Wishes vs Escape help

[dakcp2001]

What is included in your wishes minimums, and what is NOT included?

Specifically- are thes things counted toward minimum:

Cindys Coach
Dessert Party
MK shoot
Can you do invites etc w/ Disney?


I am trying to come up with a budget, but there are so many little things to account for, and I am certain I am forgetting quite a few. It is so hard to figure out if we can pull off an Escape, it seems like after we add in all the extras we might as well go Wishes and invite the few extra guests!


Does anyone have a nice list of all the things I need to account for or include? I would appreciate any help

This is my list so far for costs:
Photographer
Officiant
Ceremony & Site
Food for reception
Flowers
centerpieces
favors
invites
Dessert Party
Attire for bride & Groom
Flights
Hotel
Hair & Makeup
Dress steaming

what am I missing

 

[hiwaygal]

Basically - anything on your wedding day is included in the minimum for a Wishes wedding:

Food & beverage, flowers, décor, music, entertainment, photography/videography services, special transportation, hair, makeup, spa services, our ceremony sites fee and any other wedding day services apply toward reaching or exceeding this minimum.

In some cases, I have heard of folks having the MK shoot the morning after their wedding and it being included in the minimum. Others have been told they have to have the shoot ON their wedding day (the morning of) for it to be counted. Talk to your coordinator about that.

Invitations are not included in the minimum...however Disney does send out Save the Dates for Wishes brides.

The only thing I see missing from your list is videography (if you want it), gifts for your wedding party (if you are having one), thank you cards (usually they can match your invites)...I can't think of anything else...

How many guests are you expecting? You will have a room block minimum to meet as well (with a Wishes). Some brides get a little worried about that...but it seems that can be worked out easily by talking with Disney.

If you have close to the 18 guest limit for an Escape wedding, it might be a good decision to move up to Wishes and have more options. I know several others here have done that and I'm sure they'll have more advice.

 

[lurkyloo]

It is official - you can book your MK Shoot any time during your stay and have it count toward your Wishes minimums.

 

[lurkyloo]

Regarding switching from an Escape to a Wishes wedding, we switched because at the time the minimum for a Wishes wedding was $10,000, and with a dessert party and MK Shoot added to our Escape Wedding, we were getting pretty close.

However, now that the minimum is $12,000, when you add in the roughly $2,000 in tax and service fees that come with it, you're looking at approximately $14,000 for a Wishes event.

Meanwhile, you can still have an Escape wedding for $4,500. Even if you add in, say, $1,000 for dinner, another $1,000 for the MK Shoot and about $1,000 for a dessert party, it's still $6,500 cheaper - and includes photography!

 

[dakcp2001]

We are not having much cooperation from family, so our guest count is hard to tally. The future in laws are all claiming they wont come, but I am afraid if I book Escape (what we want) they will change their mind later and it will be too late.

The new minimum is making me sad. lol. I really dont want a big wedding, but I want what I want. Its so hard to predict how many will actually come, if invited. It doesnt seem like a huge jump from 10 to 12, but when you factor in the tax like that, it is a pretty big difference.


I wish Escape was 30 people instead of 20 (well 18 plus us), even 25 would be a little easier to manage.

 

[hiwaygal]

Escape used to be only like 8 people plus Bride and Groom. And then brides wanted just a few more (and were paying around $100 a person up to the 18 limit)...so who knows, it could change again someday.

My suggestion is to book exactly what you want. If that is an Escape and you are limited to guests, then that is their loss. As long as they know there is a limit ahead of time they have to understand the choise is THEIRS. It's not like they can't still be there for the celebrations (receptions, dessert parties, etc)...they just can't attend the ceremony.

 

[WDWBlaze]

It is official - you can book your MK Shoot any time during your stay and have it count toward your Wishes minimums.

May i ask who told you this? I was told today I would have to do it the morning of to have it count.

 

[Keira1387]

I had a wishes wedding, and did the MK photoshoot the morning after the wedding, and it went towards our min.

 

[lurkyloo]

May i ask who told you this? I was told today I would have to do it the morning of to have it count.

Three people: My wedding event planner's assistant, my wedding event planner, and the person at Disney Photographic Services who arranges MK photo shoots for Wishes weddings.

