Vendor Reviews:
Vendor Review:
Wedding Planner: (A) We had Tanis Armstrong as our DFTW planner. Tanis was great sometimes a bit slow in getting back but I think that is more because we (bride or re-bride) we want answers immediately and unfortunately that doesnt always happen if you are not speaking directly (i.e. on the phone or in person) with the person. KWIM? Anyway, the day of our VR Tanis was there and had everything in place. She made sure everything was in place and we didnt have to worry about anything. So much different than our original wedding 20 years ago! Steve & I had planned everything (with no help) and we really didnt enjoy our wedding because we were sick (both of us had the flu) and we were worrying about making sure everything went smoothly (and most of the time it did).
Update: I am tempted to change the grade to a B only because I have tried to call & email Tanis in the past week to see about the website with our photos. I left a phone message and sent an email. I got an automatic response via email stating she was out of the office due to weddings that week. However, she has never returned my call or sent an email. Personally I think that is bad business we spent a lot of money at Disney for our VR, I would think a follow-up call to a former client would be in order. Instead it makes me feel got your money dont care if you are happy or not now.
Floral: (A) Rosie did a fantastic job with my bouquet! I absolutely loved it and the hidden Mickey too! There was even a hidden Mickey on Steves boutonniere! So cute we loved it! And our cake wow! It was beautiful and so delicious. We had a marble cake with butter-cream icing. It was really moist and delicious and there was a ton of cake left over since there were only six of us. We ended up giving the cake to our friends (they were going to visit family the day after our VR.)
Update: regarding the website with our photos after getting the automatic message from Tanis I emailed Rosie and asked if she could help. After 3 days I finally got a response saying only there has been a delay. Not quite the response I was hoping for!
Beaute Speciale: (A) Jackie arrived on time (although she called and said she was running a bit late). It didnt matter because she did a wonderful job on my hair and make up. I have baby fine straight hair that usually never holds a curl and Jackie not only gave me curls but made me feel like a princess! I didnt have a trial session with Beaute Speciale so I brought a few photos of what I would like my hair to look like and Jackie did an excellent job! My make up was perfect after we toned down the eyeliner a bit. Im not used to wearing eyeliner so it looked very heavy to me at first, but after it was toned down it looked great and Steve was very happy with it (especially since he was paying for all of it!) Jackie had a great personality too very easy to talk to made our 2 hours just fly by.
Photographer: (A) We went with Disney Photography. I had requested Amy, Regina, or Mike Strickland because of all the great things I had seen and heard about them. Well I didnt get either of them. Tanis said that Amy was on vacation, Regina was getting married and Mike was her photographer go figure! So we got Stephanie. Stephanie was a doll to work with. Steve has crutches (due to his artificial leg that hes only had since November) and Stephanie managed to pose us in ways that you couldnt tell. I cant wait to see the actual photos!!
Update: The photos online have arrived! I would give it B only because for $750 I expected a lot more photos to be taken (hubby counted 157 and some are duplicates but in black & white). Online the photos look awesome but I will wait to see the photo album and the DVD and the 11x14 before I give the photos a final grade.
Rev. Jack Day: (A) Rev. Day is the sweetest guy Ive met. Tanis said hes like everyones grandpa! He talked with us for a bit and made us feel very comfortable. Im so happy that he was able to perform our ceremony. I sent him basically what I wanted and he said it was just perfect and didnt change a bit. It was a beautiful ceremony if I do say so myself!
Musicians: (A) The organist and the violinist were fantastic! The violinist came with us to the Cake Celebration and Robert (if I remember his name correctly) was awesome! He can play just about ANYTHING (Disney and beyond Disney). If he cant remember a song hell look it up and hell play it. He really entertained our guests and us! Oh and the sound system at the WP is awesome! They played our CD and it sounded just so good in there!
Limo Service: (A) Victor was our driver and he was great. The Limo was part of our Escape package (which we had for 4 hours).
