Swan & Dolphin Weddings FAQ

[Rora]

Alright ladies, we are an anxious bunch.. we have been in contact with Karen since Monday and she put in a space request for us right away. She told us the S/D coordinators were out for two days and wouldn't be back in the office until Thursday.

Still no word. It wouldn't be such a big issue if DCousin didn't have a whole wedding planned in her hometown and needed to get her deposits back/cancel her vendors, etc. We are hoping we hear today. Cross your fingers for us!

Not only that but DCousin is frantic about her date (12/22/12) not being available because I mistakenly told her that some girls got their dates switched because of conferences.

Karen has been super sweet and I hope all of this works out.

Does anyone know of any conferences at the S/D around 12/22? I know sometimes conferences hold their events at the same time every year and figured it was worth asking you ladies!!

TIA!

 

[J.ThaddeusToad]

He was great and very helpful, but, I think because we are so spoiled with Karen's efficiency, seemed a little slow in getting back.

I agree! Karen is so efficient and definitely spoils us! I was working with Lindsey regarding plans for a reception at Il Mulino and she was sometimes slow to respond, but very kind and helpful none the less! Now, I'm a bit worried because the new event coordinator hasn't emailed me back regarding my most recent questions. I'm ready for the planning to be over and just have my special day with my DF at the Swan!

Rora, it's easy to be anxious when it comes to planning a wedding especially when you are planning from a distance! I'm afraid I don't know about any conference dates, but hopefully you will hear back from the S/D soon!

 

[MrsDuck]

Hi girls!!

I just posted an intro on the main Disney Wedding board if you want to check it out and of course there will be lots more to read about us when I start a PJ!

...if I ever get to!

We are waiting to hear from Karen if our date is available, as well as to hear from Leo Tarver at the Garden Grove.

I have a wedding planned at home and need to get my deposits back if we are making the switch to the Swan so I'm hoping we hear soon, plus.. I'm anxious and I want to tell everyone that I am officially a Disney bride!! You girls know how I feel right?

Anyways, I wanted to thank you all for the info you've given Rory for me; I appreciate it!

I'm off to read all your PJs/TRs! In the meantime, please keep your fingers crossed that we get good news from Karen soon!

Can't wait to chat and meet you all!

 

[minniebride]

Hi Faith!

I also booked my wedding over a year in advance and I remember those few stressful weeks of locking down a date.

Are you able to be a little flexible with your date or are you dead set on 12/22? If you have room to be flexible, you may want to have some back up dates in mind, just in case your date is not available.

We also wanted a December wedding, but we were flexible on which weekend. I remember it took a little bit of back and forth to finalize a date because some weekends were reserved for possible conventions. We finally got our date of 12/18, which at first we were not psyched about because we were worried about the Christmas crowds and how jacked up hotel prices are so close to Christmas, for our guests sake. But we ended up falling in love with this date because it ended up to be not as expensive for our guests (holiday prices start on our wedding day & most of our guests are checking out the next day) and we got to stay at WDW through Christmas on our honeymoon!

Our caterer recently told us that the days close to Christmas are a slow time for conventions, so you shouldn't have any problems with that.

 

[MrsDuck]

Thanks for the welcome!

Big news: our date is confirmed! We are all set for 12/22/12 at Crescent Terrace! I spoke with the Garden Grove and can book 6 months out. We will be ready for that!

We are so excited! Now we wait for the contract and then go to our venues down home and try to get our deposits back.

Can't wait to start my PJ!!

 

[minniebride]

Thanks for the welcome!

Big news: our date is confirmed! We are all set for 12/22/12 at Crescent Terrace! I spoke with the Garden Grove and can book 6 months out. We will be ready for that!

We are so excited! Now we wait for the contract and then go to our venues down home and try to get our deposits back.

Can't wait to start my PJ!!

Congratulations!! I'm so happy for you!!!! Now that your date is confirmed, the rest is pretty relaxed and easy! A Christmas wedding in WDW-does it get any better than that??

 

[sarahb01]

Thanks for the welcome!

