Amanda & Terrance, 1/4/2011, S/D & ADH - I am a Wishes Bride Now!

[DisneyCookie24]

As usual, Ive been a little absent... but I am back and really I have enough stuff to write about to fill up about 10-15 posts, but I will just start with the fun one! Engagement Pics by Randy Chapman in Downtown Disney! I love them! Sorry there are so many, and if they are kind of gimungo...

[puente0629]

Love the pics, you guys came out great!

[DisneyCookie24]

Ok, so back in May, DF and I went to Disney to do some planning for the wedding. We met with Karen from JustMarry and took a look at the ceremony location in which we love and 100% happy with.... I will post more on that later. Anyways, While there, we met with someone from Il Mulino to check the place out and see where our group would be sitting, talk about food and alcohol, etc....

Overall, the restaurant is very nice, lovely in fact. Here are some pics of the facilities to begin with.

The Bar and Entrance...




The Courtyard where we were thinking of having the pre-reception/cocktail hour



Cool little decorative setting... When you walk into Il Mulino, and get to this point, there is a dining area to the left and a dining area to the right, and there is a good distance between them ( I will get back to this, I swear)




So to start, things look great, and I feel like this place is just right. We meet with the manager and she shows us our options of where we could have our party at.

Option A




Option B




So, as I was saying above, there is a dining area to the left of that decorative setting. That would be option A. There is no wall or divider, but it's definitely away from the other part of the dining room, so I was very pleased with that, because I knew we would have a lot of people, and sometimes when we drink, we get out of hand... it's for the good of everyone that we are as secluded as possible

Then there is option B. That is a part of the right side of the restaurant. We weren't thrilled with this option. First of all I don't see how it would hold all our people (There were 70 at this time) and that is what the max is supposed to be. I dunno, to me it seems like it would be squishy. I also didn't like how it was just long, but not really wide, you know?? Like we would have guests waaaaaaaaaaaaaaayyy far away, where as in the option A it would at least be more square and more evenly dispersed if that makes any sense at all. Then there are the dividers, which in theory I should like because of the whole needing to keep my group secluded thing, but in reality I didn't like it because it made the area seem even smaller.... Maybe I'm just being picky but I just wasn't thrilled....

So anyways, no big deal right? Just choose option A right? Well here is where I think I was getting really frustrated with the whole thing... The whole time we are there, the manager was discouraging us from using that first option because the F/B minimum would be so high (even though I kept assuring her we would make it because it would be full dinner and open bar for at least 70 and the math worked out just fine) and that they really don't like to reserve that side if they don't have to so they can fill it with other customers. Which I guess makes sense, but she just kept saying it over and over and over, so it made me question why she showed it to us in the first place. So needless to say, I left here not very satisfied with it. We did not however write it off completely yet, because we decide to come back for dinner and at least try the food.

Now mind you, I don't exactly have the most refined tastes and I was coming in already a bit bummed out about our day earlier, so my opinions may not be completely fair, so you may not want to base any of your decisions off this...

To start, our appetizer, Insacatta Misti or sumthin....
Translate: 29$ for a plate of deli meat...
There should be some mozzarella chunks on the empty part of the plate, but we ate them before I remembered to snap a picture...
This was interesting, not bad, just not what I hoped for, and it was something that was in fact on the private dining menu that we would be serving during the cocktail hour, and I was not excited to do so.



Bread was good, I love dipping oil too...


DFs dinner... He said he liked it... To me it didn't seem like much, but I also hate shrimp so I can't be a good judge (again, not very refined tastes, sorry )


My dinner was good. But not great, the tortellini tastes just like what I would buy frozen and cook up and add sauce to. But that is one of my fave meals though, but I can do it at home, but it was something on the private dining menu so I though I would try it... Nothing to write home about. I would serve it to our guests (minus the peas maybe) but not be excited for it.



So all in all, while this place may work great for someone else, DF and I vetoed it... I left very sad and bummed out, and I really think that if that happens, then you probably shouldn't book it... just a hunch...

Soooo, next up will be reception fail # 2.... and then reception fail #3.... and then hopefully reception idea #4 won't be a fail because we are almost in the 6 month mark!!! yikes!

[DisneyCookie24]

Originally Posted by puente0629

Love the pics, you guys came out great!

Thanks puente! I am very happy with them!

[Kristinella]

Yeah another 2011 bride! Your plans are looking great! Can't wait for more

[bunny_pop]

Your Epics are just amazing! How awesome that they are at DTD...now if I would have considered that.

OMG that sucks! Sorry to hear that Il Mulino not working out for you. You have me on the edge of my seat to find out what happened at option 2,3, and 4. Have you thought about a ballroom at the Swan? Karen showed me one when I was considering the S&D and it was nice. I remember it had a patio option.

[DisneyCookie24]

Originally Posted by Kristinella

Yeah another 2011 bride! Your plans are looking great! Can't wait for more

Thanks!

Originally Posted by bunny_pop

Your Epics are just amazing! How awesome that they are at DTD...now if I would have considered that.

