Vow renewal - need advice

[Bob Gnuheart]

Hi

We're planning a vow renewal Fall 2012 and was hoping somebody out there could answer some questions better than the official website can.

It will just be the two of us, our kids and maybe 3 guests each for a total of 10-12 people. Looks like these can be pretty expensive,we want it to be low-key but memorable. The plan is to make a weeklong family vacation out of the affair and pay for our guests to stay a couple days also.

1 - If we stay at the Grand Floridian (or another deluxe) is it bad form to put our guests in a value or moderate for a few days? On us, of course.

2 - We want to have a nice dinner after the ceremony for everyone. Is there a boat that we could rent for an hour or two and have dinner aboard? If not, is there a location for the renewal where we could travel by boat to a nice restaurant for dinner after the ceremony?

3 - Has anyone done a renewal at the Swan and Dolphin? Could we have just the ceremony there then head over to Disney for all the other stuff - dinner, boat, (or dinner boat)?

Any advice as to striking a good balance between beautiful, low-key but actually be affordable?

Thanks for any help.

 

[lurkyloo]

Hi!

1 - If we stay at the Grand Floridian (or another deluxe) is it bad form to put our guests in a value or moderate for a few days? On us, of course.

I say, if you are paying for their hotels, they should be happy wherever you put them! I'd be grateful just to have a free room.

2 - We want to have a nice dinner after the ceremony for everyone. Is there a boat that we could rent for an hour or two and have dinner aboard? If not, is there a location for the renewal where we could travel by boat to a nice restaurant for dinner after the ceremony?

Yes—the Grand 1 Yacht is available to hire from any of the Deluxe resorts on Seven Seas Lagoon, although its berth is at the Grand Floridian. The cost is $520 +tax per hour. It holds up to 17 people, and you can have dinner served onboard by Private Dining at the Grand Floridian. Call 407-WDW-PLAY to book the boat and 407-824-2474 for information on Private Dining.

More info and a sample menu is available here: http://allears.net/menu/menu_gy1.htm

3 - Has anyone done a renewal at the Swan and Dolphin? Could we have just the ceremony there then head over to Disney for all the other stuff - dinner, boat, (or dinner boat)?

Yes—there is a sticky at the top of this forum with lots of information about Swan & Dolphin weddings. The basic site+chairs fee is just under $2,000 and it's up to you to add all the rest. They also have packages that include cake, and officiant, etc.

Any advice as to striking a good balance between beautiful, low-key but actually be affordable?

Thanks for any help.

Tons! If you poke around in the planning journals and trip reports on this board (the two subforums at the top) you'll see the myriad ways brides and grooms have customized their weddings and vow renewals to suit their budgets and taste.

Happy planning!

 

[catra121]

Unfortunately I can't answer your second 2 questions very well.

As for the first, my parents renewed their vows in September 2008. My mom tried to involve me in a lot of the planning because my dad is one of those people who just wanted to renew their vows and could care less about details.

When it came to the hotel I told my mom to have her and my dad stay at the GF because they've always wanted too...but she said that for the rest of the vacation she wanted all of us together so we opted for 3 rooms at a moderate. That was HER choice, but I think it is totally fine to have you 2 go deluxe and put the rest in value. I know as one of the "others" it was more important to me that THEY had the vacation of theiir dreams...but I guess the vacation of their dreams meant having us all together so that's what we did.

We were also on the dining plan (which at the time included appetizers on the regualr dining plan) so we are at the Yachtmans Steakhouse and it was good. I think after more trips to different signatures I would choose Jiko or Artist's Point just because the seating is more spread out and at the Yachtman we felt crowded. But if you can afford it a cruise would have been just perfect.

I hope you have a blast. We did the photo package in the park and at the ceremony and I look at those pictures all the time. Those are very special memories for all of us.

 

[KristiLyn]

Just wanted to chime in and say that the swan and dolphin is a wonderful place for vow renewals, especially if you're trying to watch your budget! We are doing our wedding there in September. You can invite as many guests as you'd like, and choose your own vendors (if you choose to not go with their preferred vendors) You can even have Mickey at your vr! We are doing a nice dinner and watching the fireworks after, as well as having a cake at California grill. If you check the swan thread at the top of the page, I've listed the prices with everything broken down. Good luck!!!

 

[tinkerbell 766]

Hello and welcome
I echo everything that Kristi has said about the Swan and Dolphin!!
We are renewing our vows there in May and so far could not be happier about the service we have recieved. I have used many outside vendors and have saved a packet of money over what I would have paid by going through DFTW, without losing any of the magic.
Please feel free to peek at my PJ (the link is in my signature) and also chck out Carrie's (Lurkyloo) podcast this week - it covers S/D weddings/VRs. Here is the link:-

http://www.insidedisneyweddings.com/

Happy planning and if you have any question, don't hesitaite to ask!!!