Should I upgrade to a Wishes Wedding?

[Brit_Jude]

Current plan is an Escape wedding @ 2.30pm on 3 Aug 10 and then dinner and drinks at Citricos starting at 5pm or there abouts (I have not booked Citricos). There will be 15 or 16 of us. I am begining to feel that just the Citricos dinner is a little too flat for me and I like something thing a little more fun either incorporating fireworks or some sort of entertainment. We will be too full from dinner to enjoy a dessert party after dinner . So then thinking a fireworks cruise on the Grand I to follow, but would the two young children be too tired after a full day to wait and last as wishes is at 10pm. We would need two pontoons for Illiminations at 9pm, while we could I hate to have to split up such a small group. What do you think? Am I worry about the split too much?

So from my ramblings I would either like to view the Illuminations fireworks as they are earlier than Wishes or maybe somewhere we can have a reception with some musical entertainment to 'party' a little. I would like something fun that everyone can enoy and a little more special than a dinner.

Looking at all the information a reception at Epcot with food, not just a dessert party, and because of our size it would probably need to be UK (terrace or lochside) and Morocco might be a good choice. Which probably means upgrading to a Wishes assuming that these locations are not already booked.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Other options?

PS I don't have my planner assigned yet, still waiting, we came into this process late.

 

[aduck126]

wait, why do you need to upgrade to wishes? im not understanding. i had a ceremony excluding kids just for close family which was 25 people, then i did dinner at ohana for 35, and a DP in the UK and i was an escape bride. so you dont have to upgrade.

 

[gemmybear83]

You don't need to have a wishes wedding I'm having a private reception on the boardwalk and a dessert party in morocco. With the new escape minimums ($7500 to have private catered events) they are a lot more flexible than they used to be with escape brides.

 

[Brit_Jude]

OK I will wait but I think a dinner and DP will be too much food, for those that have done a dinner then a DP was it too much?

It would be nice to be able to have a full dinner and to see the illiminations fireworks in Epcot and I did not think Escape brides could do that. Or that we would have to change into other clothes or book on our own.

 

[amyy]

I have been wondering the same thing. We currently are planning an Escape wedding but it is looking like we will spend at least $10,000 so I am figuring why not upgrade. We have an outside photographer but are still "paying" for the Disney photographer that is included in our package. Wondering how much it will cost to upgrade my flowers when I have already priced it from an outside florist. We would have more cake choices too. I had posted and asked for the info Disney sends on a Wishes wedding but haven't heard from anyone yet. My planner has set me up to talk to someone about it.

 

[Chilly]

A DP right after dinner is too much food. You can have a DP as an escape bride though. If you went with the two pontoon boats at Epcot they do tie up next to each other so you still be near them.

 

[Bride-to-be]

I am sure you must already know this, but the Grand 1 has 3 bedrooms on it so if you are worried about the kids - you could just put all of the kids down for a nap and let the adults stay upstairs for the party.

Another fun option might be to have the cake served on the boat with champagne.

 

[Brit_Jude]

I have been wondering the same thing. We currently are planning an Escape wedding but it is looking like we will spend at least $10,000 so I am figuring why not upgrade. We have an outside photographer but are still "paying" for the Disney photographer that is included in our package. Wondering how much it will cost to upgrade my flowers when I have already priced it from an outside florist. We would have more cake choices too. I had posted and asked for the info Disney sends on a Wishes wedding but haven't heard from anyone yet. My planner has set me up to talk to someone about it.

Yes I estimated my budget too and I get to $9500 for the Escape wedding, enhancements I'd like and dinner at a restaurant

A DP right after dinner is too much food. You can have a DP as an escape bride though. If you went with the two pontoon boats at Epcot they do tie up next to each other so you still be near them.

Thanks for the info on the pontoon Claire and your advice on the DP being too much

 

[S <3 M]

I have been wondering the same thing. We currently are planning an Escape wedding but it is looking like we will spend at least $10,000 so I am figuring why not upgrade. We have an outside photographer but are still "paying" for the Disney photographer that is included in our package. Wondering how much it will cost to upgrade my flowers when I have already priced it from an outside florist. We would have more cake choices too. I had posted and asked for the info Disney sends on a Wishes wedding but haven't heard from anyone yet. My planner has set me up to talk to someone about it.

I was originally thinking of an escape wedding too for my small group bur decided to switch to wises after doing some budgeting because with all the extra things I wanted would have added up to $10,000 anyways. And I'm really glad I made that decision and don't regret it at all.

 

[PrincessShea]

You can definitely do it all. I had a 2:30 wedding, 5pm dinner, and 8pm dessert party. I would say though that it was a lot of food, so don't have a 6 course dinner and get the cheapest dessert package.

 

[emilymad]

You can definitely do it all. I had a 2:30 wedding, 5pm dinner, and 8pm dessert party. I would say though that it was a lot of food, so don't have a 6 course dinner and get the cheapest dessert package.

This is exactly what we are doing. We are having sundaes and floats for our DP so its not too much heavy food.

 

[tinkerbell 766]

OK I will wait but I think a dinner and DP will be too much food, for those that have done a dinner then a DP was it too much?

It would be nice to be able to have a full dinner and to see the illiminations fireworks in Epcot and I did not think Escape brides could do that. Or that we would have to change into other clothes or book on our own.

It is my understanding that you can, as an Escape bride, book your DP through DFTW and still wear your dress etc, providing you pay for transport backstage or, as is sometimes allowed, pay for an event guide to escort your party from IG to the DP site.
I think it is worth remembering, when considering upgrading to Wishes that the $10,000 minimum spend is before tax and service is added. I thought about upgrading, but the tax and service charges seemed to add up quite a bit on top of the $10,000 and since I am in the UK it was unlikely that I would get to take advantage of the PS, so it didn't seem worth it for me.
We will have dinner followed by a dessert party but will be skipping dessert at the actual dinner to leave room for the yummy things the DP will hold

 

[PrincessShea]

This is exactly what we are doing. We are having sundaes and floats for our DP so its not too much heavy food.

Yea my biggest regret was having too much food. It was a huge waste of money. We were still under the 10k minimum though, so be sure to crunch numbers before you make the decision.

 

[tinkerbell1988]

just thought i would add my input as your plans sound slightly similar to mine.. here are our plans:

2.30pm: Escape Ceremony at SBP
3.00pm: Cake and champagne celebration - M&M to appear!!
4.00pm: Photos around the Boardwalk
5.30pm: Group Dinner @ Il Mulino - this won't be private, meaning no F&B minimums! we will just eat off the standard menu (skipping dessert!!)
7.45pm: Get Limo to Epcot for the Dessert Party - we are using the limo which comes with the escape package as we plan to stay at the Boardwalk Inn so we will just walk to the ceremony.
8.30pm: Dessert Party @ Paris Rue Du Pari/Morocco (requires only 10 guests whereas most others require 20)
9.00pm: Watch the Illuminations fireworks!
9.30pm: Jellyrolls / Back to room at the Boardwalk Inn!

we are also doing the MK/Epcot portrait session a couple of days later, so we are easily meeting the new Escape minimum of $7500 without spending a fortune on food, and we still get the experience of the Illuminations DP! I hope this helps slightly and you are able to come up with something you both love! x