Wedding "reception" dinner help and question?

[GoalieGirl16]

My fiancé and I will be getting married at Disney World in early August of 2013 in the Wedding Pavillion. As we are having an Escape Wedding there will be no proper reception but we are planning on taking our wedding guests to dinner that night. Of course there are a couple of catches- I would like to wear my dress so the Parks themselves are out. And we would like the meal to be on the monorail route or very convenient to it as most of our guests will not be renting a car. I am also hoping for something that would appeal to a wide range of palates.

Any suggestions? All help and imput is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[coachwnh]

citricos. its right in the grand floridian. fantastic! My other suugestion would be California Grill at the Contemporary. Both would be a great place for you and your guests to celebrate your wedding day.

 

[GoalieGirl16]

I was kind of thinking Citricos. I am familiar with it from my Cast Member days but that was a decade ago. I am glad to know that it is still a place worth highly considering!

 

[maryszhi]

you can still wear your dress to the parks. That would be so awesome. i would recommend something at epcot if you go that route. in terms of hotels near I say citricos. also the boardwalk area and yact/beach club are great as well.

 

[GoalieGirl16]

Sadly they do not allow formal or wedding attire in the parks themselves or I would be all over that! Who doesn't book wedding with Disney without really hoping that they could have their wedding pictures in front of the castle? But I am still super excited for the big day down there.

 

[maryszhi]

i would call and check i've seen couples in the parks with wedding and formal attire. i would call and check

 

[BrittanyRose428]

I believe there are a few ways around the whole wearing formal/wedding attire in the parks. If I am correct, you are not allowed to just roam around the parks in a wedding dress, but if you get married on property and have a dessert party/reception/something like that run by Disney's weddings you are allowed to wear your dress. For instance you could have a dessert party at a country in Epcot, but you could not spend the remainder of the day walking around at your leisure in the dress. I'm pretty sure you can also have your wedding pictures taken in the parks, but I think it has to be before the park opens and with a Disney photographer. Maybe you could have dinner at Citricos and then get on the monorail and have an Illuminations dessert party with your dress on?

 

[dvcnut]

California Grill would be a great option...especially since you can watch the Wishes fireworks show from the restaurant.

 

[DisneyDebNJ]

Firstly, congratulations!!! I agree with Citricos, but Narcoossee's would be a nice choice too. Best of luck!

 

[wdwmagic]

Sadly they do not allow formal or wedding attire in the parks themselves or I would be all over that! Who doesn't book wedding with Disney without really hoping that they could have their wedding pictures in front of the castle? But I am still super excited for the big day down there.

You can do a photo package at the castle. It is prior to park opening - fantastic experience, and great pictures. My wife and I did this, I would highly recommend it.

 

[GoalieGirl16]

Well I just talked to the fine folks at WDW Dine. Looks like the bulk of restraunts will not be able to accommodate a group our size. Maybe a dessert party is the right option. I don't know.

 

[tinkerbell0406]

You can do a photo package at the castle. It is prior to park opening - fantastic experience, and great pictures. My wife and I did this, I would highly recommend it.

My best friend is getting married in Disney and she is interested in the photo package at the castle... So when did you do the photo shoot? The morning after your wedding?

 

[steviej]

what about yachtsman steakhouse at yacht club? It has that quiet, romantic setting. I believe it's the number 1 rated steakhouse in central florida, and they will obviously have options other than steak

 

[kings&giants]

I was married at WDW - BEST thing I've ever done (except for having my 2 boys ). We had about 30 people total. The ceremony was at the wedding pavilion with the reception at the Grand Floridian. There is a great small room called the Whitehall room. I don't know if you would be interested in something like that, but it is beautiful! It even has an outside patio that the monorail passes over. We also did a desert party in Epcot during IllumiNations. It was on the patio next to the Rose and Crown. They brought us in a back entrance and blocked pedestrian traffic while the wedding processional passed through (a real "rock star" moment). Then the next morning we hosted a Thank You breakfast at 'Ohana. I can post some pics if you are interested.

