Tons of questions, planning an Escape wedding for Feb. 2010. :)

[Inn0c3nc3]

Hi everyone! My name's Jennifer and I've been a lurker for quite a while. I've only made one post since I made my account on the boards (last year I believe) about renting DVC points.

Anyway, I loveeee reading planning journals and trip reports, and I've read so many. But now I'm planning my Escape wedding for the first week of February (haven't decided the exact date yet, thinking the 2nd or 3rd) 2010. I have a ton of questions and I could really use some help. Everyone here is amazingly friendly and helpful, so I'm really hoping some of you guys can help ease my mind a little. Please deal with my rambling and my many many questions as best as you can!

First off, I want to have my ceremony in the Wedding Pavilion. I'm planning on having anywhere from 10 to the full 18 guests, but I'm a little concerned with what the vibe is going to be. With the Wedding Pavilion being so big, and such a small amount of guests, I'm worried it might feel a little weird. Plus, I don't really want to go all out spending the extra money to decorate it. Has anyone else done this? I'm wondering what it feels like having such a small amount of guests, and also if spending the money for any decorations can be avoided. I also don't plan on having any bridesmaids and groomsmen, anyone else done that? I have so many concerns in this area.

Secondly, I'm debating on who I want to officiate and who I want doing my hair and makeup. So, if anyone could link me to their reviews in these departments or re-post them in a reply, I would really really really really appreciate it! I also know officiants average 200-300 dollars, but what about cosmetology services? If you wouldn't mind, can someone give me a ballpark estimate of what that's going to cost?

Also (lol ), I'm thinking I want the bouquet with the pink roses, but possibly changing the colors and maybe adding some kind of Mickey head crystals in it. Has anyone done this? And does anyone know if with the Escape package what kind of upgrade fee there is to do it? And as far as upgrades for an Escape wedding go, not many people on my guest list are big on champagne, does anyone know how you can change or add beverages? IE; do they give you so many cans of soda for so much money? And how much it costs?

Also, if it isn't toooo much more trouble, I'd like some opinions on this...I plan on doing a 2:30 ceremony, then the cake cutting and taking a break. Everyone splitting up and doing what they wish for dinner plans, then possibly meeting back for a fireworks cruise that night. I'm not sure if that's tacky or not? But with a lot of picky eaters on my guest list, and kind of pushing my budget, I'm worried about trying to make dinner arrangements that will suit everyone. Plus, it's going to be a very emotional day for me (my father passed away three years ago) and I'd really just like that time to unwind with my new husband alone. Is that rude? I also wanted to try to book the Grand 1 for that fireworks cruise, does anyone know if that's going to be very hard? I thought getting the Wedding Pavilion would be hard, but I was assured there would be plenty of availability because I'm being flexible with my day.

I think I'm done ranting for now! Anyone who is willing and able to help will be a savior to me and I will adore you forever! The past few nights I've actually laid in bed awake for a few hours thinking about all the questions I have to post on the board, how silly is that? Hopefully I'll get some responses that will let me get more sleep at night! Thank you so much in advance!

 

[tiggersam00]

Hello to another Feb 2010 bride

OK, first off congrats! Sounds like you have lots of ideas and that can be a very good thing

I have seen beautiful weddings at the WP with only 1 or 2 people so I think it will be perfect for the escape wedding you are planning.

We are using Rev Jack Day for our officiant, he just seemed to fit what we needed which is great But I have also heard great things about Rev Tim Herring as well!

For makeup I am using Ana with Beaute Speciale, they do a ton of dis brides wedding makeup and hair and I loved her work when I did my trial run in March. I have also heard great things about Patricia LeJune as well and both are disney recommended I believe

Sorry to hear about you dad's passing, I can imagine on such a happy day that you will be a little emotional because he is not able to share it with you, but I think having a little time for just the 2 of you is fine Lots of brides on here take a break before a DP and it also gives you time to take lots of pics of just the 2 of you at some great spots in the world.

HTH

 

[Bride-to-be]

The end of our wedding is the beginning of Feb!

I was very concerned about the wedding pavillion because we are only having 50-60 people and I didn't think that was enough and thought the place would look very empty. However, a few other brides here had many fewer people than that and still had an amazing experience. We are going to try to stick our head in the door next week and take a gander.

My understanding is that most brides walk in and immediately fall in love - its the place, type thing. Maybe that will happen with us.

A big plus is that its inside so if its cold in the beginning of feb you don't have to worry.

We got engaged on the grand 1 - it was an amazing experience! We had the best time ever. I would highly recommend it for the evening and I think your plan is fine. You could save the cake cutting and do it on board and just serve cake and a few other small desserts.

If you don't want champagne I know they give you double the amount of I think sparkling cider - either that or grape juice but I think its sparkling cider. I am sure they could work with you to change it out for soda. If it were me, I would want to see if they could come up with a non-alcholic specialty drink. Something fun and weddingish - something to always remember.

