Wedding Coordinator Suggestion

[kanadar]

I agree I don't think most people here have low expectations at all. So far I have complete faith that disney will give me an amazing wedding that will be talked about for years to come. Right now I'm still over a year away but my consultant has been great. You need to do what you feel is best and if you feel having another planner is best for you go for it.

I was also at the wedding showcase and was a bit underwhelmed by the room, except that amazing cake. But we signed up for the seminars as well as the food and wine tasting. The Be Our Guest seminar we thought was fantastic (but we love food so that could be why), the events one wasn't as interesting but still informative. But the food and wine tasting was AMAZING! I was lucky enough that my consultant arranged the event and was attending so she sat herself at our table, and actually saved my sister and I seats! So that was awesome! Just the showcase room could have been better but if you participated in other thing I think it was good.

 

[Beast913]

My wife and I really just had a lot of stress in our lives at the time of the wedding, and honestly, just wanted to make sure we were on budget and were having a wedding by the time we got down to it. What Disney did with our money was way beyond anything we excepted. I loved everything about the wedding day, was totally worth the money we spent, but to each their own, whatever you want to do to make sure the wedding goes the way you want it to, knock yourself out.

 

[TiffinyKaye]

You know that feeling that you get sometimes when you feel like what you want is somehow less because it costs less?

Yeah...I am kind of saddened now my "lack of expectations." (Read: Also feels minimized for being poor.)

 

[Lorelei528]

You know that feeling that you get sometimes when you feel like what you want is somehow less because it costs less?

Yeah...I am kind of saddened now my "lack of expectations." (Read: Also feels minimized for being poor.)

Tiffiny-Don't feel that way! Every single detail of your vision is lovely and important and is what you want! I will say, when I was planning our wedding being an Escape bride made me feel that way looking at all the Wishes weddings at the time, but I had to talk to myself and I said "self, if you were doing a Wishes wedding, what really would be different?"....besides doing the ceremony in a park, I told myself.."nothing". We loved our outdoor ceremony at Sea Breeze Point, we LOVED having our dinner reception at Jiko in our absolutely favorite Disney resort and we LOVED doing our dessert party in yes...MOROCCO!! (It being our favorite pavilion!). Sometimes having more money is not all it's cracked up to be. Your wedding day is your wedding day and it will be beautiful and meaningful no matter what amount of money you spend.

 

[mb187143]

You know that feeling that you get sometimes when you feel like what you want is somehow less because it costs less? Yeah...I am kind of saddened now my "lack of expectations." (Read: Also feels minimized for being poor.)

Tiffiny, please don't think this way. I had an unlimited budget for my wedding - literally, blank check from my parents to make my dream come true. We spent a total of $24K with Disney, and another $1800 on our outside photographer. And it was an AMAZING day. Executed flawlessly. I felt like the most important person in the world that day. That whole week really, people at Disney not even involved in weddings were amazing making things happen for us. I was really lucky that my parents were so generous, and that they let me plan my day the way I wanted to. And despite the unlimited budget, we kept the cost down and paid for some things ourselves, because that was important to us.

It's not the number you spend that's going to make your wedding day perfect. I love the ideas you've posted and I think it's going to be a beautiful wedding. I think many of us on here are mature enough to realize that a bigger price tag doesn't automatically equate to better anything, and money sure doesn't buy happiness.

 

[alyaki]

You know that feeling that you get sometimes when you feel like what you want is somehow less because it costs less?

Yeah...I am kind of saddened now my "lack of expectations." (Read: Also feels minimized for being poor.)

Tiffiny, I think Lorelei and mb said it really well. But no reason to feel minimized. Everyone has different budgets and different levels of comfort of working with Disney and other vendors. Crud, I'm a Wishes bride, but our budget for Disney is about $15k - right around what the minimum is after service charges and taxes with the new pricing structure. That has to cover everything but photography and officiant, essentially. And I still feel like we're going to have a very fun, nicely executed event. But, part of that is how much I work with my planner and assistant and the fact that they are always replying back and on board with whatever we mention. If Raist's parents didn't offer to do the DP for us, we wouldn't be having it. All total, our event will be around $20k (more than I wanted), but it'll be completely us, without giving me a heartattack from the price (we can afford it).

