Swan & Dolphin Weddings FAQ

[tinkerbell 766]

Aristocatz, thank you sweetie!!!
I have not been very active on the boards of late, but it's nice to know I am still remembered xx

 

[aristocatz]

Aristocatz, thank you sweetie!!!
I have not been very active on the boards of late, but it's nice to know I am still remembered xx

You're wedding was around the same time as mine, so you were one of my "regulars" at that time. I still remember your wonderful wedding & also that beautiful custom swan symbol you had throughout your DIY stuff.

 

[svwkirby]

We were finally able to get our deposit paid yesterday! Just Marry has been awesome in holding the space and answering questions even though it took a lot longer for us to get the deposit in due to some unexpected financial issues that are now resolved. There is no way we would have been able to work with Fairytale Weddings in the same way.

Originally we were going to stay in the Epcot area, but when we went to book there wasn't availability. Now we're staying at AKL. I'm excited about our first stay there, but it is going to mean we either need to look at driving to the Swan or setting up transportation. On the plus side, it's now convenient to take pictures at AKL before the ceremony.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

We stayed at Kidani for our wedding trip, but we actually booked a second room at the Dolphin for the nights before and after the wedding. Having two rooms for those two nights was actually really convenient as we ended up storing a lot of not only our own wedding supplies, but stuff for the rest of the bridal party too. Plus, we were able to just stumble upstairs after our afterparty at Jellyrolls without worrying about transportation.

 

[svwkirby]

We stayed at Kidani for our wedding trip, but we actually booked a second room at the Dolphin for the nights before and after the wedding. Having two rooms for those two nights was actually really convenient as we ended up storing a lot of not only our own wedding supplies, but stuff for the rest of the bridal party too. Plus, we were able to just stumble upstairs after our afterparty at Jellyrolls without worrying about transportation.

I looked at staying at the Swan or Dolphin around the ceremony, but there's nothing available there either. Jellyrolls is one of the big reasons we wanted to stay in that area.

 

[tinkerbell 766]

We stayed at BLT and so had to use transport. Although I can't actually remember how much it was, I remember that's it wasn't actually that expensive. JM arranged it for me, and, it was nice to arrive at the S/D in style xx

 

[svwkirby]

We stayed at BLT and so had to use transport. Although I can't actually remember how much it was, I remember that's it wasn't actually that expensive. JM arranged it for me, and, it was nice to arrive at the S/D in style xx

I remember reading that in your PJ. We've definitely talked about that option. If we do go that way, then we'll need to do something other than a town car. DH needs something higher as on bad days he can't get into a lower car due to his fused back. We're actually ok driving over to the Swan on our own also, it was wanting to be close to not have to worry about driving after Jellyrolls or using Disney transportation. I'm thinking that's quite a while to have transportation waiting around with a 3:00 ceremony.

I hit a snag yesterday with not being able to book Cape May Cafe for the potential large size of my group for dinner at 180+1. The only time available was 8:20pm and that's just too late. I'm waiting on a call back from the manager to see if they can help. If not, then I'll try Captain's Grill. We've talked about Garden Grove as well, but we can get a significant discount at the first two options or even Sanaa or Boma at AKL. Guess maybe I should start a PJ of my own.

 

[Toolulu22]

We drove over from our Villa at Wilderness Lodge. I was slightly concerned about how it would work out, but it was no problem at all. Firstly, Just Married & The Swan staff took amazingly good care of us. We pulled right up to the front door, valet took our rental SUV and left it out front from our arrival at 12:30 until after our ceremony at about 5- so we had easy access to it. They brought our change of clothes (for Disney dinner & dessert party) box with butterflies, and tote bag, and other items right up to the Dove suite for us. Swan provided parking vouchers for us and our guests so that no one paid for parking.

At the end of the night, we all rode the boat from our dessert party in EPCOT over to Swan and drove back to our hotel. We each had a few drinks, but it was such a longgggg day/few days, that we were more tired and drunk with joy than anything. We went back to our hotel to find a Disney in room celebration and I actually fell asleep in the tub while my hubby took bobby pins out of my hair.

