Welcoming Party

[patiruss]

Hi Folks, I am looking for some advice. I am the mother of the groom and want to be able to host a welcoming party. We are traveling to Disney for my son's wedding in August. My son and his fiance live in Florida, she is a cast member. All the family and friends are traveling from out of state and will be staying on Disney property. Because everyone is coming from out of state, we wanted to host a welcome event on the Friday night before the wedding. We think there would be about 50 people invited and probably would not all be there at the same time. We are thinking of a casual get together between the hours of 4:00pm to maybe 7:00pm. We would like to offer appetizers, cold cut sandwiches maybe, wine, beer and cold drinks. We are talking about families, so it would not be a wild party...more a chance for people to see the bride and groom before the wedding. We are just in the brainstorming phase right now. Anything offered by Disney so far comes in at $25 to $40 a person. We just can't afford that. The wedding rehersal dinner is on Saturday night and will cost us about $2000 for the 20 people invited and the wedding is on Sunday with 120 people invited.
Has anyone ever rented a suite and brought in their own food??? Does anyone have a great idea to share?? Ideas and suggestions are welcomed. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Doctor Tigger]

Hi patiruss,

I also wanted to have a Welcome Party but alas we didn't have that many people at our wedding, but I will share my ideas

I wanted to have my Welcome Party at DisneyQuest, food wise you're looking at the Cheescake Factory express which is pretty much like counter service at any of the parks (except better desserts) it gives everyone a chance to sit and talk or go play games and have fun. The draw back to this place is price, with the Ultimate Park Hopper ticket (which you get when you book a vacation through Disney) it's free to get in otherwise it's like over $30 a person (I think).

It offers something great for kids and adults, and there's enough to keep everyone entertained for hours

 

[MICKEY69]

I am getting married in 2 1/2 weeks and haveing 31 guests. We decided to have a dessert party in Epcot wich will cost 27.50 pp with a 90.00 service fee plus our guests have admission to the park so no additional fee on our part.

This is so everyone can meet the noght before the wedding. It may be a bit much but it will be a night to remember.

 

[superdiz]

I think a great idea would be to use your own room. I know a bride did this before but I would stay at a moderate resort like Coronado or Port Orleans and have adjoining rooms. Then have a pizza party. It's cost effective and casual and who doesn't like pizza? That way it saves you from having to book a suite or get assorted sandwiches. Just a suggestion, not sure how formal your guests are

 

[msteddom]

Why don't you look in to what the Swan or Dolphin can do for you? I have heard that they tend to be cheaper in general, and it would still be convenient for everyone location wise.



Melissa

 

[jennycee]

We are having a Welcome Party/Rehearsal Dinner the Friday night before our wedding at the Summerhouse at the Grand Floridian. It is on the beach overlooking the pavillion with a georgeous view. It is a good casual spot, we too are not "whooping it up" as we just want to welcome everyone in and thank them for coming. They have a few different menus to choose from and the one we picked is a barbeque that provides a ton of food for $37.50 a head. We didn't need or want all of the food they are serving so we tailored the menu down food and price-wise...A LOT!

It is not a well known thing, and they play stupid if you ask them straight out, but you CAN adjust the price to suit you. Don't give them a second to think OR a choice. We did that with our reception dinner as well. It was just too much food in the package we picked, so we cut some out and lowered the price in the meantime.

Just a suggestion for you! Let us know what you pick, hope this helps!

 

[dennis99ss]

Do the disney hotels have hospitality suites?

I know when I got married9eons ago ) and my sister (eons ago) both were "out of town" weddings, where the folks set up a hospitality suite at the hotel where we put the guests, I think they(not the hotel) stocked it with booze, etc., and it became the meeting point during the weekend. Maybe they have something like that you can do.

 

[dennis99ss]

The coronado springs is a conference hotel, and they likely have board room type rooms for use.

 

[ahutton]

I have a couple suggestions. One - for a dinner that is on property - you might look into one of the family style meals served such as Cape May or 'Ohana - they can handle large groups eating at the same time and I would guess the cost would be the dinner price plus an added gratuity for a large party. Then the meal price is fixed - and if they wanted bar drinks you could request those be handled on a cash basis.

Another option would be to plan a meeting at Pleasure Island - include tickets and then let everyone hang around and explore together or if they want to see something else they can.

You mentioned your DS lives in the area - if they live in an apartment or a planned community there may be a clubhouse you could rent or reserve for a gathering. If you provided trays from the grocery store you may have enough room in the budget to pay for transporting the guests over there. One of the shuttle services may be willing to make a deal for a fleet of vans to run the guests from the hotels to the destination and back.

You also could look into renting a Grand Villa at a DVC resort on a cash basis for a night, and then do your food trays there. I'm not sure of the cash price but it may work out well, because then you would have your own kitchen.