Share your budget?

[lurkyloo]

I am the most low key future bride out there, I think, but I have a serious budget question - does anyone ever just go with the basic Escape Wedding package? I want to get married on a weekday in July or August (he knows he has to pop the question soon for us to make it, lol), and other than a rehearsal dinner (maybe Luau?) and an Illuminations Dessert Party, I don't want any extras. Can that be done, or do I have to spend a minimum amount?

I hate to sound dumb, especially since I am so experienced with other aspects of WDW (passholder for 10+ years, long-time poster on other boards, etc). But everything I read seems to assume people already know the basics. I am totally clueless!

Yes, you can totally do that, and many people do. I think it's just that we uber-planners all seem to find our way to this board, which makes it seem like everyone having a DFTW is customizing the heck out of it.

The only way you'd be required to meet a minimum expenditure beyond the price of the package is if you held your event on a Saturday or a Sunday. However, since you're planning to add a dessert party, you shouldn't have much trouble meeting that $8,000 minimum even if you do have a weekend event.

 

[MiaSRN62]

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[MiaSRN62]

I'm sharing here because I've gotten so much help and ideas from others who have shared and my daughter is not a DIS'er.
My daughter just received her BEO. The planning and tasting session was Sept 24 and her wedding is @ noon on Thurs, April 3, 2014. We definitely plan to tweak some things---such as the motor coach (will most likely cancel this and go for a couple of vans thanks to advice months ago from Carrie) and cocktail hour. Also, sadly, Mickey & Minnie may be cut. Taking it one day at a time....
We made adjustments to the Tony's Town Square menu and our price jumped from $70/pp to $80/pp. This is a 2-5 pm reception. The cake also was higher than we originally budget for by about $400 but she fell in love with the Mad Hatter style of cake. Also we are still awaiting our floral/decor BEO. Coming this week. Wedding is based on 50 guests.

 

[alyaki]

Maria, what's in your DJ package? I just noticed yours is quite a bit lower than I'm used to seeing in the budgets (usually about $1500).

 

[lurkyloo]

Also, if I may offer an unsolicited suggestion, if you switched to bill-on-consumption for beverages and cut down the pre-reception menu, I'll bet you'd save enough money to cover Mickey & Minnie!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Maria, what's in your DJ package? I just noticed yours is quite a bit lower than I'm used to seeing in the budgets (usually about $1500).

Hi!
Here's what it says, and I quote:
"AV and Technical Services
1-2 pm : Pre-Reception
(1) Activation of house equipment
Please activate BGM by 12:30 pm>>>>

I wish I knew exactly what that meant!!! We are at Ariel's and they told us there is an existing sound system there. Do you think maybe that's why it's lower?

lurkyloo says: Also, if I may offer an unsolicited suggestion, if you switched to bill-on-consumption for beverages and cut down the pre-reception menu, I'll bet you'd save enough money to cover Mickey & Minnie!

Thank you! I will ALWAYS welcome your suggestions Carrie! And I will take this to our family decision table----we all have been getting together to discuss budget. Still awaiting floral/linen portion of the BEO......

 

[lurkyloo]

Cool!

Also, regarding this....

Hi!
Here's what it says, and I quote:
"AV and Technical Services
1-2 pm : Pre-Reception
(1) Activation of house equipment
Please activate BGM by 12:30 pm>>>>

I wish I knew exactly what that meant!!!

That means that, for the pre-reception, they will turn on the background music that plays in the resort for your venue by 12:30pm.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Cool!

Also, regarding this....



That means that, for the pre-reception, they will turn on the background music that plays in the resort for your venue by 12:30pm.

Thank you! Yes, Michelle (my daughter's wedding planner) did say the Beach Club has it's own background music and we could save by using that for cocktail hour. It's hard to remember everything that was discussed.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Carrie,
Hi....we're discussing the on-consumption bar now. So Disney requires you pay for this up-front (30 days out) and bases an average of 4-5 drinks per guest.

This is the cost they expect up front. We realize we would get this back at the end if guest consumed less than 4-5 drinks during the reception, but essentially it has to be paid a month before the wedding. This price comes out to more than the open bar cost. Am I understanding this correctly? Thanks

 

[lurkyloo]

Usually the estimated price is a few hundred bucks less than the price of a package bar, and then you get a refund on top of that. So, yes, you won't notice a huge difference now, but you'll be happy when you get that fat refund later. (And the formula they use to calculate how much you pay up front is 2 drinks for the first hour and 1 drink for each additional hour for each guest over age 21, multiplied by the price of the cocktail in whichever type of bar you want—premium, call brands, etc.).

