Things You Wish You'd Known?

[ElsieAstronaut]

We're in the very early stages of talking about a Disney wedding. It would be a memories, luau beach. Likely just the two of us, possibly my parents, less possibly his. We're thinking of October 2016. We have a friend that is ordained who would hopefully be available. We're FL residents and AP holders, if that matters at all.

Are there any things you wished you had known earlier in planning? Hidden fees, easily forgotten planning elements, etc? Things you decided not to do that you wish you had or vice versa?

 

[lurkyloo]

I have a whole Glad I Did/Wish I'd Done list, but some of them are specific to Wishes events. If you listen to my interviews with Memories brides, I always ask them if there's anything they would have done differently or wished they'd known at the time: http://disneyweddingpodcast.com/category/walt-disney-world/memories-collection/

Specific to Memories, one thing I'd warn you is there isn't a whole lot of interaction with your Disney's Fairy Tale Wedding Planner. Some people are totally fine with that, but others get really frustrated.

Also, not everyone knows you can order a fancy custom cake on your own at Disney (since they don't include one in the package) — info on that here: http://disneytravelbabble.com/how-to/order-cake/

Another thing you can do is plan a small private event, like an IllumiNations dessert party, through Disney Catered Events. You will need to pay the minimums for 10 people, but they will let you have one with a smaller group (just don't mention how small your group is until you start working with an actual planner—sometimes the CMs who answer those first calls to Disney Catered Events like to discourage small groups.) Info on that here: http://disneytravelbabble.com/how-to/private-party/

 

[Erzengel]

Probably needed an extra day or someone helping me who had a vehicle. I did a lot of the running around. Getting food for the welcome dinner at my sister's suite, dropping off the stuff (Table stuff, wedding cutter, etc.) at the Pavilion, driving the groomsmen to get the suits, dropping the stuff from the wedding with my in-laws to drive back, drop off the suits. I was exhausted.

 

[CaliTex]

Maybe this sounds funny, but I wish I had known how good the wedding planners are at their jobs and just relaxed about things. I'm an organizer and a planner, so it was hard for me to let go and not worry--but everything so far exceeded my expectations that I couldn't have been happier. Good luck and have fun!

 

[elphie101]

So when I originally saw this thread I couldn't think of anything, but it hit me this morning - I wish i knew that every 30 seconds during our first dance would feel like a full minute, and so I wish I hadn't picked a 4 minute long song!!! Felt like we were up there for an hour!

 

[Disney_Alli]

So when I originally saw this thread I couldn't think of anything, but it hit me this morning - I wish i knew that every 30 seconds during our first dance would feel like a full minute, and so I wish I hadn't picked a 4 minute long song!!! Felt like we were up there for an hour!

OMG us too!!!! It felt like forever at one point I thought the song was wrapping up and started to pull away but then the chorus started again. Cole looked at me and said "you thought I was done, didn't you?" I just started laughing and asked him why I'd picked that song - this resulted in a couple great pictures of us laughing during the dance though