Wedding Questions

[ahutton]

Barb,
If you have questions go ahead and call now. The first thing they'll do is send you a video and some other information which is a good "overview" of what is available. From there you can provide them some very basic information and start to move forward. You can do a tentative reserve the date a year in advance but you don't actually book until 8 months out. From there you work with your coordinator to set all the details. I did this in a series of weekly phone calls, probably 10 one hour calls where she, in a very organized manner, went through different aspects of planning and then just made it all happen.

 

[figmentvi]

Mickey02,

We're just in the beginning stages of planning and just as ahutton mentions above, we won't be making our preliminary reservation until Dec. I've been in contact with FTW and have been assigned a Sales Manager. I specifically asked them to send a preliminary budget. You can do this at anytime. If you do go down in Dec., by all means make an appointment ( (407) 828-3400) with FTW to do a site inspection. They can show you possible ceremony and reception sites.

Another wealth of information is www.yourfairytale.com. Download the online book that is advertised, I have and believe me it's with me at all times. It's my bible Here is a link from that website that has a subscribe link for Disneymooners. See if that gets you to the right place. www.yourfairytale.com/start.html

As of right now, we're planning on having the ceremony at about 5:30 pm at the Wedding Pavillion. Andrea will arrive in Cindy's coach. From there we'll have buses take the guests to Epcot through the backstage area to Italy's Isola for the reception. We're planning on a very elegant dinner and desert buffet ending the evening with Illuminations.

Andrea will be carrying silk flowers (Calla Lilies) which we're getting through Annie & Co. http://annieandcompany.homestead.com/home.html. Disney Floral is very expensive so we're going to have an Orlando company called Creative Elegance do the set up of decorations and provide us with chair covers and bows. We'll probably use Disney Photography Services for photos.

We'll also be hosting a Welcome/Rehearsal party for our guests the night before the wedding. Still trying to figure out where to have that, but I'd really like to do an outdoor cocktails and finger food at the Wilderness Lodge pool area.

That's about all we've got for now, but I'll be more than happy to help you with any questions you may have.

Linda

 

[Mickey02]

Loved the websites thankyou!!

My daughter and I have rewatched the Disney wedding video again and again. Lots of ideas are starting to form.

I think we will do silks for the bridesmaids and fresh flowers for the bride.

I noticed that a lot of the picking and planning is done with books and examples. How hard is it to completely plan the wedding over the phone with the wedding cordinator?? I don't know that we will be able to meet with her in person. How do you see what is available without being there??

 

[figmentvi]

Hi Barb:

We're doing most of our planning via phone and visiting websites. It really isn't that difficult (so far, LOL) for us right now, since everything is so preliminary. It also helps that I'm a Disney geek and have been there a gajillion times So I know where everything is.

FTW is terrific in sending information and suggestions. Reading re-caps of other weddings and visiting as many sites as you can is really helpful. We pretty much knew almost immediately that we wanted the ceremony at the Wedding Pavillion and the reception at Epcot. The amount of guests that you're planning on will also help determine what locations would be best for you.

I'm not sure if we're going to be able to do a planning session either. So much of our extra $$ will be going into the wedding itself, that an extra trip to WDW for me will be tough. As you can see by my "location", I live in the Virgin Islands and travel to the States can be a little on the expensive side.

Have no fear though, I've read where many brides plan their FTW over the phone and do quite well.

Linda

 

[Mickey02]

We just had graduation weekend. PHEW!! Haven't been able to post for a while.


Does anyone know about getting engagement photos at Disney world?? My daughters boyfriend is planning on asking her to marry him at Disney World in front of Cinderella's Castle. What a wonderful engagement photo that would be. Hummmm....

My Daughter has no idea I am planning a surprise trip to Disney
it should be really magical for her.

Barb

 

[Mickey02]

Thanks Linda for your advice on the planning over the phone.
I have been a little concerned over doing it all over the phone.

 

[caitycaity]

hi-

we had a disney wedding with i think 51 people attending in nov 2001. the whole shebang (including dress, etc.) cost about $20,000. i believe we paid about $13,000 to disney. we did get married on a saturday, but it wasn't hard to meet the $10,000 limit. as a matter of fact, we ended up cutting a lot of what we initially wanted to save $$$, but it was still awesome!

we also had our reception at the living seas. people are still talking about it (in a good way, LOL).

 

[ahutton]

The volume of information they send you to plan over the phone is staggering. We received a binder of information, and then supplements from assorted departments (photo, floral, cake, menu, etc). Our planning meeting was the original "tour" and since we lived in Arizona at the time an in between trip was impossible. I did several before work conference calls - an hour long - and each time the coordinator had some specific item or two we were going to talk about and plan. Then at the end she told me what was up next, made sure I had the information and then I used the week to talk to DH and my family about what we wanted and how we wanted it. Then Disney just made it happen and we sat back and enjoyed it.

Disney Photo Services has all kinds of photo packages, and can do photos in the parks. Maybe it could be disguised as "lets get some pictures taken as part of the trip" or "it comes with the package" and you could set the time of day and such you want and he can propose in one of the pictures. I would bet the photographer would LOVE an assignment like that and be glad to help with some planning.

 

[Ziggie]

One of the things I was fussy about when I first started planning my DD's wedding was that I really wanted a "place" that wasn't going to disappear off the face of the earth after a few years.

I wanted a place that they could visit on their 10th anniversary, 25th and even 50th!

Disney is such a place and.. we were going to have hers there, but if you've read my other posts, you know it didn't work out. So, her wedding is going to be at The Breakers Hotel in Palm Beach. The original hotel dates back over 100 years and hopefully it'll be there when their anniversaries come around

 

[Mickey02]

Thanks Ahutton for the tips on information. You are always full of good ideas!!


Ziggy I know what you mean about a place that means something. Even though there won't be very many people there it will be The wedding will be more special then if we have it here and there are lots of people. Wow DisneyWorld every 6 to 14 weeks!! Lucky you... It pays to live in Florida. We recently join DVC I am hoping to get there 2 times a year.