Wishes Wedding 1/17/11-WP/CG-TR Day 6, Last Day

[Jules~Marie]

This morning Eddie and I performed major surgery on our BEO. We knocked off a bunch of stuff that we really didn't expect to have at our wedding, and one thing that we were really looking forward to doing.

We've been going back and forth on whether to change our DP to Sago Cay instead of Epcot. It'd save us about $890 or so if we switch, but we both have decided to stick to Epcot and only change it if we absolutely have to. I think the dessert party would be fun at either location, however, we both feel our guests would appreciate and enjoy Illuminations much more than Wishes. We also like the idea of the party being held in Epcot. It just seems like a cooler experience.

We decided we need to take off at least $400 from our wedding cake. I don't know how we'll do this, but I plan on emailing my planner and asking her what options we have. I can't see us paying over $1200 total for a cake.

We're also knocking down our open bar from 4 hours to 3 1/2. That'll save us $120 and I don't think anyone will notice the bar not being open at 11am.

We're going to use an outside florist for our bouquets. I can't see spending over $150.00 for my bridal bouquet and I don't want to go over $75 for each of the bridesmaids. Disney quoted my bouquet at $300.00...that's not happening. We also took off the $260 for the aisle runner, $200 for the aisle petals and $100 for roses on the reception centerpieces. We also decided to take out the ribbon wands for $140.00.

We also took off the 7 hour motorcoach, saving us $683.55 and the champagne toast saving us $429.12

Our biggest change is the most depressing to me. It was my idea to remove it, but I'm still kinda bummed about it. We decided to cancel our MK photo session. It'll save us $1100 plus the hair & make up fee of $175, the $15 bout., and the $75 floral refresh. As cool as it seems to me, it's really not the end of the world to not get these pictures. I was really looking forward to it because to me it's a once in a lifetime opportunity, but I realize that it's not the most important thing about this wedding. Who knows, maybe we'll have a vow renewal in 5 or 10 years, and we'll get the photos done then. For now, I'll just concentrate on winning that lotto!

All in all, we've gotten our total to around $14,362.30. Not down to where we want it yet, but it's a pretty good start! We just have about $1500-$2000 more to trim.

 

[smileycrissy]

LOL. Yes I am following you closely. But not in a scary, creepy way. LOL.

Aw, I feel so bad you have to cut the MK photo session. I understand what you mean about it not being necessary but would've been great to do. I hate having to do the 'needs' vs 'wants' comparison on things. I saw that package too and was really excited about it but I've decided I'll have to put it in the back of my mind because its more of an 'I want this' than a 'I need this'.

Just curious, if you are doing the reception at 11am, do you really think you'll need the open bar? Do you have a lot of people who like to drink that are invited? Maybe you can cut the open bar and replace it with the soft drinks (it looks like a $600 savings for you). I'm not a big drinker, so I know when it comes time for me to plan (yes, I'm trying to be optimistic ) I'm sticking to water & soft drinks. I know I have one person in particular who is a heavy drinker and would probably be the only person to say something. I fully intend to tell him if he wants to drink, go drink his way around Epcot.

I'm sending some Pixie Dust your way in hopes that you'll be able to do some magical cuts to the budget and put the MK photo session back in.

 

[ckpoodge]

Also, instead of having an open bar, maybe you could just do "billed on consumption". Since you're having an early reception, chances are people aren't going to be drinking the 3 or 4 drinks necessary to break even on the open bar. Also, maybe if they are drinking, they will be having light drinks, rather than hard alcohol.

Like the above post, we're not big drinkers either. So we're only doing a bar for 1 or 1 1/2 hours. We're going with consumption, rather than open. We're then switching to sodas, etc. And yes, we heard about it from *all* the drinkers!

Hope this helps!

 

[NYPrincess422]

Just wanted to chime in - we're having a lunch reception and have decided to do Billed on Consumption as well for the alcohol. Its a tough call. Yea, some people may not drink that early in the day, but it is a wedding, your in Disney, some folks maybe on cloud 9 for you guys and have a drink or two. But at least with BOC - its based on what is actually consumed rather than what Disney thinks you will consume.

Also, we're doing vans for the transportation for $25.00 - to h*ll with the charter bus . Majority of my guests are staying at 2 of the resorts, so its 8 people per van, and you just have to determine how many vans you would need, if you decide to go that route. The only thing Ive heard about using the vans are, being that there is an 8 passenger limit, they are strict with that, so 10 people cant hop in the van or the van wont move. Eh. I can live with that.

Hope you figure out your budget, I know it can be hard

 

[mrsksomeday]

Great planning journal. Maybe this will help with the size of the pictures:

To change the size of your pictures in Photobucket, look underneath the "Upload images and videos" button. You should see (more options), click it.

