have to offer...maybe I will do this have an Illuminations Party...with hot food
 
I feel I could hit $1000 minimum (is this room hire and F and B or is room hire extra). Has anybody done a small Escape reception at Sago Cay? How big is the room and would a small amount of people look silly in it. What are the menu options? Any pictures of the room? Any advice would be great thanks.

Sago Cay is not a room, it is a patio at the Grand Floridian Marina. The quoted minimum is for food and beverage - there is no venue-rental fee. The menu options start with the Grand Floridian dessert party menus found on this web page but really extend to whatever you can think of. You can completely customize the menu to suit your taste and budget.

Here are pix of Sago Cay:

IMG_8313.jpg



IMG_8310.jpg



IMG_8311.jpg
 
Sago Cay is not a room, it is a patio at the Grand Floridian Marina. The quoted minimum is for food and beverage - there is no venue-rental fee. The menu options start with the Grand Floridian dessert party menus found on this web page but really extend to whatever you can think of. You can completely customize the menu to suit your taste and budget.

Here are pix of Sago Cay:

IMG_8313.jpg



IMG_8310.jpg



IMG_8311.jpg

Thank you so much Carrie!!
Your advice is always invaluable!!!
Can I please pick your brains a bit further!!
Does the $1000 minimum apply to dessert parties as well as reception food?
Do they pipe in the 'Wishes' soundtrack for DPs here or is this extra?
Would Randy be able to take photos here or does the outside photographer ban apply here too
Thanks for your time and expert knowledge
Joanne
 
Thank you so much Carrie!!
Your advice is always invaluable!!!
Can I please pick your brains a bit further!!
Does the $1000 minimum apply to dessert parties as well as reception food?
Do they pipe in the 'Wishes' soundtrack for DPs here or is this extra?
Would Randy be able to take photos here or does the outside photographer ban apply here too
Thanks for your time and expert knowledge
Joanne

I was quoted $1000 for a reception, which would be food and drink. I haven't booked anything since I cannot until 6 months out though, so I am not sure of any other rules (like if it is buffet only or what not)
 
Thank you so much Carrie!!
Your advice is always invaluable!!!
Can I please pick your brains a bit further!!
Does the $1000 minimum apply to dessert parties as well as reception food?

No problem! :thumbsup2 This $1,000 minimum is a bit of a mystery to me - I checked with DFTW a few days ago and was told that the minimum food and beverage price of $500 hadn't changed but that they were thinking about adding some more "guidelines" for the site (restrictions? Minimum number of people? I can only theorize...)

Yet clearly there are people on this board who have signed contracts that stated the minimum is $1,000, one of whom is only having dessert there. The only thing I can think is that the minimum is lower if you're also having a Wishes reception, vs. adding it to an Escape ceremony. ... :confused3


Do they pipe in the 'Wishes' soundtrack for DPs here or is this extra?

It's $500 extra for the music.

Would Randy be able to take photos here or does the outside photographer ban apply here too

The ban is only for in-park events, so yes, Randy could take pix for you.

Hope this helps! :thumbsup2
 
Thank you so much for your advice !

Boardwalk_bride : I think we couldn't reach the $1000 minimum, but thanks for the suggestion.

irisbud : thanks for sharing your budget, it helps a lot ! $ 512 is not so expensive.

PrincessShea and Nikisha421 : great idea to do a "dinner party" more than a "dessert party" :laughing:

I will talk about everything with my planner, but I think I could only make a decision in september. First I need to know if there will be 0, 2 or 4 guests. If we are only the 2 of us I don't think I will organize it.

Thanks again !
 
If you opt for an 'Illuminations DP, are you allowed to wear your dress into the parks?
Thank you
 
If you opt for an 'Illuminations DP, are you allowed to wear your dress into the parks?
Thank you

Only if you are having a DFTW and the party is arranged through DFTW.

That's a very good question...thanks for the answer Princess Shea.


IMO, this is one of DFTW's biggest inconsistancies with Escape brides. If you are a Wishes bride then PrincessShea's information is always correct. If you are an Escape Bride it depends on your planner...

I was first told absolutley NO.

Then I was told yes, but only if you used transport for ALL guests to backstage because Morocco is too far from the IG. I asked if just DH and I could come backstage and was told NO, even though no one else would have been in formal attire :rolleyes: . This eliminated the possibility of using the free limo as there were 9 of us total. I was also told the included limo could not be used for this anyway :rolleyes1

Others have been allowed to walk from the IG to Morocco, and others have been allowed to use transport for just them and their DH.

I think it depends on your planner.

We ended up not wearing our wedding attire, and I was good with that. Actually, I was happy with it on that day! :goodvibes
 















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