Swan & Dolphin Weddings FAQ

[Shannon84]

Hi to all the new ladies I am sorry I haven't been super active on the DIS lately!! I guess wedding planning and the summer has taken over for me!

I am having a S/D wedding at the beach area. I am using Its Tasty Too for cake, Randy Chapman for photography, STVS video for videographer, Jennifer is my planner at JM and is beyond wonderful. I actually have no idea who my florist is, I let JM handle that for our day.

Any questions about the vendors I am using please let me know!! I hope I can get back on here and help more

I am definitely not against transportation, I had originally thought of just staying at the S/D for the beginning of our trip and moving to another resort for the rest of our stay (we have friends who are "renting" us their yearly DVC points) so I was only thinking we would need to get our party from the S/D to whichever restaurant we choose! Are there other options besides limo we could rent for our group?

Its not glamorous, but Mears transportation can set up taxis and taxi vans for pretty cheap fee ahead of time. We aren't providing transportation for ours, but we checked in with them at the start of planning and would have used them if we needed to

 

[MrsDuck]

I'm just waiting to hear that ur date is available! I'm so excited I can hardly contain myself I did figure Just Marry was the way to go with S/D and I was wrong about the package quotes, I misread the first one so I take that all back
I'm curious to know what restaurant everyone chose for their dinners/receptions? I'm a little torn between a few and I also looked into Fultons Crab House as a more low key option? Has anyone ever been there? And also I've been to Disney many times but the times as an adult I stayed off site not doing that anymore so I was wondering how convenient it is to get from the Swan to the restaurants without a limo? And if we stayed at another resort besides the Swan and Dolphin, how difficult it would be on wedding day?

Teresa (Icecoldpenguin) is having her reception at Fulton's on July 1st! Both she and I can report back (I'll be there!).

I am having my reception at the Garden Grove which is in the Swan. Since it's a Saturday evening, Goofy and Pluto will be there. It's a very casual buffet restaurant with a gorgeous tree in the middle of the tiered seating. I love it! I also love the price-- $30/pp!

We are staying at the Boardwalk and we just plan on walking to the S/D.

 

[ShanaMouse]

Hi everyone,
so I went from an S/D wedding to a DCL wedding and now im considering going back to an S/D wedding (due to cost and our guests). I was looking into reception ideas. Does anyone know if, as an S/D bride, you can book the private rooms, either Napa or Sonoma, at Disney's California Grille, as a reception or is this only reserved for DFTW brides?

Thanks, ladies!

 

[Jilian]

I think you can. You'd have to go through Disney catered events to book. I've heard mixed things about them with non-Disney weddings. Some people have had no problems and others claim that they dont allow it. I looked into them myself but the price was hugh and I hated waiting so long to hear back from catered events. I went with il mulino in the swan because it allowed me to work directly with the manager and cut out the middle man.

 

[Icecoldpenguin]

Yes you can book it as a private room. If you look in Carrie's book the passporter for disney weddings there is information in there on how to book the private rooms and what the minimums are.

In the napa room you can sit 50 for lunch or dinner and there is $1,000 food and beverage minimum for events ending before 4pm and a $4,000 minimum for events ending between 4 and 6pm and a $3,000 minimum for events starting after 6pm.

In the sonoma room you can sit 40 for lunch or dinner and there is a $1,000 food and beverage minimum for events ending before 4pm and a $3,000 minimum for events ending between 4 and 6 pm and a $2,000 minimum for events starting after 6pm

There is a 6.5% tax and a 21% gratuity and the amount you spend has to be before the tax and gratuity. You can only order off the banquet menu and there is no customization, no menu tasting and no outside wine. There is also a cake cutting fee of $2.50 a person

call them at 407-824-1212

Hope that helps

Teresa

 

[jessiegirl84]

Hi everyone,
so I went from an S/D wedding to a DCL wedding and now im considering going back to an S/D wedding (due to cost and our guests). I was looking into reception ideas. Does anyone know if, as an S/D bride, you can book the private rooms, either Napa or Sonoma, at Disney's California Grille, as a reception or is this only reserved for DFTW brides?

Thanks, ladies!