It should open up a different window showing many sizes. The Large size (640 x 480) are great for message boards. I hope this helps.

 

[Jules~Marie]

LOL. Yes I am following you closely. But not in a scary, creepy way. LOL.

Aw, I feel so bad you have to cut the MK photo session. I understand what you mean about it not being necessary but would've been great to do. I hate having to do the 'needs' vs 'wants' comparison on things. I saw that package too and was really excited about it but I've decided I'll have to put it in the back of my mind because its more of an 'I want this' than a 'I need this'.

Just curious, if you are doing the reception at 11am, do you really think you'll need the open bar? Do you have a lot of people who like to drink that are invited? Maybe you can cut the open bar and replace it with the soft drinks (it looks like a $600 savings for you). I'm not a big drinker, so I know when it comes time for me to plan (yes, I'm trying to be optimistic ) I'm sticking to water & soft drinks. I know I have one person in particular who is a heavy drinker and would probably be the only person to say something. I fully intend to tell him if he wants to drink, go drink his way around Epcot.

I'm sending some Pixie Dust your way in hopes that you'll be able to do some magical cuts to the budget and put the MK photo session back in.

Good to know you're not following in a creepy way. Yeah, I'm pretty bummed about the MK shoot..I still am trying to find ways to squeeze it in. We'll see what we can do. I wont cancel it until the last second though..you never know what might happen!

As far as the open bar goes...yeah, we can't cut that. Eddie and I rarely drink, but we do have quite a few people that will be looking forward to that bar once the reception starts. I'm still trying to convince Eddie to cutting the bar down to maybe 12-2 or 12-2:30, but he thinks 11:30 is the latest we can open it and he's being really difficult about it. I know he doesn't want to disappoint our guests, but it would save us so much money just to trim it down a little more.

Thanks for the pixie dust! Hopefully it starts working it's magic.

 

[Jules~Marie]

Also, instead of having an open bar, maybe you could just do "billed on consumption". Since you're having an early reception, chances are people aren't going to be drinking the 3 or 4 drinks necessary to break even on the open bar. Also, maybe if they are drinking, they will be having light drinks, rather than hard alcohol.

Like the above post, we're not big drinkers either. So we're only doing a bar for 1 or 1 1/2 hours. We're going with consumption, rather than open. We're then switching to sodas, etc. And yes, we heard about it from *all* the drinkers!

Hope this helps!

We actually thought about doing "billed on consumption", but we're really nervous about having to owe after the reception...And we know for sure that there are some guests really looking forward to their liquor A party's a party I guess...doesn't matter what time it starts lol. Thank you for the suggestion though! I'm definitely going to look into the bill on consumption again, it might save us more than we originally thought.

Just wanted to chime in - we're having a lunch reception and have decided to do Billed on Consumption as well for the alcohol. Its a tough call. Yea, some people may not drink that early in the day, but it is a wedding, your in Disney, some folks maybe on cloud 9 for you guys and have a drink or two. But at least with BOC - its based on what is actually consumed rather than what Disney thinks you will consume.

Also, we're doing vans for the transportation for $25.00 - to h*ll with the charter bus . Majority of my guests are staying at 2 of the resorts, so its 8 people per van, and you just have to determine how many vans you would need, if you decide to go that route. The only thing Ive heard about using the vans are, being that there is an 8 passenger limit, they are strict with that, so 10 people cant hop in the van or the van wont move. Eh. I can live with that.

Hope you figure out your budget, I know it can be hard

See, that's exactly what we're thinking..that our guests are going to want to party, no matter what time it is. But now that we're starting to get RSVP's back, maybe I'll take a look at exactly who's coming to the wedding to see if maybe BOC could save us some money.

Thanks for the advice on the vans. As long as they're reliable I'm ok with getting them. My former planner had said that you can't really count on the vans or something, so he made me nervous, but after searching the boards I think we feel confident enough to reserve them. Did you have to go through the company directly, or did you go through your planner to book the vans?

Thanks for all the help! I'm sure we'll get the budget sorted out one day-hopefully.... lol

Great planning journal. Maybe this will help with the size of the pictures:

To change the size of your pictures in Photobucket, look underneath the "Upload images and videos" button. You should see (more options), click it.

It should open up a different window showing many sizes. The Large size (640 x 480) are great for message boards. I hope this helps.

Thank you so much!!! I've been dying trying to figure out how to post the pictures correctly lol. I really appreciate it!