Big news: our date is confirmed! We are all set for 12/22/12 at Crescent Terrace! I spoke with the Garden Grove and can book 6 months out. We will be ready for that!

We are so excited! Now we wait for the contract and then go to our venues down home and try to get our deposits back.

Can't wait to start my PJ!!

How exciting!!

 

[Jilian]

Congrats and welcome Faith! Yay for getting your date confirmed, and welcome to our little group of swan brides! We're doing Crescent terrace too, on March 24, 2012

Catherine, I didn't know you were doing Il Mulino for a reception too! I haven't communicated with the new manager much because I think I asked Lindsey every question in the book before she left. Maybe I can help answer your questions? I hope the new lady gets back to you soon!

 

[tinkerbell 766]

I agree! Karen is so efficient and definitely spoils us! I was working with Lindsey regarding plans for a reception at Il Mulino and she was sometimes slow to respond, but very kind and helpful none the less! Now, I'm a bit worried because the new event coordinator hasn't emailed me back regarding my most recent questions. I'm ready for the planning to be over and just have my special day with my DF at the Swan!

Rora, it's easy to be anxious when it comes to planning a wedding especially when you are planning from a distance! I'm afraid I don't know about any conference dates, but hopefully you will hear back from the S/D soon!

Thanks for the welcome!

Big news: our date is confirmed! We are all set for 12/22/12 at Crescent Terrace! I spoke with the Garden Grove and can book 6 months out. We will be ready for that!

We are so excited! Now we wait for the contract and then go to our venues down home and try to get our deposits back.

Can't wait to start my PJ!!

Catherine sweetie - I agree that we are very spoiled by Karen's efficiency and I guess we always expect our other vendors to be the same.
If you really are struggling with contact with the new manager of 'Il Mulino', perhaps Karen can do 'a bit of research' for you. I know she will sometimes act as a go-between when catering arrangements are made with the Swan. It's certainly worth asking as I am sure she will help in any way she can!!

Faith sweetie - Yay for getting your date and good luck with cancelling the other arrangements!!
Welcome to our little club!! All the girls here are SO lovely and will, I am sure, help in any way they can!!! Speaking for myself, I would be honoured to help with any queries you may have!!
Looking forward to following your plans!!!

 

[J.ThaddeusToad]

Catherine, I didn't know you were doing Il Mulino for a reception too! I haven't communicated with the new manager much because I think I asked Lindsey every question in the book before she left. Maybe I can help answer your questions? I hope the new lady gets back to you soon!

Thanks Jilian! I haven't commented much on this thread, but the pics you shared of Il Mulino and the Swan awhile ago have been a huge help to me! Thanks so much for that! I'll definitely share pics after our wedding - I've thought about starting a PJ plenty of times and just haven't done it (I'm usually too busy reading other people's PJ!) and now the big day is less than 3 months away! Are you worried at all that all that you and Lindsey have covered won't come together without her?! That's my worry... hopefully it's all on file for Erica. My current questions are about the room we have reserved since our contract estimated 24 guests, but now it seems we will be having between 35-40 guests. And I was hoping to see a picture of the exact room we will have and know the layout. I'd like to plan seating, a table for our guest book, music, etc. Do you have plans for music for your reception?

Joanne, I have mentioned to Karen earlier this week that I had emailed the new event coordinator and was waiting to hear back. I think I'll see if she can work some magic if I haven't heard anything after this weekend.

Congrats Faith!!!

 

[J.ThaddeusToad]

Good news! I heard back from the new event coordinator at Il Mulino and she was very helpful and went into great detail with all of my questions. I am feeling so relieved.

 

[MrsDuck]

Good news! I heard back from the new event coordinator at Il Mulino and she was very helpful and went into great detail with all of my questions. I am feeling so relieved.

So glad to hear it!

Alright ladies, I have another question! We are signing our contract today (woohoo!) and I figured while I was emailing with Karen I'd ask her about outside vendors. We need a photographer, cake maker, and videographer.

Should I just ask her for recommendations? I don't want to feel weird asking considering we could be using JM vendors..

Any advice?

