Welcome Party

[Jessdisney0214]

I am getting married in October and was thinking about doing a Welcome Party the day before my wedding instead of a rehearsal dinner. Any tips or suggestions. We were thinking cost efficient for 100 guests something outside of one of the 4 parks, unless guest would be able to come into park for event without a ticket.

 

[aristocatz]

I think the only way you can get your guests into the park without a ticket is to do an Illuminations Dessert Party or the equivalent of that in the other parks. I know there are DP venues in Epcot that can accommodate 100 guests. Not sure what your budget is, but they offer all sorts of menus to appease different price points. You can also do appetizer type foods (hot & cold) instead of desserts, if you want.

We did a (much smaller) Illuminations DP the night before our wedding. It was the BEST event of our wedding weekend. I highly recommend it.

 

[Jessdisney0214]

We were going to cut from wedding reception and maybe do 50ish per person for party(with open beer and wine). I thought about doing a dessert party but it's during food and wine festival so I heard it's nearly impossible to get a island. I still have to touch base with my wedding planner about it.

 

[Rundisneybride]

We are doing a welcome party which is more of a dessert party at the grand Floridian Terrece to watch the magic kingdom fireworks. We are doing a wine and beer bar with passed hor d'oeuvres and then the desserts display. You can get the music that goes with the fireworks piped in for a fee. We couldn't do an Epcot dessert party to watch illuminations be our wedding is during a holiday weekend so this was a good compromise

 

[Jessdisney0214]

Does the rehearsal dinner or welcome party count towards minimum food and beverage for the wedding?

 

[marsh0013]

Does the rehearsal dinner or welcome party count towards minimum food and beverage for the wedding?

No, it's a completely separate event.

 

[aristocatz]

Does the rehearsal dinner or welcome party count towards minimum food and beverage for the wedding?

Unfortunately, not anymore.

 

[elphie101]

We were married in October 2014. A DP during F&W can be difficult to get, as there is a lot of demand (October is a busy wedding month), but it's certainly not impossible as long as you're not asking for a Friday or Saturday (Illuminations DPs are blocked out Fri/Sat during F&W due to crowds).

We wanted a somewhat private event for 75 guests that was more formal than a "everyone meet at the pool bar" kind of situation, so we went through DFTW for a private catered event. We held ours at Ariel's at the Beach Club, since BC was one of our blocked resorts and our rehearsal immediately beforehand was at the Yacht Club. I can't quite tell you exactly what it costs as it was hosted by my in laws (though I know at one point the estimate, pending actual amount of alcohol consumed, was $5,400, again for 75 people), but we were able to have a Bill-On-Consumption bar for our guests and customize the menu.

I recaped it a little in my wedding TR here, as well as any Ariel's bride for better pictures of that specific room.