I've read through your planning journal - your event is going to be lovely. Just because you have a lower budget does not mean that your event isn't going to be awesome.

 

[mintd]

What it comes down to is that you're comfortable with it. If you feel you need to spend the extra for an additional coordinator so you have peace of mind, that's great. Not everyone is going to feel they need to go to that level. I know I certainly didn't, and disney executed our events flawlessly. I'm certain that I don't have low expectations, I was just comfortable advocating for myself, doing much of my own research, and had a truly wonderful Disney planner who understood my vision and went above and beyond to make our day perfect for us. That's not the case for everyone.

At the end of the day, every bride needs to do what she feels is right for her, and all that matters is that you feel like the money you spent, whichever way you spent it, was worth it to you.

Please understand that anyone paying for a Disney wedding is investing a great deal of money for her/his special day. High expectations do not revolve around the cost. They revolve around the quality and willingness to accept treatment that is below industry standard while paying premium industry prices. Within every Disney price point the delivery seems to be beneath industry standards of practice. Therefore, when I hired my month of planner, it was to make certain that I was not paying luxury prices for beneath industry standards of design and service.

I dare say that choosing outside vendors has allowed me to be quite budget conscious while presenting an extravagant affair. The Disney price points and the feedback about quality and my expectations were simply not aligned. I expect to get the value for my money within whatever price point I am working. Disney can only be indifferent to industry standards of delivery and service if we accept the minimal standards that they offer. They will have to raise their game to meet the expectations of brides if we are firm in setting our expectations at a minimum of industry standard and with their price point--a bit above.

I am a proponent of spending whatever money I have as wisely as possible and making certain that any vendor meets my expectations based on whatever expenditures I make. I believe that all of the brides will benefit from this. However, we are also working within a limited timeframe and I needed assistance in maintaining my standards with limited time and access to Disney.

I hope that you understand that it is not about how much money is spent but about how well the money is spent.

 

[lirija]

My wife and I really just had a lot of stress in our lives at the time of the wedding, and honestly, just wanted to make sure we were on budget and were having a wedding by the time we got down to it. What Disney did with our money was way beyond anything we excepted. I loved everything about the wedding day, was totally worth the money we spent, but to each their own, whatever you want to do to make sure the wedding goes the way you want it to, knock yourself out.

I'm so glad to see this, and it's in line with every review I've read as well. I've been all over the place with my planning, and at this point we're planning a Wishes wedding. After researching the minimums, it's good to know that if I use some outside vendors to cut costs, Disney will execute flawlessly with what I do spend with them.

 

[Lorelei528]

Please understand that anyone paying for a Disney wedding is investing a great deal of money for her/his special day. High expectations do not revolve around the cost. They revolve around the quality and willingness to accept treatment that is below industry standard while paying premium industry prices. Within every Disney price point the delivery seems to be beneath industry standards of practice. Therefore, when I hired my month of planner, it was to make certain that I was not paying luxury prices for beneath industry standards of design and service.

I dare say that choosing outside vendors has allowed me to be quite budget conscious while presenting an extravagant affair. The Disney price points and the feedback about quality and my expectations were simply not aligned. I expect to get the value for my money within whatever price point I am working. Disney can only be indifferent to industry standards of delivery and service if we accept the minimal standards that they offer. They will have to raise their game to meet the expectations of brides if we are firm in setting our expectations at a minimum of industry standard and with their price point--a bit above.

I am a proponent of spending whatever money I have as wisely as possible and making certain that any vendor meets my expectations based on whatever expenditures I make. I believe that all of the brides will benefit from this. However, we are also working within a limited timeframe and I needed assistance in maintaining my standards with limited time and access to Disney.

I hope that you understand that it is not about how much money is spent but about how well the money is spent.