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Good news! I heard back from the new event coordinator at Il Mulino and she was very helpful and went into great detail with all of my questions. I am feeling so relieved.

So glad to hear it!

Alright ladies, I have another question! We are signing our contract today (woohoo!) and I figured while I was emailing with Karen I'd ask her about outside vendors. We need a photographer, cake maker, and videographer.

Should I just ask her for recommendations? I don't want to feel weird asking considering we could be using JM vendors..

Any advice?

Wonderful news Catherine sweetie!!

Faith sweetie - Karen will give you excellent recommendations for vendors!! She is equally happy for you to research and book your own outside vendors

My recommendations (for what they are worth!!!!) are Randy Chapman for photography

http://chapmanphotography.com/wedmain.html

Heather at 'It'sTastyToo' for a cake!!

http://itstastytoo.com/Its_Tasty_Too!/Welcome.html

Both were excellent when I used them!! Cannot say enough good things about either of these vendors!!

I didn't have a videographer so cannot personally recommend one of these, but other girls on the boards have used Stan (who works closely with Randy, and has some good packages combining his services and Randy's)

http://www.stvsvideo.com/

Other brides recommend 'Simply Cinematic'

http://www.simplycinematic.com/

HTH and keep us posted of what you decide!!

 

[MrsDuck]

Jo- thank you!! I will look into all of them!

 

[Jilian]

I agree with using Randy Chapman for photography and if you're ok with booking him yourself you might want to do that because there is a markup if you go through the Swan. Randy's prices are really great! I've heard nothing but good things about its tasty too and if we decide to do a cake that is who we'll use. Book them yourself and you'll get a better price than going through the Swan. That is the beauty of the Swan - you can pick and choose which of their vendors to use and which to do on your own.

 

[minniebride]

I''m using Randy as well! We are not having a videographer. We ordered our cake through the Swan catering since they get excellent reviews & we are having a reception through them-even got to have a tasting session!

We followed Karen's recommendations for our florist and harpist and we couldn't be happier who the vendors she found!!

 

[MrsDuck]

Thanks everyone!!

 

[NeverlandClub23]

I am in the very beginning stages of planning our wedding (I mean, hello, I'm not even engaged yet ). We have pretty much settled on having a wedding in November/December of next year so when the engagement does happen, I need to have my stuff together (I get major anxiety having to rush through planning stuff). Right now, I'm thinking of having an off-site wedding (either Kraft Azalea Gardens or the Maitland Art Center), dinner at a Swan/Dolphin restaurant in a private room, and an Epcot dessert party (sans the wedding dress). I wouldn't mind doing the ceremony at the Swan/Dolphin just none of the locations are really "me". I'm adding the costs up and they do add up quickly!

My question is, who would I go through to reserve the dinner at one of the restaurants (probably bluezoo)? I would like it to be decorated with flowers and candles, would I go through someone like justmarry or a floral company? I'm so clueless . Thanks for any and all help!

 

[Jilian]

You would only go through Just marry for a s/d ceremony. If you want to book a private room in one of the restaurants you'd need to contact the restaurant directly. I looked into both bluezoo and il mulino but the contact at bluezoo was so bad at getting back to me (even though it was my first choice) that I went with il mulino. She basically ignored me for months and when I mentioned looking into other places she finally scheduled a time for me to come look at the room. Il Mulino always gets back to me quickly and they were more than happy to give me a tour and accomodate my needs.

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Hi NeverlandClub23 and welcome!!
Jilian has given you the information about booking a restaurant at S/D, but I just wanted to say that I think for the floral decoration side of things, you would be better to contacting an outside florist. The restaurant may have contacts who are able to do this, but I think it would be cheaper and you would have more control if you went your own way with it!! Be sure to just check on the rules about candles with your chosen restaurant. I know some will allow nothing bigger than a tea-light due to fire restrictions and smoke alarms etc.
I have never heard of your possible ceremony sites (but then I am an ignorant Brit)!!! Do you have a link you can share as I would love to have a nosey!! It's a shame you do not gel with any of the ceremony sites at the S/D.
Happy planning and be sure to come back and fill us in with your plans!!