Why did you choose to go with an Escape wedding?
We chose to go with an Escape for ALOT of reasons. We didn't want a traditional at home wedding (I was married once before and I already did that... not to mention ALL of our friends have already done that- DF and I are both extremely bored with traditional weddings). So we decided on Disney and decided we just wanted it to be casual and fun. We wanted to get married with a castle view (but right in front of the castle is out of the budget
). The WP is too formal for us so that left sunset pointe which is an Escape spot... so Escape it is. That also determined our guest list as 8 is the MAX. We wanted small and intimate but this has been tough. It will be just my parents, his parents, my brother, his brother, and his 2 grandma's (all other grandparents are deceased). There will be other people celebrating with us at Disney- our brothers will each have dates, and DF's aunt uncle and 2 cousins- then maybe my one aunt and uncle from Tampa. We have others that want to come but you know how it is... if this person comes then you have to invite that person...blah blah blah. Plus these extras won't even be at the ceremony so I think it is kind of rude but they knew this was the case from the beginning and are insistent they still want to come so whatever. Anyways for awhile because of all the guest list drama we talked about upgrading to Wishes but in the end decided not to for the following reasons:
- if you have a weekday during a slow season the minimum is not THAT bad but the FOOD MINIMUMS are RIDICULOUS IMO. I think it's going to $75 for breakfast, $100 for lunch, $125 for dinner. I mean $75 worth of bacon eggs and mickey waffles...
(Don't get me wrong I love Mickey waffles)
-we didn't like any of the ceremony sites for Wishes... we really wanted to keep our casual tropical theme and want to see the castle. We thought about the beach by the WP but you can't see the castle from there
-We decided we would rather use the extra money to put a down payment on a house
So we decided we will have an at home reception to celebrate with all our friends who aren't at Disney with us- this is probably going to be a casual pig roast.
What did you love or regret about this choice?
I love the idea of a casual relaxed wedding that I will actually have FUN at! We will keep the elements we like about weddings but get rid of everything that we don't think is important to us. I'm excited that it will be very small and intimate and that our special moment will only be shared with those MOST important to us.
I haven't had my wedding yet but the only thing I may regret is not having my friends there... but I think the pig roast will make me feel better about this. Some of our friends said they would rather do this than go to Disney for the wedding (of course others are still saying they want to "crash" the wedding)
Basically, what was your experience? And how did you celebrate with everyone after the ceremony?
Like I said I haven't had my wedding yet so all I can share are my plans and expectations. After the ceremony we plan to do the cake cutting- I will eat the cake at this time too bc I love cake. We then will box up the extra cake for the guests. We plan to have Mickey and Minnie and do all the first dance stuff and then get tons of pics. Then we'll have dinner at OHana and hopefully a Wishes cruise on the Grand 1
Then when we get home we will have a giant party with all our friends so everyone can see the pics and DVD and just have more FUN! Keep in mind we plan for this to resemble more of a party than a reception... no ballrooms. We will either wait a few months for the weather to better (maybe our 6 month anniversary) and have an outside pig roast- or we will have more of a cocktail party at an upscale casino near where we live.
As for upgrades...
I plan to change the color of the flowers in my bouquet... don't know if this will be a charge
NO extras bouts or corsages but do plan to fly in fresh leis from hawaii
Mickey and Minnie
MK Photoshoot
Would like to upgrade cake but will have to eval cost
Maybe some extra flower petals
That's about it! Hope that helps. This thread was a great idea
. I love seeing what other escape brides experiences have been like!