 

[alyaki]

Thanks for the information, Maria!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Thanks for the information, Maria!

You're welcome---I can post a few more of the specifics when I find time to scan them in. Going out of town for the weekend

 

[Sarah727]

The big ones would be transportation and switching to a Bill On Consumption bar for cocktail hour and dinner, then eliminating the bar at the dessert party altogether. You are almost guaranteed to save big bucks by paying only for what guests actually drink instead of a package, and with the dessert party only being an hour, directly after the reception, you really won't need any more alcohol.

I would also suggest keeping transport but going with one-way vans at $40/each. I'd even cut out the limo and take a van myself if I were the bride. You only need to get people to the ceremony and home from the reception, and it's a nice gesture for those who are unfamiliar with WDW and its complicated transportation system.

Can you tell me more about the vans? That seems like it would take a large chunk out of the $750 I have budgeted for transportation. I have @47 guests including bride and groom. Just to clarify-I would have one way van trips to get them to the morning reception-then have them return to take them back to the hotels after the brunch?
This seems like it would save time to, as I could send one van to one hotel, one to the next and so on and so forth?

 

[lurkyloo]

Can you tell me more about the vans? That seems like it would take a large chunk out of the $750 I have budgeted for transportation. I have @47 guests including bride and groom. Just to clarify-I would have one way van trips to get them to the morning reception-then have them return to take them back to the hotels after the brunch?
This seems like it would save time to, as I could send one van to one hotel, one to the next and so on and so forth?

Yes! One of the great things about vans is how efficient they are from a guest perspective. However, the $40 ones only hold 8 passengers, so sometimes it makes more sense moneywise just to charter one bus and have it make all the stops. In your case, say you get 6 vans at $40 each, that's $240 to the reception and $240 back to the hotel: $480 total vs. $509.25 for 5 hours (the minimum) of a charter bus. Not a huge savings, but the convenience to guests is a big plus. If you also needed transport to and from the ceremony and/or a dessert party, then a charter bus might actually turn out to be more economical.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Just chiming in with transportation. We are not 100% sure on amount of guests yet until we send invitations. We have gotten some definite feedback from some.
So that said we think we'll have about 50 guests. Pretty sure we will only need transportation for about 20. Our BEO for the shuttle is $748. Figure we can utilize 3 luxury vans (need 3-way legs) for a total of $360 to transport guests. That is a savings of $388.
We would need 2 standard vans for 3-way leg and that comes out to be more expensive than the motor coach. So the luxury vans seem to be the answer for us.

 

[Sarah727]

Yes! One of the great things about vans is how efficient they are from a guest perspective. However, the $40 ones only hold 8 passengers, so sometimes it makes more sense moneywise just to charter one bus and have it make all the stops. In your case, say you get 6 vans at $40 each, that's $240 to the reception and $240 back to the hotel: $480 total vs. $509.25 for 5 hours (the minimum) of a charter bus. Not a huge savings, but the convenience to guests is a big plus. If you also needed transport to and from the ceremony and/or a dessert party, then a charter bus might actually turn out to be more economical.

I see...ok, so our wedding is at 9 in Canada Pavilion then we go over to Living Seas for brunch. I figured the vans/motorcoach would take everyone back to the hotels afterward. I was thinking everyone would be on their own to get back to the park for the dessert party? Is that bad?

 

[WDWLover75]

I see...ok, so our wedding is at 9 in Canada Pavilion then we go over to Living Seas for brunch. I figured the vans/motorcoach would take everyone back to the hotels afterward. I was thinking everyone would be on their own to get back to the park for the dessert party? Is that bad?

I am having my guests get back to the park for the dessert party on their own not so much because we weren't willing to pay for transportation but rather because I didn't want to force my guests to have to go back to their hotel just so that they can get picked up. Several of our guests have told me they plan to go to a park or Downtown Disney between our wedding and the dessert party, so it would only take time away from their plans to have to get a bus back to their resort. If they are at their resort, they can catch a bus to EPCOT. We did hire a second event guide so people at the Boardwalk, YC, BC, etc can come in via the International Gateway.

 

[lurkyloo]

Yeah, the only reason we paid for a dessert party bus was that most of our guests were unfamiliar with WDW and we didn't want them to have to figure out how to get back to Epcot on their own.

 

[MiaSRN62]

Finally found some time to post the detailed BEO for those of you who might be interested. Wedding date is April 3, 2014 WP/Ariels

 

[MiaSRN62]