My dress survived the short ride just fine as well.

 

[Toolulu22]

I have our date and time approved for our wedding at Crescent Terrace and I'm getting ready to put down the deposit. My biggest fear is rain. Has anyone had to use the indoor rain backup?

We are using JustMarry because it seems from the Swan Dolphin website that is the only option. I wanted a Disney wedding but Disney won't do a character appearance for a memories package. But without having guests or wanting anything elaborate, the Escape collection is way more than we would need. So, we turned to the Swan wedding to solve this. For the Swan wedding I am getting officiant, venue, and photographer and it's $2600ish. Mickey and Minnie will be $1450ish for 30 minutes. I was surprised that Disney agreed to send them for such a small affair when they won't even do that for their own small weddings. There is obviously something I don't understand there but oh well. We are staying at the Boardwalk so Crescent Terrace will be very convenient. It will be just the 2 of us plus Mickey and Minnie.

Do they have several different photographers they use? I'm most concerned about the photos. When you pay this much for a 2 person wedding it's kind of all about the photos. We don't care at all about any photos that don't have Mickey and Minnie in them and they will only be there 30 minutes. I want to make sure to get good photos. Can you look at the portfolios of the photographers and choose or do they choose for you? Does it take any special skill to photograph weddings with characters?

Thank you!

Just scrolling through the old posts and I wanted to let you know that we actually did use the rain backup for our ceremony. When we arrived to the Swan at 12:30/1 pm for photos, the forecast was 50% showers in the afternoon. We had no idea. Our florist filled us in as they were there waiting to set up our arbor, and wanted to know when they would know when rain would be called.

Ack!! I called my planner and she said that they would know by 2 pm (our ceremony was at 4 pm). 2 pm they called it. NOOOOO. Well we were taking family pictures outside the doors of Il Mulino as the wind swirled up until the drops started falling close to 4 pm. We held our 20 minute ceremony inside one of the rooms on the ground floor (forget the name). It was very conference room like- not glamorous at all unfortunately. We had an arbor, which helped. However, the storm blew over quickly and we went outside to the grassy lawn for our rose petal toss and butterfly release- which was really pretty.

I will say that Just Marry handled the transitions well, and the room was beautifully air conditioned. Word to the wise- don't plan 3 hours of outdoor photos in wedding clothing in midday June heat prior to a ceremony. I almost fainted for real.

 

[aristocatz]

Just scrolling through the old posts and I wanted to let you know that we actually did use the rain backup for our ceremony. When we arrived to the Swan at 12:30/1 pm for photos, the forecast was 50% showers in the afternoon. We had no idea. Our florist filled us in as they were there waiting to set up our arbor, and wanted to know when they would know when rain would be called.

Ack!! I called my planner and she said that they would know by 2 pm (our ceremony was at 4 pm). 2 pm they called it. NOOOOO. Well we were taking family pictures outside the doors of Il Mulino as the wind swirled up until the drops started falling close to 4 pm. We held our 20 minute ceremony inside one of the rooms on the ground floor (forget the name). It was very conference room like- not glamorous at all unfortunately. We had an arbor, which helped. However, the storm blew over quickly and we went outside to the grassy lawn for our rose petal toss and butterfly release- which was really pretty.

I will say that Just Marry handled the transitions well, and the room was beautifully air conditioned. Word to the wise- don't plan 3 hours of outdoor photos in wedding clothing in midday June heat prior to a ceremony. I almost fainted for real.

A little tip for anyone that ends up with the back-up location, due to rain: You can request a location other than a conference room. I know someone who ended up with an inside Swan wedding, due to weather, & they ended up in a hallway, outside of the ballrooms. This sounds terrible, but it is actually a beautiful space. Really pretty rug & lined with windows with views of pretty greenery outside.

We had our ceremony outside (December wedding with only a low risk of rain), but we had several pictures taken in this hallway & it is very pretty, and got some really pretty natural light.