Yes you can, but when i made my enquiries to use one of the room for my reception the only problem was not being allowed to wear your wedding dress.
I had orginally wanted to have ny reception there especially being a great spot for wishes viewing but after being told no wedding dress i ended back at Il Mulino at The Swan & Dolphin. Everything has been great so far with them!
Good luck!!

 

[Sunflowerptl]

Hi everyone!
I have enjoyed reading all of your helpful posts and figured it was about time to jump in!

I am getting married on 02/02/13 at S/D and expect about 40 guests. We have been working with Jennifer at Just Marry and she has been great! When we signed our contract we just booked the basic site fee and the reception dinner at Shula's steak house. We plan on doing a dessert party the night before at MK and a farewell character breakfast the day after and we are now adding on the extra things like photography, flowers etc.
I was wondering if anyone has used Ginger Midgett photography? She was recommended by Jennifer (but I like having my options open) I have seen a lot of posts about people using Randy Chapman Photography and his work looks great so I want to also get a quote from him.

I was also wondering if anyone has had anything interesting and different at their reception other than characters showing up? I have thought about having a caricaturist, but I am not sure how easy that would be since people will be trying to eat their dinner...or having actors who come in as "wedding crashers" who come in and do inappropriate and funny things.

Thanks again for all of the helpful posts and ideas!

Jamie

 

[MrsDuck]

Hi Jamie!! So glad you're joining our Swalphin Sisterhood! We're happy to have you! {PS. I added you to both Facebook groups!}

I've heard of Ginger and think she does great work! I also love Regina Hyman! Randy has great prices but I'm not always a fan of his editing {just a personal thing}.

As far as different, we are having Goofy and Pluto so we're not too exciting . I think a caricaturist would be so much fun! Definitely chat with Jennifer about it; maybe she can provide some insight or additional ideas?

I hope you start a planning journal so I can follow along! Feel free to ask any questions!

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Faith sweetie, Just so that you know, every photo Randy edits (and he seems to be editing less and less these days), is provided for you on the discs in it's original form ad well ad in it's edited form. The best of both worlds!!!!
Jamie sweetie, welcome to our small but very distinguished group of S/D brides!!! We are a very friendly group and we are always delighted to have new members. Don't hesitate to ask questions - there won't be many that one or other of us can't answer.
I can highly recommend Randy - he is the sweetest of men, takes wonderful photos and is vert reasonably priced. I can't help with Ginger, as I have never seen her work here on the boards at all. It will be interesting to find out more!!

 

[mam516]

Is there a minimum for the restaurants at S/D? Or is that only for catered events at S/D?

 

[MrsDuck]

Is there a minimum for the restaurants at S/D? Or is that only for catered events at S/D?

I believe it depends on where you are looking to eat.

For example, I'm holding my reception at the Garden Grove. We aren't renting out the restaurant so we can just order off the menu.

I don't have all the minimums/info but Carrie's PassPorter book does I believe and I know a few of our girls can probably help!

 

[Jilian]

Welcome Jamie! We used Randy for our recent VR and I loved him. I was thrilled with how our pics came out. You can click on my planning journal link in my sig to see them. We did our dinner @ Il Mulino right in the swan. We used 2 of the smaller private rooms (they open into one bigger room) to accomodate our 42 people and the food and drink minimum was $3,000 before taxes and grat. After taxes and grat it was $3,900. We were able to stay close the minimum and came in at about $4,200. Il Mulino's small private rooms each carry a $1500 minimum and fot 24 people. So for 24 people it is $1,500, for 48 people it is $3,000 and for 70 people it was $4,500 minimum. They also have other gigantic private rooms with gigantic minimums.

 

[ShanaMouse]

I think you can. You'd have to go through Disney catered events to book. I've heard mixed things about them with non-Disney weddings. Some people have had no problems and others claim that they dont allow it. I looked into them myself but the price was hugh and I hated waiting so long to hear back from catered events. I went with il mulino in the swan because it allowed me to work directly with the manager and cut out the middle man.

Yes you can book it as a private room. If you look in Carrie's book the passporter for disney weddings there is information in there on how to book the private rooms and what the minimums are.