Flowers - just try to comb through as many pictures as you can and come up with as many specific details as you can. My understanding is that the more info the florist has the happier you will be with your flowers. I think have seen the mickey rhinestones before - I am sure they could do it.

 

[Inn0c3nc3]

Hello to another Feb 2010 bride

OK, first off congrats! Sounds like you have lots of ideas and that can be a very good thing

I have seen beautiful weddings at the WP with only 1 or 2 people so I think it will be perfect for the escape wedding you are planning.

We are using Rev Jack Day for our officiant, he just seemed to fit what we needed which is great But I have also heard great things about Rev Tim Herring as well!

For makeup I am using Ana with Beaute Speciale, they do a ton of dis brides wedding makeup and hair and I loved her work when I did my trial run in March. I have also heard great things about Patricia LeJune as well and both are disney recommended I believe

Sorry to hear about you dad's passing, I can imagine on such a happy day that you will be a little emotional because he is not able to share it with you, but I think having a little time for just the 2 of you is fine Lots of brides on here take a break before a DP and it also gives you time to take lots of pics of just the 2 of you at some great spots in the world.

HTH

Thanks for the reply and congratulations to you too! I was actually looking at your PJ a few days before I posted.

The two officiants I'm actually torn between are Rev. Jack Day and Rev. Tim Herring. So far I've loved everything I've heard about them. And I've been leaning towards Beaute Speciale too actually, just wondering about the costs for all that stuff and wondering if I'm going to be able to fit in a trial because my hair can be a pain in the butt.

I'm still a little back and forth on what to do as far as after the ceremony...I just know that the stress of not having a lot of family, especially my father is going to wear me very thin and I don't know if I'm going to be able to make a whole day of all the wedding festivities. I just didn't want to be tacky with something like "here's the cake, now you go find your own dinner" type deal...lol

 

[Inn0c3nc3]

The end of our wedding is the beginning of Feb!

I was very concerned about the wedding pavillion because we are only having 50-60 people and I didn't think that was enough and thought the place would look very empty. However, a few other brides here had many fewer people than that and still had an amazing experience. We are going to try to stick our head in the door next week and take a gander.

My understanding is that most brides walk in and immediately fall in love - its the place, type thing. Maybe that will happen with us.

A big plus is that its inside so if its cold in the beginning of feb you don't have to worry.

We got engaged on the grand 1 - it was an amazing experience! We had the best time ever. I would highly recommend it for the evening and I think your plan is fine. You could save the cake cutting and do it on board and just serve cake and a few other small desserts.

If you don't want champagne I know they give you double the amount of I think sparkling cider - either that or grape juice but I think its sparkling cider. I am sure they could work with you to change it out for soda. If it were me, I would want to see if they could come up with a non-alcholic specialty drink. Something fun and weddingish - something to always remember.

Flowers - just try to comb through as many pictures as you can and come up with as many specific details as you can. My understanding is that the more info the florist has the happier you will be with your flowers. I think have seen the mickey rhinestones before - I am sure they could do it.

Thanks for the reply!

I wanted the wedding in February, and I really kind of wanted to wait until later in the month so I wouldn't have to worry as much about the weather being chilly (maybe? lol). But because of the travel expenses for everyone, I wanted to keep it in value season so that kind of restricts me to the first week. But I'm excited about it, just maybe a tad uneasy about what the weather may do. I've only been to Florida two times of year in my life, and that's mid-February and late September. I've seen GORGEOUS weather in February, but I've also seen it freezing. I'll keep my fingers crosses for us both.

Forgive me, I ramble. I'm really really giddy about the fireworks cruise idea. The pictures I've seen of the Grand 1 are awesome. Getting engaged on it must have been amazing. I'm trying not to get my hopes up TOO much because I'm a little worried it might be hard to book. I guess only time will tell on that one. I'm still racking my brain as to what we could do for dinner that won't be too expensive. I mean, the WP is going to be $5,750 alone...and even though I'm sure the price will go up in 2010, that's not much cheaper than the cheapest Wishes wedding (I think?) so I'm kind of torn. I'm kind of wondering if Escape is the right way. It's the only thing I really considered just because of how few guests we're going to have...

 

[Bride-to-be]

I love the grand 1 so much. Talk to your planner and see if you can book it in advance at all as a wedding thing. I think booking opens 90 days in advance - so if you call first thing in the am on that 90 day mark I don't think it should be too much of a problem. The only negative is if it rains so hard the fireworks are cancelled - because they don't cancel the cruise.

You could just serve heavy hordeurves on the boat and call it dinner. Or maybe you could rent out the little private room in citricos. I have a horrible memory as to who - but someone posted about it. I think its a food minimum of $650 to use the room. I could be totally wrong but I think thats what I read.

Then you could go from the WP into dinner at the GF and out to the Marina.

Another option maybe a tad less expensive would be to do dinner at some place like chef mickeys so you could get character pictures.

Ohana also seems to be really popular - but I have never eaten there so I can't really comment.

