Swan Wedding Questions

[trudy88]

Hubby and I are planning a trip to WDW next year and are thinking of doing a VR. I'm intrigued with the Swan not only for the cost, but for the possibility of flexibility and customization. I do have a few questions. Maybe some of the Swan brides could answer them.
What times are available for ceremonies? Early? Late? Pre-set times?
What is the "bad weather" alternative to the East Terrace? Any pics?
Along with that, I see from the info that Just Marry sent me that a gazebo is available for rent. Is this put up around the fountain? Any pics?
What does the Wedding Coordinator do? When my dtr got married we did everything ourselves. Of course, we're thinking of something small and simple for our VR.
Is there a place to dress? Not sure I want to ride a bus in a nice dress!
Is there a white trellis arch? Any pics?
Is there a sound system on the East Terrace? Could we just play a CD?
What about an IPOD with nice, portable speakers?
I don't feel that we need professional photographs; are there other options for pictures? Like maybe digital pics?
And now for a non-VR question, but terribly important: IS THERE DR. PEPPER AT WDW?
trudy <><

 

[XmasPixie]

Hi Trudy!

Congratulations to you on the possible VR.

I cannot answer all of your questions because I've only just begun working with Just Marry for a Swan ceremony. So far Susan has been awesome answering all of my crazy questions. But here is what I know:

What times are available for ceremonies? Early? Late? Pre-set times?
I was given 10am, 2pm & 3pm as an option. I do not know if these are the standard times or just what was available for the date we chose.

Is there a place to dress? Not sure I want to ride a bus in a nice dress!
I was told as long as there is a room available, you get a room to get ready in. I was assured that in the 10 years of them doing weddings at the Swan that they have never not had a room.

Is there a sound system on the East Terrace?
I do not think so. I'm sure if you asked and had your own person to run it, you could bring in your own CD player or ipod and speakers though...

I don't feel that we need professional photographs; are there other options for pictures? Like maybe digital pics?
You do not need to use Just Marry's photographer. You can hire your own. It is not part of their package so you don't even have to have one if you don't want. I would suggest shopping around to some of the photographers in the area to see if anyone has a digital photo plan as an option.

If I learn anything else I will forward the info on. Good luck!!

 

[BayouPrincess]

Hubby and I are planning a trip to WDW next year and are thinking of doing a VR. I'm intrigued with the Swan not only for the cost, but for the possibility of flexibility and customization. I do have a few questions. Maybe some of the Swan brides could answer them.
What times are available for ceremonies? Early? Late? Pre-set times?
What is the "bad weather" alternative to the East Terrace? Any pics?
Along with that, I see from the info that Just Marry sent me that a gazebo is available for rent. Is this put up around the fountain? Any pics?
What does the Wedding Coordinator do? When my dtr got married we did everything ourselves. Of course, we're thinking of something small and simple for our VR.
Is there a place to dress? Not sure I want to ride a bus in a nice dress!
Is there a white trellis arch? Any pics?
Is there a sound system on the East Terrace? Could we just play a CD?
What about an IPOD with nice, portable speakers?
I don't feel that we need professional photographs; are there other options for pictures? Like maybe digital pics?
And now for a non-VR question, but terribly important: IS THERE DR. PEPPER AT WDW?
trudy <><

Hi Trudy,
I can't answer any of your swan Questions, but I can answer the Dr. Pepper one. Unfortunately, the answer is no. I'm a DP girl and when we are at WDW I crave them, mostly because there are no DPs there!

 

[Disneychix]

Hello! I was a Oct 2005 bride at the Swan. I can answer some of your questions, especialy the one about the rain location!

It started raining just as they were setting up the chairs on the Crescent Terr. My wedding was moved inside one of the banquet rooms. They didn't do a whole lot of decorating to make it look nice but my sister went out in the lobby of the banquet area and started to drag in some of the HUGE potted plants to "dress" up the room a bit. My wedding co-ordinator then saw this and began helping. We did get the brass arch as we thought we'd be outside and the space is very large and open and we thought it'd make it look more intimate.
The coordinator is your link to the wedding taking place so far away. Then on the day of she gets everything ready and brings in the flowers and cues all the people that need to be cued. She also was the person I sent all my emails to and put in all my requests to. She helped me pick vendors. She was really great. I didn't have anything to do for the wedding.
They gave me 2 dressing rooms in the Swan. They were gross and slightly dirty and seemed to have been used 10 times without cleaning. We called to get it cleaned but I don't remember if anyone ever came. It was a room with no bed but it did have a bathroom and some chairs around.
The package I got included a musician (I chose harpist) and flowers and cake and some type of photography package. I just got the basic photography and it gave me the proofs and everything on a cd. It also included the minister and chairs and a small cake reception after the ceremony. The price couldn't be beat and you can have however many people you want at the ceremony and reception. (just pay for chairs and extra cake/champagne)
At my reception (in a different banquet room) they had a small stereo set up with classic disney music (I think I provided that cd) and the cake and campagne. We also ordered a cheese plate and veggie tray. I think they had soda and water as well. We were allowed to pay a cork fee and brought in some of our own champagne that we purchased ourselves. Turned out WAY cheaper. We were there for about 1.5 hours. Then we went to dinner (I know cake before dinner!) at Ohana's.
They let me choose the ceremony time. I chose 5pm. Wish someone would've reminded me about the rainy afternoons in Fl. I would've chosen earlier in the day! (but it was VERY humid that day and we would've melted anyway!)
Can't remember if I answered all your questions. Here's a few pics. They are inside the Swan by the fountain. I'll have to download some of the ceremony ones so you can see the room.

Congrat's on the VR!!!! Lucky!

Not the best shot but you can see the room. The harpist is in the corner and I ordered the covered chairs. The plants are the ones my sister dragged in!

 

[trudy88]

I appreciate the info, Swan brides!
Too bad about the DP; guess I'll bring my own! lol
trudy <><

 

[MyMelody]

Oh why thank you Disneychix for posting about your wedding.... You did look very pretty and it looks nice even though it is indoors Sorry about the rain while setting up. You still had a beautiful wedding

 

[Disneychix]

Oh why thank you Disneychix for posting about your wedding.... You did look very pretty and it looks nice even though it is indoors Sorry about the rain while setting up. You still had a beautiful wedding

Thanks! The worst part was our room at the Dolphin overlooked the Crescent Terr and every morning for the rest of the vacation I had to look at that beautiful location and think that I had to get married in a conference room! Ugh! Well, I'll always have a VR to look forward too!

It really would've been too hot and humid to do it outside. I guess it turned out for the better.