 

[Kristinella]

I agree with you on a face needed for "receiving a BEO"! We are not even that far and my fiance and I are both getting those feelings about what it MIGHT cost! I am NOT looking forward to what will happen when we see what it WILL cost!

I know that we have some drinkers in our crew but we have decided to do open wine and beer only and a "signature drink" BOC. Maybe you can do the same and do a bloody mary for your "signature drink" or a mimosa? Just a thought! Looking forward to more updates!

 

[disfan melissa]

Thanks for the tips! Yes, we are definitely cutting the champagne toast. I figured at the planning session that we'd add it in, but after seeing the cost, I'm definitely OK with toasting with what we're already drinking! And the same thing goes for the charter, I've been against it ever since I started reading other peoples PJ's and have seen how expensive it is. I think most of the guests will have their own cars anyway..so we'll see about transportation, hopefully we'll only need one van. My planner had said the the vans were not reliable..so I was nervous about that. Did you have any troubles with the vans?

Not sure if you have already made any decisions about the vans but here's our experience--we had no problems with the vans and we actually changed the pick up location to the Garden Wing of the Contemporary from the main lobby the afternoon of our wedding. The vans were from Disney and cost $120 each. I am sure they were the Mears vans. Our guests were very happy with the vans, they were there 20 minutes early and our guests said the drivers were very nice.
I should probably stop reading trip reports though because it seems there were better prices out there than what we paid Oh, well at least someone else can benefit!

 

[April Elizabeth]

Thank you for posting your BEO! You came up with so many great ways to cut back. Be careful with the cheap isle runner. I was in a wedding recently (non Disney) and the isle runner was plain white, but more of a plastic and not the nice cloth ones we see in Disney wedding pictures. I think I would go with the carpet rather than the plastic runner. Even though it was pinned down it bunched up and wrinkled as we walked down the isle.

DF and I are a lot like you and Eddie. We don't drink much but our guests would be very disappointed if we didn't have an open bar for the whole reception. I know as soon as the reception starts, they will be ready to party!

 

[NYPrincess422]

Dont get be wrong, I love Disney, but my planner too tried to push the bus, even after I said it would break our budget. If the vans are just as adequate with providing transportation, I dont see what the problem is, but I felt like they just wanted us the spend the additional 500-600 bucks.

For example, they kept pushing that we needed to rent a coach for our DP at Epcot, when I was already told at our planning session that we didnt have to use the coach. So I decided since there were so many guests who are renting cars, we're all gonna drive and park at Epcot. But when I discussed this, the planner said "you all will have to pay for parking" - but after doing some digging, I found out (not from the planner) that if your guests are staying on property, they get free comp parking at the parks, so we dont have to pay. I was perplexed why this wasnt brough to m attention.

Anyway, my point really is, do what's comfortable for you and DF, and DIS provides so much info, its been a saver to me and DF's wallets

 

[Jules~Marie]

I agree with you on a face needed for "receiving a BEO"! We are not even that far and my fiance and I are both getting those feelings about what it MIGHT cost! I am NOT looking forward to what will happen when we see what it WILL cost!

I know that we have some drinkers in our crew but we have decided to do open wine and beer only and a "signature drink" BOC. Maybe you can do the same and do a bloody mary for your "signature drink" or a mimosa? Just a thought! Looking forward to more updates!

That's an interesting idea, having a "signature drink". I like that...I wonder how much that'd save us if we change to wine and beer...we definitely have beer drinkers in our group, so they'd still be happy. My BIL is the only major guest that drinks liquor and such, but I'm sure he'd be happy bringing the flask we got him for his bday lol. I love the idea of mimosas! My sister would love that, I just don't want to limit anyone at the reception. I'll have to talk to DF and see what he thinks. Thanks for the advice!!!

Not sure if you have already made any decisions about the vans but here's our experience--we had no problems with the vans and we actually changed the pick up location to the Garden Wing of the Contemporary from the main lobby the afternoon of our wedding. The vans were from Disney and cost $120 each. I am sure they were the Mears vans. Our guests were very happy with the vans, they were there 20 minutes early and our guests said the drivers were very nice.
I should probably stop reading trip reports though because it seems there were better prices out there than what we paid Oh, well at least someone else can benefit!

Thanks for sharing your experience. I'm glad to see that they worked out so nicely for you. I can't believe they were $120 each! It's still way cheaper than the chartered bus, but after seeing what other people have said they paid for them, that's a crazy price difference! I can understand you not wanting to read any more trip reports. I'll contact my planner to see how much they'd cost us. Thanks for giving me a heads up on that though. Now if she tells me they're $120 or so, I wont be taken by surprise!