Just wanted to throw that out there. I'm sure if you describe the space to your planner, they will know where it is.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

A little tip for anyone that ends up with the back-up location, due to rain: You can request a location other than a conference room. I know someone who ended up with an inside Swan wedding, due to weather, & they ended up in a hallway, outside of the ballrooms. This sounds terrible, but it is actually a beautiful space. Really pretty rug & lined with windows with views of pretty greenery outside.

We had our ceremony outside (December wedding with only a low risk of rain), but we had several pictures taken in this hallway & it is very pretty, and got some really pretty natural light.

Just wanted to throw that out there. I'm sure if you describe the space to your planner, they will know where it is.

I know exactly the space you're talking about. My planner showed it to us when we first met with her for an impromptu "planning session" of sorts. She said it was her preferred rain location and that she tries to push for it as the rain backup location for most weddings. Sometimes that hallway is in use as a check-in area for larger conferences, though.

I know it sounds weird to people that haven't seen it, but it is a fairly wide hallway that sort of dead-ends into conference rooms, and the windows overlook a courtyard outside, so it's really a nice space with its own personality.

 

[PlutosVet333]

Its such a relief to know that there are other back-up location spots other than a conference room! My wedding is January 9th, and my biggest fear is that it will be too chilly to have the ceremony outside. Would anyone be able to share a picture of the hallway location? Thanks

 

[myadventurebook]

Hi all,

We're in the very early stages of planning something for early 2017 and are having a hard time deciding between DFTW and S/D. S/D is much more attractive because of the price and how non-restricitive it is, but one problem that keeps cropping up is that we are very much interested in having breakfast food at our reception and I'm not really seeing anything like that on any of the catering menus. Does anybody know if they do breakfast/brunch receptions at S/D? Apologies if this has been answered but I did not see it.

 

[aristocatz]

Hi all,

We're in the very early stages of planning something for early 2017 and are having a hard time deciding between DFTW and S/D. S/D is much more attractive because of the price and how non-restricitive it is, but one problem that keeps cropping up is that we are very much interested in having breakfast food at our reception and I'm not really seeing anything like that on any of the catering menus. Does anybody know if they do breakfast/brunch receptions at S/D? Apologies if this has been answered but I did not see it.

They definitely offer this!!!
http://wdwswan.westinemenus.com/

If you are looking for a smaller reception, you might consider looking into having it at the Fresh Mediterranean Market
http://www.swandolphinrestaurants.com/fresh/
It's really pretty & has great food! We were originally going to do a brunch here.

 

[goofyfigment]

We just got married on April 4th and had a brunch reception at blue zoo. We used swan catering for the food.

 

[myadventurebook]

We just got married on April 4th and had a brunch reception at blue zoo. We used swan catering for the food.

They definitely offer this!!!
http://wdwswan.westinemenus.com/

If you are looking for a smaller reception, you might consider looking into having it at the Fresh Mediterranean Market
http://www.swandolphinrestaurants.com/fresh/
It's really pretty & has great food! We were originally going to do a brunch here.

Thanks so much guys! This is a big help!!

 

[goofyfigment]

Our reception had both breakfast and lunch food. We had an omlete and waffle station along with bacon sausage and breakfast potatoes. Then we had salad chicken turkey pasta. If you talk to swan catering they can do whatever you want. One plus is if you have it early in the day they don't charge a fee to use the room which is nice. If you have any questions feel free to pm me.

 

[NicholasD]

Hi all,

We're in the very early stages of planning something for early 2017 and are having a hard time deciding between DFTW and S/D. S/D is much more attractive because of the price and how non-restricitive it is, but one problem that keeps cropping up is that we are very much interested in having breakfast food at our reception and I'm not really seeing anything like that on any of the catering menus. Does anybody know if they do breakfast/brunch receptions at S/D? Apologies if this has been answered but I did not see it.

You are correct about the non-disney owned hotels having more flexibility simply because of the competition for that business. The Boardwalk is a fantastic place to get your pictures done, and all around the property there are great places for formals, engagement, family group shots... just about anything...!

 

[aristocatz]

??? Where are all the S/D brides??

 

[Kiki La Reu]

I've been thinking that too but I just noticed that they upped their site fee to $2700!! That's more than the Memories package isn't it?? Yikes!