This isn't really accurate. Considering some can have a cruise or Memories wedding for just a few thousand dollars. Most brides here dreamed of having a Disney wedding and are doing just that and have been happy no matter what they spent. (some even coming back to do vow renewals through DFTW). I would say the majority of brides here just don't understand your rationale with this. Even brides that have posted here and spent up to $200,000 on their wedding didn't hire a coordinator outsides DFTW. What's right for you is great if it works for you, but don't assume that by you hiring someone outside of Disney to help is going to end up helping any other Disney bride in the long run.

And again as it's been posted in almost every post here so far, most of the brides here were 110% happy with the service they received from DFTW. The brides posting here are only about 10% (or less) of the weddings they do, so although of course there will always be some that did not have the same great experience, proportionately the majority of brides that did have a DFTW were completely satisfied.

 

[mb187143]

Please understand that anyone paying for a Disney wedding is investing a great deal of money for her/his special day. High expectations do not revolve around the cost. They revolve around the quality and willingness to accept treatment that is below industry standard while paying premium industry prices. Within every Disney price point the delivery seems to be beneath industry standards of practice. Therefore, when I hired my month of planner, it was to make certain that I was not paying luxury prices for beneath industry standards of design and service. I dare say that choosing outside vendors has allowed me to be quite budget conscious while presenting an extravagant affair. The Disney price points and the feedback about quality and my expectations were simply not aligned. I expect to get the value for my money within whatever price point I am working. Disney can only be indifferent to industry standards of delivery and service if we accept the minimal standards that they offer. They will have to raise their game to meet the expectations of brides if we are firm in setting our expectations at a minimum of industry standard and with their price point--a bit above. I am a proponent of spending whatever money I have as wisely as possible and making certain that any vendor meets my expectations based on whatever expenditures I make. I believe that all of the brides will benefit from this. However, we are also working within a limited timeframe and I needed assistance in maintaining my standards with limited time and access to Disney. I hope that you understand that it is not about how much money is spent but about how well the money is spent.

And again I say, knock yourself out. Do whatever you feel is best. But your opinions on quality, your expectations, and your decisions to utilize outside vendors are yours. You are absolutely welcome to them. I'm not sure how you formed your opinions on their treatment of brides or quality. Maybe you read some things, maybe you went there and didn't like certain things, I don't think I read how you came to your decision to hire an outside planner. In any case, you formed an opinion based on whatever evidence you had, but not everyone is going to share that opinion. That doesn't mean you need to imply others are willing to accept lesser service or have low expectations, to me that comes off as defensive. No need for that. Many of us received excellent service and had beautiful weddings without an additional outside coordinator. Some brides have had issues, which is true of any place that does weddings. As with many places, you're more likely to find negative feedback than positive, because sadly many who have positive feedback don't post that anywhere. I would recommend that anyone considering a Disney wedding do their research on Disney, check out the sites, check out other places they have in mind, do research on their local market, and figure out what they need to do to make the numbers work.

I truly hope your daughter has a wonderful day. It sounds like you're trying to make that happen, the best way you know how, which is great, and she's a lucky girl to have a mother who cares very deeply. Sharing the name of the planner you're using is helpful to those who might want to go that route. But I think we can all agree the goal is to feel like you're getting the desired value out of the money you're spending on your wedding, and that for each person, that's going to be accomplished differently.

 

[Beast913]

I'm so glad to see this, and it's in line with every review I've read as well. I've been all over the place with my planning, and at this point we're planning a Wishes wedding. After researching the minimums, it's good to know that if I use some outside vendors to cut costs, Disney will execute flawlessly with what I do spend with them.

Disney's biggest expense with us was food & beverage minimums. Some floral can be expensive, but you'd be surprised how creative these coordinators can be to work within your budget and still make what you want happen. Because our budget started to shrink the closer we got to the wedding we cut the desert party, which was really not needed in the end, we were all pretty exhausted at the end of the night, haha.

Outside of that, we just altered some things here and there, and we ended up with less guests than we expected, even down to the week of because of travel problems for some guests. This ended up being a big problem in some ways (guest room count) but it all worked out. But it mostly worked out because Disney made it work out, and in the end we got the wedding we wanted and had quite a lot over our deposit refunded. It was pretty great, especially for our honey moon to have the extra cash with us.

 

[mintd]

Excellent!