Staying within the minimums

[princessmegank]

Hello guys!

As a future (soon) Disney bride-to-be, I have been faithfully doing my research and trying to compile as much information as needed to help assist me in my planning (and saving) process. My boyfriend and I are looking at a possible 2014 wedding with around 60 guest, the ceremony would be at the Wedding Pavilion, followed by a buffet style reception at Atlantic Dance Hall.

With that, I think my biggest question would be for those that have been married at Disney or are currently in the process--how easy/hard it is to stay within the minimums, or at least fairly close to them and also if you were able to stay within your budget/minimum.

Considering we would be going all out to pay the premium for Disney, I've agreed to sacrifice on some of the "luxuries" that could be associated with any wedding, Disney or not. I would love to hear some insight from you all, as I really enjoy reading everyones post, comments and reviews.

Thank you so much!!!

 

[lurkyloo]

It can definitely be done, especially if you are willing to make sacrifices or at least tradeoffs. We were only $70 over the minimums for our day and time. Our big sacrifice was floral and decor (we had next to none) and our splurges were transportation and a Magic Kingdom photo shoot (kinda regretting the latter, now know I could have cut down the former). Oh, and a dessert party! No regrets there! We also spent way more than we should have on a soda and water package for the reception—definitely would do Bill On Consumption for that if I were doing it all over again. But at least we saved a lot by not serving alcohol. Also, having brunch was a lot cheaper than dinner.

I always suggest picking the three most important and three least important aspects of the wedding and budgeting accordingly.

 

[princessmegank]

Thank you for your reply! This was very encouraging and would just like to say that your wedding looked absolutely gorgeous!! I purchased the Passporters book and it has definitely been very informative through this process. I am so excited to actually sit down with Disney and really figure out some numbers and see how we can create something magical on our budget. I know it will be so worth it in the end, whether we must cut or add certain elements.

 

[Ashley Marie]

I just wanted to reply to say that I am considering the same venues and also need to stay on budget (as close to the minimum as possible). I hope we both can do it!

When in 2014 are you hoping to get married?

 

[SarahFarra]

Hi there and congrats in advance (I was starting to plan our wedding before we were engaged too hehe)!

We are getting married this November and I can say it's going to be a little tough for us to stay in budget and mostly it's b/c of those darn food and beverage minimums! Right now (this could change for 2014), f&b min is $100/person. We have a guest count of about 80. So right there is an automatic $8000! So just factor that in since you might also have a 'higher' guest count. Also, we chose not to go with Disney photography BUT I felt this saves us money in the end since it would have been about $3000 for Disney photography and I booked our amazing photograher for $1295! So that's $1295 on top of our $12,000 overall min BUT we got to choose our photographer and for a MUCH lower price!

These are the things you'll need to think about but there are certainly many people who are able to stay within budget no problem, so it can definitely be done!

 

[emc1123]

We are getting married in November and trying very hard to stay within our budget.
I agree with Sarah about the photographer. It would be ideal for that to be part of our $12,000 min, but Disney photographers are almost double the price.

Food/drink/cake is a big chunk of your budget, we will be around $5000 just for that.

 

[kkbutterfly]

It can happen for sure! I don't see anything about your guest count, but I had 25 people at SBP/The Attic with a dinner buffet and premium open bar (dinner time reception and open bar were non negotiable) and a crazy buffet (wayyyyyyyyyy too much food), Mickey & Minnie, carictature artist, and huge cake (fed 85 and was custom designed) and came in 50 bucks under (not including taxes and that good sense). However, I did use outside photography and did not have a Dessert party night of the wedding.

 

[bigr3ddog]

We are guessing at our figures, just going off of carrie's Passporter, but we'll be just over our minimum If we did a yacht club wedding gazebo ceremony and thirty guests, attic reception, and Epcot dessert party. That includes Disney photography and an Epcot bridal shoot. We figured if we went outside photography, we would spend lots more than the minimum when we factored in photography. We are doing a morning ceremony not on Saturday.