 

[MichelleMyBelle]

Congratulations! We are having our escape wedding at WDW on October 2 in the wedding pavilion also and we are having the same dilemma. Our party size is too big to take out to a restaurant so I think we are going to be catering something in to our grand villa. Nothing too expensive, just something like Dickey's or Chevy's. It's only a few weeks away and we still haven't decided what to eat! Anyways, I hope you guys figure it out and have a wonderful wedding!

 

[Sweet Melissa]

Well I just talked to the fine folks at WDW Dine. Looks like the bulk of restraunts will not be able to accommodate a group our size. Maybe a dessert party is the right option. I don't know.

It could be a very good option. Keep in mind too that it doesn't have to be strictly "dessert." They may be called dessert parties, but Disney's catering department can do any kind of food you want. In researching such parties, I've seen everything from sliders and fries to a full Italian dinner done at various dessert party locations.

How many will be in your group? I assume if you're having an Escape wedding, it's less than 20. We're looking at having our reception dinner in the private dining room at Bluezoo in the Dolphin. I believe it seats up to 24 and their private dining menus are amazing. California Grill also has private wine rooms that can fit up to 40, I think.

 

[rufio]

My fiancé and I will be getting married at Disney World in early August of 2013 in the Wedding Pavillion. As we are having an Escape Wedding there will be no proper reception but we are planning on taking our wedding guests to dinner that night. Of course there are a couple of catches- I would like to wear my dress so the Parks themselves are out. And we would like the meal to be on the monorail route or very convenient to it as most of our guests will not be renting a car. I am also hoping for something that would appeal to a wide range of palates.

Any suggestions? All help and imput is greatly appreciated! Thanks!

It really depends on your price range. We didn't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money, so we are going with the Grand Floridian Cafe. It's pretty and the menu looks good without being $60 per person.

I believe there are a few ways around the whole wearing formal/wedding attire in the parks. If I am correct, you are not allowed to just roam around the parks in a wedding dress, but if you get married on property and have a dessert party/reception/something like that run by Disney's weddings you are allowed to wear your dress. For instance you could have a dessert party at a country in Epcot, but you could not spend the remainder of the day walking around at your leisure in the dress. I'm pretty sure you can also have your wedding pictures taken in the parks, but I think it has to be before the park opens and with a Disney photographer. Maybe you could have dinner at Citricos and then get on the monorail and have an Illuminations dessert party with your dress on?

False. The only way to wear a dress in the parks is to have a photo shoot done by official Disney photographers before the parks open. I just went through this whole mess a couple of months ago in preparation for my December wedding.

 

[Sweet Melissa]

I believe there are a few ways around the whole wearing formal/wedding attire in the parks. If I am correct, you are not allowed to just roam around the parks in a wedding dress, but if you get married on property and have a dessert party/reception/something like that run by Disney's weddings you are allowed to wear your dress.

False. The only way to wear a dress in the parks is to have a photo shoot done by official Disney photographers before the parks open. I just went through this whole mess a couple of months ago in preparation for my December wedding.

No, the above is correct. If you were to have a dessert party on your wedding day, you could wear your dress into Epcot (or Hollywood Studios), but you would have to be escorted in (including paying for charter buses to take you and the rest of your guests to a backstage entrance) and you wouldn't be able to leave the dessert party area without an escort.

 

[lovetheears]

You might want to call and check on the rules with the dessert party bc the wedding dessert party I went to (granted this was 4 years ago) we - including the bride walked to the boardwalk after illuminations (it was an earlier close that night so maybe that was why we could all just walk to our next destination).

 

[Sweet Melissa]

You might want to call and check on the rules with the dessert party bc the wedding dessert party I went to (granted this was 4 years ago) we - including the bride walked to the boardwalk after illuminations (it was an earlier close that night so maybe that was why we could all just walk to our next destination).

That makes sense if it wasn't an Extra Magic Hours evening. The park is closed after IllumiNations ends on most nights.