 

[tiggersam00]

Thanks for the reply and congratulations to you too! I was actually looking at your PJ a few days before I posted.

The two officiants I'm actually torn between are Rev. Jack Day and Rev. Tim Herring. So far I've loved everything I've heard about them. And I've been leaning towards Beaute Speciale too actually, just wondering about the costs for all that stuff and wondering if I'm going to be able to fit in a trial because my hair can be a pain in the butt.

I'm still a little back and forth on what to do as far as after the ceremony...I just know that the stress of not having a lot of family, especially my father is going to wear me very thin and I don't know if I'm going to be able to make a whole day of all the wedding festivities. I just didn't want to be tacky with something like "here's the cake, now you go find your own dinner" type deal...lol

Aww thanks! We went with Rev Jack because he had the most adorable picture of him and his wife in Cindy's carriage and it said "Still my Cinderella after 50 years" it made me start to cry and I booked him then and there. But both seem like great people to marry you for sure, eithier way I bet you'll be fine!

In terms of makeup Ana is very reasonable, $50 for the application and she did give me a powder sample and a few gloss applications for the day as well. I know she has worked wonders with some of the DisBrides hair on here. The one that sticks out is Lynn's hair (Lynn5700) beacuse she has a ton of hair, really long and curly. And her hair looked amazing on her wedding day, you should check out her PJ and read about Ana, I know she is a huge fan!

I think your idea of splittingup afterwards is fine too. I know a lot of brides on here seperate and meet up later for a late drink or dessert party, so I think you will have some time to relax as well!

 

[Inn0c3nc3]

Thank you both sooooo very much for the help. Sorry I've been a tad slow with the response. I've suddenly gotten an interest in a dessert party, ahhh so many choices. But actually, it looks like I might hit the 18 person limit exactly...which would leave me with no choice but to either cut some guests out of the Grand 1 fireworks cruise (isn't the limit on that like 18 people?) or changing that plan. I didn't want to do a dinner, but I know a dessert party is going to be quite a tad more than the cruise. SIGH, so much to think about!

Thank you two again.

 

[Inn0c3nc3]

Aww thanks! We went with Rev Jack because he had the most adorable picture of him and his wife in Cindy's carriage and it said "Still my Cinderella after 50 years" it made me start to cry and I booked him then and there. But both seem like great people to marry you for sure, eithier way I bet you'll be fine!

In terms of makeup Ana is very reasonable, $50 for the application and she did give me a powder sample and a few gloss applications for the day as well. I know she has worked wonders with some of the DisBrides hair on here. The one that sticks out is Lynn's hair (Lynn5700) beacuse she has a ton of hair, really long and curly. And her hair looked amazing on her wedding day, you should check out her PJ and read about Ana, I know she is a huge fan!

I think your idea of splittingup afterwards is fine too. I know a lot of brides on here seperate and meet up later for a late drink or dessert party, so I think you will have some time to relax as well!

I saw Lynn's PJ/TR! Her hair was so gorgeous on her wedding day. My hair is very fine...not exactly thin, it's just very soft and straight so it can be a tad hard to work with, but I'm pretty sure Lynn's was much more difficult than mine...haha.

 

[tiggersam00]

Thank you both sooooo very much for the help. Sorry I've been a tad slow with the response. I've suddenly gotten an interest in a dessert party, ahhh so many choices. But actually, it looks like I might hit the 18 person limit exactly...which would leave me with no choice but to either cut some guests out of the Grand 1 fireworks cruise (isn't the limit on that like 18 people?) or changing that plan. I didn't want to do a dinner, but I know a dessert party is going to be quite a tad more than the cruise. SIGH, so much to think about!

Thank you two again.

I think eithier way you will have a blast though! The Grand 1 or a DP both sound amazing! Good Luck let us know how you make out.

I saw Lynn's PJ/TR! Her hair was so gorgeous on her wedding day. My hair is very fine...not exactly thin, it's just very soft and straight so it can be a tad hard to work with, but I'm pretty sure Lynn's was much more difficult than mine...haha.

Wow I wish I had hair like that! I always wanted straight hair, I guess it's the old "You want what you can't have" mentality oh well! How are you thinking of wearing your hair?

 

[Inn0c3nc3]

I think eithier way you will have a blast though! The Grand 1 or a DP both sound amazing! Good Luck let us know how you make out.



Wow I wish I had hair like that! I always wanted straight hair, I guess it's the old "You want what you can't have" mentality oh well! How are you thinking of wearing your hair?

My hair drives me nuts just because curls don't last long. And I have fine soft hair, but I have a ton of it, so curling it takes FOREVER! But I'm thinking lots of curls (I feel sorry for whoever winds up doing it, ha!) and some of it softly pulled back. I might consider an updo, but if I did it would have to be very very very softly pulled back with pieces hanging down.

Some pictures I've seen that I like;
Example 1 Example 2 Example 3 Example 4

Any thoughts?