Thank you for posting your BEO! You came up with so many great ways to cut back. Be careful with the cheap isle runner. I was in a wedding recently (non Disney) and the isle runner was plain white, but more of a plastic and not the nice cloth ones we see in Disney wedding pictures. I think I would go with the carpet rather than the plastic runner. Even though it was pinned down it bunched up and wrinkled as we walked down the isle.

DF and I are a lot like you and Eddie. We don't drink much but our guests would be very disappointed if we didn't have an open bar for the whole reception. I know as soon as the reception starts, they will be ready to party!

Thanks for the advice on the aisle runner...I definitely don't want it to be crinkling up on us. I'll have to ask what the difference is between the different runners they have. I wonder if we can buy one from an outside source and then have someone put it down before the wedding?

Glad to see we're not the only people that have guests that'll drink at their wedding! lol I know it's and earlier reception, but a wedding's a wedding...they will for sure be partying.

 

[Jules~Marie]

Dont get be wrong, I love Disney, but my planner too tried to push the bus, even after I said it would break our budget. If the vans are just as adequate with providing transportation, I dont see what the problem is, but I felt like they just wanted us the spend the additional 500-600 bucks.

For example, they kept pushing that we needed to rent a coach for our DP at Epcot, when I was already told at our planning session that we didnt have to use the coach. So I decided since there were so many guests who are renting cars, we're all gonna drive and park at Epcot. But when I discussed this, the planner said "you all will have to pay for parking" - but after doing some digging, I found out (not from the planner) that if your guests are staying on property, they get free comp parking at the parks, so we dont have to pay. I was perplexed why this wasnt brough to m attention.

Anyway, my point really is, do what's comfortable for you and DF, and DIS provides so much info, its been a saver to me and DF's wallets

Yes, at my planning session it did seem like the buses were pushed onto us as well. I wonder why that is? It did seem like our planner tried to save us money on other things, like trying to talk us out of our cake, which we stubbornly held onto, and now after seeing how much it's going to cost we have to change it anyway, lol.

I'm surprised they would say your guests would have to pay to park! I wonder if they thought that your guests were staying off Disney property? That's really strange to me. I'm hoping we don't have the same problem. We were told at our PS that we don't need to rent any transportation for our DP too, so hopefully we don't have any surprises as it gets closer to the wedding. I love that I found all these wonderful planning journals and forums here. I don't know what I would've done without them!

 

[Jules~Marie]

So, taking a break from the scary budget and all that goes with that, I've decided it's time to post our newsletter. Now that we started getting our RSVP's back, we've started to send out the newsletter. Instead of sending them out all at once, we decided to send one out whenever we get a "yes" in the mail. We posted a thread asking for help with our newsletter, and we got a lot of great responses from different brides. We loved Andrea & Brian's newsletter, and basically used theirs as an outline for ours. I can't remember if that was her name on the boards, so I'm sorry if I'm not giving the credit to the appropriate person. But in case you're out there, thank you thank you thank you for sharing your wonderful newsletter!! It seriously helped us out so much, and hopefully you don't mind us stealing a lot of your ideas. I do have to say that Eddie did all of the work on the newsletter. He is the graphic designing pro, really he should be doing that as his career, but that's a discussion for another time and place, lol. I did help with as much as I could with it, and I sat next to him the whole time we worked on it, but, being the Groomzilla that he is, most of my ideas weren't used. Anyway, here it is, let me know what you think!

 

[Nikisha421]

This newsletter is really great..

 

[Deb loves Disney]

Wow, I didn't know that I could get one for $75!!! That's a huge difference! I really don't like the way the carpet looks in the WP, so I'm going to have to ask my planner about that. Thanks so much for the tips, I really appreciate it!!!

You're welcome...I questioned my planner about the quality of the runner and she said it is still paper, not plastic. I was really happy about that! She also said that she has never had a bride's heels break through it yet...hopefully I won't be the first one for that to happen to .

Oh and I love your newsletter!!! The stick figures with the Mickey ears are so cute, where did you find them? I am going to try and be brave and make one myself soon. Maybe I can get DF to do it for me, although I don't know if I could give up all the control on it!

 

[NYPrincess422]

Your newsletter is awesome! What program did you use???

 

[princesswendy720]

I love your newsletter! I've been trying to make ours in word, but it's just so frustrating and won't always let me do what I want to do! Did you use Photoshop? I think I'm going to try making one in there tonight. My df went to school for graphic design, so he has been a big help!

 

[smileycrissy]

Love the newsletter.
You Disney brides are so crafty.
I don't think I would've thought of doing a newsletter but I really like that idea. I've got so much to learn on this board.

 

[ValerieDFTWBride]

Wow, I love your newsletter. It looks amazing!