The Planning Kit

Two weeks have passed since the last major step in the wedding process for us. The last big milestone was signing and returning the contract for our wedding, along with the initial deposit. This morning when I got in my car I saw that I had missed a phone call; as it turns out, this was our assigned Wedding Coordinator, Danny, calling me to inform me that he had just finished e-mailing us our planning kit. It's a shame I didn't get to talk to Danny at that time, as he sounds like a very nice guy. In his message, he suggested that we set up a time in a few weeks to have a phone call between the three of us, not only he could take time to answer our questions, but also to begin building a rapport between us so that, in the coming months, there would be a degree of trust between us. That really impressed me, as so often, when dealing with someone who almost certainly does this kind of thing for dozens of couples at a time, you end up just another customer out of many, and there is never any real relationship built. The fact that he mentioned, right out of the gate, building up a relationship with us said to me that he was interested in doing more than just the bare minimum of what is required. I like that.

I'm sure it will be all trust falls and conga lines from here on out.

The planning kit is actually pretty simple and straightforward. The file is a PDF that includes a listing of all of the floral choices, ceremony decor options, photography options, cake choices and enhancements, beverage choices, transportation options, music selections, entertainment enhancements, and other basic information that we need to decide upon before the wedding. Since we are having an Escape wedding, the options under each category (even the pay-extra upgrades) are pretty light, but we knew that going into it.

This was, however, the first time we've been able to see actual details on the options available to us, as most websites that talk about Disney weddings don't give much more information than what is in the above paragraph. For example, we didn't know that there were seven bouquet accents available as upgrades. We didn't know that the photography options and upgrades came in packages, some of which include crazy high-quality albums with your name and wedding date embossed on them. We didn't know exactly what cake options were available to us, or that neither yellow nor green (our wedding colors) are available on any of the cakes. Seeing it all in one place made me realize that even with a package deal, we have a lot of decisions to make.

Normally, I love making choices.

So, we have our packet, and we're supposed to go over it and start coming up with some questions for when we start working more closely with Danny. Already, though, I can tell we might have some choppy waters ahead. Girl Scout Fiancée is not thrilled with the bouquet options, which again we have only just now seen for the first time, based not only on the colors of flowers available, as well as the styles. Likewise, the limited options on the wedding cakes may prove to be a pain point for us as well, since not only are our wedding colors nowhere to be found in our options, but the decorative styles on the cakes aren't doing anything for Girl Scout Fiancée. I think Girl Scout Fiancée was a little distraught at this, since we have such limited options.

Yet I don't think it's time to panic. On the cake issue, people order custom cakes all the time in Disney World, and not just people getting married; I've seen plenty of photos of elaborate cakes made for Disney resort guests celebrating all kinds of things. I feel fairly certain that we can get a cake that makes us happy, even if we have to work directly with one of the bakeries to make it and pay for it out of pocket. Similarly, if we aren't getting what we want out of the Disney florist, we can seek out an outside vendor for our flowers. Sure, that increases the cost, but I would rather pay a little more out of pocket to get something that will make Girl Scout Fiancée than have us looking back on our wedding with any regrets.

No regrets.

If anyone else out there had an Escape wedding and went above and beyond the basic options listed for things like flowers and wedding cake, please let us know. How did it work out for you? How did you get the process started in getting more than what the basic package offers?