Frankly, I think it's a hassle for Disney if you try to squeeze an MK shoot in on the morning of your wedding - and darn near impossible if you have to be at Epcot by 9am.

 

[WDWBlaze]

Three people: My wedding event planner's assistant, my wedding event planner, and the person at Disney Photographic Services who arranges MK photo shoots for Wishes weddings.

Frankly, I think it's a hassle for Disney if you try to squeeze an MK shoot in on the morning of your wedding - and darn near impossible if you have to be at Epcot by 9am.

Great news. I'll have to talk to my wedding planner again. Any ideas on what to do if she insist if does not count?

 

[B2B-2008]

We did our MK photos two days after the wedding so it didn't count.

I'm so glad we did this because we were so tired after the shoot as we had to get up at 3.45am to get ready, we ended up going to sleep in the afternoon. I would have hated to feel like this on our wedding day.

 

[lurkyloo]

Great news. I'll have to talk to my wedding planner again. Any ideas on what to do if she insist if does not count?

Talk to your Sales Consultant or ask your Wedding Event Planner to verify it with her manager. Disney's a big organization, and a lot of times not everyone gets the memo, so to speak... It makes me so sad when I hear about people who drag themselves outta bed at the crack of dawn on their wedding day for an MK shoot because no one told them they could do it another day and still have it count toward their minimums.

We did ours two days after the wedding, and I was so exhausted the rest of the day, I can't imagine how I would have made it through a wedding!

 

[Chilly]

Some other items on my list:
Bridesmaid Dress & Flowers
Wedding Licence
Wedding Rings
Tiara/Necklace/Veil
Lingerie

 

[irisbud]

We are not having much cooperation from family, so our guest count is hard to tally. The future in laws are all claiming they wont come, but I am afraid if I book Escape (what we want) they will change their mind later and it will be too late.

The new minimum is making me sad. lol. I really dont want a big wedding, but I want what I want. Its so hard to predict how many will actually come, if invited. It doesnt seem like a huge jump from 10 to 12, but when you factor in the tax like that, it is a pretty big difference.


I wish Escape was 30 people instead of 20 (well 18 plus us), even 25 would be a little easier to manage.

Escape used to be only like 8 people plus Bride and Groom. And then brides wanted just a few more (and were paying around $100 a person up to the 18 limit)...so who knows, it could change again someday.

My suggestion is to book exactly what you want. If that is an Escape and you are limited to guests, then that is their loss. As long as they know there is a limit ahead of time they have to understand the choise is THEIRS. It's not like they can't still be there for the celebrations (receptions, dessert parties, etc)...they just can't attend the ceremony.

Dakcp, I totally agree with hiwaygal. Book what YOU want. We booked an escape wedding and invited 23 people and had 7 more that said they wanted to come. It was a hard decision for us to make, but part of why I wanted an Escape was that I wanted a small wedding. I had two thoughts on Wishes: (1) We could invite (theoretically) as many people as we wanted, so the guest list would get out of control. OR (2) we would change from an Escape to accomodate these people and then they wouldn't come and we would have spent extra $$$. Well, we didn't change, but (2) is what would have happened. At first, 4 of our origional guests didn't want to go, and another 3 just couldn't make it. We still thought about switching, but I am SOOO glad we didn't. Just a couple weeks ago, we found out that 9 more of our guests had decided not to attend for various reasons. We then asked the 7 people who had wanted to attend if they would now like to, but none of them can either due to unexpected circumstances (BTW, they understood our limitations before hand and were perfectly OK with this set up, our origional guests were family and our very closest friends). So now we have 7 guests (my parents, my 3 bridesmaids, and the mom and sister of one of my bridesmaids who are also close family friends).

Moral of the long (sorry!) story: I am so glad we didn't switch to accomodate these people! I would have been pissed when they all decided not to come if I spent more just so that they could!

I would do one of two things in your case (1) (my choice): I would say that you are having an Escape wedding and the guest list is limited to 18. You can always have an at home reception for others (this is what we are doing). (2): tell them you will do a Wishes wedding, and be prepared to drop back to Escape (if they will let you?). I would hate to get my heart set on thigs though and then not do them...

Good luck whatever you choose (and sorry for the novel )