Our BEO came in at $10,190 before taxes and service fees and Lurkyloo was my inspiration!
To stay this close and still have a later afternoon/early evening ceremony we did the following...
- 38 guests (33 adults, 5 children)
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Ceremony at SBP and Dinner Party at the Attic
- SBP is cheaper than WP
- No transportation between SBP and Attic
- Attic needed little to no decoration
- Attic had reasonable minimums ($2500 overall F&B minimum, $100 per adult minimum, which included Dessert Party)
- Limited entire event to 5 hours - 5 PM to 10PM (No dancing/bouquet and garter toss. Just dinner, talking, cake cutting and dessert party) - This also allowed us to get an outside photographer (Misty Miotto - 6 hour package) for a great price - $1500.
- "Bill on Consumption" Open Bar for Cocktail Hour and 1.5 hour Dinner Party (Shorter dinner party = less drinks)
- Tweaked dinner menu with wedding planner. Eliminated dessert, shrimp and a few other things from menu to bring dinner buffet price down to $70 per person (parmesean crusted chicken, grilled mahi mahi, pepper rubbed steak, artichoke salad, garlic mashed potatoes, etc. Selected children's meals for $20 each. Chose relatively cheap cake ($8.50 per slice, served 50 pp)
- DH made a CD of some of our favorite songs (by Etta James, Louis Armstrong, Harry Conick Jr., Dean Martin, etc) which played during the dinner party. We payed to have a CD and speakers set up, but it was cheaper than hiring Disney entertainment for another 3 hours.
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Upper UK at Epcot
- Selected "Round Trip" Motorcoach (Transported guests from Boardwalk to Epcot back to Boardwalk for less $$ than paying for 5 hour Motorcoach. Many of our guests had rental cars, so we didn't feel bad about not picking them up from their hotels and dropping them back. We also figured that if we had gotten married in NJ, we would NOT have paid for everyone's transportation to and from the wedding, so we didn't feel obligated to do it at Disney either.)
- No setup fee since there are already tables and chairs (ALL other locations have a setup fee, if you want tables and chairs)
- Chocolate Fondue as complete dessert instead of buffet package (it is listed as an add on, but you can request it without picking a dessert package. They will raise the price from the add on price to whatever your Dessert Party minimum per person is - but it ended up being cheaper than any of the buffet packages and our guests loved it)
- Our floral was reasonably priced (as reasonable as Disney Floral can get)
considering we got bouquets and buttonholes for DH and I, 4 Bridesmaids, 4 Groomsmen, 2 fathers, 2 mothers, 1 grandmother, 1 ringbearer, petals and votive centerpieces, aisle petals, petal toss, alter arrangement, battery operated votives for DP and chocolate mickey and minnie favors all for around $1600.
Let me know if you want/need me to PM you my BEO. I can do it in the late afternoon.
Nikki