OMG that sucks! Sorry to hear that Il Mulino not working out for you. You have me on the edge of my seat to find out what happened at option 2,3, and 4. Have you thought about a ballroom at the Swan? Karen showed me one when I was considering the S&D and it was nice. I remember it had a patio option.

Thank you! It was fun at DTD, we love it there and always go. I did look into the ballrooms at the Swan and Dolphin, that is actually option 3, and we saw the ones with the patio, and of course we loved them... BUT they are ALL booked! But it's OK now, because my 4th option seems to be working out! I will get to it ASAP! Maybe even today!

[DisneyCookie24]

Ok, so after Il Mulino didn't work out, we racked our brains for some other options. Thanks to you wonderful people on the boards we remembered Fulton's Crab House in DTD. Which actually we were considering for our ceremony as well in the beginning but decided against... for no particular reason really either.

Anyways, we looked into Fulton's again, and went to take a look at it too while we were on our trip in May. And we truly fell in love with the idea. The dining areas are really pretty (not my colors, but I didn't mind changing my colors for it) and they are on an entire floor to themselves! While we didn't get a chance to eat there, I remember eating there many moons ago (many) and I had no complaints then, so I imagined it would be fine food wise. I love that there is a balcony for each of the two dining areas, and I love that it's a boat! And if you haven't guessed yet, DF and I are somewhat partial to DTD because we know that on our random trips to Florida we can at least go there and get our fix for free if we can't get to a park.

So what went wrong? Absolutely nothing with the restaurant. At this point in time, we were only estimating 60-70 people making the trip. This worked perfect with fulton's. Their max is 80 in the bigger of the 2 rooms. Well, somehow, in the last 2 months, out guest count has grown to 96. Now, I'm sure a portion of those still will not make it, and we can possibly be in that 80 mark, BUT I really can't take that risk.... Soooo, back to the drawing boards! Back to freaking out! We are 6 months out and STILL no reception plan!

In comes option #3... Ballrooms at the Swan or Dolphin. I was trying to avoid ballrooms/banquet halls for the pure fact that I feel like I could do that in Ohio. But, at this point, I would go anywhere! And to be honest, I like the idea that I could have dancing there now. In the beginning I told my mom I was fine without it and just a dinner reception at a restaurant would be perfect, even with out dancing... well, things have changed and I think I would miss dancing, so that right there justifies my using a ballroom. Anyways, I spoke with the catering manager at the Swan to see what my options are, and after going back and forth on some things, she gets back to me with the awful news that there is NOTHING available for me on that day...

Cue the nervous breakdown! Seriously, at this point I had no idea what I was going to do! At allllll!!!!!


Fear not though... There is light at the end of every tunnel, and just this past week I reached mine. Thank goodness.

[DisneyCookie24]

Now that I have informed you on the troubles about finding a reception venue that I have been having, I can now finally share with you our final (and successful) option!

Drumroll please!
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In the beginning, I decided to go the S/D route to save money...
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but circumstances made it necessary to give DFTW a call... (in which I am by no means disappointed by that, )
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And it was so wonderful talking to Diane about my options. She put me at ease and gave me such good ideas that would work out for me...
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So guess what!
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I am now a wishes Bride!


(Sorry if I seem overly excited, but I have been so worried about where I would take our 90 guests for dinner!)

We are marked for Atlantic Dance Hall for a 3pm-8pm Cocktail hour and Reception on January 4th, 2011!

How perfect is that? We get married at the Swan at 2 pm (It was originally 4pm, but JustMarry is wonderful and they are able to push it up 2 hours) and then our guest can just walk to ADH for cocktails while we get our boardwalk pics done and then we can eat and party until 8pm!

I am beyond excited for this. Although, I should tame my excitement a pinch since my LOA is not yet finished, which means our deposit is not yet paid, which means that TECHNICALLY they can take that away from me, but I was sent the tentative hold notice, so hopefully that means it is mine while I play the waiting game)


I can breathe again... 'tis a wonderful feeling.

My next decisions that I need to make that I really can't put off anymore:
*Pick Bridesmaids Dresses
*Groomsmen s suits
*My Dress!!!! (Is it odd that this is one detail I dread?!?!?)

[tinkerbell 766]

I am so happy that you have sorted out your reception - a S/D bride and a Wishes bride, lucky you!!!!
I agree about JustMarry being wonderful. Karen has agreed to stay with me until the bitter end!! I believe that sometimes planners are switched after the booking process is over, but I begged Karen to stay with me and she agreed, so I am thrilled!!
Who is doing your flowers/cake? Are you doing them through JM or are you going your own way?
I will be excitedly following along with all your plans!!

[puente0629]

I'm so glad everything worked out for you..yayy, for wishes brides!!!

[*Pixiedust1438*]

Just came across your PJ when I realized you are using ADH! Congrats on the decision to switch to a Wishes wedding and use ADH! Can't wait to hear your reception plans!

[Disney-Chick]

We will be getting married on the same day. I will be at SBP at 2:30

Did you ever pick your dress out?

[Nichole33]

So happy it all worked out! Can't wait to hear more!!