Wish I did/Wish I didnt:
Venue: As much as I loved our VR at the Wedding Pavilion, I think if I had known that we would have a total of 6 people (which included us) I think I would have gone with the Memories Collection or perhaps stick with the Escape Collection but had our ceremony at the Boardwalk or at the Yacht Club or perhaps at Sunset Pointe at the Polynesian; the reason being
to make it more intimate.
Welcome Bags: I probably would not have gone overboard in putting the Welcome bags together. The bags were FULL! I had bought stuff through the months of planning and had anticipated have almost 20 people, so our four guests that did come reaped the benefit by having very full welcome bags.
Bouquet: I loved my bouquet but it was heavy. I wish I had gone with my first choice the Island bouquet; (even though Steve wasnt crazy about that one.) I think the Island bouquet would not have melted into my dress to clarify in some of the photos you couldnt tell where the bouquet ended and my dress began. LOL
Shoes: I wish I had a backup plan regarding shoes! I loved the shoes I purchased for the VR but I did not anticipate my feet swelling and so my shoes were killing my feet! As soon as the ceremony and pictures were done I swapped them for my croc flip flops. I really wished I had a backup pair of shoes.
Photography: Now that I think back I wish we had chosen an outside photographer. I say this now because I have had time to think and I would have been able to talk to the photographer about certain shots I wanted BEFORE the event. Never once did Disney Photography contact us about what shots we may have wanted, nor was a list requested from us. So if I didnt think of it that day we didnt get the photo we basically went with whatever our photographer suggested. I do like the shots Stephanie took but as I think back now there are other shots I wish she would have taken.
Thats about all I can think of in the Wish I did/Wish I didnt department!
Budget planner
(those marked with
* are rough estimates)
Escape Wedding Package
Included in Pkg:
1 Escape Wedding Venue (Wedding Pavilion)
1 Reception Venue Rental (Cake Ceremony)
1 2-tiered wedding cake w/cake topper
2 Bottles of Sparkling Wine (Iron Horse Fairy Tale Cuvee)
1 Escape Wedding Photo Package (2 hours)
1 each - Violinist & Organist (at WP; Violinist only at Cake)
1 Bouquet (cascade all roses)
1 Boutonniere
1 Limousine (4 hours)
Planning & Onsite Wedding Coordinator
2 Annual Disney Passes
Event Total - $5,750
Additionals
Upgrade Photo package - $750
Upgrade floral (bouquet) - $32
Rose Petals - $21
Rev. Jack Day - $200
Beaute Speciale - $136 (hair/make-up for bride)
Total (additional) - $1,140
Dinner after the event (Wilderness Lodges Whispering Canyon Café)
# of people (6) x cost per person ($35) = $210 (estimate)
Reception Total - $210*
Extras
Decorations on table at WP
2 tall flameless candles - $15.00 (purchased at Michaels)
2 candleholders - $30 (purchased at Hobby Lobby)
22 bows - $11 (purchased at Dollar Store 2 bows for $1)
Decorations Total - $45*
Welcome Bags Items
Ponchos
Pens
Personalized pencils
Bottles of water & beer (w/personalized labels)
Battery operated fans
Disposable cameras
Mini-Notebooks
Chocolates
Welcome Bags Total $60* (for two bags for four people; originally I was buying for when we needed 13 bags)
Extra/Extra
Bride VR outfit $75.50 (from Lavahut.com)
Alterations of Brides outfit - $20
Groom VR outfit - $49.50 (from Lavahut.com)
Brides ring - $70 (from Walmart)
Grooms ring - $30 (from Walmart)
Extra/Extra Total $245
Miscellaneous
Gas (to/from home) - $200*
Hotel (to/from home) - $200
Boarding of the Pets - $1,000 (boarding & blood work)
Miscellaneous Total $1,400
GRAND TOTAL: $8,850*
Jackie did my make-up as well, I agree about how easy she is to talk to - really put me at ease. We stayed at the BW for our VR and I saw Rev. Jack around several times when we passed Seabreeze Point (I think he was waiting for a rehearsal one time and a wedding the next). He looked so sweet and peaceful sitting there reading his book - seems like a really nice man!