In the napa room you can sit 50 for lunch or dinner and there is $1,000 food and beverage minimum for events ending before 4pm and a $4,000 minimum for events ending between 4 and 6pm and a $3,000 minimum for events starting after 6pm.

In the sonoma room you can sit 40 for lunch or dinner and there is a $1,000 food and beverage minimum for events ending before 4pm and a $3,000 minimum for events ending between 4 and 6 pm and a $2,000 minimum for events starting after 6pm

There is a 6.5% tax and a 21% gratuity and the amount you spend has to be before the tax and gratuity. You can only order off the banquet menu and there is no customization, no menu tasting and no outside wine. There is also a cake cutting fee of $2.50 a person

call them at 407-824-1212

Hope that helps

Teresa

Thank you both for the information! I am so excited as we just got our date (7/5/13) and I am sooo ready to get this process started . I think, as you stated, I will just stick with a restaurant at either the Swan or Dolphin, as it just seems like it is easier, more convenient, and I get to work directly with the manager of the restaurant.

 

[ShanaMouse]

I wanted to ask you ladies if you all had music at the ceremony or if you did not. I am contemplating what to do because I really do not want to pay several hundreds for a musician for a few minutes but at the same time I have a feeling like it may be weird without it. Jennifer, from JM, also said we can bring like an iPod dock, but I'm just not sure how I feel about that...
What did you all do/choose?

Thanks, ladies!

 

[MrsDuck]

Thank you both for the information! I am so excited as we just got our date (7/5/13) and I am sooo ready to get this process started . I think, as you stated, I will just stick with a restaurant at either the Swan or Dolphin, as it just seems like it is easier, more convenient, and I get to work directly with the manager of the restaurant.

So excited you got your date! Less than a year! YAY!

 

[MrsDuck]

I wanted to ask you ladies if you all had music at the ceremony or if you did not. I am contemplating what to do because I really do not want to pay several hundreds for a musician for a few minutes but at the same time I have a feeling like it may be weird without it. Jennifer, from JM, also said we can bring like an iPod dock, but I'm just not sure how I feel about that...
What did you all do/choose?

Thanks, ladies!

DFi is insisting on having live music. We have a violinist hired and are probably going to add a guitarist.

Teresa had an iPod and I thought it was nice!

It really just boils down to personal preference, I think!

 

[ShanaMouse]

DFi is insisting on having live music. We have a violinist hired and are probably going to add a guitarist.

Teresa had an iPod and I thought it was nice!

It really just boils down to personal preference, I think!

awesome, Thank you! DF really doesnt have a preference and I was leaning towards the iPod but just wasnt sure how that was going to work or if that would be good idea. I do have an ipod dock which we could use and it would open up the funds allocated towards "music" for something else. Thanks again!

 

[MrsDuck]

A few of our girls went the iPod route and I know they don't regret it!

 

[Jilian]

I wanted to ask you ladies if you all had music at the ceremony or if you did not. I am contemplating what to do because I really do not want to pay several hundreds for a musician for a few minutes but at the same time I have a feeling like it may be weird without it. Jennifer, from JM, also said we can bring like an iPod dock, but I'm just not sure how I feel about that...
What did you all do/choose?

Thanks, ladies!

We did music. I wanted a violin but thought it sounded to scream-y alone so we added a guitarist. To save money I booked Jennie Rudberg on my own (she is a just marry preferred vendor) she charged $175 per musician for one hour. She played as the guests arrived, for the ceremony, and for pictures after. We were really pleased with her! We had a small rain delay and she even stayed late so we wouldn't be without music. Here is her website: http://www.jenniemusic.com/privacy.html

 

[ShanaMouse]

We did music. I wanted a violin but thought it sounded to scream-y alone so we added a guitarist. To save money I booked Jennie Rudberg on my own (she is a just marry preferred vendor) she charged $175 per musician for one hour. She played as the guests arrived, for the ceremony, and for pictures after. We were really pleased with her! We had a small rain delay and she even stayed late so we wouldn't be without music. Here is her website: http://www.jenniemusic.com/privacy.html

Thanks so much; i will be sure to check her out. she seems to be more reasonable in price than what i remember from the initial Just Marry packet I received.